What’s Noteworthy?
- Turkey`s Censorship Puzzle (Jan 27, 2012)
There has been an explosion of news agencies and TV news channels in recent years. There are hundreds in fact, all with their own style, from the hijab-covered reporter, a rarity in the past, to the secular glossy European style-presenter. But, no matter how diverse the image, they all seem to propagate one message. The government is good and the opposition is evil. As an MP from the pro-Kurdish BDP party puts it, "There are two voices in Turkey, the state run media and the private media, both of which are pro-government." More
- Foreigners leave Turkey amid new residence law (Jan 27, 2012)
A high number of Armenian and Georgian people working in Turkey are leaving the country in the wake of a recent law implementation that complicates working permits for foreign people. While workers complain of extreme financial difficulties, Labor Ministry announces that there will be exceptions for house workers More
- Iraq oil law deal festers as crisis drags on (Jan 27, 2012)
The political crisis engulfing Iraq`s power-sharing government threatens to further delay a landmark draft of its long-delayed oil law - five years after the first version was submitted to parliament. More
- 50 killed in Syria as Arabs go to U.N. (Jan 27, 2012)
An Arab League team is to take the 10-month-old crisis in Syria to the U.N. Security Council, as activists said almost 50 people were killed in unrest Thursday, including 10 children. The U.N. human rights chief Navi Pillay has said the United Nations could not keep track of the death toll in Syria’s crackdown on dissent that has already claimed more than 5,400 lives. More
- Ahmadinejad says Iran ready for nuclear talks (Jan 27, 2012)
Iran is ready to revive talks with the world powers, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Thursday, as toughening sanctions aim at forcing Tehran to sharply scale back its nuclear program. More
Selected News and Commentaries
- Exclusive: Halkbank to handle Iran payments so long as legal (Jan 27, 2012)
Turkish lender Halkbank will continue to handle customers` oil payments to Iran as long as they comply with international regulations, the bank`s general manager said in the wake of fresh, unilateral U.S. and EU sanctions. More
- Turkey, Russia converge on Syria and Iran crisis (Jan 27, 2012)
Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said Turkey and Russia had a similar stance on ending the bloodshed in Syria, adding that Turkey is ready to work with Russia on solving the crisis. More
- Problems with the neighbours-The Economist (Jan 27, 2012)
Turkey may not care much about the fallout from this on its relationship with the European Union. The membership talks that began in 2005 have ground to a halt, not least because of Mr Sarkozy’s opposition. Continued deadlock in Cyprus is a big problem. But it is not only the Europeans who are causing trouble. Until recently Turkey was boasting not of its EU aspirations but of its shiny new alliances in the Middle East, where its secular free-market democracy is a model for some. More
- Kurds and sway (Jan 27, 2012)
Another part of Assad’s tactic was to reach out to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and its affiliate in Syria, the Democratic Union Party (PYD). Suspicions quickly arose that there was a tacit deal between the regime and the PKK/PYD. Van Wilgenburg says, “These suspicions are empowered by the existence of Kurdish schools opened by the PKK, and the fact that the most important PKK leader [Murat] Karayilan indicated they would not be part of the conspiracy against Iran and Syria.” More
- Turkey again most convicted country by European court in 2011 (Jan 27, 2012)
Head of the ECtHR Nicolas Bratza told a press briefing on Thursday that Turkey topped the list of countries violating the European Convention on Human Rights in 159 cases. Russia follows Turkey with 121 cases and Ukraine with 105. According to Bratza, Greece (69), Romania (58) and Poland (54) violated at least one article of the convention. More
Chart of the Week
There is no improvement whatsoever in inflation expectations (April second survey) -- they suggest that more than the 5% medium term target, 7% or so is a more plausible working number for medium-term inflation. Make Image Larger
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About Us
Istanbul Analytics is an information platform on Turkish economy and politics run by two veteran economists, Murat Üçer and Atilla Yesilada.
They teamed up a few years ago to start a small research enterprise in Istanbul specializing on Turkish macroeconomic and political analysis. Their primary engagement is to advise international clientele, as part of LatinSource/GlobalSource network of advisors, but they wear several hats... Murat is a co-founder of Turkey Data Monitor serves as adjunct faculty at Koc University while Atilla regularly writes in his web site Bilge Ekonomist and hosts finance programs in media.
Our Activities and Associates
- Murat Ucer gave a presentation in a Deloitte event (14 Dec 2010)
- We contributed some articles to local journals (both in Turkish; 10 Dec 2010)
- Atilla Yesilada was quoted in WSJ (11 Nov, 2010)
- We gave a presentation on the Turkish economic outlook and challenges (11 Nov 2010)
- Recently, we were quoted in NYT, WSJ, and FT...
- You can access a presentation on the Turkish economic and political outlook here (in Turkish; 23 Sep. 2010)
- We shall be giving two training seminars in the coming weeks...
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Our Associates
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Global Source Partners
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Turkey Data Monitor
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Bilge Ekonomist
