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

Turkey

Turkey

May 9, 2026

Ankara 4:32 am

14°C

People look at a drone on display at the Baykar exhibit at the SAHA International Defence and Aerospace Expo on May 06, 2026 in Istanbul, Turkey.

Turkey, Japan launch defense industry partnership with eye on drones

The initiative could eventually lead to joint UAV development and production as Japan looks to expand drone capabilities amid regional tensions.

Latest News

Saudi FM in Turkey as Ankara, Riyadh step up coordination amid Iran war

Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud and Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan in Ankara, May 6, 2026.

Turkey, Armenia agree to restore medieval bridge in normalization push

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

Sabah Fidan

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

gavenc

Turkish dissident columnist attacked by unknown assailants

The assault on the vocal dissident comes at a time of tightened grip on artists, singers, and dramatists.

Pedestrians walk on Istiklal Street, the main shopping street in Istanbul, on the fourth day of the Eid-al-Adha holiday on July 23, 2021.

Turkey’s record growth rate belies murky economic prospects

Eager to woo back disgruntled voters, Erdogan appears bent on stimulating economic growth at the risk of stoking Turkey’s currency troubles.

Abu Dhabi's Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan (L) shakes hands with Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan before a meeting in Ankara on Feb. 28, 2012.

Iraqi Kurdish leader helps ease Turkey-UAE tensions

Iraqi Kurdistan President Nechirvan Barzani helped facilitate a recent phone call between Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Jin of BTS performs onstage during 102.7 KIIS FM's Jingle Ball 2019 Presented by Capital One at the Forum on Dec. 6, 2019 in Los Angeles, California.

Turkey’s Family Ministry moves to turn down K-pop

Turkey is full of young fans of Korean pop music, angering conservatives who claim the K-pop movement encourages homosexuality.

Jandarma officers monitor Afghan migrants sitting in the back of a smuggler's van that was caught transporting the migrants from the Turkey-Iran border on July 10, 2021 in Caldiran, Turkey.

Turkey won't accept 'refugee burden' from Afghanistan

Turkey, which already hosts more than 300,000 Afghans, has warned it doesn't have the resources to accept additional migrants from the war-torn country.

Hayat Tahrir al-Sham in Syria celebrates Taliban's declared "Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan"

Are Syrian jihadis ready to take the fight to Afghanistan?

Afghanistan revives terror challenges for Washington; Russia anticipates security vacuum; Erdogan senses an opportunity.

OMAR HAJ KADOUR/AFP via Getty Images

Turkey’s targeted killings signal new strategy against Syrian Kurdish forces

A series of Turkish drone strikes targeting senior Kurdish figures in northeast Syria appears to be the prelude of an attrition strategy to further restrict the main Syrian Kurdish group in the region and hamper its autonomy project.

In this handout provided by the US Air Force, an aircrew prepares to load evacuees aboard a C-17 Globemaster III aircraft.

Turkey, Taliban hold talks in Kabul as airport security in doubt

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Ankara hasn't decided whether to provide the Taliban with technical assistance at Kabul's international airport.

Burak Kara/Getty Images

Weary of restrictions, maskless Turks risk fourth wave as variants take hold

Nearly 18 months of coronavirus and a growing vaccination campaign has left many in Turkey careless about the risks of new variants of COVID-19.

Sheikh Tahnoun bin Zayed al-Nahyan and Erdogan

How far might Turkey, UAE reach in fence-mending bid?

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's reception of the UAE national security adviser has raised the prospect of a reset in acrimonious bilateral ties.

People come out from a metro station at Laleli in Istanbul, on March 22, 2021

Turkey’s external debt drops $25 billion at a stroke

The jury is still out on Turkey’s downward revision of short-term external debt, but similar revisions that improved GDP figures in the past have cast doubt on the credibility of Ankara’s economic data.

British and Canadian soldiers stand guard near a canal in the late hours of Aug. 22, 2021, as Afghans wait outside the foreign military-controlled part of the airport in Kabul

Turkey begins pulling troops from Kabul airport as US deadline looms

Ankara's proposal to keep troops at Kabul airport appears dead in the water, at least for now.