Analysis
Smart, independent reporting on Turkey's politics, economy and foreign affairs.
The crisis in Turkey’s Ponzi-style fund industry is heading for deadlock as the government refuses to disclose the 141 people and 73 companies that each made more than 100 million liras in unjust gains despite opposition demands for transparency.
More than a month after the fund collapse occurred, the shockwaves continue to rock the stock market. The crisis wiped out trillions of liras in corporate market capitalization and drove key valuation metrics to multi-year lows in Borsa Istanbul.
The government is seeking to create the impression that it is cutting ties with those involved in the stock market scandal and has launched an investigation, announcing that up to a million liras of losses will be repaid to investors soon. But the opposition calls it the 'corruption of the century' and is seeking a parliamentary inquiry.
Garanti BBVA, the high-street bank majority-owned by Spain’s BBVA, has agreed to pay a fine of 1.55 billion liras ($31.8 million) after settling an antitrust investigation into labor market practices, the lender disclosed on the Public Disclosure Platform (KAP).
After the Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK) imposed an 8 million lira administrative fine on ATV, outlets belonging to pro-government Turkuvaz Media published articles targeting the watchdog.
Former Treasury Undersecretary and prominent economist Mahfi Eğilmez calculated that the fair value of the US dollar should be 65 liras based on the Big Mac Index, far above the market exchange rate of 47.50 liras and warned that the holding the exchange rate below its fair value inflates the country's GDP and per capita income figures on paper without making Turks any richer.
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.
Turkey spent 5.5 times more on interest payments than on public investment in the first half of the year, as debt servicing became the single largest item in a budget that ran a deficit of nearly 1 trillion liras.
Suffering from a loss of competitiveness due to the weak lira and high inflation, the head of the Istanbul Apparel Exporters Association (IHKIB) has requested a three-year support program to save the ready-to-wear sector.
Millions of retirees in Turkey are waiting for official inflation data due on July 3 to learn how much their pensions could increase in the second half of the year. TurkStat will announce June inflation figures on July 3, revealing the inflation rate for the first six months of 2026. The data will determine the basis for pension adjustments. The parliament previously set the minimum pension for workers and self-employed retirees at 20,000 Turkish lira ($434) as of Jan. 1, 2026. Any increase to that minimum pension level will require a new legal regulation.
Parliament approved legislation raising the minimum monthly pension to 20,000 lira ($460), an 18.4% increase, with effect from January. The bill, benefiting about 4.9 million retirees, was adopted by the Parliament with the support of the MHP lawmakers amid barbed debate.
The Revenue Administration has announced the top income taxpayers in 2024, with most names once again kept confidential. For the fourth year in a row, Baykar Chair of the Board Selçuk Bayraktar, who is also President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s son-in-law, ranked first, paying 2.77 billion lira in income tax.