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Turkey

Turkey

June 17, 2026

Ankara 11:15 am

27°C

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan meets with Orthodox Patriarch of Bartholomew at the presidential complex, Ankara, Turkey, June 16, 2026.

Culture

Turkey’s Erdogan meets Orthodox patriarch amid push for reopening Halki Seminary

The meeting comes ahead of US President Trump’s expected attendance at next month's NATO leaders’ summit in Turkey, after Trump personally urged his Turkish counterpart to reopen the Halki Seminary.

Turkey's Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan attends the NATO Foreign Ministers' meeting in Helsingborg, Sweden, on May 22, 2026.

Turkey’s Fidan heads to Moscow as S-400 sanctions issue returns to fore

The visit comes weeks before Turkey hosts NATO leaders, on the sidelines of which Ankara hopes to reach a deal with Washington over CAATSA sanctions over its purchase of Russian S-400s.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan received Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Turkish House in New York on Sept. 19, 2023.

Analysis

Erdogan-Netanyahu war of words signals deeper rivalry for regional influence

The latest Erdogan-Netanyahu clash underscored how Turkey-Israel tensions have grown beyond the Palestinian issue and into a wider regional rivalry spanning Syria, Lebanon, Iran and the eastern Mediterranean.

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

Yasin AKGUL / AFP via Getty Images

Feature

Turkey’s World Cup return clouded by politics, dawn kickoffs

Turkey finally has the World Cup moment it waited 24 years for, but much of the country will either be asleep for it or arguing over efforts to claim it.

Ezgi Akin

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

Latest News

Explainer

Turkey slams France-Cyprus military pact as East Med rivalries deepen

Cyprus' President Nikos Christodoulides (2nd L) and his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron (C) review the honor guard at the Presidential Palace in Nicosia on April 23, 2026, ahead of a meeting on the sidelines of a European summit.

Analysis

As Trump admin drops Halkbank case, S-400 last big hurdle in US-Turkey ties

Russian S-400 anti-aircraft missile launching system is displayed at the exposition field in Kubinka Patriot Park outside Moscow on Aug. 22, 2017 during the first day of the International Military-Technical Forum Army-2017.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

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

Turkish exports to Syria revived under shadow of war

Turkey remains Syria's leading supplier of goods despite the ongoing war, with exports standing at some $1.4 billion last year.

Supporters of Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan wait for his arrival for AK Party's Istanbul congress, Turkey May 6, 2018. REUTERS/Osman Orsal - RC1E14E9FFA0

How a Turkish general's smile is now a key election issue

Turkey's opposition parties are harshly criticizing the presence of military officers at election campaign events in support of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Syrians making trek home from Turkey for holiday

Syrian refugees in Turkey are returning home by the thousands for Eid al-Fitr, with border crossing administrators providing the needed facilities.

People demonstrate outside the Caglayan courthouse on June 6, 2018 in Istanbul with banners reading "Freedom for Bogazici" as a trial opens today of 21 students from Bogazici University described by Turkey's President as "terrorists" after they opposed the Turkish military operation in Syria launched in January 2018. (Photo by Yasin AKGUL / AFP) (Photo credit should read YASIN AKGUL/AFP/Getty Images)

Turkish court releases students jailed on ‘terror propaganda’ charges

The trial of 22 Turkish students opened today with their release, though they still face terror charges for participating in a protest against Turkey's military incursion in Syria.

A female member of the anti-Iranian group, the Party of Free Life of Kurdistan (PJAK), carries her weapon as she walks through their base deep in the Qandil mountains of northern Iraq's Kurdish autonomous region, on May 5, 2014. AFP PHOTO/SAFIN HAMED (Photo credit should read SAFIN HAMED/AFP/Getty Images)

What's behind Turkish threats to invade PKK stronghold in Iraq?

Turkish leaders have raised the specter of a ground offensive on the Qandil Mountains in northern Iraq, home to the main camps of the PKK, but the motive and viability of such an operation remain questionable.

US, Turkey agree on Manbij road map, but when will they get there?

Ankara is pleased with Washington’s endorsement of a plan to rid Manbij of YPG fighters, but many questions remain and the plan’s implementation could take time.

Ankara hypes US-Turkey deal on Manbij

The Washington meeting between Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo may mark a turning point in troubled US-Turkey ties.

Muharrem Ince, presidential candidate of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), greets his supporters during an election rally in Istanbul, Turkey June 3, 2018. REUTERS/Huseyin Aldemir - RC1C588C4710

Turkey’s Ince galvanizes opposition hopes in presidential race

Muharrem Ince, the main opposition candidate in Turkey’s presidential polls, has put up a performance beyond expectations, spurring hope in opposition ranks that defeating President Recep Tayyip Erdogan might be within reach.

Kurdish fighters from the People's Protection Units (YPG) fire rifles at a drone operated by Islamic State militants in Raqqa, Syria, June 16, 2017. Goran Tomasevic: "ISIS uses drones to monitor Kurdish fighters and drop bombs at their positions. On a few occasions I ran into a house with fighters because of drones. On one occasion a bomb from a drone landed near a house where I was hiding with the rest of our team and YPG fighters. The biggest challenge in Raqqa was very limited access and the heat. The te

US-Turkey road map in Syria risks Kurdish blowback

The Pentagon’s Kurdish allies could get shut out as the United States and Turkey move closer to a deal to settle a dispute over the contested Syrian city of Manbij.

A supporter of the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) hangs posters of Selahattin Demirtas, the party's jailed former co-leader and the candidate for the upcoming presidential election, during a gathering in Istanbul, Turkey May 4, 2018. REUTERS/Murad Sezer - RC18E770B250

Electoral noose tightens in Turkey's critical southeast

Turkey's ruling party has the country's largest pro-Kurdish bloc in a chokehold as the clock winds down toward the elections.

Turkey’s opposition battles media banishment ahead of polls

Ahead of critical elections this month, Turkey’s public broadcaster and mainstream TV channels are under fire for an unprecedented level of bias in favor of the government, while signs are emerging of audience fatigue with Erdogan.

Turkish public decries life sentences for young cadets

A spate of life sentences handed down to young Turkish military cadets involving the 2016 coup attempt seems disproportionately harsh, especially as some top officers received short sentences.