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

Turkey

Turkey

November 12, 2026

Ankara 2:21 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

Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) attends a news conference with Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan in Strelna near St. Petersburg, November 22, 2013. Putin said on Friday Western states must persuade the Syrian opposition to attend talks with President Bashar al-Assad's government which he said should take place as soon as possible. REUTERS/Aleksey Nikolskyi/RIA Novosti/Kremlin (RUSSIA - Tags: POLITICS CONFLICT)

ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. IT IS DISTRIBUTED,

Despite differences, Turkey, Russia forge on

President Vladimir Putin plans to travel to Ankara soon to “open up new horizons” in Turkish-Russian ties, even if the two countries differ on issues such as Syria, Ukraine and Cyprus.

Gold bars are stacked at a safe deposit room of the ProAurum gold house in Munich March 6, 2014. Gold was flat on Thursday as diplomatic efforts to cool the Ukraine crisis depressed demand for assets seen as safe, but the metal found support above $1,330 an ounce from weak U.S. economic data and ahead of a key employment report. REUTERS/Michael Dalder(GERMANY - Tags: BUSINESS COMMODITIES SOCIETY) - RTR3G4CM

Tehran's missing $14 billion

Iranian investigation of the gold trade with Turkey, and Tehran’s pursuit of its missing $14 billion, are likely to strain bilateral ties.

Turkish soldiers stand next to a portrait of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, founder of modern Turkey, as they attend a farewell ceremony at the headquarters of the NATO Rapid Deployable Corps-Turkey (NRDC-T), Turkish 3rd Corps, in Istanbul January 11, 2005, on the eve of their departure to Afghanistan. Turkish 3rd Corps (NRDC-T) troops, who will start to deploy to Afghanistan on January 12, will take over the leadership of ISAF VII in Kabul between February and August 2005. REUTERS/Fatih Saribas FS/MD - RTRK9J3

Turkish military support to Afghanistan rises

While most countries are downsizing their military assistance to Afghanistan, Turkey is offering more military support and training.

An election campaign banner of Turkey's Prime Minister and presidential candidate Tayyip Erdogan is seen near a mosque in Istanbul August 9, 2014. Erdogan is set to secure his place in history as Turkey's first popularly-elected president on Sunday, but his tightening grip on power has polarised the nation, worried Western allies and raised fears of creeping authoritarianism. REUTERS/Murad Sezer (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS ELECTIONS) - RTR41T1P

From Ataturk to Erdogan: Turks rewrite history

In the 1930s, Ataturk promoted a radical revision of history to boost the morale of Turks, while today President Recep Tayyip Erdogan seems to be engaging in another historical revision to boost the morale of fellow Muslims.

French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve (2nd R) hosts a meeting of the European G6 interior ministers on November 6, 2014 in Paris. Interior ministers of Spain, Germany, UK, Italy and Poland were meeting with Cazeneuve on November 6 to discuss the fight against terrorism and in particular the problem of "foreign fighters" traveling in Syria and ways to combat their recruiting online. The Turkish and Canadian interior ministers, as well as the American Ministers of Justice and Homeland Security were invit

EU ministers discuss jihadist travel to Syria, border security

While the G6 meeting of interior ministers on Nov. 6 focused on jihadists traveling from Europe to Syria via Turkey, the European Parliament is considering putting in place more stringent security checks and travel restrictions.

Turkey's Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu (R) walks with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry at the prime minister's office in Ankara September 12, 2014. Kerry met Turkish leaders on Friday to try to win support for U.S.-led military action against Islamic State, but Ankara's reluctance to play a frontline role showed the difficulty of building a coalition for a regional war. REUTERS/Brendan Smialowski/Pool (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR460SV

Davutoglu's wishful thinking

Remarks by Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu that US President Barack Obama is coming around to Ankara’s position on Syria are not supported by statements from Washington.

Kurdish refugees watch from a hilltop as thick smoke rises from the Syrian town of Kobani during heavy fighting between Islamic State and Kurdish Peshmerga forces, seen from near the Mursitpinar border crossing on the Turkish-Syrian border in the southeastern town of Suruc in Sanliurfa province October 26, 2014. REUTERS/Yannis Behrakis (TURKEY - Tags: MILITARY CONFLICT POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTR4BNM6

Watching Kobani

The writer gives a personal account of his trip on Nov. 15-16 to Suruc, across from Kobani on the Turkish side of the border, and relates how locals believe that the Kobani battle may bring an end to the Islamic State in military terms.

How a German doctor became a PKK hero

"Dr. Medya," a physician from Hamburg, talks about her more than 20 years in the Kurdistan Workers Party in a rare interview.

Kemal Kilicdaroglu (2nd L), leader of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), releases a dove during an election rally in Adana, southern Turkey, March 27, 2014. Turkey's main opposition party has barely dented support for Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan despite months of anti-government protests, an investigation into government graft and hours of incriminating conversations leaked online. Kemal Kilicdaroglu, head of the Republican People's Party (CHP), at campaign rallies in more than 70 cities

Will CHP face its dark past?

For the Republican People’s Party (CHP) to become a real alternative to the Justice and Development Party (AKP), its leader, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, should start an honest dialogue about the party’s past.

Members of trade unions chant slogans against Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan as they march at Taksim Square in Istanbul June 5, 2013. Turkish trade unionists marched into an Istanbul square on Wednesday, joining unprecedented protests against Erdogan over what they see as his authoritarian rule. REUTERS/Yannis Behrakis (TURKEY - Tags: CIVIL UNREST POLITICS BUSINESS EMPLOYMENT) - RTX10CIK

New Turkish law deals blow to unions

Turkey's unionized workforce has dropped from 57.5% to 9.6% over the past decade, with Ankara offering weak solutions to the problem, including a hotline where workers can report their bosses.

Iraq's Kurdistan Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani (R) speaks with Turkey's Energy Minister Taner Yildiz (L) at the Iraq-Kurdistan Oil and Gas Conference at Arbil in Iraq's Kurdistan region, December 2, 2013. Turkey said on Monday it stood by a bilateral oil deal with Iraq's Kurdistan region that bypassed central government but wanted to win Baghdad's support by drawing it into the arrangement. Reuters reported that Turkey and Iraqi Kurdistan signed a multi-billion-dollar energy package last week, infuriatin

Turkey's Kurdish client state

Turkey has tremendous financial and security influence over the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, exposing Erbil to economic and political vulnerabilities.

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Politics strain Turkey's first Kurdish-language institute

Turkey’s first Kurdish-language institute has been torn between the government and the Kurdish movement, while attracting scholars from all four parts of Kurdistan.