Turkey - AL-MONITOR: The Middle Eastʼs leading independent news source since 2012

Turkey

Turkey

June 17, 2026

Ankara 8:53 pm

23°C

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

Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan makes his address during a meeting with the 'wise people' commission in Istanbul April 4, 2013, in this picture provided by the Turkish Prime Minister's Press Office. 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/Kayhan Ozer/

Erdogan Asks 'Wise People' To Make Case for Peace

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has chosen a delegation of "Wise People" to convince Turkish citizens about the benefits of his Kurdish peace plan, writes Kadri Gursel.

Pro-Kurdish BDP party supporters attend a rally in support of Syrian Kurds in Viransehir February 3, 2013. REUTERS/Osman Orsal (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS CONFLICT CIVIL UNREST) - RTR3DAO0

Turkey’s Kurdish Initiative May Affect Syria's Kurds

Cengiz Candar writes on the relationship between Turkey's peace initiative and its policies in Syria.

Sculptures are seen on a hill near the Israeli Syrian border in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights March 24, 2013. Israel said it fired into Syria on Sunday and destroyed a machinegun position in the Golan Heights from where shots had been fired at Israeli soldiers in a further spillover of the Syrian civil war along a tense front. Israel captured the Golan Heights in the 1967 Middle East war and annexed it in 1981 in a move not recognized internationally. REUTERS/Baz Ratner (MILITARY POLITICS) - RTXXW5G

Israel and Muslim Brotherhood Face the Same Enemy

As Israel prepares to celebrate its 65th Independence Day free of conventional threats, Iran's nuclear threat still looms, writes Alon Ben David.

Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal makes a speech during the congress of Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan's ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) in Ankara September 30, 2012. Erdogan trumpeted Turkey's credentials as a rising democratic power on Sunday, saying his Islamist-rooted ruling party had become an example to the Muslim world after a decade in charge. Leaders including Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi, Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambayev and Masoud Barzani, president of Iraq's autonomous Kurdis

Israeli Apology Pushes Hamas Away From Turkey

Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s apology to Turkish counterpart Erdogan over the Mavi Marmara incident has brought Turkey closer to Israel but pushed Hamas away, writes Adnan Abu Amer.

Jordan's King Abdullah (L) welcomes Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas at the Royal Palace in Amman March 31, 2013. REUTERS/Muhammad Hamed (JORDAN - Tags: POLITICS) - RTXY3S1

Is There a New 'Jordan Option'?

A meeting in Jordan between King Abdullah II and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, soon after the visit of US President Barack Obama to Jordan, may signal a new role for Jordan, writes Akiva Eldar.

Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan speaks during a news conference in Ankara October 19, 2011. Turkish troops killed 15 Kurdish militants in clashes in southeast Turkey near the Iraqi border on Wednesday after attacks by the rebels which killed 26 soldiers, security officials in the region told Reuters. REUTERS/Umit Bektas (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS CONFLICT) - RTR2SUBU

Should the Turkish Government Break The Law For Peace?

Although Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyep Erdogan insists that the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) should withdraw from Turkey without their weapons, this is not likely to happen, writes Kadri Gursel.

Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan arrives for a news conference as he is flanked by Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu (L), Economy Minister Zafer Caglayan (R) and officials before his flight to Denmark for an official visit at Esenboga Airport in Ankara March 19, 2013. REUTERS/Umit Bektas (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR3F72Z

Turkey Seeks Ottoman Sphere Of Influence

Normalization of ties with the Kurds and Israel are part of a broader strategy for an Ottoman sphere of influence and confrontation with the "Shiite axis," writes Kadri Gursel.

Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan addresses the media before his flight to Denmark for an official visit at Esenboga Airport in Ankara March 19, 2013. REUTERS/Umit Bektas (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR3F72Q

Did Erdogan Really Accept Netanyahu's Apology?

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has accepted the Israeli apology for the Mavi Marmara incident, but sticks to the same anti-Israeli rhetoric as before, writes Arad Nir.

Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahceli addresses his supporters during an election rally in Ankara, June 4, 2011. Turkey will hold parliamentary elections on June 12. REUTERS/Umit Bektas (TURKEY - Tags: ELECTIONS POLITICS) - RTR2NA7B

Turkey's Nationalists Threaten Inter-Communal Fighting

The peace process between the Turkish government and the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) has given raise to a nationalist backlash, writes Cengiz Candar.

Members of Armenian community in Romania hold banners during a rally marking the anniversary of mass killings of Armenians in Ottoman Empire in 1915, in downtown Bucharest April 24, 2012. Armenia, backed by many historians and parliaments, says that about 1.5 million Christian Armenians were killed in what is now eastern Turkey during World War One in a deliberate policy of genocide ordered by the Ottoman government. Successive Turkish governments and the vast majority of Turks feel that the charge of genoc

Will Non-Muslims Return to Turkey?

Although Turkey's Minister of Culture Omer Celik of the AKP is inviting Turkey's non-Muslims to return to their country, many do not feel welcome because of a complicted history, writes Orhan Kemal Cengiz.

An Israeli flag flutters in the wind as a naval vessel (not seen) escorts the Mavi Marmara, a Gaza-bound ship that was raided by Israeli marines, to the Ashdod port May 31, 2010. Israeli marines stormed the Turkish aid ship bound for Gaza on Monday and 10 pro-Palestinian activists were killed, triggering a profound diplomatic crisis. REUTERS/Amir Cohen (ISRAEL - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST IMAGES OF THE DAY) - RTR2ELLI

Will Israel Warm Up To Moderate Islamists?

Mustafa Akyol argues that its recent apology to Turkey shows Israel can find a way toward peace with Islamists.

Patriot missile installation is pictured at a positions near the city of Kahramanmaras, February 23, 2013. Germany's defence minister inspected Patriot missile batteries close to the Syria-Turkey border on Saturday and said they delivered a "clear warning" to Damascus that NATO would not tolerate missiles being fired into Turkey. Thomas de Maiziere and his Dutch counterpart Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert travelled to the Turkish cities of Adana and Kahramanmaras to inspect the batteries provided by their countr

No-Fly Zone Debate: Are the Patriots Up to It?

Patriot missiles stationed in Turkey have been the subject of debate as officials and those on the ground consider the feasibility of enforcing a no-fly zone in Syria, writes Fernande van Tets.