Analysis
Smart, independent reporting on Turkey's politics, economy and foreign affairs.
A court has ordered the main opposition Chair Özgür Özel to pay damages to Justice Minister Akın Gürlek in a ruling that did little to clarify how many properties the minister actually owns.
“Casablanca” ends on a fogbound airfield. The plane to Lisbon has gone, and the idealists with it. What remains is a cynic and a prefect of police, each of whom has just discovered how useful the other might be. “Louis,” says Rick, “I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.”
The ruling party has rapidly rolled out compensation for some victims of the stock market scandal that is rocking the government, and cut ties with one former minister, while the main opposition Yeni Party links two sitting ministers to the affair.
A check allegation pits Medya A.Ş. executives against each other, while Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu is expected to deliver his main defense next week, by the end of the second session of the Istanbul municipality corruption trial.
Can Atalay, stripped of his parliamentary seat and held in prison since 2022, began a hunger strike as parliament reconvened on Oct. 1, while the main opposition Yeni Party walked out when President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan took the floor during the opening speech.
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.
With the start of the new legislative year on Oct. 1, the main agenda will be the ongoing peace process concerning the Kurdish issue, which faces gridlock about the timing of demands over disarmament, legal guarantees, and the official status of jailed PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan.
After years of demonizing rhetoric against LGBTQ+ people, Turkish authorities launched a nationwide operation named 'My Family Is Safe,' detaining hundreds of people from civil society. The crackdown continued with arrests and access bans targeting dissidents, media outlets and civil society organizations' X accounts, widening to include broader opposition voices who spoke out against the operations. The main charge in the investigation was 'obscenity.'
In contrast to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s declaration that the EU is not a priority for Turkey, new trade and industry measures that are taking shape within the 27-member bloc remain an urgent matter for large sections of the economy.
In football, the transfer window closed Sept. 4. But in politics, it remains wide open as the AKP presses on with a campaign of seduction and coercion unprecedented in Turkish political history.
Annual consumer inflation in Turkey remained above 30% for the 57th consecutive month in August. Official figures from TurkStat put August inflation at 31.5%, slightly slower than 31.75% in July.
The Turkish government has temporarily eliminated the special consumption tax on diesel fuel for the remainder of August in an effort to curb inflation. Pump prices fell by more than 13 percent a day after the government’s decision on Aug. 12.