Analysis
Smart, independent reporting on Turkey's politics, economy and foreign affairs.
Exactly 18 years ago — the summer of 2007. Then-Prime Minister Erdoğan raised Abdullah Gül’s hand in the air, and called him “my brother,” as he announced his candidacy for president. That summer, Gül was elected as Turkey’s 11th president — the first president to emerge from within the AKP. A new era was beginning, with the party’s two most powerful figures holding the posts of president and prime minister.
The recent terror attack in Kashmir and the subsequent tension between India and Pakistan have returned this decades-old rivalry to the spotlight. Events quickly spiralled into a dangerously charged standoff, with India’s initial reaction—withdrawing from the Indus Water Treaty—drawing a fierce response from Pakistan, which even hinted at the possibility of nuclear retaliation.
Muhammed Yakut, a controversial figure known for his YouTube exposes targeting crime networks and political figures, died all of a sudden in Duisburg, Germany, just hours after contacting Turkish journalist İsmail Saymaz to say he was preparing to make “important statements.”
Saudi oil giant Saudi Aramco is in talks with OYAK Group, the country’s largest private pension fund, over a possible partnership involving one of Turkey’s biggest fuel distribution networks, according to journalist Olcay Aydilek.
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.
Ekrem İmamoğlu, the detained Istanbul mayor and the CHP's presidential candidate, shuttled between two courtrooms at the Silivri complex — and both hearings produced developments that cut against the prosecution's narrative.
The Terror-Free Turkey process, widely dubbed as frozen or stalled, has been revived by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s latest remarks. Erdoğan said the process, now entering its 18th month, has reached a critical juncture requiring much more delicate management: “There is a positive atmosphere. What needs to be done is clear. The process is proceeding as it should.”
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan received MHP Chair Devlet Bahçeli at the presidential complex in Ankara on April 30 for a closed-door meeting lasting approximately one hour. It was only the second face-to-face encounter between the two coalition partners this year — their previous meeting took place on Jan. 21— and the first in over three months.
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.
Ankara is happy to see the two-week ceasefire between the US and Iran as a significant first step, but worries it may not hold. The central fear focuses on Israel, which stayed silent through the night of negotiations only to issue a statement on Lebanon afterward.
Three seemingly separate stories — a party purge, a criminal network, and a political assassination — are converging into a single story with the ruling alliance partner MHP at its heart.
Following the appointment of trustees to companies linked to Can Holding, including major media outlets, two senior figures in the ongoing investigation have been released under house arrest.