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

Turkey

Turkey

November 12, 2026

Ankara 12:06 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

A man sprays water on supporters of deposed Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi, as they shout slogans during a protest at the Rabaa Adawiya square where they are camping, in Cairo August 2, 2013. Tens of thousands of supporters of Mursi marched through Cairo on Friday, demanding Mursi's reinstatement amidst a looming threat that Egyptian authorities will clear out two pro-Mursi sit-ins with force. REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany (EGYPT - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTX128JA

Obama Administration Navigates New Egypt

Al-Monitor’s coverage and analysis of Egypt.

A billboard advertising the TV series "The Magnificent Century" is seen after being damaged by eggs thrown by pro-Islamic protesters in Istanbul January 9, 2011. A steamy television period drama about a 16th century sultan has angered conservative Muslims in Turkey and sparked a debate over the portrayal of the past in a country rediscovering its Ottoman heritage. "The Magnificent Century" chronicles the life of Suleiman the Magnificent, who ruled the Ottoman Empire during its golden age, showing a young an

Is Turkey's 'Magnificent Century' A Threat or Asset?

How Turkey's "Magnificent Century" soap opera, depicting the life and times of an Ottoman sultan, has managed to draw both fans and critics from the country's neighbors.

A riot police officer orders a news photographer to move away during an anti-government protest in central Istanbul July 28, 2013. REUTERS/Osman Orsal (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) - RTX12327

More Troubling News For Turkish Media’s Independence

Can Dundar, veteran journalist of Milliyet daily, is fired under government pressure.

Women attend Friday prayers during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan at the courtyard of Sultanahmet mosque, also known as the Blue Mosque, in Istanbul July 12, 2013. REUTERS/Murad Sezer (TURKEY - Tags: RELIGION) - RTX11KYO

Erdogan’s Crisis With Pregnant Women

A remark by a supporter of Turkey’s Justice and Development Party (AKP) has created a domestic political crisis for Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

A trader reads a newspaper with the headline that reads "AK Party Term", during the morning session at the Istanbul Stock Exchange June 13, 2011. Turkish stocks rose on Monday after Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan's AK Party won Sunday's parliamentary election to secure a third term of single-party rule. The AK Party won 50 percent of the vote to give Erdogan a third consecutive term. But the AK Party's parliamentary majority slipped, as it won 326 seats, down from 331 in the previous assembly. REUTERS/Murad

Turkish Media Drifting Toward an Abyss

The crisis at Sabah and Milliyet, two of Turkey’s flagship newpapers, has deepened under persistent political pressure, sounding the alarm for the country’s media.

A worker checks cable drums at a factory in the city of Kayseri, central Turkey, June 27, 2006. The confident mood in Kayseri contrasts to the anxiety in Ankara, as they believe Turkey will weather the turbulence rocking its economy, resolve the tension between secularists and Islamists and stay the course to European Union membership. Picture taken June 27, 2006. To match feature TURKEY CRISIS REUTERS/Umit Bektas (TURKEY) - RTR1F0MZ

An Anatolian Tiger Gives Fair Warning to Erdogan

A leader of the conservative business community in Turkey criticizes the government’s latest move against the country’s largest industrial group

A passenger walks beside a train in a train station in Baghdad May 6, 2013. Iraq's infrastructure is dilapidated after decades of war, sanctions and economic decline. In a country where piles of rubble and incomplete buildings are commonplace, almost every sector needs investment, including electricity and the sewage system. But the country is laying plans to rebuild its historic railways and become a transit hub for goods that would be shipped from Asia to Iraq’s neighbours and beyond. Iraq's railways date

Iraqi Women Endure Sexual Harassment

Increasing awareness of sexual harassment and abuse endured by Iraqi women on a daily basis has shed light on the need for social institutions to combat this kind of injustice.

Turkish embassy staff carry their wounded colleague on a stretcher after a suicide car bomb attack at the gates of an office housing Turkish embassy staff in Somalia's capital Mogadishu July 27, 2013. A car loaded with explosives rammed into the gates of an office housing Turkish embassy staff in the Somali capital, killing two people, witnesses and police said on Saturday. REUTERS/Feisal Omar (SOMALIA - Tags: CIVIL UNREST POLITICS TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) - RTX121BU

Why Did Al-Qaeda-Linked Group Hit Turkish Embassy in Somalia?

The al-Shabab terrorist attack on Turkey’s embassy in Mogadishu has provoked further conspiracy theories.

A supporter of Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan stands in front of a police fence as she waits for his arrival at Istanbul's Ataturk airport early June 7, 2013. Erdogan told thousands of cheering supporters on Friday his authority came from the ballot box and urged them not to be drawn into violence, in a show of ruling party strength after a week of fierce anti-government protests. Addressing crowds at Istanbul airport from an open-top bus after returning from a trip to North Africa, Erdogan called on

Turkey’s Twitter 'Fenos' Work to Marginalize Critics

Women journalists, in particular, face the wrath of pro-AKP pundits.

Locals carry a victim, killed in air strikes, to the morgue of a hospital in Uludere, of the Sirnak province December 29, 2011. Turkish warplanes launched air strikes against suspected Kurdish militants in northern Iraq near the Turkish border overnight, the military said on Thursday, but local officials said the attack killed 35 smugglers who were mistaken for guerrillas. The Turkish military confirmed it had launched the strikes after unmanned drones spotted suspected rebels of the Kurdistan Workers' Part

Erdogan’s Doublethink

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s approach to police and military actions is an Orwellian case of "doublethink."

An Israeli flag flutters in the wind as a naval vessel (not seen) escorts the Mavi Marmara, a Gaza-bound ship that was raided by Israeli marines, to the Ashdod port May 31, 2010. Israeli marines stormed the Turkish aid ship bound for Gaza on Monday and 10 pro-Palestinian activists were killed, triggering a profound diplomatic crisis. REUTERS/Amir Cohen (ISRAEL - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST IMAGES OF THE DAY) - RTR2ELLI

Turkey Stalls on Reconciliation With Israel

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has accepted the Turkish conditions for restoring relations between the two countries, but is Ankara willing to move forward?

Oil tankers sail under the Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge linking the city's European and Asian sides, over the Bosphorus waterway in Istanbul April 26, 2012. REUTERS/Osman Orsal (TURKEY - Tags: ENERGY POLITICS BUSINESS MARITIME ENVIRONMENT) - RTR318MG

Environmental Crisis Looms in Turkey

The Turkish media is ignoring possible ecological disasters for fear of angering Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.