Turkey - AL-MONITOR: The Middle Eastʼs leading independent news source since 2012

Turkey

Turkey

November 11, 2026

Ankara 3:21 pm

11°C

Chris McGrath/Getty Images

Explainer

Iran war pushes up coal use, complicating Turkey’s COP31 pledge

Turkey is asking world leaders at COP31 to back a global push to use more electricity, even as the Iran war has driven up natural gas prices and pushed some power producers back to coal.

OZAN KOSE/AFP via Getty Images

Turkey bars MP’s wife from travel after his fund scandal criticism: What to know

Opposition politicians and rights advocates described Yonca Verdioglu Sik’s brief detention as an attempt to intimidate her husband, opposition lawmaker Ahmet Sik, over his criticism of the government.

A steel worker works in front of giant iron melting pot in Kardemir Iron and Steel Factory in Karabuk, northwestern Turkey, Aug. 26 2005. (TARIK TINAZAY/AFP via Getty Images)

Steel factory explosion in western Turkey kills at least 16

Footage from the scene showed a huge plume of thick smoke spreading into the sky as flames engulfed a tall structure within the plant.

Latest News

Analysis

Will Democrats block Trump’s push to deliver Turkey F-35s, lift sanctions?

MEHMET ESER/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

Costa Rica's Grynspan extends lead in UNSG poll as Nusseibeh places fourth

United Arab Emirates

Turkey’s parliament ratifies Mecca pact in boost to Saudi Arabia

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan addresses Turkish members of parliament during the opening of the parliamentary session at the Grand National Assembly of Turkey in Ankara, on Oct. 1, 2026.

Samuel Wendel

Senior Analyst, Middle East Business & Tech

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

Should Turkey's military, civilian contractors be treated differently?

Civilian personnel working for the Turkish military hope to achieve equal footing with their military counterparts as a nationwide conversation unfolds in the wake of the Ankara bombing.

A digger works on the stream bed of the river Papart in Artvin province, northern Turkey, February 21, 2010. A civil initiative calling themselves "Brotherhood of the Rivers" is struggling to stop hydro power plant projects in Artvin province which they believe will damage the natural habitat badly. Turkey's Electricity Market Regulatory Authority has approved 357 hydro power plant projects in the last three years, said Turkey's Chamber of Electrical Engineer. REUTERS/Umit Bektas (TURKEY - Tags: ENERGY ENV

Green activists, and their livestock, send Turkish miners packing

Turkish fauna comes to the aid of flora as thousands of protesters — and their livestock — send a mining company packing, at least for now.

A demonstrator holds newspaper read "Black day of the press" during a protest outside the Cumhuriyet newspaper in Istanbul, Turkey, November 27, 2015. Around 2,000 people protested on Friday over the arrest of two prominent journalists on charges of espionage and terrorist propaganda, a case that has revived long-standing criticism of Turkey's record on press freedom under President Tayyip Erdogan. REUTERS/Osman Orsal - RTX1W3XS

Has Erdogan confused freedom of expression with spying?

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan takes a swipe at the authority of Turkey's high court by criticizing its decision to free journalists he says are spies.

Members of the interim government of democratic self-administered party stand after declaring a provincial government, in the city of Amuda near Hasaka January 21, 2014. Kurds in Syria declared a provincial government in the north of the country on Tuesday, consolidating their geographic and political presence on the eve of peace talks in Switzerland at which they will not be represented. The municipal council will run affairs in one of three administrative districts set up by Kurds, who have seized upon t

Syrian Kurdish leader calls for federal state

In an interview with Al-Monitor, Akram Hesso, the Kurdish head of Syria's Jazeera canton, spoke about the Syrian Kurds' relations with regional and international players as well as a model for federal rule in Syria.

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu addresses the media in Ankara, Turkey February 20, 2016, as he is flanked by his deputies Tugrul Turkes (L), Numan Kurtulmus (2nd L) and Interior Minister Efkan Ala (R). Turkey is to tighten security across the country, and especially the capital, following a car bombing that killed 28 people in Ankara this week, Davutoglu said on Saturday. REUTERS/Umit Bektas - RTX27U3T

How much support did Turkey provide to Syrian opposition?

The Turkish prime minister claimed that Turkey has done more than Arab countries to aid the Syrian rebels, though he stopped short of providing details about Turkey's "support."

Protesters carry banners and wave Lebanese, Yemeni and Hezbollah flags during a protest against Saudi-led air strikes on Yemen, in front of the offices of the U.N. headquarters in Beirut May 12, 2015. Saudi-led air strikes pounded the rebel-held Yemeni capital Sanaa on Tuesday just hours before a five-day humanitarian ceasefire was set to begin. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir - RTX1CNBR

Is the Saudi, Lebanese relationship gone for good?

In retaliation for Hezbollah’s support of the Houthis in Yemen, Saudi Arabia has launched a campaign designed to pressure Lebanon.

An ambulance arrives after an explosion in Ankara, Turkey February 17, 2016. Five people were killed in an explosion in the Turkish capital Ankara on Wednesday in what appeared to have been a car bomb attack on a vehicle carrying military personnel, broadcaster CNN Turk said, citing the city's governor Mehmet Kiliclar. REUTERS/Umit Bektas - RTX27E6K

Who is TAK and why did it attack Ankara?

This story seeks to shed light on the secretive Kurdistan Freedom Falcons, or TAK, which claimed responsibility for the deadly Feb. 17 bombing in Ankara.

Two Syrians wait on the Turkish side of the Oncupinar border crossing for their parents to arrive from Syria, on the Turkish-Syrian border in the southeastern city of Kilis, Turkey, February 8, 2016. REUTERS/Osman Orsal TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY - RTX25Y24

How Syria's earliest refugees are about to become Turkish citizens

Turkey's earliest Syrian refugees will soon complete their five-year waiting period for Turkish citizenship, and political players are calculating those Syrians' significant eventual power.

Surveillance cameras are seen in front of a police station after an attack in Istanbul, Turkey, August 10, 2015. Overnight, a vehicle laden with explosives was used in the attack on the police station in the Istanbul district of Sultanbeyli at around 01:00 on Monday (2200 GMT on Sunday), injuring three police officers and seven civilians, police said. REUTERS/Huseyin Aldemir - RTX1NRNQ

Turkey's culture of snitching

In just one example of a deep-rooted Turkish culture of snitching, a marriage comes to an end when a husband tells his wife she can offend him, but not his president, and reports her to the authorities.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan (2nd L), Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu (L) and Turkish Army Chief of Staff General Hulusi Akar (3rd L) look on as honour guard carry the flag-draped coffin of Army officer Seckin Cil during a funeral ceremony in Ankara, Turkey, February 18, 2016. Army officer Seckin Cil was killed during the clashes between Turkish security forces and Kurdish militants in Sur district of the southeastern city of Diyarbakir. REUTERS/Umit Bektas - RTX27J7E

Is Turkey 'on the hook' regarding Syria cease-fire?

US-Russia agreement on Syria is a possible breakthrough in peace efforts; Erdogan calls US alliance with Syrian Kurds a “Great Lie.”

Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu (R) chats with Chief of Staff General Hulusi Akar during a funeral ceremony for Army officer Seckin Cil in Ankara, Turkey, February 18, 2016. Army officer Cil was killed during the clashes between Turkish security forces and Kurdish militants in Sur district of the southeastern city of Diyarbakir. REUTERS/Umit Bektas - RTX27IRL

After Syria intervention flop, what’s next for Erdogan?

Ankara’s latest statements show it has dropped the idea of sending regular troops to Syria, yet it is poised for new ventures to avoid a total exclusion from the Syrian equation.

Aleppo residents displaced in their own country

The regime forces’ offensives and Russian airstrikes forced 200,000 to flee the northern Aleppo countryside, while civil society organizations seem unable to meet their needs.