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

Turkey

Turkey

September 14, 2026

Ankara 8:00 am

19°C

People swim next to the Russian-flagged cargo ship OMSKIY-107, which was attacked off the Black Sea coast and eventually ran aground off the shore of the Sile district, Istanbul, Sept. 3, 2026.

Why Turkey has few options to protect Black Sea shipping

The Russia-Ukraine drone war is hitting Turkish commercial interests, exposing the limits of Ankara’s ability to protect shipping while remaining outside the conflict.

Fighters loyal to the Houthi authorities gather during a rally to recruit more fighters in Sanaa on Sept. 10, 2026.

Analysis

Saudi Arabia's Houthi crisis tests alliances with Trump, Turkey and Pakistan

As the Houthis tighten their grip on the Bab al-Mandeb, Saudi Arabia is turning to new regional alliances while Washington resists calls to intervene.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Latest News

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

El Alamein International Airshow

Russia to give Turkey preferential fertilizer access amid Hormuz supply crunch

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)

Culture

Turkish ceramicist Leyla Borovali shapes Aegean heritage into clay

Leyla Borovali at her studio overlooking the Aegean

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

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

Demonstrators stand in front of a make shift shield during clashes with Turkish riot police in central Ankara June 2, 2013. Erdogan accused Turkey's main secular opposition party on Sunday of stirring a wave of anti-government protests, as tens of thousands regrouped in Istanbul and Ankara after a lull and trouble flared again in the capital. Police used tear gas on protesters in Ankara but the clashes were relatively minor compared with major violence in Turkey's biggest cities on the previous two days. RE

Turkish Spring?

Turks takes to the streets to protest the policies of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Demonstrators rest in Taksim Square where police and anti-government protesters clashed in central Istanbul June 2, 2013. Protesters lit fires and scuffled with police in parts of Istanbul and Ankara early on Sunday, but the streets were generally quieter after two days of Turkey's fiercest anti-government demonstrations for years. REUTERS/Murad Sezer (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTX108WO

Erdogan Weakened By Protests

Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan's government will survive the protests, but what these uprisings may mean at the ballot box still remain unclear.

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.