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US President Donald Trump walks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during a state arrival ceremony at the Bestepe Presidential Complex for the annual NATO Summit on July 7, 2026 in Ankara, Turkey.

Explainer

Why Trump bid to lift CAATSA sanctions on Turkey faces complicated path

Trump's announcement could reset US-Turkey defense ties, but congressional approval and separate legal restrictions stand in the way.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (L) welcomes US President Donald Trump (R) upon his arrival on Air Force One at Etimesgut Air Base near Ankara, on July 7, 2026, before attending the 36th NATO Heads of State and Government Summit. (Photo by SAUL LOEB / AFP via Getty Images)

Analysis

Trump's F-35 push for Turkey runs into CAATSA — and Israel

Israel fears that Washington may be shifting its strategic options toward Turkey as the two rivals push for regional hegemony.

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

Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney (R) is welcomed by Turkey's Treasury and Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek upon arrival at Esenboga Airport to attend the 36th NATO Heads of State and Government Summit in Ankara on July 7, 2026. (Photo by Muhammed Abdullah Kurtar / POOL / AFP via Getty Images)

Canada, Turkey launch free trade talks on NATO summit sidelines

Trade between the two countries stood at $4.3 billion in 2025, and officials from both countries will meet to lay the groundwork for the first FTA negotiations.

Latest News

Trump says US will lift CAATSA sanctions on Turkey, consider F-35 sale

Trump Erdogan

Analysis

As it hosts NATO, Turkey eyes France's SAMP/T system, F-35 progress with Trump

sampt-t

Ezgi Akin

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

Israel, Greece conduct military drills ahead of NATO summit in Turkey

ABIR SULTAN / AFP via Getty Images

Analysis

In Libya, maritime dispute could complicate Turkey’s backing of US unity push

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan delivers a speech after a signing ceremony with Libyan Government of National Unity prime minister at the Presidential Complex in Ankara, on April 12, 2021.

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

Samuel Wendel

Senior Market Research Analyst

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

Amberin Zaman

Chief Correspondent

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Jack Dutton

Chief Business Correspondent

In Bristol, reporting on regional business, climate change, AI, tech

Ezgi Akin

Associate Editor (Turkey)

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

Francesco Schiavi

In Bologna, reporting on security, defense, economy, governance

Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

Kurdish forces blame Turkey for Euphrates River water drop in northeast Syria

The Syrian Democratic Forces claim Turkey caused a drop in the Euphrates River water level that will harm residents and their economic activities in the areas they control in northern and eastern Syria.

ERBIL, IRAQ - MARCH 07: A nun waves a flag as Pope Francis arrives to conduct a mass at the Franso Hariri Stadium on March 07, 2021 in Erbil, Iraq. PPope Francis arrived in Erbil, the final stop of his historic four-day visit, the first-ever papal visit to Iraq. In his first foreign trip since the start of the pandemic, Pope Francis visited Baghdad, Najaf, Erbil, and the cities of Qaraqosh and Mosul, which were heavily destroyed by ISIS. Although the trip is seen as an act of solidarity, the Vatican has bee

Kurdish stamp commemorating pope's visit to Erbil fans Turkish conspiracy fears

Ankara is furious over a commemorative stamp design featuring a map of Iraqi Kurdistan that includes chunks of Turkey’s Kurdish-dominated southeast provinces.

Pandemic, domestic woes dim Istanbul’s economic luster

Istanbul’s economy is estimated to have shrunk about 3% last year, even as Turkey’s gross domestic product grew 1.8%.

ISTANBUL, TURKEY - OCTOBER 30: A man walks from the studio during a live broadcast of a news show at Belqees TV of Yemen on October 30, 2018 in Istanbul, Turkey. Started by Nobel Peace Prize winner Tawakkol Karman of Yemen, Belqees TV opened in Istanbul in 2014 after their studio in Sana was seized by members of the Houthis. The station employs some one hundred and thirty five people from various nationalities many whom have been forced to flee their countries due to war or the political situation. The sta

Turkish journalist attacked after criticizing nationalist figure

Turkish journalist Levent Gultekin was attacked by two dozen assailants outside his workplace Monday evening in the latest act of violence against critics of Turkey’s nationalist party.

Grapfics and numbers of trade markets are screened on the floor of the Borsa Istanbul on May 22, 2018 in Istanbul. - Turkey's embattled currency, the Lira, on May 22 hit new historic lows against the US dollar after Fitch ratings agency expressed concerns over the central bank's independence in the wake of comments by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. (Photo by OZAN KOSE / AFP) (Photo credit should read OZAN KOSE/AFP via Getty Images)

Former Halkbank executive resigns as head of Istanbul stock exchange

Borsa Istanbul CEO Mehmet Hakan Atilla stepped down Monday in a move possibly linked with the impending US trial of Turkey’s Halkbank, where he was convicted of helping Iran skirt US sanctions.

Is Ankara on mission impossible over S-400 conundrum?

Confusion reigns in Ankara on how to manage the S-400 crisis, as pressure to satisfy Moscow along with Washington makes it a tall, if not impossible, order.

Yazidis refugees carry their belongings on January 3, 2017 in Diyarbakir, southeastern Turkey as they change their refugee camp and move to Midyat, further south.
The population of Yazidis reaches 700,000, the majority residing in northern Iraq where persecution from Islamic State jihadists led to as many as 40,000 Yazidis fleeing their ancestral homes to the Sinjar Mountains in northwestern Iraq, where they were trapped without food or water. / AFP / ILYAS AKENGIN (Photo credit should read ILYAS AKE

Online ‘auctions’ of Yazidi captives speak of ongoing Islamic State activity in Turkey

The rescue of a 7-year-old Yazidi captive in Ankara raises questions about how hard Turkey is trying to tackle Islamic State militants in the country.

A Convoy of the opposition Presidential candidate, Umaro Sissoco Embalo, during the election campaign, ready to leave Bissau for the interior of the country on November 7th, 2019. - Sissoco was accused by former Prime Minister, Aristides Gomes, of trying to organize a coup'detat that never came into action. Embalo, a leader of the muslim community in Guinea Bissau, denies all of the accusations. It is a tense political period about two weeks before the Presidential elections. (Photo by - / AFP) (Photo by -/

Is Turkey challenging Egyptian influence in Guinea-Bissau?

Amid regional warnings of Turkey's growing role in West Africa, including Guinea-Bissau, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi received a call from Umaro Sissoco Embalo, president of Guinea-Bissau, to discuss ways to develop cooperation in the economic and security fields.

Istanbul's courthouse is surrounded by police fences during the trial of Erol Onderoglu, the representative of Reporters Without Borders, on July 17, 2019. - Erol Onderoglu, the representative of Reporters Without Borders (RWB) in Turkey, and two other Turkish journalists are prosecuted for supporting pro-Kurdish newspaper "Ozgur Gundem". They risk up to 14,5 years in prison. (Photo by Ozan KOSE / AFP) (Photo by OZAN KOSE/AFP via Getty Images)

Teen suicide highlights torture in Turkey's juvenile detention centers

Conditions in Turkish jails and prisons for juveniles ignite charges of human rights abuses.

Helicopter crash kills 10 Turkish soldiers, including general

The crash killed the commander of Turkey's 8th Army Corps in the eastern Bingol province.

Turkish inflation rises, raising expectations of further rate hikes

Turkey’s inflation rate rose to 15.61% in February, marking the fifth month of consecutive increases and raising expectations for the central bank to introduce further rate hikes.

Erdogan unveils human rights reforms, raising skepticism among advocates

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan Tuesday announced an 11-point human rights action plan, pledging to fortify freedoms and legal protections after years of democratic backsliding under his government.