Analysis
Smart, independent reporting on Turkey's politics, economy and foreign affairs.
The parliamentary commission formed to pave the way for a new Kurdish peace process remains stuck over whether its members should visit jailed PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan. A planned session of the commission has been postponed once again, even as hopes rise for the release of imprisoned Kurdish politician Selahattin Demirtaş following a third ruling by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).
A series of layoffs, delayed salaries, office closures and suspension of broadcasts at Turkish media outlets has sparked alarm in the sector.
The new legislative year of the Turkish Parliament opened without the CHP, which boycotted the session in protest at President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the ongoing crackdown—starting debate over parliamentary legitimacy. Erdoğan swiftly countered the criticism, declaring that “legitimacy comes from the people.” He followed his remarks with a symbolic gesture: shaking hands with all parliamentary group leaders, including first-time photo-ops after many years with the heads of AKP offshoots DEVA and the Gelecek Party. Notably, Erdoğan coolly used his address to tell the pro-Kurdish DEM Party that the next phase on the Kurdish issue will be implementation. Praising the work of the National Solidarity, Brotherhood and Democracy Commission for holding 12 meetings so far with broad participation from political parties, Erdoğan said, “Once the commission completes its work, we will undoubtedly have very important findings in hand. The next phase will be the implementation of the proposals raised within the commission, as a result of consultation and consensus.”
Trustees have been appointed to 23 companies owned by Aziz İhsan Aktaş, a key figure in operations targeting CHP-run municipalities, and the companies have been transferred to the Savings Deposit Insurance Fund (TMSF).
There is a way of establishing a working relationship with U.S. President Donald Trump. First you have to make sure you see him as a smart, respectable world leader. That’s the easy part. Then you have to lure him with trade deals, making sure he is the winning side. Therefore, it comes as no surprise when Turkey unilaterally dropped its retaliatory tariffs on U.S. products on Sept. 22, a few days before the scheduled meeting between President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House. Buzzwords are important for Trump, and tariff is one of them. The tariffs, which covered products including passenger cars, fruit, rice, tobacco, alcoholic beverages, solid fuels, and chemical products, were introduced in 2018 in response to U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum imports enacted during Trump's first term in office.
With TRIPP, the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity, dominating global headlines, it feels only right to turn our gaze to its Turkish near-homonym: trip atmak or trip yapmak. No, this is not another geopolitical acronym. In Turkish slang, trip is a native borrowing of English, stripped of tourist connotations and recast to mean sulky attitude. (Do watch the TikTok video for a full explanation) You can atmak (“throw”) a trip, a sudden sulk, or yapmak (“make”) one, meaning a longer, more orchestrated performance with a few dismissive or harsh words thrown in. Both have elbowed aside the more traditional surat asmak (“to pout”).
Some Turkish words are as sharp and clear as a gleam of a knife. Others confuse you. Yakışır is a particular gem in the latter category. Literally, it means “befitting” or “suits well.” But intonation does all the heavy lifting here. With a twinkle in the eye, yakışır becomes high praise: a friend gets a long-deserved promotion? “Yakışır!” A suave female CEO in her sixties starts dating a younger man with abs and ambition? “Yakışır vallahi!” But delivered with a dry brow and pursed lips, the very same yakışır morphs into biting derision, the sort you might lob at a corrupt bureaucrat who gets caught rigging tenders again or the son of one of the president’s close allies landing an ambassadorial job.
Altan Öymen passed away this week at the age of 93. Throughout his long life, he always carried two umbrellas—journalism and politics. He journeyed nearly 75 years under both. One could have said “he wore two hats,” but “umbrella” suits Altan Öymen’s life better. A hat is for one person alone; an umbrella is something under which many can take shelter, from the sun and rain. That’s why Öymen chose not hats, but umbrellas. And under his umbrella, there was always room for more than just himself.
All eyes are on Sulaymaniyah in northern Iraq, where the first group of PKK members is set to disarm on July 11 — the organization’s first act of disarmament since its founding nearly 50 years ago. This symbolic ceremony follows the PKK’s May 12 announcement of its decision to disband. Depending on when subscribers opt to read this issue, the footage may have already surfaced.
I had every intention of writing about düğün/wedding this week. Who could resist, after all, the cinematic absurdity of Jeff Bezos’s Venetian wedding extravaganza? It was the sort of wedding you'd rage over for its sheer insouciance over war, poverty, and environmental concerns: a three-day floating carnival of tuxedoed billionaires, Brazilian butts and a $2,000 bottle of tequila airlifted across continents because, apparently, Venice no longer has liquor stores. The bride wore archival Dolce & Gabbana; Ivanka looked pretty in pink and a German-Turkish Bezos lookalike desperately wanted to meet the couple and present a wedding gift. I was far too ready to bitch about arrogant extravagance and muse on Turkish weddings, those long, loud, gold-pinned affairs where uncles compete in folkloric footwork and everyone pretends the damat's family is not agonizing over the costs…
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.
After the deplorable treatment of Zelenskyy at the hands of Trump and Vance in the Oval Office, there is no question that the world, especially Europe, is at a critical threshold. If a brave new Europe is to emerge out of this crisis, every stakeholder must play their part. How President Erdoğan assumes his responsibilities will be of crucial importance for Turkey. By Hakan Okçal