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Turkey

Turkey

May 18, 2026

Ankara 4:27 pm

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Ships navigate the Bosphorus Strait on May 02, 2026 in Istanbul, Turkey. Since the outbreak of the US-Israeli war against Iran, forcing the closure of the Strait of Hormuz and together with the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, global shipping routes have been severely impacted. Soaring shipping costs, lengthening delivery times and less efficient routes have seen increased pressure on energy markets and supply chains worldwide. (Photo by Chris McGrath/Getty Images)

Analysis

Why Turkey sees opportunity in Hormuz crisis to boost Middle Corridor

Ankara seeks to exploit transport disruptions from the Iran, Ukraine wars to push the corridor, but high costs, logistical bottlenecks and South Caucasus politics pose obstacles.

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

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

Latest News

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

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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

A judge of the European Court of Human Rights reads the court's judgment on the case of former Ukrainian Interior Minister Yuriy Lutsenko against Ukraine in Strasbourg, July 3, 2012. Lutsenko currently detained in Kiev for embezzlement and abuse office, complains his detention were arbitrary and unlawful. REUTERS/Vincent Kessler (FRANCE - Tags: CRIME LAW POLITICS) - RTR34J6S

Questions About Turkish Justice

Semih Idiz writes about the state of judicial reform in Turkey.

Syria's President Bashar al-Assad (3rd L) meets a Turkish parliamentary delegation headed by Hasan Akgol (4th R) in Damascus in this March 7, 2013 handout photo released by Syria's national news agency SANA. REUTERS/SANA (SYRIA - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST CONFLICT)

ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS PICTURE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. REUTERS IS UNABLE TO INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY THE AUTHENTICITY, CONTENT, LOCATION OR DATE OF THIS IMAGE. FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NOT FOR SALE FOR MARKETING OR ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS

Why the Turkish Opposition Likes Assad

Mustafa Akyol explains why the People’s Republican Party (CHP) is at ease with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and is unlikely to become a "social democratic party" in the European tradition.

Turkish soldiers block a road to Cilvegozu border gate near the town of Reyhanli on the Turkish-Syrian border in Hatay province February 11, 2013. A Syrian minibus exploded at Cilvegozu border post on Turkey's border with Syria near the Turkish town of Reyhanli on Monday, killing at least 13 people including Turkish citizens and wounding dozens more, Turkish officials said. REUTERS/Umit Bektas (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST DISASTER) - RTR3DNGS

Turkey's Syria Morass

Turkey needs an exit strategy from Syria, writes Pinar Tremblay.

Moshe Yaalon the Chief of Staff of the Israeli army stands in front of the Warsaw Ghetto monument, May 18, 2005. Yaalon is in Warsaw for one day working visit. The memorial is a 1948 tribute to the heroic struggle of Warsaw's doomed Jews and the resistance fighters who helped the 450,000 persons packed into the Warsaw Ghetto by the Nazis during World War Two. REUTERS/Katarina Stoltz KS/AA - RTRBLDC

Moshe Ya'alon Will Bring Balance To Israeli Defense Ministry

Ben Caspit retraces the career of Moshe “Bogie” Ya’alon, the expected choice for defense minister in the new Israeli government.

Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan leaves a wreath-laying ceremony at the mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, founder of modern Turkey, in Ankara August 1, 2012. REUTERS/Stringer (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS MILITARY) - RTR35TGQ

Three Powerful Men Decide Turkey's Future

Kadri Gursel writes on the three men who are critical to Turkey’s future: Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan; Abdullah Ocalan, imprisoned head of the Kurdistan Workers Party [PKK]; and Fethullah Gulen, exiled head of the Gulen Sunni movement.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu pauses during the 49th Conference on Security Policy in Munich February 3, 2013. Senior politicians along with the leader of the Syrian opposition are in Munich providing a rare opportunity for talks to revive efforts to end the civil war in Syria. REUTERS/Michael Dalder (GERMANY - Tags: MILITARY POLITICS) - RTR3DALG

Davutoglu Should Give Up 'Military Solution' in Syria

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu is getting nowhere in his bid to have the European Union lift the arms embargo on Syria, and he should realize his pursuit of a military solution there is only prolonging the conflict, writes Semih Idiz.

Kurds take part in a demonstration calling for the release of Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Ocalan, in Strasbourg, eastern France, February 16, 2013. REUTERS/Jean-Marc Loos (FRANCE - Tags: CIVIL UNREST POLITICS) - RTR3DVAH

Unprecedented Turns On Turkey's Kurdish Question

The Imrali Process is providing unexpected hope for a resolution to the Kurdish question in Turkey, writes Cengiz Çandar.

Pro-Palestinian activists attend a rally to mark the second anniversary of the Mavi Marmara Gaza flotilla incident in central Istanbul May 31, 2012. Nine activists, eight Turkish and one Turkish-American, died on May 31, 2010, when Israeli commandos raided the Mavi Marmara ship, which was part of a flotilla seeking to break the blockade imposed on the Gaza Strip. REUTERS/Osman Orsal (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTR32WF0

Israel Should Seek to Re-Establish Good Relations With Turkey

Present-day Turkey is completely different from the country Israel knew in the not-too-distant past, writes Arad Nir, and it is precisely because of this that Israel should restore its relations with Ankara.

Kurdish demonstrators hold up pictures of the three Kurdish activists shot in Paris, as they wait for the ambulances carrying their bodies in Diyarbakir, the largest city in Turkey's mainly Kurdish southeast, January 16, 2013. The bodies of the activists, including that of Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) co-founder Sakine Cansiz, arrived by plane on Wednesday evening in Diyarbakir ahead of a funeral ceremony on Thursday. REUTERS/Umit Bektas (TURKEY - Tags: CIVIL UNREST POLITICS OBITUARY TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY)

Turks and Kurds Must Prepare for 'Truth'

Orhan Kemal Cengiz calls for Truth Commissions to complement peace talks between the Turkish government and the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry (L) shakes hands with Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu after their news conference at Ankara Palas in Ankara March 1, 2013. REUTERS/Umit Bektas (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR3EG52

Davutoglu Invokes Ottomanism As a New Order for Mideast

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu's suggestion of an Ottoman model for a new Middle East order is likely a misreading of regional politics that could prove hard for Turkey to back away from, writes Tulin Daloglu.

Iraqi police stand guard during foot patrol at Rabia, near the main border between Iraq and Syria March 2, 2013. Clashes between the Syrian army and rebels at a border post brought the civil war close to neighbouring Iraq, where troops fired warning shots into the air, residents, officials and a Reuters reporter said. Insurgents seized control of half of the northeastern Syrian town of Yaarabiya, including a border post with Iraq, in a battle with forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad on Friday and earl

The Iraqi and Turkish Fault Lines

The Syria war spreads to Iraq; Turkey is increasingly divided over Prime Minister Erdogan’s Syrian policies; and Secretary of State John Kerry’s trip to the region includes progress toward a political solution in Syria.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan shakes hands with main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu (R) as they meet in Ankara June 24, 2012. Turkey accused Syria on Sunday of shooting down a military plane in international airspace without warning and called a NATO meeting to discuss a response to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Amid growing acrimony between the once-friendly neighbours, Syria said its forces had shot dead "terrorists" infiltrating its territory from T

Erdogan Angered After Opposition In Turkey Meets With Assad

Syrian President Bashar Assad’s meeting in Damascus with members of the opposition Republican People’s Party has exposed the weakness of Turkey’s Syria policy, writes Kadri Gursel.