Turkey - AL-MONITOR: The Middle Eastʼs leading independent news source since 2012

Turkey

Turkey

July 7, 2026

Ankara 7:50 am

18°C

sampt-t

Analysis

As it hosts NATO, Turkey eyes France's SAMP/T system, F-35 progress with Trump

Turkey is set to host NATO leaders as doubts over US commitment linger prompting Ankara to seeks its own defense deals with Paris and Washington.

Ezgi Akin

In Ankara, reporting on diplomacy, EU-Turkey ties, NATO

ABIR SULTAN / AFP via Getty Images

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

Latest News

Culture

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

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

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

Newspapers are displayed at a newsstand on January 24, 2012 in the Karakoy neighborhood of Istanbul. Turkish newspapers criticized the January 23 vote by the French Senate making denial of the Armenian genocide a crime. The French Senate on January 23 approved, by 127 votes to 86, the measure which makes it an offence punishable by jail in France to deny that the 1915 massacre of Armenians by Ottoman Turk forces amounted to genocide. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on January 24 slammed as discr

Iran's Foreign Envoy Slams Turkish Media

Outgoing Iranian Ambassador to Ankara Bahman Hosseinpour accuses the Turkish media of ulterior motives in spoiling the relations between two countries, writes Tulin Daloglu.

Syrian refugees sit in a tent at a refugee camp in the town of Nizip in Gaziantep province, southeast Turkey, February 11, 2013. REUTERS/Umit Bektas (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS SOCIETY IMMIGRATION TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) - RTR3DNGY

Poll Shows Weak Support For Turkey’s Syria Policies

A recent poll shows that Turkey’s interventionist policies have little domestic support and that Turkey remains wary of outside alliances, writes Kadri Gursel.

Protesters shout anti-Israel slogans during a protest in front of a court house in Istanbul November 6, 2012. Hundreds of protesters chanting "Murderer Israel!" gathered outside an Istanbul court on Tuesday at the start of a trial of a group of former Israeli military commanders charged over the 2010 killing of nine Turks aboard a Gaza-bound aid ship. REUTERS/Osman Orsal (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST CRIME LAW) - RTR3A20Q

More Than Meets the Eye In Turkish-Israeli Ties

Semih Idiz writes that while Turkish-Israeli relations seem to be at a low, Ankara and Tel Aviv continue to engage on security and energy matters.

Turkish-Kurdish women flash V for victory signs 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 Kur

Is There a Turkish Kurdistan?

Mustafa Akyol examines the questions, risks and consequences of Kurdish autonomy in Turkey.

Turkey's Prime Minister and leader of ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) Tayyip Erdogan (R) welcomes his guest Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal during the AKP congress in Ankara September 30, 2012. Erdogan trumpeted Turkey's credentials as a rising democratic power on Sunday, saying his Islamist-rooted ruling party had become an example to the Muslim world after a decade in charge. Addressing thousands of party members and regional leaders at a congress of his Justice and Development (AK) Party, Erdogan

Hamas Leader Meshaal Pays 'Secretive' Visit to Turkey

Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal has quietly paid a visit to Ankara, raising new questions about Turkey's Middle East policies, writes Tulin Daloglu.

Members of Turkish parliament from the ruling AK Party (AKP) and Republican People's Party (CHP) scuffle during a debate at the parliament in Ankara late February 8, 2012. REUTERS/Stringer (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTR2XIJG

Turkish Parliament's Tuesday Meetings Raise Political Temperature

Turkish parliamentary party meetings on Tuesdays are characterized by harsh language, writes Tulin Daloglu.

Tanker trucks wait to be loaded at Taq Taq oil field in Arbil at the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region of northern Iraq, about 350 km (220 miles) north of Baghdad, September, 5, 2012. To match Analysis IRAQ-OIL-KURDISTAN/ REUTERS/Azad Lashkari (IRAQ - Tags : - Tags: ENERGY BUSINESS POLITICS) - RTR37KB7

Who Will Pay IOCs in Iraqi Kurdistan?

An Iraqi-Turkish oil pipeline for exports from the Kurdistan Region of Iraq might reduce tensions between Baghdad and Erbil, while improving Iraqi-Turkish ties, writes Denise Natali.

Turkey's Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and his Iranian counterpart Ali Akbar Salehi (L) attend a news conference in Ankara January 19, 2012. Iran's foreign minister warned Arab neighbours on Thursday not to put themselves in a "dangerous position" by aligning themselves too closely with the United States in the escalating dispute over Tehran's nuclear activity. Iran has threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz, used for a third of the world's seaborne oil trade, if pending Western moves to ban Iranian cr

Turkey-Iran Ties Strained By Iraq, Syria

Tehran and Ankara are struggling to keep up appearances as differences over Iraq and Syria begin to take a toll on their bilateral relationship, writes Semih Idiz.

A Turkish Airlines Boeing 737 is seen through a window of another passenger plane at the airport in the Mediterranean coastal city of Antalya August 9, 2007. Turkish Airlines staff have been balloted this week on whether to strike for more pay at the height of the tourist season. REUTERS/Fatih Saribas (TURKEY) - RTR1SN2P

Turkey's Creeping Alcohol Ban Reaches New Heights

Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party’s campaign to ban alcohol has now reached Turkish Airlines, writes Kadri Gursel.

A general view of Khurmala oilfield in Arbil, 310 km (190 miles) north of Baghdad July 18, 2009. Iraq's largely autonomous Kurdistan region opened a new oil refinery on Saturday, with a projected capacity of 40,000 barrels per day (bpd), the director of the group that built the refinery said. REUTERS/Azad Lashkari (IRAQ BUSINESS ENERGY) - RTR25SW8

Turkey Contributes To Iraqi Fragmentation

Turkey’s relationship with the Kurdistan Regional Government may be undermining its long-term economic and energy interests in Iraq, writes Necdet Pamir.

The Leiv Eiriksson, an oil drilling platform, is escorted by tugboats as it enters the Bosphorus in Istanbul December 31, 2009. The deep-water platform, one of the world's largest drilling rigs, passed through the Bosphorus Strait as it entered the Black Sea where Turkey and Brazil will carry out joint oil explorations. In April, state-owned petroleum companies, Turkey's TPAO and Brazil's Petrobras, signed an agreement to search for oil in the Black Sea. REUTERS/Murad Sezer (TURKEY - Tags: ENERGY TRANSPORT

Turkey Launches Ship to SupportOffshore Energy Exploration

Turkey commits resources, including dedicated naval vessels, to preserve and protect its rights in its exclusive economic zone in the Eastern Mediterranean, writes Tulin Daloglu.

Former deputy Chief of the General Staff General Ergin Saygun (L) is escorted by police officers at a courthouse in Istanbul February 25, 2010. Turkey's political and military leaders meet on Thursday as a storm gathers over a coup plot investigation against the armed forces which is threatening stability and investor confidence in the EU-candidate country. The most senior detainees, retired Air Force Commander Ibrahim Firtina and ex-navy chief Ozden Ornek, are brought to the court for questioning on Thursd

Erdogan Visit Highlights Poor Health Care in Turkish Prisons

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s visit to a hospital to see an army officer implicated in a coup attempt has drawn attention to the poor health care in Turkish prisons, writes Sibel Utku Bila.