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Turkey

Turkey

November 12, 2026

Ankara 9:15 pm

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Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan (L) and his son Bilal Erdogan (R) stay on the stage during Istanbul Youth Festival in Istanbul on May 4, 2017.

Explainer

Bilal Erdogan, floated as father’s possible successor, visits Lebanon: What to know

Bilal Erdogan, the son of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, is in Lebanon for a three-day visit that will include meetings with officials and religious leaders, as well as stops in Sunni-majority cities.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan met with Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh of Libya on the sidelines of the 31st Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, in Antalya, Turkey, on Nov. 12, 2026.

Turkey hosts Libya’s Hifter, Erdogan meets Tripoli PM as unity push gains pace

Ankara is expanding ties with Libya’s eastern leadership while seeking to protect its agreements with Tripoli under a potential power-sharing arrangement.

People walk past a Bitcoin sign at the entrance of a cryptocurrency exchange office on Nov. 8, 2024, in Istanbul, Turkey.

Watchdog urges Turkey to tighten digital asset rules for $144B crypto economy

A review of Turkey’s crypto-asset regulations by the Financial Stability Board acknowledged significant progress made by local authorities but called for further measures to address potential risks.

Latest News

Turkey’s banking watchdog chief submits resignation amid fund scandal

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (L) and Central Bank Governor Sahap Kavcioglu attend a signing ceremony with Abu Dhabi’s crown prince, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan at the Presidential Complex in Ankara on Nov. 24, 2021. ADEM ALTAN/AFP via Getty Images

Explainer

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

Chris McGrath/Getty Images

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

OZAN KOSE/AFP via Getty Images

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

Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan displays a watch with a signature of former Prime Minister Adnan Menderes engraved on it, during a rally of his ruling AK Party to campaign for Sunday's early parliamentary elections in Turkey's Black Sea city of Trabzon July 20, 2007. The watch was presented to him by a supporter. REUTERS/Fatih Saribas (TURKEY) - RTR1S2C8

Erdogan’s Muddled Plan For Yassiada Memorial

Erdogan uses a historical tragedy to initiate a profit-oriented project on Yassiada Island, the symbol of the 1960 coup that resulted in the execution of then-premier Adnan Menderes, the man Erdogan idolizes.

Kurdish female fighters from the Popular Protection Units (YPG) take positions to guard the area in Aleppo's Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood, June 19, 2013. Kurdish fighters from the Popular Protection Units (YPG) joined the Free Syrian Army to fight against forces loyal to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad. Picture taken June 19, 2013. REUTERS/Nour Kelze (SYRIA - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST CONFLICT TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) - RTX10UJ9

Kurdish Rebel Group in Turkey Re-Focuses on Syria

A change in the PKK leadership has prompted debate over Turkey’s Kurdish peace initiative and Syria policies.

Iraqi men walk past posters advertising a pornographic film at a cinema
in Baghdad, April 30, 2003. Pornography and prostitution was officially
banned under the regime of Saddam Hussein until his ousting from power
by U.S.-led forces two weeks ago.

REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra - RTRMOD7

Iraq’s Sex Trade Thrives

Given the lax security situation since the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq, the country’s sex trade has proliferated.

A Turkish flag flutters near the monument of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk at Taksim Square in Istanbul June 24, 2013. REUTERS/Marko Djurica (TURKEY - Tags: SOCIETY) - RTX10Z87

How Can Turkey Bounce Back In the Middle East?

Turkey's AKP government must alter its Islamic-based “exclusionary policies,” stabilize political and economic ties with Iraq and Iran and restore normalcy to its relations with Israel.

Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan (L) and Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu arrive at a ceremony in Ankara September 6, 2011. Erdogan said on Tuesday that Turkey was "totally suspending" defence industry ties with Israel, after downgrading diplomatic relations with the Jewish state. REUTERS/Umit Bektas (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR2QV66

The Islamization of Turkey’s Foreign Ministry

With recent legislative changes, AKP will now be able to appoint its cadres as ambassadors and give them senior posts in the Foreign Ministry.

An Israeli security forces member stands by as a Jordanian helicopter starts to lift off to take U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry to Amman, in Jerusalem, June 29, 2013. Kerry was bound for a meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Amman, Jordan. REUTERS/Jacquelyn Martin/Pool (JERUSALEM - Tags: POLITICS) - RTX115RJ

US Outs Israel on Syria Attack? Blame Edward Snowden

Why are the Americans providing the international media with information about alleged covert Israeli operations while the Europeans are ratcheting up the settlement boycott?

Relatives and friends of Savas Yayik pray behind his coffin during a funeral ceremony in Diyarbakir in the Kurdish-dominated southeastern Turkey April 26, 2011. Turkish security forces killed three Kurdish guerrillas, including Yayik, in a firefight in southeast Turkey, according to media reports last week, after two days of street clashes across the region. There was no indication of any link between those protests and the clash between soldiers and militants from the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK)

Visit to Southeast Turkey Offers Bleak View of Peace with Kurds

A visit to villages in southeast Turkey provides a window on the challenges for the Turkish-PKK peace process.

Turkey's Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu (R) speaks with Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan during a meeting at the government palace in Tunis September 15, 2011. Tunisia's new political order will show that Islam and democracy can co-exist just as they have in Turkey, Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said on Thursday. Erdogan, in Tunis on the second stop of a North African tour aimed at asserting Ankara's growing regional influence, said secularity should guarantee that people of all beliefs, as w

Turkey, Lonely Man Of the Middle East

Turkish foreign policy is in endemic crisis because of the Islamist and sectarian foreign policies of the AKP government.

GEZI PARKI EYLEMI / FOTOGRAF MUHSIN AKGUN RADIKAL

Turkey’s Gezi Park Protesters Regroup for Ramadan

Gezi Park protesters challenge the “religion card” of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan by hosting street iftars to break the Ramadan fast.

Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan addresses members of parliament from his ruling AK Party (AKP) during a meeting at the Turkish parliament in Ankara June 25, 2013. Turkish anti-terrorism police detained 20 people in raids in the capital Ankara on Tuesday in connection with weeks of anti-government protests across the country, media reports said. The unrest began at the end of May when police used force against campaigners opposed to plans to redevelop a central Istanbul park. The protest spiralled int

Erdogan’s Egyptian Obsession

Turkey considers restoring deposed Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood to power as an existential quest.

Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan addresses members of parliament from his ruling AK Party (AKP) during a meeting at the Turkish parliament in Ankara June 25, 2013. Turkish anti-terrorism police detained 20 people in raids in the capital Ankara on Tuesday in connection with weeks of anti-government protests across the country, media reports said. The unrest began at the end of May when police used force against campaigners opposed to plans to redevelop a central Istanbul park. The protest spiralled int

Erdogan Plays Politics With Egypt's Coup

The Turkish prime minister’s stance on Egypt is mostly about domestic politics.

A woman holds a poster of Egypt's President Mohamed Mursi during a pro-Islamist demonstration in Istanbul July 1, 2013. Pro-Islamist groups held a demonstration in Istanbul in support of Mursi on Tuesday. Egypt's armed forces handed Islamist President Mohamed Mursi a virtual ultimatum to share power on Monday, giving feuding politicians 48 hours to compromise or have the army impose its own road map for the country. The slogan on the poster reads, "Mursi, you are not alone!" REUTERS/Murad Sezer (TURKEY - Ta

Turkish Islamists Angered By Arab Gulf Stance on Egypt

Turkey’s isolation over Egypt has forced it to rethink its regional policies.