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Turkey

Turkey

July 26, 2026

Ankara 12:18 am

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Ozgur Ozel

Analysis

What challenges await Erdogan’s new rival and Turkey’s new opposition party?

Ousted main opposition leader Ozgur Ozel's bid to challenge Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan depends on surviving a widening legal crackdown and reconciling deep ideological, nationalist and Kurdish divisions within his own coalition.

Halil Karaveli

By Halil Karaveli

Turkey’s main opposition Republican People's Party's (CHP) Ousted party leader Ozgur Ozel waves to supporters from atop a police water cannon vehicle after being forcibly evicted by police from his party’s headquarters on May 24, 2026 in Ankara, Turkey.

Top ally of Turkey’s Erdogan backs state funding for Ozel’s breakaway party

Devlet Bahceli’s suggestion exposes a more nuanced position within the country’s governing alliance over the ongoing legal crackdown against Turkey’s main opposition.

Latest News

Explainer

As Turkey rivalry heats up, Greece to acquire $4B Israeli air defense system

David's Sling.

Turkey to begin surveys for planned northern Cyprus gas pipeline

Turkey's servicemen stand at attention on a Turkish submarine as they participate in the live-fire phase of the Blue Homeland 2026 tactical military exercises in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, in Antalya on April 9, 2026.

Iran's Araghchi reveals Turkey's role in thwarting Kurdish offensive

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi speaks during a joint press conference with his Iraqi counterpart following a meeting in Baghdad on June 28, 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

Schools in crisis in Turkey’s southeast

Violent unrest in Turkey’s mainly Kurdish southeast has disrupted schools and education.

Unraveling Islamic State’s Turkish recruitment scheme

The recent Ankara bombing is being blamed on a suicide bomber unit of the Islamic State, known as Dokumacilar, recruited from Turkey’s southeastern province of Adiyaman.

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu talks during an interview with Reuters in Istanbul, Turkey, October 14, 2015. Davutoglu told Reuters on Wednesday some of the suspects in a suicide bombing that killed 97 people in Ankara had spent months in Syria and that they could be linked to Islamic State or to Kurdish militants. "We are working on (investigating) two terrorist organisations, Daesh (Islamic State) and PKK, because we have certain evidence regarding the suicide bombers having links with Daesh, but

Would you like your terror straight up or as a cocktail?

Turkey's Justice and Development Party hopes to boost its image by casting aspersions and creating terror conspiracies.

Holidaymakers rest at a beach in the resort town of Bodrum July 14, 2014. As families splash in the sea and lounge in the sun, thoughts of politics and civic duty are a world away for most Turks holidaying on the Aegean and Mediterranean coasts. Only the most committed opponents of Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan leave the beach to queue in a sweltering council building nearby to register to vote in next month's presidential election to prevent what they see as the country's slide towards authoritarianism. Th

What do Israelis want more than all-inclusive Turkish holidays?

A new survey indicates that Israelis are keen to restore relations with Turkey, mainly to battle the Islamic State.

How Turkey is planning for Assad-led transition in Syria

Ankara, still blurry, now agrees to name Bashar al-Assad ‘honorary president’ for six months.

People stroll at a shopping mall in Istanbul October 10, 2011. In a country where per capita incomes are up 40 percent since 2001, consumer's hunger for goods and services is explosive. The $735 billion economy grew 8.8 percent in the second quarter of 2011, faster than India?s and more than four times the pace of the euro zone. Loans, corporate profits and sales of cars and electronics are still rising at double-digit clips. Picture taken October 10, 2011. To match Analysis TURKEY-STOCKS/ REUTERS/Murad Se

AKP accused of cooking books before elections

Critics are claiming Turkey's ruling party has manipulated financial figures to paint a rosy economic picture ahead of the Nov. 1 snap elections.

Ankara’s PYD headache

There is little Turkey can do at this stage to prevent Kurdish advances in northern Syria as they receive munitions to battle the Islamic State.

At a cost of $500 million each month, Turkey staggers under growing refugee burden

Turkey’s spending on refugees has soared by an astonishing $1.5 billion in three months, and that figure doesn't include many other related costs.

Turkish religious scholar says 'masturbation is imperative and necessary'

A conference on religious healing, often known as prophetic medicine, held under the auspices of the Turkish premier’s wife, discussed the incorporation of Islamic teachings into the medical field and sexual proclivities.

How Turkey is leveraging the Kurds

By threatening Syrian Kurds, Turkey is settling accounts with its ally, the United States, and trade partner Russia.

Are we witnessing ‘Syrianization’ of Turkey?

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan claims “no difference” between Islamic State and Syrian Kurdish group backed by the United States; Syrian opposition groups reject UN talks; did Netanyahu ignore warnings about an intifada?

A pro-secular demonstrator holds a Turkish flag as he waits for the release of former army chief Ilker Basbug outside the Silivri prison complex near Istanbul March 7, 2014. A Turkish court ordered the release of former general Ilker Basbug from a life sentence on Friday, adding to uncertainty over the fate of court cases trying coup plots against Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan. The decision followed a constitutional court ruling on Thursday that Basbug's incarceration for his alleged role in the 'Ergenekon

Is the military the Achilles’ heel of the Turkish government?

After years of arrest and imprisonment, released officers of the Turkish Armed Forces seek justice and raise red flags about the future of the military.