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

Turkey

Turkey

September 6, 2026

Ankara 5:35 am

19°C

TAI Hurjet

Analysis

With Hurjet test, Turkey seeks defense dominance beyond drones

With export revenue from the supersonic crewed aircraft, Ankara plans to fund next-generation projects and gain strategic diplomatic and military leverage across NATO and the region.

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

Ibrahim Kalin, Turkish presidential spokesperson, gives a press conference at the Presidential Complex, Ankara, May 25, 2022.

Turkey and Greece's intelligence chiefs hold rare talks: What to know

The meeting comes after Turkey recently warned Greece over what it called an arms race in the Eastern Mediterranean.

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

US sanctions Turkey-based bank over Iran ties

The Treasury Department said Golden Global Bank was facilitating transactions for Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Mecca Alliance

Israel, Greece sign $3.5 billion air-defense deal: What to know

Against the backdrop of growing tensions with Turkey, Israel signed one of its largest-ever defense industry deals to supply Greece with advanced air defense systems.

Latest News

Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Pakistan set Mecca Alliance into motion

Mecca Alliance

Analysis

Why Turkey welcomes Israel-Syria talks despite mounting red lines

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (R) and Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa arrive for a joint press conference following their meeting at the Presidential Palace in Ankara, Feb. 4, 2025.

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

Culture

In divided Cyprus, FC Barcelona youth camp sparks new dispute: What to know

Barcelona

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

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks during a news conference in Istanbul, Turkey April 16, 2017. Picture taken April 16, 2017. REUTERS/Murad Sezerm - RTS12L9A

No end in sight for Erdogan's purges after referendum

The Turkish government’s narrow victory in last month’s constitutional referendum has emboldened new purges, affecting hundreds of police officers, academics and civilians.

Turkish special forces shoot with machine gun in Sirnak on December 22, 2015 during security operations against Kurdish rebels in the southeastern Turkey cities of Cizre and Silopi.
The Turkish army on December 21 engaged in intense clashes with Kurdish militants as the military pressed on with one of its biggest recent domestic operations and controversial curfew orders were expanded to a new area in the Kurdish-dominated southeast. The number of Kurdish rebels killed in a massive Turkish military offensiv

Kurds rage as Turkish police flee scene of fatal crash

Police officers crashed into a home in Kurdish town, killing two children, and furious residents are demanding an end to security forces' impunity.

A member of Shi'ite fighters carries a weapon during a battle with Islamic State militants at the airport of Tal Afar west of Mosul, Iraq November 18, 2016. REUTERS/Thaier Al-Sudani - RTX2UC8E

What's holding up the liberation of Iraq's Tal Afar?

There are various accounts of why Tal Afar, Iraq, remains under the Islamic State's control despite the presence of armed forces ready and waiting to reclaim the city.

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks by phone with Russia's President Vladimir Putin in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, U.S. January 28, 2017. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst - RTSXT5Q

US, Russia approach each other cautiously on Syria

Presidents Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin have set an ambitious pace for diplomatic discussions with other world leaders regarding Syria, but they apparently agree that small steps are best when dealing with each other on the topic.

An internally displaced Syrian boy who fled Raqqa city, rests on a vehicle loaded with belongings, inside a camp in Ain Issa, Raqqa Governorate, Syria May 2, 2017. REUTERS/Rodi Said TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY - RTS14UT7

Civilians task themselves with administering IS-free areas of Raqqa

The new Raqqa Civilian Assembly is overseeing areas of the province that have been cleared of the Islamic State and helping thousands of refugees who are risking everything, traveling clandestinely on booby-trapped roads to get out of the city.

Journalists hold placards reading "journalists will be freed , they will write again" during a demonstration for the World Press Freedom Day on the Istiklal avenue, in Istanbul, on May 3, 2017.
According to the P24 press freedom website on April 4, 2017, there are 141 journalists behind bars in Turkey, most of whom were detained as part of the state of emergency imposed after the failed coup. / AFP PHOTO / OZAN KOSE (Photo credit should read OZAN KOSE/AFP/Getty Images)

With Turkish journalists gagged, ICG spotlights Nusaybin

In a new report, the International Crisis Group examines the Turkish border town of Nusaybin, where residents feel alienated and under Turkish occupation, to outline the local dynamics in the Kurdish region.

A police barrier blocks a narrow back alley of Sur, an historical district of southeastern province of Diyarbakir, Turkey, March 10, 2017. Picture taken March 10, 2017. REUTERS/Umit Bektas - RTX31V7X

More Kurds forced out of ancient Sur in southeast Turkey

The Turkish authorities are evacuating more neighborhoods in Diyarbakir’s historic district of Sur, leaving hundreds of Kurdish families with uncertain futures.

A U.S. military commander (R) walks with a commander (C) from the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) as they inspect the damage at YPG headquarters after it was hit by Turkish airstrikes in Mount Karachok near Malikiya, Syria April 25, 2017. REUTERS/ Rodi Said - RTS13VA8

Turkey continues its foreign policy blunders

Turkey finds itself ever more isolated after making "frenemies" on all fronts.

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan looks on as he is welcomed by European Parliament President at the European Parliament in Brussels, on October 5, 2015, as part of a meeting with the European Union's top officials for urgent talks on the migration crisis and the Syrian war that is producing so many of the refugees. AFP PHOTO /EMMANUEL DUNAND (Photo credit should read EMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images)

Post-referendum, what’s next for Turkey’s EU bid?

EU foreign ministers disappoint Turkey’s democratic opposition by declaring “respect” for referendum results that further empower President Erdogan.

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu attend a news conference in Ankara, Turkey, March 30, 2017. REUTERS/Umit Bektas - RTX33DCF

US, Turkish nerves fray as Erdogan visit nears

The Turkish foreign minister shared a heated conversation with his American counterpart in the wake of the Turkish airstrikes in Syria, and despite US fury, Ankara's increasingly roguish behavior will likely remain unchanged.

Ukraine's Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin (R) and his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu attend a news conference in Kiev, Ukraine, February 10, 2017. REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko - RTX30F7R

Turkey-Ukraine defense industry ties are booming

Turkey is promoting deals with Ukraine to bypass Western embargoes in the defense industry and share critical military technologies.

TO GO WITH AFP STORY BY DILAY GUNDOGAN
A man sells beer near Taksim Square in Istanbul on June 29, 2014. New alcohol legislation has made it more expensive and harder to buy or sell alcohol in Turkey, with critics accusing the Islamic-rooted government of imposing a religious agenda in the mainly Muslim but officially secular nation. Turkey's sizeable secular population has denounced the new laws as repressive, pointing out the country already has the lowest alcohol consumption among OECD countries. AFP PHO

Turkish bans on Wikipedia and public drinking rouse anger

The Turkish public has reacted with anger to both the Antalya police department's ban on the public consumption of alcohol and a Turkish court's ban on Wikipedia.