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Turkey

June 30, 2026

Ankara 7:51 pm

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KAREN MINASYAN / AFP via Getty Images

Turkey, Azerbaijan slam Israel’s Armenian genocide recognition as Yerevan mum

Ankara accused Israel of weaponizing history as Armenia avoided public comment amid delicate regional diplomacy.

From (L-R) Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty, Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan and Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan attend a meeting in Cairo on June 21, 2026.

Analysis

Why Turkey and Egypt are deepening military ties amid regional turmoil

Turkey and Egypt are expanding military cooperation as overlapping security challenges, from Libya and Sudan to Gaza and the Red Sea, bring the former rivals closer together.

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

Members of the Jerusalem Armenian community hold placards as they march during commemorations for the 94th anniversary of mass killings of their kin under the Ottoman Empire, Jerusalem's Old City, April 24, 2009.

Explainer

Israel's Armenian genocide recognition marks new front against Turkey

Analysts say the expected vote for recognition is not morally motivated, but intended to spite the Turkish leader.

Latest News

Trump hints at F-35 breakthrough with Turkey ahead of NATO summit

One of the first three US-made F-35 aircraft in Polish Air Force colors taxis along the runway at the 32nd Tactical Air Base in Lask, central Poland, while fire-fighting vehicles perform a water salute on May 22, 2026.

Israel, Turkey, Iran offer aid as Venezuela’s 2 quakes kill at least 188

Responders arrive to a demolished building at San Bernardino after a magnitude 7.2 earthquake struck Venezuela and other regions in the Caribbean on June 24, 2026 in Caracas, Venezuela.

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

Members of Libyan pro-government forces, backed by locals, walk with weapons during clashes in the streets with the Shura Council of Libyan Revolutionaries, an alliance of former anti-Gaddafi rebels who have joined forces with Islamist group Ansar al-Sharia, in Benghazi April 1, 2015. Picture taken April 1. REUTERS/Stringer - RTR4W1LK

Libya looks to Russia for arms

Disillusioned with the West, the Libya government is exploring opportunities in Russia and says it is willing to accept limited participation by Islamists that agree to play by the rules.

A woman places lit candles in the renovated Armenian church, perched on Akdamar Island in Lake Van, near the eastern Turkish city of Van, March 29, 2007. Turkey spent USD1,5 million in the restoration of the ancient Akdamar church, one of the most precious remnants of Armenian culture that will be converted in a museum. REUTERS/Umit Bektas (TURKEY) - RTR1O2EW

Restitution of Armenian property remains unresolved

Some Turkish scholars have documented that the expropriation of Armenian property was a systematic and integral part of the genocide that began in 1915.

Turkish gendarmes stand guard during the funeral of a rebel belonging to the separatist Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in Istanbul April 17, 2007. The rebel was amongst four Kurdish rebels killed by Turkish security forces during recent clashes which broke out near the eastern Turkish city of Bingol. REUTERS/Osman Orsal (TURKEY) - RTR1OQB5

MIT gun truck bust lands Turkish gendarmes in prison

Turkish gendarmes arrested and prosecuted for stopping and searching trucks — which were chartered by Turkish intelligence — feel they are unfairly prosecuted for obeying orders.

A supporter of the Jamiat Ahle Hadith organization holds a picture of Saudia Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz during a rally in support of Saudi Arabia over its intervention in Yemen, in Lahore April 19, 2015. . REUTERS/Mohsin Raza

Saudi Arabia’s deepening isolation in Yemen

Saudi Arabia faces a quagmire in Yemen; a US-Iran “catalogue of cooperation” after a nuclear deal; Iranian activists skeptical on human rights progress; Israel unnerved by Russian decision on missile sale to Iran; the Good Friday massacre in Aleppo; is Erdogan shifting from sectarianism?

Pope Francis (R) arrives to leads a mass on 100th anniversary of the Armenian mass killings in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican April 12, 2015. Pope Francis on Sunday commemorated the 100th anniversary of the massacre of as many as 1.5 million Armenians as "the first genocide of the 20th century," words that could draw an angry reaction from Turkey. REUTERS/Tony Gentile - RTR4WZ03

Turkey hopes to deter Obama from using 'G-word'

For Turks, it's unimportant what the pope and European Parliament say; what's important is what Barack Obama says.

A Lebanese man of Armenian descent holds a sign during a march from Bourj Hammoud to downtown Beirut's Martyrs Square, April 24, 2013, to mark the 98th anniversary of the mass killing of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire in 1915. REUTERS/Sharif Karim (LEBANON - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST ANNIVERSARY) - RTXYXZD

What does Armenian diaspora want?

Portrayed as a unified obstruction group by Turkey, the diverse Armenian diaspora is eager to keep communication channels open with Turkey.

People take part in a protest in support of Turkey's position on the 1915 mass killing of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire, at Times Square in New York April 26, 2014. The exact nature and scale of what happened during fighting that started in 1915 is highly contentious and continues to sour relations between Turkey and Armenia, a former Soviet republic. Turkey accepts that many Armenians died in clashes, but denies that up to 1.5 million were killed and that this constituted an act of genocide - a term use

Turks link Armenia to US foes in bid to derail genocide nod

Ankara's allies raise concerns with Yerevan's ties to Iran and Russia.

Activists hold pictures of Armenian victims during a demonstration to commemorate the 1915 mass killing of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire, in Istanbul April 24, 2014. Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan offered on Wednesday what the government said were unprecedented condolences to the grandchildren of Armenians killed in World War One by Ottoman soldiers. In a statement issued on the eve of the 99th anniversary of the deeply contested deaths, Erdogan unexpectedly described the events of 1915 as "inhuman

AKP readies diversion as genocide anniversary nears

Under the Justice and Development Party, Turkey has refused to face the Armenian question and is instead working to redirect the world's attention.

A demonstrator on a wheelchair blocks an armoured police vehicle on Istiklal Street in central Istanbul July 13, 2013. Turkish police fired water cannon and tear gas on Saturday to disperse hundreds of protesters who gathered to march to Gezi Park, which has been at the heart of fierce unrest against Prime Minister Erdogan's rule. Protesters scattered, running into sidestreets where police pursued them, before starting to regroup on Istiklal Street, metres from the main Taksim Square. REUTERS/Umit Bektas (T

Disabled Turks protest benefit cuts

A legal amendment cutting financial support for people with disabilities has sparked a wave of protests in Turkey, with a big demonstration scheduled for May outside parliament.

School children from Turkey's Jewish community leave notes on a symbolic railway track during a commemoration event on International Holocaust Remembrance Day at Etz Ahayim Synagogue in Istanbul January 27, 2013. The International Day of Commemoration, which was designated by the United Nations General Assembly to honour Holocaust victims, occurs annually on January 27. REUTERS/Murad Sezer (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS RELIGION ANNIVERSARY) - RTR3D1Z7

Turkey commemorates Holocaust, ignores Armenian issue

Istanbul commemorated Jewish musicians who continued to create even when persecuted by the Nazis, in a ceremony reflecting the Turkish policy line of tolerance vis-a-vis minorities, as long as the question of Armenian genocide is not raised.

A Kurdish village guard patrols a road in the southeastern Turkish province of Sirnak in this October 23, 2007 file photo. Ankara has amassed 100,000 troops on its border with Iraq and threatened a cross-border offensive to crack down on rebels of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) based in mainly Kurdish northern Iraq. To match feature TURKEY-IRAQ/GUARDS REUTERS/Osman Orsal (TURKEY) - RTXBBD

Turkish soldiers target villagers' mules

Mules belonging to villagers living in the sensitive Uludere area have been shot by the Turkish military in its fight against what the state defines as smuggling and the locals see as legitimate trade over the Iraqi border.

Iran's President Hassan Rouhani shakes hands with Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan after a news conference in Ankara June 9, 2014. REUTERS/Umit Bektas (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR3SXID

Erdogan rethinks sectarian politics

Ankara is showing signs of moving away from sectarian leanings and perhaps back to its historic neutral stance in the region.