Analysis
Smart, independent reporting on Turkey's politics, economy and foreign affairs.
Eight ministers will take up four regional files at their first joint meeting. Their host, Turkey, plans to raise nearly every other problem on the international agenda, all in a single day.
Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan hosted Justice Minister Akın Gürlek in Ankara on Oct. 13. The Foreign Ministry announced the meeting.
Statements attributed to Central Bank Governor Fatih Karahan during IMF and World Bank meetings in Bangkok sparked debate over foreign exchange policy, prompting a direct denial from a top market economist who attended the session.
For the first time in nearly five years, Turkey’s annual inflation rate slipped below 30%, giving the central bank room to consider easing monetary policy at its meeting on Oct. 22.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s remarks during a meeting in his hometown of Rize sparked debate over an early election, though officials quickly downplayed the likelihood of an imminent vote.
Turkey's National Intelligence Organization (MİT) chief İbrahim Kalın made a visit to Athens on Aug. 28, meeting his Greek counterpart Themistoklis Demiris, head of the National Intelligence Service (EYP), at its headquarters, and the trip was publicized to media with a week delay, as a rare example.
A report by journalist Ebru Çelik of BirGün, who followed the story in person based on a tip and witnessed the events firsthand, proved that extras were gathered to act as supporters for a CHP party meeting for 950 lira (roughly $20) each. The story laid bare a case of manipulation between media and politics.
The central bank kept its benchmark policy rate unchanged at 37% during its Monetary Policy Committee meeting on July 23, matching market expectations. However, business leaders are increasingly complaining about high borrowing costs, tight credit restrictions, and falling industrial output.
“Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan will have several bilateral meetings in the margins of the NATO summit; yet all of them will be very short. His longest meeting will be with Antonio Costa and Ursula Von Der Leyen,” a Turkish diplomat told a European expert at a side event that took place in Ankara.
During the AKP’s 33rd Consultation and Assessment meeting in Sapanca, lawmakers criticized Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek over soaring living costs and low retirement pensions.
The top business association, TÜSİAD, urged the government to focus on development over mere economic growth. The meeting of the group’s High Advisory Council saw Chair Ömer Aras, who was detained last year after criticism over democracy and the rule of law, carefully avoid those topics this time around.
The central bank kept its benchmark policy rate unchanged at 37% for the third consecutive meeting on June 11, matching the consensus forecast of economists. The Monetary Policy Committee also held its overnight lending rate at 40% and its borrowing rate at 35.5%. The central bank last altered its policy rate in January with a 100-basis-point cut.