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Politics & Security

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (L) welcomes Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Mohammed bin Salman (R) during an official ceremony at the Presidential Complex in Ankara, on June 22, 2022.

Breaking | Last Updated: August 7, 2026, 8:00 am

Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan sign joint defense agreement

The pact commits the three countries to collective defense, bringing together NATO's second-largest army, the Muslim world's only nuclear power and the guardian of Islam's holiest sites.

A couple watch oil tankers

Iran-Oman deal over Hormuz takes shape as war-weary US looks on

Trump administration appears poised to concede Iran and Oman's management of Hormuz in hope that Tehran eventually fold on its nuclear program.

Jared Szuba

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

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (R) welcomes Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (L) upon his arrival during an official ceremony at the Presidential Complex in Ankara on June 22, 2022.

Turkey’s Erdogan heads to Saudi Arabia for talks with MBS, Pakistan’s Sharif

The visit comes as the three countries ramp up coordination to weather the regional fallout from the Iran war.

Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani meets with his Turkish counterpart, Hakan Fidan, in Ankara, Aug. 6, 2026.

Syria's Shibani updates Turkey on Kurds' integration, slams Israel during Ankara visit

The visit highlighted Ankara's growing influence in post-Assad Syria, with the two neighbors expanding strategic coordination on security and regional affairs.

Latest News

AIPAC to oppose El-Sayed after major Michigan primary victory

Michigan Democratic Senate primary winner Abdul El-Sayed

Turkey's intel chief hosts Libya delegation amid unification push: What to know

Turkish National Intelligence Organization chief Ibrahim Kalin

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

Smoke billows from a site targeted by the Israeli military in the southern Lebanese border village of Kafr Kila, amid ongoing cross-border clashes between Israeli troops and Hezbollah fighters, July 29, 2024.

Strikes in south Lebanon, Syria as Israel's northern front heats up

The situation in Lebanon is at a boiling point amid growing fears of an Israeli retaliatory strike to a deadly rocket attack in the Golan Heights that could lead to a wider regional conflict.

Animal right activists attend a protest against the ruling party AKP's bill aimed at removing stray dogs from the streets, on June 2, 2024, in Istanbul, Turkey.

Turkey passes controversial stray dog bill amid fears of imminent mass culling

Activists fear the bill will lead to massacres of the country's roughly 4 million stray dogs and government critics are concerned it will be used to coerce opposition-controlled municipalities.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks during a press conference on the sidelines of the NATO 75th anniversary summit at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, DC, July 11, 2024.

Israel’s FM tells NATO to expel Turkey as Erdogan threatens war over Gaza

As Turkey threatens military intervention in Gaza and Israel pushes for Turkey's removal from NATO, questions of how Turkey and Israel's already strained relations will be affected arise.

Dubai Police extradited Faisal Taghi, a high-value target criminal wanted by Dutch authorities, to the Netherlands, on July 29, 2024.

Who is Faisal Taghi, alleged drug kingpin extradited from UAE to Netherlands?

The UAE and the Netherlands have an extradition treaty, though another alleged drug trafficker sought by the European country was recently released from Emirati custody.

United Arab Emirates

Passengers departure from Rafic Hariri International Airport in Beirut on July 29, 2024. Airlines suspended flights to Lebanon on July 29, as diplomatic efforts were underway to contain soaring tensions between Hezbollah and Israel after deadly rocket fire in the annexed Golan Heights. (Photo by Anwar AMRO / AFP) (Photo by ANWAR AMRO/AFP via Getty Images)

White House says Lebanon war not 'inevitable' as Israel preps Hezbollah response

US troops in Iraq and Syria are bracing for potential blowback from local militias ahead of anticipated Israeli retaliation against Hezbollah for a lethal rocket attack on a Druze village in the Golan Heights.

OMAR AL-QATTAA/AFP via Getty Images

Netanyahu, Hamas trade blame on cease-fire as far-right mob storms Israeli bases

Hamas says Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has added fresh demands aimed at torpedoing a deal, while the Israeli premier claims the Gaza-based group is stonewalling.

Maja Hitij/Getty Images

France investigates death threats against Israeli Olympic athletes

As demonstrators protest the Gaza war at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, French police are investigating death threats sent to three Israeli athletes.

TOPSHOT - Smoke billows following an Israeli airstrike in the southern Lebanese border village of Chihine on July 28, 2024. Fallout from the Gaza war is regularly felt on the Israel-Lebanon frontier, where deadly cross-border exchanges have escalated between Israeli troops and mainly Hezbollah fighters. (Photo by KAWNAT HAJU / AFP) (Photo by KAWNAT HAJU/AFP via Getty Images)

Flight disruptions, panic in Lebanon amid efforts to avoid all-out Israel-Hezbollah war

The cross-border exchanges between Israel and Hezbollah have continued following the deadly rocket strike in the Golan Heights, which prompted Israeli threats to launch a wider response in Lebanon.

Turkey's Dogu Kapi border gate to Armenia, Kars, Akyaka province, April 15, 2009.

Turkish, Armenian peace envoys to use common land border in symbolic breakthrough

Hints of a breakthrough came last week when Armenia’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan toured the newly refurbished Margara checkpoint on the Armenian side of the border.

Armenia's foreign minister, Ararat Mirzoyan, meets with his counterpart from Iran in Tehran on July 24, 2023.

Even as Iran denies $500M arms deal with Armenia, foothold in Caucasus is priority

The report came as Iran has been accused of siding with Armenia in its conflict with Azerbaijan, while Tehran is also advancing an agenda of influence in the Caucasus to counter the presence of its Western adversaries and Israel.

NICOSIA, CYPRUS - JULY 20: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks during celebrations marking the 50th anniversary of Turkey's invasion of Cyprus on July 20, 2024 in occupied northern Nicosia, Cyprus. Fifty years has passed since Turkey's invasion and occupation of northern Cyprus, spurred in 1974 by Greece's attempts to oust the Cypriot president and forge a political union with the island. Over time, the northern part became the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), which is largely populated

Analysis

As Assad softens tone, can Turkey and Syria normalize relations?

As news of normalization between Turkey and Syria and a meeting between the Turkish president and his Syrian counterpart abound, many strategic and technical questions need to be addressed.

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at the American Federation of Teachers' 88th National Convention, Houston, July 25, 2024.

Palestinians in Gaza warm to Kamala Harris, prefer 'anyone over Trump'

An informal canvasing in Gaza showed the US vice president to be Palestinians' preferred choice as the next US president.