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

Turkey

Turkey

July 7, 2026

Ankara 3:22 pm

28°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

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu (L), Egyptian Foreign Minister Mohamed Kamel Amr (C) and Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi attend a news conference after a meeting regarding the Syrian crisis, in Cairo September 17, 2012. Saudi Arabia stayed away from a meeting on the Syria crisis convened by regional powers on Monday, setting back a forum grouping Iran - President Bashar al-Assad's main Middle East ally - and his leading opponents in the region. The "contact group" of Egypt, Iran, Turkey a

Turkey Claims Iran Providing Logistical Support for PKK

Relations between Iran and Turkey are likely to deteriorate in 2013, including over the PKK and the Patriot missile deployment, writes Cengiz Çandar.

Soldiers of the German armed forces Bundeswehr stand next to a PAC-2 launcher of a "Patriot" missile battery during a media rehearsal in the north German village of Warbelow December 18, 2012. Germany's lower house of parliament, the Bundestag, last week approved the sending of two Patriot batteries and 400 soldiers to Turkey as part of a NATO plan to protect the country from any spread of the Syrian conflict. REUTERS/Tobias Schwarz (GERMANY - Tags: POLITICS MILITARY CIVIL UNREST)

NATO Patriot Missiles Show Turkey's Military Weakness

Kadri Gursel writes that Turkey's request for NATO Patriot missiles reveals its lack of capacity and few other options to handle regional threats.

Turkey's Prime Minister and leader of ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) Tayyip Erdogan (R) and his guest Egypt's President Mohamed Mursi greet the audience during AK Party 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 (

The Turkish 'Model' For Authoritarianism in Egypt

Both Turkey and Egypt may be models for a new authoritarianism and more confrontational societies, writes Cengiz Candar.

Syrian children from the northern Syrian town of Ras al-Ain are pictured near the Turkish border fence as gunfire is heard between the Free Syrian Army and the armed Kurds of the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) in the northern Syrian town of Ceylanpinar, November 25, 2012. Iran said Turkey's plans to deploy Patriot defensive missiles near its border with Syria would add to the region's problems, as fears grow of the Syrian civil war spilling across frontiers. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh (TURKEY - Tags

Turkey Will Pay a High Price After Assad

By throwing its lot completely with Syria’s Muslim Brotherhood, Turkey will sustain costs whether Syrian President Bashar al-Assad stays or goes, writes Kadri Gursel.

Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan delivers a speech as he campaigns ahead of the March 29 local elections in southeastern city of Diyarbakir February 21, 2009. Diyarbakir, the biggest city of Turkey's impoverished Kurdish southeast, is a battleground in local elections seen as a referendum on Erdogan's AK Party. The AK Party is seeking to gain fresh legitimacy after it narrowly escaped a legal attempt by its secularist opponents to ban it for Islamist activities in 2008. REUTERS/Osman Orsal (TURKEY)

New 'Party of God' Will Divide Kurdish, Turkish Islamists

Turkey's newest political party, Huda-Par, a legal Islamic Kurdish party from within Hezbollah, marks a rapid divergence of the paths of Kurdish and Turkish Islamists, writes Kadri Gursel.

Turkish workers work to reinforce the border fence between the northern Syrian town of Ras al-Ain and the Turkish border town of Ceylanpinar, Sanliurfa province November 21, 2012. NATO member states have agreed to supply Turkey with an advanced Patriot missile system to defend against Syrian attacks and talks on its deployment are in the final stage, Turkey's foreign minister Ahmet Davutoglu said on Tuesday. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS CONFLICT MILITARY TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY)

Turkey Prepares for Life After Its Syrian Quagmire

Cengiz Çandar writes that Turkey is counting down the last days of the Bashar al-Assad regime and in delight and relief.

Russia's Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev attends a meeting with members of the United Russia party at the Gorki residence outside Moscow August 10, 2012. REUTERS/Dmitry Astakhov/RIA Novosti/Kremlin (RUSSIA - Tags: POLITICS) THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. IT IS DISTRIBUTED, EXACTLY AS RECEIVED BY REUTERS, AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS

Is there a Syrian Medvedev?

To find a solution in Syria, the US should consider a renewed parallel diplomatic track with Moscow, Tehran and Ankara. The objective: Encourage the emergence of a "Syrian Medvedev," a transitional figure acceptable to the regime, the Syrian people and the relevant outside powers.