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Turkey

Turkey

August 25, 2026

Ankara 1:46 pm

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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

Clouds pass over the Grand Camlica Mosque in Istanbul, Turkey, July 24, 2019. REUTERS/Murad Sezer - RC160610E3C0

Copycat murder-suicides distress Turkey

Three separate Turkish families committed suicide by taking cyanide in the first two weeks of November, and despite the government's denials, economic hardship seemed to play a key role in all three cases that shook the country.

Archaeology's Trojan War: The artist who took on Schliemann

Osman Hamdi, a 19th-century Ottoman painter whose works sold at record prices earlier this year, also saved artifacts from being smuggled out of Turkey by foreign archaeologists.

Lawyers and opposition MP's gather outside Caglayan courthouse on February 21,2019 in Istanbul, to protest against the upholding by an appeal court of the jail sentences against opposition journalists in a long-running case targeting the Cumhuriyet newspaper. - Last year 14 former Cumhuriyet staff, including journalists and executives, were given multiple sentences for "aiding and abetting terror groups without being a member" but they remained free pending trial. An appeals court in Istanbul said it unanim

Turkish court defies higher ruling to uphold verdict in Cumhuriyet retrial

A Turkish court has upheld its conviction of 12 Cumhuriyet journalists, defying a September decision by a higher court and exposing discord in the Turkish judiciary.

Ankara seeks to discipline proxies in northeast Syria

Allegations of war crimes committed by the rebel Syrian National Army backed by Turkey in northeast Syria have forced Ankara to take steps to try to rein in its proxies.

Can EU's fear of terrorists give Turkey clout in ocean drilling?

Following his threats to flood Europe with Syrian refugees, the Turkish president is now trying to use Islamic State suspects as leverage.

Russia, Turkey plugging away at Syria's northeast, Idlib

Amid complications with Turkey, Russia claims it stays the course in Syria.

Russian and Syrian national flags are pictured near the northern Syrian village of Zor Magar, as seen from the Turkish border town of Karkamis in Gaziantep province, Turkey, October 23, 2019. REUTERS/Huseyin Aldemir - RC15D8F01E00

Russia faces dilemmas in northeastern Syria

While it has added some fortifications, Moscow is challenged with new political and military uncertainty over Syria's northeast.

Pervin Buldan, co-leader of the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), speaks before starting a two-day hunger strike in support of jailed Kurdish lawmaker Leyla Guven's own hunger strike against the isolation of Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan in prison, at the Turkish Parliament in Ankara, Turkey December 4, 2018. REUTERS/Umit Bektas - RC17525CE770

Amid growing crackdown, pro-Kurdish party calls for new elections in Turkey

Facing ongoing pressure, Turkey’s Kurdish-majority HDP has called for early elections after 24 elected mayors have been removed from office.

Pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) lawmakers walk along Istiklal Street as they are surrounded by riot police during an event to announce their upcoming party congress, in Istanbul, Turkey November 2, 2019. REUTERS/Huseyin Aldemir - RC1E16E1C7F0

Opposition party weighs resigning to protest Turkish crackdown

The pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party will meet constituents to decide on how to counter a clampdown that has seen it lose control of two dozen city halls. Quitting parliament is among the measures up for debate.

Palestinians hold a poster of Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan during a Hamas rally in support of Erdogan's government against a coup attempt, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip July 16, 2016. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY - S1AETPWJGAAA

Fatah, Hamas fight over Turkey

Both Hamas and Fatah are intensifying contacts with Turkey, in tandem with the preparation for Palestinian elections.

ANKARA, TURKEY - SEPTEMBER 15: (---EDITORIAL USE ONLY MANDATORY CREDIT - "TURKISH NATIONAL DEFENSE MINISTRY / HANDOUT" - NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS----) The final parts of the second battery of Russian S-400 missile defense system arrive at Murted Airbase in Ankara, Turkey on September 15, 2019. (Photo by TURKISH NATIONAL DEFENSE MINISTRY / HANDOUT/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Turkey remains determined to keep Russian missiles

After last week’s meeting between the US and Turkish presidents, some in Washington seem hopeful Turkey won't activate its Russian-made S-400 missile system, but Ankara insists Turkey didn’t buy the $2 billion weapons system to mothball it.

Turkey's defense industry sees rise of 'the president’s men'

Decision-making power in Turkey's defense industry is shifting from the military to businessmen close to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.