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

Turkey

Turkey

November 12, 2026

Ankara 1:44 am

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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

PYD leader: Russia will stop Turkey from intervening in Syria

Speaking in an exclusive interview with Al-Monitor, PYD leader Salih Muslim says Russia will prevent Turkey from intervening in Syria.

Is Turkey's military returning to politics?

There are many and varied opinions about whether the military plans to intervene in Turkey's politics.

Davutoglu proposes refugee 'container city'

Davutoglu, while advocating a container city for refugees in a safe zone, is ignoring the serious risks it would entail.

Farhat Amat, a fighter from the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), guards a cemetery in the remote Qandil mountains near the Iraq-Iran border in Sulaimaniya, 330 km (205 miles) northeast of Baghdad, July 15, 2007. Amat takes care of the site, which holds 67 graves of PKK fighters killed in the movement's guerrilla war for a Kurdish state. Picture taken July 15, 2007. To match feature IRAQ/TURKEY REUTERS/Shamal Aqrawi (IRAQ) - RTR1S4KZ

Why have PKK cemeteries become a target?

Kurdish militants in Turkey are accused of using cemeteries as military bases and ammunition depots.

Jamal Zahalka (C), an Israeli-Arab lawmaker from the Joint Arab List, is taken out of the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, during Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's speech as he presents his new coalition government following the mid-March general elections, in Jerusalem May 14, 2015. Netanyahu's new rightist coalition government, hobbled from the outset by its razor-thin parliamentary majority, was sworn in late on Thursday amid wrangling within his Likud party over cabinet posts. REUETRS/Jim Holl

Why one Arab Knesset member provoked Israeli police on the Temple Mount

The outburst by Knesset member Jamal Zahalka on the Temple Mount this week reveals the dangerous game he is playing at the sacred site, staging himself as a victim while world leaders gather at UN headquarters.

A Kurdish refugee woman from the Syrian town of Kobani walks with her children at a refugee camp in the border town of Suruc, Sanliurfa province November 17, 2014. REUTERS/Osman Orsal (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS CONFLICT) - RTR4EES6

Turkey's Middle East policy 'fiasco'

Ankara wants to set up three cities for refugees on the Syrian side of the border with EU funds, but suspicions linger about its true intentions.

Pedal power gets Turkish makeover

Turkish activists put heels on wheels to encourage women to ride bicycles for transportation, health, empowerment and a cleaner environment.

What's in store for the future of Turkish-Israeli relations?

After trying to mend Israeli-Turkish relations and ahead of the Turkish general elections set for November, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has reverted to attacking Israel.

Will Russia’s move ruin Erdogan’s plan for Syria?

Will Turkey’s rules of engagement against Syrian planes now apply to Russian planes flying near the Turkish border?

A general view shows St George church, the principal Greek Orthodox cathedral, during the Divine Liturgy on November 30, 2014 in Istanbul as part of the Pope Francis' three day visit in Turkey. Pope Francis held an ecumenical prayer, yesterday, in the Orthodox Church of St. George and a private meeting with Patriarch Bartholomew I, the "first among equals" of the world's estimated 300 million Orthodox believers. In a highly symbolic gesture, the pope asked Bartholomew to kiss his brow in a blessing and bowe

Turkey’s non-Muslims demand apology from Ankara

On the 60th anniversary of the Istanbul pogroms, Turkey’s exiled minorities and their descendants are demanding acknowledgment and restitution from the Turkish state.

Journalists face further violence in southeast Turkey

The tension and restrictions that have affected social, economic, education and health services are now threatening journalists, and journalism itself.

Will US, Russia find common ground in Syria?

A common enemy, the Islamic State, should be the first step in an expanded international coalition; does Iraqi Kurdistan face the prospect of "administrative breakup"?