Ankara: a Turkish capital-city Big Mac, slightly cheaper than Istanbul
Ankara, Turkey's political capital, posts a Big Mac price modestly below Istanbul. The city's economy is weighted toward government employment, defense industry, and a service sector that runs at solid but lower wages than Istanbul's commercial and financial cluster. Ankara's commercial rent is also meaningfully cheaper than Istanbul's central districts.
For Big Mac Index analysts, Ankara serves as the in-country control for Istanbul. Both cities use the lira; both face the same monetary policy. But the Ankara-Istanbul spread has remained relatively stable through every Turkish inflation cycle of the past decade — meaning the lira's depreciation is broad-based, not a localized Istanbul phenomenon. Replicated across cities, the same Turkish inflation arc appears: that's confirmation the driver is monetary, not regional.