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Turkey

Turkey

June 18, 2026

Ankara 11:16 am

26°C

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

A gendarme soldier stands in front of protesters as a Turkish flag with a portrait of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, founder of modern Turkey, flutters outside Silivri prison, some 70 km (43.5 miles) west of Istanbul, during the trial of a shadowy-right wing group taking place in the heavily-guarded prison, October 23, 2008. The trial of Ergenekon, a shadowy right-wing group, resumed in Turkey on Thursday on charges of trying to topple Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan's government. REUTERS/Fatih Saribas (TURKEY) - R

Is the Turkish Military Getting a Fair Trial?

Tulin Daloglu questions whether the Turkish military is getting fair treatment.

A Turkish soldier takes up his position near the border with Syria at the Turkish border town of Ceylanpinar, Sanliurfa province January 25, 2013. REUTERS/Osman Orsal (TURKEY - Tags: MILITARY POLITICS CONFLICT) - RTR3CXC6

Suicides Add to Turkish Army’s Troubles

Sibel Utku Bila writes that the rise of suicides in the Turkish army is a sign of deeper problems.

Turkish Interior Minister Idris Naim Sahin (C) gestures while visiting a relief shelter campsite for earthquake victims, set up at a stadium, in Ercis October 29, 2011. REUTERS/Morteza Nikoubazl (TURKEY - Tags: DISASTER SOCIETY POLITICS) - RTR2TDXF

Kurds Welcome Change of Turkish Interior Minister

Kadri Gursel writes that Kurdish and other opposition groups are pleased with the replacement of Idris Naim Sahin as Turkish interior minister.

A Turkish riot police stands guard at the entrance of a courthouse in Istanbul February 25, 2010. Turkey's political and military leaders meet on Thursday as a storm gathers over a coup plot investigation against the armed forces which is threatening stability and investor confidence in the EU-candidate country. The most senior detainees, retired Air Force Commander Ibrahim Firtina and ex-navy chief Ozden Ornek, are brought to the court for questioning on Thursday. REUTERS/Murad Sezer (TURKEY - Tags: POL

Selek Case a Travesty For Turkish Judiciary

Cengiz Candar describes the case and conviction of Pinar Selek as a low point for the Turkish judicial system.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu (L), Egyptian Foreign Minister Mohamed Kamel Amr (C) and Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi attend a news conference after a meeting regarding the Syrian crisis, in Cairo September 17, 2012. Saudi Arabia stayed away from a meeting on the Syria crisis convened by regional powers on Monday, setting back a forum grouping Iran - President Bashar al-Assad's main Middle East ally - and his leading opponents in the region. The "contact group" of Egypt, Iran, Turkey a

How Iran Lost Turkey’s Islamists

Mustafa Akyol explains the deterioration in Turkish-Iranian relations in the past three years, mostly as a result of differences over Syria.

Actress Songul Oden (C), who plays the main character in the Turkish soap opera "Noor", waves as she leaves after her visit to an Islamic orphan house in Beirut September 8, 2008. The show which flopped when first broadcast in its native Turkey three years ago has taken the Arab world by storm, provoking a flood of Gulf Arab tourists to Turkey that even includes royalty. Picture taken September 8, 2008. REUTERS/Hussam Shbaro (LEBANON)

Arabs Soak Up Turkish Soap Operas

Semih Idiz writes about the popularity of Turkish soap operas in the Arab world, and the reaction these shows are provoking in Turkey.

Kurds demonstrate against the conditions of detention of jailed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Ocalan during a protest in Strasbourg April 4, 2012. Hundreds of demonstrators protested in support of Ocalan, who was captured on February 15, 1999, and is currently serving a life sentence in Turkey. REUTERS/Vincent Kessler (FRANCE - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST)

Turkey Cannot Solve PKK Terror Without Solving Kurdish Issue

Kadri Gursel writes that the current talks between the Turkish government and Abdullah Ocalan, the imprisoned head of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), cannot disentangle the problem of PKK terrorism from a political solution to Turkey's Kurdish issue.

Supporters of the Saadet (Felicity) Party burn an Israeli flag as they shout anti-Israel slogans during a protest in Istanbul, December 2, 2012. REUTERS/Osman Orsal (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY)

Chill to Remain in Turkey-Israel Ties

Tulin Daloglu observes that the Israeli elections are unlikely to produce any change in Israeli-Turkish ties.

Employees of the state-run South Oil Company (SOC) join a new oil storage tank to the oil pipelines near the southern city of Basra January 14, 2013. The head of the state-run South Oil Company said the new facility will add a capacity of one million barrels to the existing 5.5 million barrels available. REUTERS/Atef Hassan (IRAQ - Tags: ENERGY CIVIL UNREST)

Iraqi Kurds Press Ahead With Pipeline Plans

Despite protests from Baghdad, the Kurdistan Regional Government of Iraq is moving ahead with plans to develop the infrastructure for an oil pipeline to Turkey, reports Abdel Hamid Zebari.

Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan and his wife Emine Erdogan pose with Syrian refugee triplet brothers whose names are Recep, Tayyip and Erdogan as they visit a refugee camp near Akcakale border crossing on the Turkish-Syrian border, southern Sanliurfa province, December 30, 2012. REUTERS/Kayhan Ozer/Prime Minister's Press Office/Handout (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS CONFLICT) ) FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NOT FOR SALE FOR MARKETING OR ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS. THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. IT IS

Whispers of Change In Turkey's Syria Policy

Tulin Daloglu reports on how, beneath the rhetoric of Turkey's hard line on Syria, there are signs that Ankara might be willing to call on Syria's opposition to show greater flexibility in dealing with the Syrian government.

Kurdistan Regional Government Natural Resources Minister Ashti Hawrami (R) shakes hands with Turkey's Energy Minister Taner Yildiz during a joint news conference in Arbil, about 350 km (217 miles) north of Baghdad, May 20,2012. Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region expects to start exporting oil from its fields along a new pipeline to the Turkish border when the line is complete in August 2013, Hawrami said on Sunday. REUTERS/Azad Lashkari (IRAQ - Tags: ENERGY POLITICS)

Turkey Seeks 'Interdependence' With Iraqi Kurdistan

Turkish officials seek to set the record straight that Ankara seeks interdependence with, not independence for, Iraqi Kurdistan, writes Tulin Daloglu.

Military vehicles of a Patriot missile system are loaded on a ship in the harbour of Travemuende, January 8, 2013. Germany, the Netherlands, and the United States are each sending two Patriot missile batteries and up to 400 troops to Turkey after Ankara asked for NATO's help to bolster security along its 900-km (560-mile) border with Syria. REUTERS/Fabian Bimmer (GERMANY - Tags: MILITARY)

Patriots in Turkey: Defensive, Offensive or Symbolic?

Semih Idiz analyzes the various rationales for NATO’s deployment of Patriot missiles to Turkey and their possible consequences.