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Turkey

Turkey

June 18, 2026

Ankara 5:10 am

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A Turkish police officers patrols at the scene of a motor-bike bomb explosion, next to a police station on Oct. 6, 2016, in Istanbul.

Turkey captures alleged ISIS-K media chief near Afghanistan-Pakistan border

The capture comes as Turkish authorities intensify raids against Islamic State networks following recent attacks and alleged plots.

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

Latest News

Feature

Turkey’s World Cup return clouded by politics, dawn kickoffs

Yasin AKGUL / AFP via Getty Images

Ezgi Akin

In Ankara, reporting on diplomacy, EU-Turkey ties, NATO

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.

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

Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel (L) walks past the Patriot system as she meets with troops from a German NATO Patriot missile battery at a Turkish military base in Kahramanmaras February 24, 2013. China and Russia are increasingly realizing that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's time is up, Merkel said on Sunday, as she visited German troops stationed with NATO Patriot missiles close to the Turkish-Syrian frontier. REUTERS/Murad Sezer (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS MILITARY) - RTR3E7WR

The Coming Unknown For NATO’s Policy on Syria

Jean-Loup Samaan writes that NATO’s role in Syria is likely to remain limited, and that preserving the infrastructure of the country is essential to prevent a collapse of state authority.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry speaks during a joint news conference with Britain's Foreign Secretary William Hague at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in central London on February 25, 2013. REUTERS/Jacquelyn Martin/Pool (BRITAIN - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR3EABJ

Will Kerry Convince Ankara on Syria?

Semih Idiz writes that Ankara’s resistance to a negotiated outcome in Syria could lead to differences with Washington and perhaps to Turkey’s marginalization in efforts to end the war.

A pro-Kurdish demonstrator gestures during a protest in Istanbul February 15, 2013. Supporters of the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) held a protest to mark the 14th anniversary of the capture of Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Ocalan. REUTERS/Murad Sezer (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTR3DU77

How Is Kurdistan Different From Palestine?

Tulin Daloglu compares the statehood claims of Kurdistan and Palestine.

A pro-Kurdish demonstrator gestures during a protest in Istanbul February 15, 2013. Supporters of the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) held a protest to mark the 14th anniversary of the capture of Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Ocalan. REUTERS/Murad Sezer (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTR3DU77

Part of Turkey's Territory is Kurdistan

In a visit to southeast Turkey, Cengiz Candar responds to Mustafa Akyol’s article “Is There a Turkish Kurdistan?”

Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan talks during the opening ceremony of government communication forum in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates February 24, 2013. REUTERS/Ahmed Jadallah (UNITED ARAB EMIRATES - Tags: POLITICS SCIENCE TECHNOLOGY) - RTR3E7DY

Mystery Over Turkish Bid for Shanghai Five Membership

Turkey’s membership in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization would not only fail to make any contribution to Turkish democracy, but might be a setback to recent progress, writes Kadri Gursel.

Newspapers are displayed at a newsstand on January 24, 2012 in the Karakoy neighborhood of Istanbul. Turkish newspapers criticized the January 23 vote by the French Senate making denial of the Armenian genocide a crime. The French Senate on January 23 approved, by 127 votes to 86, the measure which makes it an offence punishable by jail in France to deny that the 1915 massacre of Armenians by Ottoman Turk forces amounted to genocide. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on January 24 slammed as discr

Iran's Foreign Envoy Slams Turkish Media

Outgoing Iranian Ambassador to Ankara Bahman Hosseinpour accuses the Turkish media of ulterior motives in spoiling the relations between two countries, writes Tulin Daloglu.

Syrian refugees sit in a tent at a refugee camp in the town of Nizip in Gaziantep province, southeast Turkey, February 11, 2013. REUTERS/Umit Bektas (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS SOCIETY IMMIGRATION TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) - RTR3DNGY

Poll Shows Weak Support For Turkey’s Syria Policies

A recent poll shows that Turkey’s interventionist policies have little domestic support and that Turkey remains wary of outside alliances, writes Kadri Gursel.

Protesters shout anti-Israel slogans during a protest in front of a court house in Istanbul November 6, 2012. Hundreds of protesters chanting "Murderer Israel!" gathered outside an Istanbul court on Tuesday at the start of a trial of a group of former Israeli military commanders charged over the 2010 killing of nine Turks aboard a Gaza-bound aid ship. REUTERS/Osman Orsal (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST CRIME LAW) - RTR3A20Q

More Than Meets the Eye In Turkish-Israeli Ties

Semih Idiz writes that while Turkish-Israeli relations seem to be at a low, Ankara and Tel Aviv continue to engage on security and energy matters.

Turkish-Kurdish women flash V for victory signs during a demonstration in support of Syrian Kurds, in the southeastern Turkish town of Nusaybin, near the Turkish-Syrian border, January, 26, 2013. Sitting across the table from top Turkish officials, jailed Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan wields the power to silence guns across southeastern Turkey which have killed more than 40,000 people in a three decade-old insurgency. Reviled by most Turks and held in virtual isolation since his 1999 capture, the Kur

Is There a Turkish Kurdistan?

Mustafa Akyol examines the questions, risks and consequences of Kurdish autonomy in Turkey.

Turkey's Prime Minister and leader of ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) Tayyip Erdogan (R) welcomes his guest Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal during the AKP congress 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. Addressing thousands of party members and regional leaders at a congress of his Justice and Development (AK) Party, Erdogan

Hamas Leader Meshaal Pays 'Secretive' Visit to Turkey

Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal has quietly paid a visit to Ankara, raising new questions about Turkey's Middle East policies, writes Tulin Daloglu.

Members of Turkish parliament from the ruling AK Party (AKP) and Republican People's Party (CHP) scuffle during a debate at the parliament in Ankara late February 8, 2012. REUTERS/Stringer (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTR2XIJG

Turkish Parliament's Tuesday Meetings Raise Political Temperature

Turkish parliamentary party meetings on Tuesdays are characterized by harsh language, writes Tulin Daloglu.

Tanker trucks wait to be loaded at Taq Taq oil field in Arbil at the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region of northern Iraq, about 350 km (220 miles) north of Baghdad, September, 5, 2012. To match Analysis IRAQ-OIL-KURDISTAN/ REUTERS/Azad Lashkari (IRAQ - Tags : - Tags: ENERGY BUSINESS POLITICS) - RTR37KB7

Who Will Pay IOCs in Iraqi Kurdistan?

An Iraqi-Turkish oil pipeline for exports from the Kurdistan Region of Iraq might reduce tensions between Baghdad and Erbil, while improving Iraqi-Turkish ties, writes Denise Natali.