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Turkey

Turkey

July 7, 2026

Ankara 9:54 pm

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US President Donald Trump walks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during a state arrival ceremony at the Bestepe Presidential Complex for the annual NATO Summit on July 7, 2026 in Ankara, Turkey.

Explainer

Why Trump bid to lift CAATSA sanctions on Turkey faces complicated path

Trump's announcement could reset US-Turkey defense ties, but congressional approval and separate legal restrictions stand in the way.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (L) welcomes US President Donald Trump (R) upon his arrival on Air Force One at Etimesgut Air Base near Ankara, on July 7, 2026, before attending the 36th NATO Heads of State and Government Summit. (Photo by SAUL LOEB / AFP via Getty Images)

Analysis

Trump's F-35 push for Turkey runs into CAATSA — and Israel

Israel fears that Washington may be shifting its strategic options toward Turkey as the two rivals push for regional hegemony.

In Tel Aviv, reporting on national security, Israeli politics, defense

Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney (R) is welcomed by Turkey's Treasury and Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek upon arrival at Esenboga Airport to attend the 36th NATO Heads of State and Government Summit in Ankara on July 7, 2026. (Photo by Muhammed Abdullah Kurtar / POOL / AFP via Getty Images)

Canada, Turkey launch free trade talks on NATO summit sidelines

Trade between the two countries stood at $4.3 billion in 2025, and officials from both countries will meet to lay the groundwork for the first FTA negotiations.

Latest News

Trump says US will lift CAATSA sanctions on Turkey, consider F-35 sale

Trump Erdogan

Analysis

As it hosts NATO, Turkey eyes France's SAMP/T system, F-35 progress with Trump

sampt-t

Ezgi Akin

In Ankara, reporting on diplomacy, EU-Turkey ties, NATO

Israel, Greece conduct military drills ahead of NATO summit in Turkey

ABIR SULTAN / AFP via Getty Images

Analysis

In Libya, maritime dispute could complicate Turkey’s backing of US unity push

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan delivers a speech after a signing ceremony with Libyan Government of National Unity prime minister at the Presidential Complex in Ankara, on April 12, 2021.

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

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 man is hit by a jet of water as riot police use a water cannon to disperse demonstrators during a protest against Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan and his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) in central Ankara June 1, 2013. Erdogan made a defiant call for an end to the fiercest anti-government demonstrations in years on Saturday, as thousands of protesters clashed with riot police in Istanbul and Ankara for a second day. REUTERS/Umit Bektas (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST TPX IMAGES

Turkey's Velvet Revolution

Nothing is predictable in the aftermath of the tempest at Istanbul’s Taksim Square.

Istanbul Protesters: 'We Are Here For Our Freedom'

Protesters in Istanbul declare that the current demonstrations are just a start in expressing frustration over Turkish government policies.

Riot police hide behind their shields during clashes with demonstrators during a protest against Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan and his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) in central Ankara June 1, 2013. Erdogan made a defiant call for an end to the fiercest anti-government demonstrations in years on Saturday, as thousands of protesters clashed with riot police in Istanbul and Ankara for a second day. REUTERS/Umit Bektas (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTX1088W

Erdogan Remains Defiant As Istanbul Protest Widens

It began with May Day demonstrations in Taksim Square that were suppressed by the government. A month later, and the protest has spread across Turkey.

Riot police use tear gas to disperse the crowd during an anti-government protests at Taksim Square in central Istanbul May 31, 2013. Turkish police fired tear gas and water cannon on Friday at demonstrators in central Istanbul, wounding scores of people and prompting rallies in other cities in the fiercest anti-government protests for years. REUTERS/Osman Orsal (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) - RTX107MT

Who Are Turkey’s Protesters? The View From Taksim Square

An eyewitness report from Taksim Square in Istanbul.

A Turkish riot policeman uses tear gas as people protest against the destruction of trees in a park brought about by a pedestrian project, in Taksim Square in central Istanbul May 28, 2013. REUTERS/Osman Orsal (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST ENVIRONMENT TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) - RTX103XA

Turks Rally Against Erdogan Rule

A protest that started with 500 people on Monday, May 27, turned into a seeming revolt against Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

A man smokes a cigarette as he sits at the site of a bomb attack in Kirkuk, 250 km (155 miles) north of Baghdad, March 29, 2013. Car bombs hit four Shi'ite mosques in the Iraqi capital Baghdad and another in Kirkuk just after prayers on Friday, tearing into crowds of worshippers and killing 17, police and witnesses said. Sunni Islamists linked to al Qaeda's Iraqi wing have stepped up attacks this year and often target Shi'ite sites in a growing sectarian confrontation a decade after the U.S.-led invasion. R

Al-Qaeda-Iraq Statement A Sign Of Rising Sectarian Violence

In a rare public statement, al-Qaeda in Iraq has announced that it is meeting with Sunni leaders in the west of the country to join forces to fight the “Iranian Safavid gestapo.”

Forces of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad are seen in Arjoun village near Qusair town May 30, 2013. Syrian rebels under siege near the Lebanese border pleaded for help on Thursday against government troops and their Hezbollah allies as a confident Assad spoke of having new Russian missiles. REUTERS/ Rami Bleible (SYRIA - Tags: CONFLICT MILITARY) - RTX106EZ

Foreign Fighters Key To Decisive Battle of Qusair

If there were ever a doubt, the war in Syria is now a war on Syria.

Riot police use tear gas to disperse the crowd during an anti-government protests at Taksim Square in central Istanbul May 31, 2013. Turkish police fired tear gas and water cannon on Friday at demonstrators in central Istanbul, wounding scores of people and prompting rallies in other cities in the fiercest anti-government protests for years. REUTERS/Murad Sezer (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTX107K8

Street Clashes Rock Istanbul, Turkish Government

Street clashs rock Istanbul, Kurds await answers to their demands, Alevis, moderate secularists and urban youths are angry, and yet the AKP is defiant.

Bartender Samet Kardas smokes as he serves beer at a bar in Istanbul July 14, 2009. Smokers in Turkey tempted to flout an imminent ban in cafes, restaurants and bars will be spared execution as allegedly meted out in 17th-Century Istanbul -- but their Prime Minister has likened cigarettes to terrorism. That's a measure of how strongly Tayyip Erdogan feels about tobacco. Sultan Murad IV is said to have roamed the streets ordering the execution of those who defied a smoking ban aimed at curbing coffee house s

'Moderate Political Islam' Leading Turkey to 'Moderate Sharia'

The alcohol ban admitted by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to be religiously motivated is a negative response to the question, "Is moderate political Islam compatible with democracy?”

TO GO WITH AFP STORY BURAK AKINCI
This photo taken on January 29, 2011, in Ankara, shows protesters drinking alcohol as they demonstrate against new laws banning alcohol sales in the Turkish capital and several Anatolian towns. Since 2002 the conservative ruling Justice and Development Party has brought many new bureaucratic hurdles to the sale of alcohol nationwide. Most recently, authorities in the province of Afyon tried to forbid alcohol completely but had to exlude "picnic" zones from the restriction

Is There Really a Turkish 'Jihad' Against Alcohol?

No, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is not waging a jihad on alcohol in Turkey. A response to Kadri Gursel.

Turkish riot police use water cannon to disperse demonstrators during a protest against the destruction of trees in a park brought about by a pedestrian project, in Taksim Square in central Istanbul May 31, 2013. REUTERS/Osman Orsal (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST ENVIRONMENT CRIME LAW TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) - RTX106X6

Erdogan Denies He Is a King

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s authoritarian tendencies are starting to draw some worrying historical comparisons.

Mayor of Tehran, Iranian Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf attends a press conference after registering his candidacy for the upcoming presidential election at the interior ministry in Tehran on May 11, 2013. Iran will close the five-day registration period for candidates in Iran's June 14 presidential election, with a string of conservative hopefuls in the running but with key reformists yet to come forward, media reports said. AFP PHOTO/BEHROUZ MEHRI (Photo credit should read BEHROUZ MEHRI/AFP/Getty Images)

Tehran Mayor a Powerful Contender For Iran’s Presidency

Tehran Mayor Mohammad Ghalibaf has a good shot at succeeding Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.