NATO

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan meets with Orthodox Patriarch of Bartholomew at the presidential complex, Ankara, Turkey, June 16, 2026.

Culture

Turkey’s Erdogan meets Orthodox patriarch amid push for reopening Halki Seminary

The meeting comes ahead of US President Trump’s expected attendance at next month's NATO leaders’ summit in Turkey, after Trump personally urged his Turkish counterpart to reopen the Halki Seminary.

Turkey's Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan attends the NATO Foreign Ministers' meeting in Helsingborg, Sweden, on May 22, 2026.

Turkey’s Fidan heads to Moscow as S-400 sanctions issue returns to fore

The visit comes weeks before Turkey hosts NATO leaders, on the sidelines of which Ankara hopes to reach a deal with Washington over CAATSA sanctions over its purchase of Russian S-400s.

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan buttons up his jacket during a press conference after the conclusion of the G20 Leaders' Summit at the Nasrec Expo Centre in Johannesburg on November 23, 2025.

Explainer

Turkey-Israel tensions flare over Syria, Lebanon, East Med: What to know

The Turkish president has accused Israel of threatening Turkey through its military actions in Syria, Lebanon and the Eastern Mediterranean, triggering a sharp exchange with the Israeli prime minister.

Tom Barrack testifies during his Senate Foreign Relations Committee confirmation hearing in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on April 01, 2025, in Washington, DC.

Tom Barrack addresses criticism over his remarks on Hezbollah, Turkey: What to know

Tom Barrack, a senior figure within the Trump administration, was recently criticized by a member of the House for some of his past statements on Hezbollah.

Latest News

Explainer

Turkey warns Greece, Cyprus not to engage in arms race: What to know

ETIENNE TORBEY/AFP via Getty Images

Turkey’s NATO pipeline bid fuels rivalry with Greece: What to know

OLE BERG-RUSTEN/NTB/AFP via Getty Images

Analysis

Turkey looks to NATO summit for breakthrough on US F-35s acquisition

F-35s over Greenland

Ezgi Akin

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

Turkey warns France over Cyprus troop deployment: What to know

Members of the UN Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP), from the British Army's 1st Battalion Coldstream Guards, No. 2 Company, patrol along the buffer zone separating the internationally recognized Republic of Cyprus and the breakaway Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus in the divided capital Nicosia on Feb. 17, 2026.

Jordanian Foreign Minsiter Ayman Safadi (L) meets with his Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan in Ankara on July 4, 2023.

In Turkey visit, Jordan's FM says Ankara, Amman on same page on Syrians

The foreign minister of Jordan, whose country hosted a series of mediation meetings between Damascus and other Arab capitals, traveled to Ankara after meeting with Assad in Syria.

ADEM ALTAN/AFP via Getty Images

Erdogan says Turkey won't 'back down' on demands for Sweden’s NATO bid

In an apparent jab at Sweden and the United States, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said his country wouldn’t cave to “veiled threats.”

Supporters of Iraq's Sadrist movement gather outside the Swedish embassy in Baghdad on June 30, 2023 for a second day of protests against a Koran burning outside a Stockholm mosque that outraged Muslims around the world. The protest came a day after an Iraqi citizen living in Sweden, Salwan Momika, 37, stomped on the Islamic holy book and set several pages alight in front of the capital's largest mosque. Swedish police had granted him a permit in line with free-speech protections, but authorities later said

As protests continue against Sweden, OIC to meet in Saudi on Quran burning

Member states are set to discuss measures to be taken against attacks on the Muslim holy book.

Women activists of Pakistan Markazi Muslim League take part in a protest rally in Lahore on Jan. 29, 2023.

Middle East condemns, protests Quran burning in Sweden by Iraqi refugee

Quran burnings in Sweden have damaged the potential NATO member’s relationship with Turkey.

Activists of the "Alliance against NATO" network hold a banner reading "No to NATO! - No alliance with fascists" during a demonstration for freedom of speech and association, in support of democratic forces in Turkey and against Swedish NATO membership, on June 4, 2023 in Stockholm, Sweden. Hundreds of protesters took to the streets in Stockholm city centre to demonstrate against Sweden's NATO bid and new anti-terror legislation, despite Ankara's objections. (Photo by Maja SUSLIN / TT News Agency / AFP) / S

Analysis

Turkey fumes at Quran burning in Sweden ahead of critical NATO talks

As a new protest adds a further layer of stress in NATO talks between Turkey and Sweden, analysts believe that prospects are "close to zero" for the Nordic nation’s accession to the alliance before the bloc’s summit.

Ezgi Akin

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

Ferries and tourist boats navigate the Bosphorus on June 22, 2023 in Istanbul, Turkey.

Turkey holds up NATO defense strategy over straits amid Sweden standoff

As the July NATO summit approaches, Turkish demands over the Bosporus and Dardanelles straits, among other issues, are reportedly holding up a defense strategy overhaul, the most ambitious since the end of the Cold War.

JAVAD PARSA/AFP via Getty Images

NATO expansion reaches 3-way standoff between Sweden, Turkey, US

Despite some recent progress, dysfunction in US-Turkish relations and Sweden’s domestic politics are likely to keep the Swedish nation out of NATO for a little longer.

NATO Stoltenberg

NATO chief cites 'some progress' in Turkey-Sweden talks in Ankara

Turkey sticks with its hardball strategy on Sweden’s pending NATO membership as a historic NATO summit nears.

Turkey's newly appointed Foreign Affairs Minister Hakan Fidan delivers a speech.

Blinken calls Turkey’s FM Hakan Fidan, Sweden’s NATO bid tops agenda

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Turkey's new Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan also touched upon bilateral relations and defense cooperation.

Turkey Fidan

Turkey’s FM Hakan Fidan in call with Sweden as NATO bid progresses

Ankara presses for additional steps from Stockholm ahead of next week’s NATO talks between Turkish and Swedish officials for the Nordic state’s accession to the alliance.

LISE ASERUD/NTB/AFP via Getty Images

Turkey inches toward ratifying Sweden's NATO bid

As Turkish and Swedish officials prepare to come together in a new round of talks to overcome Ankara’s objectives for Sweden’s membership, analysts are cautiously optimistic that Sweden may attend the upcoming alliance’s Vilnius summit as a member.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg speaks to the media before a meeting of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group at Ramstein Air Base on April 21, 2023 in Ramstein-Miesenbach, Germany. The group, which coordinates international military support for Ukraine, is meeting as allied countries are struggling to deliver sufficient amounts of artillery rounds and other ammunition to the Ukrainian military. (Photo by Thomas Lohnes/Getty Images)

NATO turns on charm offensive with Turkey to settle Sweden's membership bid

NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg and Sweden’s former premier Carl Bildt are scheduled to travel to Ankara to attend Erdogan's inauguration and convince the Turkish government to greenlight the Swedish membership.