Turkey - AL-MONITOR: The Middle Eastʼs leading independent news source since 2012

Turkey

Turkey

July 27, 2026

Ankara 5:52 pm

28°C

YASIN AKGUL/AFP via Getty Images

Analysis

Iran war puts Turkey’s inflation fight, lira under fresh pressure

A prolonged Iran war is leaving Turkey's economy management caught between maintaining painful monetary tightening and cutting rates before the economy is ready.

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

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

Latest News

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

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.

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.

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

A member of the Kurdish Peshmerga forces stands guard at a security point on Bashiqa mountain, overlooking Islamic State held territories of Mosul, 12 km northeast of Mosul City, March 7, 2015. REUTERS/Asmaa Waguih (IRAQ - Tags: POLITICS MILITARY CONFLICT) - RTR4SF1J

Turkey to support Mosul operation from sidelines

Turkey will provide assistance to the forces organizing to retake Mosul from the Islamic State, but will not engage directly in military conflict.

Journalists demanding freedom for the media take part in a protest against Turkey's ruling AK Party (AKP) in Ankara February 15, 2014. The signs read: "Journalism is asking questions, not keeping silent" (L) and "Press freedom also means people's freedom to access information" (C and R). REUTERS/Umit Bektas (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST MEDIA) - RTX18VGG

Tulay Cetingulec on why she writes

Al-Monitor contributor Tulay Cetingulec shares her thoughts on journalism.

WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 08: Safak Pavey (2nd L), a parliament member of Turkey, is introduced by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (2nd R) during a presentation ceremony of the International Women of Courage Awards as first lady Michelle Obama (L) looks on at the State Department March 8, 2012 in Washington, DC. Ten women from around the world were presented with the awards during the sixth annual ceremony to recognize their courage and leadership. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Turkish MP overcomes tragedy

Safak Pavey, who lost a leg and an arm in a train accident, spent years working on humanitarian missions in conflict zones and is now fast rising in politics as an active female member of Turkey’s parliament.

Kurdish refugees from the Syrian town of Kobani wait to fill their bottles around a clean water source at a refugee camp in the border town of Suruc, Sanliurfa province, February 1, 2015. REUTERS/Umit Bektas (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST CONFLICT) - RTR4NRTZ

Kurdish refugees reject government-run camp in Turkey

Kurdish refugees from Kobani are shunning the well-funded and staffed AFAD Suruc camp to stay in nearby municipal-run camps with fewer facilities.

Gulten Kisanak, the Peace and Democracy party candidate campaigning to be Mayor of Diyarbakir, speaks with journalists after casting her ballot in Diyarbakir on March 30, 2014, during municipal elections in Turkey ahead of a presidential vote in six months and parliamentary polls next year. Turkey's Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan, embattled by protests and corruption scandals, faced a crucial popularity test today when over 50 million eligible voters cast their ballots in local elections. More than 50 million

One woman's journey from prisoner to mayor

Diyarbakir Mayor Gultan Kisanak is among thousands of activists who served time in Diyarbakir prison after the coup in 1980, and like many she was tortured for refusing to renounce her Kurdish identity.

Grand Mufti of Turkey Mehmet Gormez shakes hands with a onlooker after an inauguration ceremony in front of the Gazi Husrev Begova mosque in Sarajevo, November 15, 2012. Newly elected Husein Kavazovic is the 14th Grand Mufti of the Islamic Community in Bosnia and Herzegovina and will be on duty over the next seven years. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic (BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA - Tags: SOCIETY RELIGION) - RTR3AFY0

Turkey's official Islamic body extends influence abroad

Turkey’s giant Directorate of Religious Affairs, which runs the country’s 85,000 mosques and employs 122,000 people, has assumed an increasingly active role in the government’s foreign policy.

Turkey's soaring sculptress

Turkish Jewish sculptor Nadia Arditti has emerged as one of Turkey’s leading artistic voices abroad since she returned home after pogroms forced her family to flee the country in the 1950s.

A street vendor sells traditional Turkish bagels, simit, outside the historical Grand Bazaar, known as the Covered Bazaar, in Istanbul January 3, 2014. When a senior Turkish businessman publicly criticised the central bank this week for failing to stabilise the tumbling lira currency, he was taking aim at a pillar of support for the government: its reputation for strong economic management. Monetary policy "is causing losses to companies which made transactions trusting in the central bank", complained Mehm

Pinar Tremblay on why she writes

Al-Monitor contributor Pinar Tremblay shares her thoughts on journalism.

Turkey's new President Tayyip Erdogan (2nd L) and outgoing President Abdullah Gul (R), attend a handover ceremony at the Presidential Palace of Cankaya in Ankara August 28, 2014. Erdogan was sworn in as Turkey's 12th president at a ceremony in parliament on Thursday, cementing his position as the country's most powerful modern leader, in what his opponents fear will herald an increasingly authoritarian rule. REUTERS/Umit Bektas (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR444TR

Did Erdogan undermine Gul?

Turks question why President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said it would be good for former President Abdullah Gul to run for parliament.

Pro-Kurdish politicians Sirri Sureyya Onder (3rd L) and Pervin Buldan (6th R) read the statement of jailed Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan as they are flanked by other Kurdish politicians during a gathering to celebrate Newroz in the southeastern Turkish city of Diyarbakir March 21, 2013. Ocalan ordered his fighters on Thursday to cease fire and withdraw from Turkish soil as a step to ending a conflict that has killed 40,000 people, riven the country and battered its economy. Hundreds of thousands of K

From housewife to Kurdish peace negotiator

Once a housewife, Pervin Buldan rose to the forefront of Kurdish politics, driven by her husband’s extrajudicial murder, and is now a member of the team involved in the talks between Ankara and jailed PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan.

The peace monument by Turkish sculptor Mehmet Aksoy is pictured in Kars, northeastern Turkey, January 9, 2011. The fate of a giant peace monument symbolising reconciliation between Turks and Armenians has caused a row in Turkey after Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan branded it "monstrous" and called for its demolition. The unfinished monument by renowned Turkish sculptor Aksoy consists of two concrete figures more than 30 metres high who face each other on an hill in the northeastern city of Kars. Picture take

Erdogan fined $3,800 for insulting peace monument

A Turkish court has ordered President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to pay compensation for disparaging a statue dedicated to Turkish-Armenian friendship as a "monstrosity," leading to its demolition.

Syrian writer and journalist Samar Yazbek poses on September 26, 2014 in Paris. AFP PHOTO JOEL SAGET (Photo credit should read JOEL SAGET/AFP/Getty Images)

10 Middle Eastern writers you should know

These 10 female writers are challenging conceptions of women in the Middle East.