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

Turkey

Turkey

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

Wounded Syrian refugees who activists said were injured during shelling by forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, lie in a hospital at Bab El-Hawa on the outskirts of Idlib, near the Syrian-Turkish border April 30, 2013. The Syrian air strike on a headquarters of a rebel brigade along the Turkish border killed at least five people, including children, and wounded dozens more on Tuesday, opposition activists said. Picture taken April 30, 2013. REUTERS/Abdalghne Karoof (SYRIA - Tags: CONFLICT POL

Turkey’s Trouble at the Border

The longer the Syrian civil war goes on, the more Turkey is challenged by both its deteriorating border security and the Syrian refugee crisis, writes Tulin Daloglu.

Coffins of victims killed in air strikes are carried by villagers during a funeral ceremony in Gulyazi near the southeastern Turkish town of Uludere, in Sirnak province, December 30, 2011. Turkish rights groups called on Friday for a U.N.-sponsored investigation after Turkish warplanes killed 35 villagers in an airstrike targeting Kurdish rebels on the Iraqi border that the government has called an operational mistake. REUTERS/Stringer (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR2VQMI

AKP Report on Uludere Airstrike Condemned as 'Whitewash'

Amberin Zaman writes that the December 2011 killing of Kurdish smugglers from Uludere by Turkish warplanes remains a test for the Turkish government.

A Free Syrian Army fighter and a boy hold up weapons on a street at the Syrian town of Tel Abyad, near the border with Turkey, April 23, 2013. Picture taken April 23, 2013. REUTERS/Hamid Khatib (SYRIA - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST CONFLICT SOCIETY) - RTXYY7Q

Turkey Faces 'Lose-Lose' Situation Over Syria

Without a change in its Syria policy, it will be impossible for the Erdogan government to pull out a win, writes Semih Idiz.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gestures as he speaks during a Likud party meeting at the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, in Jerusalem April 22, 2013. REUTERS/Baz Ratner (JERUSALEM - Tags: POLITICS) - RTXYVXD

Netanyahu Will Ignore Arab League's Land-Swap Proposal

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's ideology will prevent him from accepting the pragmatic Arab League peace proposal, writes Akiva Eldar.

ATTENTION EDITORS - VISUAL COVERAGE OF SCENES OF INJURY OR DEATH

Palestinians carry the body of Haitham Al-Mes-hal, who relatives said belonged to a militant Jihadist Salafi organisation, before his burial during his funeral at a cemetery in Gaza City April 30, 2013. Israel on Tuesday launched its first targeted attack on a militant in Gaza since a war in November, killing the Palestinian jihadist in an air strike that put further strain on a five-month-old ceasefire. REUTERS/Suhaib Salem (GAZA - Tags:

Palestinian Groups Ponder Response to Israeli Strike in Gaza

While coordinating a response to the April 30 Israeli air strike, Palestinian groups in Gaza urge respect for the cease-fire agreement signed in November 2012, writes Mohammed Suliman.

Lebanese men watch Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah delivering a televised speech at a cafe in Beirut on April 30, 2013. The chief of powerful Lebanese Shiite Muslim party Hezbollah, a close Damascus ally, said that Syria's friends would not let the embattled regime of President Bashar al-Assad fall. AFP PHOTO / ANWAR AMRO (Photo credit should read ANWAR AMRO/AFP/Getty Images)

Hezbollah Leader 'Will Not Let Syria Fall'

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah has said that "Syria has real friends in the region, and the world will not let Syria fall into the hands of America, Israel or [radical Islamist] groups," reports Ali Hashem from Beirut.

Wilgenburg pic.jpg

Iran Has Reasons to Spoil PKK-Turkey Peace Process

The Kurdistan Workers Party has announced a withdrawal from Turkey, a move that could isolate Iran and end a cease-fire between it and the PKK’s Iranian offshoot, reports Wladimir van Wilgenburg.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry (4th R) and Qatar's Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani (4th L) shake hands after speaking to the media following their meeting with members of the Arab League at Blair House in Washington April 29, 2013. With them are (L-R) Saudi Ambassador to the United States Adel A-Jubeir, Jordan's Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh, Bahrain's Foreign Minister Sheikh Khalid bin Ahmed al Khalifa, Arab League Secretary General Nabil al-Araby, Palestinian Authority Foreign Minister

Arab League Land-Swap Offer Angers Palestinians

The decision by the Arab League’s Washington delegation to offer a land swap to Israel has raised the ire of Palestinians, who say the move was unauthorized, reports Dalia Hatuqa.

Riot police walk through a cloud of tear gas as they clash with May Day protesters trying to break through barricades to reach the city's main square in central Istanbul May 1, 2013. Turkish riot police clashed with thousands of May Day protesters in Istanbul on Wednesday, firing water cannon and tear gas at crowds that tried to break through barricades to reach the city's main square, witnesses said. The incidents followed the pattern of recent years, when May Day demonstrations in Turkey's largest city ha

Turkey's Constitutional 'Mayday'

This year's May Day protests in Istanbul are linked to opposition to a draft constitution by the Justice and Development Party, writes Yavuz Baydar.

Turkish soldiers block a road to Cilvegozu border gate near the town of Reyhanli on the Turkish-Syrian border in Hatay province February 11, 2013. A Syrian minibus exploded at Cilvegozu border post on Turkey's border with Syria near the Turkish town of Reyhanli on Monday, killing at least 13 people including Turkish citizens and wounding dozens more, Turkish officials said. REUTERS/Umit Bektas (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST DISASTER) - RTR3DNGS

Archbishops' Abduction Should Be A Warning to Turkey

The abduction of two Syrian archbishops by armed men on their way to Aleppo while returning from Turkey should be a warning to Ankara that it needs to review its security policies, writes Kadri Gursel.

Armenian protesters shout slogans against Turkey during a demonstation near the Turkish embassy in central Athens, April 24, 2013. Hundreds of Armenians marched to commemorate the 98th anniversary of the mass killing of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire in 1915. Twenty one countries worldwide, including Greece, Russia, and France as well as the European parliament recognize the mass killings as an act of genocide, despite strong objections from Turkey. REUTERS/Yannis Behrakis (GREECE - Tags: CIVIL UNREST ANNI

Turkey's 2015 Plan: Avoid Word 'Genocide' at All Costs

Turkey is preparing a diplomatic offensive to prevent the US and European countries from recognizing the events of 1915 as genocide, writes Orhan Kemal Cengiz.

U.S. President Barack Obama (R) listens to remarks by Jordan's King Abdullah prior to a bilateral meeting in the Oval Office of the White House to discuss issues like the Syrian crisis and regional security, in Washington, April 26, 2013. REUTERS/Mike Theiler (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS) - RTXZ19P

Syria’s Chemical Weapons, Israel and Hezbollah

The US statement about Syrian chemical weapons; Israel weighs in; the debate within Hezbollah about Syria.