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Turkey

Turkey

July 3, 2026

Ankara 1:58 pm

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A screenshot of one of Deniz Goktas' standup routines posted to YouTube.

Culture

Turkish standup comic detained after act calling Erdogan 'dictator' goes viral

Comedian Deniz Goktas’ arrest comes as Ankara intensifies prosecutions against opposition figures, journalists, artists and critics ahead of a major NATO summit.

Somalia's President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud speaks during the launch of an offshore energy exploration at the port in Mogadishu on April 10, 2026.

Turkish jets strike al-Shabab targets in Somalia: What to know

A Somali Defense Ministry statement initially said Turkish F-16s carried out strikes on Al-Shabab targets before a later version referred only to “international partners.”

Syrian textile employees work in a textile workshop in Gaziantep, Turkey, on Jan. 30, 2025.

Explainer

Turkey eases job rules for 1M+ Syrians under temporary protection: What to know

The move, part of a broader easing of restrictions on Syrians living in Turkey, could allow roughly 1.1 million working-age Syrians to enter registered employment more easily as Ankara seeks to reduce informal labor and address workforce gaps.

KAREN MINASYAN / AFP via Getty Images

Turkey, Azerbaijan slam Israel’s Armenian genocide recognition as Yerevan mum

Ankara accused Israel of weaponizing history as Armenia avoided public comment amid delicate regional diplomacy.

Latest News

Analysis

Why Turkey and Egypt are deepening military ties amid regional turmoil

From (L-R) Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty, Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan and Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan attend a meeting in Cairo on June 21, 2026.

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

Explainer

Israel's Armenian genocide recognition marks new front against Turkey

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.

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

Exclusive: PKK commander threatens to resume war

In an exclusive interview, the Kurdistan Workers Party's (PKK) top military commander, Cemil Bayik, says that Turkey has sabotaged the peace process and the PKK is ready to resume open conflict.

Turkey's Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan makes a speech during the Istanbul Finance Summit in Istanbul Septemer 16, 2014. Turkey stepped up its criticism of credit rating agencies on Tuesday, with President Tayyip Erdogan warning it could cut ties with Moody's and Fitch and his prime minister saying the country did not have the ratings it deserves. Deputy Prime Minister Babacan, who is responsible for overseeing the economy, joined the chorus, telling a finance conference in Istanbul that objective evalua

Turkey threatens credit rating agencies

Turkey’s top leaders have threatened to cancel the contracts of credit rating agencies Fitch and Moody’s as financial markets get nervous at the prospect of Turkey being downgraded.

A man smokes his waterpipe at the Galata bridge in Istanbul, April 8, 2014. REUTERS/Osman Orsal (TURKEY - Tags: SOCIETY) - RTR3KG89

Turks dislike Islamic State, but would leave fight to others

A recent survey by Metropoll, a prominent Turkish polling company, indicates that only 1.3% of Turks are sympathetic toward the Islamic State.

Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan speaks during the Climate Summit at the U.N. headquarters in New York September 23, 2014. REUTERS/Mike Segar (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS ENVIRONMENT) - RTR47E2N

Erdogan says Turkey will join fight against Islamic State

Ankara is being forced to get off the fence and join allies against the growing threat from IS and similar groups.

A worker checks the valve gears in a natural gas control centre of Turkey's Petroleum and Pipeline Corporation, 35 km (22 miles) west of Ankara, February 14, 2012. REUTERS/Umit Bektas (TURKEY - Tags: BUSINESS ENERGY) - RTR2XU1J

What will Turkey do if Russia turns off gas?

The risk of Russia cutting gas supplies to Europe amid the Ukraine crisis has exposed Turkey’s energy vulnerability, with Istanbul, its most populous city and main industrial hub, dependent on Russian gas.

A group of men smuggle diesel fuel from Syria to Turkey hoping to sell it at a higher price, across the Al-Assi River in Darkush town, Idlib countryside May 26, 2013. REUTERS/Muzaffar Salman (SYRIA - Tags: CONFLICT TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) - RTX1026I

The truth about Turkey and Islamic State oil

While oil sales by the Islamic State across the Turkish border are a real problem, the Turkish government does not condone it.

A Turkish soldier stands guard as Syrian Kurds cross the border fence into Turkey near the southeastern town of Suruc in Sanliurfa province, September 19, 2014. Several thousand Syrian Kurds began crossing into Turkey on Friday fleeing Islamic State fighters who advanced into their villages, prompting warnings of massacres from Kurdish leaders. Islamic State (IS) fighters have seized villages in northern Syria over the past two days and are besieging the mainly Kurdish town of Ayn al-Arab, known as Kobani i

Can Turkey set up buffer zone inside Syria?

The idea of a buffer zone on the Syrian side of the border has been revived again, but faces serious feasibility questions.

Turkey's Family Ministry shames singles in new ad

Turkey’s Family and Social Policies Ministry evokes comparisons to Islamist radicals after using the image of headless figures in a controversial campaign “to battle aloneness.”

Turkey's Economy Minister Nihat Zeybekci speaks during an interview with Reuters in Ankara August 11, 2014. Turkey's government will maintain its calls for lower interest rates following Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan's victory in the country's first direct presidential election, the economy minister said on Monday. Zeybekci told Reuters in an interview that the central bank's core mandate for price stability should be expanded to include employment and growth, although he added this would not be a top prior

Turkey’s economic growth fizzles

Turkey’s economic growth slowed to 2.1% in the second quarter, well below expectations, forcing the government to review its year-end target of 4%.

Turkey's new President Tayyip Erdogan (2nd L) and outgoing President Abdullah Gul (R), attend a handover ceremony at the Presidential Palace of Cankaya in Ankara August 28, 2014. Erdogan was sworn in as Turkey's 12th president at a ceremony in parliament on Thursday, cementing his position as the country's most powerful modern leader, in what his opponents fear will herald an increasingly authoritarian rule. REUTERS/Umit Bektas (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR444TR

Erdogan's $350M presidential palace

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has filled his newly constructed palace in Ankara with symbolism of his overthrow of Turkey’s old regime.

Riot police block the main Istiklal street to prevent pro-Kurdish demonstrators from marching, in central Istanbul February 15, 2012. Supporters of the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) held a protest to mark the 13th anniversary of the capture of Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Ocalan. REUTERS/Murad Sezer (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTR2XWA8

Davutoglu sets ambitious target for Turkish democracy

Developments contradict claims by Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu that Turkey will become a global power in terms of universal democracy over the next nine years.

A woman reads a newspaper at a cafe, with an opposition newspaper carrying an upside down picture of Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan on the window, in the Aegean coastal town of Cesme, western Turkey July 14, 2014. As families splash in the sea and lounge in the sun, thoughts of politics and civic duty are a world away for most Turks holidaying on the Aegean and Mediterranean coasts. Only the most committed opponents of Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan leave the beach to queue in a sweltering council bui

Banished Erdogan critics find new home at opposition paper

The Sozcu daily, a relative newcomer in the Turkish press, has climbed to the top of the circulation ladder, taking on board senior journalists dumped from other papers for criticizing the government.