Turkey - AL-MONITOR: The Middle Eastʼs leading independent news source since 2012

Turkey

Turkey

September 6, 2026

Ankara 4:30 am

19°C

TAI Hurjet

Analysis

With Hurjet test, Turkey seeks defense dominance beyond drones

With export revenue from the supersonic crewed aircraft, Ankara plans to fund next-generation projects and gain strategic diplomatic and military leverage across NATO and the region.

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

Ibrahim Kalin, Turkish presidential spokesperson, gives a press conference at the Presidential Complex, Ankara, May 25, 2022.

Turkey and Greece's intelligence chiefs hold rare talks: What to know

The meeting comes after Turkey recently warned Greece over what it called an arms race in the Eastern Mediterranean.

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

US sanctions Turkey-based bank over Iran ties

The Treasury Department said Golden Global Bank was facilitating transactions for Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Mecca Alliance

Israel, Greece sign $3.5 billion air-defense deal: What to know

Against the backdrop of growing tensions with Turkey, Israel signed one of its largest-ever defense industry deals to supply Greece with advanced air defense systems.

Latest News

Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Pakistan set Mecca Alliance into motion

Mecca Alliance

Analysis

Why Turkey welcomes Israel-Syria talks despite mounting red lines

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (R) and Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa arrive for a joint press conference following their meeting at the Presidential Palace in Ankara, Feb. 4, 2025.

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

Culture

In divided Cyprus, FC Barcelona youth camp sparks new dispute: What to know

Barcelona

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

Struggling to keep up, conflict causes major economic setback in Turkey's poorest region

After several years of revival, the struggling economy of Turkey’s Kurdish-majority southeastern region faces collapse.

Erdogan continues to stir the pot in Turkey

Erdogan’s suggestion that if the AKP had gotten 400 deputies in the June elections, then the turmoil and violence in the country today would have been avoided, causes outrage and increases tensions.

Policewomen from Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team run in formation during a graduation performance after training as members of an anti-terrorist patrol team, in Hami, Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region June 29, 2014. Picture taken June 29, 2014. REUTERS/China Daily (CHINA - Tags: MILITARY CRIME LAW) CHINA OUT. NO COMMERCIAL OR EDITORIAL SALES IN CHINA - RTR3WKJW

How the Islamic State is exploiting Asian unrest to recruit fighters

Communication, trust and cooperation among governments and communities are required to prevent the spread of violent extremism and curb the flow of Islamic State recruits from Asia to the Middle East.

Smoke raises behind an Islamic State flag after Iraqi security forces and Shiite fighters took control of Saadiya in Diyala province from Islamist State militants, November 24, 2014. Iraqi forces said on Sunday they retook two towns north of Baghdad from Islamic State fighters, driving them from strongholds they had held for months and clearing a main road from the capital to Iran. There was no independent confirmation that the army, Shi'ite militia and Kurdish peshmerga forces had completely retaken Jalawl

How the Islamic State has helped the Middle East

The expansion of the Islamic State has forced regional powers to cooperate and is in fact strengthening state governance in the Middle East.

6 reasons why Turkey's war against the PKK won't last

There are six major reasons why Turkey's war with the PKK, which resumed July 24 after 2½ years of non-hostility, cannot be sustained.

A demonstrator stands in front of a word reads "existence" written on a wall as she waits for the start of a march in solidarity with Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK)'s jailed leader Abdullah Ocalan in Diyarbakir, Turkey, August 1, 2015. REUTERS/Umit Bektas - RTX1MOB6

Twenty years later, Turkey's Kurds still search for their missing

The clock has run out on Kurds' decadeslong efforts to resolve cases of kidnapping and murder from the 1990s, leaving hundreds of Kurdish families distraught.

Are Turkey's AKP Twitter trolls heading for unemployment?

If the AKP fails to decisively win the upcoming elections, one can expect a thorough liquidation not only of its questionable social media organization, but also its radio and television operations.

Turkey's Economy Minister Nihat Zeybekci speaks during an interview with Reuters in Ankara August 11, 2014. Turkey's government will maintain its calls for lower interest rates following Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan's victory in the country's first direct presidential election, the economy minister said on Monday. Zeybekci told Reuters in an interview that the central bank's core mandate for price stability should be expanded to include employment and growth, although he added this would not be a top prior

Turkey pays hefty price for interest rate obsession

Under government pressure to keep interest rates low, Turkey’s Central Bank has failed to act against the free fall of the Turkish lira, leading to a massive burden on the foreign debt stock.

A digger works on the bed stream of the river Papart in Artvin province, northern Turkey, February 21, 2010. A civil initiative calling themselves "Brotherhood of the Rivers" is struggling to stop hydro power plant projects in Artvin province which they believe will damage the natural habitat badly. Turkey's Electricity Market Regulatory Authority has approved 357 hydro power plant projects in the last three years, said Turkey's Chamber of Electrical Engineer. REUTERS/Umit Bektas (TURKEY - Tags: ENERGY ENVI

Is Turkey driving down road to environmental disaster?

The Turkish government’s Green Road Project has turned the quiet residents of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s home region into feisty street protesters as they struggle to protect the environment on which their livelihoods and traditions rely.

New Istanbul bookstore-cafe focuses on Arab culture, refugee experience

A small group of Syrian intellectuals has founded a bookstore-cafe in Istanbul, hoping to bridge cultures and promote Arab refugees' rich literary and cultural heritage.

A man looks at the front page of Turkish daily newspaper Sozcu, which reads 'If Sozcu is silent, Turkey will be silent', on September 1, 2015 in Ankara. Sozcu, an opposition daily critical of the government, left the slots for opinion columns on its front page empty to protest against the governments 'increasing pressure'. Sozcu is accusing President Tayyip Erdogan and the Justice and Development Party (AKP) of 'increasing pressure over the past year on opposition newspapers'. AFP PHOTO/ADEM ALTAN (P

The unbearable lightness of media in Erdogan’s Turkey

Police raids on pro-Gulen media outlets are seen as a prelude to suppressing the media opposed to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan prior to the snap elections.

Turkey takes on the Islamic State ... in 40-page report

Turkey's Directorate of Religious Affairs has issued a 40-page report that condemns not just the Islamic State, but also "political Salafism."