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Turkey

Turkey

April 25, 2026

Ankara 1:14 am

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CORLU, TURKEY- MARCH 2: A B model of Bayraktar AKINCI TİHA (Assault Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) in the sky on March 2, 2022 in Corlu, Turkey. (Photo by Baykar Press Office/dia images via Getty Images)

Turkey’s Baykar tests K2 swarm kamikaze drones for first time: What to know

Baykar tested its K2 and new loitering drones, featuring AI-driven swarm capabilities and the ability to operate under GPS jamming.

US Ambassador to Turkey Thomas Barrack attends a meeting with President Donald Trump and President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the Oval Office at the White House on Sept. 25, 2025, in Washington, DC.

Trump envoy Barrack’s embrace of 'strong leaders' sparks fury in Turkey

Turkish opposition members say envoy Tom Barrack’s remarks praising “strong leaders” and monarchies undermine Turkey’s democratic tradition and embolden President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Members of Iraq's security forces stand guard on the the al-Rabia border crossing with Syria on April 20, 2026.

How Syria's border opening with Iraq redefines Turkey-Kurd balance

After years of closure, the reopening of al-Yaaroubiya crossing is redrawing Kurdish economic leverage and reinforcing Turkey’s regional strategy.

Latest News

Analysis

Italy’s TB3 drone deal signals turn toward Turkey amid US-NATO tensions

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni shake hands during the press conference following their meeting at Villa Doria Pamphilj, on April 29, 2025, in Rome, Italy.

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

Analysis

Is Syria’s Sharaa poised to outdo Turkey in formalizing gains for Kurds?

Kurdish people waving Kurdistan flags gather to celebrate Nowruz on the hill of Urkesh in the countryside of Amuda in northeastern Syria on March 18, 2026. Nowruz, meaning "new day," is an ancient festival that marks the start of spring and the new year on the vernal equinox, which usually falls on March 20 or 21. It is celebrated by more than 300 million people worldwide and has been observed for over 3,000 years across regions including the Middle East, Central Asia, the Caucasus and parts of Eastern Euro

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

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

Turkish Army tanks are seen near the Turkish-Syrian border in Kilis province, Turkey January 31, 2018. REUTERS/Osman Orsal - RC1F815A6580

US warns Turkey on Syria amid last-ditch talks to resolve buffer zone dispute

The United States says it will prevent a unilateral incursion into Syria by its NATO ally, but President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s patience is running out with protracted talks on removing Kurdish fighters from Turkey’s border region.

People use computers at an internet cafe in Ankara April 6, 2015. Twitter has complied with Turkey's request to remove images of an Istanbul prosecutor held at gunpoint by far-left militants and the block of access to is about to be lifted, a Turkish official told Reuters on Monday. Turkey banned access to the micro-blogging site and YouTube after they refused a request to remove photographs of Mehmet Kiraz, a prosecutor killed in a shootout last week. REUTERS/Umit Bektas - GF10000051058

Journalists fear broad new law will stifle online news media in Turkey

Free speech advocates fear a new law requiring licenses for web streaming services and online news broadcasters may be used to tighten censorship on the Turkish media.

ERBIL, IRAQ - JUNE 10: Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu (2L) meets KDP Leader Masoud Barzani (2R) in Erbil, Iraq on June 10, 2019. (Photo by Cem Ozdel/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)

Iraqi Kurds actively support Ankara’s fight against the PKK

Spurred by the killing of a Turkish Consulate staffer in Erbil last month, the Iraqi Kurdish administration is stepping up its cooperation with Turkey to rein in PKK activities in northern Iraq.

An officer of the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) stands guard near the Syrian-Iraq border October 31, 2012. Iraqi Kurdish President Masoud Barzani warned Kurds in Syria against being sucked into the "fires of discord," urging them to preserve Kurdish unity as tensions between rival factions threaten to spillover into violence. Syria's Kurds see the war ravaging their country as an unprecedented opportunity to gain the kind of freedoms enjoyed by their ethnic kin in neighbouring Iraq, where they

Feuding Syrian Kurdish political blocs dance around rapprochement

As French and US initiatives for intra-Kurdish rapprochement in Syria stall, it seems that piecemeal defections from the Kurdish National Council to the Kurdish autonomous administration in the north of the country are the rule of the day.

Beats for women: Turkey's star hijabi DJ leads dance revolution

Turkey's popular DJ Safir says women love the freedom of her all-female shows regardless of their politics or ideology.

Officials attend a session of the peace talks on Syria in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan August 2, 2019. REUTERS/Mukhtar Kholdorbekov - RC11F7E4FF00

Astana talks show Russia eager to keep plugging away at Idlib

The new round of Syria talks in Kazakhstan produced a cease-fire in Idlib and the promise for a constitutional committee due to be announced in September, but will all of this ultimately happen?

Russian servicemen sit in the cabins of S-400 missile air defence systems in Tverskaya Street before a rehearsal for the Victory Day parade, which marks the anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany in World War Two, in central Moscow, Russia April 29, 2019. REUTERS/Tatyana Makeyeva - RC1E849FD530

US leniency on S-400 offers Turkey chance to repair economy

The US president's reluctance to impose sanctions following Turkey’s purchase of the Russian S-400 missile system has created a window of opportunity for officials to restructure the nation’s ailing economy.

ANKARA, TURKEY - JULY 18: Chairman of the Republican People's Party (CHP) Kemal Kilicdaroglu, Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, Turkish Justice Minister Abdulhamit Gul, Head of the National Intelligence Organization (MIT) of Turkey Hakan Fidan and Grand Unity Party (BBP) Chairman Mustafa Destici attend the funeral of Turkish diplomat Osman Kose, who was martyred in an armed attack in Iraq's Erbil, at Ahmet Hamdi Akseki Mosque in Ankara, Turkey on July 18, 2

Is this a new era in Turkey's fight against PKK?

Targeted killings of PKK Central Committee member Diyar Gharib Muhammed in Qandil on June 27 and Turkish intelligence agency-affiliated Turkish diplomat Osman Kose in Erbil on July 17 mark a major shift in the characteristics of the armed conflict between Turkey and the outlawed Kurdish militant group.

People hold scarf banners reading " Do not touch my teacher" during a demonstration outside of Istanbul's courthouse and before a trial of two academics on July 16, 2019. - Fusun Ustel was also detained on May 8, 2019 after being sentenced to 15 months in prison for having signed the peace petition in 2016 with 1,127 other Turkish academics. Tuna Altinel, an official of the French state, is being prosecuted in his country as hundreds of other academics for having signed in 2016 the "petition for peace" whic

Court ruling highlights divide in Turkish academia

Though most of Turkey's academic world is applauding the Constitutional Court ruling that charges against their pro-peace colleagues violated their freedom of expression, a vocal pro-state minority feels otherwise.

Two Syrian refugees walk along fences in Nizip refugee camp, near the Turkish-Syrian border in Gaziantep province, Turkey, November 30, 2016. REUTERS/Umit Bektas - RC19B9EC1810

Has Turkey’s policy on Syrian refugees started to backfire?

The Syrian refugee question is set to pose a major political headache for Erdogan in the coming period.

Republican People's Party (CHP) Istanbul chief Canan Kaftancioglu (L) waves to supporters as she stands on a stage to deliver a speech on July 18, 2019 after her trial in Istanbul. - Kaftancioglu faces up to 17 years in prison for allegedly 'insulting the Turkish President' in tweets posted between 2012 and 2017. The trial will resume on September 6, 2019. (Photo by Ozan KOSE / AFP) (Photo credit should read OZAN KOSE/AFP/Getty Images)

Cost of doing politics endless harassment for leftist women in Turkey

Young female politician Canan Kaftancioglu is perceived as the reason for Erdogan’s loss of Istanbul after 25 years and the president is determined to see her punished.

Syrian Turkmen groups return from Turkey to support opposition

Turkey has encouraged Syrian Turkmen organizations to move to Syrian areas controlled by anti-regime militias.