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Politics & Security

A demonstrator carries a CHP flag during a protest in Izmir, Turkey, on May 24, 2026.

Explainer

What’s behind Turkey’s latest wave of arrests against opposition mayors?

The operations come as Ozgur Ozel’s newly formed party gains momentum.

A woman stands next to Iranian-made Zolfaghar missiles displayed at Azadi Square in Tehran on July 24, 2026.

Iran’s new calculus: Strike first, talk later

An increasingly emboldened Tehran has put President Donald Trump in a bind.

A Saudi navy ship is pictured docked at King Faisal navy base in Jeddah before the departure of a team to Port Sudan to help with the evacuation efforts of people fleeing Sudan, on April 29, 2023.

Turkey, Pakistan among 14 countries backing Saudi Arabia's anti-Houthi Red Sea alliance

Riyadh won political backing from 14 countries for its proposed maritime defense coalition, but members have yet to commit to joining as Washington weighs its position.

Erdogan and Aoun

Turkey ready to participate in post-UNIFIL force in Lebanon, Erdogan tells Aoun

Aoun paid a one-day visit to Ankara amid Lebanon's push to secure an Israeli withdrawal and end the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah.

Latest News

Houthis deny responsibility for drone attack hitting Egypt's Damietta Port

A ship transits the Suez Canal towards the Red Sea on Jan. 10, 2024 in Ismailia, Egypt.

US carries out strikes in southern Iran after IRGC attack on Jordan airbase

In this handout photo provided by the US Navy, Two F/A-18 Super Hornets launch from the flight deck of Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) in support of Operation Epic Fury on March 3, 2026 in the Mediterranean Sea.

Exclusive

Saudi Arabia to announce Red Sea coalition to counter Houthi threats

Houthi soldiers stand guard on a missile carrier during an official military parade marking the ninth anniversary of the Houthi takeover of the capital, Sanaa, on Sept. 21, 2023.

Amberin Zaman

Jared Szuba

By Amberin Zaman , Jared Szuba

Amberin Zaman

Chief Correspondent

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Adam Lucente

News and Business Correspondent

In New York City, reporting on regional news, militancy, climate change

Elizabeth Hagedorn

Diplomatic Correspondent

In Washington, DC, reporting on diplomacy, regional politics, human rights

Ezgi Akin

Associate Editor (Turkey)

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

Ben Caspit

Israel Columnist

In Tel Aviv, reporting on national security, Israeli politics, defense

Jared Szuba

Defense and Security Correspondent

In Washington, DC, reporting on defense, national security, military

Houthis ship

Analysis

Is Red Sea truce over? What Houthi attacks mean for US, regional stability

The renewed Houthi attacks on ships in the Red Sea may give Iran time to recover from the June war with Israel, according to some observers.

Adam Lucente

By Adam Lucente , Rosaleen Carroll

Roumieh

Sharaa reportedly mulls action against Lebanon over Syrian prisoners

Reports that Syria's interim president is threatening action over thousands of Syrians still held in Lebanese prisons have revived the long-standing issue.

STEPHANIE LECOCQ/AFP via Getty Images

Analysis

Will Israel seize opportunity for rapprochement with Syria?

Signs indicate that Israel might have a rare opportunity to hold productive dialogue with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa and advance a security deal with Damascus.

In Tel Aviv, reporting on national security, Israeli politics, defense

Supporters attend a rally airing a televised statement by the jailed leader and founder of Turkey's Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), Abdullah Ocalan, in Syria's predominantly Kurdish northeastern city of Qamishli on July 9, 2025.

PKK militants symbolically lay down arms in historic ceremony in Iraqi Kurdistan

The ceremony marks a fresh turning point in a peace process aimed at ending the militant group’s four-decade armed campaign against Turkey.

People wave flags of Libya (R) and Turkey (L) during a demonstration in the Martyrs' Square in the center of the Libyan capital Tripoli on June 21, 2020.

Libya, Turkey sign agreement to deepen military ties: What to know

The agreement comes at a time when the Libyan Army is struggling to assert control in a capital increasingly dominated by rival militias.

A Palestinian man searches for things to rescue at a garbage waste dump in the Al-Bureij camp in the central Gaza Strip on July 7, 2025.

Analysis

Trump pushes for Gaza ceasefire, but can he guarantee end of war?

Of the remaining hurdles to achieving a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, the most difficult to overcome may be the militants’ demand for a guaranteed end to the war.

Elizabeth Hagedorn

By Elizabeth Hagedorn

In Washington, DC, reporting on diplomacy, regional politics, human rights

Bibi

Netanyahu ends US visit with no Gaza deal but progress on reconstruction

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has departed Washington with little to show for his meetings with President Donald Trump.

US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sit down for a meeting at the Pentagon on July 09, 2025, in Arlington, Virginia.

US strikes on Iran included F-22s, F-35s, Hegseth says

Netanyahu expressed gratitude for the US' long-range bombing of Iran's key nuclear sites, but failed to earn a public endorsement from Washington for further Israeli strikes on Iran.