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

Turkey

Turkey

August 19, 2026

Ankara 7:09 am

21°C

Ohad Zwigenberg / POOL / AFP via Getty Images)

Analysis

Netanyahu yields to Trump on Gaza, betting Hamas won’t disarm

Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu agreed to advance the US administration's Gaza plan in a meeting with envoy Jared Kushner despite his skepticism about Hamas' commitment.

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

Sudanese army soldier stands in front of a tank

Sudan ramps up Saudi Arabia, Turkey contacts amid growing Red Sea cooperation

Sudanese officials held parallel talks in Riyadh and Ankara as Saudi Arabia and Turkey deepen security cooperation around the Red Sea and fighting intensifies in Sudan.

Fireworks explode over Islamabad

Analysis

How Israel's rivalry, defense deals prompted Turkey to join Mecca pact

Turkey’s growing rivalry with Israel and mounting regional instability are driving its defense alignment with Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, despite risks of strategic entanglement and friction with NATO partners.

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

Latest News

Exclusive

Turkey set to sign charter for Saudi-led Red Sea coalition on Friday

Servicemen of Yavuz class, TCG Turgutreis (F-241), warship stand at attention on the deck as they participate in the live-fire phase of the "Blue Homeland-2026" (Mavi Vatan) tactical military exercises in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, in Antalya on April 9, 2026.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Explainer

Three ways China benefits from Saudi-Turkey-Pakistan pact: What to know

SPA

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

Syria Kurds

Analysis

The Takeaway: Syria's Kurds turn to US as Turkey threatens ground operation

Plus, a look at Iran's enrichment activities, twin bombings in Jerusalem and the detention of another US citizen in Saudi Arabia.

Elizabeth Hagedorn

By Elizabeth Hagedorn

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

Seyit, an 8-year-old Kurdish garbage collector, carries flattened cardboard boxes in Istanbul on Sept. 12, 2022.

Deepening poverty fuels mass school dropout in Turkey

Children are dropping out of school at unprecedented rates in Turkey, activists warn, as the social toll of the country’s economic turmoil deepens.

OZAN KOSE/AFP via Getty Images

Earthquake in Turkey highlights questions over disaster preparedness

Wednesday's earthquake in Duzce has rekindled memories of quakes that struck Turkey in 1999, worrying many about future disasters.

Turkey election

Missing legal, tech safeguards worry Turks as elections loom

Few legal safeguards exist to prevent the Turkish authorities from restricting internet access on election day, experts say, as the opposition scrambles to devise contingency plans.

Mazloum Abdi (Kobani), commander-in-chief of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), gives a press conference near the northeastern Syrian Hassakeh province on October 24, 2019.

Syrian Kurdish commander says Kobani likely target of threatened Turkish ground offensive

Following Turkish airstrikes on his headquarters in northeast Syria, SDF commander Mazlum Kobane spoke with Al-Monitor about Erdogan's threats of a new ground offensive.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan shakes hands with Abdel Fattah el-Sisi in Qatar on Nov. 20, 2022.

Sisi, Erdogan meet, pledge new era of Egypt-Turkey relations

Turkish analysts believe that the enthusiastic handshake between Sisi and Erdogan may facilitate the budding rapprochement but will not be a magic wand, particularly in Libya.

ADEM ALTAN/AFP via Getty Images

Turkey’s Russian-built nuclear plant could amplify Moscow’s regional influence

Some experts are warning that Turkey’s first nuclear power plant, which is being built by Russia's Rosatom, might become a tool to advance Russian interests in the region.

Syrian Kurds protest against Turkey and in solidarity with the Kurdistan Workers Party, in the Kurdish-held city of Qamishli, Syria, Nov. 13, 2022.

Turkey strikes near US base in Syria after Pentagon calls for de-escalation

The US military says it opposes Ankara's plans to send ground troops against Syria's Kurds, but it has stood down in the face of similar attacks in the past.

OZAN KOSE/AFP via Getty Images

Tensions simmer as Azerbaijan-Turkey alliance unsettles Iran

Iran is increasingly worried over Azerbaijani and Turkish geopolitical gains in the region as calls for “Greater Azerbaijan” push a hot button in Tehran.

BAY ISMOYO/AFP via Getty Images

Erdogan says Turkey's strikes in Syria, Iraq may lead to ground offensive

As the dust settles from airstrikes on Kurdish militants in Syria and Iraq, Turkey is threatening a wider operation in the region.

Turkish troops are pictured on the outskirts of the Syrian town of Afrin on October 19, 2022 as the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) jihadist group advances towards Syrian opposition-held areas in the northern Syria. - Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, Al-Qaeda's former Syria affiliate, is gaining ground from rival rebels in Syria's Turkish-held north on the heels of some of the deadliest inter-rebel fighting in the region in years.

Turkey bombs Syria, Iraq in response to Istanbul terror attack

Fears are rising in Syria's Kurdish-controlled northeast over a potential military incursion by Turkey.

Police officers escort suspects linked to the Istanbul bombing in a court in Sofia on November 19, 2022. - Bulgaria has charged five people with helping one of the suspects in last weekend's bombing in central Istanbul which killed six people, prosecutors said on November 19, 2022.

The Turkey Briefing: investigation into Istanbul bombing continues

In this weekly newsletter, Ezgi Akin rounds up the biggest Turkey stories from the region.