Analysis
Smart, independent reporting on Turkey's politics, economy and foreign affairs.
Bursa lawmaker Cemalettin Kani Torun, who left the Yeni Yol Party group of conservative opposition lawmakers in August soon after the Gelecek Party dissolved itself, joined the AKP and will be an adviser to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on the Terror-Free Turkey process and on Africa policy.
Just as the ink was drying on the Mecca Pact, the deployment of troops is now on the table, following Houthi attacks targeting Saudi Arabia.
Foreign and domestic infrastructure companies are showing interest in the upcoming highway and Bosphorus bridge privatizations. French operator Egis is reportedly emerging as a leading contender for the 30-year operating rights.
The government has put the lucrative Bosphorus bridges and major state highways back on sale 14 years after cancelling a similar tender. The move comes as medium-term plans include significantly higher privatization revenue in the coming years.
The İYİ Party was the only party to vote as a bloc against the framework law on the Kurdish peace process. Its instincts on the nationalist right are already well known. But before turning to the party, it is worth dwelling for a moment on its chair. Let us begin with his name: Müsavat.
The acquisition of French grocery chain Carrefour's Turkish subsidiary, CarrefourSA, by A101's parent company Yeni Mağazacılık, owned by a religious conservative family, has sparked intense online debate over potential restrictions on alcohol sales.
The government plans to privatize state-operated highways and bridges under a 25-year transfer of operating rights model, while officials weigh whether to sell the assets as a single bundle or divide them into separate packages.
Hakan Aran, the CEO of Turkey's largest private bank, İşBank, has warned that small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) face severe difficulties accessing credit, predicting a highly strained second half for 2026.
İYİ Party Chair Müsavat Dervişoğlu refused to recognize court-appointed CHP Chair Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu as a legitimate interlocutor.
All deaths are tragic. They touch a family, a circle of friends, a silence suddenly too large for the room. But some deaths pass beyond the private wound and enter the deeper chambers of public life. They reveal the loss not only of a person, but of a habit of mind, a manner of thinking, a discipline of attention, a way of teaching a society to recognise itself. The death of Professor İlber Ortaylı feels like that kind of loss.
Efforts by conservative and right-wing parties to build a “third way” outside the ruling and main opposition blocs are gaining momentum, as Saadet Party and YRP — both rooted in Turkey’s first political Islamist tradition, the National View (Milli Görüş) shaped by Necmettin Erbakan — step up talks on election cooperation. The renewed contacts signal a shift in relations between the two parties, which had previously been at odds over the movement’s legacy following the founding of YRP in 2018. This time, the talks focus on bringing together Saadet Party, YRP, Gelecek Party and DEVA Party under a common framework, with a broader alliance that could also include the İYİ Party.
An investigation by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office into alleged drug use and prostitution involving celebrities has widened to include Istanbul Municipality and its jailed mayor, Ekrem İmamoğlu, following media reports referring to secret hotel rooms, gambling, private parties and jet travel.