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Turkey

Turkey

August 25, 2026

Ankara 4:50 am

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A Turkish soldier from the 1st Border Regiment Command looks out over the border wall to Syria during alert drills at a military outpost on the Turkey/Syria border on March 2, 2017 in Kilis, Turkey.

Analysis

Why Turkey sees Israeli strikes in Syria as warning over its military role, Mecca Pact

Ankara views Israel’s latest strikes in Syria as part of a broader effort to curb Turkey’s military influence in Damascus and a challenge to its regional defense partnerships.

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

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

Latest News

Analysis

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

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)

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

Turkey seeks Interpol Red Notices for Netanyahu over Gaza flotilla

Murat Kocabas / Middle East Images / AFP via Getty Images

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

Burhaanettin Duran

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

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg speaks as he chairs a NATO defence ministers meeting via teleconference at the Alliance headquarters in Brussels, on June 17, 2020. (Photo by FRANCOIS LENOIR / POOL / AFP) (Photo by FRANCOIS LENOIR/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

NATO in unprecedented bid at in-house deconfliction between Turkey, Greece

NATO has made a timely attempt to defuse tensions between fellow members Turkey and Greece, but the initiative comes with many questions.

Turkish anti-riot police officers run as Kurds protest against Turkish military operation in Syria, in Istanbul, on October 13, 2019. - Fighting has engulfed the border area in northeastern Syria since Turkey launched an offensive on October 9 to push back the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), displacing 130,000 people so far according to the United Nations, amidst warnings from aid groups of another humanitarian disaster in Syria's eight-year-old war if the offensive is not halted. (Photo by Yasi

For Syria’s opposition activists, Turkey 'best of the bad'

While initially welcoming millions of refugees and supporting opposition activists after the outbreak of the Syrian civil war, the Turkish government has since shifted positions to further its own interests in a manner that dismays many Syrians living in the country.

Turkish court releases detained journalists, issues prison sentences pending appeals

In a mixed verdict, three Turkish journalists charged with revealing state secrets were released from jail during a trial Wednesday.

Israeli Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz (R), Greece's Energy Minister Kostis Hatzidakis (2nd-R), Egyptian Minister of Petroleum Tarek el-Molla (2nd-L) and Cypriot Energy Minister Yiorgos Lakkotrypis (L) attend the East Mediterranean Gas Forum (EMGF), in Cairo, on January 16, 2020. - Israel began pumping natural gas to Egypt for the first time yesterday under a $15 billion, 15-year deal to liquefy it and re-export it to Europe. It is the first time that Egypt, which in 1979 became the first Arab country to si

Egypt, Cyprus focus on natural gas pipeline amid tensions in eastern Mediterranean

At a time when tensions are on the rise in the eastern Mediterranean, Egypt and Cyprus are intensifying talks to start building an offshore gas pipeline from the Aphrodite gas field to Cairo in preparation for re-export to Europe.

President of the Kurdistan Regional government (IKRG) President Nechirvan Barzani speaks during a bilateral meeting with US President Donald Trump at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on January 22, 2020. (Photo by JIM WATSON / AFP) (Photo by JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images)

Iraqi Kurdistan president carries conciliatory message from Baghdad to Ankara

Iraqi Kurdistan President Nechirvan Barzani carried a conciliatory message from Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi to Ankara.

A picture taken on September 25, 2019 in the Mediterranean Sea, off the coast of Cyprus approximately 20 nautical miles (37 kilometers) north-west of Paphos, shows a Turkish army frigate, the TCG Gelibolu, (R) and the drilling vessel Fatih (L), which was deployed by Turkey to search for gas and oil in waters considered part of the EU state's exclusive economic zone (EEZ). (Photo by - / AFP) (Photo credit should read -/AFP via Getty Images)

Russia enters EastMed fray, offers to mediate with Turkey

As Turkey bemoans its loneliness in a bitter row with Greece over energy exploration in the Mediterranean Sea, Moscow says it is ready to step in to mediate talks.

Who is behind wave of killings of tribal sheikhs in east Syria?

Syria's eastern province of Deir ez-Zor sees escalating tensions between Arab tribes and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces.

A picture taken on March 30, 2018 shows the traffic jam at the Eminonu district, in Istanbul. - Uber has enjoyed growing popularity in Istanbul, and this has stoked tensions with the official taxi drivers, who have brought legal cases against the firm in Istanbul in a bid to have the app blocked in Turkey, AFP reports. Tensions have also spilt over into violence, with Uber drivers complaining of being verbally harassed, beaten up or even shot at. (Photo by OZAN KOSE / AFP) (Photo credit should read O

Turkey pumps brakes on car imports

Driven by some peculiar dynamics, demand for imported cars has grown in Turkey despite the coronavirus pandemic, leading Ankara to hike taxes to suppress a trend that has worsened the country’s currency woes.

Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades speaks during a joint press conference with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (L) at the presidential palace in the capital Nicosia, on September 8, 2020. (Photo by Iakovos HATZISTAVROU / AFP) (Photo by IAKOVOS HATZISTAVROU/AFP via Getty Images)

Intel: Russian naval exercises could fuel Greece-Turkey standoff in EastMed

A planned Russian drill could worsen an already tense standoff between Greece and Turkey in the energy-rich and disputed eastern Mediterranean Sea.

President of Iraq's Kurdistan Region Nechirvan Barzani (R) attends a press conference with Iranian Foreign Minister in Arbil, the regional capital in northern Iraq, on July 19, 2020. (Photo by SAFIN HAMED / AFP) (Photo by SAFIN HAMED/AFP via Getty Images)

Iraqi Kurdistan president leaves Ankara talks with two Yazidi children

A senior Iraqi Kurdistan official told Al-Monitor that the talks with Ankara were “really good," and the delegation had brought two Yazidi children back with them on the plane.

Turkey hit by ‘second peak’ of coronavirus outbreak

A jump in COVID-19 cases, led by the capital Ankara, prompts new restrictions on social mobility. Dozens of health care workers have died, former government ministers have contracted the virus and doctors are warning that some cities could face a shortage of beds in intensive care units.

Why Mediterranean tensions may not benefit Erdogan at home

An equitable resolution to the crisis with Greece and France would be great for Turkey, but even that may not help the Turkish president’s approval ratings.