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Turkey

Turkey

September 7, 2026

Ankara 1:34 am

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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

Turkey issues new Friday prayer directive

A government directive allowing public employees to take time off from work for Friday prayers has sparked questions about the future of Turkey’s secular system.

Is the KRG heading for bankruptcy?

Iraq’s Kurds warn that unless Washington rides to their financial rescue, they cannot sustain their fight against the Islamic State.

A Syriac Christian monk walks to attend a service at the ancient monastery of Mor Gabriel, 15 km (9 miles) from the town of Midyat, in Mardin province of southeast Turkey January 13, 2009. Tucked amid rugged hills where mosques and minarets are silhouetted in the distance, the fifth century Mor Gabriel monastery stands out as a relic of another era when hundreds of thousands of Syriac Christians lived and worshipped in Turkey. But a land dispute between Mor Gabriel and neighbouring villages is threatening t

Will Turkey's government start paying priests and rabbis?

Non-Muslim religious leaders in Turkey cannot agree on whether to back efforts to get their personnel on the state payroll, which already supports the country's Muslim clergy.

Looking to snitch on your neighbors? Turkey will pay you for the info

The Turkish government has hiked the pay of some elected leaders for providing intelligence about people in their neighborhoods.

Ankara plays favorites with Iraqi, Syrian Turkmens

Ankara could face a nationalist backlash at home for favoring the Kurds over the Turkmens in Iraq.

Kurdish leader warns of civil war in Turkey

Turkey’s security crackdown in the Kurdish-majority southeast could spill over to the country’s west and eventually become a civil war, warns Kurdish politician Kamuran Yuksek in an interview with Al-Monitor.

Why the world questions Turkey's stance on Islamic State

Reasons are mounting to doubt Turkey's dedication to battling the Islamic State.

Turkey's ruling AK Party (AKP) mayoral candidate and current Ankara Mayor Melih Gokcek (C) attends an event as part of his election campaign in Ankara March 18, 2014. The local elections will be the first concrete test of Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan's popularity since anti-government protests rocked major cities last summer and the corruption scandal erupted in mid-December. The race for Ankara is set to be among the closest , with current mayor Melih Gokcek, an argumentative character known for fiery co

Ankara's colorful mayor declares US ambassador persona non grata

The US ambassador’s comments on respecting freedom of speech are challenged by Ankara's mayor — a shrewd social media expert — but not by the government.

Popular Turkish TV host attacked for supporting Diyarbakir teacher

In an illustration of Turkey's increasing polarization amid ongoing clashes in the southeast, Turks are split over whether popular media personality Beyaz spread "terrorist propaganda" by encouraging applause for a concerned caller from Diyarbakir.

Mehmet Gormez, head of Turkey's Religious Affairs Directorate, addresses the media in Ankara January 8, 2015. REUTERS/Umit Bektas (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS RELIGION) - RTR4KMRF

Incest fatwa lands Turkish religious directorate in hot water

Turks expressed their outrage at a response by the Religious Affairs Directorate to a question involving incest.

Demonstrators shout slogans during a protest outside the headquarters of Cumhuriyet newspaper whose editor-in-chief Can Dundar was arrested on charges of espionage and terrorist propaganda, in Istanbul, Turkey, November 29, 2015. REUTERS/Osman Orsal - RTX1WD43

Is a witch hunt underway against Turkish intellectuals?

Following the arrests of Turkish academics who had signed a petition in support of the Kurds in southeastern Turkey, the country is facing an unprecedented 'civil war.'

Turkey's distractions make it vulnerable

Many questions still surround the recent suicide bombing in Istanbul, but it nevertheless points up Turkey's limited understanding of IS and the country's need to develop a strategy and assets to deal with terrorism.