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Politics & Security

Ozgu Ozel

Turkish opposition leader Ozgur Ozel could launch new party by August

Ozgur Ozel’s remarks on a potential new party came as the legal crackdown on the main opposition widened further this week with the arrest and suspension of the mayor of Cankaya, one of the party’s most secure and symbolically important strongholds in the heart of Ankara.

Visitors stand inside Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque in Istanbul on April 14, 2025.

Russian couple faces deportation from Turkey after Bible reading at Hagia Sophia

The couple were detained after reading from the Bible inside the Istanbul landmark, which remains one of Christianity’s most important historic sites despite its conversion into a mosque.

BEIRUT, LEBANON - OCTOBER 13: Lebanese people wave flags and hold portraits of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (not pictured) as he arrives in southern suberb of Beirut on October 13, 2010 in Lebanon. The controversial visit is seen as a boost for key ally Hezbollah. According to reports Mr Ahmadinejad may visit the border with Israel - the site of recent deadly clashes between Israeli and Lebanese forces. (Photo by Salah Malkawi/Getty Images)

Ahmadinejad denies alleged Mossad plot to install him as Iran leader: What to know

The former president, who was a virulent critic of Israel while in office, was reportedly part of a Mossad plan to replace the current Iranian leadership.

Latest News

Israel's Netanyahu plans US visit for Trump meeting, Graham memorial

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends a cornerstone laying ceremony for the Atarot Heritage Center at an abandon airport in East Jerusalem near the separation wall with the Israeli occupied West Bank city of Ramallah on July 5, 2026.

Lebanon army enters Palestinian camp ahead of Aoun’s US visit

FATHI AL-MASRI/AFP via Getty Images

Analysis

How UK's IRGC designation raises stakes for Iran and Europe

A general view of the Iranian Embassy on July 13, 2026, in London, England.

A correspondent in Tehran

By A correspondent in Tehran

In Tehran, reporting on politics

Amberin Zaman

Chief Correspondent

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Adam Lucente

News and Business Correspondent

In New York City, reporting on regional news, militancy, climate change

Elizabeth Hagedorn

Diplomatic Correspondent

In Washington, DC, reporting on diplomacy, regional politics, human rights

Ezgi Akin

Associate Editor (Turkey)

In Ankara, reporting on diplomacy, EU-Turkey ties, NATO

Ben Caspit

Israel Columnist

In Tel Aviv, reporting on national security, Israeli politics, defense

Jared Szuba

Defense and Security Correspondent

In Washington, DC, reporting on defense, national security, military

This picture taken on Oct. 31, 2023 from a position along the border with the Gaza Strip in southern Israel shows smoke plumes billowing during Israeli bombardment amid ongoing battles between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement.

Day 25 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Tuesday, Oct. 31

10/29/2023 Golan Heights, Israel. Israeli soldiers, as part of the 'Israeli Paratroopers Brigade,' experimented with colorful smoke during their battalion training at the Golan Heights on October 29, 2023, before subsequently returning to the Gaza border. (Photo by Dima Vazinovich / Middle East Images / Middle East Images via AFP) (Photo by DIMA VAZINOVICH/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images)

US military advisers depart Israel, focus on containing blowback from Gaza war

The White House on Monday dismissed international calls for a cease-fire, suggesting humanitarian ‘pauses’ instead, as the IDF sent armored forces into the northern Gaza Strip.

An antenna of a communications tower that relays phone and internet signals is pictured in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip on October 28 , 2023, amid the ongoing battles between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas

US working to keep Gaza's phone, internet services operational

Israel cut communications in Gaza late Friday for over 24 hours as the Israeli military increased strikes and ground operations.

This photograph shows Russian National Guard (Rosgvardiya) vans parked at the airport in Makhachkala on October 30, 2023. Russian police on October 30, 2023 said they had arrested 60 people suspected of storming an airport in the Muslim-majority Caucasus republic of Dagestan, seeking to attack Jewish passengers coming from Israel. (Photo by STRINGER / AFP) (Photo by STRINGER/AFP via Getty Images)

Analysis

Israel-Russia ties unravel as Putin calls meeting over Dagestan mob incident

After a Hamas delegation visited Moscow and the anti-Israeli incident in Dagestan, the crisis between Israel and Russia is out in the open.

Rina Bassist

By Rina Bassist

In Paris, reporting on Israeli politics and European affairs

Families and friends of Israelis held hostage by Hamas in Gaza gathered at "Hostages Square" outside the Art Museum of Tel Aviv.

Israel rescues soldier from Hamas captivity in Gaza

In the first known successful rescue mission, an Israeli soldier was freed from Hamas captivity during an Israel Defense Forces operation in the Gaza Strip.

Palestinians storm a UN-run aid supply center, that distributes food to displaced families following Israel's call for more than one million residents in northern Gaza to move south for their safety, in Deir al-Balah on October 28, 2023,

Gaza death toll soars above 8,200 as UN estimates 1.4 million displaced

Aid deliveries are continuing into Gaza, but humanitarian organizations are reporting mass displacement and fuel shortages as Israel continues aerial and ground operations against Hamas.

The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza says the unrelenting retaliatory Israeli bombardment has killed more than 8,000 people

Day 23 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Sunday, Oct. 29

Iran protest

Despite incendiary rhetoric, Iran walks tightrope to avoid direct Israel war

Three weeks into the Israel-Hamas war, Iran has adhered to a strategy of caution to avoid direct engagement, translating its threats into limited attacks on US bases through its proxies.

hammam ceiling

Turkey's 500-year-old hammam unveils Istanbul's Ottoman secrets

The 16th-century Zeyrek Cinili Hammam, commissioned by corsair-turned-admiral Barbarossa and built by imperial architect Sinan, has found second life after surviving fires, earthquakes and suspicious sultans who feared hammams could be hotbeds of rebellion.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his wife, Emine Erdogan, attend a rally in solidarity with Palestinians in Istanbul on Oct. 28, 2023.

Israel recalls diplomats from Turkey after Erdogan’s 'grave' statements

The move came after Erdogan called Israel a "war criminal" earlier Saturday, and marks a backsliding in bilateral ties that had been fully restored just last fall after more than a decadelong break.

Former US president and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump addresses the Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC) Annual Leadership Summmit on October 28, 2023 at the Venetian Conference Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Frederic J. BROWN / AFP) (Photo by FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images)

Day 22 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Saturday, Oct. 28

VILNIUS, LITHUANIA - JULY 11: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan attends the opening high-level session of the 2023 NATO Summit on July 11, 2023 in Vilnius, Lithuania. The summit is bringing together NATO members and partner countries heads of state from July 11-12 to chart the alliance's future, with Sweden's application for membership and Russia's ongoing war in Ukraine as major topics on the summit agenda. (Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images)

Explainer: Why Turkey's Erdogan finally initiated Sweden’s NATO ratification

Turkish officials caution that ratification of Sweden's accession to NATO is not a done deal and that the process remains littered with challenges.