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

Turkey

Turkey

August 28, 2026

Ankara 4:00 am

20°C

Omer Messinger/Getty Images

Top European court says Kavala case exposes erosion of judicial independence in Turkey

Europe's top human rights court has renewed its call for Turkey to immediately release jailed philanthropist Osman Kavala, saying his imprisonment reflects a broader “systemic problem” over independence and impartiality of the judiciary.

Equality and Democracy Party lawmakers

Explainer

Turkey’s Kurdish peace process moves to implementation: What to know and what’s next

Turkey’s peace process with Kurdish militants has entered the implementation phase this week, with authorities setting up working groups to verify the Kurdistan Workers Party’s disarmament.

Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani (C) watches as US special envoy for Syria Tom Barrack prepares to sign an agreement in Damascus on September 16, 2025. Shaibani announced on September 16 a plan backed by Jordan and the United States to restore calm to Druze-majority Sweida province, which witnessed deadly violence in July. (Photo by LOUAI BESHARA / AFP) (Photo by LOUAI BESHARA/AFP via Getty Images)

Exclusive

Israel recalibrates Syria policy, explores path to security deal

Israel is rethinking its hard-line Syria policy and seeking to repair ties with US envoy and Donald Trump's confidant Tom Barrack amid a push for a security agreement with Damascus.

In Tel Aviv, reporting on national security, Israeli politics, defense

Latest News

Analysis

Why Turkey sees Israeli strikes in Syria as warning over its military role, Mecca Pact

A Turkish soldier from the 1st Border Regiment Command looks out over the border wall to Syria during alert drills at a military outpost on the Turkey/Syria border on March 2, 2017 in Kilis, Turkey.

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

Analysis

Turkey bets on US deconfliction as Israel widens Syria red lines

Turkey/Syria border

Ezgi Akin

Rina Bassist

By Ezgi Akin , Rina Bassist

Samuel Wendel

Senior Analyst, Middle East Business & Tech

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 grows increasingly isolated in eastern Mediterranean dispute with Greece

Recep Tayyip Erdogan's assertive stance in the eastern Mediterranean maritime dispute is being challenged by a bloc comprising Greece, Cyprus, Egypt, Israel and France.

Economic policy reversal fraught with political risks for Erdogan

Ankara’s bid to warm the pandemic-hit economy has backfired, forcing a policy reversal that threatens to aggravate popular grievances and heighten political risks for Erdogan.

ANTALYA, TURKEY - JULY 12: Tourists take part in an aqua aerobics session at an all inclusive Russian themed resort on July 12, 2016 in Antalya, Turkey. Russian President Vladimir Putin last month officially lifted travel restrictions on tourism to Turkey. Russia had banned agency tours to Turkey after a diplomatic crisis erupted when Turkey downed a Russian jet on the Turkey - Syrian border in November 2015. Turkey's tourism is currently in crisis after a series of terrorist attacks, most recently the bom

Turkey’s 'healthy tourism' efforts tested as foreign tourists trickle in

Some 40,000 Russian holidaymakers have thrown a life jacket to Turkey’s main touristic hub of Antalya, while other coastal areas count on locals to keep afloat.

TOPSHOT - A school girl in her uniform stands in the corridor during the first day back at school on September 19, 2016 in Istanbul. - Turkish children returned to school for the first time since July's attempted coup -- but tens of thousands of their teachers have been sacked or suspended for suspected links to the putschists or to Kurdish rebels. (Photo by OZAN KOSE / AFP) (Photo credit should read OZAN KOSE/AFP via Getty Images)

Turkish officials delay school reopenings as new daily COVID-19 cases remain above 1,100

Turkish health officials delayed plans to reopen schools later this month, as medical experts warn of rising infection rates throughout the country.

Can Erdogan reciprocate Macron’s Beirut stunt?

Macron’s call for a “new order” in Lebanon conflicts with Erdogan’s regional ambitions, but the climate in Lebanon is no longer as welcoming to Turkey’s president as it was a decade ago.

The Bayraktar TB2 drone is pictured flying on December 16, 2019 at Gecitkale Airport in Famagusta in the self-proclaimed Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC). - The Turkish military drone was delivered to northern Cyprus today amid growing tensions over Turkey's deal with Libya that extended its claims to the gas-rich eastern Mediterranean. The Bayraktar TB2 drone landed in Gecitkale Airport in Famagusta around 0700 GMT, an AFP correspondent said, after the breakaway northern Cyprus government approve

Iraq tells Turkey defense minister to stay away after its officers killed in drone strike

Iraq cancelled a planned Baghdad visit by Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar and summoned the Turkish ambassador after a a Turkish drone attack killed two senior Iraqi officials.

TOPSHOT - An armed policeman standds guard after migrants disembarked from the Motor Tanker El Hiblu 1 that was hijacked by migrants in Valletta's Grand Harbour on March 28, 2019, after Maltese armed forces took control of the vessel. - The intervention came after migrants hijacked a merchant ship that rescued them off the coast of Libya and ordered it to head towards Italy, the Italian government said on March 27, 2019. (Photo by JONATHAN BORG / AFP) (Photo by JONATHAN BORG/AFP via Getty Images)

Can Malta’s diplomacy tip balance in Libya toward Turkey?

The diplomatic track ongoing between Turkey, Malta and Libya’s Tripoli government has sparked questions whether Valletta’s diplomatic support can serve as a much needed jumping point for Ankara to break the Libya stalemate, but the European country’s only focus in the talks seem to be limited with prevention of illegal immigration.

Turkey to issue new drilling licenses in eastern Mediterranean amid rising tensions

Following escalations Aug. 10 between Turkey and Greece over contested areas of the eastern Mediterranean, Ankara officials said they would issue new exploration licenses in the region this month.

Turkish helicopters fly over the Cudi mountain during an attack on an outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) camp 30 October 2007 in the Cudi mountains, Sirnak province, near the Turkish-Iraqi border, south-eastern Turkey. Iraqi Kurdish leader Massud Barzani has urged Turkish Kurd rebels to renounce violence, but insisted he will take no "orders" from Turkey to crack down on their bases in the autonomous northern Iraqi region he administers. AFP PHOTO / MUSTAFA OZER (Photo credit should read MUSTAFA OZER/AF

Turkish drone strike kills two senior Iraqi officers, army says

Officials say the Tuesday strike targeted a meeting between Iraqi border officials and Kurdish militants.

TOPSHOT - This picture taken on August 4, 2020, shows a boy sits on a school bench after his village and school were flooded by the Ilosu Dam separating the newly constructed Hasankeyf town from the remains of the ancient town of the same name and its archaeological sites which were flooded as part of the Ilõsu Dam project located along the Tigris River in the Batman Province in southeastern Turkey. - Despite years of protests by residents and activists, the town on the banks of the Tigris River disappeared

What trump cards is Iraq pulling against Turkey to secure water quota?

Turkey refuses to abide by the protocols and treaties signed with Iraq on the Tigris and Euphrates rivers acting as if they are local rivers.

This picture taken on August 23, 2019 in Istanbul shows a view of Turkish General Directorate of Mineral research and Exploration's (MTA) Oruc Reis seismic research vessel docked at Haydarpasa port, which searches for hydrocarbon, oil, natural gas and coal reserves at sea. (Photo by Ozan KOSE / AFP) (Photo credit should read OZAN KOSE/AFP via Getty Images)

Greece calls on Turkey to stop renewed gas exploration activities in East Med

As Turkish vessels are dispatched near Greek territorial waters, analysts say tensions in the eastern Mediterranean Sea could quickly escalate if leaders on both sides do not reengage in diplomatic talks.

This picture taken on August 23, 2019 in Istanbul shows a view of Turkish General Directorate of Mineral research and Exploration's (MTA) Oruc Reis seismic research vessel docked at Haydarpasa port, which searches for hydrocarbon, oil, natural gas and coal reserves at sea. (Photo by Ozan KOSE / AFP) (Photo credit should read OZAN KOSE/AFP via Getty Images)

Turkey doubles down in eastern Mediterranean after Egypt-Greece deal

The flashpoint of the power struggle in the eastern Mediterranean could shift from Libya to the seas in the coming weeks as Turkey begins new seismic research in response to an Egyptian-Greek maritime demarcation deal.