NO MORE TAX BREAKS
The government will discontinue its 'sliding scale' fuel tax offset mechanism at the end of 2026, shifting focus toward boosting budget revenues ahead of potential elections in 2027 or early 2028.
Analysis
In-Depth Analysis
Smart, independent reporting on Turkey's politics, economy and foreign affairs.
INTEREST SWALLOWS TURKEY'S BUDGET
Turkey spent 5.5 times more on interest payments than on public investment in the first half of the year, as debt servicing became the single largest item in a budget that ran a deficit of nearly 1 trillion liras.
NEW TAX INCENTIVES FOR NUCLEAR POWER INVESTMENTS
The parliament’s Planning and Budget Committee has approved an omnibus bill introducing significant tax incentives to boost nuclear energy investments.
ÖZEL STEPS UP STREET RESISTANCE CALLS
CHP Chair Özgür Özel escalated his rhetoric, urging people to take to the streets in response to what he described as a diminishing role for Parliament. Addressing crowds at public rallies and budget debates in Parliament, Özel emphasized the historic weight of legislative authority. “The right to control the budget is humanity’s greatest democratic achievement. Parliament is not born of the budget — the budget is born of Parliament,” he said.
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.
DEFENSE MINISTRY BUDGET UP 31.9% EXCLUDING EUROFIGHTER DEAL
The Defense Ministry’s budget, 623.9 billion lira in 2025, is set to increase 31.9% to 822.9 billion lira in 2026, according to figures released during parliamentary budget talks Nov. 26. This allocation does not cover Turkey’s latest procurement of Eurofighters.
CHILD LABOR TRAGEDIES FUEL TENSIONS IN PARLIAMENT
The deaths of child laborers enrolled in Vocational Training Centers (MESEM) triggered tense exchanges in the Planning and Budget Commission.
BERLIN’S DEFENSE TURN WARMS TIES WITH ANKARA, COOLS CONCERN FOR DEMOCRACY
Turkish democracy is the casualty of Europe’s rediscovery of Turkey’s strategic value. To better understand the context of German Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s visit to Ankara next week, one has to go back to the end of the Cold War. Whereas European countries have benefited from the peace dividend, the contrary happened for Turkey in the aftermath of the fall of the Iron Curtain. After enjoying the relative stability of the bipolar order of the Cold War era, Turkey found itself in the midst of several conflict zones. While most European countries downsized their defense budgets, Turkey had no such luxury. The fight against separatist terrorism, the turbulence created by the Gulf War, and regional conflicts like the ones in the Caucasus dictated the maintenance of a big and well-equipped army.
SPACE BUDGET INCREASED, FIRST MOON LANDING POSTPONED
Funding for space research was increased from 5 billion lira to 8.7 billion lira, but Turkey's first lunar landing project was postponed for another year, according to the 2026 budget bill submitted to Parliament.