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Turkey

Turkey

August 3, 2026

Ankara 7:23 am

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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 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.

Coffins of victims killed in air strikes are carried by villagers during a funeral ceremony in Gulyazi near the southeastern Turkish town of Uludere, in Sirnak province, December 30, 2011. Turkish rights groups called on Friday for a U.N.-sponsored investigation after Turkish warplanes killed 35 villagers in an airstrike targeting Kurdish rebels on the Iraqi border that the government has called an operational mistake. REUTERS/Stringer (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR2VQMI

AKP Report on Uludere Airstrike Condemned as 'Whitewash'

Amberin Zaman writes that the December 2011 killing of Kurdish smugglers from Uludere by Turkish warplanes remains a test for the Turkish government.

A Free Syrian Army fighter and a boy hold up weapons on a street at the Syrian town of Tel Abyad, near the border with Turkey, April 23, 2013. Picture taken April 23, 2013. REUTERS/Hamid Khatib (SYRIA - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST CONFLICT SOCIETY) - RTXYY7Q

Turkey Faces 'Lose-Lose' Situation Over Syria

Without a change in its Syria policy, it will be impossible for the Erdogan government to pull out a win, writes Semih Idiz.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gestures as he speaks during a Likud party meeting at the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, in Jerusalem April 22, 2013. REUTERS/Baz Ratner (JERUSALEM - Tags: POLITICS) - RTXYVXD

Netanyahu Will Ignore Arab League's Land-Swap Proposal

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's ideology will prevent him from accepting the pragmatic Arab League peace proposal, writes Akiva Eldar.

ATTENTION EDITORS - VISUAL COVERAGE OF SCENES OF INJURY OR DEATH

Palestinians carry the body of Haitham Al-Mes-hal, who relatives said belonged to a militant Jihadist Salafi organisation, before his burial during his funeral at a cemetery in Gaza City April 30, 2013. Israel on Tuesday launched its first targeted attack on a militant in Gaza since a war in November, killing the Palestinian jihadist in an air strike that put further strain on a five-month-old ceasefire. REUTERS/Suhaib Salem (GAZA - Tags:

Palestinian Groups Ponder Response to Israeli Strike in Gaza

While coordinating a response to the April 30 Israeli air strike, Palestinian groups in Gaza urge respect for the cease-fire agreement signed in November 2012, writes Mohammed Suliman.