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Turkey

Turkey

November 11, 2026

Ankara 12:05 pm

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Explainer

Iran war pushes up coal use, complicating Turkey’s COP31 pledge

Turkey is asking world leaders at COP31 to back a global push to use more electricity, even as the Iran war has driven up natural gas prices and pushed some power producers back to coal.

OZAN KOSE/AFP via Getty Images

Turkey bars MP’s wife from travel after his fund scandal criticism: What to know

Opposition politicians and rights advocates described Yonca Verdioglu Sik’s brief detention as an attempt to intimidate her husband, opposition lawmaker Ahmet Sik, over his criticism of the government.

A steel worker works in front of giant iron melting pot in Kardemir Iron and Steel Factory in Karabuk, northwestern Turkey, Aug. 26 2005. (TARIK TINAZAY/AFP via Getty Images)

Steel factory explosion in western Turkey kills at least 16

Footage from the scene showed a huge plume of thick smoke spreading into the sky as flames engulfed a tall structure within the plant.

Latest News

Analysis

Will Democrats block Trump’s push to deliver Turkey F-35s, lift sanctions?

MEHMET ESER/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

Costa Rica's Grynspan extends lead in UNSG poll as Nusseibeh places fourth

United Arab Emirates

Turkey’s parliament ratifies Mecca pact in boost to Saudi Arabia

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan addresses Turkish members of parliament during the opening of the parliamentary session at the Grand National Assembly of Turkey in Ankara, on Oct. 1, 2026.

Samuel Wendel

Senior Analyst, Middle East Business & Tech

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

Supporters of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) make the grey wolf sign of the party as they wait for the arrival of party leader Devlet Bahceli during a rally in Istanbul October 5, 2013. REUTERS/Osman Orsal (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS ) - RTR3FMK7

Turkey's stalled constitution

In the post-Gezi Park protests era, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is being pressured to give up on writing a new constitution, at least until the March elections are over.

Former Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman (2nd L) waits to hear the verdict in the corruption charges against him at the Magistrate Court in Jerusalem November 6, 2013. Lieberman will return to the cabinet after his acquittal in a corruption trial on Wednesday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said. REUTERS/Emil Salman/Pool (JERUSALEM - Tags: POLITICS CRIME LAW) - RTX15212

Liberman slams South Africa as 'anti-Israel'

The harsh remarks emanating from Turkey and South Africa indicate that it's OK to criticize Israel while strengthening ties with Iran.

People sit in the back of a truck as they celebrate what they said was the liberation of villages from Islamist rebels near the city of Ras al-Ain in the province of Hasakah, after capturing it from Islamist rebels November 6, 2013. Redur Xelil, spokesman for the armed wing of the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD), said Kurdish militias had seized the city of Ras al-Ain and all its surrounding villages. Syrian Kurdish fighters have captured more territory from Islamist rebels in northeastern Syria

Does Washington have a policy toward Syria’s Kurds?

The view from Washington about US policy toward Syria may be more confusing than it looks from Turkey.

University students shout anti-government slogans during a protest against Turkey's High Education Board in Istanbul November 6, 2013. REUTERS/Osman Orsal (TURKEY - Tags: CIVIL UNREST POLITICS EDUCATION) - RTX152F9

Does AKP’s 'silent revolution' silence women?

The Turkish Justice and Development Party's “silent revolution” guarantees women’s rights as long as they do not clash with Islamic ideals.

Police arrest a demonstrator on September 10, 2013 during clashes in Istanbul. Turkish police fired tear gas and plastic bullets at thousands of people who gathered in Istanbul on September 10 to protest the September 9 death of a 22-year-old demonstrator in the southeastern city of Antakya. AFP PHOTO/BULENT KILIC (Photo credit should read BULENT KILIC/AFP/Getty Images)

In Turkey, from headscarf to 'immorality' ban

The headscarf, once a symbol of Turkey's struggle for freedom, is now normalized, but other symbols appear in its stead.

A Kurdish security forces member stands guard outside a polling station after its closing in Arbil, capital of the autonomous Kurdistan region, about 350 km (217 miles) north of Baghdad, September 21, 2013. Iraqi Kurds voted on Saturday for a new parliament that analysts said was poised to lead the oil-producing region further down the road to greater autonomy from Baghdad. REUTERS/Azad Lashkari (IRAQ - Tags: ELECTIONS POLITICS BUSINESS) - RTX13TNL

Iraqi Kurdistan more vulnerable to Al-Qaeda attacks

The war in Syria, including the spread of radical Islamist terrorists, is spilling over into the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.

Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan addresses reporters during a news conference at the Government Banquet Hall in Helsinki, November 6, 2013. REUTERS/Jussi Nukari/Lehtikuva (FINLAND - Tags: POLITICS) ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. IT IS DISTRIBUTED, EXACTLY AS RECEIVED BY REUTERS, AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS. NO THIRD PARTY SALES. NOT FOR USE BY REUTERS THIRD PARTY DISTRIBUTORS. FINLAND OUT. NO COMMERCIAL OR EDITORIAL SALES IN FINLAND - RTX152FG

Erdogan's 'morality police' assume duty

After the Turkish prime minister expressed his support for gender-segregated living on college campuses, concerns about domestic privacy were mounting.

University students shout anti-government slogans during a protest against Turkey's High Education Board in Istanbul November 6, 2013. REUTERS/Osman Orsal (TURKEY - Tags: CIVIL UNREST POLITICS EDUCATION) - RTX152F8

Erdogan stirs controversy on women in university housing

Erdogan risks losing loyal supporters with another divisive debate about the role of the state in people’s lives.

Ayse Gokkan.jpg

Turkey’s wall of shame

The mayor of Nusaybin, Ayse Gokkan, is a woman on hunger strike against a wall, and the government that interferes with everything doesn’t utter a word.

Turkish girls attend English class at the Kazim Karabekir Girls' Imam-Hatip School in Istanbul February 10, 2010. The imam-hatip network is a far cry from the western stereotype of the madrassa as an institution that teaches the Koran by rote and little else. Originally founded to educate Muslim religious functionaries in the 1920s, the imam-hatip syllabus devotes only around 40 percent of study to religious subjects like Arabic, Islamic jurisprudence and rhetoric. The rest is given over to secular topics.

Turkey’s English proficiency improving

Turkey ranks No. 41 at this year’s English Proficiency Index, but it tops the list of countries that are trending up – which is a fair reflection of its economic achievement.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif (L) shakes hands with his Turkish counterpart Ahmet Davutoglu after a news conference in Ankara November 1, 2013. Turkey and Iran said on Friday they had common concerns about the increasingly sectarian nature of Syria's civil war, signalling a thaw in a key Middle Eastern relationship strained by stark differences over the conflict. REUTERS/Umit Bektas (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS) - RTX14WOL

The return of Turkey’s 'zero problems' policy

Turkey rebuilds ties to Iran and Iraq and faces the realization that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad will likely be part of the transition in Syria.

A Turkish military armoured vehicle patrols on the border line near Turkish Cilvegozu border gate, located opposite the Syrian commercial crossing point Bab al-Hawa in Reyhanli, Hatay province, September 17, 2013. REUTERS/Umit Bektas (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS SOCIETY IMMIGRATION CONFLICT MILITARY) - RTX13OB0

Turkey mostly mum on chemicals seized on Syria border

The latest chemical-seizure incident is drawing attention to lax control of Turkey’s border.