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Turkey

May 14, 2026

Ankara 9:05 pm

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Mazloum Kobane, commander-in-chief of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), speaks during the pan-Kurdish "Unity and Consensus" conference in Qamishli in northeastern Syria on April 26, 2025.

Interview

Syrian Kurdish commander Kobane says Turkey visit ‘in the making,’ Ocalan meeting possible

The SDF commander-in-chief reflected on a fragile integration deal with Damascus, growing Kurdish backlash and ongoing talks with Turkey as questions mount over Rojava’s political future.

Mazloum Kobane

Mazloum Kobane

SDF commander in chief

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, right, and Armenia’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan shake hands before a meeting at Prague Castle in Prague, Czech Republic, Thursday, Oct. 6, 2022.

Turkey, Armenia to launch direct trade in normalization push: What to know

The move removes a decades-old reexport mechanism routed largely through Georgia as Ankara and Yerevan step up normalization efforts.

The helicopter of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan lands on Abdulhamid Han drill ship, the fourth built by Turkey, in Mersin on Aug. 9, 2022, before being sent for gas exploration to an undisputed area in the Mediterranean Sea, south of Gazipasa.

New Turkey maritime draft bill fuels EastMed tensions with Greece, Cyprus

Turkey’s draft maritime bill seeks to formalize Ankara’s claims in the Aegean, Eastern Mediterranean and Black seas, raising tensions with Greece and Cyprus over contested maritime boundaries and offshore energy rights.

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.

Latest News

Analysis

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

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)

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

Culture

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

MURAT KOCABAS/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images

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

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu speaks at a news conference at the end of a EU-Turkey summit in Brussels March 8, 2016. REUTERS/Yves Herman - RTS9QKE

Davutoglu attempts to get back to zero problems with Iran

Analysts warn that an unpredictable harsh statement by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan could undermine Davutoglu’s efforts to gain a piece of the Iranian pie.

Why is Erdogan wary of women?

Women find creative and cheerful methods to circumvent bans on International Women’s Day parades, promising to celebrate their day to the fullest in the streets.

Women work at a textile factory in Kozluk, a town in the southeast province of Batman, April 21, 2011. Since Mehmet Simsek, Turkey's 44-year-old finance minister, left in the mid-1980s to go to Ankara University, his hometown of Batman has become known for incidents of Kurdish militancy and for a high number of unexplained suicides among women and girls. The other great blight on the area is rampant unemployment. Simsek is campaigning for one of Batman's four parliamentary seats in June 12 elections. Pictur

Why Turkish women are opting out of the workforce

A deeply patriarchal culture, work environments unfavorable to a healthy balance with family life and internalized gender roles keep many women in Turkey uninterested in taking advantage of opportunities to work.

Turkey’s Kurdish leader: We will struggle on in parliament ‘till the end’

Turkey’s top Kurdish political leader tells Al-Monitor his party remains committed to a political struggle despite government efforts to crush the party in parliament.

With spread of IS-like tactics, urban warfare in Turkey grows bloodier

Turkish officials believe Kurdish militants leading clashes in the southeast have learned techniques used by the Kurdish People’s Protection Units and the Islamic State in Kobani.

Co-chair of the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), Selahattin Demirtas (C) attends a ceremony to mark the ninth anniversary of the killing of Turkish-Armenian editor Hrant Dink in Istanbul January 19, 2016. REUTERS/Osman Orsal - RTX232RL

Armenian animosity rekindled through PKK terror

The Justice and Development Party’s repeated insults that Kurds are considered Armenians are aimed at labeling the pro-Kurdish HDP as non-Muslim, and to justify the heavy attacks on border towns in the southeast of Turkey.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (L) speaks with Russian President Vladimir Putin during their meeting at the Novo-Ogaryovo state residence outside Moscow, Russia, September 21, 2015. Netanyahu said his visit to Moscow on Monday was aimed at preventing clashes between Russian and Israeli military forces in the Middle East. REUTERS/Ivan Sekretarev/Pool - RTS25BW

Why Israel needs Putin more than it needs Erdogan

Reconciliation with Turkey is stalled, possibly due to Israeli-Russian security interests regarding Syria, Lebanon and Hezbollah, as well as Russian hostility to Israeli-Turkish rapprochement.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan reviews an honor guard during a ceremonial reception in Abuja, Nigeria March 2, 2016 REUTERS/Afolabi Sotunde - RTS8YZO

Erdogan's conquest of Africa

Turkey hopes that more muscular foreign policy moves in the Gulf and Africa will help neutralize increasing pressure from a Russia-led alliance.

Will Africa cheer up Turkey’s troubled exporters?

Turkey scrambles for trade opportunities in Africa to make up for major losses in economic ties with Iran, Iraq, Syria and Russia.

Sibel Yigitalp (L), a parliamentarian from the the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), and Abdullah Akengin, a former local mayor, holds a sit-in protest against the curfew in Sur district, in the southeastern city of Diyarbakir, Turkey, December 18, 2015. REUTERS/Sertac Kayar - RTX1ZABH

Will Turkey oust Kurdish deputies from parliament?

The events surrounding the Feb. 17 bombing in Ankara have sparked a furor against Kurdish members of Turkey’s parliament as many political forces threaten to shut them out of the political scene.

Should Turkey's military, civilian contractors be treated differently?

Civilian personnel working for the Turkish military hope to achieve equal footing with their military counterparts as a nationwide conversation unfolds in the wake of the Ankara bombing.

A digger works on the stream bed of the river Papart in Artvin province, northern Turkey, February 21, 2010. A civil initiative calling themselves "Brotherhood of the Rivers" is struggling to stop hydro power plant projects in Artvin province which they believe will damage the natural habitat badly. Turkey's Electricity Market Regulatory Authority has approved 357 hydro power plant projects in the last three years, said Turkey's Chamber of Electrical Engineer. REUTERS/Umit Bektas (TURKEY - Tags: ENERGY ENV

Green activists, and their livestock, send Turkish miners packing

Turkish fauna comes to the aid of flora as thousands of protesters — and their livestock — send a mining company packing, at least for now.