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

Turkey

Turkey

May 15, 2026

Ankara 8:20 am

10°C

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

Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan greets his supporters as he arrives for a meeting at the parliament in Ankara January 14, 2014. Erdogan looks to have the upper hand in a civil war rocking Turkey's political establishment, but his bid to break the influence of a potent Islamic cleric could roll back reforms and undermine hard-won business confidence. What erupted a month ago as a damaging inquiry into alleged government corruption has spiralled into a battle over the judiciary with potentially much fu

Erdogan vs. Gulen: Who has God on his side?

Political secularism may be the best path to moderation.

Russia, Iran set stage for Geneva II; Turkey’s slow turnaround on Syria

Russian and Iranian diplomacy have helped shape the Geneva II agenda to include a cease-fire, humanitarian relief and counterterrorism in Syria.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu (R) helps Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif to stand during a news conference in Ankara November 1, 2013. Turkey and Iran said on Friday they had common concerns about the increasingly sectarian nature of Syria's civil war, signalling a thaw in a key Middle Eastern relationship strained by stark differences over the conflict. Davutoglu expressed his appreciation to Zarif at the start of the news conference for travelling to Turkey despite suffering from b

Turkey shifts toward Iran on Syria

Turkey is resetting its relations with Iran, including over Syria.

A tourist visits the the Chogha Zanbil Ziggurat near Susa, in Khuzestan province, southwestern Iran September 29, 2011. Picture taken September 29, 2011. REUTERS/Raheb Homavandi (IRAN - Tags: SOCIETY TRAVEL) - RTR2S198

Iran’s tourism industry struggles to meet growing demand

While Iranian officials have stated they plan to grow Iran's tourism industry, challenges such as investment, visa requirements and cultural issues must be addressed.

Syrian Kurds practise reading the Kurdish language at a school in Derik, Al-Hasakah 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 live autonomously

Syrian government introduces Kurdish in universities

The Syrian regime has offered another carrot to the Kurdish minority: the Kurdish language as a university course.

Turkey's historical Maiden's Tower is seen on the Bosphorus with the city's skyscrapers in the background, in Istanbul August 28, 2013. Along the picturesque Bosphorus Straits dividing Europe and Asia, Istanbul is undergoing a transformation which should fill Turkey with confidence in its bid to become the first Muslim country to stage the Olympics in 2020. Overlooking the waterway, mechanical diggers are tearing down Besiktas' Inonu Stadium to make way for a state-of-the-art facility earmarked to stage rug

Istanbul's skyline betrayed

A generation that professes to worship the Ottomans betrayed Istanbul by destroying its silhouette with high-rises.

US Deputy Secretary of State William J. Burns listens during a press conference at the US Department of the Treasury July 11, 2013 in Washington, DC. Officials from the United States and China are meeting to discus the two world powers' relationships during the 5th United States and China Strategic and Economic Dialogue. AFP PHOTO/Brendan SMIALOWSKI (Photo credit should read BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images)

Burns to Al-Monitor: 'No illusions' about nuclear diplomacy with Iran

In an exclusive interview, Deputy Secretary of State William Burns discusses leading the US back channel to Iran, the upcoming Geneva II conference on Syria, the role of secret diplomacy and 32 years in the US foreign service.

Members of the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) walk together in Al-Rmelan, Qamshli province November 11, 2013. With a string of military gains across northeastern Syria, a Kurdish militia is solidifying a geographic and political presence in the war-torn country, posing a dilemma for regional powers. Long oppressed under Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his father before him, Kurds view the civil war as an opportunity to gain the kind of autonomy enjoyed by their ethnic kin in neighbouring Iraq.

Syrian Kurds aim to benefit from Islamist infighting

Syrian Kurdish forces navigate the fighting between the Free Syrian Army and the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham to gain ground in northern Syria.

Turkish Islamist protesters shout slogans against Noel celebrations as they hold an inflatable Santa Claus toy during a demonstration at Beyazit Square in Istanbul December 26, 2013. The sign (front, 2nd) reads: "Christmas is a blow to our Islamism". REUTERS/Osman Orsal (TURKEY - Tags: RELIGION CIVIL UNREST) - RTX16UF4

Turkey's Christians fear possible hate campaign

An aggressive campaign against Christmas and New Year’s festivities in Turkey last month, including the circumcision of Santa Claus, has sparked fears that deadly attacks on Christians may begin anew.

A policeman wears a ring showing the Islamic symbol of the star and crescent, as the barrel of a rifle is seen in the background, in the Chechen village of Itum-Kale April 29, 2013. The naming of two Chechens, Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev, as suspects in the Boston Marathon bombings has put Chechnya - the former site of a bloody separatist insurgency - back on the world's front pages. Chechnya appears almost miraculously reborn. The streets have been rebuilt. Walls riddled with bullet holes are long gone.

Chechnya's silent diplomacy in the Middle East

Russia is working to turn domestic challenges into opportunity.

Turkey's President Abdullah Gul (R) and Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan attend a delivery ceremony for the first nationally designed combat ship TCG Heybeliada at the Tuzla Naval shipyard in Istanbul September 27, 2011. REUTERS/Osman Orsal (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS MILITARY) - RTR2RWLG

Gul calls for reset of Turkey’s Syria policy

Turkish President Abdullah Gul's call for a "recalibration" of the Syria policy is a thinly veiled rebuke to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu.

People sit in the back of a truck as they celebrate what they said was the liberation of villages from Islamist rebels near the city of Ras al-Ain in the province of Hasakah, after capturing it from Islamist rebels November 6, 2013. Redur Xelil, spokesman for the armed wing of the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD), said Kurdish militias had seized the city of Ras al-Ain and all its surrounding villages. Syrian Kurdish fighters have captured more territory from Islamist rebels in northeastern Syria

Israel should reach out to separatist Syrian Kurds

Israel should consider the Kurdish achievement of establishing an autonomous region in Syria and reach out to those groups which fight extremist Islamic powers in the country.