Analysis
Smart, independent reporting on Turkey's politics, economy and foreign affairs.
The day jailed Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu was to begin his defense in the Istanbul Municipality trial for the first time since his arrest 19 months ago, a court-appointed trustee cut the live broadcast of the Halk TV, one of his staunchest supporters in the media.
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).
Turkey is shaken by the misdoings of an Anatolian rock singer Haluk Levent, who once topped the list of Turkey's 'most trusted celebrities' due to his leadership of the respected charity organization Ahbap.
Roketsan has acquired Assan's assets, which had been seized by the government, from the TMSF, which was appointed trustee.
Justice Minister Akın Gürlek has staked his reputation on a sweeping review of Turkey's unsolved murders — a calculated move that appears designed as much to rehabilitate the judiciary's battered image as to deliver justice.
The brief respite after a court rejected a bid to unseat main opposition CHP Chair Özgür Özel and annul the party’s 2023 congress has now given way to a widening espionage probe. Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu and his campaign director Necati Özkan were rearrested on espionage charges, while a trustee was appointed to TELE1 television channel and its editor-in-chief, Merdan Yanardağ, was also taken into custody on Oct. 24.
Trustees have been appointed to 23 companies owned by Aziz İhsan Aktaş, a key figure in operations targeting CHP-run municipalities, and the companies have been transferred to the Savings Deposit Insurance Fund (TMSF).
A recent judicial operation that placed the CHP-run Ataşehir municipality under trustee administration has exposed something more damaging than any prosecutor's indictment: the party is being undone, in part, by its own.
The Tele 1, under the administration of a trustee, has been put up for sale by the TMSF before even the first hearing of the case that led to the opposition broadcaster’s seizure.
Following the appointment of trustees to companies linked to Can Holding, including major media outlets, two senior figures in the ongoing investigation have been released under house arrest.
While Ankara has taken steps to reassure Tehran that it is a trustworthy interlocutor, those efforts appear to have fallen short. The United States and Iran have again agreed to meet in Muscat, the capital of Oman, rather than in Istanbul — highlighting Iran’s reluctance to accept Turkey as a venue for nuclear talks.
Ahmet Özer. A Kurd from Van. An academic. He was elected mayor of Istanbul’s Esenyurt district from the CHP in the 2024 local elections. He also holds the distinction of being the first CHP mayor to be arrested and replaced by a state-appointed trustee.