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Turkey

Turkey

November 11, 2026

Ankara 4:11 pm

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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

What’s next for the Syrian regime?

The Syrian regime forces, with the help of the Russian air force, have managed to take over the strategic town of Salma, thus getting closer to the Syrian-Turkish border.

People walk past an armored police vehicle as Turkish riot police use tear gas to disperse Kurdish demonstrators during a protest against a curfew in Sur district and security operations in the region, in the southeastern city of Diyarbakir, Turkey January 17, 2016. REUTERS/Sertac Kayar - RTX22QXH

Turkey breaks new ground in southeast reconstruction

Ankara will be entering potentially hazardous territory in its unprecedented plans for reconstruction in the Kurdish southeast.

Turkey issues new Friday prayer directive

A government directive allowing public employees to take time off from work for Friday prayers has sparked questions about the future of Turkey’s secular system.

Is the KRG heading for bankruptcy?

Iraq’s Kurds warn that unless Washington rides to their financial rescue, they cannot sustain their fight against the Islamic State.

A Syriac Christian monk walks to attend a service at the ancient monastery of Mor Gabriel, 15 km (9 miles) from the town of Midyat, in Mardin province of southeast Turkey January 13, 2009. Tucked amid rugged hills where mosques and minarets are silhouetted in the distance, the fifth century Mor Gabriel monastery stands out as a relic of another era when hundreds of thousands of Syriac Christians lived and worshipped in Turkey. But a land dispute between Mor Gabriel and neighbouring villages is threatening t

Will Turkey's government start paying priests and rabbis?

Non-Muslim religious leaders in Turkey cannot agree on whether to back efforts to get their personnel on the state payroll, which already supports the country's Muslim clergy.

Looking to snitch on your neighbors? Turkey will pay you for the info

The Turkish government has hiked the pay of some elected leaders for providing intelligence about people in their neighborhoods.

Ankara plays favorites with Iraqi, Syrian Turkmens

Ankara could face a nationalist backlash at home for favoring the Kurds over the Turkmens in Iraq.

Kurdish leader warns of civil war in Turkey

Turkey’s security crackdown in the Kurdish-majority southeast could spill over to the country’s west and eventually become a civil war, warns Kurdish politician Kamuran Yuksek in an interview with Al-Monitor.

Why the world questions Turkey's stance on Islamic State

Reasons are mounting to doubt Turkey's dedication to battling the Islamic State.

Turkey's ruling AK Party (AKP) mayoral candidate and current Ankara Mayor Melih Gokcek (C) attends an event as part of his election campaign in Ankara March 18, 2014. The local elections will be the first concrete test of Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan's popularity since anti-government protests rocked major cities last summer and the corruption scandal erupted in mid-December. The race for Ankara is set to be among the closest , with current mayor Melih Gokcek, an argumentative character known for fiery co

Ankara's colorful mayor declares US ambassador persona non grata

The US ambassador’s comments on respecting freedom of speech are challenged by Ankara's mayor — a shrewd social media expert — but not by the government.

Popular Turkish TV host attacked for supporting Diyarbakir teacher

In an illustration of Turkey's increasing polarization amid ongoing clashes in the southeast, Turks are split over whether popular media personality Beyaz spread "terrorist propaganda" by encouraging applause for a concerned caller from Diyarbakir.

Mehmet Gormez, head of Turkey's Religious Affairs Directorate, addresses the media in Ankara January 8, 2015. REUTERS/Umit Bektas (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS RELIGION) - RTR4KMRF

Incest fatwa lands Turkish religious directorate in hot water

Turks expressed their outrage at a response by the Religious Affairs Directorate to a question involving incest.