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Turkey

Turkey

July 8, 2026

Ankara 12:46 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

Gultan Kisanak (C), co-leader of Turkey's pro-Kurdish opposition Peace and Democracy Party (BDP), makes a speech on the killing of three female Kurdish activist during a demonstration in Diyarbakir, southeastern Turkey, January 10, 2013. Three female Kurdish activists including a founding member of the PKK rebel group were shot dead in Paris overnight in execution-style killings condemned by Turkish politicians trying to broker a peace deal. REUTERS/Sertac Kayar (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTR3

Kurdish Negotiators Seek To Lower Expectations

The Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) expects confidence-building measures and is seeking to lower expectations in its talks with Turkey, writes Kadri Gursel.

Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan talks during the opening ceremony of government communication forum in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates February 24, 2013. REUTERS/Ahmed Jadallah (UNITED ARAB EMIRATES - Tags: POLITICS SCIENCE TECHNOLOGY) - RTR3E7DY

Erdogan Set To Be Turkey's Longest-Serving Prime Minister

Recep Tayyip Erdogan will become Turkey's longest-serving prime minister next week, after more than ten years without interruption, reports Tulin Daloglu.

A judge of the European Court of Human Rights reads the court's judgment on the case of former Ukrainian Interior Minister Yuriy Lutsenko against Ukraine in Strasbourg, July 3, 2012. Lutsenko currently detained in Kiev for embezzlement and abuse office, complains his detention were arbitrary and unlawful. REUTERS/Vincent Kessler (FRANCE - Tags: CRIME LAW POLITICS) - RTR34J6S

Questions About Turkish Justice

Semih Idiz writes about the state of judicial reform in Turkey.

Syria's President Bashar al-Assad (3rd L) meets a Turkish parliamentary delegation headed by Hasan Akgol (4th R) in Damascus in this March 7, 2013 handout photo released by Syria's national news agency SANA. REUTERS/SANA (SYRIA - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST CONFLICT)

ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS PICTURE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. REUTERS IS UNABLE TO INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY THE AUTHENTICITY, CONTENT, LOCATION OR DATE OF THIS IMAGE. FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NOT FOR SALE FOR MARKETING OR ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS

Why the Turkish Opposition Likes Assad

Mustafa Akyol explains why the People’s Republican Party (CHP) is at ease with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and is unlikely to become a "social democratic party" in the European tradition.

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

Turkey's Syria Morass

Turkey needs an exit strategy from Syria, writes Pinar Tremblay.

Moshe Yaalon the Chief of Staff of the Israeli army stands in front of the Warsaw Ghetto monument, May 18, 2005. Yaalon is in Warsaw for one day working visit. The memorial is a 1948 tribute to the heroic struggle of Warsaw's doomed Jews and the resistance fighters who helped the 450,000 persons packed into the Warsaw Ghetto by the Nazis during World War Two. REUTERS/Katarina Stoltz KS/AA - RTRBLDC

Moshe Ya'alon Will Bring Balance To Israeli Defense Ministry

Ben Caspit retraces the career of Moshe “Bogie” Ya’alon, the expected choice for defense minister in the new Israeli government.

Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan leaves a wreath-laying ceremony at the mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, founder of modern Turkey, in Ankara August 1, 2012. REUTERS/Stringer (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS MILITARY) - RTR35TGQ

Three Powerful Men Decide Turkey's Future

Kadri Gursel writes on the three men who are critical to Turkey’s future: Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan; Abdullah Ocalan, imprisoned head of the Kurdistan Workers Party [PKK]; and Fethullah Gulen, exiled head of the Gulen Sunni movement.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu pauses during the 49th Conference on Security Policy in Munich February 3, 2013. Senior politicians along with the leader of the Syrian opposition are in Munich providing a rare opportunity for talks to revive efforts to end the civil war in Syria. REUTERS/Michael Dalder (GERMANY - Tags: MILITARY POLITICS) - RTR3DALG

Davutoglu Should Give Up 'Military Solution' in Syria

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu is getting nowhere in his bid to have the European Union lift the arms embargo on Syria, and he should realize his pursuit of a military solution there is only prolonging the conflict, writes Semih Idiz.

Kurds take part in a demonstration calling for the release of Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Ocalan, in Strasbourg, eastern France, February 16, 2013. REUTERS/Jean-Marc Loos (FRANCE - Tags: CIVIL UNREST POLITICS) - RTR3DVAH

Unprecedented Turns On Turkey's Kurdish Question

The Imrali Process is providing unexpected hope for a resolution to the Kurdish question in Turkey, writes Cengiz Çandar.

Pro-Palestinian activists attend a rally to mark the second anniversary of the Mavi Marmara Gaza flotilla incident in central Istanbul May 31, 2012. Nine activists, eight Turkish and one Turkish-American, died on May 31, 2010, when Israeli commandos raided the Mavi Marmara ship, which was part of a flotilla seeking to break the blockade imposed on the Gaza Strip. REUTERS/Osman Orsal (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTR32WF0

Israel Should Seek to Re-Establish Good Relations With Turkey

Present-day Turkey is completely different from the country Israel knew in the not-too-distant past, writes Arad Nir, and it is precisely because of this that Israel should restore its relations with Ankara.

Kurdish demonstrators hold up pictures of the three Kurdish activists shot in Paris, as they wait for the ambulances carrying their bodies in Diyarbakir, the largest city in Turkey's mainly Kurdish southeast, January 16, 2013. The bodies of the activists, including that of Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) co-founder Sakine Cansiz, arrived by plane on Wednesday evening in Diyarbakir ahead of a funeral ceremony on Thursday. REUTERS/Umit Bektas (TURKEY - Tags: CIVIL UNREST POLITICS OBITUARY TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY)

Turks and Kurds Must Prepare for 'Truth'

Orhan Kemal Cengiz calls for Truth Commissions to complement peace talks between the Turkish government and the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry (L) shakes hands with Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu after their news conference at Ankara Palas in Ankara March 1, 2013. REUTERS/Umit Bektas (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR3EG52

Davutoglu Invokes Ottomanism As a New Order for Mideast

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu's suggestion of an Ottoman model for a new Middle East order is likely a misreading of regional politics that could prove hard for Turkey to back away from, writes Tulin Daloglu.