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

Turkey

Turkey

September 11, 2026

Ankara 7:04 am

18°C

El Alamein International Airshow

Turkey’s defense giants court Egypt at Alamein Airshow: What to know

Three leading Turkish defense companies are participating in the El Alamein Airshow as Ankara seeks new sales and closer military-industrial cooperation with Egypt.

In this pool photograph distributed by the Russian state agency Sputnik, Russia's President Vladimir Putin and Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan hold a meeting on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Bishkek on September 1, 2026. (Photo by Kristina Solovyova / POOL / AFP via Getty Images)

Russia to give Turkey preferential fertilizer access amid Hormuz supply crunch

Ankara is expected to secure easier access to Russian fertilizer exports as the Iran war disrupts supplies from key Gulf producers.

Leyla Borovali at her studio overlooking the Aegean

Culture

Turkish ceramicist Leyla Borovali shapes Aegean heritage into clay

Named by AD Middle East as one of 11 artists from Turkey to know, Leyla Borovali belongs to a new generation building on a ceramic tradition shaped by figures from Fureya Koral and Alev Ebuzziya Siesbye to Elif Uras.

Latest News

Analysis

With Hurjet test, Turkey seeks defense dominance beyond drones

TAI Hurjet

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

Turkey and Greece's intelligence chiefs hold rare talks: What to know

Ibrahim Kalin, Turkish presidential spokesperson, gives a press conference at the Presidential Complex, Ankara, May 25, 2022.

US sanctions Turkey-based bank over Iran ties

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Israel, Greece sign $3.5 billion air-defense deal: What to know

Mecca Alliance

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's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan acknowledges supporters during the municipal elections outside a polling station in Istanbul March 30, 2014. Erdogan looks set to win Sunday's municipal elections that have become a crisis referendum on his 10-year rule as he tries to ward off graft allegations and stem a stream of damaging security leaks. REUTERS/Murad Sezer (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS ELECTIONS) - RTR3J6TG

Erdogan’s victory a warning to West

Despite his party’s win in the municipal elections, the Turkish prime minister’s policies, including toward Syria, are likely to lead to further political polarization and distance from the United States and Europe.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan (L) listens as U.S. President Barack Obama (R) addresses a joint news conference in the White House Rose Garden in Washington, May 16, 2013. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS) - RTXZPBL

Erdogan’s fractured ties to the West

Some are speculating that following the victory of the Justice and Development Party in municipal elections, Turkey might seek to build bridges to the West, but this would require a shift in Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s approach.

A Palestinian Hamas supporter celebrates after Erdogan declared victory in local polls during a rally organised by Hamas movement in the northern Gaza Strip March 31, 2014. Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan declared victory in local polls that had become a referendum on his rule and said he would "enter the lair" of enemies who have accused him of corruption and leaked state secrets. The Arabic words read "Turkey Justice and development forward". REUTERS/Mohammed Salem (GAZA - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNRES

Hamas celebrates AKP win in Turkish elections

Hamas considers Turkey a vital ally and held rallies in celebration of the ruling Justice and Development Party's election victory.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry (L) talks to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from a room overlooking the snow covered city of Jerusalem, during a meeting December 13, 2013. REUTERS/Brian Snyder (JERUSALEM - Tags: POLITICS) - RTX16GGI

Kerry's artificial negotiations

Secretary of State John Kerry's frustrations on the Middle East should not come as a surprise.

A rebel fighter gestures as he runs across a street in Mleha suburb of Damascus, during what the rebel fighters said was an offensive against them by forces loyal to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad, April 2, 2014. REUTERS/Bassam Khabieh (SYRIA - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST CONFLICT TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) - RTR3JQRF

Syria's moderate rebels still losing ground to extremists

The ascendance of Islamic groups among Syria's opposition has clouded prospects for more advanced weapons to be provided to moderate factions.

Iraq's Kurdistan President Masoud Barzani shows his ink-stained finger at a polling station in Arbil, capital of the autonomous Kurdistan region, about 350 km (217 miles) north of Baghdad, September 21, 2013. Iraqi Kurds went to the polls on Saturday to vote for a new parliament at a time when their oil-producing region is seeking greater autonomy from Baghdad, against a backdrop of violent instability in the rest of Iraq and the wider Middle East. REUTERS/Azad Lashkari (IRAQ - Tags: ELECTIONS POLITICS) -

Iraqi Kurds still deadlocked over new government

Iraqi Kurdish political parties remain in a stalemate over the formation of a new regional government, six months after parliamentary elections were held in Iraqi Kurdistan.

An Iraqi Dervish prays during a gathering outside their Tekiyah, a place of worship, in Baghdad, May 29, 2003. Swaying gently at first, chanting in monotones, the Dervishes slowly build up to a frenzy of prayers. Dervishes are Sufis, a spiritual offshoot of Islam, who believe their bodies open up to the energy of God when they are in prayer. Pictures of the month May 2003 NO RIGHTS CLEARANCES OR PERMISSIONS ARE REQUIRED FOR THIS IMAGE REUTERS/Damir Sagolj PP05080023 JD/CRB - RTROHMO

Sufi music makes comeback in Iraq

Although Western influences have transformed the music scene in Iraq in recent decades, leading to a focus on fast beats and pop music, a number of Iraqis are trying to revive popular interest in traditional Sufi songs.

Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan casts his ballot at a polling station during the municipal elections in Istanbul March 30, 2014. Erdogan looks set to win Sunday's municipal elections that have become a crisis referendum on his 10-year rule as he tries to ward off graft allegations and stem a stream of damaging security leaks. REUTERS/Murad Sezer (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS ELECTIONS) - RTR3J6X5

Why Erdogan keeps winning

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has managed to fuse Turkey’s center-right and Islamist-right into one major bloc accepting his explanation of recent political scandals to be conspiracies against his rule.

The mother of Palestinian prisoner Omar Massoud, who has been held by Israel since 1993, displays to the camera a picture of him ahead of his expected release, at his family's house in Gaza City October 29, 2013. Israelis say Massoud was convicted of killing an Israeli in 1993. Israel is to release 26 Palestinian prisoners in a second stage of a deal brokered by the United States in July that brought a resumption of peace talks. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem (GAZA - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST CONFLICT) - RTX14SHV

The forgotten Palestinian prisoners

The Palestinian prisoner cause is suffering from a lack of public interest, poor local media coverage and no political support.

Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal (L) and Turkey's Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu (R) attend the Fourth Ministerial Meeting of Turkey-Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) in Istanbul January 28, 2012. REUTERS/Osman Orsal (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR2WZJV

The Saudi-Turkey cold war for Sunni hegemony

Saudi Arabia views Turkey's mix of democracy and Islam as a threat to its own regional role.

Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan (3rd R) greets his supporters with his family members in Ankara March 31, 2014. Tayyip Erdogan's ruling AKP party appeared on Sunday to be heading for a clear victory in local polls that have become a referendum on a prime minister facing corruption scandals and security leaks he blames on "traitors" embedded in state bodies. Erdogan's family members from L to R are his son-in-law Berat Albayrak, his daughter Esra Erdogan Albayrak, his wife Emine, his son Bilal and his

Erdogan plays Egypt card in 'ballot box' victory

The municipal elections may have been a victory for Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the Justice and Development Party (AKP), but not necessarily a victory for Turkish democracy.

Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan (L), accompanied by his son Bilal and daughter Sumeyye, greets his supporters at the AK Party headquarters in Ankara March 30, 2014. Tayyip Erdogan declared victory in local polls that had become a referendum on his rule and said he would "enter the lair" of enemies who have accused him of corruption and leaked state secrets. "They will pay for this," he said. Erdogan spoke from a balcony at his AK Party headquarters to thousands of cheering supporters as early results

Erdogan: political enemies will 'pay the price'

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who saw the polls as a means of vindicating himself from corruption accusations, appears to be declaring war on the Gulen movement.