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

Turkey

Turkey

April 6, 2026

Ankara 12:37 pm

14°C

Turkey's Camp TURKSOM, a Turkish military base south of Mogadishu, is seen from the window of an aircraft, on April 26, 2025, in Mogadishu, Somalia.

Analysis

Turkey’s expanding military role in Somalia draws scrutiny amid federal rift

Turkey’s expanding military footprint in Somalia is drawing criticism amid deepening federal-regional tensions, with Ankara denying it is taking sides.

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

Chris McGrath/Getty Images

Turkey in talks with Iran to clear 11 ships stuck in Hormuz: What to know

Turkey's transport minister says that 11 vessels await passage from Hormuz pending talks with Iran.

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks to MPs at his party's group meeting in the Turkish parliament on Jan. 21, 2026 in Ankara, Turkey.

Analysis

How the Iran war is giving Turkey's Erdogan a big boost

Opinion polls show Turks turning to Erdogan as a steady hand during the war, even as the country's finances remain fragile.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Latest News

Turkey says NATO defenses intercepted fourth missile from Iran

German soldiers stand to attention in front of a German Patriot missile launcher at the Gazi barracks in Kahramanmaras, southern Turkey on March 25, 2014.

Analysis

Energy storage keeps Turkey stable, but long war risks fragile economy

Sedat Suna/Getty Images

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

Turkey confirms Iraq troop withdrawal as NATO pulls back due to Iran war

A handing over of command ceremony at Union III Camp in the Green Zone of the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, on May 22, 2025.

Samuel Wendel

Senior Market Research Analyst

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 crypto

Despite ‘crypto winter,’ digital currency use remains high in Turkey

Crypto is down, but not out for dedicated traders, particularly in high inflation markets like Turkey, where digital tokens continue to draw users looking to earn, save and transfer hard currencies.

Co-leader of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) Pervin Buldan delivers a speech during the party's meeting at the Turkish Grand National Assembly in Ankara on April 26, 2022.

Cracks in Turkey’s opposition alliance emerge over ties to HDP Kurds

Infighting within the major alliance of six Turkish opposition parties over the role of the country’s largest pro-Kurdish group has the ruling party palpably gleeful.

People wave Turkish flags in an immigrant-heavy district.

Public outcry as EU increasingly rejects Turkish visas

The Turkish public’s outcry over the growing number of EU visa rejections has prompted the Turkish government to threaten the EU with countermeasures, but the matter will unlikely be resolved until underlying structural problems are addressed.

ADEM ALTAN/AFP via Getty Images

Far-right Turkish leader likens Syrian refugees to garbage, vows expulsion

Ultranationalist Meral Aksener's plans include “isolating” migrants in “concentration camps” and forcing them to return to their countries of origin against their will under a formal policy of refoulement.

(From L-R) Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (3rd-L) and Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu (L) attend a meeting with members of Bosnia and Herzegovina's tripartite presidency Sefik Dzaferovic (3rd-R), Milorad Dodik (2nd-L) and Zeljko Komsic (2nd R) and Bosnian Security Minister Selmo Cikotic (R) in Sarajevo on Sept. 6, 2022.

Erdogan travels to Balkans as tensions rise between former Yugoslav states

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s trip to Bosnia, Serbia and Croatia comes as ethnic rivalries bristle 30 years after the war.

Turkey economy

Turkey’s inflation tops 80% as poverty deepens

Even though Turkey’s economy continued to expand in the second quarter, the share of payments to employees dropped to the lowest level since Erdogan’s party came to power two decades ago.

Libya clash

Turkey supports Libya's Tripoli forces amid deadly battles

Turkey hosted two rival Libyan premiers in Istanbul in bid to strike a conciliation between the clashing parties.

ADEM ALTAN/AFP via Getty Images

Erdogan calls Turkey’s teachers 'looters' amid protests, calls for exam boycott

Turkey's president has called protesting teachers "looters," a derogative reminiscent of the 2013 Gezi protests.

OZAN KOSE/AFP via Getty Images

Exiled Turkish mafia boss Sedat Peker makes new corruption claims

Presidential advisers are implicated in an alleged bribery ring targeting business figures.

Pakistan flood

Turkey sends aid to Pakistan after devastating floods

The South Asian country is also seeking help from Turkey as well as the Gulf in relation to its economic crisis.

Syrian Kurds demonstrate on June 10, 2021, in the northeastern Syrian city of Qamishli.

How realistic is Erdogan’s vision for security belt from Syria to Iraq?

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says he is bent on creating an “end-to-end” security belt along Turkey’s southern borders with Syria and Iraq — a vision too ambitious given the political and topographic conditions of the areas in question.

Bitcoin

Fugitive Turkish cryptocurrency chief arrested in Albania

Faruk Fatih Ozer, who reportedly fled with $2 billion in investors' assets, had an Interpol red notice.