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Turkey

Turkey

June 19, 2026

Ankara 1:56 am

16°C

A Turkish police officers patrols at the scene of a motor-bike bomb explosion, next to a police station on Oct. 6, 2016, in Istanbul.

Turkey captures alleged ISIS-K media chief near Afghanistan-Pakistan border

The capture comes as Turkish authorities intensify raids against Islamic State networks following recent attacks and alleged plots.

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

Latest News

Feature

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

Yasin AKGUL / AFP via Getty Images

Ezgi Akin

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

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.

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

Islamic State desert bases still headache for Iraq

As Iraqi forces continue cleansing the western desert to keep the Syrian-Iraqi border region calm, Islamic State counterattacks in Syria are posing a new risk across the border.

Erdogan scores big with Afrin operation, but problems remain

Military experts say taking Afrin will be a tactical success for Ankara, but Turkey’s Kurdish concerns in Syria appear to be far from over.

Iranian painter's mouthless women speak volumes at Istanbul exhibition

Maryam Salahi, an Iranian artist living in Turkey, taps into her "foreignness" for an exhibition in Istanbul exploring identity and freedom in the Middle East.

A Turkey-backed Free Syrian Army fighter holds a makeshift Turkish flag as he patrols on a road near Azaz, Syria January 21, 2018. REUTERS/Osman Orsal - RC12DBB08A80

Conflicting reports emerge as Turkey's Olive Branch rakes Afrin

In the chaos of Turkey's offensive in Afrin, Syria, both the Turks and Syrian Kurdish militants continue to claim the upper hand and dismiss each other's casualty reports as propaganda.

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, accompanied by his wife Emine, and Turkey's Prime Minister Binali Yildirim, waves to supporters during the congress of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) in Ankara, Turkey, May 21, 2017. REUTERS/Burhan Ozbilici/Pool - RC17D13F7BD0

Muslim Brotherhood crumbling around Erdogan

As many Turks openly say the president's party has lost its mojo, it really means Muslim Brotherhood networks are collapsing there; the reasons also help explain the rise and potential fall of the cult of Erdogan.

What lurks behind Turkey’s unending emergency rule?

Alarm grows in Turkey over the government’s intentions after a sixth extension of the state of emergency, declared over the 2016 coup attempt.

Iran 'concerned' by Turkish assault on northern Syria

While Iran has expressed its concerns that Turkey’s operations against Kurds in northern Syria will further inflame the war, it didn't outright condemn the offensive.

Fired teacher tells story of Turkish purge onstage

A teacher who was dismissed from her job in the aftermath of the coup attempt is using drama to give a voice to Turkey's 150,000 civil servants in similar situations.

Smoke rises from the Syria's Afrin region, as it is pictured from near the Turkish town of Hassa, on the Turkish-Syrian border in Hatay province, Turkey January 20, 2018. REUTERS/Osman Orsal - RC1E9965CD20

Turkish troops cross Syrian border near Afrin

Turkey, after bombing Afrin, moves troops across the Syrian border near the Kurdish-controlled area.

Turkey plays catch-up with militarization in Red Sea

A scramble for military influence along the Red Sea could lead to a trade disaster as Turkey also looks to establish a military foothold in the area.

United Arab Emirates

Turkish artillerys shell the People's Protection Units (YPG) positions near the Syrian border on January 21, 2018 near Hassa, in the Turkish province of Hatay, as Turk's ground troops entered Syria today to push an offensive against Kurdish militia as rocket fire hit a border town in apparent retaliation.
Turkey on January 20 launched operation "Olive Branch" seeking to oust from the Afrin region of northern Syria the YPG which Ankara considers a terror group.
/ AFP PHOTO / BULENT KILIC (Photo credi

Turkey upends US Syria strategy with attack on YPG

Ankara seeks green light from Moscow, not Washington, in attack on US partner; UN warns of consequences of continued fighting in Eastern Ghouta and Idlib; local council in Aleppo confiscates land of Islamic State families.

A Turkish military armoured vehicle guards on the border line located opposite the Syrian town of Atimah, Idlib province, in this picture taken from Reyhanli, Hatay province, Turkey October 10, 2017. REUTERS/Osman Orsal - RC117E0C0980

Why is Turkey so worried about border guards?

A CIA-trained border force in northern Syria would mean the institutionalization and legitimization of a Kurdish-led military body on Turkey’s border.