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Turkey

Turkey

July 6, 2026

Ankara 12:23 pm

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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan delivers a speech after a signing ceremony with Libyan Government of National Unity prime minister at the Presidential Complex in Ankara, on April 12, 2021.

Analysis

In Libya, maritime dispute could complicate Turkey’s backing of US unity push

Turkey and the US increasingly share an interest in stabilizing Libya through a Tripoli-Benghazi power-sharing deal, though their alignment may hinge on the durability of any such deal and Washington's stance on Ankara's disputed 2019 maritime agreement.

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

A screenshot of one of Deniz Goktas' standup routines posted to YouTube.

Culture

Turkish standup comic detained after act calling Erdogan 'dictator' goes viral

Comedian Deniz Goktas’ arrest comes as Ankara intensifies prosecutions against opposition figures, journalists, artists and critics ahead of a major NATO summit.

Somalia's President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud speaks during the launch of an offshore energy exploration at the port in Mogadishu on April 10, 2026.

Turkish jets strike al-Shabab targets in Somalia: What to know

A Somali Defense Ministry statement initially said Turkish F-16s carried out strikes on Al-Shabab targets before a later version referred only to “international partners.”

Latest News

Explainer

Turkey eases job rules for 1M+ Syrians under temporary protection: What to know

Syrian textile employees work in a textile workshop in Gaziantep, Turkey, on Jan. 30, 2025.

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

KAREN MINASYAN / AFP via Getty Images

Analysis

Why Turkey and Egypt are deepening military ties amid regional turmoil

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.

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

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

Palestinian Fatah members carry their weapons as they take part in a parade to mark the 65th anniversary of Nakba, at Ain al-Hilweh Palestinian refugee camp near the port-city of Sidon, southern Lebanon May 15, 2013. Palestinians marked "Nakba" (Catastrophe) to commemorate the expulsion or fleeing of hundreds of thousands of their brethren from their homes in the war that led to the founding of Israel in 1948. REUTERS/Ali Hashisho (LEBANON - Tags: POLITICS ANNIVERSARY) - RTXZN6R

Syria’s Conflict May Already Be in Lebanon

Following recent conflict in Lebanon’s Ein el-Hilweh Palestinian refugee camp, it is becoming ever more apparent that Syria’s conflict, as represented between Jabhat al-Nusra and Hezbollah, is already in Lebanon.

A billboard advertising the TV series "The Magnificent Century" is seen after being damaged by eggs thrown by pro-Islamic protesters in Istanbul January 9, 2011. Turkish protesters angry over the depiction of an Ottoman sultan drinking alcohol and wooing women in a new television series threw eggs and chanted "God is Great" outside of the broadcaster's studio on Sunday. A group of about 100 protesters, accompanied by a band playing Ottoman military music, marched to the offices of the entertainment channel

Turkey’s Clash of Civilizations

Turkey’s secular and democratic identity should not be compromised for religious orthodoxy.

Misreading The 'Syria Transition Act' In Turkey

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee bill does not signal the imminent arrival of US arms to the Syria opposition.

Iran's Ambassador to the U.N. Mohammad Khazaee speaks before the U.N. Security Council at the U.N. Headquarters in New York, June 9, 2010. The U.N. Security Council imposed a fourth round of sanctions on a defiant Iran on Wednesday over a nuclear program the West suspects is aimed at developing the means to build atom bombs. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR2EY9Q

Iran’s UN Ambassador Welcomes Geneva II Conference on Syria

Mohammad Khazaee, Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations, discusses Iran’s position on Syria in an email interview with Al-Monitor.

Selahattin Demirtas, co-chairman of the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party, greets his supporters during a rally to celebrate the spring festival of Newroz in Istanbul March 17, 2013. A picture of imprisoned PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan is seen in the background. REUTERS/Murad Sezer (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTR3F4BY

Turkish-Kurdish Leader Cautious, Hopeful on Peace Plan

Ahmet Turk, a pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party member, draws attention to a new legislation bringing municipalities under direct tutelage of governors, and argues that is in direct contradiction to the government’s Kurdish initiative.

Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan makes a speech during the Global Alcohol Policy Symposium in Istanbul April 26, 2013. REUTERS/Murad Sezer (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS HEALTH) - RTXZ138

AKP Wages Jihad Against Alcohol in Turkey

The AKP’s draft law of aggressive alcohol restrictions aims not only to engineer an Islamic society but to prevent possible losses in its conservative electoral base.

Turkish President Abdullah Gul waves as he visits the bomb scene on May 16, 2013 during the funerals of the victims of a car bomb which went off on May 11 at Reyhanli in Hatay just a few kilometres from the main border crossing into Syria. The death toll in twin car bombings in a Turkish town near the Syrian border has increased to 50 after another body was recovered and a victim died in hospital, the health minister was quoted as saying on May 14. The attacks also provoked a backlash against Syrian refugee

Turkey’s Syria Policy: No Easy Answers

Turkey’s Syria policies were not wrong, but poorly presented.

Workers attend a training class at LUKOIL training centre in the southern city of Basra December 25, 2012. Russian oil firm LUKOIL has opened its first training centre located in al-Rumaila in the southern city of Basra to develop skilled staff to work in its oilfield. The firm, Russia's second-largest crude producer, won a contract to develop the West Qurna-2 oilfield. Picture taken December 25, 2012. REUTERS/Atef Hassan (IRAQ - Tags: ENERGY BUSINESS) - RTR3C2HM

Iraq to Simplify Visa Procedures For Foreign Oil Workers

The Iraqi government has announced that it will simplify entry-visa and residency-permit procedures for foreign oil workers, following complaints that the current lengthy process deters investors.

Turkish-Kurdish woman waves a PKK flag during a demonstration in support of Syrian Kurds, in the southeastern Turkish town of Nusaybin, near the Turkish-Syrian border, January, 26, 2013. Sitting across the table from top Turkish officials, jailed Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan wields the power to silence guns across southeastern Turkey which have killed more than 40,000 people in a three decade-old insurgency. Reviled by most Turks and held in virtual isolation since his 1999 capture, the Kurdistan Wo

Is Gulen Movement Against Peace With PKK?

The Gulen Movement in Turkey is not against the peace process with the PKK, but is not on its bandwagon either.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan (L) answers a question as U.S. President Barack Obama (R) listens during a joint news conference in the White House Rose Garden in Washington, May 16, 2013. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS) - RTXZPFQ

Washington Relaxed About Prospect Of Erdogan Visit to Gaza

US President Barack Obama seems confident that Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan won’t upset the Turkey-Israel rapprochement.

Riot police surround a protester during a protest against Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan and his government's policy on Syria, in Ankara May 18, 2013. Erdogan said on Friday it would be up to the U.N. Security Council to decide whether to establish a no-fly zone inside Syria and said he backed the involvement of Russia and China in planned peace talks. REUTERS/Umit Bektas (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTXZROX

Vulgarity on Rise in Turkish Political Discourse

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan was the first to place CHP leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu in the same boat of the Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan (L) listens as U.S. President Barack Obama (R) addresses a joint news conference in the White House Rose Garden in Washington, May 16, 2013. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS) - RTXZPBL

Erdogan’s ‘Plan C’ Under Way

If "plan C" means a constitutional process driven by Turkey's ruling AKP, yet marred by high tension, two interesting scenarios emerge.