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Turkey

July 3, 2026

Ankara 4:04 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.

Latest News

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

KAREN MINASYAN / AFP via Getty Images

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

A poster depicting U.S.-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen as a pope, is seen as supporters of the ruling AK Party attend an election rally in Konya, central Turkey, March 28, 2014. Erdogan pulled out of election rallies in central Turkey on Friday in order to rest his voice after weeks of campaigning around the country, his office said. Erdogan had difficulty speaking at rallies in southeast Turkey on Thursday ahead of Sunday's local elections. Turkey will hold municipal elections on March 30. REUTERS/Umi

AKP pursues scorched-earth tactics against Gulenists

Turkish prosecutors have dropped a corruption probe against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s son and businessmen close to the government, marking the latest move in the government’s all-out war against the Gulen community.

Peshmerga fighters inspect the remains of a car, bearing an image of the trademark jihadist flag, which belonged to Islamic State (IS) militants after it was targeted by an American air strike in the village of Baqufa, north of Mosul, on August 18,2014. Kurdish peshmerga fighters backed by federal forces and US warplanes pressed a counter-offensive Monday against jihadists after retaking Iraq's largest dam, as the United States and Britain stepped up their military involvement. AFP PHOTO/AHMAD AL-RUBAYE

Europe blind to Islamic State's true threat

With the Islamic State drawing recruits from across Europe, the continent must act against the movement in Syria and Iraq before it's too late.

A demonstrator hold pictures of Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan and Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen (R), during a protest against Turkey's ruling AK Party (AKP), demanding the resignation of Erdogan, in Istanbul December 30, 2013. Erdogan swore on Sunday he would survive a corruption crisis circling his cabinet, saying those seeking his overthrow would fail just like mass anti-government protests last summer. Gulen denies involvement in stirring up the graft case, but he regularly censures Erdogan, a

The next battle for the Turkish judiciary

No matter who wins the race for seats in the Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecutors, the result will still be far from an “independent and impartial judiciary.”

Turkey's new President Tayyip Erdogan (front C) attends a swearing in ceremony at the parliament 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 TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) - RTR4437V

Israel, Turkey exchange diplomatic cold shoulders

The absence of an Israeli representative at Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's inauguration points to the frosty relationship between the two countries.

Market pressure keeps Babacan in new Turkish Cabinet

Turkey’s much-respected economy chief, Ali Babacan, retains his post in Turkey’s new Cabinet despite in-house tensions, in a sign that the ruling party cannot afford unnerving international investors.

Residents of Tabqa city and Islamic State militants tour the streets in celebration after Islamic State militants took over Tabqa air base in northeast Syria August 24, 2014. Islamic State militants stormed the air base in northeast Syria on Sunday, capturing most of it from government forces after days of fighting over the strategic location, a witness and a monitoring group said. Fighting raged inside the walls of the Tabqa air base, the Syrian army's last foothold in an area otherwise controlled by IS, w

US gives new priority to foreign fighters in Syria

US regional allies, including Turkey, may finally be forced to crack down on extremists in Syria.

A Iraqi Turkmen Shiite fighter, who volunteered to join the government forces, runs for cover on August 4, 2014 in Amerli, some 160 kilometres (100 miles) north of Baghdad, as the city has been completely surrounded by Islamic State (IS) Sunni militants for more than six weeks. Residents say a humanitarian disaster is imminent in the town, which has been without power and drinking water for days. IS fighters, who run large swathes of neighbouring Syria, launched a blistering offensive on June 9 that saw the

Iraq's Sunni, Shiite Turkmens fall out over IS

The six-week Islamic State siege of the Shiite Turkmen town of Amerli has exposed the little-discussed rift between Iraqi Shiites and Sunni Turkmens.

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu greets his supporters as he leaves Kocatepe Mosque after Friday prayers in Ankara August 29, 2014. Davutoglu announced a new cabinet on Friday keeping key members of the economic management team in place and appointing the man who has managed Ankara's affairs with Europe as foreign minister. REUTERS/Umit Bektas (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR448EI

Good news from Davutoglu: a rational economy

Is the new AKP government abandoning anti-Western and anti-liberal economic tendencies?

Member of parliament (MP) from the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) Ali Ihsan Kokturk's nose bleeds as MPs from the ruling AK Party (AKP) and CHP scuffle during a debate on a draft law which will give the government tighter control over the appointment of judges and prosecutors, at a parliamentary session in Ankara early February 15, 2014. REUTERS/Stringer (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) - RTX18UO8

Are Turkey's top judges 'assassins'?

Turkey’s new president's statements indicate that he is preparing for an assault on the judiciary.

Turkey's Energy Minister Taner Yildiz (L) shakes hands with his Azeri counterpart Natik Aliyev during a signing ceremony in Istanbul May 30, 2014. Turkey's state oil company TPAO signed a deal on Friday to acquire French energy company Total's 10 percent stake in Azerbaijan's Shah Deniz gas project, at a signing ceremony in Istanbul. The agreement increases TPAO's stake in the project to 19 percent from a previous 9 percent, while Total exits the project. Financial details of the agreement were not disclose

Looking to Europe, Turkey increases investment in Azeri gas

Turkey paid the French company $1.45 billion to increase its share in gas from Azerbaijan’s Shah Deniz-2 gas field from 9% to 19%.

People wave Kurdish flags and hold up a picture of jailed Kurdish militant leader Abdullah Ocalan (C) of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) during a gathering celebrating Newroz, which marks the arrival of spring and the new year, in Diyarbakir March 21, 2014. Ocalan called on the Turkish government on Friday to create a legal framework for their peace talks, whose fate is looking increasingly uncertain a year after he called a ceasefire by his fighters. Tens of thousands gathered in Diyarbakir, the largest

Is PKK becoming a new Middle East power?

Turkey’s Kurdish movement is proving to be the only force resolved to fight the Islamic State, while boosting its political might in Turkey.

Displaced Syrian families gather next to a Turkish watchtower as they hope to cross the border into Turkey near the northern Syrian village of Shamarin, in the rebel-held province of Aleppo, on February 5, 2014. Children enduring the war in Syria have suffered terrible abuses, with the government and allied militia responsible for many killings, maiming and torture, according to a grim UN report. AFP PHOTO / BARAA AL-HALABI (Photo credit should read BARAA AL-HALABI/AFP/Getty Images)

In new roles Erdogan, Davutoglu tackle regional challenges

Doubt is spreading that the new administration in regionally isolated Turkey will rise to meet its long list of formidable challenges that require international cooperation.