Analysis

In-Depth Analysis

Smart, independent reporting on Turkey's politics, economy and foreign affairs.

COURT KEEPS ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIVIST BEHIND BARS
Inside Turkey May 1, 2026

COURT KEEPS ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIVIST BEHIND BARS

Esra Işık, an activist from the village of İkizköy in Muğla’s Milas district who has spent years fighting to save her community's olive groves and farmland from coal mining expansion, was brought to her first court hearing on April 27 in handcuffs, escorted by gendarmerie officers from Şakran Prison in İzmir — more than 100 miles from her hometown where her case is being tried.

Editorial Team
EIGHT AKP PROVINCIAL CHAIRS STEP DOWN: WHAT DOES THE SHAKE-UP MEAN?
Capital Currents Sep 26, 2025

EIGHT AKP PROVINCIAL CHAIRS STEP DOWN: WHAT DOES THE SHAKE-UP MEAN?

As politics remains focused on CHP, the resignation of eight provincial chairs from the ruling AKP has prompted the question: What is happening on the government side? The resignations of the provincial chairs of Çanakkale, Niğde, Adıyaman, Elazığ, Muğla, Ordu, Bitlis, and Tunceli—submitted within just 48 hours—were followed by statements from the party headquarters stressing that this was merely a “change of duties to take the party forward” and that “no criminal situation is involved.”

Nergis Demirkaya