Turkey - AL-MONITOR: The Middle Eastʼs leading independent news source since 2012

Turkey

Turkey

November 11, 2026

Ankara 8:38 pm

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People walk past a Bitcoin sign at the entrance of a cryptocurrency exchange office on Nov. 8, 2024, in Istanbul, Turkey.

Watchdog urges Turkey to tighten digital asset rules for $144B crypto economy

A review of Turkey’s crypto-asset regulations by the Financial Stability Board acknowledged significant progress made by local authorities but called for further measures to address potential risks.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (L) and Central Bank Governor Sahap Kavcioglu attend a signing ceremony with Abu Dhabi’s crown prince, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan at the Presidential Complex in Ankara on Nov. 24, 2021. ADEM ALTAN/AFP via Getty Images

Turkey’s banking watchdog chief submits resignation amid fund scandal

Turkey’s government is facing growing criticism over regulators’ failure to prevent a fund scandal involving more than $20 billion.

Chris McGrath/Getty Images

Explainer

Iran war pushes up coal use, complicating Turkey’s COP31 pledge

Turkey is asking world leaders at COP31 to back a global push to use more electricity, even as the Iran war has driven up natural gas prices and pushed some power producers back to coal.

Latest News

Turkey bars MP’s wife from travel after his fund scandal criticism: What to know

OZAN KOSE/AFP via Getty Images

Steel factory explosion in western Turkey kills at least 16

A steel worker works in front of giant iron melting pot in Kardemir Iron and Steel Factory in Karabuk, northwestern Turkey, Aug. 26 2005. (TARIK TINAZAY/AFP via Getty Images)

Analysis

Will Democrats block Trump’s push to deliver Turkey F-35s, lift sanctions?

MEHMET ESER/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

Samuel Wendel

Senior Analyst, Middle East Business & Tech

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

Amberin Zaman

Chief Correspondent

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Jack Dutton

Chief Business Correspondent

In Bristol, reporting on regional business, climate change, AI, tech

Ezgi Akin

Associate Editor (Turkey)

In Ankara, reporting on diplomacy, EU-Turkey ties, NATO

Francesco Schiavi

In Bologna, reporting on security, defense, economy, governance

Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

Wounded Syrian refugees who activists said were injured during shelling by forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, lie in a hospital at Bab El-Hawa on the outskirts of Idlib, near the Syrian-Turkish border April 30, 2013. The Syrian air strike on a headquarters of a rebel brigade along the Turkish border killed at least five people, including children, and wounded dozens more on Tuesday, opposition activists said. Picture taken April 30, 2013. REUTERS/Abdalghne Karoof (SYRIA - Tags: CONFLICT POL

Turkey’s Trouble at the Border

The longer the Syrian civil war goes on, the more Turkey is challenged by both its deteriorating border security and the Syrian refugee crisis, writes Tulin Daloglu.

Coffins of victims killed in air strikes are carried by villagers during a funeral ceremony in Gulyazi near the southeastern Turkish town of Uludere, in Sirnak province, December 30, 2011. Turkish rights groups called on Friday for a U.N.-sponsored investigation after Turkish warplanes killed 35 villagers in an airstrike targeting Kurdish rebels on the Iraqi border that the government has called an operational mistake. REUTERS/Stringer (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR2VQMI

AKP Report on Uludere Airstrike Condemned as 'Whitewash'

Amberin Zaman writes that the December 2011 killing of Kurdish smugglers from Uludere by Turkish warplanes remains a test for the Turkish government.

A Free Syrian Army fighter and a boy hold up weapons on a street at the Syrian town of Tel Abyad, near the border with Turkey, April 23, 2013. Picture taken April 23, 2013. REUTERS/Hamid Khatib (SYRIA - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST CONFLICT SOCIETY) - RTXYY7Q

Turkey Faces 'Lose-Lose' Situation Over Syria

Without a change in its Syria policy, it will be impossible for the Erdogan government to pull out a win, writes Semih Idiz.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gestures as he speaks during a Likud party meeting at the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, in Jerusalem April 22, 2013. REUTERS/Baz Ratner (JERUSALEM - Tags: POLITICS) - RTXYVXD

Netanyahu Will Ignore Arab League's Land-Swap Proposal

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's ideology will prevent him from accepting the pragmatic Arab League peace proposal, writes Akiva Eldar.

ATTENTION EDITORS - VISUAL COVERAGE OF SCENES OF INJURY OR DEATH

Palestinians carry the body of Haitham Al-Mes-hal, who relatives said belonged to a militant Jihadist Salafi organisation, before his burial during his funeral at a cemetery in Gaza City April 30, 2013. Israel on Tuesday launched its first targeted attack on a militant in Gaza since a war in November, killing the Palestinian jihadist in an air strike that put further strain on a five-month-old ceasefire. REUTERS/Suhaib Salem (GAZA - Tags:

Palestinian Groups Ponder Response to Israeli Strike in Gaza

While coordinating a response to the April 30 Israeli air strike, Palestinian groups in Gaza urge respect for the cease-fire agreement signed in November 2012, writes Mohammed Suliman.

Lebanese men watch Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah delivering a televised speech at a cafe in Beirut on April 30, 2013. The chief of powerful Lebanese Shiite Muslim party Hezbollah, a close Damascus ally, said that Syria's friends would not let the embattled regime of President Bashar al-Assad fall. AFP PHOTO / ANWAR AMRO (Photo credit should read ANWAR AMRO/AFP/Getty Images)

Hezbollah Leader 'Will Not Let Syria Fall'

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah has said that "Syria has real friends in the region, and the world will not let Syria fall into the hands of America, Israel or [radical Islamist] groups," reports Ali Hashem from Beirut.

Wilgenburg pic.jpg

Iran Has Reasons to Spoil PKK-Turkey Peace Process

The Kurdistan Workers Party has announced a withdrawal from Turkey, a move that could isolate Iran and end a cease-fire between it and the PKK’s Iranian offshoot, reports Wladimir van Wilgenburg.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry (4th R) and Qatar's Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani (4th L) shake hands after speaking to the media following their meeting with members of the Arab League at Blair House in Washington April 29, 2013. With them are (L-R) Saudi Ambassador to the United States Adel A-Jubeir, Jordan's Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh, Bahrain's Foreign Minister Sheikh Khalid bin Ahmed al Khalifa, Arab League Secretary General Nabil al-Araby, Palestinian Authority Foreign Minister

Arab League Land-Swap Offer Angers Palestinians

The decision by the Arab League’s Washington delegation to offer a land swap to Israel has raised the ire of Palestinians, who say the move was unauthorized, reports Dalia Hatuqa.

Riot police walk through a cloud of tear gas as they clash with May Day protesters trying to break through barricades to reach the city's main square in central Istanbul May 1, 2013. Turkish riot police clashed with thousands of May Day protesters in Istanbul on Wednesday, firing water cannon and tear gas at crowds that tried to break through barricades to reach the city's main square, witnesses said. The incidents followed the pattern of recent years, when May Day demonstrations in Turkey's largest city ha

Turkey's Constitutional 'Mayday'

This year's May Day protests in Istanbul are linked to opposition to a draft constitution by the Justice and Development Party, writes Yavuz Baydar.

Turkish soldiers block a road to Cilvegozu border gate near the town of Reyhanli on the Turkish-Syrian border in Hatay province February 11, 2013. A Syrian minibus exploded at Cilvegozu border post on Turkey's border with Syria near the Turkish town of Reyhanli on Monday, killing at least 13 people including Turkish citizens and wounding dozens more, Turkish officials said. REUTERS/Umit Bektas (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST DISASTER) - RTR3DNGS

Archbishops' Abduction Should Be A Warning to Turkey

The abduction of two Syrian archbishops by armed men on their way to Aleppo while returning from Turkey should be a warning to Ankara that it needs to review its security policies, writes Kadri Gursel.

Armenian protesters shout slogans against Turkey during a demonstation near the Turkish embassy in central Athens, April 24, 2013. Hundreds of Armenians marched to commemorate the 98th anniversary of the mass killing of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire in 1915. Twenty one countries worldwide, including Greece, Russia, and France as well as the European parliament recognize the mass killings as an act of genocide, despite strong objections from Turkey. REUTERS/Yannis Behrakis (GREECE - Tags: CIVIL UNREST ANNI

Turkey's 2015 Plan: Avoid Word 'Genocide' at All Costs

Turkey is preparing a diplomatic offensive to prevent the US and European countries from recognizing the events of 1915 as genocide, writes Orhan Kemal Cengiz.

U.S. President Barack Obama (R) listens to remarks by Jordan's King Abdullah prior to a bilateral meeting in the Oval Office of the White House to discuss issues like the Syrian crisis and regional security, in Washington, April 26, 2013. REUTERS/Mike Theiler (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS) - RTXZ19P

Syria’s Chemical Weapons, Israel and Hezbollah

The US statement about Syrian chemical weapons; Israel weighs in; the debate within Hezbollah about Syria.