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Turkey

July 4, 2026

Ankara 9:54 am

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A screenshot of one of Deniz Goktas' standup routines posted to YouTube.

Culture

Turkish standup comic detained after act calling Erdogan 'dictator' goes viral

Comedian Deniz Goktas’ arrest comes as Ankara intensifies prosecutions against opposition figures, journalists, artists and critics ahead of a major NATO summit.

Somalia's President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud speaks during the launch of an offshore energy exploration at the port in Mogadishu on April 10, 2026.

Turkish jets strike al-Shabab targets in Somalia: What to know

A Somali Defense Ministry statement initially said Turkish F-16s carried out strikes on Al-Shabab targets before a later version referred only to “international partners.”

Syrian textile employees work in a textile workshop in Gaziantep, Turkey, on Jan. 30, 2025.

Explainer

Turkey eases job rules for 1M+ Syrians under temporary protection: What to know

The move, part of a broader easing of restrictions on Syrians living in Turkey, could allow roughly 1.1 million working-age Syrians to enter registered employment more easily as Ankara seeks to reduce informal labor and address workforce gaps.

Latest News

Turkey, Azerbaijan slam Israel’s Armenian genocide recognition as Yerevan mum

KAREN MINASYAN / AFP via Getty Images

Analysis

Why Turkey and Egypt are deepening military ties amid regional turmoil

From (L-R) Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty, Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan and Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan attend a meeting in Cairo on June 21, 2026.

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

Explainer

Israel's Armenian genocide recognition marks new front against Turkey

Members of the Jerusalem Armenian community hold placards as they march during commemorations for the 94th anniversary of mass killings of their kin under the Ottoman Empire, Jerusalem's Old City, April 24, 2009.

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

Intel: White House sympathizes with France in Libya row with Turkey

White House National Security adviser Robert O’Brien on Wednesday expressed sympathy for France’s account of events in a Mediterranean naval standoff with Turkey last month over a Libyan arms smuggling allegation.

Seven security forces dead after plane crash in eastern Turkey

The plane was conducting a surveillance mission in the Van province, but its exact mission is unclear.

Hrachik Pogosyan, 55, points at the roof of his house in the village of Aygepar in Tavush region damaged by recent shelling during armed clashes on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border on July 15, 2020. - Defence officials in Armenia and Azerbaijan said fighting on their border subsided on July 15, 2020 after several days of deadly clashes raised fears of a major flare-up. At least 16 people on both sides were killed in three days of shelling that started Sunday between the ex-Soviet republics, which have been l

Turkish defense minister vows to 'avenge' Azerbaijanis killed in Armenian attacks

As clashes fare between Armenia and Azerbaijan, Ankara has warned Yerevan that Turkey will not let aggression against its ethnic Turkic kin go unpunished.

Four years on, former AKP insiders reflect on Turkey's failed coup

Former members and supporters of Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party discuss the four-year anniversary of the 2016 failed coup and say that the rule of law and democratic principles have been weakened in the country.

Turkish workers of former state-owned tobacco and alcohol monopoly TEKEL shout slogans in protest against layoffs and the government�s labor policy on the 65th day of their strike in Ankara on February 18, 2010. Workers are demonstrating for the rights of some 10,000 workers who were made redundant by the privatization of the state tobacco monopoly TEKEL in 2008. AFP PHOTO/ADEM ALTAN (Photo credit should read ADEM ALTAN/AFP via Getty Images)

Is it 12% or 52%? Turks disagree on jobless rate

Turkey’s unemployment problem is unlikely to scale down to pre-pandemic levels, bound to remain the main pressure factor on the country’s economy and politics.

TOPSHOT - Supporters of Turkey's main pro-Kurdish People's Democratic Party (HDP) party cheer as they celebrate the Kurdish New Year during a campaign rally in Istanbul on March 24, 2019 ahead of the March 31 local elections. - Under daily attack from Turkish President and with dozens of its mayors in jail, HDP is fighting an uphill battle for this month's local elections and hopes to mobilise its supporters in the vote to capture municipal mayor posts and local councils. (Photo by Yasin AKGUL / AFP)

Another pro-Kurdish mayor replaced as detentions continue in southeast Turkey

Police detained more than 50 people on alleged terror links in southeast Turkey a day after yet another mayor with the People's Democratic Party was replaced with a state-appointed trustee.

Members of the "Tripoli Brigade", a militia loyal to the UN-recognised Government of National Accord (GNA), sit in the back of a pickup truck as they parade through the Martyrs' Square at the centre of the GNA-held Libyan capital Tripoli on July 10, 2020. (Photo by Mahmud TURKIA / AFP) (Photo by MAHMUD TURKIA/AFP via Getty Images)

Intel: Eastern Libya invites Egypt to intervene against Turkey-backed offensive

Eastern Libya’s parliament passed a motion approving a possible military intervention by neighboring Egypt to stop an offensive by Libya’s Tripoli-based government in the west.

An aerial picture shows Syrians gathering at the site of an improvised explosive device which hit a joint Turkish-Russian patrol on the strategic M4 highway, near the Syrian town of Ariha in the rebel-held northwestern Idlib province, on July 14, 2020. - Three Russian and several Turkish soldiers were wounded in Syria's restive Idlib province when a joint military patrol was hit by an improvised explosive device, Russia's defence ministry said. (Photo by Omar HAJ KADOUR / AFP) / The erroneous photographer's

Roadside bomb hits Russian-Turkish patrol on key Syrian highway

The Russian military said Tuesday that three Russian troops and an unspecified number of Turkish soldiers were injured in the attack.

Turkish women display photographs of slain student, Özgecan Aslan, who was killed while resiting an attempted rape, and other victims of violence against women during a demonstration in Ankara on June 12, 2015. Three men went on trial in Turkey over the murder and attempted rape of a 20-year-old female student, in a case that sparked an outpouring of anger over the level of violence against women in the country. Ozgecan Aslan was murdered in the southern region of Mersin in February while returning home f

Why women’s shelters in Turkey no longer provide safety

The high-profile domestic abuse case of a popular actor shows violence against women is accepted, and even defended when it comes to powerful men.

A man flashes the V for Victory hand sign and waves a flag outside the Hagia Sophia museum in Istanbul on July 10, 2020 as people gather to celebrate after a top Turkish court revoked the sixth-century Hagia Sophia's status as a museum, clearing the way for it to be turned back into a mosque. - The Council of State, the country's highest administrative court which on July 2 debated a case brought by a Turkish NGO, cancelled a 1934 cabinet decision and ruled the UNESCO World Heritage site would be reopened t

Erdogan plays out Islamic 'Reconquista' with Hagia Sophia as backdrop

The reconversion of Hagia Sophia into a mosque is a power move by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan that betrays not only domestic but regional and even global ambitions.

European Union stiffens tone against Turkey, but calls for dialogue

European diplomats consider the decision of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on the Hagia Sophia to be a provocation aimed at escalating tensions between Ankara and Brussels.

BERLIN, GERMANY - NOVEMBER 19: Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, President of Egypt, arrives for the Compact with Africa summit at the Chancellery on November 19, 2019 in Berlin, Germany. The summit, hosted by the German government, brings together leaders from 12 African nations and seeks to further the groundwork for increased private investment in those countries. (Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images)

Cairo cozies up to Baghdad, condemns Turkish attacks in Iraq

Egypt's efforts to sideline Turkey in Iraq have expanded as Cairo cements economic and military ties with Baghdad.