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

Turkey

Turkey

May 19, 2026

Ankara 3:31 am

8°C

Ships navigate the Bosphorus Strait on May 02, 2026 in Istanbul, Turkey. Since the outbreak of the US-Israeli war against Iran, forcing the closure of the Strait of Hormuz and together with the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, global shipping routes have been severely impacted. Soaring shipping costs, lengthening delivery times and less efficient routes have seen increased pressure on energy markets and supply chains worldwide. (Photo by Chris McGrath/Getty Images)

Analysis

Why Turkey sees opportunity in Hormuz crisis to boost Middle Corridor

Ankara seeks to exploit transport disruptions from the Iran, Ukraine wars to push the corridor, but high costs, logistical bottlenecks and South Caucasus politics pose obstacles.

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

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

Latest News

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

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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

Turkey's main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) Leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu (C) arrives for a meeting at the Turkish parliament in Ankara April 8, 2014. REUTERS/Umit Bektas (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR3KEBO

Nepotism flourishes under AKP

Turkey’s main opposition party has revealed a list of government workers who got public jobs through corrupt channels and created a website for citizens to report other cases.

Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan addresses the Turkish Parliament during a debate marking the reconvene of the parliament in Ankara October 1, 2014. Turkey will fight against Islamic State and other "terrorist" groups in the region but will stick to its aim of seeing Syrian President Bashar al-Assad removed from power, Erdogan said on Wednesday. REUTERS/Umit Bektas (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR48IMI

Erdogan continues to consolidate power

Turkey remains a parliamentary system under its present constitution, but there is little preventing President Recep Tayyip Erdogan from taking steps to fulfill his ambition of becoming the country’s paramount leader.

Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan (C) addresses his supporters upon his arrival to Ataturk Airport in Istanbul December 27, 2013. A Turkish court blocked a government attempt to force police to disclose investigations to their superiors, officials said on Friday, in a setback for Erdogan's attempts to manage fallout from a high-level corruption scandal. REUTERS/Osman Orsal (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS CRIME LAW CIVIL UNREST) - RTX16V6A

Gulenists defeated on first anniversary of corruption probes

A year after the December 2013 corruption probes, Erdogan’s government continues to grapple with the ghosts of the covered-up scandals, while the Gulen community stands defeated in the open war it launched on the government through the probes.

Israeli attack intensifies Syrian anger, despair

Syrians on social media mock “right to respond”; US says Syrian rebels will not overthrow Assad; Syrian patriarch pleads for peace; Russia steps up diplomacy; Jumblatt sees no future for Assad; Turkey’s shadow government; Qatar and Turkey draw congressional ire over support for Hamas.

Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) walks past a photographer at the Botas gas pumping station in Durusu near Turkey's Black Sea city of Samsun, November 17, 2005 during the inauguration of a gas pipeline "Blue Stream" carrying Russian gas to Turkey through Black Sea. REUTERS/Mustafa Ozer/Pool - RTR1B7TH

Energy deals may make Turkey irreversibly reliant on Moscow

Despite the celebratory sentiment in Ankara after Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit, Turkey’s energy dependence on Russia is bound to further increase with nuclear power plant projects.

Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan poses after an official ceremony to mark Republic Day at the new Presidential Palace in Ankara October 29, 2014. REUTERS/Umit Bektas (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS ANNIVERSARY) - RTR4C07N

Shadow government set up in Erdogan’s white palace

Worried about corruption investigations and intent on holding on to power, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is setting up a shadow government.

A worker checks the valve gears in a natural gas control centre of Turkey's Petroleum and Pipeline Corporation, 35 km (22 miles) west of Ankara, February 14, 2012. REUTERS/Umit Bektas (TURKEY - Tags: BUSINESS ENERGY) - RTR2XU2U

In natural gas, all pipelines go through Turkey

Natural gas from Iraq is to reach Turkey in 2017, Azeri gas is to arrive in 2018 and Iran, Russia and Israel also want to sell their natural gas via Turkey.

A psoriasis patient displays his hands as he relaxes in a hot spa pool as part of his treatment in Kangal, 105 kilometers (65 miles) south of the central Anatolian city of Sivas August 8, 2009. The treatment is believed to heal Psoriasis, a chronic skin disease which affects the joints and skins. Garra rufa obtusa, also known as "doctor fish" which live in mineral-rich hot spa pools, is used in the treatment as they nibble away the diseased skin. The mineral-rich water is then believed to aid in the healing

Turkey legalizes alternative medicine

The Turkish government has paved the way for hospitals to use treatments dating back to Seljuk and Ottoman times, including bloodsucking leeches and scar-healing flies.

Students of Tevfik Ileri Imam Hatip School eat and chat during a break in Ankara November 18, 2014. Turkey has seen a sharp rise in religious schooling under reforms which President Tayyip Erdogan casts as a defence against moral decay, but which opponents see as an unwanted drive to shape a more Islamic nation. Almost a million students are enrolled in "imam hatip" schools this year, up from just 65,000 in 2002 when Erdogan's Islamist-rooted AK Party first came to power, he told the opening of one of the s

Erdogan Islamizes education system to raise 'devout youth'

Religious education may become compulsory in primary schools in Turkey following the transformation of hundreds of secular schools into religious education establishments.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg (L) Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi (CL) and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry (CR) attend a round table meeting of the global coalition to counter the Islamic State militant group at NATO headquarters in Brussels December 3, 2014. REUTERS/Eric Vidal (BELGIUM - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTR4GIZ7

What happened at anti-IS coalition meeting?

A diplomatic source participating in the gathering of the international coalition against the Islamic State told Al-Monitor that Turkey sought to undermine its regional rivals for its own interests.

Why Davutoglu's Armenian adviser angered AKP deputies

One should listen to Etyen Mahcupyan, now top adviser to Ahmet Davutoglu, to see both a sophisticated defense of the AKP but also to see where exactly it goes wrong.

Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan (R) and Hamas' Gaza leader Ismail Haniyeh greet members of parliament from Erdogan's ruling AK Party (AKP) during a meeting at the Turkish parliament in Ankara January 3, 2012. REUTERS/Stringer (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR2VUBV

Hamas in Turkey on alert after Israeli complaint

Hamas officials in Turkey are taking precautions after Israel’s complaint to NATO against Ankara for hosting the Palestinian Islamist group, fearing that Israel might resume assassinating its leaders abroad.