Analysis
Smart, independent reporting on Turkey's politics, economy and foreign affairs.
On Aug. 10, Turkey’s parliament passed what many will call an amnesty for PKK members, on the strict condition that no one call it that. The word appears nowhere in the law, which is titled, in Turkish, the Law on Strengthening National Solidarity and Social Integration.
Turkey has become the world's most expensive borrower in local currency, agreeing to pay interest rates exceeding 41% during back-to-back domestic bond auctions this week.
The Turkish government has temporarily eliminated the special consumption tax on diesel fuel for the remainder of August in an effort to curb inflation. Pump prices fell by more than 13 percent a day after the government’s decision on Aug. 12.
Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan traveled to Libya on Aug. 11 and 12, visiting both Tripoli and Benghazi, in what appears to be the first time a Turkish foreign minister has made a simultaneous visit to meet competing sides in the Libyan conflict.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is expected to welcome new members into the AKP at the party's 25th anniversary event in Ankara on Aug. 14, with two sitting deputies from the İYİ Party set to join.
Police forcibly intervened on Aug. 13 against striking miners outside the Energy Ministry in Ankara, detaining union leaders and multiple workers on the fourth day of their protest over unpaid wages.
A financial crimes operation targeting the Süleymancı religious sect, led by Alihan Kuriş, whose given name is Ali Erhan Kuriş, 46, was carried out across 17 provinces. Detention orders were issued for 49 people, including Kuriş.
The acquisition of French grocery chain Carrefour's Turkish subsidiary, CarrefourSA, by A101's parent company Yeni Mağazacılık, owned by a religious conservative family, has sparked intense online debate over potential restrictions on alcohol sales.
The passenger car and light commercial vehicle market shrank by 10.72% in the first seven months of 2026.
Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, who was installed as the CHP's party chair by the court's absolute nullity ruling on May 21, addressed the parliamentary group on Aug. 4, more than two months after he was placed in this duty.
The Yeni Party became Turkey's main opposition party soon after its founding, with 91 lawmakers among its founders. Mayors and municipal council members continued to join the party, while the crackdown against its supporters continued at full speed across the country.
Following the “absolute nullity” ruling ousting Özgür Özel from the CHP leadership, the expected finally happened: 91 lawmakers led by Özel left the CHP to establish the Yeni Party.