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Turkey

Turkey

June 18, 2026

Ankara 3:56 pm

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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

Members of parliament from the ruling AK Party (AKP) and Republican People's Party (CHP) scuffle during a debate at the parliament in Ankara early March 30, 2012. The Turkish parliament is hotly debating a bill overturning a 1997 law, imposed with the backing of the military, which extended compulsory education to eight from five years and stopped under-15s attending religious "imam hatip" schools. Parliamentarians on Thursday accepted a proposal from Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan's AK Party to offer option

The Coming Political Crisis in Turkey

Cengiz Çandar foresees a political crisis in this year as Prime Minister Recep Erdogan's ruling AKP party pushes a draft constitution that would dramatically expand his powers.

Foreign Ministers Hoshiyar Zebari of Iraq, Walid al-Moualem of Syria and Ahmet Davutoglu of Turkey, and Secretary General of the Arab League Amr Moussa (R) chat before their meeting at the Ottoman-era Ciragan Palace in Istanbul September 17, 2009. REUTERS/Osman Orsal (TURKEY POLITICS)

More Uncertainty on Turkey’s Eastern Flank in 2013

Turkey can expect more problems in dealing with both Iraq and Syria in 2013, writes Semih Idiz.

Soldiers of the German armed forces Bundeswehr stand next to a radar-unit (L) and a PAC-2 launcher of a "Patriot" missile battery during a press rehearsal in the north German village of Warbelow December 18, 2012. Germany's lower house of parliament, the Bundestag, last week approved the sending of two Patriot batteries and 400 soldiers to Turkey as part of a NATO plan to protect the country from any spread of the Syrian conflict. REUTERS/Tobias Schwarz (GERMANY - Tags: POLITICS MILITARY CONFLICT)

Iran-Turkey Rivalry Worsens Over Patriot Deployment

Kadri Gursel writes that Iran's fury at NATO's deployment of Patriot missiles to Turkey is also related to Anakara and Tehran's competing interests in Syria.

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)

Does Turkey Benefit From Cold War With Israel?

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan believes that Turkey may benefit from a cold war with Israel, writes Kadri Gursel.

Demonstrators hold a minute of silence during a protest against Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in central Istanbul October 23, 2011. The Turkish military said on Saturday its forces had killed 49 Kurdish militants in the southeast over the last two days, during an offensive to avenge the killing of 24 soldiers by Kurdish fighters earlier this week. REUTERS/Murad Sezer (TURKEYPOLITICS CONFLICT - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) CONFLICT)

Watch Turkey's Youth in 2013

Tulin Daloglu writes that Turkey's youth is becoming increasingly politicized in opposition to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's policies.

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

Turkey Claims Iran Providing Logistical Support for PKK

Relations between Iran and Turkey are likely to deteriorate in 2013, including over the PKK and the Patriot missile deployment, writes Cengiz Çandar.

Soldiers of the German armed forces Bundeswehr stand next to a PAC-2 launcher of a "Patriot" missile battery during a media rehearsal in the north German village of Warbelow December 18, 2012. Germany's lower house of parliament, the Bundestag, last week approved the sending of two Patriot batteries and 400 soldiers to Turkey as part of a NATO plan to protect the country from any spread of the Syrian conflict. REUTERS/Tobias Schwarz (GERMANY - Tags: POLITICS MILITARY CIVIL UNREST)

NATO Patriot Missiles Show Turkey's Military Weakness

Kadri Gursel writes that Turkey's request for NATO Patriot missiles reveals its lack of capacity and few other options to handle regional threats.

Turkey's Prime Minister and leader of ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) Tayyip Erdogan (R) and his guest Egypt's President Mohamed Mursi greet the audience during AK Party 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 (

The Turkish 'Model' For Authoritarianism in Egypt

Both Turkey and Egypt may be models for a new authoritarianism and more confrontational societies, writes Cengiz Candar.

Syrian children from the northern Syrian town of Ras al-Ain are pictured near the Turkish border fence as gunfire is heard between the Free Syrian Army and the armed Kurds of the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) in the northern Syrian town of Ceylanpinar, November 25, 2012. Iran said Turkey's plans to deploy Patriot defensive missiles near its border with Syria would add to the region's problems, as fears grow of the Syrian civil war spilling across frontiers. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh (TURKEY - Tags

Turkey Will Pay a High Price After Assad

By throwing its lot completely with Syria’s Muslim Brotherhood, Turkey will sustain costs whether Syrian President Bashar al-Assad stays or goes, writes Kadri Gursel.

Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan delivers a speech as he campaigns ahead of the March 29 local elections in southeastern city of Diyarbakir February 21, 2009. Diyarbakir, the biggest city of Turkey's impoverished Kurdish southeast, is a battleground in local elections seen as a referendum on Erdogan's AK Party. The AK Party is seeking to gain fresh legitimacy after it narrowly escaped a legal attempt by its secularist opponents to ban it for Islamist activities in 2008. REUTERS/Osman Orsal (TURKEY)

New 'Party of God' Will Divide Kurdish, Turkish Islamists

Turkey's newest political party, Huda-Par, a legal Islamic Kurdish party from within Hezbollah, marks a rapid divergence of the paths of Kurdish and Turkish Islamists, writes Kadri Gursel.

Turkish workers work to reinforce the border fence between the northern Syrian town of Ras al-Ain and the Turkish border town of Ceylanpinar, Sanliurfa province November 21, 2012. NATO member states have agreed to supply Turkey with an advanced Patriot missile system to defend against Syrian attacks and talks on its deployment are in the final stage, Turkey's foreign minister Ahmet Davutoglu said on Tuesday. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS CONFLICT MILITARY TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY)

Turkey Prepares for Life After Its Syrian Quagmire

Cengiz Çandar writes that Turkey is counting down the last days of the Bashar al-Assad regime and in delight and relief.

Russia's Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev attends a meeting with members of the United Russia party at the Gorki residence outside Moscow August 10, 2012. REUTERS/Dmitry Astakhov/RIA Novosti/Kremlin (RUSSIA - Tags: POLITICS) THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. IT IS DISTRIBUTED, EXACTLY AS RECEIVED BY REUTERS, AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS

Is there a Syrian Medvedev?

To find a solution in Syria, the US should consider a renewed parallel diplomatic track with Moscow, Tehran and Ankara. The objective: Encourage the emergence of a "Syrian Medvedev," a transitional figure acceptable to the regime, the Syrian people and the relevant outside powers.