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Turkey

Turkey

November 4, 2026

Ankara 8:44 am

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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

An Israeli air force drone is seen flying over Gaza as seen from the northern Gaza strip border April 9, 2011. Israel killed four Palestinian militants and wounded half a dozen others as it pursued air raids in Gaza for a third day on Saturday, responding to increased rocket fire out of the territory, local medics said.

REUTERS/Darren Whiteside (ISRAEL - Tags: MILITARY SOCIETY IMAGES OF THE DAY) - RTR2L11O

Israeli Drones Haunt Gaza

Israeli drones are a constant reality in Gaza, proving a major obstacle to armed factions while destroying Palestinian civilians' sense of security.

Iraq's Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki (R) welcomes his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan at Baghdad International Airport, October 15, 2009. REUTERS/Iraqi Government/Handout (IRAQ POLITICS) - RTXPNTX

Erdogan Rebuilds Ties to Iraq

Regional events are catalysts for a rapprochement between Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

A Palestinian militant stands guard during an anti-Israeli rally organized by Islamic Jihad movement in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip October 24, 2013. REUTERS/Suhaib Salem (GAZA - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTX14MNO

Nationalist Slogans Fade From Palestinian Discourse

Despite the recent attacks on Israeli soldiers in the West Bank, many Palestinians are downplaying their connection to the resistance movement and avoiding nationalist rhetoric.

Turkey's Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu (R) shakes hands with his Iraqi counterpart Hoshiyar Zebari after a news conference in Ankara October 25, 2013. REUTERS/Umit Bektas (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS) - RTX14NP6

Turkey, Iraq Work to Renew Ties

Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari’s visit to Ankara last week suggests Turkey is trying to adjust its approach to its neighbors.

Hamas chief Khaled Meshaal (C) visits the Islamic University in Gaza City December 9, 2012. Hamas's vow to vanquish Israel after claiming "victory" in last month's Gaza conflict vindicates Israel's reluctance to relinquish more land to the Palestinians, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday. Meshaal made a defiant speech before thousands of supporters in the Gaza Strip on Saturday, promising to take "inch-by-inch" all of modern-day Israel, which he said he would never recognise. REUTERS/Suha

Why Did Iran Postpone Meshaal Visit?

The "resistance" axis of Iran, Syria and Hezbollah are not in agreement over welcoming Hamas back into the fold.

One of the nine newly released Lebanese hostages, who were held by rebels in northern Syria, carries a Hezbollah flag as he is welcomed by his relatives upon his arrival at Beirut international airport, October 19, 2013. A plane with nine Lebanese hostages freed from northern Syria landed safely in Beirut on Saturday night, witnesses said, nearly a year and a half after the men were captured by Syrian rebels near the Turkish border. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir (LEBANON - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTX14H60

Turkey-Lebanon Detainee Swap Shows Lebanese State's Decline

Although the Lebanese rejoiced at the deal that secured the release of nine Lebanese detainees in Syria, the details of the swap reveal the Lebanese state’s inefficiency in dealing with such matters.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan looks on during his visit to Prizren, some 90 km (56 miles) southwest of capital Pristina October 23, 2013. REUTERS/Hazir Reka (KOSOVO - Tags: POLITICS) - RTX14LBP

Erdogan: 'Kosovo Is Turkey'

Prime Minister Erdogan's comments on Kosovo have damaged one of Turkey's few foreign policy bright spots, peacemaking and peacekeeping in the Balkans.

Kurdish Rebels Ban Child Soldiers

The Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) has signed on to the Geneva Call’s initiative after three years of negotiation.

People practice yoga in Gezi Park at Taksim Square in Istanbul June 7, 2013. Istanbul's Gezi Park, yoga practitioners stretch and students read in a makeshift library - a statement of their intent to stay on after a week of protests. At night demonstrators taunt riot police from beyond barricades on the streets around Taksim Square. Those in its Gezi Park hold sit-down protests and discuss Turkey's future. REUTERS/Osman Orsal (TURKEY - Tags: CIVIL UNREST POLITICS SOCIETY) - RTX10FAH

Is Yoga Halal for Turks?

Much discussed in the Muslim world since the 1990s, the question of yoga and Islam has finally confronted a rather confused public in Turkey.

U.N. envoy to Syria, Lakhdar Brahimi (R), is welcomed by Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari after arriving at Baghdad International Airport October 21, 2013. International envoy for Syria Brahimi was in Baghdad on Monday to discuss dates for peace talks aimed at ending the war in Syria. Brahimi said no date had yet been set for the long-delayed conference. International efforts to end the 2-1/2 year conflict that has killed more than 100,000 people have stuttered. But a deal last month for Syria to get r

Syria’s Race Against Time

UN-Arab League Joint Representative Lakhdar Brahimi presses for Geneva II, while Saudi women are on the road again.

Members of the media are fired upon by a water cannon during protests at Kizilay square in central Ankara, June 16, 2013. The unrest, in which police fired teargas and water cannons at stone-throwing protesters night after night in cities including Istanbul and Ankara, left four people dead and about 5,000 injured, according to the Turkish Medical Association. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST MEDIA) - RTX10Q1Q

EU Gives Turkey a Failing Mark On Media Freedom

While the European Parliament report on Turkey gives the government low marks on media freedom, the media industry may be mostly responsible for this outcome.

An activist of the women's rights group Femen prepares for a protest against domestic violence in Istanbul March 8, 2012. REUTERS/Osman Orsal (TURKEY - Tags: CIVIL UNREST) TEMPLATE OUT - RTR2Z1A9

Can Nude Feminism Succeed in Turkey?

In Turkey, the nude protesters of women's rights group FEMEN face a larger obstacle than male supremacy: They don't quite understand the real issues that strain Turkish politics and society.