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Turkey

Turkey

August 2, 2026

Ankara 4:41 pm

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Explainer

Guterres visit to Cyprus revives frozen diplomacy amid regional tension

The first visit to Cyprus by a UN chief in more than 16 years aimed at testing waters for resumption of UN-led talks amid growing urgency to address the island’s division.

Sudan's de facto leader and armed forces chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan greets supporters in Port Sudan, Dec. 29, 2024.

Analysis

Amid realignment with Egypt, Turkey steps up support for Sudan’s Burhan

Turkey has been intensifying engagement with the Sudanese army leader as Red Sea security concerns grow and to protect its interests in the broader Africa region.

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

Latest News

Explainer

What’s behind Turkey’s latest wave of arrests against opposition mayors?

A demonstrator carries a CHP flag during a protest in Izmir, Turkey, on May 24, 2026.

Turkey, Pakistan among 14 countries backing Saudi Arabia's anti-Houthi Red Sea alliance

A Saudi navy ship is pictured docked at King Faisal navy base in Jeddah before the departure of a team to Port Sudan to help with the evacuation efforts of people fleeing Sudan, on April 29, 2023.

Turkey ready to participate in post-UNIFIL force in Lebanon, Erdogan tells Aoun

Erdogan and Aoun

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

A man smokes a cigarette as he sits at the site of a bomb attack in Kirkuk, 250 km (155 miles) north of Baghdad, March 29, 2013. Car bombs hit four Shi'ite mosques in the Iraqi capital Baghdad and another in Kirkuk just after prayers on Friday, tearing into crowds of worshippers and killing 17, police and witnesses said. Sunni Islamists linked to al Qaeda's Iraqi wing have stepped up attacks this year and often target Shi'ite sites in a growing sectarian confrontation a decade after the U.S.-led invasion. R

Al-Qaeda-Iraq Statement A Sign Of Rising Sectarian Violence

In a rare public statement, al-Qaeda in Iraq has announced that it is meeting with Sunni leaders in the west of the country to join forces to fight the “Iranian Safavid gestapo.”

Forces of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad are seen in Arjoun village near Qusair town May 30, 2013. Syrian rebels under siege near the Lebanese border pleaded for help on Thursday against government troops and their Hezbollah allies as a confident Assad spoke of having new Russian missiles. REUTERS/ Rami Bleible (SYRIA - Tags: CONFLICT MILITARY) - RTX106EZ

Foreign Fighters Key To Decisive Battle of Qusair

If there were ever a doubt, the war in Syria is now a war on Syria.

Riot police use tear gas to disperse the crowd during an anti-government protests at Taksim Square in central Istanbul May 31, 2013. Turkish police fired tear gas and water cannon on Friday at demonstrators in central Istanbul, wounding scores of people and prompting rallies in other cities in the fiercest anti-government protests for years. REUTERS/Murad Sezer (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTX107K8

Street Clashes Rock Istanbul, Turkish Government

Street clashs rock Istanbul, Kurds await answers to their demands, Alevis, moderate secularists and urban youths are angry, and yet the AKP is defiant.

Bartender Samet Kardas smokes as he serves beer at a bar in Istanbul July 14, 2009. Smokers in Turkey tempted to flout an imminent ban in cafes, restaurants and bars will be spared execution as allegedly meted out in 17th-Century Istanbul -- but their Prime Minister has likened cigarettes to terrorism. That's a measure of how strongly Tayyip Erdogan feels about tobacco. Sultan Murad IV is said to have roamed the streets ordering the execution of those who defied a smoking ban aimed at curbing coffee house s

'Moderate Political Islam' Leading Turkey to 'Moderate Sharia'

The alcohol ban admitted by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to be religiously motivated is a negative response to the question, "Is moderate political Islam compatible with democracy?”

TO GO WITH AFP STORY BURAK AKINCI
This photo taken on January 29, 2011, in Ankara, shows protesters drinking alcohol as they demonstrate against new laws banning alcohol sales in the Turkish capital and several Anatolian towns. Since 2002 the conservative ruling Justice and Development Party has brought many new bureaucratic hurdles to the sale of alcohol nationwide. Most recently, authorities in the province of Afyon tried to forbid alcohol completely but had to exlude "picnic" zones from the restriction

Is There Really a Turkish 'Jihad' Against Alcohol?

No, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is not waging a jihad on alcohol in Turkey. A response to Kadri Gursel.

Turkish riot police use water cannon to disperse demonstrators during a protest against the destruction of trees in a park brought about by a pedestrian project, in Taksim Square in central Istanbul May 31, 2013. REUTERS/Osman Orsal (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST ENVIRONMENT CRIME LAW TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) - RTX106X6

Erdogan Denies He Is a King

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s authoritarian tendencies are starting to draw some worrying historical comparisons.

Mayor of Tehran, Iranian Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf attends a press conference after registering his candidacy for the upcoming presidential election at the interior ministry in Tehran on May 11, 2013. Iran will close the five-day registration period for candidates in Iran's June 14 presidential election, with a string of conservative hopefuls in the running but with key reformists yet to come forward, media reports said. AFP PHOTO/BEHROUZ MEHRI (Photo credit should read BEHROUZ MEHRI/AFP/Getty Images)

Tehran Mayor a Powerful Contender For Iran’s Presidency

Tehran Mayor Mohammad Ghalibaf has a good shot at succeeding Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

The construction site of the third Bosphorus bridge is pictured during its opening ceremony on May 29, 2013 in Istanbul. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan laid the first stone of the third Bosphorus bridge, a multi-billion dollar construction project expected to deliver the world's widest overpass. "When the project is completely finished, it will alleviate the burden of Istanbul, one of the most important transit corridors of the world," Erdogan said during the groundbreaking ceremony held on the

Islamization of Istanbul Continues

Istanbul might think twice about celebrating both "Conquest Day" and democracy in Turkey.

Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan (2nd R) and leader of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) Kemal Kilicdaroglu (R) attend an official ceremony to mark the 89th anniversary of Republic Day at Anitkabir in Ankara October 29, 2012. Anitkabir is the mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, founder of secular Turkey. REUTERS/Umit Bektas (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR39QHB

Erdogan’s Accusation of CHP Goes Too Far

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan might have crossed a red line by accusing the CHP of being directly responsible in the May 11 Reyhanli blasts that left 52 dead.

JABALIYA, GAZA - MARCH 29: A Palestinian shop-owner reads a newspaper outside his store on March 29, 2010, Jabaliya, Gaza Strip. Gaza's economy and employment levels have plummeted since the Israelis imposed a blockade after Hamas seized control in 2007. (Photo by Warrick Page/Getty Images)

Gaza Press Freedom in Spotlight After Columnist Arrested

The backlash from the brief arrest of high-profile columnist Ibrahim Abrash continues, with Hamas targeted over freedom of speech.

A Turkish soldier is reflected on a mirror as he stands guard on top of an armoured personnel carrier on the Turkish-Syrian border near the Akcakale border crossing, southern Sanliurfa province, October 4, 2012. Turkey's parliament gave authorisation on Thursday for military operations outside Turkish borders if the government deemed them necessary, a day after artillery shelling from Syria killed five civilians in the Turkish town of Akcakale. REUTERS/Murad Sezer (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS CONFLICT MILITARY)

Will There Be a Turkish Peace Dividend?

The Kurdish peace process could bring changes to Turkey’s highly controversial and unchecked security policies and defense expenditures.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu speaks during a news conference in the rebel stronghold of Benghazi July 3, 2011. Turkey pledged $200 million in aid for Libya's rebel Transitional National Council and said it was time for leader Muammar Gaddafi to leave Libya. REUTERS/Esam Al-Fetori (LIBYA - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR2OFV1

Turkey’s Foreign-Aid Priority Is Central Asia

The Turkish International Development and Cooperation Agency (TIKA) still devotes most of its private aid to the Caucasus and Central Asia countries.