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Turkey

Turkey

May 6, 2026

Ankara 8:00 pm

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A picture taken near Kars on Feb. 28, 2024 shows the ruins of a bridge over Arpacay river, the natural border between Turkey and Armenia.

Turkey, Armenia agree to restore medieval bridge in normalization push

Ankara is pursuing normalization with Armenia ahead of June parliamentary elections in a thaw also positioned to advance its broader Middle Corridor ambitions.

Sabah Fidan

Turkey hosts Kuwaiti FM as UAE's OAPEC exit fuels Gulf rift

Kuwait's top diplomat visited Turkey as the Gulf rift deepens following the UAE’s exit from OPEC and its affiliated alliances, forcing Ankara to balance ties between Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi.

Zaidi

Analysis

Iraq’s Zaidi offers economic promise for Turkey but unknowns loom

Iraq’s prime minister-designate, Ali al-Zaidi, is expected to sustain growing economic and strategic ties with Turkey thanks to his business-oriented approach, though uncertainty over his political stance could test cooperation on sensitive issues.

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

Latest News

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.

Turkey advances gas pipeline plan to northern Cyprus as East Med rivalry grows

This aerial photograph shows Turkey's first floating natural gas production platform, "Osman Gazi," passing through the Bosphorus, in Istanbul, on May 29, 2025.

In first, Libya’s rival armies to join drill in Turkey: What to know

Cadets of the Saiqa Force (Special Forces) of the self-styled Libyan National Army affiliated with eastern strongman Khalifa Hifter take part in a graduation ceremony in tribute to the force's late commander, Wanis Bukhamada, in the eastern city of Benghazi, on Jan. 20, 2022.

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

Seyit, an 8-year-old Kurdish garbage collector, carries flattened cardboard boxes in Istanbul on Sept. 12, 2022.

Deepening poverty fuels mass school dropout in Turkey

Children are dropping out of school at unprecedented rates in Turkey, activists warn, as the social toll of the country’s economic turmoil deepens.

OZAN KOSE/AFP via Getty Images

Earthquake in Turkey highlights questions over disaster preparedness

Wednesday's earthquake in Duzce has rekindled memories of quakes that struck Turkey in 1999, worrying many about future disasters.

Turkey election

Missing legal, tech safeguards worry Turks as elections loom

Few legal safeguards exist to prevent the Turkish authorities from restricting internet access on election day, experts say, as the opposition scrambles to devise contingency plans.

Mazloum Abdi (Kobani), commander-in-chief of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), gives a press conference near the northeastern Syrian Hassakeh province on October 24, 2019.

Syrian Kurdish commander says Kobani likely target of threatened Turkish ground offensive

Following Turkish airstrikes on his headquarters in northeast Syria, SDF commander Mazlum Kobane spoke with Al-Monitor about Erdogan's threats of a new ground offensive.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan shakes hands with Abdel Fattah el-Sisi in Qatar on Nov. 20, 2022.

Sisi, Erdogan meet, pledge new era of Egypt-Turkey relations

Turkish analysts believe that the enthusiastic handshake between Sisi and Erdogan may facilitate the budding rapprochement but will not be a magic wand, particularly in Libya.

ADEM ALTAN/AFP via Getty Images

Turkey’s Russian-built nuclear plant could amplify Moscow’s regional influence

Some experts are warning that Turkey’s first nuclear power plant, which is being built by Russia's Rosatom, might become a tool to advance Russian interests in the region.

Syrian Kurds protest against Turkey and in solidarity with the Kurdistan Workers Party, in the Kurdish-held city of Qamishli, Syria, Nov. 13, 2022.

Turkey strikes near US base in Syria after Pentagon calls for de-escalation

The US military says it opposes Ankara's plans to send ground troops against Syria's Kurds, but it has stood down in the face of similar attacks in the past.

OZAN KOSE/AFP via Getty Images

Tensions simmer as Azerbaijan-Turkey alliance unsettles Iran

Iran is increasingly worried over Azerbaijani and Turkish geopolitical gains in the region as calls for “Greater Azerbaijan” push a hot button in Tehran.

BAY ISMOYO/AFP via Getty Images

Erdogan says Turkey's strikes in Syria, Iraq may lead to ground offensive

As the dust settles from airstrikes on Kurdish militants in Syria and Iraq, Turkey is threatening a wider operation in the region.

Turkish troops are pictured on the outskirts of the Syrian town of Afrin on October 19, 2022 as the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) jihadist group advances towards Syrian opposition-held areas in the northern Syria. - Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, Al-Qaeda's former Syria affiliate, is gaining ground from rival rebels in Syria's Turkish-held north on the heels of some of the deadliest inter-rebel fighting in the region in years.

Turkey bombs Syria, Iraq in response to Istanbul terror attack

Fears are rising in Syria's Kurdish-controlled northeast over a potential military incursion by Turkey.

Police officers escort suspects linked to the Istanbul bombing in a court in Sofia on November 19, 2022. - Bulgaria has charged five people with helping one of the suspects in last weekend's bombing in central Istanbul which killed six people, prosecutors said on November 19, 2022.

The Turkey Briefing: investigation into Istanbul bombing continues

In this weekly newsletter, Ezgi Akin rounds up the biggest Turkey stories from the region.

ILYAS AKENGIN/AFP via Getty Images

Turkey’s first national soccer game in Kurdish heartland hints at electioneering

The match was set in Diyarbakir by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as he faces a tough vote next year.