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

Turkey

Turkey

November 3, 2026

Ankara 8:28 pm

14°C

Turkey probes Google’s AI search tools, orders protections for news websites

Turkey’s competition watchdog said it is assessing whether AI-generated answers appearing on Google Search divert traffic from news sites and impose unfair content-use terms.

A protestor holds a flag bearing a portrait of jailed leader of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) Abdullah Ocalan during a demonstration of Kurdish people from all around Europe to mark the 27th anniversary of his arrest and to demand his liberation, in Strasbourg, Eastern France, on Feb. 14, 2026.

Turkey moves PKK leader Ocalan to prison villa as peace process faces new test

The move is expected to give the PKK leader a more direct role in negotiations, but deep divisions over disarmament and Kurdish rights continue to threaten the process.

OSCE Secretary General Feridun Sinirlioglu is pictured during a joint press conference with the OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Switzerland's Foreign Minister at Vienna International Airport on Feb. 6, 2026 in Schwechat, Lower Austria.

Explainer

Who is Feridun Sinirlioglu, Turkey’s candidate for UN chief?

The Turkish president's confidant enters the race for UN chief with decades of diplomatic experience marked by both praise and scrutiny.

Demonstrators hold a banner reading "Free Gaza, free world"

Analysis

Gaza progress, Syria pullback: What Turkey wants from Israel’s next government

Ankara sees room for limited improvement in ties if Israel’s next government eases Gaza’s humanitarian crisis and reduces military pressure on Syria.

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

Latest News

Explainer

After EU rebuff, how Turkey is courting Egypt for maritime deal

Turkish Navy sailors wave their caps from the flight deck

Culture

Rock collapse near UNESCO-listed site in Turkey’s Cappadocia kills three

An view of the Uchisar settlement, east of Nevesehir in the province of the same name in central Turkey's historical Cappadocia region on Aug. 24, 2022.

Tornado kills 4 in Turkey’s Mediterranean tourism hub Antalya

Kepez

Saudi Arabia’s KBS, top Turkish and Pakistani officials hold rare meeting in Iran: What to know

GEOFFROY VAN DER HASSELT/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

Demonstrators protest against Turkey's ruling AK Party (AKP), demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, in Istanbul December 30, 2013. Erdogan swore on Sunday he would survive a corruption crisis circling his cabinet, saying those seeking his overthrow would fail just like mass anti-government protests last summer. REUTERS/Osman Orsal (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS CRIME LAW CIVIL UNREST) - RTX16XIC

Is Erdogan’s survival detrimental to Turkish democracy?

The Turkish prime minister is using his executive powers in what seems a desperate effort to alter the legal system to protect himself and his government against further corruption allegations.

Supporters of Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan gather to welcome his arrival at Ataturk Airport in Istanbul December 27, 2013. A Turkish court blocked a government attempt to force police to disclose investigations to their superiors, officials said on Friday, in a setback for Erdogan's attempts to manage fallout from a high-level corruption scandal. REUTERS/Osman Orsal (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS CRIME LAW CIVIL UNREST) - RTX16V6B

Does Erdogan's attack on judiciary reflect his view of Turkish democracy?

The Erdogan government's evasion of the corruption investigation increases the risks to Turkey's unity and peace.

Kurdish people chant slogans during a march on December 28, 2013 in Istanbul marking the second anniversary of the December 28, 2011 killing of 34 Turkish-Kurdish civilians working as smugglers at the Turkey-Iraq border in a botched raid by Turkish military jets, known as the Roboski strike, that mistook the group for Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) militants. AFP PHOTO / OZAN KOSE (Photo credit should read OZAN KOSE/AFP/Getty Images)

Turkey's Kurds want explanation, apology for Roboski massacre

The emotional estrangement of Turkey’s Kurds has deepened over Ankara’s failure to bring to account those responsible for the killing of 34 Turkish Kurdish youths in 2011 and the continued imprisonment of Kurdish members of Turkey's parliament.

Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan delivers a speech at Cairo University after his meeting with the Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi during the first day of his two-day trip to Egypt, November 17, 2012. Erdogan, an outspoken of critic of Israel, praised Egypt's Islamist president Mursi on Saturday for recalling his ambassador from Tel Aviv in response to Israeli attacks on Gaza. REUTERS/Asmaa Waguih (EGYPT - Tags: POLITICS TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) - RTR3AJ7X

Turkish corruption probe hurts foreign relations

Following its corruption scandal, Turkey's relations with Arab states, the United States and Europe have undoubtedly been affected, though no immediate foreign crisis has arisen.

Riot police fire teargas during a protest against Turkey's ruling Ak Party (AKP) and Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan in Istanbul December 25, 2013. Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan presented a new list of cabinet ministers to President Abdullah Gul on Wednesday after three ministers resigned over a high-level graft inquiry, sources said. It was unclear if more than the resigned ministers had been replaced. Erdogan is expected to make a statement later amid the spiralling corruption scandal. REUTERS/Osma

Nedim Sener focuses on Cemaat role in Turkey scandal

Nedim Sener, an investigative journalist who documented the police misconduct that potentially led to Hrant Dink’s murder, is speaking against the Cemaat.

Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan addresses members of his ruling AK Party (AKP), during a meeting at party headquarters in Ankara December 25, 2013. Erdogan said his ruling AK Party will not tolerate corruption on Wednesday after three cabinet members resigned over a high-level graft probe. REUTERS/Umit Bektas (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS) - RTX16TTF

Erdogan criticizes, undermines huge corruption investigation

The Turkish government has enacted a flurry of measures to thwart a massive corruption investigation, threatening fundamental norms of democracy.

Galatasaray's Hakan Sukur lies on the pitch during their UEFA Cup first round first leg soccer match against Sion at the Stade de Geneve in Geneva September 20, 2007. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse (SWITZERLAND) - RTR1U2VI

Ex-soccer player's resignation a turning point for the AKP

The resignation of Istanbul Deputy Hakan Sukur, one of Turkey’s all-time best strikers and a Gulenist, from the AKP seems to have come right in time for the all-out war between the government and Gulen movement.

Erdogan’s dream turns into a nightmare

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan blames an "international plot" for the corruption scandal that so far has seen three key AKP ministers resign.

U.S. Ambassador to Turkey Francis Ricciardone (L, with white hair) speaks to media outside of the U.S. Embassy in Ankara February 1, 2013. A suicide bomber from a far-left group killed a Turkish security guard at the U.S. embassy in Ankara on Friday, blowing the door off a side entrance and sending smoke and debris flying into the street. The attacker blew himself up inside U.S. property, Ankara Governor Alaaddin Yuksel said. The blast sent masonry spewing out of the wall and could be heard a mile away. REU

US-Turkey crisis averted over corruption probe

The United States may be rankled, however, by the Turkish prime minister implying that Washington was part of international conspiracy behind the corruption scandal.

A plainclothes police officer reacts as riot police stand guard in front of the courthouse in Istanbul December 20, 2013. Turkish police arrested eight people in connection with allegations of official corruption and bribery, a newspaper said on Friday, in an investigation Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan has called a "dirty operation" aimed at undermining his rule. REUTERS/Osman Orsal (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS CRIME LAW) - RTX16PID

Turkey bans media from Security Directorate buildings

The Interior Ministry decided to ban journalists from entering police premises across the nation at the height of the corruption and bribery scandal.

Christmas in Turkey

Snapshots of changing Christmas and New Year's celebrations in Turkey portray a picture of cultural divisions.

A demonstrator holds a shoe box, as a reference to what the media said are shoe boxes of cash found in the house of Halkbank CEO Suleyman Aslan, during a demonstration against Turkey's ruling Ak Party (AKP) and Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara December 21, 2013. Sixteen people, including the sons of two ministers, were charged on Saturday in connection with a Turkish corruption investigation that has struck at the heart of the ruling elite and threatened the authority of Erdogan. The general manager

Erdogan goes on offense against corruption charges

The government of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan claims a foreign plot is behind the corruption charges.