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Turkey

Turkey

May 12, 2026

Ankara 1:26 am

14°C

Turkish Red Crescent's cars and trucks cross the Turkish border as they leave the Syrian city of Tel Abyad on Oct. 19, 2019, in Akcakale, Turkey.

Turkey's border reopening unlocks new sphere of influence in Syria

Turkey reopened the Akcakale-Tell Abyad crossing on Monday, ending an 11-year closure along the Syria border.

ISTANBUL, TURKEY - MAY 06: A man poses for a photograph in front of the newly unveiled, Turkish made intercontinental ballistic missile Yildirimhan at the SAHA International Defence and Aerospace Expo on May 06, 2026 in Istanbul, Turkey. The International Defence and Aerospace Exhibition, showcased Turkish and foreign companies new products and technology. The expo was dominated by UAV products as modern warfare increasingly shifts to drone and unmanned technologies. (Photo by Chris McGrath/Getty Images)

Analysis

From drones to deterrence: Turkey's ICBM missile signals bigger ambitions

Turkey’s planned test of a 6,000-kilometer missile could boost Ankara’s defense industry prestige, strengthen its deterrence messaging and feed a powerful domestic narrative of technological self-reliance, but it also raises questions about cost, timing and NATO protection.

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

MURAT KOCABAS/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images

Culture

How ‘dog mom’ vacuum cleaner ad sparked culture war in Turkey

A Mother’s Day advertisement featuring a “dog mom” triggered a backlash from conservative media, government officials and regulators, turning a soft consumer campaign into a flashpoint over motherhood, declining birth rates, stray dogs and even antisemitism.

Latest News

Turkey, Japan launch defense industry partnership with eye on drones

People look at a drone on display at the Baykar exhibit at the SAHA International Defence and Aerospace Expo on May 06, 2026 in Istanbul, Turkey.

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's main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu addresses his supporters during an election rally for Turkey's June 7 parliamentary election, in Ankara, Turkey, May 31, 2015. REUTERS/Umit Bektas - RTR4Y93D

CHP leader predicts early elections in Turkey

In an interview with Al-Monitor, Turkey’s main opposition leader, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, said it is unlikely the AKP will be able to form a coalition government and expressed the urgent need to turn the economy around.

A Kurdish Peshmerga fighter takes up position with his weapon as he keeps watch, on the outskirts of Mosul January 26, 2015. Kurdish Peshmerga fighters are digging trenches and building defense berms in Wadi al-Ghorab (Valley Of The Crows), less than 2 km away from the IS-held Sultan Abdullah village, which demarcates the new border of their autonomous region. The Kurds have enjoyed de facto self rule since the first Gulf War in 1991. They are now closer than ever to achieving their dream of full independen

Who has 'boots on the ground' in fight against IS?

A mismatch in priorities between the United States and its Sunni allies is obliging the Obama administration to rely more on Iran-backed forces to fight the group that calls itself the Islamic State.

Coffins of victims killed in air strikes are carried by villagers during a funeral ceremony in Gulyazi near the southeastern Turkish town of Uludere, in Sirnak province, December 30, 2011. Turkish rights groups called on Friday for a U.N.-sponsored investigation after Turkish warplanes killed 35 villagers in an airstrike targeting Kurdish rebels on the Iraqi border that the government has called an operational mistake. REUTERS/Stringer (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR2VQMB

Turkey shuts down smugglers by shooting mules

The tension in villages of Uludere in Turkey that lost 34 people in an airstrike by the Turkish air force three years ago persists and frequently develops into confrontations with Turkish soldiers.

Turkey’s lively Ramadan tables

The fast-breaking Ramadan dinner in Turkey is a crowded affair where people come together to share and socialize, entertain themselves and even make political statements.

A dinghy (R) with Syrian refugees is towed by a Greek coast guard patrol boat into the port on the Greek island of Kos, following a rescue operation in a part of the Aegean Sea between Turkey and Greece, early May 31, 2015. According to local media, an average of over 200 immigrants on small dinghies have been arriving in Kos every day in the last two months. REUTERS/Yannis Behrakis - RTR4Y74I

A Turkish plan to bail out Greece?

After decades of disputes, can Turkey and Greece once again look to each other as allies?

Demonstrators set fire to a Chinese flag during a protest against China near the Chinese Consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, July 5, 2015. China warned its citizens travelling in Turkey to be careful of anti-Beijing protests, warning them that some Chinese tourists have recently been "attacked and disturbed". The notice, posted on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs website on Sunday, said that there have recently been "multiple" demonstrations in Turkey targeting the Chinese government. The notice gave no details r

China, Turkey: friends or foes?

Turkey's manipulative news reports of China's massacres of fasting Uighurs recently upended China-Turkey relations.

Turkish soldiers stand guard near the Mursitpinar border gate in Suruc, bordering with the northern Kurdish town of Kobani, in Sanliurfa province, Turkey, June 26, 2015. Islamic State fighters killed at least 145 civilians in an attack on the Syrian town of Kobani and a nearby village, in what a monitoring group described on Friday as the second worst massacre carried out by the hardline group in Syria. Fighting between the Kurdish YPG militia and Islamic State fighters who infiltrated the town at the Turki

Erdogan talks the talk but doesn't walk the walk

Turkey appears to have changed its mind on Syria, and Ankara is preparing to work closer with Washington against IS, which suggests it may be moving away from prioritizing the demise of the Assad regime.

Turkish military wary of Erdogan plan for Syrian buffer zone

The United States remains opposed to a no-fly zone in northern Syria; Masrour Barzani calls for "amicable divorce" for the Kurdistan Region of Iraq; Jacky Hugi writes that Israel should back the Syrian government "at any price."

A supporter of Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan waves a scarf with an image of the president during a ceremony to mark the 562nd anniversary of the conquest of the city by Ottoman Turks, in Istanbul, Turkey, May 30, 2015. REUTERS/Murad Sezer - RTR4Y6BU

The 'who loves Erdogan more' contest

In the AKP universe, even those who dare to criticize President Recep Tayyip Erdogan feel the need to note that they love the great leader more than anybody else.

Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan (R) leaves after a wreath-laying ceremony with members of the Supreme Military Council at the mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of modern Turkey, in Ankara November 30, 2012. Erdogan will chair the twice-yearly meeting of the Supreme Military Council at army headquarters. REUTERS/Stringer (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS MILITARY) - RTR3B1R8

Erdogan looks for military victory to avenge electoral defeat

Some observers believe that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is attempting to force Turkey into a confrontation with Syria before a coalition government is formed.

Turkey's Ramadan treats

Despite the opulent dinners making the headlines, Turkey's traditional Ramadan foods and rituals are simple, nutritious and versatile.

Masrour Barzani, Chancellor of the Kurdistan Region Security Council, speaks during a press conference on October 12, 2013. Tight security measures imposed after a rare deadly attack in Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region have curbed tourism ahead of the year's biggest Muslim holiday, industry officials and business owners say. AFP PHOTO / SAFIN HAMED (Photo credit should read SAFIN HAMED/AFP/Getty Images)

Masrour Barzani: Kurdish independence would help defeat IS

Masrour Barzani, chief of the Iraqi Kurdish intelligence services, talks to Al-Monitor about delays in international support against the Islamic State.