President Tayyip Erdoğan is on the verge of one of the most difficult decisions of his political life. He has to take this strategic step with high political risk not only as a president but also as a rulnig Justice and Development Party (AKP) leader in the Turkish Grand National Assembly. Parliament’s winter recess ends
The Turkish Ministry of National Defense (MSB) confirmed on January 12 that nine Turkish soldiers were killed while four others sustained injuries during a clash with PKK militants in the Pençe-Kilit Operation (Operation Claw-Lock) area in Northern Iraq. The injured soldiers were swiftly transported to a medical facility, where they are currently undergoing treatment, according
From President Tayyip Erdoğan’s speech at the 97th anniversary ceremony of the National Intelligence Organization (MIT) on January 10, it is possible to draw a few important conclusions or ask questions in terms of Türkiye’s security approach. Before proceeding with the analysis, let us make a few brief notes. “We are living in an era
Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan’s glance at Justice Minister Yılmaz Tunç’s cell phone has become a hot topic in Ankara politics. We will get to that, but first, let me tell you the news. When it was revealed that no replacement for Türkiye’s Ambassador to Washington Murat Mercan, who will complete his term on January 14
President and ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) leader Tayyip Erdoğan took a strategic step and entrusted the local election goal of “Istanbul Again” to former minister Murat Kurum. Kurum was not the candidate most likely to take the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality from the main opposition Republican People’s Party’s (CHP) popular mayor, Ekrem İmamoğlu. For
Türkiye’s Ambassador to Washington, Murat Mercan, announced this week with a message posted on social media that his stint will end due to his retirement age and that he will leave the capital on January 12. As of January 13, Türkiye will be represented at a charge d’affaires in Washington and Türkiye will have no
President and ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) leader Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announced Murat Kurum, former Minister of Urban Planning, Environment and Climate Change, as the candidate who will run against Ekrem İmamoğlu, the current mayor of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality, in the March 31 local elections. “Our aim is to appear before our nation for
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan on Jan. 6 in Istanbul as a part of his week-long diplomatic tour amidst escalating tensions in the Middle East, particularly in the context of the ongoing Israel-Hamas war. The high-level meeting attended by Fidan, National Intelligence
The legal proceedings surrounding the imprisonment of Can Atalay, a lawmaker from the Turkish Worker’s Party (TİP), have escalated into an acute crisis within the Turkish higher judiciary. On January 3, the 3rd Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court of Appeals once again resisted the Constitutional Court’s directive to release Atalay from prison, accusing it of
The Ministry of Treasury and Finance published Türkiye’s top taxpayers list after 3 years on January 3, revealing that President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s son-in-law and Türkiye’s drone manufacturer Baykar’s chairman, Selçuk Bayraktar, has been the top taxpayer for three years in a row: 2020, 2021, and 2022. First of all, congratulations to Bayraktar. He became