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Turkey

August 25, 2026

Ankara 7:11 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

A man walks past damaged buildings in the city of Idlib, Syria May 24, 2019. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi - RC1D4BDCBD50

Russia, Turkey broker shaky cease-fire in Syria’s Idlib

Within hours of the announcement of a truce, Syrian forces are accused of firing on both rebel targets and a Turkish army outpost, but even a tentative respite is welcome as renewed clashes have displaced hundreds of thousands of people since April.

Supporters of ruling AK Party wave Turkish flags at an election kiosk of their Istanbul mayoral candidate Binali Yildirim in Istanbul, Turkey, June 3, 2019. REUTERS/Murad Sezer - RC1E72A54000

Erdogan’s election machine is rusty and worn out

The campaign that Erdogan and his Justice and Development Party (AKP) are waging for the rerun of the Istanbul mayoral race is far from promising a victory, showing how the AKP — once a formidable election machine — has aged into an exhausted body with waning skills.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, accompanied by his wife Emine Erdogan, greets his supporters during the sixth Congress of the ruling AK Party (AKP) in Ankara, Turkey, August 18, 2018. REUTERS/Umit Bektas - RC163D352FB0

AKP vote share has fallen more than election results show

The ruling Justice and Development Party is not as popular as it would like observers and voters to believe going into the rerun of elections in Istanbul.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan holds a news conference on the final day of the G20 leaders summit in Buenos Aires, Argentina December 1, 2018. REUTERS/Andres Stapff - RC1A7F61AE00

G-20 summit could be last exit before all-out US-Turkey crisis

Turkey doesn’t know “how to reply” to US Acting Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan’s letter, a senior security source tells Al-Monitor.

Turkish and Turkish Cypriot flags wave next to a drilling tower 25 km (16 miles) from Famagusta April 26, 2012. Turkish Cypriot Leader Dervis Eroglu and Turkey's Energy Minister Taner Yildiz attended a ceremony marking the start of joint gas and oil exploration works in northern Cyprus between Turkey's state-owned energy company TPAO and the Turkish-Cypriot administration. REUTERS/Umit Bektas (CYPRUS - Tags: POLITICS ENERGY BUSINESS) - GM1E84Q1HIQ01

Greek Cyprus calls for arrest of Turkish drilling crew

Ankara has vowed to continue gas exploration activities in disputed waters near Cyprus after Greek Cypriot authorities issued arrest warrants for workers on Turkey's gas-exploration ship.

People gather during the funeral of Abdelbasset al-Sarout, 27, who died from wounds he sustained battling in northwest Syria, in the border town of al-Dana, Idlib, Syria June 9, 2019. REUTERS/Khalil Ashaw - RC16B44F3FF0

The Syrian funeral that divided Turkey

A funeral ceremony for a controversial Syrian militant, known as “the singer of the revolution,” has sparked indignation in Turkey.

Supporters of pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) celebrate municipal elections results in Diyarbakir, Turkey, March 31, 2019. REUTERS/Sertac Kayar - RC1B0AFAA170

Will the AKP reinstate Kurdish peace talks to win Istanbul elections?

Ruling party officials have adopted the Kurdish issue as a campaign strategy in the upcoming Istanbul elections.

ISTANBUL, TURKEY - JUNE 01: People walk past election posters of AK Parti candidate Binali Yildirim (L) and CHP Party, candidate Ekrem Imamoglu (R) during campaigning in the re-run of the Istanbul mayoral election on June 01, 2019 in Istanbul, Turkey. Imamoglu won a narrow victory during the first mayoral election held in March, defeating the candidate from President Erdogan's Justice and Development Party (AKP). But Turkey‚Äôs election body annulled the result after claims of ‚Äúirregularities,‚Äù and Imam

Istanbul mayoral candidates to debate in rare TV face-off

Turkey will have its first major political debate since 2002 as the ruling party takes extraordinary measures ahead of the second vote for Istanbul mayor.

Garbage collectors look for recyclable waste at a dumping ground on World Environment Day at the outskirts of southeastern province of Diyarbakir, Turkey June 5, 2018. REUTERS/Umit Bektas - RC1546A27F00

Turkey becomes new dump for global plastic waste

Due to lax regulations, plastic scrap imports to Turkey have skyrocketed since 2018; why is the AKP letting the country turn into a global wastebasket?

Egyptian-Turkish trade: A love-hate relationship

Egypt's free trade agreement with Turkey ends in 2020, but it is unclear whether it will be renewed in light of the political antipathy between the two countries' leaders.

Turkey's Defence Minister Hulusi Akar talks to acting U.S. Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan during a NATO defence ministers meeting at the Alliance headquarters in Brussels, Belgium February 13, 2019. REUTERS/Francois Lenoir - RC18F6D62DA0

Ankara plays down US ultimatum on S-400

Despite the US announcement that Ankara will be excluded from the F-35 fighter jet program if it goes ahead with its purchase of a Russian missile system, Turkish officials continue to behave as if Washington is bluffing.

A column of armoured Turkish military vehicles drives on a patrol along a road in the de-militarised zone in Syria's northern Idlib province near the town Saraqib on March 8, 2019. - In September 2018, Syrian rebel backer Turkey and regime ally Russia inked a deal to set up a buffer zone in northern Syria. Russia halted an imminent regime offensive many feared could lead to the Syrian conflict's worst bloodbath yet, in exchange for which Turkey was to remove jihadists from the edges of the region. (Photo by

Turkey’s risky route in Idlib

Turkey is struggling to maintain a balance with Russia as it takes action to block the Syrian army at Idlib.