News
Erdogan wins reelection — what's next for Turkey?
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan waves as he addresses his supporters in Ankara following his victory in the second round of the presidential election.
REUTERS/Umit Bektas
Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan won Sunday's presidential runoff election, beating opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu by a not-too-shabby 4 percentage points in a deeply polarized country. It’s a big victory for Erdogan, who ahead of the first round many thought would finally lose — yet eventually defying the polls to advance, win another term, and enter his third decade in power.
For the next five years, Erdogan will be "politically unencumbered" as his party also won a majority in parliament, Eurasia Group senior analyst Emre Peker explains in this Twitter thread. That will likely mean the Turkish leader will double down on some of his most divisive policies to please his base, including what to do with Syrian refugees.
Things are not looking good for the economy. The lira crashed after Erdogan's runoff victory, as investors fear the president will try to get the country out of its economic crisis with more of his unorthodox policies known as Erdonomics. The same goes for the state of Turkish democracy, while on foreign policy expect Erdogan to continue his delicate balancing act between the West and, well, the enemies of the West.
In Peker's words: "Quite an explosive mix — politically for Erdogan, and personally for all Turkey."
In this “ask ian,” Ian Bremmer argues that the debate over whether the United States or China will lead artificial intelligence is overshadowing a more important question: who will govern a technology advancing faster than governments can regulate?
Earlier this month, the Trump administration had suggested it might mark America’s 250th birthday by granting clemency to hundreds of people. Instead, it issued 11 pardons in early July, including to people convicted of environmental crimes and a political donor, while denying clemency to thousands of other applicants.
Microsoft released its 2026 Environmental Sustainability Report, outlining how the company is advancing its environmental commitments while expanding the infrastructure needed to support AI growth. The report highlights progress across energy, water, waste, and ecosystem goals, including matching 100% of annual global electricity consumption with renewable energy and achieving net positive water replenishment. Read the full report here.