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

Turkey

Turkey

November 11, 2026

Ankara 8:50 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

Hakan Fidan 222.JPG

Who's Out to Get Turkey’s Spymaster?

The pressure on Turkish Intelligence head Hakan Fidan may be a sign of concern over a shift in Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s policies toward Syria and Iran.

The cruise liner Mavi Marmara arrives at the port of Istanbul December 26, 2010. Nine Turkish activists died in May when Israeli commandos raided the boat, which was part of a flotilla seeking to break the blockade imposed on the Gaza Strip. REUTERS/Osman Orsal (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTXW0MA

Israeli-Turkish Ties Sink to New Low

The revelation that the head of Turkish Intelligence may have blown the cover of Israeli agents has deepened the crisis in US-Turkey relations.

Members of the Free Syrian Army patrol in the northern Syrian town of Ras al-Ain as they are pictured from the Turkish border town of Ceylanpinar, Sanliurfa province January 26, 2013. REUTERS/Osman Orsal (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS CONFLICT) - RTR3CZ0L

Radical Groups Operate On Turkey’s Border

Turkey is increasingly identified as a country facilitating radical forces in Syria, and thereby isolated among its allies.

The Roots of Radicalism In Political Islam

Sunni and Shiite fundamentalists have both sought to return to their own ideal version of history while rejecting modernity.

Demonstrators chant slogans during a protest in front of the Istanbul University in Istanbul February 29, 2008. Turkey has lifted a ban on students wearing Muslim headscarves but covered women are still marching on university gates demanding to be let in. REUTERS/Osman Orsal (TURKEY) - RTR1XQ76

Turkey’s Islamic Liberals

The liberal voices among Turkey's conservatives, many of them women, will be the bellwethers of social change.

Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan attends the first working session of the G20 Summit in Constantine Palace in Strelna near St. Petersburg, September 5, 2013. REUTERS/Sergei Karpukhin (RUSSIA - Tags: POLITICS) - RTX138DI

Is Turkey Digging a Hole With Its Syria policy?

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is also the enemy of Salafists fighting the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Turkey's European Union Minister Egemen Bagis speaks during a news conference in Istanbul October 12, 2011. European Union candidate Turkey's only goal in talks with the bloc is full membership and no other options are acceptable, Turkish EU Minister Egemen Bagis told a news conference on Wednesday after the release of the latest EU progress report. The Commission urged the European Union to continue talks with Turkey but said no progress was achieved in the last year, adding that it was concerned about ten

The EU's Mixed Report on Turkey

The chill between the EU and Turkey continues as the annual progress report by the EU Commission attempts to keep a delicate balance between criticism and encouragement.

Erdogan Provides Eid Allowance To Journalist

A reporter asks, and receives, an eid allowance from Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Riot police chase demonstrators during a protest in central Istanbul September 10, 2013. Turkish police fired rounds of teargas to disperse a crowd of several hundred demonstrators rallying in central Istanbul on Tuesday against the death of a protester in the southern province of Hatay earlier in the day, witnesses said. REUTERS/Osman Orsal (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTX13G62

Could Turkey’s Christians Wear Police Uniforms?

A police department statement encouraging Turkey’s non-Muslims to become police officers is positive, but Turkey should still revoke the ancestry registry.

Turkish men flash nationalist gestures while carrying a poster of Syria's President Bashar al-Assad as they drive to the Oncupinar border crossing during a demonstration in support of Syrian government near the Turkish-Syrian border town of Kilis, Gaziantep province, January 12, 2012. REUTERS/Umit Bektas (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTR2W6OM

Assad Is a HeroFor Turkey's Neo-Nationalists

For at least 20% of the people in Turkey, Bashar al-Assad is the only hope for toppling Erdogan.

A weapons dealer checks AK-47 rifles before selling it to smugglers transferring it to Syria, at his house near the city of Mosul, 390km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, February 16, 2012. The weapons dealers sell a rifle for about $1000. REUTERS/Stringer (IRAQ - Tags: CONFLICT) - RTR2XY8B

Smugglers Easily Cross Iraq’s Border

Despite the efforts of Iraq and the six countries bordering it, Iraq’s borders are easily navigated by professional smugglers.

Turkish protesters march with a burnt national flag as they shout slogans against Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan during a demonstration against the Turkish government's policy on Syria, in the town of Reyhanli in Hatay province, near the Turkish-Syrian border, May 13, 2013. Syria's information minister has blamed Turkey's government for deadly car bombings near the Syrian border and branded Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan a "murderer", state-run Russian TV company RT reported on Monday. It said he repeated a d

Pressure Mounts on Turkey Over Radical Groups in Syria

A recent Human Rights Watch report has drawn further attention to the need for Turkey to control its border and prevent the influx of jihadists to Syria.