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

Turkey

Turkey

November 5, 2026

Ankara 12:29 am

11°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

Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan gestures as he gives a speech during a meeting at his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) party headquarters in Ankara, on August 20, 2013. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused Israel on August 20 of being behind the military-backed ouster of Egypt's Islamist president Mohamed Morsi last month. AFP PHOTO / ADEM ALTAN (Photo credit should read ADEM ALTAN/AFP/Getty Images)

Erdogan Shows His Softer Side

Some Turks question why Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan cries over the death of an Egyptian protester but not a Turkish one.

A Free Syrian Army fighter goes down a ladder near Aleppo's historical citadel in the old city of Aleppo August 23, 2013. REUTERS/Muzaffar Salman (SYRIA - Tags: CONFLICT POLITICS) - RTX12UCK

Turkey's Foreign Policy: Slip-Up or Success?

While Turkey boasts foreign policy successes in the Middle East, these measures could be more accurately described as blunders.

Turkey's Rising Middle Class Drives Demand for Islamic Fashion

A new, wealthy and religiously conservative middle class has emerged with an expensive taste for style and fashion.

People take part in a commemoration ceremony to mark the anniversary of the 1915 mass killings of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire at the Armenian Genocide Memorial in Yerevan, April 24, 2011. Armenia, backed by many historians and world parliaments, says some 1.5 million Armenians died during the upheavals that accompanied World War I and labels the events as genocide. On the other hand, Ankara rejects the term genocide and says large numbers of both Christian Armenians and Muslim Turks were killed. REUTE

Egyptian Twitter Post Pushes Turkey's Buttons

A Twitter message that suggested the interim government in Cairo might recognize the Armenian genocide exposed a raw nerve in Turkey.

Protesters, who are against Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi, hold a poster featuring the head of Egypt's armed forces General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in Tahrir Square in Cairo July 3, 2013. Egypt's armed forces overthrew elected Islamist President Mohamed Mursi on Wednesday and announced a political transition with the support of a wide range of political, religious and youth leaders. A statement published in Mursi's name on his official Facebook page after al-Sisi's speech said the measures announced amounte

Is Hypernationalism The New Islamism?

Islamism in the Middle East may have met a match in the hypernationalism taking hold in Egypt and Syria.

Pedestrians look at billboards with the pictures of Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan (R) and his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu (L), in Ankara March 25, 2013. Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday an Israeli apology for the 2010 deaths of nine Turkish pro-Palestinian activists that was brokered by U.S. President Barack Obama met Turkey's conditions and signalled its growing regional clout. The billboard reads, "Israel apologized to Turkey. Dear Prime Minister (Erdogan), We ar

Erdogan’s Blaming of Israel Might be Funny If It Weren’t So Sad

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused Israel of being behind the Egyptian military coup only to be met with strong criticism from Egypt, Israel and the United States.

Israel's armed forces Chief Lieutenant-General Gabi Ashkenazi (L) and Turkey's Chief of General Staff General Ilker Basbug pose prior to a meeting in Ankara March 15, 2010. Ashkenazi is in Turkey to attend the Global Terrorism and International Cooperation Symposium. REUTERS/Turkish Army Press Office/Handout (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS MILITARY) FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NOT FOR SALE FOR MARKETING OR ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - RTR2BOE7

Turkish-Israeli Military Ties Damaged by Ergenekon Trial

The Ergenekon trial has made it clear to the decision-makers in Jerusalem that the Turkish army will no longer be able to serve as a bridge between the two countries.

A Turkish flag flutters near the monument of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk at Taksim Square in Istanbul June 24, 2013. REUTERS/Marko Djurica (TURKEY - Tags: SOCIETY) - RTX10Z87

Who Poisoned Former Turkish President Ozal?

Political disputes between the Kemalist army and democratically elected political parties once were settled heavy-handedly, and a recent investigation into Turgut Ozal's death ruled that he was poisoned.

Gay rights activists carry a rainbow flag during a protest at Tunel Square in Istanbul June 23, 2013. REUTERS/Marko Djurica (TURKEY - Tags: CIVIL UNREST SOCIETY) - RTX10Y6V

Gay in the Turkish Army

One gay man's experience with the Turkish military highlights anew the need for legal protections for the rights of LGBT individuals in Turkey.

Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan gestures as he gives a speech during a meeting at his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) party headquarters in Ankara, on August 20, 2013. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused Israel on August 20 of being behind the military-backed ouster of Egypt's Islamist president Mohamed Morsi last month. AFP PHOTO / ADEM ALTAN (Photo credit should read ADEM ALTAN/AFP/Getty Images)

Erdogan’s Anti-Israel Remarks Reflect Broader Anti-Semitism in Turkey

While anti-Semitism has been present in Turkey since the 1930s, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's latest anti-Israel remarks bring Turkey's long-standing xenophobia out in the open.

Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan (L) checks his watch as he attends a wreath-laying ceremony with Chief of Staff General Necdet Ozel (R) at the mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, founder of modern Turkey, in Ankara August 1, 2013. REUTERS/Umit Bektas (TURKEY - Tags: MILITARY POLITICS) - RTX126WW

Erdogan’s Israel Remark Brings Condemnation, Ridicule

Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan accuses Israel of being behind the coup in Egypt, thus exposing himself again to criticism and ridicule.

Organization of Islamic Cooperation Secretary General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu speaks during the U.S.-Islamic World Forum in Doha June 9, 2013. REUTERS/Mohammed Dabbous (QATAR - Tags: RELIGION POLITICS) - RTX10HR0

AKP Blasts Turkish Leader Of International Islamic Group

Despite calls for his resignation by AKP officials, Organization of Islamic Cooperation Secretary-General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu decided to stay in office until his term expires in four months.