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

Turkey

Turkey

November 12, 2026

Ankara 6:40 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

Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan addresses members of parliament from his ruling AK Party (AKP) during a meeting at the Turkish parliament in Ankara April 8, 2014. Turkey's first directly elected president will be a more powerful figure than the current largely ceremonial role, Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan was quoted on Tuesday as saying, boosting expectations he may run for the post in August. Erdogan is barred by the rules of his ruling AK Party from standing for a fourth term as prime minister and

Hard choices for Erdogan as he mulls candidacy for president

Turkey is heading to uncharted territory of first direct presidential elections.

Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) shakes hands with Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during their meeting in Moscow's Kremlin November 20, 2013. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov (RUSSIA - Tags: POLITICS) - RTX15LV1

Israel takes strategic alliance with US for granted

Israel’s neutrality toward the crisis in Ukraine is a dangerous precedent in Israel's relations with the US, when taking into account that it can exist without Russia’s help, but not without American support.

An Israeli air force F-15I fighter jet releases flares during an air force pilots' graduation ceremony at Hatzerim air base in southern Israel December 26, 2013. REUTERS/Nir Elias (ISRAEL - Tags: MILITARY TRANSPORT) - RTX16UHR

Israel's military revolution

The changes in the Middle East have triggered a comprehensive transformation within the IDF, including its strategic doctrine, its battalion layout and the application of intelligence in combat operations.

A Moody's sign is displayed on 7 World Trade Center, the company's corporate headquarters in New York, February 6, 2013. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid (UNITED STATES - Tags: BUSINESS) - RTR3DFKX

Turkey criticizes downgraded credit rating

Turkey blames its long-standing quarrel with credit rating agencies on hasty misperceptions of its political stability.

Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan (first row, C) attends a meeting with members of his ruling AK Party at his party headquarters in Ankara September 28, 2011. REUTERS/Umit Bektas (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) - RTR2RXTQ

Is Turkey reverting to a 'muhaberat' state?

The Turkish prime minister's interference with the judiciary and a new intelligence bill could signal a return to a single-ruler era — the era of the "national chief."

Journalists demanding freedom for the media take part in a protest against Turkey's ruling AK Party (AKP) in Ankara February 15, 2014. The signs read: "Journalism is asking questions, not keeping silent" (L) and "Press freedom also means people's freedom to access information" (C and R). REUTERS/Umit Bektas (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST MEDIA) - RTX18VGG

Double standard for press freedom in Turkey

Neither local nor Western press groups condemned the heavy penalties on the pro-government aHaber TV station.

Israeli soldiers check their weapons at a staging near the West Bank city of Hebron April 15, 2014. An Israeli man was killed in a shooting attack on a civilian car near the city of Hebron in the occupied West Bank on Monday, the eve of the Jewish holiday of Passover, military sources said.
REUTERS/Ammar Awad (WEST BANK - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST MILITARY TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) - RTR3LCE0

Lone-wolf attacks on Israeli settlers increase

Individual, unorganized Palestinian attacks against Israeli settlers are difficult to prevent and reflect a frustrated Palestinian street.

A plainclothes policeman shouts after an explosion, which was followed by two further blasts, in front of Cairo University April 2, 2014. A series of explosions outside Cairo University killed two people on Wednesday, including a police brigadier-general, security officials said, in what appeared to be the latest militant attack in a fast-growing insurgency. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh (EGYPT - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTR3JNLM

Terrorism expands from Sinai to Cairo

Armed extremist groups in Egypt have spread their operations from the remote areas of the Sinai Peninsula to the densely populated metropolises of Cairo and the Delta.

A wounded Islamist rebel fighter carries his weapon during what they said was a takeover of the Furn Al-Ali building that was under control by the Syrian regime in Ramouseh, an area located beside Aleppo Artillery school April 12, 2014. REUTERS/Ammar Abdullah (SYRIA - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST CONFLICT TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) - RTR3L05C

West Aleppo faces unending assault

West Aleppo is suffering intense, continuous bombardment as Islamist rebels sustain their largest offensive yet on regime-held areas.

Russia's President Vladimir Putin (R) meets with Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan at the Bocharov Ruchei state residence in Sochi February 7, 2014. REUTERS/Alexei Nikolsky/RIA Novosti/Kremlin (RUSSIA - Tags: POLITICS) ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. IT IS DISTRIBUTED, EXACTLY AS RECEIVED BY REUTERS, AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS - RTX18C9Z

Turkey, Russia tread cautious line over Ukraine

As the conflict between Russia and the West heats up, Ankara and Moscow are finding their neighborly relationship ever more challenging to maintain.

U.S. President Barack Obama (2nd L) is escorted from Marine One to Air Force One as he departs Saudi Arabia to return to Washington March 29, 2014. Obama sought to reassure Saudi King Abdullah on Friday that he would support moderate Syrian rebels and reject a bad nuclear deal with Iran, during a visit designed to allay the kingdom's concerns that its decades-old U.S. alliance had frayed. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque (SAUDI ARABIA - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR3J2HK

US, Saudi drifting apart despite Obama visit

The core pillars that sustained the US-Saudi alliance for decades are crumbling, as changing geopolitical, energy and regional dynamics strain relations.

Shoppers walk in Grand Bazaar in Istanbul April 26, 2008. For hundreds of years Istanbul has lured intrepid travellers in search of the exotic carpets, jewelry and fabrics which filled the ancient alleways of the city's Grand Bazaar. Istanbul's shops are now more likely to entice customers with the wares of Nike, Samsung and GAP as shopping malls sprout across the city at a dizzying pace - a phenomenom which strikingly illustrates Turkey's emerging prosperity. To match Feature TURKEY-MALLS/ REUTERS/Osman

Can Turkey work miracle on current account deficit?

Turkey’s battle against its gaping current account deficit appears to be going well, but dependence on foreign energy supplies remains a major stumbling block.