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Turkey

Turkey

July 16, 2026

Ankara 5:36 am

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Ozgu Ozel

Turkish opposition leader Ozgur Ozel could launch new party by August

Ozgur Ozel’s remarks on a potential new party came as the legal crackdown on the main opposition widened further this week with the arrest and suspension of the mayor of Cankaya,one of the party’s most secure and symbolically important strongholds in the heart of Ankara.

Visitors stand inside Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque in Istanbul on April 14, 2025.

Russian couple faces deportation from Turkey after Bible reading at Hagia Sophia

The couple were detained after reading from the Bible inside the Istanbul landmark, which remains one of Christianity’s most important historic sites despite its conversion into a mosque.

Turkish Defense Minister Yasar Guler and his Egyptian counterpart, Lt. Gen. Ashraf Salem Zaher, met at the Turkey’s Defense Ministry in Ankara, July 13, 2026.

Turkey, Egypt expand military ties with cooperation frameworks: What to know

Increasing defense cooperation between Ankara and Cairo comes as Turkey seeks to offset the expanding Greek-Cypriot-Israeli alignment in the Eastern Mediterranean.

Latest News

Analysis

From S-400s to SAMP/T: Turkey’s defense pivot gathers pace after NATO summit

Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer (L) and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan pose after signing a defense partnership agreement on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey, Wednesday, July 8, 2026.

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

Lebanese PM Salam in Turkey as Erdogan seeks wider regional role

Lebanon's Prime Minister Nawaf Salam speaks during a joint declaration press event with French President following their meeting at the Elysee Presidential Palace in Paris on April 21, 2026.

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

Erdogan draws red line over US Embassy's move to Jerusalem

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is threatening to sever ties with Israel if the United States moves its embassy to Jerusalem, positioning himself as a global defender of Islam at the risk of further tension with the West.

Are Turkey and Europe seeking a new kind of relationship?

Turkey’s EU membership bid has reached an impasse, but cooperation between Ankara and Brussels continues in key areas of mutual interest.

A man looks at newspapers at a kiosk in Diyarbakir, Turkey November 2, 2015. Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday the nation had voted for stability in a parliamentary election that saw the AK Party he founded win almost 50 percent of the vote, and said the world should respect the result. REUTERS/Stoyan Nenov - GF20000042856

Is corruption in Turkey so commonplace even journalists are inured?

Despite strict rules and regulations, freebies and moonlighting have become the norm in Turkish media, and offenders go without any sort of legal or punitive action.

Turkey pays homage to 'ceramicist for the people'

The "Fureya Koral Retrospective" in Istanbul shows how a pioneering artist reinterpreted ceramics, a traditional Turkish craft, to create murals in the new republic.

The real reason Iranian media is fixated on Zarrab case

Reza Zarrab’s testimony in a US court is attracting the attention of Iranian media because he has been linked to an Iranian billionaire who siphoned off Iranian oil money in Iran's sanctions evasion scheme.

Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) spokesman Talal Silo speaks during a press conference in Hukoumiya village in Raqqa, Syria June 6, 2017.REUTERS/Rodi Said - RC1543C159D0

SDF commander's claims of Turkish allegiance raise eyebrows

Talal Silo, the former spokesman of the Syrian Democratic Forces, claims to have defected to Turkey and continues to offer contradictory accusations that the US-backed group was established as a cover for US support for Kurdish terror groups.

A Syrian refugee woman walks between tents in Nizip refugee camp, near the Turkish-Syrian border in Gaziantep province, Turkey, November 30, 2016. REUTERS/Umit Bektas - RC1B34636AE0

Ankara pressed to explain $30 billion refugee bill

Turkey’s opposition is piling up pressure on President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his government to provide a transparent account of the $30 billion that Ankara says it has been spent on Syrian refugees.

US President Donald Trump shakes hands with with Greece's Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras following a press conference in the Rose Garden of the White House on October 17, 2017 in Washington, DC. / AFP PHOTO / MANDEL NGAN (Photo credit should read MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images)

Will Erdogan address Greece's military upgrades during visit?

A US sale of F-16 fighter upgrade kits to Greece's outdated fleet could increase tensions with Turkey, or it could be offset by the Turkish president's historic visit to Athens this week.

Russian Kilo-class diesel-electric submarine Krasnodar sets sail in the Bosphorus, on its way to the Black Sea during a hazy morning, in Istanbul, Turkey, August 7, 2017. REUTERS/Murad Sezer - RC1B0857E100

Turks accuse CIA of engineering failed coup

The arrest order Turkish prosecutors issued for Graham Fuller, a former CIA official, appears to be a Russian-Turkish joint production.

Israel 'will not blink' on Iranian missiles

The Israel Defense Forces set new red lines for Iran; Erdogan still waiting for Russian dividend on Kurds; Russia expands use of private military companies in Syria; the Islamic State and al-Qaeda at war in the Sinai Peninsula.

Iraqis fear earthquakes, terrorism could lead to dam catastrophe

Although the recent earthquakes did not cause serious damage to Iraq’s dams, specialists are calling for continuous maintenance to ensure they are not demolished in the future, leading to a disaster in Iraq.

Culture Alert: Fashion, books and photography in December

The Middle Eastern cultural calendar for the end of the year includes a book fair in Beirut, a modest-dress fashion event in Dubai and a cartoon biennial in Tehran.