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

Turkey

Turkey

November 11, 2026

Ankara 9:09 pm

9°C

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

Will Turkey bid farewell to secularism?

Ismail Kahraman, the speaker of the Turkish parliament, has caused a sensation by proposing a constitution that avoids any reference to secularism as the ruling party continues to promote its Islamist agenda.

A papier mache caricature figure for a carnival float of Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan (L) is prepared for the upcoming Rose Monday carnival parade in Mainz, Germany February 2, 2016. REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach - RTX252Q1

Erdogan’s wrath against satire expands into Europe

After jailing and suppressing journalists in his country, will Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s onslaught on free speech in Europe backfire?

Police secure the scene after two rockets hit the Turkish town of Kilis near the Syrian border, Turkey, April 24, 2016. REUTERS/Umit Bektas - RTX2BEBD

Will Turkey ask NATO for help defending against IS rockets?

Turkish citizens are calling on their government to boost its feeble response to IS shelling from Syria.

A Turkish woman smokes at an open air tea house in Istanbul July 14, 2009. Smokers in Turkey tempted to flout an imminent ban in cafes, restaurants and bars will be spared execution as allegedly meted out in 17th-Century Istanbul -- but their Prime Minister has likened cigarettes to terrorism. That's a measure of how strongly Tayyip Erdogan feels about tobacco. Sultan Murad IV is said to have roamed the streets ordering the execution of those who defied a smoking ban aimed at curbing coffee house sedition.

Why Turkey's anti-tobacco efforts went up in smoke

Smoking and drug abuse are on the rise among Turks, and experts blame worsening poverty levels and faltering measures on the government’s part.

Erdogan, Davutoglu shed tears for Gaza, but do little else

Turkey as well as the oil-rich Gulf states have still not fulfilled their pledges to help with the reconstruction and development of Gaza.

What Turkey can learn from coup plot case dismissal

The judgments rendered in the Ergenekon coup-attempt case have been dismissed after nine years because of errors in merit and procedure.

Worshippers offer their Friday prayers during the first Friday of the holy month of Ramadan at Eyup Sultan mosque in Istanbul August 5, 2011.REUTERS/Osman Orsal (TURKEY - Tags: RELIGION SOCIETY) - RTR2PMXC

Is Islamophobia on the rise in Turkey?

A researcher in Turkey’s southeast says radical Islamist groups and the bloodshed in Syria have fueled estrangement from Islam in the Kurdish-majority region, where Islamist-secularist tensions have simmered for decades.

Turkish soldiers march during a parade marking the 93rd anniversary of Victory Day in Ankara, Turkey, August 30, 2015. REUTERS/Umit Bektas - RTX1Q9PW

How will Turkey's military use its restored standing?

Does the collapse of the coup attempt case enhance Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s power, or is it the resumption of the cycle that governed civilian and military relations during the last decades?

Syrian Kurds expand diplomatic network in Europe

Despite Turkey’s blocking efforts, key Rojava actors PYD and YPG are opening office after office in Europe.

Is Turkey's AKP cashing in on poverty?

Some accuse the AKP of running a “vote-for-aid” deal with the country’s neediest citizens, yet at the same time Turkish opposition parties have failed to convince the public they are committed to supporting the poor.

Why Turkey frets over US-Russian relations

Will Turkey’s leaders have to wait for the next US president to challenge Russia in the manner they would like?

The real reason some Turks are so quick to cry ‘coup’ in Brazil

When Turks comment on the "coup" in Brazil, they are actually speaking about Turkey.