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Turkey

Turkey

November 11, 2026

Ankara 3:00 pm

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Explainer

Iran war pushes up coal use, complicating Turkey’s COP31 pledge

Turkey is asking world leaders at COP31 to back a global push to use more electricity, even as the Iran war has driven up natural gas prices and pushed some power producers back to coal.

OZAN KOSE/AFP via Getty Images

Turkey bars MP’s wife from travel after his fund scandal criticism: What to know

Opposition politicians and rights advocates described Yonca Verdioglu Sik’s brief detention as an attempt to intimidate her husband, opposition lawmaker Ahmet Sik, over his criticism of the government.

A steel worker works in front of giant iron melting pot in Kardemir Iron and Steel Factory in Karabuk, northwestern Turkey, Aug. 26 2005. (TARIK TINAZAY/AFP via Getty Images)

Steel factory explosion in western Turkey kills at least 16

Footage from the scene showed a huge plume of thick smoke spreading into the sky as flames engulfed a tall structure within the plant.

Latest News

Analysis

Will Democrats block Trump’s push to deliver Turkey F-35s, lift sanctions?

MEHMET ESER/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

Costa Rica's Grynspan extends lead in UNSG poll as Nusseibeh places fourth

United Arab Emirates

Turkey’s parliament ratifies Mecca pact in boost to Saudi Arabia

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan addresses Turkish members of parliament during the opening of the parliamentary session at the Grand National Assembly of Turkey in Ankara, on Oct. 1, 2026.

Samuel Wendel

Senior Analyst, Middle East Business & Tech

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

State of emergency shuts down Turkey's NGOs

Since the failed July 15 coup attempt, some 1,500 nongovernmental organizations have been banned.

Demonstrators hold a banner reading ''Enough, we don't want child brides'' to protest against child marriage in front of the Family and Social Policies Ministry in Ankara, on February 10, 2014. According to the Turkish Ministry of Interior, in the last three years nearly 135,000 persons below 18 years of age were married in the country, with 20 times more girls than boys. Last year alone the number of under-16 girls whose families applied to the courts to marry them reached 20,000. AFP PHOTO/ADEM ALTAN

AKP bill to pardon child rapists who marry their victims

Turks are furious over a proposed law that would commute the sentences of men who have sex with minors if they end up marrying the girls, but Turkey’s ruling party has the simple majority it needs to push the law, which it claims is intended to address legal issues surrounding child marriage, through parliament.

Demonstrators hold signs in front of the High Education Board (YOK) during a protest against the suspension of academics from universities following a post-coup emergency decree, in Ankara, Turkey, September 22, 2016. The sign in the foreground reads "Let the emergency decrees go. We are remaining." REUTERS/Umit Bektas - RTSOY0Z

Turkey’s emergency rule fuels brain drain

Turkey is losing precious human capital, as many educated Turks are migrating to the West, scared off by ferocious crackdowns since the July coup attempt.

A police special forces member stands on top of a roof as part of security measures during a ceremony at the mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, marking the anniversary of his death, in Ankara, Turkey November 10, 2016. REUTERS/Umit Bektas - RTX2SYFC

Help wanted: Turkey advertises for special forces

Running short of personnel because of massive purges, Turkey's armed forces are trying to fill the void using civilians.

A Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighter looks through the scope of his weapon in Tal Samin village, north of Raqqa city, Syria November 19, 2016. REUTERS/Rodi Said - RTSSERJ

Who will take charge in Raqqa after it's freed from IS?

The Syrian Democratic Forces are making progress in northern Raqqa, cutting the supply lines of the Islamic State.

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump (L) speaks along side retired U.S. Army Lieutenant General Mike Flynn during a campaign town hall meeting in Virginia Beach, Virginia, U.S., September 6, 2016. REUTERS/Mike Segar - RTX2OE6J

Would Trump back Turkish military escalation in Iraq, Syria?

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan weighs risks and benefits of military interventions as Donald Trump transition signals possible Turkish tilt; Will Iraq's Baathists return after liberation of Mosul?

Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) talks during a joint news conference with his Turkish counterpart Tayyip Erdogan following their meeting in Istanbul, Turkey, October 10, 2016. REUTERS/Osman Orsal - RTSRNKN

How Russia views Turkey’s role in Syria

To Russia, tumultuous Turkey is a work in progress on a journey of self-discovery.

Rebel fighters gather during their advance towards the Islamic State-held city of al-Bab, northern Syria October 26, 2016. Picture taken October 26, 2016. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi - RTX2TKNU

Ankara-PKK divisions could have major impact on Raqqa battle

As the operation to clear Raqqa from IS continues, tensions are rising in the al-Bab region to the north of Aleppo, where a clash between Free Syrian Army forces supported by Turkey and local fighters backed by the People's Protection Units is becoming more likely.

Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan attends a Republic Day ceremony at Anitkabir, the mausoleum of modern Turkey's founder Ataturk, to mark the republic's anniversary in Ankara, Turkey, October 29, 2016. REUTERS/Umit Bektas - RTX2QXOE

How Erdogan can rule Turkey until 2029

A presidential system that could keep Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in power for 27 years will be a political experience that gives euphoria to its supporters and fear to its dissidents.

Members of the Shi'ite Badr Organisation fighters ride on military vehicles during a battle with Islamic State militants at the airport of Tal Afar west of Mosul, Iraq November 18, 2016. REUTERS/Thaier Al-Sudani - RTX2UAJW

Iran, Turkey fight over Tal Afar

As the predominantly Shiite Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), with the support of Iran, expand their control over the recently liberated area of Tal Afar, which has a Turkmen majority, the tension between the PMU and Turkey has increased.

A picture of jailed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Ocalan is seen in a PKK mausoleum in Sinjar region, northern Iraq, May 1, 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 organisation, and Abdulkhaleq al-Jarba, a Arab tribal mili

Will Iraq's Sinjar become new base for PKK?

While the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and Kurdistan Democratic Party are competing over Sinjar, the Yazidis dismiss fears of the PKK making it a "second Qandil."

News of arrests of YPG-linked Czechs shocks Turkey

Turkish authorities arrested two Czechs who allegedly confessed to working with the Syrian Kurdish People's Protection Units.