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Turkey

August 25, 2026

Ankara 6:45 pm

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Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani (C) watches as US special envoy for Syria Tom Barrack prepares to sign an agreement in Damascus on September 16, 2025. Shaibani announced on September 16 a plan backed by Jordan and the United States to restore calm to Druze-majority Sweida province, which witnessed deadly violence in July. (Photo by LOUAI BESHARA / AFP) (Photo by LOUAI BESHARA/AFP via Getty Images)

Exclusive

Israel recalibrates Syria policy, explores path to security deal

Israel is rethinking its hard-line Syria policy and seeking to repair ties with US envoy and Donald Trump's confidant Tom Barrack amid a push for a security agreement with Damascus.

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

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

Latest News

Analysis

Turkey bets on US deconfliction as Israel widens Syria red lines

Turkey/Syria border

Ezgi Akin

Rina Bassist

By Ezgi Akin , Rina Bassist

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

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

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and his wife Emine greet people after casting their ballots, outside a polling station in Istanbul, Turkey, June 23, 2019. REUTERS/Kemal Aslan - RC1FC934CEE0

Why Erdogan’s historic Istanbul defeat is irreparable

The government’s defeat in Istanbul's mayoral election is nothing less than a historic watershed, for Erdogan lacks the means to remedy the factors behind this outcome, mainly the economic crisis bruising the country.

Nostalgia for 19th-century Pera meets modernity in Istanbul exhibit

Cosmopolitan Pera, with luxury hotels and entertainment venues, was the recreational heart of 19th-century Istanbul, which an exhibition at the Istanbul Research Institute revisits along with a cultural addition that could have been.

A Lockheed Martin F-35 aircraft is seen at the ILA Air Show in Berlin, Germany, April 25, 2018. REUTERS/Axel Schmidt - RC1BB966C440

Intel: Why Congress has five different bills banning F-35s for Turkey

Supporters attend a rally of Ekrem Imamoglu, mayoral candidate of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), in Beylikduzu district, in Istanbul, Turkey, June 23, 2019. REUTERS/Kemal Aslan TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY - RC18D68868E0

As Istanbul celebrates, Erdogan-watchers hold breath

Turkey's president has so far reacted calmly to his party's second and decisive defeat in the Istanbul mayoral vote, but this hopeful moment could presage a darker future.

Turkish Navy frigate TCG Fatih (F-242) is seen next to Turkish drilling vessel Yavuz at Dilovasi port in the western city of Kocaeli, Turkey, June 20, 2019. REUTERS/Murad Sezer - RC1DB3BC89F0

Eastern Mediterranean heats up as gas rivalry stakes grow higher

Turkey’s launch of a second ship to drill in disputed areas off Cyprus is the harbinger of further escalation in the eastern Mediterranean and tough choices for Ankara.

Opposition candidate wins Istanbul mayor's race in blow to AKP

Voters rebuke long-time AKP dominance in Istanbul, delivering victory to CHP candidate Ekrem Imamoglu in a controversial election do-over.

Pro-Kurd protesters hold flags with portraits of jailed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Ocalan as they take part in a demonstration in support to him in Strasbourg, France, February 16, 2019. REUTERS/Vincent Kessler - RC12D7661100

Jailed militant leader enters Istanbul election fray

An unexpected message from Abdullah Ocalan, who is serving a life sentence for treason, urged Kurds to stay “neutral” and could tilt the outcome in a bitter campaign for control of Turkey’s biggest city.

Turkish army tanks control the centre of the old medieval Kurdish town of Ammadiya, July 13. 2004. Turkish forces entered Iraq's Kurdish zone in 1997 under a year-long agreement with Kurdish authorities to pursue militants from a Turkish Kurd rebel group, but with their territory now part of a newly sovereign Iraq, Kurds feel the Turks may have overstayed their welcome. Picture taken July 13, 2004. REUTERS/Sasa Kralj RCS/DBP - RP5DRICSWDAA

Turkey mulls permanent military presence in northern Iraq

Turkey is considering setting up additional military infrastructure in Iraqi Kurdistan as its operations against militants there continue.

Will Syrian voters be kingmakers in Istanbul's mayoral election?

Though small in number, the votes of naturalized Syrians in Turkey could be decisive in the rerun election to select the new mayor of Istanbul, the city with the largest Syrian population outside Syria.

As Idlib fighting intensifies, Syrians abroad suffer mentally

As the Russian-backed Syrian regime steps up the offensive against the country’s last rebel stronghold, displaced Syrians with relatives in Idlib are suffering mentally — not to mention the monumental health issues faced by the Idlib residents themselves.

An aerial view of Love Valley is seen from a hot air balloon in Cappadocia December 12, 2008. Cappadocia is a popular tourist destination in Turkey renowned for unusual rock formations and rock-caved churches. Picture taken December 12, 2008. REUTERS/Tan Shung Sin (TURKEY) - GM1E4CI1QPA01

Cappadocia victim of Turkish ruling party's love of concrete

A new law claiming to protect the natural beauty of Cappadocia strips municipal governments of decision-making powers and oversight, handing authority over the future of the region to a panel whose leader is appointed by the president.

A protester holds a Turkish flag as riot police order them to evacuate Gezi Park in central Istanbul June 15, 2013. Thousands of people took to the streets of Istanbul overnight on Sunday, erecting barricades and starting bonfires, after riot police firing teargas and water cannon stormed a park at the centre of two weeks of anti-government unrest. Lines of police backed by armoured vehicles sealed off Taksim Square in the centre of the city as officers raided the adjoining Gezi Park late on Saturday, where

Gezi Park detainees to finally get day in court

The Gezi trials, in which 16 people face life imprisonment without parole, are set to finally begin and will test judicial independence in Turkey.