FUND CRISIS HITS MARKETS
The Borsa Istanbul’s benchmark BIST 100 index entered a technical bear market at the end of September, marking its worst monthly performance since the 2008 global financial crisis.
Analysis
In-Depth Analysis
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INSIDE THE COURTROOM: A CONFESSOR MISDATES THE EARTHQUAKE
The main Istanbul Municipality corruption trial completed its 87th day on Sept. 24. The court heard nine more defendants, leaving 63 of 325 still to testify, as the presiding judge aims to complete the second session by the end of September.
CENTRAL BANK SLOWS PACE OF RATE CUTS
The Central Bank eased interest rates more cautiously at its latest meeting, following a sharper-than-expected rise in inflation in September.
CHP CALLS SNAP CONGRESS AS LEGAL BATTLE ESCALATES
Turkey’s main opposition party, the CHP, is set to hold an extraordinary congress on Sept. 21, after more than 900 delegates submitted signatures to Ankara’s Çankaya District Election Board on September 5. The move comes amid a growing legal standoff that has rocked the party’s Istanbul branch. Among the signatories, the 196 Istanbul delegates suspended by court order were not included.
SEPTEMBER STORM IN CHP: FEARS OF A SPLIT
September was expected to be tough for the CHP due to ongoing investigations and trials—but no one expected a storm of this magnitude. Having fought operations targeting its municipalities for the past nine months, the CHP is now shaken by the court decision that appointed a “trustee” to its Istanbul congress. CHP members, calling this a “new judicial coup,” saw the move as the extension of operations against municipalities into the party itself. Speculation has grown that a trustee could also be appointed to the party headquarters in the coming days.
MAN AT THE CENTER OF ISTANBUL PROBE BREAKS HIS SILENCE
Akın Gürlek, Istanbul’s chief public prosecutor known for ordering probes and detentions against the opposition CHP, spoke on camera for the first time at the opening of the new judicial year. He said indictments related to the Istanbul Municipality would be ready in September and October.
WILL ISTANBULITES SLEEP OR FLEE?
In the 1970s, Turkey was plagued by deadly street clashes that claimed at least 10 lives a day. One of the bloodiest moments came in 1977, when the May Day rally in Istanbul’s Taksim Square turned into a massacre after shots were fired into the crowd, killing over 30 people. The ongoing ban on May Day rallies in Taksim dates back to that tragedy. As the violence escalated, conventional media outlets repeatedly asked, “Where is Turkey heading?” The era came to a close with the military coup of September 12, 1980.
ÜMİT ÖZDAĞ
“The first political party leader to be arrested since the September 12, 1980, military coup era after Selahattin Demirtaş.” The arrest of Zafer Party Chair Ümit Özdağ was reported in the media with this headline. However, there is no other similarity that would warrant him being mentioned in the same sentence as Demirtaş. In fact, they belong to entirely different worlds and are entirely opposing figures. Özdağ has been in custody at Silivri Prison for a month since Jan. 21, 2025.
CHANGE OR CONTINUITY IN TURKISH-GREEK RELATIONS?
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan’s upcoming visit to Athens comes at a moment of some confusion about Turkey’s relations with Greece. The status of bilateral ties came under scrutiny after President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan met Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis of Greece on the sidelines of annual UN summit in New York in September.