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Turkey

Turkey

June 17, 2026

Ankara 7:09 am

18°C

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan meets with Orthodox Patriarch of Bartholomew at the presidential complex, Ankara, Turkey, June 16, 2026.

Culture

Turkey’s Erdogan meets Orthodox patriarch amid push for reopening Halki Seminary

The meeting comes ahead of US President Trump’s expected attendance at next month's NATO leaders’ summit in Turkey, after Trump personally urged his Turkish counterpart to reopen the Halki Seminary.

Turkey's Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan attends the NATO Foreign Ministers' meeting in Helsingborg, Sweden, on May 22, 2026.

Turkey’s Fidan heads to Moscow as S-400 sanctions issue returns to fore

The visit comes weeks before Turkey hosts NATO leaders, on the sidelines of which Ankara hopes to reach a deal with Washington over CAATSA sanctions over its purchase of Russian S-400s.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan received Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Turkish House in New York on Sept. 19, 2023.

Analysis

Erdogan-Netanyahu war of words signals deeper rivalry for regional influence

The latest Erdogan-Netanyahu clash underscored how Turkey-Israel tensions have grown beyond the Palestinian issue and into a wider regional rivalry spanning Syria, Lebanon, Iran and the eastern Mediterranean.

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

Yasin AKGUL / AFP via Getty Images

Feature

Turkey’s World Cup return clouded by politics, dawn kickoffs

Turkey finally has the World Cup moment it waited 24 years for, but much of the country will either be asleep for it or arguing over efforts to claim it.

Ezgi Akin

In Ankara, reporting on diplomacy, EU-Turkey ties, NATO

Latest News

Explainer

Turkey slams France-Cyprus military pact as East Med rivalries deepen

Cyprus' President Nikos Christodoulides (2nd L) and his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron (C) review the honor guard at the Presidential Palace in Nicosia on April 23, 2026, ahead of a meeting on the sidelines of a European summit.

Analysis

As Trump admin drops Halkbank case, S-400 last big hurdle in US-Turkey ties

Russian S-400 anti-aircraft missile launching system is displayed at the exposition field in Kubinka Patriot Park outside Moscow on Aug. 22, 2017 during the first day of the International Military-Technical Forum Army-2017.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

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

US sanctions unlikely to crack Iran’s support for Syria

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards have perfected low-budget warfare; Putin draws his own red line with Israel and Iran; Erdogan’s zero-sum approach to Syrian Kurds.

A member of the anti-Iranian group, Kurdistan Free Life Party (PJAK), hangs up a flag of jailed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) leader, Abdullah Ocalan, at their base deep on the Iraq-Iran border of northern Iraq's Kurdish autonomous region, on August 28, 2017. / AFP PHOTO / SAFIN HAMED (Photo credit should read SAFIN HAMED/AFP/Getty Images)

Villagers on KRG-Turkey border welcome new road, troops to protect it

As Turkey's hunt for the Kurdish resistance group claims victims who have no ties to or sympathy for the Kurdistan Workers Party, locals hope a new border post protected by peshmerga can establish security and end the bombing of innocent villagers.

Three Ukrainian naval ships (L), which were recently seized by Russia's FSB security service, are seen anchored in a port in Kerch, Crimea November 28, 2018. REUTERS/Alla Dmitrieva - RC18F447FA20

Can Turkey mediate Russian-Ukrainian conflict on the Black Sea?

President Erodogan has been on the phone with the Ukrainian, Russian and US presidents and has called for Ukraine and Russia to peacefully resolve their conflict.

Turkey’s Kyrgyz colony struggles to keep traditional lifestyle alive

In eastern Anatolia, a village of Kyrgyz resettled from Afghanistan has become an unlikely tourism hub and a fortress of Turkish nationalism.

Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman arrives at Ministro Pistarini in Buenos Aires, Argentina, November 28, 2018. Argentine G20/Handout via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. - RC1B18A699F0

Will Erdogan, MBS meet at G-20?

The Turkish president hasn't ruled out meeting with the Saudi crown prince in Argentina, but what could the de facto Saudi leader offer for Turkey to bury the Jamal Khashoggi murder case?

U.S. President Donald Trump talks to Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Belgium July 11, 2018.Tatyana Zenkovich/Pool via REUTERS?? - RC13B175F540

Turkey irate over US obstructions in Syria

Ankara's frustration with the United States continues to grow as Washington takes yet another step that Turkish officials believe was designed to hamper them from unleashing the Turkish military against the Kurdish People's Protection Units in Syria along Turkey's border.

Syrian rebel-fighters from the National Liberation Front (NLF) inspect the rubble of a building destroyed by a reported air strike from the day before in the rebel-held al-Rashidin district of western Aleppo's countryside near Idlib province, on November 26, 2018. - Air strikes hit the edges of Syria's last major rebel stronghold west of Aleppo on November 25, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor said a day after an alleged toxic attack on the regime-held city. The SOHR said regime

Turkey, Russia, Iran convene in Astana for Syria talks

The 11th Astana meeting between Moscow, Tehran and Ankara reportedly focused on maintaining the cease-fire in Idlib as flare-ups threaten to ignite the area.

Silivri prison complex is pictured in Silivri near Istanbul, Turkey, September 2, 2017. REUTERS/Murad Sezer - RC168D4C5630

Turkey can't build prisons fast enough to house convict influx

Turkey has incarcerated so many people on terror and drug-related charges that its prisoner population far exceeds its capacity and overcrowding has become a thorny issue.

Financier and philanthropist George Soros speaks during the European Roma summit at European Commission headquarters in Brussels September 16, 2008. REUTERS/Francois Lenoir (BELGIUM) - GM1E49G1HWT01

How Soros turned from friend to foe for Erdogan

The Open Society Foundation is pulling out from Turkey amid a vitriolic campaign demonizing its sponsor, George Soros, as a backer of forces that seek to unseat President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Hamas politicos make rounds internationally to gain backing

Hamas' Change and Reform bloc, looking to drum up support for Palestinians and improve bilateral relations, is taking its cause on the road.

Supporters of Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan are seen at the Halic Congress Center during a meeting of ruling AK Party to announce candidates for the local elections in March 2019, in Istanbul, Turkey November 24, 2018. REUTERS/Murad Sezer - RC1270839FD0

Turkey's ruling party cuts deal with nationalist MHP on mayoral races

Turkey's ruling Justice and Development Party has agreed to coordinate with its nationalist rival in the upcoming municipal elections as a damning survey showed Turkey's best districts are run by the opposition.

Turkish army officers stand at attention during a ceremony marking the 96th anniversary of Victory Day at the mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk in Ankara, Turkey August 30, 2018. REUTERS/Umit Bektas TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY - RC173FEBAEE0

Turkey’s paid exemption from military service system begins

Will the new paid military service waiver program be Turkey’s last?