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

Turkey

Turkey

November 11, 2026

Ankara 10:30 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

U.N. envoy Staffan de Mistura speaks to Syria's Ambassador to the United Nations Bashar al Jaafari (R) during the Syria peace talks in in Geneva, Switzerland, January 29, 2016. REUTERS/Jean-Marc Ferre/United Nations/Handout via Reuters ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS PICTURE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. REUTERS IS UNABLE TO INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY THE AUTHENTICITY, CONTENT, LOCATION OR DATE OF THIS IMAGE. IT IS DISTRIBUTED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED BY REUTERS, AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS. EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NOT FOR SALE FOR

Should armed groups allied with al-Qaeda be included in Syria peace talks?

Our answer is no; Erekat’s “main priority is not to allow IS to raise its flag in Palestine”; Turkey responds to Biden with fake news.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi (C), Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades (R) and Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras chat outside the Presidential Palace in Nicosia, April 29, 2015. Greece will launch consultations with Egypt and Cyprus to establish maritime boundaries in the eastern Mediterranean, Tsipras said on Wednesday. REUTERS/Yiannis Kourtoglou

- RTX1ATIB

Is Turkey the odd man out as Egypt, Greece, Cyprus cozy up?

Cairo, Athens and Nicosia are busy forging cooperation pacts.

Under pressure from Turkey, UN excludes PYD from Syria talks

Turkey has won the battle over the Syrian Kurdish nationalist Democratic Union Party by blackmailing the United States into leaving the group out of the Geneva III talks.

How fake news helps AKP propaganda

Turkey’s pro-AKP media is presenting a counterfactual world to its readers; the latest example is "news" about the "FBI arrest" of 9/11 deniers.

Turkey's military mules take their marching orders seriously

Modern armies spend millions of dollars to develop high-tech robotic systems, but none can replace mules as reliable carriers in bad weather over rough terrain.

A woman walks past a banner that reads, "Even you arrest (journalists) or censor (media) we know that you are a war criminal Tayyip" and with a picture of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during a protest over the arrest of journalists Can Dundar and Erdem Gul in Ankara, Turkey, November 27, 2015. Around 2,000 people protested on Friday over the arrest of two prominent journalists on charges of espionage and terrorist propaganda, a case that has revived long-standing criticism of Turkey's record on pr

Want to call Erdogan a dictator? Get ready to hire some lawyers

The Turkish government has launched two court cases against the media for allegedly offending President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Employees from a Turkish-owned company in Israel protest against the recent tensions between the two countries outside the Turkish embassy in Tel Aviv December 28, 2010. Israel will not apologise to Turkey for a May raid on a Turkish-led convoy that killed nine Turkish activists and talks to mend ties have so far fallen short, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday. REUTERS/Nir Elias (ISRAEL - Tags: POLITICS) - RTXW1ZV

Why Israel needs Turkey now more than ever

Israel and Turkey are strengthening their relations as both keep a wary eye on Iran's outreach to the world and regional countries.

How Biden annoyed Ankara during his recent visit to Turkey

Was the US vice president's awkward talks with the Turkish president and prime minister a harbinger of even more tension in already strained ties between the two countries?

Local movie blockbusters break revenue records in Turkey

The path of democracy will influence the future of the Turkish film industry.

Abu Dhabi's Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan (R) is welcomed by Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan as he arrives for a meeting in Ankara February 28, 2012. REUTERS/Umit Bektas (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS ENVIRONMENT) - RTR2YKVT

How Turkey is losing a top trade partner

Turkey is experiencing a serious but underreported crisis with its biggest export market in the Gulf.

A Syrian man who had fled the war in his homeland stands outside shops run by Syrians in a low-income neighborhood of Ankara, Turkey, September 29, 2015. Nearly five years after the conflict in Syria began, Turkey has shouldered the brunt of the humanitarian burden, sheltering at least 2.3 million Syrians, the largest refugee population in the world. But tensions are simmering between Turk and Syrians as it struggles to integrate a population that does not speak the language and is largely prevented from wo

Turkey grants Syrians right to work, but is it too little, too late?

Ankara has finally granted Syrians the right to work in a belated move to stop more highly qualified refugees’ flight to Europe.

The AKP's strange bedfellows

When Dogu Perincek, the leader of the ultra-left and ultranationalist Patriotic Party, announces a "united front" with Turkey's ruling AKP, one should see why.