A version of this blog appeared on Carnegie Endowment
On May 9, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow to discuss energy cooperation and the war in Ukraine. The meeting highlights a broader trend in Central and Eastern Europe: Even after Viktor Orban’s fall from power in Hungary, several regional leaders continue to engage with Russia in search of economic...
Turkey’s path to the dictatorship
The first phase of Erdoğan’s plan to neutralize the main opposition party — carried out in cooperation with former CHP leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu — has been completed. The crisis escalated when figures close to Kılıçdaroğlu, along with individuals linked to organized crime, made their way to CHP headquarters. It intensified further after Kılıçdaroğlu submitted a petition to the Ankara Police...
Weekly Turkey Report: Fourth Week of January 2026 – A New Kobane Moment for the Kurds
Executive Summary
Kobane once symbolized Kurdish resistance against ISIS...
Weekly Turkey Report: 2nd Week of January 2026 – Peace by Beating the Kurds
Executive Summary
Türkiye entered the new year amid an Ankara-backed assault in...
Weekly Turkey Report: 1st Week of November 2025: Lower Courts Defy the Constitutional Court
Executive Summary
Several local courts continue to defy binding Constitutional Court...
Weekly Turkey Report: End of October 2025: Europe Embraces Erdoğan
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has reshaped global balances and increased Turkey’s value in the eyes...
Weekly Turkey Report: 3rd. Week of October 2025: “Plenty of Talk, No Real Change”
Turkey continues to sink deeper into a quagmire of economic crisis,...
Weekly Turkey Report: 2nd Week of October 2025
Summary
Turkey is showing the classic signs of “El Salvadorization”—a rapid slide into gang violence, institutional corruption, and...
Weekly Turkey Report: 1st Week of October 2025
Conflict within the Ruling Party
President Erdoğan’s visit to the United States has ended, but the controversy it...
Weekly Turkey Report: 4th Week of September 2025
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan did everything he could to please the U.S. President Donald Trump, yet he...
Weekly Turkey Report: 3rd Week of September 2025
The Republican People’s Party (CHP), facing the risk of government-appointed trustees, convened an extraordinary congress and re-elected...
Weekly Turkey Report: 2nd Week of September 2025
There is a well-known saying: “History repeats itself.” Yet a more accurate observation would be that clever...
Weekly Turkey Report: 1st Week of September
Erdoğan’s Escalating Pressure on the CHP
With the arrival of autumn, President Erdoğan has intensified his pressure and encirclement...
