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Turkey

October 21, 2026

Ankara 6:08 pm

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Analysis

What's at stake as Libya's eastern parliament approves Turkey maritime deal

Libya's eastern-based parliament's approval of a long-disputed maritime deal with Turkey marks a strategic win for Ankara as Saddam Hifter seeks Turkish backing for his presidential ambitions, according to analysts.

Ezgi Akin

In Ankara, reporting on diplomacy, EU-Turkey ties, NATO

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan addresses Turkish members of parliament during the opening of the parliamentary session at the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, Ankara, Turkey, Oct. 1, 2026.

Turkey sends Mecca defense pact with Saudi Arabia, Pakistan to parliament for ratification

Ankara is weighing military assistance to Riyadh as Houthi attacks intensify, though any Turkish deployment is expected to be limited.

Chris McGrath/Getty Images

Turkey's defense industry set to hit $20B in new contracts in 2026

The expanding defense industry sector has also become a foreign-policy tool for Ankara, deepening military partnerships with countries including Saudi Arabia.

Turkey's Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan (L) and Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi holds a press conference in Tehran on November 30, 2025.

Analysis

Turkey turns to Iran to contain Houthis as Saudi defense commitments grow

Ankara is trying to contain the fighting between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis through Tehran’s help, but Iran may see an advantage in allowing the Houthis to maintain pressure on the kingdom.

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

Latest News

Explainer

Syria arrests Mihrac Ural, ex-Assad militia head also wanted by Turkey

Mihrac Ural, who was also known as Ali Kayali, was arrested

Turkey: Flash floods kill 3, paralyze Istanbul after record downpour

Abandoned cars piled up among debris and standing water following extremely heavy rainfall, Istanbul, Turkey, Oct. 15, 2026.

Explainer

Why Israel, Armenia don't benefit from hijab spat between Turkey, Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev (L) and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan attend the inaugural meeting of the European Political Community (EPC) at Prague Castle on Oct. 6, 2022 in Prague, Czech Republic.

Live Updates

Turkey seizes opposition Halk TV as crackdown widens: What to know

Serhan Asker, General Program Coordinator at Halk TV, makes a statement outside the Ankara branch of Turkey's most-watched news channel, Halk TV.

Samuel Wendel

Senior Analyst, Middle East Business & Tech

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

People use computers at an internet cafe in Ankara April 6, 2015. Twitter has complied with Turkey's request to remove images of an Istanbul prosecutor held at gunpoint by far-left militants and the block of access to is about to be lifted, a Turkish official told Reuters on Monday. Turkey banned access to the micro-blogging site and YouTube after they refused a request to remove photographs of Mehmet Kiraz, a prosecutor killed in a shootout last week. REUTERS/Umit Bektas - GF10000051058

Journalists fear broad new law will stifle online news media in Turkey

Free speech advocates fear a new law requiring licenses for web streaming services and online news broadcasters may be used to tighten censorship on the Turkish media.

ERBIL, IRAQ - JUNE 10: Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu (2L) meets KDP Leader Masoud Barzani (2R) in Erbil, Iraq on June 10, 2019. (Photo by Cem Ozdel/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)

Iraqi Kurds actively support Ankara’s fight against the PKK

Spurred by the killing of a Turkish Consulate staffer in Erbil last month, the Iraqi Kurdish administration is stepping up its cooperation with Turkey to rein in PKK activities in northern Iraq.

An officer of the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) stands guard near the Syrian-Iraq border October 31, 2012. Iraqi Kurdish President Masoud Barzani warned Kurds in Syria against being sucked into the "fires of discord," urging them to preserve Kurdish unity as tensions between rival factions threaten to spillover into violence. Syria's Kurds see the war ravaging their country as an unprecedented opportunity to gain the kind of freedoms enjoyed by their ethnic kin in neighbouring Iraq, where they

Feuding Syrian Kurdish political blocs dance around rapprochement

As French and US initiatives for intra-Kurdish rapprochement in Syria stall, it seems that piecemeal defections from the Kurdish National Council to the Kurdish autonomous administration in the north of the country are the rule of the day.

Beats for women: Turkey's star hijabi DJ leads dance revolution

Turkey's popular DJ Safir says women love the freedom of her all-female shows regardless of their politics or ideology.

Officials attend a session of the peace talks on Syria in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan August 2, 2019. REUTERS/Mukhtar Kholdorbekov - RC11F7E4FF00

Astana talks show Russia eager to keep plugging away at Idlib

The new round of Syria talks in Kazakhstan produced a cease-fire in Idlib and the promise for a constitutional committee due to be announced in September, but will all of this ultimately happen?

Russian servicemen sit in the cabins of S-400 missile air defence systems in Tverskaya Street before a rehearsal for the Victory Day parade, which marks the anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany in World War Two, in central Moscow, Russia April 29, 2019. REUTERS/Tatyana Makeyeva - RC1E849FD530

US leniency on S-400 offers Turkey chance to repair economy

The US president's reluctance to impose sanctions following Turkey’s purchase of the Russian S-400 missile system has created a window of opportunity for officials to restructure the nation’s ailing economy.

ANKARA, TURKEY - JULY 18: Chairman of the Republican People's Party (CHP) Kemal Kilicdaroglu, Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, Turkish Justice Minister Abdulhamit Gul, Head of the National Intelligence Organization (MIT) of Turkey Hakan Fidan and Grand Unity Party (BBP) Chairman Mustafa Destici attend the funeral of Turkish diplomat Osman Kose, who was martyred in an armed attack in Iraq's Erbil, at Ahmet Hamdi Akseki Mosque in Ankara, Turkey on July 18, 2

Is this a new era in Turkey's fight against PKK?

Targeted killings of PKK Central Committee member Diyar Gharib Muhammed in Qandil on June 27 and Turkish intelligence agency-affiliated Turkish diplomat Osman Kose in Erbil on July 17 mark a major shift in the characteristics of the armed conflict between Turkey and the outlawed Kurdish militant group.

People hold scarf banners reading " Do not touch my teacher" during a demonstration outside of Istanbul's courthouse and before a trial of two academics on July 16, 2019. - Fusun Ustel was also detained on May 8, 2019 after being sentenced to 15 months in prison for having signed the peace petition in 2016 with 1,127 other Turkish academics. Tuna Altinel, an official of the French state, is being prosecuted in his country as hundreds of other academics for having signed in 2016 the "petition for peace" whic

Court ruling highlights divide in Turkish academia

Though most of Turkey's academic world is applauding the Constitutional Court ruling that charges against their pro-peace colleagues violated their freedom of expression, a vocal pro-state minority feels otherwise.

Two Syrian refugees walk along fences in Nizip refugee camp, near the Turkish-Syrian border in Gaziantep province, Turkey, November 30, 2016. REUTERS/Umit Bektas - RC19B9EC1810

Has Turkey’s policy on Syrian refugees started to backfire?

The Syrian refugee question is set to pose a major political headache for Erdogan in the coming period.

Republican People's Party (CHP) Istanbul chief Canan Kaftancioglu (L) waves to supporters as she stands on a stage to deliver a speech on July 18, 2019 after her trial in Istanbul. - Kaftancioglu faces up to 17 years in prison for allegedly 'insulting the Turkish President' in tweets posted between 2012 and 2017. The trial will resume on September 6, 2019. (Photo by Ozan KOSE / AFP) (Photo credit should read OZAN KOSE/AFP/Getty Images)

Cost of doing politics endless harassment for leftist women in Turkey

Young female politician Canan Kaftancioglu is perceived as the reason for Erdogan’s loss of Istanbul after 25 years and the president is determined to see her punished.

Syrian Turkmen groups return from Turkey to support opposition

Turkey has encouraged Syrian Turkmen organizations to move to Syrian areas controlled by anti-regime militias.

Syria’s Kurds feel brunt of Turkish-US crisis

Turkey is sending military reinforcements to its border with Syria after two missiles were recently launched from Syria toward a border city, portending an imminent Turkish offensive in the area.