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Turkey

September 15, 2026

Ankara 2:02 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

Pro-Kurdish demonstrators march holding a banner with pictures of the three slain Kurdish activists 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)

Paris Killings Highlight Kurdish, Regional Issues for Turkey

The murders of three PKK activists in Paris highlight the centrality of the Kurdish issues in Turkey, Iraq and Syria, writes Cengiz Candar.

An Iraqi policeman of Kurdish descent walks between coffins draped with Kurdish flags containing the remains of victims during a burial ceremony in Sulaimaniya, 260km (162 miles) northeast of Baghdad, May 28, 2012. More than 700 Kurds, killed by former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, were honoured in a ceremony in northern Iraq on Monday. Kurdish officials gathered at the Police Academy in Suleimaniya province to mourn 730 victims of Iraq's notorious 'Anfal' campaign, whose bodies were discovered in mass grave

Turkey's Kurdish Issue: How Did We Get Here?

Tulin Daloglu reviews the history of Turkey's Kurdish issue.

Members of the Kurdish community gather in front of the Gare de l'Est railway station, in tribute to the three Kurdish women found shot dead in Paris January 12, 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/Christian Hartmann (FRANCE - Tags: POLITICS CRIME LAW CIVIL UNREST)

Paris Murders Reveal Sensitive Nature of Turkish-French Ties

The murder of three PKK activists has brought attention to the changes in Turkish-French relations, writes Semih Idiz.

A demonstrator stands next to a portrait 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)

Erdogan's Domestic Challenges Of Peace with the PKK

Prime Minister Erdogan's peace initiative with the PKK should be understood in the context of his other domestic political initiatives, writes Kadri Gursel.

Turkish Kurdish demonstrators march with pictures of slain Kurdish activists during a protest in Diyarbakir, southeastern Turkey, January 12, 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/Stringer (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS CRIME LAW CIVIL UNREST)

Paris Murders Just One Element Of PKK Puzzle

Tulin Daloglu writes that the recent murders of three PKK members in Paris may not derail the current initiative by Prime Minister Erdogan, but other issues might.

Members of the Kurdish community hold a banner showing the three Kurdish women, Sakine Cansiz, Fidan Dogan, and Leyla Soeylemez (L-R) found shot dead in Paris, as they pay tribute to them in front of the Gare de l'Est railway station, in Paris January 12, 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/Christian Hartmann (FRA

Erdogan to Continue PKK Talks Despite Paris Murders

Cengiz Candar analyzes the potential motivations for the murders of three PKK activists in Paris and what it might mean for the Turkey-PKK talks.

Turkey's best-loved impersonator satirist Levent Kirca holds a bouquet of carnations as he is greeted by supporters at the start of a hunger strike in Istanbul November 3. Comedian Kirca began a hunger strike in protest at a TV watchdog's "censorship" of a channel that broadcast an episode of his show. Kirca's stand against the powerful High Council of Radio and Television (RTUK) has won support from the public and from within the broadcasting industry
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In Erdogan’s Turkey, Censorship Finds Fertile Ground

Censorship in Turkey is on the rise, raising questions about the state of Turkish democracy, writes Sibel Utku Bila.

Flags, flowers and candles displayed by members of the Kurdish community are seen in front of the entrance of the Information Centre of Kurdistan in Paris, where three Kurdish women were found shot dead, January 11, 2013. Three female Kurdish activists including a founding member of the PKK rebel group were shot dead in Paris, January 10, 2013, in execution-style killings condemned by Turkish politicians trying to broker a peace deal. REUTERS/Christian Hartmann (FRANCE - Tags: POLITICS CRIME LAW)

Who Is Behind Paris PKK Murders?

Kadri Gursel speculates on whether the murders of three PKK activists in Paris might be linked to the recent peace initiative between Ankara and the PKK, and the "regionalization" of the Kurdish issue in Turkey, Syria and Iraq.

Tanker trucks wait to be loaded at Taq Taq oil field in Arbil at the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region of northern Iraq, about 350 km (220 miles) north of Baghdad, September, 5, 2012. To match Analysis IRAQ-OIL-KURDISTAN/ REUTERS/Azad Lashkari (IRAQ - Tags : - Tags: ENERGY BUSINESS POLITICS)

KRG Oil Sales to Turkey Inflame Tensions with Baghdad

Baghdad has threatened legal action in response to the Kurdistan Regional Government's decision to export oil to Turkey, while Washington stands by, writes Semih Idiz.

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)

Talks With Ocalan Offer Slim Hope for Turkey-PKK Deal

Tulin Daloglu writes that Ankara's decision to "talk" with imprisoned PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan offers limited prospects for an agreement on the Kurdish question in Turkey.

Turkey's Prime Minister and leader of Justice and Development Party (AKP) Tayyip Erdogan (C), accompanied by Numan Kurtulmus, head of the former Islamist-rooted HAS Party (L), pose with the new members of his party during a party meeting in Istanbul September 22, 2012. The party's September 30, 2012 congress is unlikely to offer any sign Prime Minister Erdogan, viewed by many Turks as their strongest leader since Ataturk, is loosening his grip on a heavily-centralised party or on the country as a whole. P

Is Turkey's Foreign Policy Really Sunni?

Mustafa Akyol writes that Turkey is pursuing an enlightened regional strategy that is not based upon sectarianism.

A general view of Ambarli gas-fired power station in Istanbul January 8, 2009. Production at three Turkish power stations has been halted as a Russia-Ukraine gas row had led to a shortage of gas supplies to Turkey, an Energy Ministry source told Reuters on Thursday, but this would not create a power supply problem, he said. On Tuesday Russian gas supplies coming via Ukraine to Turkey were completely cut, although some supplies are still coming via a pipeline which passes directly from Russia under the Black

Turkey-Israel Tensions Set Back Turkish Energy Interests

Tulin Daloglu writes that Ankara’s poor relations with Israel are hampering its energy interests in the Eastern Mediterranean.