Politics & Security - AL-MONITOR: The Middle Eastʼs leading independent news source since 2012

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Politics & Security

Turkey’s main opposition Republican People's Party's (CHP) Ousted party leader Ozgur Ozel waves to supporters from atop a police water cannon vehicle after being forcibly evicted by police from his party’s headquarters on May 24, 2026 in Ankara, Turkey.

Top ally of Turkey’s Erdogan backs state funding for Ozel’s breakaway party

Devlet Bahceli’s suggestion exposes a more nuanced position within the country’s governing alliance over the ongoing legal crackdown against Turkey’s main opposition.

David's Sling.

Explainer

As Turkey rivalry heats up, Greece to acquire $4B Israeli air defense system

The Greek defense minister said that the air defense system will be operational within 35 months.

Iranian Presidential Office / AFP via Getty Images

Iraq deepens Iran ties days after US investment push

The Iraqi premier visited Tehran shortly after his trip to Washington for talks focusing on economic cooperation and plans to develop a cross-border railway network.

Latest News

Dozens killed in Yemen clashes as Houthis escalate threats against Saudi Arabia

Mohammed HUWAIS / AFP via Getty Images

Trump says Saudi nuclear deal 'totally subject' to Israel normalization

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Turkey to begin surveys for planned northern Cyprus gas pipeline

Turkey's servicemen stand at attention on a Turkish submarine as they participate in the live-fire phase of the Blue Homeland 2026 tactical military exercises in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, in Antalya on April 9, 2026.

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

A handout picture provided by the Iranian Army official website on September 11, 2020, shows an Iranian navy warship during the second day of a military exercise in the Gulf, near the strategic strait of Hormuz in southern Iran. (Photo by -/Iranian Army office/AFP via Getty Images))

US Military: Iranian drone hit Israeli-owned tanker in Arabian Sea

The drone attack on the Campo Square tanker is at least the fourth suspected Iranian attack targeting a commercial vessel linked to Israeli businessmen in just two years.

DIBYANGSHU SARKAR/AFP via Getty Images

Four US troops, working dog wounded in Syria raid against Islamic State

A senior IS official was killed in a raid in northeast Syria that injured US troops and a working dog, who were transported to Iraq for medical treatment.

Syria In Crisis

A road sign points the way to the West Bank settlement of Homesh, northern Samaria, West Bank, April 19, 2005.

Biden ices Netanyahu as differences grow over settlements, judicial overhaul

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu knows that at some point there would be a heavy diplomatic price to pay vis-a-vis the Biden administration over his government’s push for settlement expansion.

A Lebanese security official holds a handful of confiscated captagon pills in his palm at the judicial police headquarters in the city of Zahle in Lebanon's central Bekaa valley on July 21, 2022. (Photo by JOSEPH EID/AFP via Getty Images)

Three Lebanese soldiers killed in Bekaa drug raid

Lebanon plays a big role in the Captagon trade, though authorities are trying to crack down on drugs.

Smoke rises from a Saudi Aramco oil facility in Saudi Arabia's Red Sea coastal city of Jeddah, on March 26, 2022, following a reported Yemeni rebels attack.

Security Briefing: Pentagon officials discuss GCC missile defense in Riyadh

In this week's Security Briefing newsletter, our Pentagon Correspondent Jared Szuba recaps the latest on US-GCC meetings in Riyadh on security ties and Iran policy.

Jared Szuba

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

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken (L) meets with Tunisian President Kais Saied (R).

West looks away as Tunisia’s Saeid 'dismantles' democracy

Along with expanding his presidential powers, President Kais Saied has nearly picked apart Tunisia's once-fledgling democracy; Western countries have barely responded.

Cohen, Zelenskyy meet in Kyiv

Israeli foreign minister meets Ukraine's Zelenskyy in Kyiv

Foreign Minister Eli Cohen is the first high-level Israeli to visit Kyiv since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Syrians gather near a poster of President Bashar al-Assad hanging outside the emergency section of a hospital in Hama, on February 6, 2023, following a deadly earthquake. - The Syrian government urged the international community to come to its aid after more than 850 people died in the country following a 7.8-magnitude earthquake in neighbouring Turkey.(Photo by LOUAI BESHARA/AFP via Getty Images)

In a shift, Gulf media outlets broadcast Syria's Assad speech on earthquake

Saudi, Emirati and other TV stations in the region typically do not broadcast the Syrian president’s speeches, but relations have slightly improved and Gulf states have sent aid to Syria following the earthquake.

Syria In Crisis

FBI/Getty Images

Iran denies harboring de facto al-Qaeda leader

After years of accusations it offered a safe haven to al-Qaeda members, Iran has dismissed a new UN report on the presence of the extremist group's de facto leader on its soil.

rescuers of Aleyna Olmez hug in Turkey

248 hours after earthquake, Turkish teen rescued from rubble

Aleyna Olmez, a 17-year-old girl in Kahramanmaras miraculously survived under the rubble of a collapsed building for nearly 11 days.

BULENT KILIC/AFP via Getty Images

How building code spared one Turkish town from earthquake

A mayor in devastated Hatay province says his town escaped the destruction seen elsewhere thanks in part to enforcement of construction codes.

ADEM ALTAN/AFP via Getty Images

NATO chief in Turkey, urges swift ratification of Sweden, Finland memberships

In Ankara, NATO chief made first visit after the earthquake, and pressed for Finland and Sweden to join the alliance together.