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Turkey

June 19, 2026

Ankara 2:49 am

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A Turkish police officers patrols at the scene of a motor-bike bomb explosion, next to a police station on Oct. 6, 2016, in Istanbul.

Turkey captures alleged ISIS-K media chief near Afghanistan-Pakistan border

The capture comes as Turkish authorities intensify raids against Islamic State networks following recent attacks and alleged plots.

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.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan received Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Turkish House in New York on Sept. 19, 2023.

Analysis

Erdogan-Netanyahu war of words signals deeper rivalry for regional influence

The latest Erdogan-Netanyahu clash underscored how Turkey-Israel tensions have grown beyond the Palestinian issue and into a wider regional rivalry spanning Syria, Lebanon, Iran and the eastern Mediterranean.

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

Latest News

Feature

Turkey’s World Cup return clouded by politics, dawn kickoffs

Yasin AKGUL / AFP via Getty Images

Ezgi Akin

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

Explainer

Turkey slams France-Cyprus military pact as East Med rivalries deepen

Cyprus' President Nikos Christodoulides (2nd L) and his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron (C) review the honor guard at the Presidential Palace in Nicosia on April 23, 2026, ahead of a meeting on the sidelines of a European summit.

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 forces are seen in a convoy on a main highway between Damascus and Aleppo, near the town of Saraqib in Syria's northern Idlib province, on August 29, 2018. - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in a press conference today that there is "full political understanding" between Russia and Turkey, who support opposing sides of the Syrian civil war but are currently in intense negotiations to ensure Idlib does not become a breaking point in their alliance. (Photo by OMAR HAJ KADOUR / AFP) (

Turkey’s options limited as world awaits Idlib operation

The international community sounds ever more frantic begging the Syrian regime to stop its deadly advance on Idlib, the rebel-held province that will likely produce millions more refugees as it is retaken by the government's forces.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and his German counterpart Heiko Maas commemorate the 25th anniversary of an arson attack killing two Turkish women and three girls by right-wing extremists in Solingen, Germany, May 29, 2018. REUTERS/Wolfgang Rattay - RC1C23FA1490

Turkey and Germany huddle over looming Idlib operation

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas’s visit to Ankara will, above all, serve as a platform for the two countries to discuss major military action expected in the last Syrian rebel stronghold of Idlib.

(FromL) Turkish Justice Minister Abdulhamit Gul, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, Treasury and Finance Minister Berat Albayrak and Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu give a press conference after a "Reform Action Group" meeting held by the Presidency of the European Union at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Ankara on August 29, 2018. (Photo by ADEM ALTAN / AFP) (Photo credit should read ADEM ALTAN/AFP/Getty Images)

Doubts surround Turkey’s efforts to revive its EU membership bid

A Western diplomat says Ankara is unlikely to enact democratic reforms that would ease President Erdogan’s grip on power.

Turkish military’s tradition of secularism facing tough test

A recent controversy over who should lead prayers at mosques and prayer halls in military facilities shows the Turkish military is still a long way from striking a true balance between religious freedom and freedom from religion.

ISTANBUL, TURKEY - AUGUST 29: People wait to change money at a currency exchange office in front of the underconstruction, Taksim Square Mosque on August 29, 2018 in Istanbul, Turkey. Turkey's lira extended its slump to a third day to 6.45 against the dollar after the central bank announced it would alter Turkish banks borrowing limits on overnight transactions, the move failed to reassure investors and combined with the decision by ratings agency Moody's to downgrade the credit rating of twenty Turkish fi

Top Turkish bank official resigns as lira drops further

A deputy governor of Turkey's Central Bank quit suddenly today as the lira took yet another tumble.

Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif steps down from his plane on his arrival in Noor Khan airbase in Rawalpindi on August 30, 2018. - Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif arrived in Islamabad for a two-day visit. (Photo by - / AFP) (Photo credit should read -/AFP/Getty Images)

Zarif: Even America’s allies not immune to US sanctions

During an unannounced trip to Turkey, Iran’s foreign minister warned America’s allies that they are not immune to US pressure.

FBI says Ankara's Iran sanction-busting woes not over

When a US federal agent spoke publicly about the investigation into a Turkish-Iranian sanctions-busting scheme and verified rumors that Turkey had tried to get the defendants freed, she confirmed Ankara's fear that more fallout from the scandal is still to come.

A stray cat sleeps over books as he shades at a second hand book store during a hot summer day in down town Istanbul June 26, 2009. REUTERS/Murad Sezer (TURKEY SOCIETY) FOR BEST QUALITY IMAGE ALSO SEE: GM1E83E1J6T01 - GM1E56R0GPG01

Turkish millennials seek their own literary heroes

Millennials and post-millennials read differently than their elders, as they are faster in skimming, better in sharing and interested in interactive literary works.

A barber works inside his shop on the southern outskirts of the Syrian city of al-Bab, Syria September 15, 2017. Picture taken September 15, 2017. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi - RC11D33413A0

Turkey connecting Syria's al-Bab to its power supply

Turkey's State Electricity Generating Company has been awarded the contract to supply al-Bab, in northern Syria, with electricity.

Two U.S. Air Force F-22 stealth fighter jets are about to receive fuel mid-air from a KC-135 refueling plane over Norway en route to a joint training exercise with Norway's growing fleet of F-35 jets August 15, 2018. REUTERS/Andrea Shalal - RC1BFCD5DE40

US offer of F-35s falls flat as Turkey clings to Russian missiles

A delegation of US Congress members has failed to convince Ankara to give up on acquiring its Russian missile defense system in return for fulfillment of its order of American fighter jets.

A Turkish flag is seen at a Turkish observation point in Idlib province, Syria July 30, 2018. Picture taken July 30, 2018. REUTERS/ Khalil Ashawi - RC18A7B6A310

Will Turkey’s 'strategic partnership' with Russia cover Idlib?

Ankara is looking to Moscow to prevent an attack on Idlib by the Russian-supported Syrian army.

Presidents Hassan Rouhani of Iran, Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey and Vladimir Putin of Russia hold a joint news conference after their meeting in Ankara, Turkey April 4, 2018. REUTERS/Umit Bektas - RC1E49CD8120

Erdogan set to meet Putin, Rouhani in Iran to weigh options on Syria

Turkey, Iran and Russia are set to hold a three-way summit in September in Iran, where Erdogan will likely renew pleas for more time to work out a deal separating the “moderates” from the “terrorists” in Syria's Idlib.