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

Turkey

Turkey

January 12, 2026

Ankara 7:18 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

Main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu makes a press statement at his party's headquarters in Ankara, on September 16, 2020. (Photo by Adem ALTAN / AFP) (Photo by ADEM ALTAN/AFP via Getty Images)

Turkish opposition blames Erdogan for Turks killed in Iraq

Turkey's biggest opposition party has blamed the president for the deaths of 13 Turkish hostages in Iraqi Kurdistan over the weekend.

Leader of the Dutch far-right Party for Freedom (PVV) Geert Wilders speaks during a debate about French slain history teacher Samuel Paty at the House of Representatives in The Hague, the Netherlands, on November 12, 2020. - In the Netherlands, a teacher working in a school of Rotterdam had to go into hiding because of a cartoon he hanged in the classroom. (Photo by Sem van der Wal / ANP / AFP) / Netherlands OUT (Photo by SEM VAN DER WAL/ANP/AFP via Getty Images)

Dutch far-right politician under investigation for calling Turkish president a terrorist

The controversial Geert Wilders has had spats with the Turkish government before amid wider crises between Turkey and the Netherlands.

Inside Turkey’s raid on Iraqi cave where 13 captives were killed

The aftershocks of Turkey’s controversial raid on a PKK base inside Iraq are likely to pose the first test to the Biden administration in its complex relations with Turkey and Iraq.

A street vendor sits in front of the Blue Mosque during the new year's celebrations in Istanbul on December 31, 2020. - Turkish government announced a four-days lockdown between December 31 and January 04, 2021. (Photo by Yasin AKGUL / AFP) (Photo by YASIN AKGUL/AFP via Getty Images)

How Turkey became unsafe haven for dissidents

While Ankara requests the most renditions of any country, its own borders remain extremely porous, its security personnel vulnerable to corruption and its territory a playground for foreign intelligence services.

A photograph taken on July 15, 2020 shows the July 15 Monument, in Ankara, during the July 15 Democracy and National Unity Day's events held to mark the fourth anniversary of the failed coup. - A photograph taken on July 15, 2020 shows the (Photo by Adem ALTAN / AFP) (Photo by ADEM ALTAN/AFP via Getty Images)

Coup row haunts Turkish-US ties

Amid an already frosty start with the new US administration, Ankara has renewed accusations that Washington was behind the 2016 coup attempt in Turkey.

Newly confirmed US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrives for a welcome ceremony at the State Department in Washington,DC on January 27, 2021. (Photo by CARLOS BARRIA / POOL / AFP) (Photo by CARLOS BARRIA/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Blinken walks back State Department ambiguity over Turkish hostages killed in Iraq

After an earlier statement suggesting Washington didn't necessarily buy Ankara's narrative on the killings, the State Department today said that "PKK terrorists bear responsibility."

Turkish tanks are seen near the Habur crossing gate between Turkey and Iraq during a military drill on September 18, 2017.
Turkey launched a military drill featuring tanks close to the Iraqi border the army said, a week before Iraq's Kurdish region will hold an independence referendum on September 25. / AFP PHOTO / STR (Photo credit should read STR/AFP via Getty Images)

Turkey accuses PKK militants of executing 13 Turkish captives in Iraqi Kurdistan

Turkey could use the deaths as justification to launch an operation against the PKK in Yazidi-dominated Sinjar, something Ankara has been lobbying Baghdad to greenlight.

Iran denies diplomat was arrested in Turkey for allegedly helping kill dissident

The allegations stem from the 2019 killing of Masoud Molavi Vardanjani in Istanbul.

This picture taken on November 26, 2020 shows Syrian students from the "Aleppo University in Liberated Areas", controlled by the pro-Turkey opposition, attending a tutorial at a laboratory facility in Marea in the rebel-controlled northern countryside of Syria's Aleppo province, while mask-clad due to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. - The university had its first batch of 32 doctors to ever graduate after its founding in 2014, headquartered in Azaz for the past three years. Humanitarian workers fear any

Understanding Turkey's vision of medical schools for small Syrian town

Ankara plans to establish two medical educational facilities in a small Syrian town across the border as Turkish entrenchment deepens in Syria.

Turkey rejects US call to free jailed philanthropist Osman Kavala

Turkey on Thursday rejected a call by the United States to release jailed civil society leader and human rights activist Osman Kavala.

Italy top foreign investor in Turkey in 2020

Italy supports Turkey on several issues while other European states, especially France, have notable disagreements with Turkey.

US stands firm as Turkey proposes to ‘find solution’ over S-400

The State Department urged ally Ankara to get rid of the Russian air defense system