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Turkey

Turkey

July 28, 2026

Ankara 1:26 am

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Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi speaks during a meeting with US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth (not pictured) at the Pentagon on July 14, 2026 in Arlington, Virginia.

Zaidi to meet Erdogan as Turkey-Iraq ties take off, Kurds feel sidelined

The Iraqi prime minister's visits to Ankara and Riyadh underscore Baghdad's push to deepen regional ties as Turkey seeks closer cooperation on energy and security.

Vendors sell dry food as people shop by a banner reading " No to Inflation" near the New Mosque area in Istanbul's Eminonu district on Nov. 6, 2018.

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.

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

TO GO WITH AFP STORY BY PHILIPPE ALFROY
Priest Gabriel Aktas poses in Kirklar, a Syriac church in Mardin, south-eastern Turkey, on November 17, 2014. The Christian Assyrian community in Turkey, which now numbers no more than a several thousand, has been hit by wave after wave of immigration even since the foundation the modern Turkish state in 1923 out of the ruins of the multi-ethnic Ottoman Empire. But hope has not been lost that a future presence can be continued and memory of the past retained, with som

Eyeing political gains, Kurds and Syriacs aim to mend old wounds

At the grass-roots level, the alliance between Kurds and the Syriac community has led to bitter divisions.

Somali government soldiers and African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) peacekeepers secure the scene of a suicide car explosion in front of the SYL hotel in the capital Mogadishu January 22, 2015. The Somali Islamist group al Shabaab claimed responsibility for a bomb attack at the gate of the hotel where Turkish delegates were meeting on Thursday, a day ahead of a visit by their president, Tayyip Erdogan, to the Somali capital. REUTERS/Feisal Omar (SOMALIA - Tags: CIVIL UNREST POLITICS CRIME LAW MILITARY)

Why Erdogan’s media sees British conspiracy in Somalia

The delusional, conspiratorial narrative in Turkey’s pro-AKP media raises questions about the capacity of the ruling elites of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's "New Turkey" to understand the world as it really is.

Diyarbakir Kurds rally to show support for Prophet Muhammad

About 50,000 people took to the streets of the predominantly Kurdish city of Diyarbakir on Jan. 24, in support of the Prophet Muhammad in the biggest rally in Turkey since the Charlie Hebdo attacks.

Turkey's Energy Minister Taner Yildiz (L) and Iraqi Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari sign documents in Baghdad January 18, 2015. Yildiz said on Sunday around 450,000 barrels per day (bpd) of Iraqi oil were currently flowing into his country's Ceyhan port. REUTERS/Ahmed Saad (IRAQ -Tags: POLITICS ENERGY) - RTR4LV6E

Iraq, Turkey strengthen energy relationship

The bilateral relationship between Iraq and Turkey is strengthening following recent meetings in which an increased collaboration on oil, natural gas and electric energy production and export was discussed.

Former European Affairs minister Egemen Bagis (R, rear row) and former Environment and City Planning minister Erdogan Bayraktar (L) attend a debate at the Turkish parliament in Ankara January 20, 2015. The parliament is due to vote on Tuesday on whether to commit four former ministers, including Bagis and Bayraktar, for trial over corruption allegations. REUTERS/Umit Bektas (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS CRIME LAW) - RTR4M6MI

Erdogan stirred, not shaken, by corruption vote

AKP mavericks who voted against the party line to impeach four former ministers are facing accusations of treachery and will most likely be weeded out of the party before June elections.

Supporters of Selahattin Demirtas, co-chairman of the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democracy Party (HDP) and presidential candidate, wave flags and shout slogans during an election rally in Istanbul, August 3, 2014. Turkey will vote for its first directly-elected president on August 10. REUTERS/Osman Orsal (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS ELECTIONS) - RTR412ZU

Win or lose, Turkey's Kurds will advance in June elections

Turkey’s main Kurdish-dominated party could deal a serious blow to the ruling Justice and Development Party if its efforts at attracting broad support succeed in helping it surpass the 10% voting threshold in the June general elections.

Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (L) address the media at the Presidential Palace in Ankara January 12, 2015. REUTERS/Umit Bektas (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR4L5C4

Did the West write Erdogan off for Israel’s sake?

The Western media’s anti-Erdogan stance is fueled by Erdogan’s own partisan and ideological rhetoric.

A picture shows an Israeli army UAV landing in an airfield, in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights, on January 20, 2015, two days after an Israeli air strike killed six Hezbollah members in the Syrian-controlled side of the Golan Heights. The strike on Syria killed an Iranian general, Tehran confirmed on January 19, as thousands of supporters of Lebanon's Hezbollah gathered to bury one of the six fighters killed in the same raid. AFP PHOTO / JACK GUEZ (Photo credit should read JACK GUEZ/AFP/Getty Image

Why Israel's Hezbollah strike didn't bother Turkey's Islamists

The latest Israeli attack on Hezbollah reveals Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s anti-Assad stance is stronger than his anti-Israel rhetoric.

Turkish gay rights group (LAMBDA) activists wave peace flags infront of a mosque in Istanbul on March 16, 2010 during a demonstration against Family Affairs Minister Aliye Selma Kavaf. Some 60 activists denounced Kavaf and called for her resignation, as they accuse the Family Affairs Minister of insult, incitement to crime and incitement to enmity and hate -- crimes which are punishable by up to two, five and three years in jail respectively. Kavaf, who is also women's minister in the Islamist-rooted gover

Turkey's 'pink prison'

LGBT organizations strongly oppose a prison being built for LGBT inmates, who often end up in solitary confinement for reasons of security, which is illegal.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gestures as he delivers a speech during the launch of his Likud party election campaign in Tel Aviv January 5, 2015. Netanyahu was re-elected head of the right-wing Likud party last week, overcoming his first hurdle toward winning a fourth term in office in a March general election. REUTERS/Baz Ratner (ISRAEL - Tags: POLITICS ELECTIONS) - RTR4K5IA

Netanyahu responds to Erdogan's provocations

For a long time, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has avoided referring to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s attacks against him and Israel, but with the upcoming elections he has apparently decided to abandon his self-restraint policy to prevent being perceived as weak.

Erdogan's solo act

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s chairing of Cabinet meetings, coupled with signs of disagreements between him and the prime minister, are stoking concerns.

Ford Tourneo Courier light commercial vehicles are seen at the Ford Otosan Yenikoy car plant in Kocaeli May 22, 2014. REUTERS/Murad Sezer (TURKEY - Tags: TRANSPORT BUSINESS) - RTR3QFUD

Turkey missed its key economic targets in 2014

Turkey failed to attain most of its key economic targets last year, but was likely to receive a boost from falling oil prices in 2015.