HIDDEN GIANT OF TURKISH DEFENSE SECTOR IN ÇORUM
A private company near Çorum with a history of only six years, ARCA Defense, has become the hidden leader of the sector.
Analysis
In-Depth Analysis
Smart, independent reporting on Turkey's politics, economy and foreign affairs.
BAHÇELİ DRAWS THE MAP, ERDOĞAN HOLDS THE WHEEL
Ahead of the AKP’s inaction, MHP Chair Devlet Bahçeli has outlined a detailed institutional framework to advance the peace process, urging all three branches of government to take concrete steps — while President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan declared his government's determination to see it through without giving up caution.
CHP MAYORS: SOME IN JAIL, SOME JOINING THE AKP
Burcu Köksal, the CHP mayor of Afyonkarahisar, joined the AKP this week. With her addition, the number of mayors who have left the CHP and joined the ruling party since the 2024 elections has reached 17.
DISARMAMENT DELAYS COULD DERAIL DEM PARTY CONGRESS PLANS
The PKK’s disarmament, which has now stretched beyond a year and a half, has stalled at precisely the most critical stage — the point at which the state is expected to take action. Unless the government softens its precondition that “the disarmament process must first be fully completed,” the expected legal steps will likely be postponed until the new legislative year in October. The risks posed by delay are being discussed and meanwhile it also appears set to derail the transformation plans of the DEM Party, which has already started the countdown to a congress.
HALK TV IN TURMOIL AS ANCHORS AND EDITORS RESIGN EN MASSE
A wave of resignations has swept through Halk TV, a broadcaster with close ties to the main opposition CHP, as prominent on-air personalities and editors publicly cited internal grievances as their reason for leaving.
TURKEY'S CLIMATE SUMMIT COMES WITH A STEEP BILL
Preparations for the COP31 climate summit, set to be held in Antalya on Nov. 9-20, are fueling controversy over costs, procurement methods and forced land seizures.
ILLEGAL GAMBLING CRACKDOWN ENSNARES PRO-GOVERNMENT MEDIA FIGURE, IŞ BANK EXECUTIVES
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.
FASTER INFLATION AND WIDER CURRENT ACCOUNT DEFICIT THREATEN ŞİMŞEK’S PLAN
Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek warned investors to expect a worsening in the country’s current account and the central bank said it expects faster inflation as strain grows on the government’s economic plans.
WHAT ANKARA DOES NOT PUT ON THE BROCHURE
Ankara is often described by those who do not know it well as a grey city. This is unfair, though not entirely mysterious. A city that must constantly perform seriousness is rarely forgiven for having charm. Yet Ankara’s charm is real. It is private, reveals itself slowly, and almost always just outside the official frame. It is a city of dry light, hard hills, old stones, republican geometry, Ottoman shadows, Roman fragments, Seljuk craft and streets that remember more than they are prepared to explain. This is why Ankara deserves a cultural diplomacy route, a way of showing visitors not only what the city proudly displays, but also what it half-remembers, neglects, misnames, hides or leaves to survive behind other buildings.
HALKI EMERGES AGAIN AS A TEST OF TURKEY’S RELIGIOUS POLITICS
A historic sanatorium on Heybeliada — the island also known as Halki — is set to be transferred to the Directorate of Religious Affairs for the second time, after a previous transfer was annulled by a court. The move comes as the same island is at the center of another religious question: the possible reopening of the Greek Orthodox Halki Seminary.
ANKARA WANTS NATO TO LOOK SOUTH AS MUCH AS NORTH
Turkey wants NATO to address threats from all directions — including from Middle Eastern countries — during the Ankara Summit on July 7-8. 'We are reminded that what happens in the south does not stay in the south,' said Ambassador Mehmet Burçin Gönenli, director general for International Security Affairs at the Foreign Ministry, speaking at the 18th Istanbul Security Conference organized by Başkent University and the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung.
BILAL ERDOĞAN HEADS AKP DELEGATION IN SYRIA VISIT
Bilal Erdoğan, son of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and chair of the İlim Yayma Foundation, visited Syria on May 14 alongside a senior AKP delegation that included Deputy Chair and Head of Foreign Relations Zafer Sırakaya, parliamentary group deputy chair Abdulhamit Gül, and Gaziantep Mayor Fatma Şahin.