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Turkey

Turkey

May 5, 2026

Ankara 2:48 am

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Sabah Fidan

Turkey hosts Kuwaiti FM as UAE's OAPEC exit fuels Gulf rift

Kuwait's top diplomat visited Turkey as the Gulf rift deepens following the UAE’s exit from OPEC and its affiliated alliances, forcing Ankara to balance ties between Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi.

Zaidi

Analysis

Iraq’s Zaidi offers economic promise for Turkey but unknowns loom

Iraq’s prime minister-designate, Ali al-Zaidi, is expected to sustain growing economic and strategic ties with Turkey thanks to his business-oriented approach, though uncertainty over his political stance could test cooperation on sensitive issues.

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

Members of the UN Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP), from the British Army's 1st Battalion Coldstream Guards, No. 2 Company, patrol along the buffer zone separating the internationally recognized Republic of Cyprus and the breakaway Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus in the divided capital Nicosia on Feb. 17, 2026.

Turkey warns France over Cyprus troop deployment: What to know

A potential French deployment to Greek Cyprus comes amid Turkey’s growing concerns of strategic encirclement in the Eastern Mediterranean.

Latest News

Turkey advances gas pipeline plan to northern Cyprus as East Med rivalry grows

This aerial photograph shows Turkey's first floating natural gas production platform, "Osman Gazi," passing through the Bosphorus, in Istanbul, on May 29, 2025.

In first, Libya’s rival armies to join drill in Turkey: What to know

Cadets of the Saiqa Force (Special Forces) of the self-styled Libyan National Army affiliated with eastern strongman Khalifa Hifter take part in a graduation ceremony in tribute to the force's late commander, Wanis Bukhamada, in the eastern city of Benghazi, on Jan. 20, 2022.

Turkey’s military spending jumps to $30B, leads Mideast growth in 2025

Turkey's submarines and fast-attack craft ships participate in the live-fire phase of the Blue Homeland-2026 (Mavi Vatan) tactical military exercises in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, in Antalya on April 9, 2026.

Analysis

Why Saudi Arabia, Egypt are wary of Turkey’s proposed 4-way defense pact with Pakistan

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan hosted the third meeting of the foreign ministers of Turkey, Egypt, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia on the margins of the 5th Antalya Diplomacy Forum, on April 17, 2026.

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

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

US pastor Andrew Craig Brunson escorted by Turkish plain clothes police officers arrives at his house on July 25, 2018 in Izmir. - Turkey on July 15, 2018 moved from jail to house arrest US pastor Andrew Brunson who has spent almost two years imprisoned on terror-related charges, in a controversial case that has ratcheted up tensions with the United States. Andrew Brunson, who ran a protestant church in the Aegean city of Izmir, was first detained in October 2016 and had remained in prison in Turkey ever si

What prompted Turkey to move US pastor from prison to house arrest?

The United States must determine what best motivates Turkey when it comes to foreign policy and diplomacy: the carrot or the stick.

A prisoner transport vehicle leaves after the trial of US Pastor Andrew Brunson who is datainined in Turkey for over a year on Terror charges, in Aliaga, north of Izmir, on July 18, 2018. - Andrew Brunson, head of a small Protestant church in the western city of Izmir, has been in detention since October 2016. Turkish prosecutors accuse Brunson of links to a group led by US-based Muslim preacher Fethullah Gulen -- who Ankara says was behind a failed 2016 coup -- and the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). (Phot

US pastor granted transfer to house arrest by Turkish court

American pastor Andrew Brunson has won a long-awaited move from prison to house arrest from the Turkish court, which credited "health issues" for its reversal.

Turkey seeks to grab bigger share of halal market

Turkey is setting up a Halal Accreditation Authority in the hope of boosting sales to fellow Muslim countries.

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM - JULY 11: US President Donald Trump walks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the 2018 NATO Summit at NATO headquarters on July 11, 2018 in Brussels, Belgium. Leaders from NATO member and partner states are meeting for a two-day summit, which is being overshadowed by strong demands by U.S. President Trump for most NATO member countries to spend more on defense. (Photo by Jasper Juinen/Getty Images)

Friction with US may affect Turkey's trajectory in NATO

US President Donald Trump and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan shared a fist bump in Brussels, but a figurative fistfight continues between Congress and Ankara.

Turkey's newly appointed Minister of Treasury and Finance Berat Albayrak swears in at the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (TBMM) in Ankara, Turkey on July 10, 2018. (Photo by ADEM ALTAN / AFP) (Photo credit should read ADEM ALTAN/AFP/Getty Images)

Turkey declines to raise interest rates, sending lira on another tumble

Turkey's Central Bank has decided to keep interest rates where they are, surprising investors and dashing hopes that Turkish policies might evolve to meet the country's dismal economic reality.

Detained pastor case casting large shadow over Turkish-US ties

Complex criminal cases with political overtones makes the case of the American pastor Andrew Brunson more difficult to resolve than it might have been otherwise.

Students pose for a selfie at Anitkabir, the mausoleum of modern Turkey's founder Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, during a Youth and Sports Day celebration in Ankara, Turkey May 19, 2018. REUTERS/Murad Sezer TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY - RC1A167FE350

Turkish woman jailed for insulting Ataturk

Conservative supporters of Turkey's authoritarian president have been uncharacteristically quiet on the arrest of a young woman for insulting Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, whose legacy the ruling party has lately been trying to appropriate.

Turkey poised to replace emergency law with doppelganger

Call it what you will, Turkey's restrictive new "anti-terror package" looks suspiciously like the state of emergency the president imposed for the past two years.

How Turkish exporters plan to avoid impact of US trade wars

Turkish businesspeople have outlined an investment plan to duck US tariffs and increase sales to the world’s largest consumer market.

Supporters of Turkey's main pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) attend a rally in Diyarbakir, Turkey June 20, 2018. REUTERS/Sertac Kayar - RC150C0CC790

Kurds discouraged by hard-liners in Turkey's new Cabinet

Turkey's new government looks too much like the old one to offer Kurds much hope for a peaceful political resolution.

Turkey ends state of emergency, but introduces restrictive new rules

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government finally allowed a two-year state of emergency to expire on Thursday, but opposition parties and rights groups say the new measures introduced to replace it are no different.

Demonstrators shout slogans during a protest against the government's plan to extend the state of emergency imposed after the 2016 coup attempt for another three months, in Istanbul, Turkey, January 14, 2018. REUTERS/Osman Orsal - RC199D207F30

Is Turkey’s state of emergency really over?

A tough security bill drafted up by Turkey’s ruling party looms as a replacement for the two-year state of emergency that ended July 19.