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Turkey

Turkey

July 28, 2026

Ankara 6:09 am

19°C

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

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.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan addresses Turkish businessmen during a meeting of the Turkish Industry and Business Association (TUSIAD) in Istanbul September 18, 2014. Erdogan said on Thursday forecasts are for the country's gross domestic product (GDP) to expand by 3 percent this year. REUTERS/Murad Sezer (TURKEY - Tags: BUSINESS POLITICS) - RTR46PX1

Business as usual: Turkey's never-ending love of the bribe

Some 46% of Turkish businessmen believe corruption won’t end, while the country sinks lower in the global transparency index.

Abdul-Mahdi: Now real work begins for Baghdad, Erbil

Although the oil deal between Baghdad and Erbil is a positive development, Turkey is sidelined by it and risks becoming a “geopolitical bystander” because of Russia's decision to cancel the South Stream gas project.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry gives a statement after a round table meeting of the global coalition to counter the Islamic State militant group at NATO headquarters in Brussels December 3, 2014. The U.S.-led coalition has inflicted serious damage on Islamic State, carrying out around 1,000 air strikes so far in Iraq and Syria, but the fight against the militants could last years, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Wednesday. REUTERS/Eric Vidal (BELGIUM - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST TPX IMAGES

Kerry calls Iran airstrikes on Islamic State 'positive'

Iran takes action against the Islamic State in Iraq; Obama administration cautious on Turkish buffer zone proposal; Turkey’s border under scrutiny; Russia’s diplomatic surge; Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman says "courageous" peace plan offers "painful concessions."