Analysis
Smart, independent reporting on Turkey's politics, economy and foreign affairs.
After the reactions of Turkish journalists and media organizations over the refusal to grant them credentials to cover the NATO Summit in Ankara, some member states conveyed their concerns at NATO headquarters.
The ruling AKP submitted the omnibus bill known as the 12th Judicial Package to parliament. The draft law aims to increase judicial efficiency. However, the AKP group stripped the document of numerous highly debated articles originally proposed by the Justice Ministry.
More than 200 people were detained in police raids ahead of the upcoming NATO summit scheduled for July 7-8 in Ankara. Following the sweeping operations launched by the Ankara police on June 23, courts have already ordered the formal arrest of 103 individuals out of 129 referred to the judiciary.
Following the NATO Summit in Ankara, significant changes are expected within the top command echelons of the Turkish Armed Forces.
Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan made a high-profile, two-day visit to Russia, sitting directly across from President Vladimir Putin to signal stable bilateral ties amid speculation that Turkey was distancing itself from Moscow.
A judicial crackdown on Turkey's largest poultry producers has ignited debate over government intervention in the free market, temporary corporate takeovers, and soaring food inflation.
Halkbank, the state lender and fourth-largest bank in Turkey by assets, announced that a nine-year-old US criminal case against the bank is getting closer to a complete end. The bank and the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York submitted a joint plea to the court on June 10, 2026, requesting the dismissal of all charges.
The central bank kept its benchmark policy rate unchanged at 37% for the third consecutive meeting on June 11, matching the consensus forecast of economists. The Monetary Policy Committee also held its overnight lending rate at 40% and its borrowing rate at 35.5%. The central bank last altered its policy rate in January with a 100-basis-point cut.
A few weeks before NATO leaders gather in Ankara, Istanbul hosted a more strange kind of summit. It unfolded not in conference halls, but across ferry terminals, concert queues and crowded streets.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is set to inaugurate Ankara's newly overhauled Etimesgut airfield on June 15, just weeks before the NATO Leaders Summit. But whether Air Force One can use it — particularly for takeoff — may depend on which way US President Donald Trump is headed.
Before the government submits a bill to define Turkish zones of jurisdiction in the surrounding seas, Turkey and Greece have once again clashed off the coast of Cyprus.
According to some, NATO has to become more European in order to remain more Transatlantic. The “Europeanization” of NATO will certainly be the key focus of the Ankara summit in July.