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Turkey

Turkey

August 22, 2026

Ankara 3:34 pm

34°C

Turkey/Syria border

Analysis

Turkey bets on US deconfliction as Israel widens Syria red lines

As Washington pushes a new deconfliction mechanism between Turkey and Israel, the Jewish state shows little incentive to accept tighter constraints on its freedom of action in Syria, experts say.

Ezgi Akin

Rina Bassist

By Ezgi Akin , Rina Bassist

ANKARA, TURKEY - JULY 7: U.S. President Donald Trump (L)shakes hands with with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (R) during a formal arrival at the Bestepe Presidential Palace during the NATO summit on July 7, 2026 in Ankara, Turkey. Leaders from NATO's 32 countries, plus NATO allies like Ukraine, gathered in the Turkish capital to discuss a range of issues involving spending targets, defense industrial production, and support for Ukraine, among other topics. (Photo by Emrah Gurel - Pool/Getty Images)

Analysis

Israel fears Turkey’s Syria ambitions and doubts Trump will stop them

Israeli officials remain skeptical of Turkish and Syrian denials over Ankara’s military ambitions in Syria, warning that a deeper Turkish foothold could threaten Israel’s security and strain its ties with Washington.

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

Murat Kocabas / Middle East Images / AFP via Getty Images

Turkey seeks Interpol Red Notices for Netanyahu over Gaza flotilla

The Turkish government’s Interpol move comes amid heightened tensions between Turkey and Israel over Syria.

Latest News

Turkey signals restraint as war of words with Israel escalates over Syria

Burhaanettin Duran

Turkey looks to expand Syria energy footprint into oil, gas

President Ahmad al-Sharaa meets Turkish Energy and Natural Resources Minister Alparslan Bayraktar at the People’s Palace in Damascus, Syria, on Aug. 19, 2026.

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

Russian S-400 anti-aircraft missile systems move through Red Square during the Victory Day military parade in Moscow on May 9, 2021.

Is Moscow using the S-400 against Turkey?

Ankara denies the suggestion from Moscow that a second batch of S-400s is headed for Turkey and says it is an effort to stall Turkey’s talks with the United States and Europe.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (C,R) meets Turkey's Nationalist Movement Party's (MHP) leader Devlet Bahceli (C,L) at the Turkish Grand National Assembly in Ankara, on Nov. 19, 2019.

Turkey’s ruling alliance to ease election threshold, but opponents smell trap

An agreement between the AKP and the MHP to cut the vote baseline to enter parliament from 10% is seen as a bid to undermine the opposition.

(L to R) Kuwait's Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah al-Khaled al-Sabah, OIC Secretary-General Yousef bin Ahmed Al-Othaimeen, Qatars Emir Sheikh Tamim al-Thani, French President Emmanuel Macron, Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan, Iraq's Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhemi, Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, Jordan's King Abdullah II, Arab League Secretary General Ahmed Aboul-Gheit, Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, secretary-general of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Nayef al-Hajraf, Irani

What Erdogan missed in skipping Baghdad conference

The Turkish president’s absence from the regional summit in Baghdad underscores the urgent need for Turkey to mend fences with Iraq and rethink the cost of its confrontational policies in the region.

WAKIL KOHSAR/AFP via Getty Images

Qatar in talks with Taliban, Turkey to reopen Kabul airport

Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani said there is “no clear indication” of when flights will resume at Hamid Karzai International Airport.

gavenc

Turkish dissident columnist attacked by unknown assailants

The assault on the vocal dissident comes at a time of tightened grip on artists, singers, and dramatists.

Pedestrians walk on Istiklal Street, the main shopping street in Istanbul, on the fourth day of the Eid-al-Adha holiday on July 23, 2021.

Turkey’s record growth rate belies murky economic prospects

Eager to woo back disgruntled voters, Erdogan appears bent on stimulating economic growth at the risk of stoking Turkey’s currency troubles.

Abu Dhabi's Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan (L) shakes hands with Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan before a meeting in Ankara on Feb. 28, 2012.

Iraqi Kurdish leader helps ease Turkey-UAE tensions

Iraqi Kurdistan President Nechirvan Barzani helped facilitate a recent phone call between Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Jin of BTS performs onstage during 102.7 KIIS FM's Jingle Ball 2019 Presented by Capital One at the Forum on Dec. 6, 2019 in Los Angeles, California.

Turkey’s Family Ministry moves to turn down K-pop

Turkey is full of young fans of Korean pop music, angering conservatives who claim the K-pop movement encourages homosexuality.

Jandarma officers monitor Afghan migrants sitting in the back of a smuggler's van that was caught transporting the migrants from the Turkey-Iran border on July 10, 2021 in Caldiran, Turkey.

Turkey won't accept 'refugee burden' from Afghanistan

Turkey, which already hosts more than 300,000 Afghans, has warned it doesn't have the resources to accept additional migrants from the war-torn country.

Hayat Tahrir al-Sham in Syria celebrates Taliban's declared "Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan"

Are Syrian jihadis ready to take the fight to Afghanistan?

Afghanistan revives terror challenges for Washington; Russia anticipates security vacuum; Erdogan senses an opportunity.

OMAR HAJ KADOUR/AFP via Getty Images

Turkey’s targeted killings signal new strategy against Syrian Kurdish forces

A series of Turkish drone strikes targeting senior Kurdish figures in northeast Syria appears to be the prelude of an attrition strategy to further restrict the main Syrian Kurdish group in the region and hamper its autonomy project.

In this handout provided by the US Air Force, an aircrew prepares to load evacuees aboard a C-17 Globemaster III aircraft.

Turkey, Taliban hold talks in Kabul as airport security in doubt

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Ankara hasn't decided whether to provide the Taliban with technical assistance at Kabul's international airport.