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Turkey

Turkey

June 16, 2026

Ankara 3:46 pm

29°C

Turkey's Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan attends the NATO Foreign Ministers' meeting in Helsingborg, Sweden, on May 22, 2026.

Turkey’s Fidan heads to Moscow as S-400 sanctions issue returns to fore

The visit comes weeks before Turkey hosts NATO leaders, on the sidelines of which Ankara hopes to reach a deal with Washington over CAATSA sanctions over its purchase of Russian S-400s.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan received Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Turkish House in New York on Sept. 19, 2023.

Analysis

Erdogan-Netanyahu war of words signals deeper rivalry for regional influence

The latest Erdogan-Netanyahu clash underscored how Turkey-Israel tensions have grown beyond the Palestinian issue and into a wider regional rivalry spanning Syria, Lebanon, Iran and the eastern Mediterranean.

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

Yasin AKGUL / AFP via Getty Images

Feature

Turkey’s World Cup return clouded by politics, dawn kickoffs

Turkey finally has the World Cup moment it waited 24 years for, but much of the country will either be asleep for it or arguing over efforts to claim it.

Ezgi Akin

In Ankara, reporting on diplomacy, EU-Turkey ties, NATO

Latest News

Explainer

Turkey slams France-Cyprus military pact as East Med rivalries deepen

Cyprus' President Nikos Christodoulides (2nd L) and his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron (C) review the honor guard at the Presidential Palace in Nicosia on April 23, 2026, ahead of a meeting on the sidelines of a European summit.

Analysis

As Trump admin drops Halkbank case, S-400 last big hurdle in US-Turkey ties

Russian S-400 anti-aircraft missile launching system is displayed at the exposition field in Kubinka Patriot Park outside Moscow on Aug. 22, 2017 during the first day of the International Military-Technical Forum Army-2017.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

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

Protesters sleep outside a branch of Garanti Bank at Taksim Square in central Istanbul June 3, 2013. Turkish protesters clashed with riot police into the early hours of Monday with some setting fire to offices of the ruling AK Party as the fiercest anti-government demonstrations in years entered their fourth day. Turkey's streets were calm in the morning after a night of noisy protests and violence in major cities. The posters read, "A tree died, a nation awoke" (L), "Come with millions Tayyip" (2nd L), "Yo

Turkey Between Interest Rates And Conspiracy Theories

While Turkey was once praised as a "model" for the region, the recent economic woes facing Ankara and Erdogan’s insufficient response have shaken Turkey's perception in Arab countries.

Syrian Kurds Reassure Turkey

The leading Syrian Kurdish group claims it is not seeking to break away from Syria as tensions escalate with Ankara.

Protesters, who are against Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi, react in Tahrir Square in Cairo July 3, 2013. The head of Egypt's armed forces General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi issued a declaration on Wednesday suspending the constitution and appointing the head of the constitutional court as interim head of state, effectively declared the removal of elected Islamist President Mohamed Mursi. REUTERS/Suhaib Salem (EGYPT - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) - RTX11BNS

Women at Forefront Of Egypt’s Revolutionary Wave

The role of women in Egypt’s transition will be a barometer of progress and democratic change.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu speaks to the media after the Friends of Syria alliance meeting in Amman May 22, 2013. REUTERS/Muhammad Hamed (JORDAN - Tags: POLITICS) - RTXZX4H

Turkey’s Kurdish Question Extends to Syria

The Justice and Development Party (AKP) government is struggling with whether its interests are better served by jihadists or Kurdish groups controlling areas of northern Syria.

Posters of late Shi'ite Mehdi Army members are displayed on their graves in a Sadrist cemetery in the holy city of Najaf, 160 km (100 miles) south of Baghdad September 13, 2008. Forced off Iraq streets and with diminished political clout, what anti-American Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr and his Mehdi Army militia do next will be crucial if they are to remain relevant. Picture taken September 13, 2008. To match feature IRAQ/SADR REUTERS/Ceerwan Aziz (IRAQ) - RTX8SVI

The Rise of 'Cleric Militias' in Iraq

In recent years, Iraq has witnessed a rise in militias led by Shiite clerics, with some fearing that Sunnis may soon follow suit, thus exacerbating the regional sectarian conflict.

A Free Syrian Army member inspects his weapon beside a checkpoint to siege the Kurdish city of Afrin, which is under the control of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), in the Aleppo countryside June 30, 2013. REUTERS/Hamid Khatib (SYRIA - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST CONFLICT) - RTX117H8

The Struggle for Syrian Kurdistan

Al-Monitor covers Syrian Kurdistan, the rebel siege of Aleppo, maids in Saudi Arabia and the Iraqi sex trade.

Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan (2nd R) and President Abdullah Gul (2nd L), accompanied by their wives Emine Erdogan (R) and Hayrunnisa Gul (L), attend a groundbreaking ceremony for the third Bosphorus bridge linking the European and Asian sides of Istanbul May 29, 2013. REUTERS/Murad Sezer (TURKEY - Tags: BUSINESS CONSTRUCTION POLITICS) - RTX10515

The Gul Alternative to Erdogan

Turkey’s president has positioned himself as a unifier following the Gezi Park protests.

An army check point is seen in El-Arish city, in North Sinai July 15, 2013. At least three people were killed and 17 wounded when suspected militants fired rocket-propelled grenades at a bus carrying workers in Egypt's North Sinai province early on Monday, security and medical sources said. REUTERS/Stringer (EGYPT - Tags: CIVIL UNREST POLITICS MILITARY) - RTX11NAD

The Jihadist Threat in Egypt's Sinai

The threat from violent Islamic groups in the Sinai has only worsened since the ouster of former President Mohammed Morsi.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry steps out of an SUV as he prepares to depart from the Mukataa following a meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, in the West Bank city of Ramallah July 19, 2013. REUTERS/ Mandel Ngan/Pool (WEST BANK - Tags: POLITICS) - RTX11S5Q

Kerry’s Best Kept Secret On the Middle East

The US uses its “invisible hand” for the latest mini-breakthrough in Israel.

Turkey's Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu addresses the media in Ankara June 13, 2013. REUTERS/Umit Bektas (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS) - RTX10M6J

Ankara Warns Against Kurdish Autonomy in Syria

While the Kurdistan Democratic Union (PYD) takes control of Syrian territory close to the Turkish border, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu warns Kurds against declaring an autonomous Kurdistan.

An oil tanker passes through the Bosphorus to the Black Sea in Istanbul September 1, 2012. REUTERS/Osman Orsal (TURKEY - Tags: ENERGY MARITIME) - RTR37D2S

Turkey Adds Fuel to Fight Of Iraqi Kurds for Independence

Despite Turkey’s age-old fear of Kurdish independence in contiguous regions near its border, energy ties are growing between Turkey and Iraq's Kurdistan Region.

People sit outside a cafe in Baghdad December 1, 2011. The last 13,000 U.S. troops will pull out of Iraq by the end of the year. Violence in the country has dropped sharply since the heights of sectarian slaughter in 2006-2007, but at least 10 people were killed in a bombing just north of the capital Baghdad. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton (IRAQ - Tags: MILITARY CONFLICT SOCIETY) - RTR2UPPL

New Religious Campaign Targets Baghdad's Cafes

Authorities in Baghdad have begun to encroach on personal freedoms, closing cafes even when they only serve coffee and tea after Ramadan fasting is over.