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

Turkey

Turkey

June 27, 2026

Ankara 7:47 pm

22°C

Members of the Jerusalem Armenian community hold placards as they march during commemorations for the 94th anniversary of mass killings of their kin under the Ottoman Empire, Jerusalem's Old City, April 24, 2009.

Explainer

Israel's Armenian genocide recognition marks new front against Turkey

Analysts say the expected vote for recognition is not morally motivated, but intended to spite the Turkish leader.

One of the first three US-made F-35 aircraft in Polish Air Force colors taxis along the runway at the 32nd Tactical Air Base in Lask, central Poland, while fire-fighting vehicles perform a water salute on May 22, 2026.

Trump hints at F-35 breakthrough with Turkey ahead of NATO summit

The administration is moving ahead with planned jet engine sales to Ankara ahead of next month’s NATO summit despite congressionally mandated sanctions on Turkey's defense industry.

Responders arrive to a demolished building at San Bernardino after a magnitude 7.2 earthquake struck Venezuela and other regions in the Caribbean on June 24, 2026 in Caracas, Venezuela.

Israel, Turkey, Iran offer aid as Venezuela’s 2 quakes kill at least 188

Iran, Turkey and Israel were among the first countries to offer assistance to earthquake-hit Venezuela despite their varying diplomatic relationships with Caracas.

Latest News

Turkey detains 233 ahead of NATO summit, including LGBTQ+ activist Yildiz Tar

Demonstrators take part in a rally against the upcoming NATO Summit early July in Ankara, on June 13, 2026.

Culture

Amid political setbacks, Kurds shine at the World Cup

Germany's forward #26 Deniz Undav (2nd R), an ethnic Kurd, scores his team's first goal during the 2026 World Cup Group E football match between Germany and Ivory Coast at the Toronto Stadium in Toronto on June 20, 2026.

Analysis

Turkey eyes gains from US-Iran deal as Ankara balances Tehran, Washington

This photograph shows a Turkish national flag at the Razi-Kapikoy border crossing with Iran next to a black flag on the Iranian side, following the death of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in eastern Turkey on March 2, 2026.

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

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

Have Turkey's human rights violations reached point of no return?

Prominent Turkish academic lands in solitary confinement for writing about the devastation and human rights violations conducted by the Turkish state in southeast Turkey.

Why Turkish women are rallying behind this killer

A young Turkish woman who killed her abusive husband has found strong support among women's rights activists calling for her acquittal.

A private security employee stands guard at the entrance of daily newspaper Cumhuriyet's offices, in Istanbul January 14, 2015. Turkish police took security measures around the offices of daily newspaper Cumhuriyet after it published a four-page spread of Charlie Hebdo cartoons. REUTERS/Murad Sezer (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST CRIME LAW MEDIA) - RTR4LE2U

Why beefing up private security could leave Turks feeling less secure

A surge in the private security sector raises questions about the surge's cause, and about its potential to deteriorate quality of service and basic rights.

Islamic State attacks Syrian journalists, even in Turkey

In a series of attacks, four Syrian journalists living in Turkey's border towns were killed. Why are they such easy prey?

Turkish-EU ties in throes of a slow death

The EU’s demand for a revision of Turkey’s anti-terrorism law as a precondition for allowing Turks visa-free travel in Europe has turned into the Achilles’ heel of ties between Ankara and Brussels.

A general view of Ambarli gas-fired power station in Istanbul January 8, 2009. Production at three Turkish power stations has been halted as a Russia-Ukraine gas row had led to a shortage of gas supplies to Turkey, an Energy Ministry source told Reuters on Thursday, but this would not create a power supply problem, he said. On Tuesday Russian gas supplies coming via Ukraine to Turkey were completely cut, although some supplies are still coming via a pipeline which passes directly from Russia under the Black

How Turkish energy giant's plans to light up Iran could boost Rouhani

The Belgium-based Turkish energy firm Unit International’s announcement that it will build seven natural gas-powered electricity production plants worth $4.2 billion in Iran could bring major benefits for the two countries.

Foreign investment in Turkey is rising, but not the type it needs

In the past five years, 24,000 new foreign companies have set up shop in Turkey, but due to a lack of confidence they have avoided industrial production.

Why Turkey is striking out on the diplomatic field

Despite some diplomatic gestures by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his new prime minister, it appears Turkey's isolation and desperation in foreign policy will continue.

Turkish students up in arms over Islamization of education

Students in Turkey’s leading high schools have rebelled against government efforts at an Islamist makeover of the education system.

A vendor, selling corn, waits for customers after iftar, or the breaking of the fast meal in Beylikduzu, a district of Istanbul August 1, 2011. Muslims around the world abstain from eating, drinking and conducting sexual relations from sunrise to sunset during Ramadan, the holiest month in the Islamic calendar. REUTERS/Osman Orsal (TURKEY - Tags: RELIGION SOCIETY FOOD) - RTR2PJ7R

Ramadan no longer a month of peace, serenity in Turkey

Hate speech and aggression against those who do not observe the fast during Ramadan in Turkey spike as the government and state authorities look the other way.

Meet TEMA, Turkey’s fastest growing civic group

In a country where civic organizations are met with suspicion, Turkey’s environmentalist group TEMA has reached a membership of 600,000 people.

Islamic preacher Fethullah Gulen is pictured at his residence in Saylorsburg, Pennsylvania September 24, 2013. Born in Erzurum, eastern Turkey, Gulen built up his reputation as a Muslim preacher with intense sermons that often moved him to tears. From his base in Izmir, he toured Turkey stressing the need to embrace scientific progress, shun radicalism and build bridges to the West and other faiths. The first Gulen school opened in 1982. In the following decades, the movement became a spectacular success, s

Erdogan expected to put anti-Gulen movement in high gear

The Turkish government has officially declared the Gulen movement a terrorist organization, paving the way for even speedier seizures of Gulen-affiliated universities.