Turkey

Thousands of Turk expatriates attended a political rally for Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdoğan in Chassieu, near the French city of Lyon, June 21, while hundreds protested against him.

The Turkish government is rolling up its sleeves to improve the local digital game market, which has reached over $300 million over the past few years, using a new roadmap.

The Constitutional Court’s landmark verdict on the Balyoz (Sledgehammer) coup case came only a few days after officials from Turkey and the European Union met at a working group meeting to allow the former to fulfill benchmarks for the opening of Chapter 23: Judiciary and fundamental rights.

June 18, 2014 marked two important court rulings, both of which were about Turkey’s problematic history of relations between politics and the military.

I was supposed to give a short talk on the Turkish economy in the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) workshop, “Turkey: An Emerging Power in a Changing Middle East,” on June 18. Unfortunately, severe food poisoning kept me in bed the whole day. I would like to summarize my speech, which is based on two misplaced questions.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has indirectly welcomed the Constitutional Court’s verdict that the rights of scores of convicted suspects in the Balyoz (Sledgehammer) coup case have been violated, stressing that this could lead to retrials.  

A Turkish court has issued a life sentence for former President Kenan Evren and former air force commander Tahsin Sahinkaya.

Evren, 96, and 89-year-old Sahinkaya were found guilty of crimes against the state, Hurriyet Daily News reported.

German pianist and composer Davide Martello, who became known for his guerrilla concert in Istanbul’s Taksim Square at the height of last year’s Gezi protests, has taken his piano back to the streets of Turkey, this time in memory of the 301 workers who were killed in the mining disaster in Soma last month.

Turkey is facing increasing risks on its borders. Syria was bad enough and now we have the situation in Iraq. Turkey also has strained relations with the West due to Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s policies and generally abrasive attitude, which is seen as being authoritarian in nature.

Turkey and Croatia look to improve business ties

Business leaders seek opportunities for new investment and deeper co-operation.

Business leaders from Turkey and Croatia recently gathered in Istanbul to discuss new ideas for deepening economic ties between the two countries.