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Turkey

Turkey

June 17, 2026

Ankara 12:06 am

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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan meets with Orthodox Patriarch of Bartholomew at the presidential complex, Ankara, Turkey, June 16, 2026.

Culture

Turkey’s Erdogan meets Orthodox patriarch amid push for reopening Halki Seminary

The meeting comes ahead of US President Trump’s expected attendance at next month's NATO leaders’ summit in Turkey, after Trump personally urged his Turkish counterpart to reopen the Halki Seminary.

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

Riot police stand guard at Taksim Square in Istanbul June 22, 2013. Turkish riot police fired water cannon and teargas to disperse thousands of anti-government demonstrators in central Istanbul on Saturday, as Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan castigated those behind protests he said had played into the hands of Turkey's enemies. REUTERS/Marko Djurica (TURKEY - Tags: CIVIL UNREST POLITICS) - RTX10XJP

Erdogan Holds Key To Economic Stability

The way Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan handles the protests will have a big impact on long-term foreign investors.

Is Turkey's Government Seeking Israeli Scapegoat for Protests?

There are questions whether Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is trying to shirk responsibility for Istanbul protests by pointing the finger at Israel.

Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani (C) speaks during the London 11 countries "Friends of Syria" meeting in Doha June 22, 2013. Western and Arab opponents of Bashar al-Assad met in Qatar on Saturday to tighten coordination of their stepped up support for rebels battling to overthrow the Syrian president. REUTERS/Mohammed Dabbous (QATAR - Tags: POLITICS CONFLICT) - RTX10WYN

Syria in 'Free Fall'

Edward Dark describes the despair in both Aleppo and a Syrian prison; Syria is in “free fall,” according to the chairman of the UN Commission of Inquiry on Syria.

Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan speaks during a rally in Sincan June 15, 2013. Erdogan warned protesters occupying a central Istanbul park that they should leave before a ruling party rally on Sunday or face eviction by the security forces. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTX10ORO

Erdogan Unifying His Opposition

Turkish Prime Minster Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s best option is democratization.

Cars drive pass people standing in silence during a protest at Taksim Square in Istanbul June 19, 2013. Turkey's deputy prime minister said on Wednesday he had no objection to silent anti-government protests inspired by a symbolic "Standing Man" vigil, comments that could help draw the sting out of three weeks of often violent demonstrations. REUTERS/Marko Djurica (TURKEY - Tags: CIVIL UNREST POLITICS) - RTX10TVD

Turkey’s Democratic Growing Pains

The Gezi Park protests may in the end serve to strengthen Turkish democracy.

Turkey's President Abdullah Gul (L) and Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan attend a graduation ceremony for 226 cadets at the Air Force war academy in Istanbul August 30, 2011. REUTERS/Osman Orsal (TURKEY - Tags: MILITARY EDUCATION) - RTR2QJGQ

Turkey’s Declining Image Alarms Gul

President Abdullah Gul worries about the costs for Turkey of toeing the line that the protests are part of a “grand international and domestic conspiracy.”

Protesters clash with riot police during a protest against Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan and the Turkish government's foreign policy on Syria, in Istanbul May 16, 2013. REUTERS/Osman Orsal (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTXZP3Y

Turkey's Sunni Identity Test

The Turkish government’s sectarian impulse, resurging whenever foreign policy fails, reverberates in domestic politics and fans social unrest.

A protester holds a Turkish flag as riot police order them to evacuate Gezi Park in central Istanbul June 15, 2013. Thousands of people took to the streets of Istanbul overnight on Sunday, erecting barricades and starting bonfires, after riot police firing teargas and water cannon stormed a park at the centre of two weeks of anti-government unrest. Lines of police backed by armoured vehicles sealed off Taksim Square in the centre of the city as officers raided the adjoining Gezi Park late on Saturday, where

Erdogan and the Battle For the Memory of Gezi Park

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's depiction of Taksim Square protesters as looters and marauders is an attempt to spin the facts on the ground into an "official" history of Gezi Park uprising.

A member of Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) works on her laptop in northern Iraq May 14, 2013. The first group of Kurdish militants to withdraw from Turkey under a peace process entered northern Iraq on Tuesday, and were greeted by comrades from the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), in a symbolic step towards ending a three-decades-old insurgency. The 13 men and women, carrying guns and with rucksacks on their backs, arrived in the area of Heror, near Metina mountain on the Turkish-Iraqi border, a Reuters witnes

Turkey-Kurdish Peace Process on Hold?

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government says the talks are on track, but the Kurdish side is warning of a break in the process.

A supporter wears a mask showing Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan during a rally of ruling AK party in Istanbul June 16, 2013. Tens of thousands of Erdogan's supporters massed at a rally in Istanbul on Sunday, as riot police fired tear gas to break up pockets of anti-government protesters in the city center several kilometers away. REUTERS/Murad Sezer (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTX10PV2

Paranoid Nationalism Changes Hands in Turkey

If Turkey's present crisis deepens, the Justice and Development Party may become even more paranoid, angry and authoritarian.

Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan makes his address during a meeting with the 'wise people' commission in Istanbul April 4, 2013. Erdogan chaired an inaugural meeting of the 'wise people' commission, who will be consulted on a peace process with Kurdish militants. The commission is made up of academics, journalists and performing artists, and established by the government to promote the peace process nationwide. REUTERS/Metin Pala/Pool (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTXY8EB

Iraqi Kurds Join Pro-Erdogan Protests

Fearing setbacks in Kurdish-Turkish relations, Iraqi Kurds have taken to the streets in support of Erdogan, whom many regard as being the most tolerant of Turkey’s leaders toward the Kurdish population.

A Kurdish fighter from the Popular Protection Units (YPG) holds his weapon as he takes position atop a building with a YPG flag in Aleppo's Sheikh Maqsoud neighbourhood, June 7, 2013. Kurdish fighters from the YPG joined the Free Syrian Army to fight against forces loyal to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad. Picture taken June 7, 2013. REUTERS/Muzaffar Salman (SYRIA - Tags: CIVIL UNREST POLITICS CONFLICT) - RTX10USX

Syriac Christians, Kurds Boost Cooperation in Syria

A shared desire to remain neutral in Syria links the political parties of the Assyrian Christian and Kurdish minorities despite government encouragement of sectarian security branches.