Analysis
Smart, independent reporting on Turkey's politics, economy and foreign affairs.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan voiced support for U.S. President Donald Trump’s Gaza peace plan without addressing its specifics, even as pro-government media criticized the proposal and the main opposition party expressed conditional backing.
At a time when the U.S. is mediating talks between Israel and Syria in London, the head of Turkish Intelligence İbrahim Kalın met with President Ahmed al‑Sharaa in the Syrian capital, Damascus.
Istanbul’s governorship has cancelled a Sept. 5 concert by French-Algerian singer Enrico Macias at the Harbiye Cemil Topuzlu Open-Air Theater following calls on social media to protest the event.
Hopeful for the disarmament of the PKK after the ceremonial burning of arms, the Turkish government is observing developments on the ground while efforts to establish a commission in the parliament look set to drag into next week. Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmuş visited MHP and CHP chairs, but the commission’s structure and name were not finalized. Now, he is expected to meet once again with the parliamentary group deputy chairs. The meeting, initially planned for July 25 is expected to be postponed to July 28 at the earliest. After the framework is set, commission members will be appointed. While the head of Turkish intelligence, İbrahim Kalın, toured all the party groups in the parliament, the media tracked a tempest in a teapot after MHP Chair Devlet Bahçeli confirmed reports that he proposed appointing two vice presidents—one Kurdish and one Alevi.
The world’s spotlights were turned to Istanbul last week as Russian and Ukrainian delegations met for the first time after three years. The prospect of a potential meeting between the Russian and U.S. leaders in Turkey led to praise for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan by some international media outlets.
When Keriman Halis, a 19-year-old of Circassian descent, won the title of Miss Turkey in 1932, she became the punching bag of some of the media. Surely, wrote several columnists, this girl with the round face and jutting eyebrows had only been chosen because her father, a musician, was on friendly terms with the members of the jury, the writers, composers, and the intellectuals handpicked by the daily Cumhuriyet, which used to organize the pageant back then.
A sweeping operation targeting illegal online gambling and money laundering networks led to the detention of 128 people across 21 provinces on May 14, including polarizing media figure Rasim Ozan Kütahyalı and two senior executives from İş Bank, one of Turkey's largest private banks.
Journalist Deniz Zeyrek writes about a closed-door briefing organized by AKP's media and communications chief Faruk Acar, at which Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan spoke to senior editors and Ankara bureau chiefs from pro-government outlets about Turkey's foreign policy. Zeyrek identifies three problems with the meeting.
A Mother’s Day-themed TV commercial by the German appliance brand Bosch was taken off the air after an outcry from the government, conservative circles and pro-government media outlets over family values.
A district governor in Ankara has been surprisingly reassigned following his religious references, political posturing against CHP members, and social media arguments. Meanwhile, the President of the Constitutional Court addressed jurists with similar religious references while he was demanding they ensure justice through religious frameworks.
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.
The CEO of Turkey’s largest private lender, İşbank, called for an immediate departure from the government’s economic program, saying that global conditions have made the fight against inflation impossible.