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

Turkey

Turkey

September 6, 2026

Ankara 1:01 pm

27°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

The peril of escalation in Syria

Edward Dark writes that Aleppans will pay the price for any escalation in the war; the UN Security Council votes for humanitarian assistance and calls for greater cooperation to confront al-Qaeda in Syria; 16 female journalists cover the Middle East; and exorcism in the Gaza Strip.

Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan addresses members of parliament from his ruling AK Party (AKP) during a meeting at the Turkish parliament in Ankara February 18, 2014. REUTERS/Umit Bektas (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) - RTX1915M

Turkey's elections likely to increase political turmoil

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan plans to keep the heat on his political opponents heading into the March 30 local elections.

Shi'ite Muslim cleric Moqtada al-Sadr speaks in Najaf, 160 km (99 miles) south of Baghdad, February 18, 2014. Sadr stuck to his decision to leave political life and dissolve his movement, saying that politics had become a way to inflict injustice. Sadr, who led revolts against U.S. forces in Iraq before their pullout and became a major influence in the government, initially announced his retirement on Saturday via a handwritten statement on his website. REUTERS/Handout/Office of Moqtada al-Sadr (IRAQ - Tag

Is Muqtada al-Sadr retiring or repositioning?

After Iraqi Shiite leader Muqtada al-Sadr declared his intention to withdraw from politics, signs suggest that it may have been a move aimed at political repositioning before the upcoming elections.

Free Syrian Army fighters sit as a fellow fighter holds an RPG along a street in Deir al-Zor, eastern Syria February 19, 2014. Picture taken February 19, 2014. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi (SYRIA - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) CONFLICT) - RTX1964P

Military escalation will add to Syrian catastrophe

The remilitarization of the Syrian conflict as sophisticated weapons are sent to opposition forces means more violence, including the return of fighting to areas that have achieved cease-fires.

Members of Islamist Syrian rebel group Jabhat al-Nusra carry their weapons as they move towards their positions near Aleppo international airport which is controlled by forces loyal to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad January 28, 2014. Picture taken January 28, 2014. REUTERS/Ammar Abdullah (SYRIA - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST CONFLICT) - RTX17ZNO

Al-Qaeda-linked group exploits ISIS decline in Aleppo

A recent field study in Aleppo finds Jabhat Al-Nusra and other "Islamic brigades" have benefited from the brutal tactics and unpopularity of the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS).

Palestinian Hamas militants march during a training exercise in Gaza February 17, 2014. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem (GAZA - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTX18ZRL

Hamas sinks in polls after cutting salaries to public servants

Hamas' popularity has fallen behind Fatah in the Gaza Strip, according to recent polls, as frustration mounts over its handling of the territory's economic crisis.

Turkish Alawite women pray in a tomb, a holy site to the Alawite community, in the Samandag district of Hatay province, close to the border with Syria, July 27, 2012. An influx of Syrians fleeing President Bashar al-Assad's military onslaught is stoking tension in the area of Turkey known for religious tolerance and setting Turks who share the Syrian leader's creed against their own government. In the Turkish frontier province of Hatay, home to the Antioch of the Bible and a mix of confessional groups rare

Syria war sparks Turkish Alawite anxiety

The Syrian war has led Turkey’s Arab Alawites to embrace their Alawite and Arab identity.

Displaced Somalis queue for food at a centre run by a Turkish aid agency in the Howlwadaag district of southern Mogadishu, January 22, 2012. From Turkey to Brazil, India to Saudi Arabia, a growing number of non-Western donors are bringing fresh funds, a different mindset and their own experience of managing natural disasters to the global humanitarian aid scene. Picture taken January 22, 2012. To match Feature DISASTERS-NEWDONORS/ REUTERS/Feisal Omar (SOMALIA - Tags: SOCIETY POVERTY) - RTR2WVRE

'Cash box’ crops up in Turkey’s Africa opening

The revelation that official Turkish aid to Somalia was delivered in boxes full of cash has raised questions about Turkey’s Africa policies.

A tanker sails in Mediterranean past a jetty at the Ceyhan crude oil terminal near Turkey's southern coastal city of Adana, July 13, 2006. A four-billion dollar project, Baku-Tblisi-Ceyhan crude oil pipeline, to carry oil from the Caspian Sea fields to western markets is inaugurated on Thursday in Ceyhan, southern Turkey. REUTERS/Fatih Saribas (TURKEY) - RTR1FGD4

Turkey defers to Baghdad on oil from Iraqi Kurdistan

Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Government Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani has been conducting shuttle diplomacy between Baghdad and Ankara to facilitate an agreement.

US, Russia should agree on a 'secular' Syria

The objective of a revived diplomatic process should be assuring a secular state, not necessarily Assad's departure.

Selahattin Demirtas, co-chairman of the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP), gestures during a rally to celebrate the spring festival of Newroz in Istanbul March 17, 2013. Kurdish parliamentarians set off by boat on Monday to visit Kurdish militant leader Abdullah Ocalan in his island prison where they expected him to summon his fighters to cease fire and leave Turkey to help end a 28-year-old insurgency. The conflict has been a major source of instability in Turkey, a NATO member, and a huge burden

Ocalan extends hand to Armenians

Abdullah Ocalan, head of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), has written a letter that seems to turn a new page in the bitter Armenian-Kurdish relationship.

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson delivers a speech in Washington February 7, 2014. REUTERS/Gary Cameron (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS MILITARY CRIME LAW) - RTX18D33

New US Syria policy should engage Iran

As the talks on a comprehensive nuclear agreement with Iran commence this week in Vienna, there is also an opening to engage Iran on Syria and terrorism.