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

Turkey

Turkey

January 12, 2026

Ankara 12:18 pm

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Israel's Foreign Minister Eli Cohen gives a press conference in Larnaca on December 20, 2023 talking about a humanitarian aid corridor from the Mediterranean island to war-torn Gaza. (Photo by Elisa AMOURET / AFP) (Photo by ELISA AMOURET/AFP via Getty Images)

Interview

Gaza calm could revive East Med Forum, Israel-Jordan projects: Cohen

In an interview with Al-Monitor, Israeli Energy Minister Cohen estimated that the mega gas deal between Israel and Egypt would reinforce the peace treaty and pave the way for stronger security cooperation in combating Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated groups and Hamas.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (L) gestures as he welcomes Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Mohammed bin Salman (R) during an official ceremony at the Presidential Complex in Ankara, on June 22, 2022.

Analysis

Amid Saudi-UAE rivalry, Turkey courts Riyadh without crossing Abu Dhabi

Turkey is moving closer to Saudi Arabia on key regional security files from Yemen to Gaza, while carefully avoiding a rupture with the United Arab Emirates.

Ezgi Akin

In Ankara, reporting on diplomacy, EU-Turkey ties, NATO

ATTA KENARE / AFP via Getty Images

Turkey's Fidan says Israel ties harden SDF stance as Syria clashes grow

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan on Thursday blamed the Syrian Democratic Forces’ ties with Israel for what he cast as the group's increasingly uncompromising posture in Syria.

Latest News

Erdogan denies Turkey informed of US exile offer for Maduro prior to capture

ADEM ALTAN/AFP via Getty Images

Analysis

Mideast nuclear energy goals tested as Turkey, Saudi Arabia eye breakthroughs

This photograph taken on April 26, 2023 shows the construction of the Russian-built Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant in Mersin Province. - Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will try to offset his absence from the campaign trail weeks before crucial elections by unveiling the nuclear plant by video link. (Photo by OZAN KOSE / AFP) (Photo by OZAN KOSE/AFP via Getty Images)

Samuel Wendel

By Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

Analysis

Turkey casts Israel’s Somaliland move as overreach, but Somalia’s fragility poses risks

Somalis celebrate the victory of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan after he won the presidential run-off election during the celebration organized by the government in Mogadishu, on May 29, 2023.

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

Interview

Youth, strong AI adoption make MENA leading region for smartphones: OPPO

Lay Ren

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

Turkish inflation rises, raising expectations of further rate hikes

Turkey’s inflation rate rose to 15.61% in February, marking the fifth month of consecutive increases and raising expectations for the central bank to introduce further rate hikes.

Erdogan unveils human rights reforms, raising skepticism among advocates

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan Tuesday announced an 11-point human rights action plan, pledging to fortify freedoms and legal protections after years of democratic backsliding under his government.

Elusive figure of Syrian war dies with secrets in Turkey

Heysem Topalca, a fugitive whose name was implicated in some of the most controversial chapters of Ankara’s Syria policy due to his alleged role in the Turkish intelligence operations in Syria, has died, taking all his secrets to the grave.

Turkey silent as US Khashoggi report emerges

Ankara's silence following the declassification of a US intelligence report implicating the Saudi crown prince in journalist Jamal Khashoggi's killing speaks to its own contradictions on the issue.

Turkey emerges with ‘Pyrrhic growth’ from pandemic-hit 2020

Turkey’s economy grew 1.8% last year despite the pandemic, but not without major risks and downsides, including a smaller GDP in terms of dollars.

An illustration photo taken on January 25, 2021 shows the application Clubhouse on a smartphone in Berlin, after Thuringia's state premier Bodo Ramelow admitted on the chat app to playing Candy Crush on his phone during online pandemic response meetings with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. - Bodo Ramelow, head of the eastern Thuringia state, made the confession during what he thought was a closed meeting on the invitation-only audio chatroom app Clubhouse at the weekend. (Photo by Odd ANDERSEN / AFP) (Phot

Turkish politics has entered Clubhouse

Clubhouse, an invite-only chat app, is connecting people around the world and providing a platform for muffled voices in Turkey.

Iraqis, one with a national flag, stand in front of a banner bearing a portrait of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during a demonstration to demand the withdrawal of the Turkish troops from the Bashiqa camp, located in the Mosul province, on October 8, 2016 outside the Turkish Embassy in Baghdad.
Turkey said on October 6, 2016 that its troops will remain in Iraq despite Baghdad's growing anger ahead of a planned operation to retake the Iraqi city of Mosul from Islamic State group jihadists. Turkey ha

Turkish-Iranian rivalry heats up over Mosul

Turkey’s increasing focus on Iraq’s Sinjar region is linked to a broader rivalry with Iran for influence over Mosul.

Students wearing protective face masks attend a lesson at a private school in Ankara, on February 15, 2021, amid the crisis linked with the Covid-19 pandemic. (Photo by Adem ALTAN / AFP) (Photo by ADEM ALTAN/AFP via Getty Images)

With Turkey set to reopen schools, educators and health experts urge caution amid pandemic

Turkey will resume widescale face-to-face education March 1 as some educators and health experts warn premature normalization measures could spur a rise in coronavirus cases.

In this picture taken on September 30, 2020 shows logos of social networking websites displayed on a mobile phone's screen in Istanbul. - Turkey on Thursday starts life under a new social media law that threatens to erase the local presence of Facebook and Twitter should they fail to take down contentious posts.The new legislation was pushed through by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's ruling AKP party and follows the government's crackdown on opposition newspapers and television channels. (Photo by Ozan KOS

Turkish government's fact-checking app brings concern, ridicule

Turkey’s information tsar Fahrettin Altun’s announcement of a “next-generation application” to combat “false facts” raised fears of further control over social media.

Turkish President and leader of the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) Recep Tayyip Erdogan delivers a speech during a meeting of members of the AK Party at the Turkish Grand National Assembly in Ankara, on February 24, 2021. (Photo by Adem ALTAN / AFP) (Photo by ADEM ALTAN/AFP via Getty Images)

The Takeaway: US-Turkey strains worsening over Syrian Kurds amid fresh Erdogan complaints

Turkish president questions US-Turkey NATO alliance, while Iran expands influence in eastern Syria; US still partner of choice for GCC countries, but China may be gaining; kingdom offers inducements to businesses; more!

Customers stand by the desk at a currency exchange office, in Ankara, Turkey on February 5, 2021. - Turkey's central bank is to decide interest rate on February 18, 2021. (Photo by Adem ALTAN / AFP) (Photo by ADEM ALTAN/AFP via Getty Images)

Where is the money? Erdogan feels the heat over foreign reserves drain

Turkey’s government goes on the defensive as the main opposition presses for answers on how the central bank ended up with negative reserves.

AT SEA - MARCH 30: The sun rises over the Turkish coastline as Portuguese Frontex crew monitor the Aegean sea between Turkey and Greece for boats carrying refugees on March 30, 2016 near Mithymna, Greece. Frontex is a European Union border agency and was established in 2004 to manage the cooperation between national border guards in securing their external borders. New arrivals of refugees and migrants on the island of Lesbos have reduced dramatically to almost non over the last week, since a deal between

Turkey accuses Greece of harassing research vessel in eastern Mediterranean

The two countries are set for renewed talks over Aegean maritime zones in early March.