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Turkey

Turkey

November 5, 2026

Ankara 5:13 pm

11°C

Turkey probes Google’s AI search tools, orders protections for news websites

Turkey’s competition watchdog said it is assessing whether AI-generated answers appearing on Google Search divert traffic from news sites and impose unfair content-use terms.

A protestor holds a flag bearing a portrait of jailed leader of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) Abdullah Ocalan during a demonstration of Kurdish people from all around Europe to mark the 27th anniversary of his arrest and to demand his liberation, in Strasbourg, Eastern France, on Feb. 14, 2026.

Turkey moves PKK leader Ocalan to prison villa as peace process faces new test

The move is expected to give the PKK leader a more direct role in negotiations, but deep divisions over disarmament and Kurdish rights continue to threaten the process.

OSCE Secretary General Feridun Sinirlioglu is pictured during a joint press conference with the OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Switzerland's Foreign Minister at Vienna International Airport on Feb. 6, 2026 in Schwechat, Lower Austria.

Explainer

Who is Feridun Sinirlioglu, Turkey’s candidate for UN chief?

The Turkish president's confidant enters the race for UN chief with decades of diplomatic experience marked by both praise and scrutiny.

Demonstrators hold a banner reading "Free Gaza, free world"

Analysis

Gaza progress, Syria pullback: What Turkey wants from Israel’s next government

Ankara sees room for limited improvement in ties if Israel’s next government eases Gaza’s humanitarian crisis and reduces military pressure on Syria.

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

Latest News

Explainer

After EU rebuff, how Turkey is courting Egypt for maritime deal

Turkish Navy sailors wave their caps from the flight deck

Culture

Rock collapse near UNESCO-listed site in Turkey’s Cappadocia kills three

An view of the Uchisar settlement, east of Nevesehir in the province of the same name in central Turkey's historical Cappadocia region on Aug. 24, 2022.

Tornado kills 4 in Turkey’s Mediterranean tourism hub Antalya

Kepez

Saudi Arabia’s KBS, top Turkish and Pakistani officials hold rare meeting in Iran: What to know

GEOFFROY VAN DER HASSELT/AFP via Getty Images

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

Coming soon: Erdogan 'The Chief'

A hagiographic biopic on the life and times of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is scheduled for release during the runup to the constitutional amendment that could expand his authority and entrench him in power.

Rebel fighters gather around a pick-up truck carrying food on the outskirts of the northern Syrian town of al-Bab, Syria February 8, 2017. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi - RTX306A0

Turkey’s Euphrates Shield reaches critical juncture

Will Turkish army advance to Raqqa, try to hold on to al-Bab or end the operation and go back to Turkey?

Turkish army tanks and military personal are stationed in Karkamis on the Turkish-Syrian border in the southeastern Gaziantep province, Turkey, August 25, 2016. REUTERS/Umit Bektas - RTX2MYWR

Turkey walks fine line in dealing with 'frenemy' jihadis

Turkey’s mixed messages in crackdown terrorist groups; Ankara on sidelines, again, in Syria; Syrian Kurds consider federalism, view Turkish attack on al-Bab as "fiasco."

The real sultans of Istanbul: Cats

A new documentary that follows seven of Istanbul's hundreds of thousands of famous cats is getting claws-up reviews from critics and viewers as screenings begin this weekend.

A Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighter watches a convoy of his forces advancing in the north of Raqqa city, Syria February 5, 2017. REUTERS/Rodi Said - RTX2ZOUT

How close are we to a solution in Syria?

As the Syrian Democratic Forces launch a new phase in the operation to liberate the city of Raqqa from Islamic State control, many questions remain about the military and political situation on the ground.

Mike Pompeo waits to be sworn in as director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in U.S. Vice President Mike Pence's ceremonial office in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building at the White House in Washington, U.S. January 23, 2017. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst - RTSX1LZ

All eyes on Pompeo as CIA chief arrives in Ankara

Though Turkish hopes for a closer US alliance are soaring as CIA Director Mike Pompeo meets with top Ankara officials, it's unlikely that the US administration will agree to weaken its ties to the Kurdish groups it depends on badly in Syria.

Police secure an area near an Istanbul nightclub, following a gun attack, Turkey, January 1, 2017. REUTERS/Osman Orsal - RTX2X3VE

Turkey steps up action against Salafi networks

Turkey has substantially increased operations against Salafi-jihadi groups in 2017, but Ankara’s real problem is deciding whether to keep them under control or eradicate them.

Turkey's Finance Minister Naci Agbal speaks during an interview with Reuters in Ankara, Turkey, September 27, 2016. Picture taken September 27, 2016. REUTERS/Umit Bektas - RTSPSH5

Turkey’s wealth fund is less about wealth and more about debt

Turkey’s newly established sovereign wealth fund is expected to throw life preservers to companies involved in the government’s “mega-projects” and primarily owned by AKP cronies.

U.S. President Donald Trump signs an executive order to impose tighter vetting of travelers entering the United States, at the Pentagon in Washington, U.S., January 27, 2017. The executive order signed by Trump imposes a four-month travel ban on refugees entering the United States and a 90-day hold on travelers from Syria, Iran and five other Muslim-majority countries. Picture taken January 27, 2017. REUTERS/Carlos Barria - RTSXWM6

Trump urged to name religious freedom envoy to smooth out bumpy Mideast policy

Former ambassadors say Donald Trump is in dire need of an expert to "school" him on Islam.

Why Turkey’s approach to Syria may again push it to sidelines

Diplomats fear that Ankara may have decided to play a reactive and obstructive role in the Syrian peace talks, rather than a positive and proactive one.

ISTANBUL, TURKEY - DECEMBER 12: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan visits the blast site outside the Besiktas FC's Vodafone Arena Stadium on December 12, 2016 in Istanbul, Turkey. At least 44 people were killed and 160 other wounded in twin explosions outside Vodafone Arena Stadium and in nearby Macka Park a few hours after the night's soccer match on 10 December. The bombs apparently targeted police officers who were securing the match. The Kurdish nationalist group Kurdistan Freedom Hawks (TAK), which

Trump, Erdogan discuss Syria cooperation in first presidential call

In their first call since Donald Trump became president, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan pushed for an end to the US alliance with the Kurdish People's Protection Units.

Selahattin Demirtas, co-leader of the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), talks during a gathering to protest against the arrest of the city's two joint mayors on terrorism charges, in the southeastern city of Diyarbakir, Turkey, October 30, 2016. REUTERS/Sertac Kayar - RTX2R1KM

Turkey’s top Kurdish politician faces up to 143 years in jail

The leader of Turkey’s main Kurdish party faces up to 143 years in jail on terror-related charges and is languishing in jail as the country heads to a fateful referendum.