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Turkey

Turkey

May 13, 2026

Ankara 5:56 am

13°C

The helicopter of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan lands on Abdulhamid Han drill ship, the fourth built by Turkey, in Mersin on Aug. 9, 2022, before being sent for gas exploration to an undisputed area in the Mediterranean Sea, south of Gazipasa.

New Turkey maritime draft bill fuels EastMed tensions with Greece, Cyprus

Turkey’s draft maritime bill seeks to formalize Ankara’s claims in the Aegean, Eastern Mediterranean and Black seas, raising tensions with Greece and Cyprus over contested maritime boundaries and offshore energy rights.

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

Latest News

Culture

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

MURAT KOCABAS/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images

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

Did Nasrallah blur red line on Assad?

Hezbollah’s leader says a political solution could include Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s departure “after the end of his term”; Kerry supports Russia, UN diplomacy on Syria; Who does Israel back in Syria?; Did Turkey arm Jabhat al-Nusra?; Iran’s shallow influence in Yemen.

A demonstrator holds a banner as others wave Turkish and Islamic flags during a protest against Cumhuriyet, a staunchly secular opposition newspaper, in Istanbul January 15, 2015. Pro-Islamist demonstrators protested against Turkish daily newspaper Cumhuriyet which published a four-page spread of French satirical Charlie Hebdo articles and cartoons on Wednesday. REUTERS/Murad Sezer (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST CRIME LAW MEDIA) - RTR4LJ1Q

Charlie Hebdo's humor upsets Turkish Islamists

Turks have taken to social media to criticize or applaud their government's reaction to the Charlie Hebdo attacks in Paris, though some individuals have threatened a Turkish newspaper with violence after its publication of Charlie Hebdo cartoons.

(From L) Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt, Mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, former French President Nicolas Sarkozy, Malian President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, French President Francois Hollande, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, Swiss President Simonetta Sommaruga and Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu take part in a Unity rally Marc

Turkish-Israeli ties worse than ever

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s irritation over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's presence at the Paris rally has contributed to rekindled tensions between Turkey and Israel.

Armenia's President Serzh Sargsyan (L-R), Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko, Russia's President Vladimir Putin, Kazakhstan's President Nursultan Nazarbayev and Kyrgyzstan's President Almazbek Atambayev attend a news conference after a meeting of the Eurasian Economic Union at the Kremlin in Moscow, December 23, 2014. REUTERS/Maxim Shipenkov (RUSSIA - Tags: BUSINESS POLITICS) - RTR4J3ML

Turkey aims to mend ties with Armenia

Armenia’s entry in the Euroasian Economic Union has encouraged Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu to implement his formal apology and open the border with Armenia before April 24, 2015, the 100th anniversary of the genocide.

Turkish military says MIT shipped weapons to al-Qaeda

New documents have been leaked online, prompting the government to immediately ban reporting on the scandal and order the content deleted.

Chairman U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers (R-MI) (C) listens to testimony at the House Intelligence Committee on "Worldwide Threats", in Washington February 4, 2014. REUTERS/Gary Cameron (UNITED STATES - Tags: CRIME LAW POLITICS MILITARY) - RTX187U2

Former House Intel chair: Turkey can't have it both ways in NATO

Mike Rogers, former chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, also sees economic pressure on Russia as presenting a “unique opportunity” for Moscow’s help in Syria.

Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan (R) shakes hands with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas during a welcoming ceremony at the Presidential Palace in Ankara January 12, 2015. REUTERS/Adem Altan/Pool (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR4L43Z

Is Erdogan losing touch with reality?

Ankara’s welcoming ceremony for Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas on Jan. 12 featured 16 ancient warriors, rekindling the Ottomanism debate.

Selahattin Demirtas, co-chair of the HDP, Turkey's leading Kurdish party, addresses his supporters in Diyarbakir October 9, 2014. Islamic State fighters launched a renewed assault on the Syrian city of Kobani on Wednesday night, and at least 21 people were killed in riots in neighbouring Turkey where Kurds rose up against the government for doing nothing to protect their win. REUTERS/Osman Orsal (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTR49I8X

Turkish Kurds' electoral strategy is a high-wire act

Rumors of electoral collusion between the government and the Kurdish Peoples' Democracy Party (HDP) gain momentum.

Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan walks down the stairs in between soldiers, wearing traditional army uniforms from the Ottoman Empire, as he arrives for a welcoming ceremony for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (not pictured) at the Presidential Palace in Ankara January 12, 2015. REUTERS/Adem Altan/Pool (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR4L487

Erdogan, inadvertently, brings humor to Turkey

Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s comically dressed warriors help Turks regain their sense of humor.

A view shows smoke raising from an eastern Kobani neighbourhood, damaged by fighting between Islamic State militants and Kurdish forces, November 18, 2014. Picture taken from the Turkish side of the Turkey-Syria border. REUTERS/Osman Orsal (SYRIA - Tags: CONFLICT CIVIL UNREST) - RTR4ELGD

Kobani hospitals overflow as battle continues

Makeshift hospitals are being set up in basements and schools across Kobani to treat fighters and civilians while armed groups have targeted the city’s main hospitals.

A Turkish police officer checks identification cards of Syrian men after they crossed from Syria to Turkey at the Akcakale border gate, southern Sanliurfa province, October 4, 2012. Turkish artillery hit targets near Syria's Tel Abyad border town for a second day on Thursday, killing several Syrian soldiers according to activists and security sources, after a mortar bomb fired from the area killed five Turkish civilians. Turkey's government said "aggressive action" against its territory by Syria's military

Turkey cannot secure Syrian border alone

Turkish officials say Turkey is doing its best to prevent crossings into and out of Syria by Islamic militants, blaming European countries for not furnishing useful intelligence.

gultekin copy.jpg

Turkish religious thinker ponders future of Islam

Turkey’s veteran religious thinker Levent Gultekin may have a solution for both Islamophobia and Islamic extremism.