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June 15, 2026

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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

AAREF WATAD/AFP via Getty Images

Russia in talks on 'reformatting' its military sites in Syria: What to know

Moscow signals it wants to maintain its presence in Syria, where President Ahmed al-Sharaa recently said that Russian bases will be converted into training centers.

Latest News

Syria says Iraqi oil shipments surge as Damascus courts foreign energy investment

A long convoys of Iraqi diesel-laden tanker trucks line up along the highway Tartus-Baniyas highway as they wait to unload their cargo at the Baniyas port refinery on the Mediterranean Sea, on April 15, 2026.

Explainer

Saudi Arabia, Turkey advance plans to revive historic Hejaz Railway

An old locomotive sits outside the Hejaz rail station in old Damascus on February 23, 2010. The Hejaz railway ran from Damascucs to Medina in Saudi Arabia and was part of the Ottoman railway network. AFP PHOTO/LOUAI BESHARA (Photo credit should read LOUAI BESHARA/AFP via Getty Images)

Israel-Iran escalation grounds flights across parts of Middle East

An Airbus A321 airliner arrives at the Mehrabad international airport during the delivery of the first batch of planes to the Iranian state airline Iran Air in the capital Tehran on Jaunary 12, 2017. - The aircraft arrived as part of an order for 100 other Airbus planes with a list price of around $20 billion (19 billion euros) on December 22, placed after the lifting of international sanctions on the Islamic republic. It will be used for internal flights landed at Tehran's Mehrabad airport. (Photo by ATTA

Amberin Zaman

Chief Correspondent

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Jared Szuba

Defense and Security Correspondent

In Washington, DC, reporting on defense, national security, military

Beatrice Farhat

Associate Editor (Lebanon)

In Beirut, reporting on regional news, culture, conflict

Danny Makki

In London, reporting on Syrian politics and culture

Ali Hashem

In Doha, reporting on Iran, regional politics, conflict

Cagatay Cebe

In Istanbul, reporting on security and counterterrorism

Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan attends a Republic Day ceremony at Anitkabir, the mausoleum of modern Turkey's founder Ataturk, in Ankara, Turkey, October 29, 2015. Turkey marks the 92nd anniversary of the Turkish Republic. REUTERS/Umit Bektas - RTX1TSXY

Syria's 'moderate jihadis' elated by Turkish election results

The Syrian opposition wants to know what kind of support it can expect from the AKP government after the AKP won solid support in the recent election.

After 52-year ban, Syrian Kurds now taught Kurdish in schools

Schools in Syrian regions controlled by the Kurdish PYD and its allies are for the first time teaching the Kurdish language, a practice prohibited under Baathist rule.

How will Erdogan solve 'terror problem' that brought him victory?

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan may face some high-cost moves to put the terror and chaos genie back into the bottle after unleashing it to make up for his party’s June electoral failure.

United Nations Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura (L) and Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov attend a meeting in Moscow, October 21, 2014. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov (RUSSIA - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR4AYVB

Envoys look to gain momentum for peace in Syria

As world powers seek to sustain momentum for Syria diplomacy amid divisions on the way forward, a former US diplomat urged moving for a cease-fire first before convening talks on Syria’s political future.

Why Syria's youngest refugees need more than just food aid

The Syrian refugee children spread in Syria’s neighboring countries are at risk of becoming isolated and violent and need extensive psychological rehabilitation.

Will AKP victory change Turkey's foreign policy?

If the new Turkish government fails to take advantage of its electoral mandate to make necessary revisions in foreign policy, events on the ground might force its hand anyway.

How will Jordan's pivot to Russia pay off?

Jordan and Russia have agreed on military coordination in Syria after a long silence in Amman about Russian intervention there.

A Syrian refugee teacher distributes books to her refugee students in their classroom at Fatih Sultan Mehmet School in Karapurcek district of Ankara, Turkey, September 28, 2015. Out of 640,000 Syrian children in Turkey, 400,000 are not at school, a Turkish official told Reuters on Friday, warning that those who miss out are likely to be exploited by "gangs and criminals". Educating the children among more than 2.2 million Syrian refugees in Turkey - most of whom live outside purpose-built camps - is seen as

Al-Monitor announces support for Syria's out-of-school children

Al-Monitor is partnering with international agencies and donors to help provide educations to displaced Syrian children.

A Sukhoi Su-25 jet fighter flies during a drill at the Russian southern Stavropol region, March 12, 2015. Russia has started military exercises in the country's south, as well as in Georgia's breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia and in Crimea, annexed from Ukraine last year, news agency RIA reported on Thursday, citing Russia's Defence Ministry. REUTERS/Eduard Korniyenko (RUSSIA - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST MILITARY) - RTR4T448

Russian, Israeli jets share Syrian skies ... for now

Russia's military involvement in Syria is testing its relations with Israel and the determination of both countries to avoid a conflict.

Lebanon's Hezbollah members stand at attention in front of a picture of Hassan al-Haj, one of Hezbollah's top commanders who was killed fighting alongside Syrian army forces in Idlib province, during his funeral in his hometown of al-Luwaizeh, southern Lebanon October 12, 2015. Lebanon's Hezbollah on Monday buried a commander described as the group's most important military figure to be killed in the four-year-long Syrian war. Hassan al-Haj was killed in Idlib province in northwestern Syria, where the Irani

The Russian, Iranian, Hezbollah military triangle

It seems that Russia, through its military intervention in Syria, is complementing the Iranian-Hezbollah axis there, instead of replacing it, as Hezbollah sources confirm that coordination is ongoing between Moscow, Iran and the party.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan poses as he casts his ballot at a polling station in Istanbul, Turkey November 1, 2015. Turks began voting on Sunday amid worsening security and economic worries in a snap parliamentary election that could profoundly impact the divided country's trajectory and that of President Tayyip Erdogan. The parliamentary poll is the second in five months, after the ruling AK Party founded by Erdogan failed to retain its single-party majority in June. REUTERS/Murad Sezer - RTX1U7U8

Turkey’s dispiriting elections

Erdogan offers an uncertain democratic future for Turkey; Syria Contact Group avoids divisions over Assad’s fate; Iranian and Russian support pivotal in Syrian military campaign to retake Aleppo.

Congress probes US, Russia face-off in Syria

A look at the Middle East issues Congress will be addressing the week of Nov. 2.