GÖRGÜN SKIPS EXPORT TARGET, SETS PROJECT MILESTONES FOR 2026
Head of the Defense Industries Presidency (SSB) Haluk Görgün refrained from announcing a total export target for the defense industry, instead outlining project-based goals for 2026.
Analysis
In-Depth Analysis
Smart, independent reporting on Turkey's politics, economy and foreign affairs.
TÜSİAD ELECTS OZAN DIREN AS NEW CHAIR
Turkey’s top business association, TÜSİAD, elected Ozan Diren as its new chair at its ordinary general assembly in Istanbul. Diren, the sole candidate, will serve for the 2026–2027 term. He succeeds Orhan Turan, who completed two terms in office.
DEMIRTAS SENTENCED AGAIN DESPITE FINAL ECHR RULING
Selahattin Demirtaş, former co-chair of the HDP, has been sentenced to one year, five months and 15 days in prison over speeches he delivered in 2015–2016 despite a final and binding European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruling calling for his release.
2026 OPENS WITH UNCERTAINTY OVER KURDISH PEACE PROCESS
With the start of 2026, the future of the peace initiative on the Kurdish issue remains uncertain. The mandate of the National Solidarity, Brotherhood and Democracy Commission, which includes representatives from all parliamentary parties except the İYİ Party, was extended by two months, and the commission has once again delayed finalizing its report, now expected in January.
GOVERNMENT SEEKS UNION APPROVAL ON MINIMUM WAGE
Although unions have refused to participate in the ongoing Minimum Wage Determination Commission meetings, the government is seeking their approval on the 2026 minimum wage — a move seen as an attempt to legitimize a process from which labor groups protest for being excluded.
BAHÇELİ GIVES GREEN LIGHT TO “ÖCALAN FREEDOM” RALLY
MHP Chair Devlet Bahçeli said there was no problem with the rally calling for the release of Abdullah Öcalan to be held by the DEM Party in Diyarbakır on Jan. 4, 2026.
NO MOMENTUM IN SIGHT FOR CYPRUS TALKS AS LEADERS MEET
Turkish and Greek Cypriot leaders met under the facilitation of United Nations Secretary-General’s personal envoy, María Angela Holguín Cuéllar, on Dec. 11. Tufan Erhürman and Nikos Christodoulides reportedly agreed to expedite a series of confidence-building measures. Talks to resolve the decadeslong Cyprus issue are unlikely to gain traction before mid-2026, as both the north and south prepare for critical elections.
SEXUAL ABUSE ALLEGATIONS IN PARLIAMENT
Allegations that vocational high school students interning at the Parliament cafeteria were sexually abused by staff have sparked public outrage. The scandal surfaced after a 16-year-old intern reported the abuse and presented incriminating messages to law enforcement.
MÜLKİYE AT 166: LONG MEMORY OF THE STATE
The opening line of the anthem of Mülkiye, the prestigious Political Science Faculty of Ankara University, declares a single mission: we exist so that the state does not collapse, so that the country does not cry. The “we” here is not a party or a leader’s entourage. It is a cadre trained to answer to something longer than a parliamentary term.
DEATHS OF CHILD LABORERS SPARK PROTESTS
Authorities arrested 16 young leftists who were protesting the deaths of child laborers, many linked to MESEM, Vocational Training Centers run by the Education Ministry.
TURKEY’S 2026 BUDGET MISSES £5.4B EUROFIGHTER COST
Under the agreement signed between Turkey and the U.K., the £5.4 billion payment to the Eurofighter consortium for 20 Typhoon fighter jets was not included in either the Defense Ministry’s budget or the Defense Industry Presidency's (SSB) budget. The Defense Industry Support Fund (SSDF) can be used as a source of funding for this project, but the cost of the Typhoons is approximately double the annual amount transferred to the fund from taxes collected by the state.
CHP’S UNCONTESTED CONGRESS SETS SIGHTS ON POWER IN 2028
In 2020, the CHP held a “Power Congress” under Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu’s leadership; five years later, the party is heading into another congress — this time under the leadership of Özgür Özel and with the slogan “Now Is the Time for Power.” After that congress, held with the claim that the party was on its way to power, Kılıçdaroğlu, now 76, not only lost the 2023 elections but also the CHP chairmanship. Now Özel, in only his third year as a chair at 51, is convening a congress with his own claim to power.