On the morning of August 2, millions of Turkish users found that Instagram had been blocked. By 9:30 PM on August 10, access to the platform was restored. However, the reasons for the block, and the circumstances leading to its lifting, remain shrouded in mystery. One popular theory suggests that the ban was triggered by
Another test of pluralist democracy and rule of law within President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP) will take place next week. The test is on August 14-15. The Turkish parliament, currently on summer recess, will convene extraordinarily on August 15 to host Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Following the assassination of Hamas leader
While not a single iota of what the AK Party intends with its rhetoric of a “new and civil constitution” is yet clear, Minister of Justice Yılmaz Tunç has declared that a reform strategy document concerning the judiciary, constituting roughly one-third of the constitution, is being prepared. Neither judiciary can be reformed, nor can a
First and foremost, we must not leave unaddressed the audacity of Israel’s Foreign Minister Israel Katz, who suggested that President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan “is going down the path of Saddam Hussein,” of Irak. The political future of Erdoğan will be decided solely by the Turkish electorate through their votes. Katz, a minister under Benjamin Netanyahu,
President Tayyip Erdoğan and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis were in Cyprus on July 20, on the same occasion but for completely different reasons. For Erdoğan and Türkiye, July 20, 2024, marked the 50th anniversary of the “Peace Operation”, as Prime Minister Bülent Ecevit called it in 1974 to liberate the Island’s Turks from massacres.
Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli’s recent visit to the Police Special Operations Department (PÖH) on July 15 was an evidence that the Turkish government has not learned anything from the July 15 2016 coup attempt. The reason lies behind a scene where Süleyman Karadeniz, Head of the Police Special Operations, welcomed Bahçeli at
Turkish President Tayyip Erdoğan faces “serious personal dangers” claimed opposition Gelecek (Future) Party leader Ahmet Davutoğlu on July 12. During an interview with journalist Murat Sabuncu for the news site T24, Davutoğlu claims that there are “those within the state who think they are stronger than the state”. He said there is a danger of
Türkiye has long been considered an advantageous country for foreign direct investment due to its young population and cheap labor. However, recent studies indicate that this is no longer the case. Statements frequently voiced by government officials, such as “Our industrialists do not want the Syrians to return, the wheels will stop if they do,”
Last week there were news reports about a possible meeting between President Tayyip Erdoğan and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Astana, where Erdoğan was present as a dialogue partner. His meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin was of particular importance but Erdoğan met with leaders of a number of