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Turkey

Turkey

May 12, 2026

Ankara 6:49 am

13°C

Turkish Red Crescent's cars and trucks cross the Turkish border as they leave the Syrian city of Tel Abyad on Oct. 19, 2019, in Akcakale, Turkey.

Turkey's border reopening unlocks new sphere of influence in Syria

Turkey reopened the Akcakale-Tell Abyad crossing on Monday, ending an 11-year closure along the Syria border.

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.

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

Raki bottles are displayed at a restaurant in Ankara September 27, 2011. Turkey is providing rich opportunities for merger specialists trawling for the next big deal, as the country's booming economy and improving corporate governance partially insulate it from a slowing global M&A market. The most popular M&A sectors have been energy, power generation and finance. But the biggest splash so far this year was made by the world's biggest spirits company, Diageo, which agreed in February to buy Turkish raki an

How Ankara is using taxes to target boozers

Staggering tax hikes on alcoholic beverages have made Turkey’s national drink, raki, a luxury beyond the reach of many ordinary Turks.

'Working Journalists Day' adds insult to injury for Turkish press

This year's "Working Journalists Day" is a bleak holiday indeed in Turkey, the biggest jailer of journalists in the world.

Iraqi President Fuad Masum (R) meets with Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim (L) at the presidential palace in Baghdad on January 7, 2017.
Iraq and Turkey's prime ministers held talks in Baghdad which both said reflected progress in resolving a bitter row over the presence of Turkish troops in northern Iraq. / AFP / POOL / KHALID AL-MOUSILY (Photo credit should read KHALID AL-MOUSILY/AFP/Getty Images)

Will Turkey, Iraq open new chapter in ties?

Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim’s visit to Iraq last week has signaled a willingness to improve relations between the two countries after a period of intense animosity.

People walk past a picture of Syria's President Bashar al-Assad at Bab Sharqi entrance, near the Jobar district of Damascus, Syria, January 5, 2017. REUTERS/Omar Sanadiki - RTX2XN2D

Two sides of Syria: Damascus and Aleppo

While Aleppo lies in ruins, life in wartime Damascus remains vibrant, but not untouched.

A Turkish flag (R) flies among others flags of NATO members during the North Atlantic Council (NAC) at the Alliance headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, July 28, 2015. REUTERS/Francois Lenoir/File Photo - RTSRWLT

Will Turkey leave NATO?

Observers wonder whether an offer of full membership in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization would lure Turkey away from NATO and the country's "suffering" at the hands of the European Union.

Riot police scuffle with protesters trying to march to the Turkish Parliament as the lawmakers gather to debate the proposed constitutional changes in Ankara, Turkey, January 9, 2017. REUTERS/Umit Bektas - RTX2Y3PK

Contentious debate opens on Turkish presidential system

Although a constitutional amendment to switch the Turkish government to a presidential system looks likely to pass parliament, the outcome of a referendum on the measure is anyone's guess.

A female member of the Sinjar Resistance Units (YBS), a militia affiliated with the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), carries a sniper and an AK-47 rifle in the village of Umm al-Dhiban, northern Iraq, April 29, 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 lefti

Who's fighting whom in Iraq's Sinjar?

After KRG Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani warned that the KRG may resort to force to expel the Kurdistan Workers Party from Sinjar, tensions rose in the region.

Ambulances are parked next to the site of an explosion in front of the courthouse in Izmir on January 5, 2017.
A car bombing rocked the Turkish city of Izmir on January 5, 2016, killing at least two people and triggering a shootout that left two suspected militants dead, as authorities chased the fugitive killer behind the New Year attack in Istanbul. / AFP / EMRE TAZEGUL (Photo credit should read EMRE TAZEGUL/AFP/Getty Images)

Why Turkish government pushes 'global conspiracy' narrative

Fueled by conspiracies and fake news, Turkey’s ruling elite want to portray all hostile acts in the country as controlled by a Western “mastermind."

Foreign ministers, Sergei Lavrov (C) of Russia, Mevlut Cavusoglu (R) of Turkey and Mohammad Javad Zarif of Iran, attend a news conference in Moscow, Russia, December 20, 2016. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov - RTX2VUYG

Is Iran following Russia’s lead in Syria?

Russian diplomatic blitz on Syria includes building bridges between Iran and Turkey.

Does New Year's nightclub attack signal tough year ahead for Turkey?

As transnational networks of the Islamic State come under increasing pressure in Iraq and Syria, they are likely to shift to Turkey, while Ankara still gives priority to the Kurdistan Workers Party.

Three reasons the Islamic State is focused on Turkey

While the Islamic State intensifies its activity throughout Turkey, questions are raised as to whether Middle Eastern wars are now engulfing Turkey.

Nightclub attack brings Turkey's IS battle to domestic soil

The Istanbul nightclub attack on New Year’s Eve has made Turkey's security deficiencies painfully clear.