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

Turkey

Turkey

November 12, 2026

Ankara 1:12 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

Turkey's Prime Minister and leader of ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) Tayyip Erdogan (R) and his guest Egypt's President Mohamed Mursi greet the audience during AK Party congress in Ankara September 30, 2012. Erdogan trumpeted Turkey's credentials as a rising democratic power on Sunday, saying his Islamist-rooted ruling party had become an example to the Muslim world after a decade in charge. Addressing thousands of party members and regional leaders at a congress of his Justice and Development (

Coup in Egypt Strategic Loss For Erdogan

The Egyptian military coup that overthrew Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi is a blow to Turkey’s regional strategy under the AKP government.

Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan addresses members of parliament from his ruling AK Party (AKP) during a meeting at the Turkish parliament in Ankara June 25, 2013. Turkish anti-terrorism police detained 20 people in raids in the capital Ankara on Tuesday in connection with weeks of anti-government protests across the country, media reports said. The unrest began at the end of May when police used force against campaigners opposed to plans to redevelop a central Istanbul park. The protest spiralled int

AKP Comes Unhinged In Response to Critical Media

Is Turkey losing its bearings by denouncing independent media, including Al-Monitor, as “subcontractors for the Zionist lobby?"

Egypt's President Mohamed Mursi waves at the end of his visit to the Mosque of Prophet Mohammed in Madinah July 12, 2012. REUTERS/Saudi Press Agency/Handout (SAUDI ARABIA - Tags: POLITICS RELIGION) FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NOT FOR SALE FOR MARKETING OR ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS. THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. IT IS DISTRIBUTED, EXACTLY AS RECEIVED BY REUTERS, AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS - RTR34VN8

Saudi Arabia Pleased With Morsi’s Fall

Saudi Arabia has a vested interest in the Muslim Brotherhood’s failure in Egypt and the message it sends to sympathetic audiences in the region.

Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan (sitting at the 2nd L of the first row) is flanked by his ministers as Interior Minister Besir Atalay addresses the MPs during a debate at the Turkish Parliament in Ankara November 10, 2009. Turkey's parliament is set to discuss on Tuesday reforms designed to boost the rights of the country's Kurdish minority and end a 25-year separatist conflict -- moves seen boosting its European Union membership ambitions. REUTERS/Umit Bektas (TURKEY POLITICS) - RTXQKNX

Atalay Claims Jewish Diaspora Was Behind Gezi Park Protests

The Turkish Jewish community is concerned by Deputy Prime Minister Besir Atalay's claim that the Jewish Diaspora instigated Gezi Park protests.

Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah speaks at the opening ceremony of the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) summit in Mecca August 14, 2012. Leaders of Muslim countries are expected to suspend Syria's membership of the OIC at a summit in Mecca on Wednesday, despite the vocal objections of President Bashar al-Assad's main ally Iran. REUTERS/Hassan Ali (SAUDI ARABIA - Tags: POLITICS ROYALS) - RTR36UIG

Untimely Test for Saudi Regime

Clashes in Saudi Arabia between Shiite youths and the authorities expose the vulnerability of the kingdom, amid explosive unrest in the region.

People stand facing Ataturk Cultural Center during a protest at Taksim Square in Istanbul June 18, 2013. Performance artist Erdem Gunduz became the new symbol of anti-government protests in Turkey on Tuesday after his eight-hour vigil in Taksim Square earned him the nickname "the Standing Man". Gunduz said he was protesting in solidarity with demonstrators who were evicted at the weekend from Gezi Park adjoining Taksim, an intervention by police that triggered some of the most violent clashes to date. What

My Turn as Witness to Gezi Protests Before US Congress

A US congressional hearing on Turkey revealed some of Washington’s questions and concerns about the “Turkish model.”

A man sells newspapers to people as they leave the subway station at Taksim Square in Istanbul June 4, 2013. Pockets of protesters clashed with Turkish riot police overnight and a union federation began a two-day strike on Tuesday as anti-government demonstrations in which two people have died stretched into a fifth day. Hundreds of police and protesters have been injured since Friday, when a demonstration to halt construction in a park in an Istanbul square grew into mass protests against a heavy-handed po

Shameful Examples Emerge Of Press Censorship in Turkey

A Turkish newspaper’s censorship of its own ombudsman rings alarm bells over the issue of press freedom in Turkey.

A member of Palestinian security forces loyal to Hamas rides in a pickup truck as he patrols the border area between Egypt and southern Gaza Strip July 1, 2013. Egyptian soldiers and members of Palestinian security forces loyal to Hamas are on alert to guard the border area after massive protests in Egypt, Hamas officials said. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa (GAZA - Tags: POLITICS) - RTX118IN

Hamas, First Victim of Egypt Revolt

Hamas will be the first group to pay a high price in the wake of Mohammed Morsi's and the Muslim Brotherhood's collapse in Egypt.

People march during a gay pride parade in central Istanbul June 30, 2013. Tens of thousands of anti-government protesters teamed up with a planned gay pride march in Istanbul. Crowds were stopped by riot police from entering Taksim, the centre of previous protests, but the atmosphere appeared peaceful. REUTERS/Umit Bektas (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST SOCIETY) - RTX1179R

LGBT Turks Seek to Capitalize On Gezi Good Will

While record numbers participated in Turkey's annual LGBT pride parade, some still doubt whether this atmosphere will help them in their fight for acceptance.

A Syrian refugee woman lies down as she rests in front of her makeshift tent in the town of Viransehir in Sanliurfa province, southeast Turkey, February 10, 2013. Some 50 families, mostly from villages near Syria's Aleppo, prefer to settle in the outskirts of Viransehir instead of refugee camps run by the Turkish government. According to the families, this allows them to work as seasonal agricultural workers. REUTERS/Umit Bektas (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS SOCIETY CIVIL UNREST BUSINESS EMPLOYMENT) - RTR3DL0G

Turkey’s Syria Refugee Crisis

Turkey struggles to handle an increasingly taxing Syrian refugee crisis.

A participant walks past a poster during a meeting of the shareholders of the gas pipeline Nabucco West in Sofia January 10, 2013. The Nabucco West pipeline project has reached a funding deal with companies in the Shah Deniz consortium, boosting its prospects in a competition between two projects that aim to pipe Azeri gas into Europe. The European Union supports the delivery of Azeri gas to the region, which is expected to start in 2018 regardless of the pipeline chosen, to reduce the EU's dependency on Ru

What Did Turkey Lose When EU Lost Nabucco?

Turkey has lost an opportunity to redefine the implicit rules of the energy sector for itself and other transit countries.

Protesters opposing Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi gather during a demonstration at Tahrir Square in Cairo June 30, 2013. Egyptians poured onto the streets on Sunday, swelling crowds that opposition leaders hope will number into the millions by evening and persuade Islamist President Mohamed Mursi to resign. REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany (EGYPT - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) - RTX117HY

It's the Egyptian Identity, Stupid

The first Egyptian revolution was about freedom, justice and dignity, but the new wave of protests is about defending Egyptian identity.