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Turkey

Turkey

May 11, 2026

Ankara 1:29 am

15°C

ISTANBUL, TURKEY - MAY 06: A man poses for a photograph in front of the newly unveiled, Turkish made intercontinental ballistic missile Yildirimhan at the SAHA International Defence and Aerospace Expo on May 06, 2026 in Istanbul, Turkey. The International Defence and Aerospace Exhibition, showcased Turkish and foreign companies new products and technology. The expo was dominated by UAV products as modern warfare increasingly shifts to drone and unmanned technologies. (Photo by Chris McGrath/Getty Images)

Analysis

From drones to deterrence: Turkey's ICBM missile signals bigger ambitions

Turkey’s planned test of a 6,000-kilometer missile could boost Ankara’s defense industry prestige, strengthen its deterrence messaging and feed a powerful domestic narrative of technological self-reliance, but it also raises questions about cost, timing and NATO protection.

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

MURAT KOCABAS/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images

Culture

How ‘dog mom’ vacuum cleaner ad sparked culture war in Turkey

A Mother’s Day advertisement featuring a “dog mom” triggered a backlash from conservative media, government officials and regulators, turning a soft consumer campaign into a flashpoint over motherhood, declining birth rates, stray dogs and even antisemitism.

Latest News

Turkey, Japan launch defense industry partnership with eye on drones

People look at a drone on display at the Baykar exhibit at the SAHA International Defence and Aerospace Expo on May 06, 2026 in Istanbul, Turkey.

Saudi FM in Turkey as Ankara, Riyadh step up coordination amid Iran war

Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud and Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan in Ankara, May 6, 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

Russian S-400 Triumph/SA-21 Growler medium-range and long-range surface-to-air missile systems drive during the Victory Day parade at Red Square in Moscow, Russia, May 9, 2015. Russia marks the 70th anniversary of the end of World War Two in Europe on Saturday with a military parade, showcasing new military hardware at a time when relations with the West have hit lows not seen since the Cold War. REUTERS/Host Photo Agency/RIA Novosti ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. IT IS D

Is Russia’s planned missile sale to Turkey the real deal?

Though some critics claim Turkey has no serious intention of buying defense systems from Russia, some military experts say the proposal is definitely feasible.

TAL ABYAD, SYRIA - JUNE 19: (TURKEY OUT) A Kurdish People's Protection Units, or YPG fighter controls the weapons in downtown of Tal Abyad, Syria. June 19, 2015. Kurdish fighters with the YPG took full control of Tal Abyad, dealing a major blow to the Islamic State group's ability to wage war in Syria. Mopping up operations have started to make the town safe for the return of residents from Turkey, after more than a year of Islamic State militants holding control of the town. (Photo by Ahmet Sik/Getty Image

How to read Trump’s blow to Turkey on Syrian Kurds

What motivated the United States' decision to directly arm Syrian Kurdish forces?

Kurdish fighters from the People's Protection Units (YPG) head a convoy of U.S military vehicles in the town of Darbasiya next to the Turkish border, Syria April 28, 2017. REUTERS/Rodi Said - RTS14EFX

Turkey angry, stoic with US decision to arm Syrian Kurds

Will US-Turkish relations worsen in the wake of the Trump administration’s historic decision to directly arm Syrian Kurds?

Models celebrate at the end of the 2016 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show at the Grand Palais in Paris, France, November 30, 2016. REUTERS/Charles Platiau FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NOT FOR SALE FOR MARKETING OR ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY - RTSU49P

Despite crackdown on Victoria's Secret, Turkey's lingerie industry still in fashion

The government’s TV watchdog, the Radio and Television Supreme Council, fined two private television channels for supposedly endangering Turkish youth’s morals by showing the annual Victoria’s Secret fashion show.

Turkey seeks to replenish severely depleted military

Many say Turkey's military education system, which is being redesigned following the July 15 coup attempt, is increasingly being entrusted to the "devout" bloc.

ANKARA, TURKEY - APRIL 17: Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan gives a referendum victory speech to his supporters at the Presidential Palace on April 17, 2017 in Ankara Turkey. Erdogan declared victory in Sunday's historic referendum that will grant sweeping powers to the presidency, hailing the result as a "historic decision. 51.4 per cent per cent of voters had sided with the "Yes" campaign, ushering in the most radical change to the country's political system in modern times.Turkey's main opposition calls

Turkey, Israel in verbal spat over Jerusalem

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s comments on Jerusalem and the Israel-Palestine conflict have cast dark clouds over Turkish-Israeli relations.

What's behind curious gold traffic between Turkey and UAE?

Gold of almost similar worth has been traded between Turkey and the United Arab Emirates in the first quarter of the year, raising suspicion that some dubious transactions may be underway.

United Arab Emirates

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan attends a news conference following the talks with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Sochi, Russia, May 3, 2017. REUTERS/Alexander Zemlianichenko/Pool - RTS14ZGN

Odds appear stacked against success of Erdogan-Trump meeting

Erdogan’s advisers are among those predicting his mission in Washington will fail.

Bullets lie next to a gun at a Sinjar Resistance Units (YBS) check point, a militia affiliated with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), in the village of Umm al-Dhiban, northern Iraq, April 30, 2016. They share little more than an enemy and struggle to communicate on the battlefield, but together two relatively obscure groups have opened up a new front against Islamic State militants in a remote corner of Iraq. The unlikely alliance between the Sinjar Resistance Units, an offshoot of a leftist Kurdish organ

Sinjar on brink of major conflict between PKK, Turkey

The city of Sinjar, west of Mosul, seems close to becoming a battleground for armed confrontations between the PKK and the Turkish army, especially after Ankara called for ground intervention against PKK fighters in Sinjar to prevent them from having a new base in the north of Iraq.

Turkish gypsies play traditionnal instruments as they celebrate the annual Spring Festival "Hidirellez", on May 5, 2013, 2013, in Edirne, south-western Turkey. Gypsies celebrate the beginning of the spring season according to their calendar. Hidirellez is celebrated as the day on which Prophets Hizir (Al-Khidr) and Ilyas (Elijah) met on earth. AFP PHOTO/GURCAN OZTURK (Photo credit should read GURCAN OZTURK/AFP/Getty Images)

Turkish fest takes Roma culture upmarket, but Roma still down

Roma music and dancing dominate the Hidirellez festivities that usher in spring in Turkey, but the country’s 4 million-strong Roma population finds little to celebrate in their daily living conditions.

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - APRIL 07: (L-R) Ipek Bozkurt, Selin Sayek Boke and Amberin Zaman speak onstage at The Fearless Women of Turkey during Tina Brown's 7th Annual Women In The World Summit at David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center on April 7, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Jemal Countess/Getty Images)

High-profile resignation rocks Turkey’s secular opposition CHP

Turkey’s main opposition Republican People’s Party is facing a shakeup as its popular deputy chair resigns over party’s inability to effectively respond to impending new political regime.

Two Syrian refugees walk along fences in Nizip refugee camp, near the Turkish-Syrian border in Gaziantep province, Turkey, November 30, 2016. REUTERS/Umit Bektas - RTSU1PW

Can Syrian refugees become boon to Turkey's economy?

The labor shortage in some of Turkey’s economic sectors — especially manufacturing, agriculture, and child and elder care — can offer employment opportunities for tens of thousands of Syrian refugees who are unlikely to return home.