Analysis
Smart, independent reporting on Turkey's politics, economy and foreign affairs.
The Constitutional Court ended discussions about the Yeni Party’s name, but headquarters-backed candidates keep winning in the districts and provinces despite the promises to end the old CHP habit of central control.
Coal miners from Doruk Mining, a subsidiary of Yıldızlar SSS Holding that made the headlines earlier this year, held a new sit-in protest in Ankara, demanding years of unpaid severance and termination benefits as promises were not kept.
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.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan made a U-turn about the oath sworn by cadets graduating from a military academy in which they drew their swords and promised to be the soldiers of Turkey’s founder Mustafa Kemal Atatürk in protecting secularism in the country. “Against whom are you drawing these swords?” asked Erdogan eight days after the incident, joining the chorus that associated the unofficial oath with the military tutelage that Turkey suffered in the past. Then, arguing that the new graduates had fallen into a trap set by others, he told a workshop arranged for religious high school graduates that he would fire those who had influenced the cadets.
Months of competition between Turkey and Australia has come to an end, as Turkey became next year’s host of the UN Climate Change Conference (COP31). Australia will chair the summit, while discussions will focus on the Pacific, according to the compromise reached on Nov. 19, hours before the end of this year's summit in Brazil.
Islamist YRP Chair Fatih Erbakan has promised to repeal Law 6284, the main legal safeguard protecting women from violence and the only remaining protection after Turkey withdrew from the landmark Istanbul Convention in 2021.
With a trustee taking control and editor-in-chief Merdan Yanardağ under arrest, TELE1’s staff continued to resign en masse as the CHP promised to revive the station through a new platform.
Trumpeting that Turkey is on the way to making its fighter jet Kaan, Turkey faced the reality that it was impossible to produce them by 2028, the expected election year, as promised to the public. Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan acknowledged that the future of the project depends on the U.S. Congress and U.S. CAATSA sanctions imposed on Turkey. Fidan’s goals and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s knowledge of the situation topped the agenda.
Mustafa Karasu, a leading figure in the PKK, has said MHP Chair Devlet Bahçeli should keep his promise regarding the “right to hope” for PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan.
With checks and balances eroded and power increasingly centralized, Turkey is facing what may be one of the biggest digital scandals in its history. The online signatures of high-level bureaucrats have been compromised, allowing a criminal network to appoint public servants via the e-State (e-Devlet) system, issue fake diplomas and licenses, forge English proficiency test results and sell properties— raising serious concerns about fraudulent graduates.
The government's push for austerity in the public sector has failed to deliver results. Despite promises to cut costs—particularly through the disposal of surplus vehicles—public institutions spent 161.2 million lira on new vehicle purchases in the first half of 2024, while generating just 5.1 million lira in sales.
As millions of retirees await a long-promised pension hike, Treasury and Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek appeared to downplay the pressure caused by rising rents. Speaking at the ruling AKP’s Kızılcahamam retreat, Şimşek said: “72% of the population owns their home, 28% rent, and only 14% of retirees are renters,” according to pro-government columnist Abdulkadir Selvi.