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

Turkey

Turkey

September 18, 2026

Ankara 1:38 pm

19°C

Traders work at their desks on the floor of the Borsa Istanbul

Turkey detains finance executives amid market turmoil

Several prominent Turkish finance executives were swept up by authorities on Thursday amid efforts to contain a market rout that has exposed strains in the country’s investment-fund industry.

Vyacheslav PROKOFYEV / AFP via Getty Images

Turkey's Erdogan to run for 'final' third term in 2028, adviser says

If Turkey's parliament votes to move the next election up during President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s second term, he could constitutionally run for third.

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)

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

Russian S-400 anti-aircraft missile systems move through Red Square during the Victory Day military parade in Moscow on May 9, 2021.

Is Moscow using the S-400 against Turkey?

Ankara denies the suggestion from Moscow that a second batch of S-400s is headed for Turkey and says it is an effort to stall Turkey’s talks with the United States and Europe.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (C,R) meets Turkey's Nationalist Movement Party's (MHP) leader Devlet Bahceli (C,L) at the Turkish Grand National Assembly in Ankara, on Nov. 19, 2019.

Turkey’s ruling alliance to ease election threshold, but opponents smell trap

An agreement between the AKP and the MHP to cut the vote baseline to enter parliament from 10% is seen as a bid to undermine the opposition.

(L to R) Kuwait's Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah al-Khaled al-Sabah, OIC Secretary-General Yousef bin Ahmed Al-Othaimeen, Qatars Emir Sheikh Tamim al-Thani, French President Emmanuel Macron, Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan, Iraq's Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhemi, Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, Jordan's King Abdullah II, Arab League Secretary General Ahmed Aboul-Gheit, Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, secretary-general of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Nayef al-Hajraf, Irani

What Erdogan missed in skipping Baghdad conference

The Turkish president’s absence from the regional summit in Baghdad underscores the urgent need for Turkey to mend fences with Iraq and rethink the cost of its confrontational policies in the region.

WAKIL KOHSAR/AFP via Getty Images

Qatar in talks with Taliban, Turkey to reopen Kabul airport

Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani said there is “no clear indication” of when flights will resume at Hamid Karzai International Airport.

gavenc

Turkish dissident columnist attacked by unknown assailants

The assault on the vocal dissident comes at a time of tightened grip on artists, singers, and dramatists.

Pedestrians walk on Istiklal Street, the main shopping street in Istanbul, on the fourth day of the Eid-al-Adha holiday on July 23, 2021.

Turkey’s record growth rate belies murky economic prospects

Eager to woo back disgruntled voters, Erdogan appears bent on stimulating economic growth at the risk of stoking Turkey’s currency troubles.

Abu Dhabi's Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan (L) shakes hands with Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan before a meeting in Ankara on Feb. 28, 2012.

Iraqi Kurdish leader helps ease Turkey-UAE tensions

Iraqi Kurdistan President Nechirvan Barzani helped facilitate a recent phone call between Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Jin of BTS performs onstage during 102.7 KIIS FM's Jingle Ball 2019 Presented by Capital One at the Forum on Dec. 6, 2019 in Los Angeles, California.

Turkey’s Family Ministry moves to turn down K-pop

Turkey is full of young fans of Korean pop music, angering conservatives who claim the K-pop movement encourages homosexuality.

Jandarma officers monitor Afghan migrants sitting in the back of a smuggler's van that was caught transporting the migrants from the Turkey-Iran border on July 10, 2021 in Caldiran, Turkey.

Turkey won't accept 'refugee burden' from Afghanistan

Turkey, which already hosts more than 300,000 Afghans, has warned it doesn't have the resources to accept additional migrants from the war-torn country.

Hayat Tahrir al-Sham in Syria celebrates Taliban's declared "Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan"

Are Syrian jihadis ready to take the fight to Afghanistan?

Afghanistan revives terror challenges for Washington; Russia anticipates security vacuum; Erdogan senses an opportunity.

OMAR HAJ KADOUR/AFP via Getty Images

Turkey’s targeted killings signal new strategy against Syrian Kurdish forces

A series of Turkish drone strikes targeting senior Kurdish figures in northeast Syria appears to be the prelude of an attrition strategy to further restrict the main Syrian Kurdish group in the region and hamper its autonomy project.

In this handout provided by the US Air Force, an aircrew prepares to load evacuees aboard a C-17 Globemaster III aircraft.

Turkey, Taliban hold talks in Kabul as airport security in doubt

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Ankara hasn't decided whether to provide the Taliban with technical assistance at Kabul's international airport.