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Turkey

Turkey

July 30, 2026

Ankara 5:11 pm

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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan greets Iraq Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi upon his arrival in Ankara, July 28, 2026.

Explainer

Erdogan hosts Zaidi, touts ‘historic step’ in Turkey-Iraq energy ties

The Turkish president outlined Ankara’s priorities with the new Iraqi government during the Iraqi leader’s first visit to Turkey: security, energy cooperation and the Development Road.

Latest News

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

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.

Analysis

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

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.

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

Analysis

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

Ozgur Ozel

Halil Karaveli

By Halil Karaveli

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

Strasbourg, FRANCE: Former member of the Turkish Grand National Assembly and member of Turkish Fazilet Partisi (Virtue Party) Merve Safa Kavakci, waits for judges to come for a hearing at the European human rights court, 13 October 2005 in Strasbourg, on the merits in the case of Kavakci vs the state of Turkey, against the Turkish ban of her party. AFP PHOTO OLIVIER MORIN (Photo credit should read OLIVIER MORIN/AFP/Getty Images)

Turkish hijab activist calls on state to keep out of private life

In an interview, Merve Kavakci-Islam, who was elected to Turkey’s parliament in 1999 but was unable to serve because of wearing a headscarf, said that Turkey is moving toward a “more citizen-friendly, Muslim-friendly, woman-friendly secularism.”

A member of the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) carries his weapon as he sits at a checkpoint near the city of Ras al-Ain November 5, 2013. Redur Xelil, spokesman for the armed wing of the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD), said Kurdish militias had seized the city of Ras al-Ain and all its surrounding villages. Syrian Kurdish fighters have captured more territory from Islamist rebels in northeastern Syria, a Kurdish militant group said on Monday, tightening their grip on an area where the

Syrian Kurdish leader: Turkey may end proxy war

In an interview, Saleh Muslim, co-chairman of the Democratic Union Party (PYD), says that Turkey is ceasing its proxy war against the PYD by ending its support for jihadist groups in Syria.

Supporters of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) make the grey wolf sign of the party as they wait for the arrival of party leader Devlet Bahceli during a rally in Istanbul October 5, 2013. REUTERS/Osman Orsal (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS ) - RTR3FMK7

Turkey's stalled constitution

In the post-Gezi Park protests era, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is being pressured to give up on writing a new constitution, at least until the March elections are over.

Former Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman (2nd L) waits to hear the verdict in the corruption charges against him at the Magistrate Court in Jerusalem November 6, 2013. Lieberman will return to the cabinet after his acquittal in a corruption trial on Wednesday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said. REUTERS/Emil Salman/Pool (JERUSALEM - Tags: POLITICS CRIME LAW) - RTX15212

Liberman slams South Africa as 'anti-Israel'

The harsh remarks emanating from Turkey and South Africa indicate that it's OK to criticize Israel while strengthening ties with Iran.

People sit in the back of a truck as they celebrate what they said was the liberation of villages from Islamist rebels near the city of Ras al-Ain in the province of Hasakah, after capturing it from Islamist rebels November 6, 2013. Redur Xelil, spokesman for the armed wing of the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD), said Kurdish militias had seized the city of Ras al-Ain and all its surrounding villages. Syrian Kurdish fighters have captured more territory from Islamist rebels in northeastern Syria

Does Washington have a policy toward Syria’s Kurds?

The view from Washington about US policy toward Syria may be more confusing than it looks from Turkey.

University students shout anti-government slogans during a protest against Turkey's High Education Board in Istanbul November 6, 2013. REUTERS/Osman Orsal (TURKEY - Tags: CIVIL UNREST POLITICS EDUCATION) - RTX152F9

Does AKP’s 'silent revolution' silence women?

The Turkish Justice and Development Party's “silent revolution” guarantees women’s rights as long as they do not clash with Islamic ideals.

Police arrest a demonstrator on September 10, 2013 during clashes in Istanbul. Turkish police fired tear gas and plastic bullets at thousands of people who gathered in Istanbul on September 10 to protest the September 9 death of a 22-year-old demonstrator in the southeastern city of Antakya. AFP PHOTO/BULENT KILIC (Photo credit should read BULENT KILIC/AFP/Getty Images)

In Turkey, from headscarf to 'immorality' ban

The headscarf, once a symbol of Turkey's struggle for freedom, is now normalized, but other symbols appear in its stead.

A Kurdish security forces member stands guard outside a polling station after its closing in Arbil, capital of the autonomous Kurdistan region, about 350 km (217 miles) north of Baghdad, September 21, 2013. Iraqi Kurds voted on Saturday for a new parliament that analysts said was poised to lead the oil-producing region further down the road to greater autonomy from Baghdad. REUTERS/Azad Lashkari (IRAQ - Tags: ELECTIONS POLITICS BUSINESS) - RTX13TNL

Iraqi Kurdistan more vulnerable to Al-Qaeda attacks

The war in Syria, including the spread of radical Islamist terrorists, is spilling over into the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.

Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan addresses reporters during a news conference at the Government Banquet Hall in Helsinki, November 6, 2013. REUTERS/Jussi Nukari/Lehtikuva (FINLAND - Tags: POLITICS) ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. IT IS DISTRIBUTED, EXACTLY AS RECEIVED BY REUTERS, AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS. NO THIRD PARTY SALES. NOT FOR USE BY REUTERS THIRD PARTY DISTRIBUTORS. FINLAND OUT. NO COMMERCIAL OR EDITORIAL SALES IN FINLAND - RTX152FG

Erdogan's 'morality police' assume duty

After the Turkish prime minister expressed his support for gender-segregated living on college campuses, concerns about domestic privacy were mounting.

University students shout anti-government slogans during a protest against Turkey's High Education Board in Istanbul November 6, 2013. REUTERS/Osman Orsal (TURKEY - Tags: CIVIL UNREST POLITICS EDUCATION) - RTX152F8

Erdogan stirs controversy on women in university housing

Erdogan risks losing loyal supporters with another divisive debate about the role of the state in people’s lives.

Ayse Gokkan.jpg

Turkey’s wall of shame

The mayor of Nusaybin, Ayse Gokkan, is a woman on hunger strike against a wall, and the government that interferes with everything doesn’t utter a word.

Turkish girls attend English class at the Kazim Karabekir Girls' Imam-Hatip School in Istanbul February 10, 2010. The imam-hatip network is a far cry from the western stereotype of the madrassa as an institution that teaches the Koran by rote and little else. Originally founded to educate Muslim religious functionaries in the 1920s, the imam-hatip syllabus devotes only around 40 percent of study to religious subjects like Arabic, Islamic jurisprudence and rhetoric. The rest is given over to secular topics.

Turkey’s English proficiency improving

Turkey ranks No. 41 at this year’s English Proficiency Index, but it tops the list of countries that are trending up – which is a fair reflection of its economic achievement.