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Turkey

July 9, 2026

Ankara 6:33 am

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Trump 'undecided' on Turkey's F-35s as Congress seeks answers on S-400

Top Democratic lawmakers say the ball is in Ankara’s court on rejoining the US-led F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program, but suggest that Turkey offshoring its Russian-made S-400 system won’t be enough.

Armenia's Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan (R) shakes hands with Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian during his visit in Yerevan on July 19, 2025. (Photo by KAREN MINASYAN / AFP) (Photo by KAREN MINASYAN/AFP via Getty Images)

Feature

Armenia's Pashinyan keeps Iran close while wooing Trump, Turkey and Azerbaijan

As Yerevan pursues normalization with Turkey and Azerbaijan and backs a US-led transport corridor, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan is working to reassure an increasingly assertive Iran that its interests won't be threatened.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

U.S. President Donald Trump meets with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte (not shown) for bilateral talks at Beştepe Presidential Compound during the NATO Summit on July 08, 2026 in Ankara, Turkey. Leaders from NATO's 32 countries, plus NATO allies like Ukraine, gathered in the Turkish capital to discuss a range of issues involving spending targets, defense industrial production, and support for Ukraine, among other topics. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Trump declares MoU with Iran 'over' as Hegseth cancels trip to Israel

Trump said diplomacy with Tehran was “a waste of time” after renewed attacks around Hormuz, as US defense chief reportedly cancels Israel visit.

Latest News

Explainer

Why Trump bid to lift CAATSA sanctions on Turkey faces complicated path

US President Donald Trump walks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during a state arrival ceremony at the Bestepe Presidential Complex for the annual NATO Summit on July 7, 2026 in Ankara, Turkey.

Analysis

Trump's F-35 push for Turkey runs into CAATSA — and Israel

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (L) welcomes US President Donald Trump (R) upon his arrival on Air Force One at Etimesgut Air Base near Ankara, on July 7, 2026, before attending the 36th NATO Heads of State and Government Summit. (Photo by SAUL LOEB / AFP via Getty Images)

In Tel Aviv, reporting on national security, Israeli politics, defense

Canada, Turkey launch free trade talks on NATO summit sidelines

Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney (R) is welcomed by Turkey's Treasury and Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek upon arrival at Esenboga Airport to attend the 36th NATO Heads of State and Government Summit in Ankara on July 7, 2026. (Photo by Muhammed Abdullah Kurtar / POOL / AFP via Getty Images)

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

Policemen stand atop military armored vehicles after troops involved in the coup surrendered on the Bosphorus Bridge in Istanbul, Turkey July 16, 2016. REUTERS/Murad Sezer - LR1EC7G0KXRL2

How 2016 coup attempt led Turkey to buy Russian air defenses

Turkey’s purchase of Russian air defense systems comes as part of Ankara’s efforts to obtain security and reassurance from Russia against the United States, which, it believes, was behind the 2016 coup attempt.

Assad’s forces resume shelling of Idlib

President Bashar al-Assad’s forces have suspended a cease-fire and resumed airstrikes against Syria’s last rebel stronghold of Idlib, accusing the opposition of violating the truce.

(COMBO) This combination of pictures created on August 08, 2019, shows armoured vehicles of the US-led coalition driving in the town of Ras al-Ain in Syria's Hasakeh province near the Turkish border on July 28, 2019, and a convoy of Turkish armoured vehicles driving towards Bab al-Hawa crossing point between Syria and Turkey on a highway in the northern countryside of the Syrian province of Idlib on June 20, 2019. - A top Syrian Kurdish official gave a guarded welcome Thursday to a US-Turkish agreement to e

Turkey, US agree to coordinate on Syrian buffer zone

A deal to jointly control a strip of territory now held by Syrian Kurds could reduce friction between Turkey and the United States after Ankara threatened a unilateral military intervention, but some human rights advocates say Turkey will use it to put Syrian refugees back in harm's way.

People use computers at an internet cafe in Ankara February 6, 2014. Turkey's parliament, where Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan's AK Party has a majority, has approved internet controls enabling web pages to be blocked within hours in what the opposition decried as part of a government bid to stifle a corruption scandal with methods more suitable to "times of coups". Under a bill passed late on Wednesday, telecommunications authorities can block access to material within four hours without a prior court order

Turkey bans independent news sites in latest move to silence opposition

Following a new law restricting the online news media, a court order blocking 136 websites and social media accounts has highlighted the shrinking space for oppositional voices in Turkey.

Turkey's Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan smiles as delegates gather for a family photo after a meeting of G-20 finance ministers and central bank governors during the IMF-World Bank annual meetings in Washington October 10, 2014. Also pictured is Turkey's Central Bank Governor Erdem Basci (R). REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS BUSINESS) - GM1EAAB08NN01

Expect Turkish business world to embrace former economy czar's new party

Turkey’s business leaders appear to be quietly welcoming a new political initiative to challenge President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s rule as frustration grows over his inability to address economic woes.

A picture taken on April 26, 2019 shows a general view of the hall where the Syrian constitutional committee takes place in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan. - Two-day talks on Syria backed by Iran, Russia and Turkey concluded in Kazakhstan on April 26, 2019 without notable progress on forming a constitutional committee to drive a political settlement in the war-wracked country. (Photo by Alexey FILIPPOV / AFP) (Photo credit should read ALEXEY FILIPPOV/AFP/Getty Images)

Syria’s constitutional committee still mired in discord

Disputes on decision-making rules and time frames continue to delay the committee’s inauguration a year and a half since Syrian parties agreed on a committee to draft a new constitution, even though discord over its composition has been overcome.

A motorbike burns after an airstrike in this screen grab taken from a social media video said to be taken in Idlib, Syria on July 16, 2019. Picture taken July 16, 2019. White Helmets/social media via REUTERS THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. - RC1FFC6630A0

What's next for Russia in Idlib?

Following the violation of the cease-fire in Idlib, Russia faces the need to manage the breakout of new hostilities and fix the deal with Turkey.

Turkish Army tanks are seen near the Turkish-Syrian border in Kilis province, Turkey January 31, 2018. REUTERS/Osman Orsal - RC1F815A6580

US warns Turkey on Syria amid last-ditch talks to resolve buffer zone dispute

The United States says it will prevent a unilateral incursion into Syria by its NATO ally, but President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s patience is running out with protracted talks on removing Kurdish fighters from Turkey’s border region.

People use computers at an internet cafe in Ankara April 6, 2015. Twitter has complied with Turkey's request to remove images of an Istanbul prosecutor held at gunpoint by far-left militants and the block of access to is about to be lifted, a Turkish official told Reuters on Monday. Turkey banned access to the micro-blogging site and YouTube after they refused a request to remove photographs of Mehmet Kiraz, a prosecutor killed in a shootout last week. REUTERS/Umit Bektas - GF10000051058

Journalists fear broad new law will stifle online news media in Turkey

Free speech advocates fear a new law requiring licenses for web streaming services and online news broadcasters may be used to tighten censorship on the Turkish media.

ERBIL, IRAQ - JUNE 10: Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu (2L) meets KDP Leader Masoud Barzani (2R) in Erbil, Iraq on June 10, 2019. (Photo by Cem Ozdel/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)

Iraqi Kurds actively support Ankara’s fight against the PKK

Spurred by the killing of a Turkish Consulate staffer in Erbil last month, the Iraqi Kurdish administration is stepping up its cooperation with Turkey to rein in PKK activities in northern Iraq.

An officer of the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) stands guard near the Syrian-Iraq border October 31, 2012. Iraqi Kurdish President Masoud Barzani warned Kurds in Syria against being sucked into the "fires of discord," urging them to preserve Kurdish unity as tensions between rival factions threaten to spillover into violence. Syria's Kurds see the war ravaging their country as an unprecedented opportunity to gain the kind of freedoms enjoyed by their ethnic kin in neighbouring Iraq, where they

Feuding Syrian Kurdish political blocs dance around rapprochement

As French and US initiatives for intra-Kurdish rapprochement in Syria stall, it seems that piecemeal defections from the Kurdish National Council to the Kurdish autonomous administration in the north of the country are the rule of the day.

Beats for women: Turkey's star hijabi DJ leads dance revolution

Turkey's popular DJ Safir says women love the freedom of her all-female shows regardless of their politics or ideology.