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May 14, 2026

Ankara 11:06 am

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Mazloum Kobane, commander-in-chief of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), speaks during the pan-Kurdish "Unity and Consensus" conference in Qamishli in northeastern Syria on April 26, 2025.

Interview

Syrian Kurdish commander Kobane says Turkey visit ‘in the making,’ Ocalan meeting possible

The SDF commander-in-chief reflected on a fragile integration deal with Damascus, growing Kurdish backlash and ongoing talks with Turkey as questions mount over Rojava’s political future.

Mazloum Kobane

Mazloum Kobane

SDF commander in chief

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, right, and Armenia’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan shake hands before a meeting at Prague Castle in Prague, Czech Republic, Thursday, Oct. 6, 2022.

Turkey, Armenia to launch direct trade in normalization push: What to know

The move removes a decades-old reexport mechanism routed largely through Georgia as Ankara and Yerevan step up normalization efforts.

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.

Latest News

Analysis

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

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)

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

Culture

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

MURAT KOCABAS/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images

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

Egyptians hold pictures of Egypt's presidential candidate and former army chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi as they wait to cast their votes for the presidential election at the Egyptian embassy in Riyadh May 15, 2014. Egyptians living outside the country on Thursday began voting in the presidential election, which will be held on May 26-27 in Egypt. REUTERS/Faisal Al Nasser (SAUDI ARABIA - Tags: POLITICS ELECTIONS) - RTR3PAN1

Millions will boycott Egypt's elections

Sisi expects a comfortable win, while a boycott campaign may hurt Sabahi's chances.

Search and rescue officers work at a damaged building at the site of blast in the town of Reyhanli in Hatay province, near the Turkish-Syrian border, May 14, 2013. REUTERS/Umit Bektas (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTXZLWH

Turkish governor lays out ISIS threat

Celalettin Lekesiz, the governor of Hatay province, is now going public with the threats to Turkey from al-Qaeda and ISIS operations in Turkey and on the Turkey-Syria border.

A Palestinian boy holds a poster of Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan as he celebrates after Erdogan declared victory in local polls during a rally organised by Hamas movement in the northern Gaza Strip March 31, 2014. Erdogan declared victory in local polls that had become a referendum on his rule and said he would "enter the lair" of enemies who have accused him of corruption and leaked state secrets. The Arabic words read "Turkey Justice and development forward". REUTERS/Mohammed Salem (GAZA - Tags:

Hamas wary of improved Turkey-Israel ties

Many within Hamas are quietly disappointed that Islamist ally Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan may be pursuing reconciliation with Israel.

A protester is kicked by Yusuf Yerkel (L), advisor to Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, as Special Forces police officers detain him during a protest against Erdogan's visit to Soma, a district in Turkey's western province of Manisa May 14, 2014. Four Turkish labour unions called for a national one-day strike on Thursday in protest against the country's worst industrial disaster that killed at least 282 people in a coal mine in western Turkey. Picture taken May 14, 2014. REUTERS/Mehmet Emin Al/Depo Ph

AKP government under fire over coal mine tragedy

Was the mine disaster in Turkey, which has claimed at least 283 lives, the result of flawed policies and negligent acts, or an inevitable accident?

A member of Islamist Syrian rebel group Jabhat al-Nusra mans a checkpoint on the border crossing between Syria and Jordan, which they claim to have taken control of, in Daraa December 26, 2013. Flag reads, "There is no God but Allah, and Muhammad is his prophet. Al-Nusra front, al-Qaeda in the Levant". Picture taken December 26, 2013. REUTERS/Ammar Khassawneh (SYRIA - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST CONFLICT) - RTX16VW7

International efforts against Al-Qaeda key to Syria political solution

A UN counterterrorism committee can do even more to coordinate a more effective response to al-Qaeda in Syria and eventually a political resolution of the conflict.

A worker climbs down after completing work on a campaign billboard of presidential candidate and Egypt's former army chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, along a highway in Cairo May 12, 2014. An influential Qatar-based Islamist whose fiery sermons have caused tension between Gulf states said on Sunday that Egyptian presidential front runner Abdel Fattah al-Sisi will only bring downfall to the country. Sisi is expected to easily win the May 26-27 presidential election. The only other candidate is leftist politician

Hamas tones down Brotherhood links to improve Egypt ties

Hamas is positioning itself to welcome Abdel Fattah al-Sisi as Egypt’s likely next president, hoping it will result in an improvement in relations.

A worker stands and works on a campaign billboard of presidential candidate and Egypt's former army chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, along a highway in Cairo May 12, 2014. An influential Qatar-based Islamist whose fiery sermons have caused tension between Gulf states said on Sunday that Egyptian presidential front runner Abdel Fattah al-Sisi will only bring downfall to the country. Sisi is expected to easily win the May 26-27 presidential election. The only other candidate is leftist politician Hamdeen Sabahi, w

The false promise of Mideast elections

The coming presidential elections in Egypt, Syria and Turkey offer little hope for a regional trend toward stability and democracy.

Veiled women sit as they chat in a garden in the northern province of Raqqa March 31, 2014. The Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) has imposed sweeping restrictions on personal freedoms in the northern province of Raqqa. Among the restrictions, Women must wear the niqab, or full face veil, in public or face unspecified punishments "in accordance with sharia", or Islamic law. REUTERS/Stringer (SYRIA - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST CONFLICT RELIGION SOCIETY) - RTR3JCO4

Syrian girls forced to marry ISIS fighters

The Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham is forcing Syrian girls to marry its foreign fighters.

Residents carry belongings from home following the cessation of fighting between rebels and forces loyal to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad, in Homs city May 10, 2014. Hundreds of residents have started to return to Homs after rebels left the city. REUTERS/Khaled al-Hariri (SYRIA - Tags: POLITICS CONFLICT CIVIL UNREST) - RTR3OL1I

War-weary Syrians see hope in Homs deal

Syrian civilians, routinely shelled by regime forces and rebels, hope the Homs cease-fire is an indication of better times to come.

A man enters the Bourse Istanbul in Istanbul December 17, 2013. Turkey's Bourse Istanbul could acquire a minority stake in Nasdaq OMX Group as part of a tie-up that will involve the Turkish exchange using Nasdaq's market technologies, its chairman Ibrahim Turhan said on December 31, 2013. Bourse Istanbul will buy stock trading and clearing software and infrastructure from Nasdaq OMX and will be able to use and resell the software in 25 countries, in a move designed to attract more trade from the world's lea

What next for Turkey’s stock market?

Having recovered in the wake of political turmoil, Turkey’s stock market appears on a downward trend in the short run.

In this handout picture released by the Vatican press office, Pope Benedict XVI meets with Sufi mystic Sheikh Nazim Haqqani (L), who travelled from the north of the divided island of Cyprus, to see him at the Latin Church of the Holy Cross in Nicosia on June 5, 2010, the second day of the pontiff's visit to the mainly Greek Orthodox east Mediterranean island. AFP PHOTO / POOL / OSSERVATORE ROMANO -- RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE -- (Photo credit should read --/AFP/Getty Images)

Cyprus bids farewell to 'ecumenical' Sufi

Sheikh Nazim Qubrusi, who died at 92, was a colorful Sufi leader who spread the Naqshbandi order to the West and eased emotional barriers on long-divided Cyprus.

Workers hang banners for Hassan Abdallah al-Nouri in front of a banner for President Bashar al-Assad on a street in Damascus May 11, 2014. Assad will compete with other two candidates in a June presidential election, the Supreme Constitutional Court of Syria said on Saturday. The poster consists of the Arabic word "Sawa" (Together) and Assad's name and signature (back) and "bringing back the middle class" with Dr. Hassan al-Nouri on the banner of his opponent (front). REUTERS/Omar Sanadiki (SYRIA - Tags:

Syrian government ponders post-election scenarios

As the June 3 presidential elections approach in Syria, the government considers how domestic and internal actors will react to the expected re-election of President Bashar Al-Assad.