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.
For nearly half a million retail investors caught in Turkey’s worst financial storm in years, compensation has finally begun to flow. But the first cash distributions came as the fallout spread beyond Turkey’s borders: global index provider MSCI froze index changes for Turkish equities on Oct. 15 and warned of a possible downgrade, while prosecutors broadened their probes and lawmakers scrambled to pass emergency legislation.
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).
The government has ordered the urgent expropriation of nearly 2.6 million square meters of land in the central province of Eskişehir to accelerate mining and build processing facilities for rare earth elements.
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.
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.
“Today marks the 111th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. As we honor the 1.5 million Armenians murdered by the Ottoman Empire across modern-day Turkey, Syria, and Armenia, we must refuse to let history repeat itself;” wrote Zohran Mamdani.
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.
CHP Chair Özgür Özel sparked a political storm by accusing a senior AKP figure of bribing a businessperson to testify against Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu. The CHP leader also suggested that the AKP had used dirty tricks to push CHP Aydın Mayor Özlem Çerçioğlu to transfer to the AKP on the 24th anniversary of the ruling party. Just two hours before the AKP’s celebrations, Özel said that former AKP Central Decision and Executive Board member and lawyer Mücahit Birinci asked imprisoned businessperson Murat Kapki to pay $2 million and promised his release in return for signing a false statement.
Otokar, the Koç Group vehicle manufacturer that signed a €857 million agreement with Romania in Nov. 2024, was fined for the second time for delays in the project schedule.
Broadly defined unemployment in Turkey has climbed close to 12 million, according to a December 2025 report by DİSK-AR, the research branch of the Confederation of Progressive Trade Unions of Turkey.