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Turkey

Turkey

June 17, 2026

Ankara 5:28 pm

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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

Metropolitan Apostolos Daniilidis, an Orthodox bishop at the monastery attached to the Halki school, is seen at the "Tracing Istanbul", an exhibition of works by Greek artists, at the Greek Orthodox seminary in Heybeliada island near Istanbul September 4, 2010. An Istanbul seminary closed in 1971 is hosting its first public event in 40 years, raising hopes it may shortly be reopened by Turkey and once again educate priests for the Greek Orthodox community. The European Union and the United States have press

Are Turkey’s Orthodox Christians Waiting for Godot?

Orhan Kemal Cengiz considers why the Theological School of Halki has yet to reopen.

Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan addresses members of parliament from his ruling AK Party (AKP) during a meeting at the Turkish parliament in Ankara June 25, 2013. Turkish anti-terrorism police detained 20 people in raids in the capital Ankara on Tuesday in connection with weeks of anti-government protests across the country, media reports said. The unrest began at the end of May when police used force against campaigners opposed to plans to redevelop a central Istanbul park. The protest spiralled int

Erdogan Considers Israeli Strikes on Syria

While the Turkish government keeps silent about the Israeli airstrikes in Syria, which may be the right course, Turkey’s regional policies hang in the balance, writes Tulin Daloglu.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry (L) meets with Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan at Ankara Palace in Ankara, March 1, 2013. Kerry said on Friday the United States found a comment by Turkey's prime minister, likening Zionism to crimes against humanity, "objectionable", overshadowing their talks on the crisis in neighbouring Syria. REUTERS/Jacquelyn Martin/Pool (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR3EG8P

If Turkey Does Not Change Its Syria Policy …

If Turkey doesn't change its partisan, sectarian approach to Syria, it will provoke further sectarian tensions among armed groups in Turkey and the region, writes Kadri Gursel.

Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan makes a speech during the Global Alcohol Policy Symposium in Istanbul April 26, 2013. REUTERS/Murad Sezer (TURKEY - Tags: HEALTH POLITICS) - RTXZ13M

Is Erdogan Calling for Jihad In Turkey?

Prime Minister Erdogan's May 5 speech, with its religious imagery and outrage about events in Syria, could be seen as a rallying cry for a Turkish religious obligation to fight the regime, writes Pinar Tremblay.

A view shows part of Mount Qassioun and part of Damascus city, in this photo taken from the Syrian cabinet building May 5, 2013. Syrian Information Minister Omran Zoabi said on Sunday that Israeli air strikes against three targets on the outskirts of Damascus "open the door to all possibilities." REUTERS/Khaled al-Hariri (SYRIA - Tags: POLITICS CONFLICT) - RTXZBD8

Do the US, Iran Agree on Red Line For Syrian Chemical Weapons?

The US and Israel escalate the war in Syria; Russia, Iran, Hezbollah, Khaled Meshaal; and Al-Monitor launches Iran Pulse.

A Free Syrian Army fighter sits on sandbags in the refugee camp of Yarmouk, near Damascus, May 5, 2013. REUTERS/Ward Al-Keswani (SYRIA - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTXZBH6

Israel Hits Syria, Sends Message to Iran

Israel believes that its airstrikes on Damascus are being considered with concern in Iran, writes Ben Caspit.

Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan leaves his seat to address members of parliament from the ruling AK Party (AKP) during a meeting at the Turkish parliament in Ankara February 19, 2013. REUTERS/Umit Bektas (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR3DZE4

Turkish Parliament Faces Deadline On Draft Constitution

Cornered by Prime Minister Erdogan's electoral calendar, Cemil Cicek announced a deadline for the Parliamentary Constitution Reconciliation Commission to finalize its work, writes Tulin Daloglu.

Members of the left wing Turkish group hold a national flag as they march to the U.S. embassy to protest against the visit of U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, in Ankara, on Agust 11, 2012. Fresh sanctions slapped by the United States are meant to "expose and disrupt" links between Iran, Lebanon's armed Hezbollah movement and Syria, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Saturday. AFP PHOTO/STR (Photo credit should read STR/AFP/GettyImages)

Turkey's Liberal Divide

Mustafa Akyol analyzes the state of the left in Turkey and the issues that divide it.

Journalists and activists participate in a rally calling for press freedom in central Ankara March 19, 2011. The recent arrest and jailing of some 10 journalists as part of investigations into Ergenekon, an ultra-nationalist, secularist network opposed to Prime Minister's Tayyip Erdogan's rule, has a triggered expressions of concern from the European Union, the U.S. and human rights groups about Ankara's commitment to media freedom and democratic principles. REUTERS/Umit Bektas (TURKEY - Tags: CIVIL UNREST

World Press Freedom DayPuts Turkey in Spotlight

The US Department of State's annual human rights report refers to the limitations on freedom of the press in Turkey, writes Yavuz Baydar.

Presidents Serzh Sarksyan of Armenia (L) and Abdullah Gul of Turkey listen to the national anthems prior the World Cup 2010 qualifying soccer match betwwen Turkey and Armenia at Ataturk stadium in Bursa, western Turkey, October 14, 2009. The presidents of Turkey and Armenia attended a World Cup soccer match courting popular support for an agreement to reopen their border and restore ties poisoned over a century of mutual hostility. REUTERS/Murad Sezer (TURKEY POLITICS SPORT SOCCER) - RTXPMWS

No Incentive for Turkey, Armenia To Normalize Relations

The Armenian genocide issue will not play a role in the normalizing of Armenia-Turkey relations, Cengiz Candar writes.

Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal (R) and Mohammad Nazzal, a member of the Hamas leadership, speak to media after their meeting with Jordan's King Abdullah at the Royal Palace in Amman January 28, 2013. REUTERS/Majed Jaber (JORDAN - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR3D30A

Exclusive: Hamas' Meshaal Says Latest US Peace Efforts 'Will Fail'

In an exclusive telephone interview with Adnan Abu Amer for Al-Monitor, Khaled Meshaal, the head of Hamas's political bureau, spoke about US efforts to revive the Palestinian-Israeli peace process and more.

Wounded Syrian refugees who activists said were injured during shelling by forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, lie in a hospital at Bab El-Hawa on the outskirts of Idlib, near the Syrian-Turkish border April 30, 2013. The Syrian air strike on a headquarters of a rebel brigade along the Turkish border killed at least five people, including children, and wounded dozens more on Tuesday, opposition activists said. Picture taken April 30, 2013. REUTERS/Abdalghne Karoof (SYRIA - Tags: CONFLICT POL

Turkey’s Trouble at the Border

The longer the Syrian civil war goes on, the more Turkey is challenged by both its deteriorating border security and the Syrian refugee crisis, writes Tulin Daloglu.