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

Turkey

Turkey

September 6, 2026

Ankara 2:17 pm

28°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

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.

How are Turkey and Russia getting along these days?

As Moscow and Ankara work to shore up their relations, it's clear the foundation wasn't all that solid to begin with.

Activists seek to rein in horse mistreatment on unique Turkish island

Mounting criticism over mistreatment of horses could end the carriage trade on Buyukada, a picturesque island near Istanbul that remains off limits to motor vehicles.