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Turkey

August 25, 2026

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Equality and Democracy Party lawmakers

Explainer

Turkey’s Kurdish peace process moves to implementation: What to know and what’s next

Turkey’s peace process with Kurdish militants has entered the implementation phase this week, with authorities setting up working groups to verify the Kurdistan Workers Party’s disarmament.

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

Latest News

Analysis

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

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.

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

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

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

Mayor of Istanbul Ekrem Imamoglu of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), accompanied by his family members, greets his supporters during a rally in Istanbul, Turkey, April 21, 2019. REUTERS/Murad Sezer - RC1B1DC65EA0

Political Islamists brace to lose financial favors after Istanbul shift

After major gains in local elections last month, including a landmark victory in Istanbul, Turkey’s main opposition vows to turn off the funding spigots for Islamic entities, which have long underpinned the ruling party’s electoral machine.

Opposition journalists hold a press conference in Istanbul on April 22, 2019. - Opposition journalists, who were initially supposed to remain free given their time served as part of the Cumhuriyet case, will have to go back to prison after an appeals court upholds their convictions in February 2019. (Photo by Yasin AKGUL / AFP) (Photo credit should read YASIN AKGUL/AFP/Getty Images)

Turkish newspaper staff sent back to prison

Six former employees of Cumhuriyet newspaper, including three journalists, returned to prison after a court rejected their appeal of terrorism convictions last year.

Oil tankers wait to dock at Tupras refinery near the northwestern Turkish city of Izmit, Turkey, June 28, 2017. REUTERS/Umit Bektas - RC1424A5EB80

Turkey seeks alternate oil sources as US ends Iran sanctions waivers

Ankara vowed to defy US sanctions on Iran, but figures show Turkey heeding US restrictions and curtailing oil imports from Iran.

People shop at a food market in Istanbul, Turkey, February 11, 2019. REUTERS/Murad Sezer - RC1FDE55C390

As food prices soar, Ankara wobbles on solution

Turkey’s food inflation has climbed to nearly 30% amid an alarming decline in the agricultural sector, but Ankara remains far from a viable solution, wasting time with unrealistic projects.

Syria opposition receives military training from Turkey ahead of potential battle against SDF

Free Syrian Army factions in northern Syria are receiving military training under Turkish army supervision in preparation for an imminent battle against the Kurdish-dominated Syrian Democratic Forces.

Foreign Ministers, Sergei Lavrov (C) of Russia, Mevlut Cavusoglu (L) of Turkey and Mohammad Javad Zarif of Iran, attend the international meeting on Syria in Astana, Kazakhstan March 16, 2018. REUTERS/Mukhtar Kholdorbekov - UP1EE3G0MJ01P

Turkey continues to freeze Kurds out of Syria peace talks

Syria peace talks continue in the Kazakh capital, with regional heavyweights battling it out over who will have a spot at the negotiating table.

A Syrian Army soldier loyal to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad forces stands next to a military weapon in Idlib, Syria January 21, 2018. Picture taken January 21, 2018. SANA/Handout via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS PICTURE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. REUTERS IS UNABLE TO INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY THE AUTHENTICITY, CONTENT, LOCATION OR DATE OF THIS IMAGE. - RC19C0D8B740

Can Turkey avert military assault on Idlib?

Damascus, Moscow and Tehran continue to exert pressure on Ankara to clear the region of jihadist elements.

Democratic U.S. presidential candidate Senator Kamala Harris (D-CA) arrives to speak at the North America's Building Trades Unions (NABTU) 2019 legislative conference in Washington, U.S., April 10, 2019. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas - RC1AB0F71E60

2020 candidates line up behind Armenian genocide bill as US-Turkey relations plummet

Strained relations between the NATO allies has given advocates hope the United States will finally call the Ottoman Empire’s mass slaughter of Christians in World War I a genocide.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks during a rally of Justice and Development Party (AK Party) as part of the local election campaign in Ankara, Turkey, on March 28, 2019. - Local elections in Turkey's capital and the country's overall 81 provinces are scheduled for March 31, 2019. (Photo by Adem ALTAN / AFP) (Photo credit should read ADEM ALTAN/AFP/Getty Images)

Turkey’s electoral commission keeps public guessing over Istanbul result

Turkey's Supreme Electoral Commission has given into some the ruling party's demands in Istanbul, where a post-game battle is raging over the mayorship.

Supporters of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) pose in front of a party bus with a picture of their leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu on it, in Istanbul, Turkey, April 22, 2019. REUTERS/Murad Sezer - RC1772ED6760

Turkish opposition leader attacked at funeral for slain soldier

Turkish opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu was attacked at the funeral of a slain Turkish soldier, but Turkey's president was slow to offer condolences.

Can Dundar (R) , the opposition Cumhuriyet daily's editor-in-chief and Erdem Gul (L),Cumhuriyet daily's Ankara bureau chief speak to the media after being freed from Silivri prison in Istanbul on February 26,2016. Turkey's constitutional court ruled that the rights of two Turkish opposition journalists charged with revealing state secrets in a hugely controversial case had been violated, paving the way for their release after three months in jail. AFP PHOTO / VEDAT ARIK/ CUMHURIYET DAILY / AFP / CUMHURIYE

Turkish Constitutional Court caught red-handed

The European Court of Human Rights has just struck a massive blow to Turkey's Constitutional Court, which is the target of criticisms that it does little to protect human rights.

Members of the Syrian civil defence search for victims amidst destruction from reported air strikes in the town of Kafraya in the north of Idlib province on March 22, 2019. (Photo by OMAR HAJ KADOUR / AFP) (Photo credit should read OMAR HAJ KADOUR/AFP/Getty Images)

Can Russia deliver a deal for Idlib between Turkey, Syria?

In Idlib, Moscow finds itself between the devil and the deep blue sea — a possible Syrian government offensive and Turkish constraints — but there is still reason to believe it can come up with a mutually acceptable deal for Damascus and Ankara.