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

Turkey

Turkey

August 29, 2026

Ankara 3:22 am

16°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.

Latest News

Exclusive

Israel recalibrates Syria policy, explores path to security deal

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)

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

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

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

Workers produce face masks as the demand for their production rapidly increased and struggles to meet orders, at a Turkish manufacturer's facility in Istanbul, Turkey, January 30, 2020. REUTERS/Umit Bektas - RC2EQE9GQX3A

Turkey enjoys PR win with coronavirus aid shipment to US

Turkey ships face masks and other personal protective equipment to the United States and evacuates a Turkish COVID-19 patient from Sweden.

Refugees from the minority Yazidi sect, who fled the violence in the Iraqi town of Sinjar, walk past tents at Nowruz refugee camp in Qamishli, northeastern Syria, August 17, 2014. Proclaiming a caliphate straddling parts of Iraq and Syria, Islamic State militants have swept across northern Iraq, pushing back Kurdish regional forces and driving tens of thousands of Christians and members of the Yazidi religious minority from their homes. Picture taken August 17, 2014. REUTERS/Rodi Said (SYRIA - Tags: POLIT

Intel: US watchdog calls on State Department to add Syria to list of religious freedom violators

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo should designate Syria as one of the world’s worst religious freedom offenders and put Iraq, Turkey and Egypt on a special watch list, the US Commission on International Religious Freedom recommended in its annual report.

Fighters of the Manbij military council, allied to Syria Democratic Forces (SDF), take an overwatch position in the southern rural area of Manbij, in Aleppo Governorate, Syria June 1, 2016. REUTERS/Rodi Said/File Photo - S1AEUACQAIAC

Syrian Kurdish parties resume talks, in secret

Rival Kurdish parties in northeastern Syria have began US-sponsored reconciliation talks after repeated delays in the past and in the hope of joining the UN-sponsored peace process to resolve the Syrian conflict.

Workers produce face masks as the demand for their production rapidly increased and struggles to meet orders, at a Turkish manufacturer's facility in Istanbul, Turkey, January 30, 2020. REUTERS/Umit Bektas - RC2EQE95VNW7

Turkey to send medical supplies to US amid coronavirus outbreak

Turkey is the latest country to send personal protective equipment to the United States.

An aerial view of the Byzantine-era monument of Hagia Sophia on the first day of the holy month of Ramadan, during a four-day curfew which was imposed to prevent the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Istanbul, Turkey, April 24, 2020. Picture taken with a drone. REUTERS/Umit Bektas - RC27BG9RQF95

Domestic assault, violent crimes rise in Turkey amid coronavirus measures

Human rights advocates are calling for improved measures to protect families as urban curfews and a controversial prisoner release have led to increased assaults and domestic violence reports in Turkey.

Turkey grants Kurdish militants no peace, even in death

In the long and devastating war between Kurdish rebels and the Turkish state, violations against the Kurdish fallen continue well past their deaths.

A Syrian refugee man walks in Elbeyli refugee camp near the Turkish-Syrian border in Kilis province, Turkey, December 1, 2016. REUTERS/Umit Bektas - RC118F65CE00

Turkey's Syrian refugees among hardest hit amid coronavirus pandemic

Some 4 million Syrians scattered across Turkey are among the most vulnerable to the novel coronavirus pandemic and its economic fallout as most of them are unable to work due to restrictions and also cannot benefit from relief assistance.

A man walks past closed for prayers Suleymaniye Mosque during the first day of Ramadan and the second of a four-day curfew, as the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues, in Istanbul, Turkey April 24, 2020. REUTERS/Umit Bektas - RC20BG9OLAZD

Istanbul’s coronavirus outbreak is ‘under control,’ claims health minister

Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca compared Turkey's largest city to Wuhan, where the virus first emerged in China.

Democratic U.S. presidential candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden speaks about the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic at an event in Wilmington, Delaware, U.S., March 12, 2020. REUTERS/Carlos Barria - RC2HIF91AUNH

Intel: Biden vows to back Armenian genocide resolution as president

Former Vice President Joe Biden marked Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day on Friday with a pledge to back a resolution recognizing the Ottoman Empire’s massacre of more than 1 million mostly Christian Armenians as a genocide.

A worker in a protective suit sprays disinfectant at Grand Bazaar, known as the Covered Bazaar, to prevent the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Istanbul, Turkey, March 25, 2020. REUTERS/Umit Bektas - RC2YQF9I7XRJ

COVID-19 crisis stokes fear of food insecurity in Turkey

The novel coronavirus is threatening to inflate food prices in Turkey, whose agricultural sector was already in dire straits and overly reliant on imports before the pandemic.

Fireworks are seen over Turkish Grand National Assembly building as part of the National Sovereignty and Children's Day, 100th anniversary of foundation of Turkish parliament, on April 23, 2020 in Ankara,Turkey, during the national lockdown aimed at curbing the spread of the COVID-19 disease, caused by the novel coronavirus. (Photo by Adem ALTAN / AFP) (Photo by ADEM ALTAN/AFP via Getty Images)

Turks mark major holiday under virus lockdown

A four-day curfew has Turkey locked down as health workers battle an outbreak that has now exceeded 100,000 cases.

ANKARA, TURKEY - SEPTEMBER 15: (---EDITORIAL USE ONLY MANDATORY CREDIT - "TURKISH NATIONAL DEFENSE MINISTRY / HANDOUT" - NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS----) The final parts of the second battery of Russian S-400 missile defense system arrive at Murted Airbase in Ankara, Turkey on September 15, 2019. (Photo by TURKISH NATIONAL DEFENSE MINISTRY / HANDOUT/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Turkey’s S-400 delay is about more than just the economy and COVID-19

Turkey’s deepening economic woes are widely seen as the prime reason behind its decision to delay the activation of the Russian S-400 systems. But an array of other factors have been at play that are forcing Ankara to think twice.