GOVERNMENT TOURS EUROPE FOR TALKS ON PRIVATIZATION OF BRIDGES
A Turkish government delegation has been in talks across Europe with international investors for the privatization of Istanbul bridges and highways.
Analysis
In-Depth Analysis
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CARREFOURSA SOLD TO A101, LIFESTYLE DEBATE IGNITED
Sabancı Holding and Carrefour Nederland BV sold their majority stake in CarrefourSA to Yeni Mağazacılık A.Ş., the parent company of the discount giant A101, reigniting debate over alcohol sales and lifestyles.
CENTRAL BANK KEEPS INTEREST RATES UNCHANGED AMID INTENSIFYING POLITICAL PRESSURE
The central bank kept its benchmark policy rate unchanged at 37% on April 22, meeting the expectations of most analysts. The decision comes following intensified criticism of both the bank and Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek, 59, from the business world and media outlets close to the government.
COMPLAINANT, WITNESS, AND DEFENDANT — ALL CHP
A recent judicial operation that placed the CHP-run Ataşehir municipality under trustee administration has exposed something more damaging than any prosecutor's indictment: the party is being undone, in part, by its own.
KURDISH PEACE PROCESS DOMINATES PARLIAMENT'S FOUNDING ANNIVERSARY
The steps expected to be taken on the Kurdish peace process dominated discussions at the 106th anniversary of parliament's founding. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan insisted that the process was proceeding 'honorably' in reply to the pro-Kurdish DEM Party’s demand for bolder legislative action, while the parliament speaker blamed delays on missed disarmament deadlines.
ERDOĞAN’S ELECTION PLAN
The CHP is seeking to win power but is trying to do politics while caught in a major judicial clampdown. Operations target municipalities on one front, and the threat of an “absolute nullity” ruling persists against the party center.
MÜJDAT GEZEN COULD DIE ON STAGE
'Trees die standing.' That is the title of a play that has been staged in our theaters for many years. Müjdat Gezen is 83 years old and has been a performer for more than 60 years. Not just on stage — also a film actor and television personality. He has spent most of his life, in a sense, broadcasting live. His life is, in fact, a summary of Turkey's most turbulent era.
SİGARA / CIGARETTE
Sigara (and its unruly cousin, cigara) comes to Turkish via Italian — a linguistic clue that matches the prevailing historical account: tobacco reached the Ottoman Empire in the 17th century through Genoese trade routes, though some credit goes to the British. Origins aside, the word now points to a habit so entrenched it once traveled abroad as cliché: “smoke like a Turk.”
FROM THE RIGHT AND THE LEFT: HÜSAMETTİN CİNDORUK AND YALÇIN KÜÇÜK
As Hüsamettin Cindoruk and Yalçın Küçük passed away within days of each other, this is an attempt to sketch their portraits in a single piece. They were close in age. While they may have moved in different political lanes, they still shared firsthand experience of more than sixty years of this country’s political life.
NOT A QUORUM CRISIS, BUT A SYSTEMIC ONE
“The opposition called for a quorum check, and when the required majority was not met, parliament was adjourned.” In recent months, this recurring news in parliament is not merely a simple quorum crisis. Behind it lie both structural problems inherent in the presidential system and the power struggle between the government and the opposition, spilling into parliamentary proceedings.
FOUR JOURNALISTS SENTENCED TO PRISON
Two Turkish courts have handed down prison sentences to four journalists who were facing the same accusation of 'spreading information misleading to the public,' under Article 217/A of the penal code.
DEFINING RECIPROCITY AND THE MADE IN EUROPE CHALLENGE
Concerned by the risk of being excluded from trade with Europe, the AKP government is planning to amend the public procurement law.