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

Turkey

Turkey

November 6, 2026

Ankara 12:11 am

8°C

Costa Rica's Grynspan extends lead in UNSG poll as Nusseibeh places fourth

The Costa Rican candidate received 12 encourage votes in Thursday's UN Security Council straw poll.

United Arab Emirates

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan addresses Turkish members of parliament during the opening of the parliamentary session at the Grand National Assembly of Turkey in Ankara, on Oct. 1, 2026.

Breaking | Last Updated: November 5, 2026, 3:56 pm

Turkey’s parliament ratifies Mecca pact in boost to Saudi Arabia

Turkey will now decide the scope of military support for Saudi Arabia amid ongoing Iran-backed Houthi attacks on the kingdom.

TOFIK BABAYEV/AFP via Getty Images

Can Erdogan’s Baku visit fix Turkey-Azerbaijan rift?

A dispute over religious dress in schools has exposed deeper tensions between the two allies, with energy, arms sales, Israel and financial interests adding to the strain.

A sign marking the border of Turkey in Van, Turkey, on March 14, 2026.

Turkey says soldier killed by gunfire from Iran at border: What to know

Turkey said a soldier was killed by suspected gunfire from Iran, as Ankara seeks closer cooperation with Tehran on border security.

Latest News

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

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

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.

Explainer

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

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.

Analysis

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

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

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

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

Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi (L) looks past his Turkish counterpart Ahmet Davutoglu (2nd R) during the opening of a ministerial meeting in the Saudi Red Sea city of Jeddah, by the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) on May 13, 2013. The OIC urged its member states to make generous contributions at this week's main donors conference on Mali to be held in Brussels, which aims to raise funds to repair the damage caused by the war against Islamists in the African country. AFP PHOTO/STR

Turkey, Iran Struggle To Keep Up Appearances

Ankara and Tehran ties are strained over Syria and Hezbollah.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry (R) meets with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Paris, May 27, 2013. REUTERS/Jim Young (FRANCE - Tags: POLITICS) - RTX103D0

The Missing Syrian Peace

US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov are still working on the invitation list for Geneva II.

Forces loyal to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad carry their weapons as they move during what they said was an operation to push rebels from the road between Dahra Abd Rabbo village and Castello in Aleppo May 27, 2013. REUTERS/George Ourfalian (SYRIA - Tags: CIVIL UNREST MILITARY POLITICS CONFLICT) - RTX102VH

How We Lost The Syrian Revolution

A Syrian activist in Aleppo laments the lost revolution as he reveals the sense of betrayal felt after rebels looted and ravaged his city.

Turkey's Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu wipes his eye as he addresses a news conference during an European Union-Turkey association council in Brussels May 27, 2013. REUTERS/Francois Lenoir (BELGIUM - Tags: POLITICS) - RTX102QD

Revisiting Davutoglu on Syria

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu’s first-ever admission of mistakes in Syria policy offers clues to his mindset.

People shop in a shopping district in Hatay May 17, 2013. Turkey hailed its second investment grade rating on Friday, seeing it as a seal of approval from international markets for a decade of economic reform. Investors joined in, driving sovereign bond yields to record lows. Government enthusiasm was tempered, however, by some concern that the move, coinciding with a visit by Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan to Washington, might trigger over-large capital inflows into the lira currency. REUTERS/Umit

Turkey’s Moral Majority Tests Its Power

With a series of moves such as the limitation of alcohol sales and a kissing ban, perceived as strong signs of social paternalism following the military tutelage, Turkey is being dragged into a refreshed Kulturkampf.

Turkey and Syria’s Kurds Edging Toward an Uneasy Peace?

Fresh fighting between Syrian Kurdish groups and Arab opposition fighters in Syria's Kurdish region is threatening to spread.

Veiled women carry vegetables as they walk along a street at the neighbourhood of Shmeisy in Riyadh April 22, 2013. A royal decree in Saudi Arabia has shaken up the way in which the government allocates vast tracts of land, removing an obstacle to a $67 billion programme to ease the country's housing shortage. Picture taken April 22, 2013. To match Story SAUDI-HOUSING/ REUTERS/Faisal Al Nasser (SAUDI ARABIA - Tags: BUSINESS REAL ESTATE POLITICS CONSTRUCTION) - RTXYY39

Social Divisions Hinder Saudi Rights Movement

Ideological and social polarization is preventing a strong Saudi rights movement from emerging.

U.S. President Barack Obama (R) and Jordan's King Abdullah await questions from the press prior to a bilateral meeting in the Oval Office of the White House to discuss issues like the Syrian crisis and regional security, in Washington, April 26, 2013. REUTERS/Mike Theiler (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS) - RTXZ1AA

Jordan Deals With Backlash From Iraq, Syria

Jordanians may be becoming more xenophobic as the Hashemite Kingdom deals with pressures from Iraq and Syria.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu speaks to the media after the Friends of Syria alliance meeting in Amman May 22, 2013. REUTERS/Muhammad Hamed (JORDAN - Tags: POLITICS) - RTXZX4H

Davutoglu Cautiously 'Not Pessimistic' On Syria

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu says US-Turkish policies on Syria are now synchronized.

Workers adjust a valve of an oil pipe in Tawke oil field near Dahuk, 400 km (249 miles) north of Baghdad, November 24, 2010. In this part of Iraq, the hillsides sweat oil. Without any coaxing, the sticky black treasure oozes from the layered rock and gathers in pools that bubble as dissolved gases surface. Gradually, as the crude slips down the hillsides, it solidifies into a grey mass that resembles a hardened lava flow. It's a good metaphor for the progress of oil from the semi-autonomous Iraqi region of

Turkey Puzzled by US Stance On Exxon-KRG Oil Deal

Ankara questions US concerns over its arrangement with ExxonMobil for energy exploration in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.

Palestinian Fatah members carry their weapons as they take part in a parade to mark the 65th anniversary of Nakba, at Ain al-Hilweh Palestinian refugee camp near the port-city of Sidon, southern Lebanon May 15, 2013. Palestinians marked "Nakba" (Catastrophe) to commemorate the expulsion or fleeing of hundreds of thousands of their brethren from their homes in the war that led to the founding of Israel in 1948. REUTERS/Ali Hashisho (LEBANON - Tags: POLITICS ANNIVERSARY) - RTXZN6R

Syria’s Conflict May Already Be in Lebanon

Following recent conflict in Lebanon’s Ein el-Hilweh Palestinian refugee camp, it is becoming ever more apparent that Syria’s conflict, as represented between Jabhat al-Nusra and Hezbollah, is already in Lebanon.

A billboard advertising the TV series "The Magnificent Century" is seen after being damaged by eggs thrown by pro-Islamic protesters in Istanbul January 9, 2011. Turkish protesters angry over the depiction of an Ottoman sultan drinking alcohol and wooing women in a new television series threw eggs and chanted "God is Great" outside of the broadcaster's studio on Sunday. A group of about 100 protesters, accompanied by a band playing Ottoman military music, marched to the offices of the entertainment channel

Turkey’s Clash of Civilizations

Turkey’s secular and democratic identity should not be compromised for religious orthodoxy.