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

Turkey

Turkey

November 12, 2026

Ankara 2:09 am

6°C

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

Armed policemen observe the area of Gezi Park in Istanbul's Taksim square June 12, 2013. Turkey's president called on Wednesday for dialogue with legitimate demonstrators after riot police cleared the Istanbul square at the centre of almost two weeks of protest against Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan. REUTERS/Yannis Behrakis (TURKEY - Tags: CIVIL UNREST POLITICS TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) - RTX10L8J

The Only Win-Win For Erdogan and Turkey

Prime Minister Erdogan can achieve his favorite win-win equation only if he takes a step back and avoids escalation

Protesters arrive in the late afternoon at Istanbul's Taksim square June 12, 2013. Turkey's president called on Wednesday for dialogue with legitimate demonstrators after riot police cleared the Istanbul square at the centre of almost two weeks of protest against Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan. REUTERS/Yannis Behrakis (TURKEY - Tags: CIVIL UNREST POLITICS) - RTX10LBJ

Gezi Park Protests May Be Erdogan's Election Investment

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan may be exploiting street protests to divide people to prepare for elections

A woman runs as protesters taunt the riot police during a protest at Taksim Square in Istanbul June 11, 2013. Turkish riot police fired tear gas and water cannon at hundreds of protesters armed with rocks and fireworks on Tuesday as they tried to take back control of a central Istanbul square at the heart of fierce anti-government demonstrations. REUTERS/Murad Sezer (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTX10JWS

Erdogan, Gezi Park And the Headscarf

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan argues that the Gezi Park protests have to do with the headscarf ban in public places, saying the protesters don’t really know a thing about freedom.

Protesters run as riot police fire teargas during a protest at Taksim Square in Istanbul June 11, 2013. Turkish riot police fired volleys of teargas canisters into Istanbul's Taksim Square, centre of protests against Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, driving thousands into narrow side streets, witnesses said. REUTERS/Osman Orsal (TURKEY - Tags: CIVIL UNREST POLITICS) - RTX10K5P

Turkey-Kurdish Peace Could Be Victim of Istanbul Showdown

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s hard-line approach in dealing with the Gezi Park demonstrators could endanger the Turkey-Kurdish peace process.

ISTANBUL, TURKEY - JUNE 11: Protesters aid one another after riot police used tear gas to disperse the crowd during a demonstration near Taksim Square on June 11, 2013 in Istanbul, Turkey. Istanbul has seen protests rage on for days, with two protesters and one police officer killed. What began as a protest over the fate of Taksim Gezi Park, has turned, with the heavy-handed response by police, into a protest over what is being seen as Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's increasingly authoritarian agenda

Erdogan Raises the Stakes

The intimidation tactics and high tension strategies that Turkey's prime minister appears to have opted for will unsettle the economy, the Kurdish peace process and eventually the AKP.

Turkish riot police enter Istanbul's Taksim square, the epicentre of nearly two weeks of anti-government demos, during clashes with protestors on June 11, 2013 on a 12th day of unrest. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said today he had "no more tolerance" for the mass anti-government demonstrations that have engulfed the country. AFP PHOTO / ARIS MESSINIS (Photo credit should read ARIS MESSINIS/AFP/Getty Images)

Istanbul Square Crackdown Shakes Erdogan’s Regional Credibility

Ankara must now go on defense and try to protect itself from negative fallout in Syria.

A protester runs by a burning barricade during clashes with riot police in Istanbul's Gazi neighborhood June 8, 2013. REUTERS/Yannis Behrakis (TURKEY - Tags: CIVIL UNREST POLITICS TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) - RTX10GV1

Is This the Beginning Of Erdogan Era's End?

Some of the traits that made Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan a success are now emerging as liabilities.

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

Time to Bid Farewell To Turkey’s 'Muslim Democracy'

Taksim resistance inflicted an ideological loss on Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the AKP, making it impossible to continue labeling Turkey as a "Muslim democracy."

Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan addresses his supporters in Ankara June 9, 2013. Erdogan stands before a sea of cheering faithful waving Turkish flags and, to shouts of "Allahu Akbar", God is Greatest, summons the spirit of pious Ottoman poets in denouncing protesters who challenge his power. Across Istanbul, the same flags, white crescent moon and star on a red background, are raised; but they proclaim what some Erdogan critics see as a different kind of Turkey. Riots and protests have highlighted a

Erdogan Opts for War

Why does Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan opt for confrontation rather than reconciliation?

A woman wearing a traditional head-scarf sits inside a damaged bus used by anti-government protesters as a barricade in Istanbul's Taksim square June 10, 2013. REUTERS/Yannis Behrakis (TURKEY - Tags: CIVIL UNREST POLITICS) - RTX10IVO

The Religious Voice of the Chapuls

The Anti-Capitalist Muslims have emerged as the most extraordinary group in the Gezi Park protests, legitimizing the revolt in religious quarters.

A Palestinian worker organizes containers of green wheat, also know as Freekeh, that are meant for export, at a factory in the West Bank village of Ajja village near Jenin August 25, 2009. The economy of the West Bank and Gaza is forecast by the World Bank to grow by 5 percent this year, 6.5 percent in 2010 and 7.5 percent in 2011. Picture taken August 25, 2009. To match feature PALESTINIANS/ECONOMY
REUTERS/Mohamad Torokman (WEST BANK POLITICS BUSINESS FOOD) - RTR27574

Are Palestinian Industrial Parks Illusion or Real Development?

While the Palestinian Authority and others push plans for West Bank industrial parks, critics say the projects give the illusion of economic growth while entrenching Israeli occupation.

A hotel employee is pictured behind a barricade as he cleans the street near Taksim square in central Istanbul June 10, 2013. Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan warned protesters who have taken to the streets across Turkey demanding his resignation that his patience has its limits and compared the unrest with an army attempt six years ago to curb his power. REUTERS/Murad Sezer (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTX10I8R

Which Way Is Turkey Going?

Are we witnessing a clash between Islamism and Kemalism in Turkey?