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

Turkey

Turkey

November 11, 2026

Ankara 10:40 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

Photographers hold up placards as they protest against government policies and the Muslim Brotherhood's treatment towards photographers, in Cairo March 19, 2013. REUTERS/Khaled Elfiqi/Egyptian Photo Journalistic Society/Pool (EGYPT - Tags: POLITICS MEDIA CIVIL UNREST) - RTR3F6WN

Egypt's Journalists Face Violence In Wake of Army Takeover

Following the coup that toppled former President Mohammed Morsi, Egypt’s journalists have faced abuse at the hands of state security.

A woman listens to Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan's speech during his rally in Ankara June 15, 2013. Erdogan warned protesters occupying a central Istanbul park that they should leave before a ruling party rally on Sunday or face eviction by the security forces. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic (TURKEY - Tags: CIVIL UNREST POLITICS) - RTX10OUO

The Master’s Saga: Erdogan’s Documentary

A documentary dedicated to the life of Prime Minister Recep Tayyep Erdogan reveals the fault lines in Turkish politics and society.

Syrian residents carry their belongings as they cross from Syria into Turkey, near the town of Azaz in Syria September 5, 2013. REUTERS/Molhem Barakat (SYRIA - Tags: CIVIL UNREST CONFLICT POLITICS) - RTX138IF

Turkey Calls for Help Receiving Syrian Refugees

Turkey's foreign minister is concerned that another chemical weapons attack could increase the number of refugees from neighboring countries.

Riot police use a water cannon to disperse demonstrators during a protest in central Istanbul July 6, 2013. Turkish police fired teargas and water cannon to disperse hundreds of protesters in an Istanbul square on Saturday as they gathered to enter a park that was the centre of protests against Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan last month. REUTERS/Murad Sezer (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTX11F1Y

Welcome to Post-Gezi Turkey

Developments in the aftermath of mass anti-government protests in Turkey stoke misgivings over the future of Turkish democracy.

Locals walk past trucks lined up at the Oncupinar border crossing on the Turkish-Syrian border in the southeastern city of Kilis September 5, 2013. Every day, hundreds of trucks piled high with goods ranging from cooking oil to cement and nappies form queues stretching for miles at Oncupinar, now a bustling hub for trade with Syria. REUTERS/Umit Bektas (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS BUSINESS CIVIL UNREST CONFLICT) - RTX1389O

Turkey’s Kurdish Strategy Muddled By Talk of US Syria Strike

A slowdown in the peace process with the PKK and anticipation of a US military strike has pushed the Rojava, or Western Kurdistan, opening to the back burner.

A pro-Kurdish demonstrator covers her face as riot police prevent protestors from marching, at Taksim square in central Istanbul February 15, 2012. Supporters of the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) held a protest to mark the 13th anniversary of the capture of Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Ocalan. REUTERS/Murad Sezer (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST CRIME LAW) - RTR2XWBQ

US Strike in Syria Won't Affect Stalled Turkey-PKK Peace Talks

Turkey-PKK negotiations are already stalled.

Palestinian women cross at an Israeli checkpoint in the West Bank town of Bethlehem, during the holy month of Ramadan July 26, 2013. REUTERS/Baz Ratner (WEST BANK - Tags: POLITICS RELIGION SOCIETY) - RTX11ZWA

Israel's Checkpoint Princesses

The Israeli women of Machsom Watch mediate between Palestinians traveling through checkpoints and the Israeli soldiers who operate them.

A Palestinian man drives on the border between Egypt and the southern Gaza Strip September 3, 2013. Egyptian security forces have destroyed some 20 houses along the border with Gaza, local residents said on Tuesday, in what the Palestinian enclave's Islamist Hamas rulers fear is an effort to build a buffer zone to isolate them.
REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa (GAZA - Tags: POLITICS) - RTX135NS

Egypt's Buffer-Zone Move Shocks Hamas

Egypt's decision to establish a buffer zone on the Gaza border has raised Palestinian fears of a possible armed confrontation.

Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan addresses the members of his ruling AK Party (AKP), as he stands in front of the Turkey's national flag and portraits of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, founder of modern Turkey, and of himself during a meeting at his party headquarters in Ankara July 11, 2012. REUTERS/Umit Bektas (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR34TO6

The AKP, Ibn Khaldun and The New 'Desert Tribes' of Turkey

Medieval Muslim thinker Ibn Khaldun provides insight into the evolution and prospects for the AKP.

Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan (C) attends a ceremony marking the 91st anniversary of Victory Day at the mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, founder of modern Turkey, in Ankara August 30, 2013. REUTERS/Umit Bektas (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS MILITARY) - RTX131DQ

Turkey’s Middle East Policy Lies in Shambles

While Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan may still have some admirers in the "Arab street," he may be losing the admiration of many of the region’s leaders.

Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan gestures as he addresses the media before leaving for Turkmenistan at Esenboga Airport in Ankara August 15, 2013. Erdogan called on Thursday for the U.N. Security Council to convene quickly and act after what he described as a massacre in Egypt, during a news conference in Ankara. REUTERS/Umit Bektas (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS) - RTX12M4D

Is Turkey Backpedaling on Syria?

Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc has signaled that Turkey hasn't fully decided to join the coalition of the willing against the Syrian regime.

Orobik Eminian, 98, who was the only member of her family to escape the World War One killing of Armenians by Ottoman Turks, joins others in commemorating the 95th anniversary of the killings and a call for it to be termed a genocide in New York City April 25, 2010. Turkey rejects the term and denies that up to 1.5 million Armenians died. It says many Muslim Turks and Kurds, as well as Christian Armenians, were killed in inter-communal violence as Russian forces invaded eastern Anatolia during World War One

Turkey’s Kurds Seek Forgiveness For 1915 Armenian Tragedy

Turkey’s Kurds are taking responsibility for their role in the mass killings of Ottoman Armenians in 1915.