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Turkey

July 6, 2026

Ankara 6:52 pm

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Israel, Greece conduct military drills ahead of NATO summit in Turkey

Photos published by the Greek military showed fighter jets from both countries flying side by side over the Aegean Sea.

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.

Latest News

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

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

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

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

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 May 7, 2013. REUTERS/Umit Bektas (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS) - RTXZDDJ

Erdogan Says Israeli Strikes On Syria Are 'Unacceptable'

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has broken his silence on the Israeli airstrikes in Syria, declaring them “unacceptable,” writes Tulin Daloglu.

An Israeli delegation arrives at the Turkish Foreign Ministry to hold talks on compensation for families of victims killed in a 2010 naval raid on Turkish-led humanitarian-aid convoy to Gaza, in Ankara April 22, 2013. REUTERS/Umit Bektas (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS) - RTXYVKG

Turkey-Israel: Toward A 'Cold' Normalization

The second round of compensation talks between Israel and Turkey should not raise hopes in Jerusalem of re-establishing the former ties between the two countries, writes Arad Nir.

The Syrian Opposition Also Needs Red Lines

UN investigator Carla Del Ponte's disclosure of the possible use of chemical weapons by Syrian rebels should force Turkey to think again about its Syria policy, writes Kadri Gursel.

GOLAN HEIGHTS - MAY 06: (ISRAEL OUT) A Israeli soldiers of the Golani brigade take part in an exercise near the border with Syria on May 6, 2013 at the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights. Syria has accused Israel of launching a series of airstrikes on targets near the Lebanon/Syria border, including an arms shipment and the Jamraya research centre, that was thought to produce chemical weapons. (Photo by Uriel Sinai/Getty Images)

Iran, Israel Need to Talk About Syria

Meir Javedanfar writes that Iran, Hezbollah and Israel share a common and deadly enemy in Jabhat al-Nusra and radical Salafist groups, whose influence is growing.

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 May 7, 2013. REUTERS/Umit Bektas (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS) - RTXZDD5

Erdogan Likely to Press Obama For Arms to Syrian Rebels

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan may find US President Barack Obama more receptive to supporting Syrian rebel forces, writes Semih Idiz.

Malta-flagged Iranian crude oil supertanker "Delvar" is seen anchored off Singapore March 1, 2012. Western trade sanctions against Iran are strangling its oil exports even before they go into effect, a U.S. advisory body has found, amid warnings that any shortages will only push up crude prices and strain a weak global economy. REUTERS/Tim Chong (SINGAPORE - Tags: ENERGY BUSINESS MARITIME TRANSPORT) - RTR2YO8E

US Complicates Turkey’s Energy Interests in Iraq, Iran

US sanctions on Iran and its disapproval of energy investments in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq have complicated Turkey’s energy policies, writes Olgu Okumus.

Syrian Kurds practise reading the Kurdish language at a school in Derik, Al-Hasakah October 31, 2012. Iraqi Kurdish President Masoud Barzani warned Kurds in Syria against being sucked into the "fires of discord," urging them to preserve Kurdish unity as tensions between rival factions threaten to spillover into violence. Syria's Kurds see the war ravaging their country as an unprecedented opportunity to gain the kind of freedoms enjoyed by their ethnic kin in neighbouring Iraq, where they live autonomously

Kurdish Group Gaining Autonomy In Northern Syria

The Democratic Union Party is investing in autonomous institutions in Syrian Kurdistan while maintaining a relationship with the Syrian regime, Andrea Glioti reports from Qamishli.

Metropolitan Apostolos Daniilidis, an Orthodox bishop at the monastery attached to the Halki school, is seen at the "Tracing Istanbul", an exhibition of works by Greek artists, at the Greek Orthodox seminary in Heybeliada island near Istanbul September 4, 2010. An Istanbul seminary closed in 1971 is hosting its first public event in 40 years, raising hopes it may shortly be reopened by Turkey and once again educate priests for the Greek Orthodox community. The European Union and the United States have press

Are Turkey’s Orthodox Christians Waiting for Godot?

Orhan Kemal Cengiz considers why the Theological School of Halki has yet to reopen.

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 Considers Israeli Strikes on Syria

While the Turkish government keeps silent about the Israeli airstrikes in Syria, which may be the right course, Turkey’s regional policies hang in the balance, writes Tulin Daloglu.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry (L) meets with Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan at Ankara Palace in Ankara, March 1, 2013. Kerry said on Friday the United States found a comment by Turkey's prime minister, likening Zionism to crimes against humanity, "objectionable", overshadowing their talks on the crisis in neighbouring Syria. REUTERS/Jacquelyn Martin/Pool (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR3EG8P

If Turkey Does Not Change Its Syria Policy …

If Turkey doesn't change its partisan, sectarian approach to Syria, it will provoke further sectarian tensions among armed groups in Turkey and the region, writes Kadri Gursel.

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: HEALTH POLITICS) - RTXZ13M

Is Erdogan Calling for Jihad In Turkey?

Prime Minister Erdogan's May 5 speech, with its religious imagery and outrage about events in Syria, could be seen as a rallying cry for a Turkish religious obligation to fight the regime, writes Pinar Tremblay.

A view shows part of Mount Qassioun and part of Damascus city, in this photo taken from the Syrian cabinet building May 5, 2013. Syrian Information Minister Omran Zoabi said on Sunday that Israeli air strikes against three targets on the outskirts of Damascus "open the door to all possibilities." REUTERS/Khaled al-Hariri (SYRIA - Tags: POLITICS CONFLICT) - RTXZBD8

Do the US, Iran Agree on Red Line For Syrian Chemical Weapons?

The US and Israel escalate the war in Syria; Russia, Iran, Hezbollah, Khaled Meshaal; and Al-Monitor launches Iran Pulse.