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Turkey

Turkey

September 15, 2026

Ankara 1:11 am

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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

Kurdistan Regional Government Natural Resources Minister Ashti Hawrami (R) shakes hands with Turkey's Energy Minister Taner Yildiz during a joint news conference in Arbil, about 350 km (217 miles) north of Baghdad, May 20,2012. Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region expects to start exporting oil from its fields along a new pipeline to the Turkish border when the line is complete in August 2013, Hawrami said on Sunday. REUTERS/Azad Lashkari (IRAQ - Tags: ENERGY POLITICS)

Turkey Seeks 'Interdependence' With Iraqi Kurdistan

Turkish officials seek to set the record straight that Ankara seeks interdependence with, not independence for, Iraqi Kurdistan, writes Tulin Daloglu.

Military vehicles of a Patriot missile system are loaded on a ship in the harbour of Travemuende, January 8, 2013. Germany, the Netherlands, and the United States are each sending two Patriot missile batteries and up to 400 troops to Turkey after Ankara asked for NATO's help to bolster security along its 900-km (560-mile) border with Syria. REUTERS/Fabian Bimmer (GERMANY - Tags: MILITARY)

Patriots in Turkey: Defensive, Offensive or Symbolic?

Semih Idiz analyzes the various rationales for NATO’s deployment of Patriot missiles to Turkey and their possible consequences.

Armenian worshippers attend Sunday mass in Surp Asdradzadzin Patriarchal Church in Istanbul January 13, 2008. One year after Turkish-Armenian writer Hrant Dink was shot dead, Turkey's Armenian community is torn between hoping for better days in the EU candidate nation and moving abroad out of frustration and fear of more attacks. Picture taken January 13, 2008. To match feature TURKEY-ARMENIANS/ANNIVERSARY REUTERS/Osman Orsal (TURKEY)

Birand Represented Turkish Journalism at Its Best

Cengiz Candar comments on the funeral and career of immortal journalist Mehmet Ali Birand.

Journalists and activists participate in a rally calling for press freedom in central Ankara March 19, 2011. The recent arrest and jailing of some 10 journalists as part of investigations into Ergenekon, an ultra-nationalist, secularist network opposed to Prime Minister's Tayyip Erdogan's rule, has a triggered expressions of concern from the European Union, the U.S. and human rights groups about Ankara's commitment to media freedom and democratic principles. REUTERS/Umit Bektas (TURKEY - Tags: CIVIL UNREST

Mehmet Ali Birand, Icon of Turkish Journalism

Kadri Gürsel reflects on the life and career of Mehmet Ali Birand, who passed away on Jan. 17, 2013.

Syrian refugees wait to cross the border to Turkey at Bab El-Hawa on the outskirts of Idlib, near the Syrian-Turkey border, January 13, 2013. Picture taken January 13, 2013. REUTERS/Abdalghne Karoof (SYRIA - Tags: CIVIL UNREST POLITICS CONFLICT SOCIETY)

Turkey Angered by Petition On White House Website

A petition on the White House website calling for Turkey to open its borders to Armenian-Syrian refugees has provoked a reaction from the Turkish Foreign Ministry as the Syrian crisis now appears linked to other issues in US-Turkey-Armenia relations.

Supporters of Hamas' Gaza leader Ismail Haniyeh shout slogans against Israel in front of the cruise liner Mavi Marmara in Istanbul January 2, 2012. REUTERS/Osman Orsal (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS)

Prospects Dim for Turkey's Ties With Israel

Semih Idiz reviews Turkish-Israeli ties and sees no incentive for Ankara to improve ties with Israel at this time.

Thousands attend the funeral ceremony of the three Kurdish activists shot in Paris, in Diyarbakir, the largest city in Turkey's mainly Kurdish southeast, January 17, 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. REUTERS/Umit Bektas (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS OBITUARY CIVIL UNREST)

Ocalan a No-Show at Funeral For PKK Activists

The funeral of the three murdered PKK activists in Diyarbakir proceeded without incident, and without posters of PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan, writes Kadri Gursel.

People hold signs as they attend the funeral ceremony of the three Kurdish activists shot in Paris, in Diyarbakir, the largest city in Turkey's mainly Kurdish southeast, January 17, 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. REUTERS/Umit Bektas (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS OBITUARY CIVIL UNREST)

Kurdish Issue Key To Erdogan’s Success

Resolving the Kurdish issue is critical for Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to re-establish Turkey’s role in the region, writes Tulin Daloglu.

Yorgo Diagurisi, a four-year-old Greek Orthodox boy, eats bread during a Christmas mass at the Greek Orthodox patriarchal cathedral of St. George in Istanbul December 25, 2010. REUTERS/Murad Sezer (TURKEY - Tags: RELIGION SOCIETY)

Who Threatens Turkey's Christians?

Mustafa Akyol writes that the "Islamic-oriented" AKP government has been friendlier to Turkey's Christian communities that its secular and more nationalistic predecessors.

Demonstrators hold flags with portraits of jailed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Ocalan during a protest in Strasbourg February 18, 2012. Thousands of demonstrators protested in support of Ocalan, who was captured on February 15, 1999, and is currently serving a life sentence in Turkey. REUTERS/Vincent Kessler (FRANCE - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST)

Can Ocalan Rein In the PKK?

Any agreement between Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and PKK Leader Abdullah Ocalan on the Kurdish issues will be complicated by Turkey’s policies toward Syria and Iraq, writes Denise Natali.

Pro-Kurdish demonstrators march with pictures of slain Kurdish activists Sakine Cansiz and Fidan Dogan during a protest at the Ataturk International Airport in Istanbul January 16, 2013. Three female Kurdish activists, including a founding member of the PKK rebel group, were found shot dead in Paris on Thursday, in execution-style killings condemned by Turkish politicians trying to broker a peace deal. REUTERS/Osman Orsal (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST)

Kurdish Women in Turkey Struggle for Rights

Kurdish women struggle for their rights as both Kurds and women in Turkey, writes Sibel Utku Bila.

Smoke rises after what activists said were missiles fired by a Syrian Air Force fighter jet loyal to President Bashar al-Assad in Daraya in this picture provided by Shaam News Network January 16, 2013. REUTERS/Kenan Al-Derani/Shaam News Network/Handout (SYRIA - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST)

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

Salafists Vow to Fight Until There Is 'Islamic State in Syria'

In a rare interview, an Ahrar al-Shams fighter tells Al-Monitor that the goal of his Salafi group is to establish an Islamic state in Syria and that "We will not let go until we achieve our goal." He explained that most of his comrades “don’t know anything” about the external Syrian opposition, and that he believes Turkey is profiting from the war.