Analysis
Smart, independent reporting on Turkey's politics, economy and foreign affairs.
A judicial crackdown on Turkey's largest poultry producers has ignited debate over government intervention in the free market, temporary corporate takeovers, and soaring food inflation.
The central bank spent approximately $23.5 billion in foreign exchange interventions during the first two weeks of the Iran war to defend the Turkish lira.
In their first call since unrest spread across Iran, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan told his Iranian counterpart, Masoud Pezeshkian, that Turkey does not support any scenario involving external intervention in Iran, according to a statement from the Turkish Presidency on Jan. 22.
Turkey is watching the protests in Iran with growing concern, warning that U.S. President Donald Trump’s threat of intervention could trigger dangerous regional consequences as Ankara pushes de-escalation through diplomacy with Gulf countries.
Serdar Öktem, a lawyer affiliated with the MHP and a defendant in the 2022 assassination case of former Grey Wolves leader Sinan Ateş, died after being shot outside his office by masked assailants on Oct. 6. The attackers opened fire while Öktem was inside his car in front of his office on Büyükdere Avenue in Istanbul’s Zincirlikuyu district. Surveillance video showed six bullet holes in the window of his car. Despite emergency medical intervention, Öktem succumbed to his injuries at the hospital.
Cyprus, the mythical land of Aphrodite, has long been in the headlines for one defining issue: its division. Since the 1960s, when Greek Cypriots pursued Enosis—union with Greece—the island has been riven by conflict. The Turkish military intervention of July 1974 cemented this division, leaving Northern Cyprus under Turkish protection and Southern Cyprus under Greek Cypriot control. For decades, this seemed to be the central challenge of the island: reunification, or lack thereof. But today, Cyprus is far more than just a frozen conflict—it is becoming one of the most militarized and geopolitically contested territories in the Eastern Mediterranean.
The unintended consequence of U.S. interventions in Iraq and Afghanistan has been the assertion of Iranian power. “We are in power in four capitals,” Iranians used to brag of their presence and clout in Baghdad, Beirut, Damascus and Yemen.
Throughout the Syrian drama, NATO never had a common vision or the resolve to push for a tangible solution to Syria’s descent into the abyss. The Arab Spring confused NATO, as it failed to determine whether it was a threat to the alliance or not. In Libya, NATO got fully engaged, but the outcome was further disintegration of that country. In Syria, a much more complex country, NATO was just reluctant, due to polarized views of member nations. NATO’s prudent planning for intervention came up with a prohibitive cost, which no one wanted to assume.