Turkish Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar told the Financial Times on April 28 that negotiations were continuing with the US energy giant Exxon Mobil for 2.5 million tons of liquefied natural gas (LNG) worth 1.1 billion dollars. The Minister was talking about Türkiye’s need to diversify its resources to avoid being dependent on “a single supplier”;
The March 31 local elections in Türkiye marked the most severe defeat for the incumbent AKP in its 20-year reign. This voter backlash was a belated response to a decade of policy missteps that severely disrupted economic stability, especially after September 2021. In the run-up to the general elections in May 2023, the government opened
Public pressure has compelled President Tayyip Erdoğan’s cabinet to take action on another front. The Ministry of Trade announced on April 9 that it would impose trade restrictions on Israel covering 54 product categories. The trade embargo, to be enforced by Ministry of Trade Ömer Bolat, will take effect from April 9 and will remain
The disarray following the CHP’s electoral victory is not only evident in previously AK Party-held municipalities but also within the AKP headquarters and local branches, portraying a sobering sight. The last-minute traders or those attempting to shred documents, the significant effort by Mehmet Uçum, one of the President’s Advisors, to hinder the complete dismantling of
Following an election defeat in 31 March local elections, opposition İYİ Party leader Meral Akşener declared that she would not run for the party leadership at the congress scheduled for April 27 with a surprise announcement on April 8. In her announcement titled “to the Great Turkish Nation…” via the “X” account, Akşener stated, “I
On March 31, Türkiye will once again exercise its democratic right to vote in local government elections. Yet, this election transcends mere local political dynamics; it stands as a pivotal moment shaping the trajectory of Turkish politics at large. In the wake of the May 23 general elections, Türkiye’s political landscape is undergoing significant shifts,
We are heading towards one of the most unfair and unequal elections in our history on March 31st. Despite its being a local elections, its results will have profound effects on Turkish poltical landscape, especially in Istanbul. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan seems to have mobilized the entire state machinery to prevent the re-election of Istanbul’s
Since the bloody attack on the concert hall in Moscow, I have been speaking with sources from the intelligence, security, and diplomatic circles. The point they all converge on is that the March 22 attack of the ISIS Khorasan province branch, (ISIS-K) which killed 139 people in Moscow, differs from known ISIS actions in terms
Turkish President Tayyip Erdoğan complained on March 24 that the participation to his “Great İstanbul Again” rally ahead of the March 31 local elections was less than the half of what he had expected. In fact, he should be grateful that hundreds and thousand of his supporters were there despite the disappointment of the ongoing
We were chatting with an American diplomat, who held high positions in the US State Department while on duty, during the coffee break of an important meeting in Marrakesh. Stating that in the critical period we are in, the USA has been acting as if it has discarded Türkiye. In contrast, new dynamics have emerged