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Turkey

Turkey

June 11, 2026

Ankara 2:12 am

16°C

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan buttons up his jacket during a press conference after the conclusion of the G20 Leaders' Summit at the Nasrec Expo Centre in Johannesburg on November 23, 2025.

Explainer

Turkey-Israel tensions flare over Syria, Lebanon, East Med: What to know

The Turkish president has accused Israel of threatening Turkey through its military actions in Syria, Lebanon and the Eastern Mediterranean, triggering a sharp exchange with the Israeli prime minister.

Aamir QURESHI / AFP via Getty Images

Explainer

Turkey names new envoys to Iran, Oman, Qatar in regional reshuffle

Turkey’s latest ambassadorial changes mark a partial return to career diplomacy in Tehran and the Gulf as Ankara maintains a balancing act amid the Iran war.

Latest News

Analysis

Turkey's probe into pro-secular tycoon goes beyond crude Kurdish joke

Rahmi Koc

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

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)

Analysis

Will Pashinyan’s victory in Armenia be enough to unlock peace with Turkey, Azerbaijan?

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan met on the sidelines of the 79th session of the UN General Assembly in New York, Sept. 24, 2024.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

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

Ancient Mideast tastes mingle in stuffed holiday dishes

In the Middle East, just as in the Western world, the end of the year is a time for stuffed dishes — and for debating who started each long and rich tradition.

Greek President Prokopis Pavlopoulos (L) and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan (R) enter the Presidential Mansion during a meeting in Athens, Greece December 7, 2017. REUTERS/Simela Pantzartzi/Pool - RC1B07EB44A0

Turkey expands impunity for Erdogan loyalists

Turkey’s latest set of emergency decrees grant immunity to anyone deemed to have been resisting efforts to overthrow the government during and even after the coup attempt.

Eastern Mediterranean may be scene of first conflict of 2018

Developments warn of growing tension between Turkey and the Greek Cypriots over newly discovered hydrocarbon reserves in the eastern Mediterranean.

Syrians gather around a Christmas tree in Aleppo's government controlled Aziziyah neighbourhood on December 31, 2016. / AFP / George OURFALIAN (Photo credit should read GEORGE OURFALIAN/AFP/Getty Images)

Christmas trees in Aleppo?

A new roof in Bethlehem, a desecrated altar in Diyarbakir, Christmas trees in Aleppo and an appreciation of “fellow travelers” in faith.

Turkey's 'war machine' goes global

The ambitious Turkish gendarmerie command is seeking to form a cooperative agency with countries in and around Central Asia as part of its increased involvement in Turkey's foreign policy.

Riyadh, SAUDI ARABIA: Emirati Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahayan arrives at the ministerial meeting of the Gulf Cooperation Council, held 03 June 2006 in Riyadh. The ministers discussed the crisis of the Iranian nuclear program and called for a diplomatic solution to this issue. AFP PHOTO/FAHD SHADEED (Photo credit should read FAHD SHADEED/AFP/Getty Images)

Turkey-UAE rift may have unintended spillover

The conflict between Ankara and Abu Dhabi may spill over into Turkey's ties with Saudi Arabia and the United States.

'Don't send us to our death' Saudi sisters beg Turkey

Two sisters from Saudi Arabia are fighting deportation from Turkey, where they fled violence back home, but the court order still stands.

FILE PHOTO: Osman Baydemir, spokesman for the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), addresses members of parliament from his party during a meeting at the Turkish parliament in Ankara, Turkey April 18, 2017. Picture taken April 18, 2017. REUTERS/Umit Bektas/File Photo - RC1730D15E80

How ‘Kurdistan’ became illegal in Turkey, again

The Turkey of 2013 and the Turkey of 2017 are very different places, which is why uttering the word “Kurdistan” is once again a punishable offense in the parliament.

A group of pro-Erdogan demonstrators shout slogans at a group of anti-Erdogan Kurds (foreground, back to camera) in Lafayette Park as Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan met with U.S. President Donald Trump nearby at the White House in Washington, U.S. May 16, 2017. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst - RC11DF991CB0

Are hit squads about to take aim at Turkey's dissidents abroad?

A Turkish parliamentarian has told Al-Monitor that Western officials believe dissidents and religious minority leaders in exile are being targeted by Turkish government operatives for assassination.

Iconic Armenian church survives war but not plunder in Turkey

The Surp Giragos Armenian Church in Diyarbakir enters the Christmas season as a victim of plunder and vandalism, despite its location in a sealed-off area with heavy security presence.

Pro-Erdogan media targets Saudis after Trump's Jerusalem decision

Let's hope Turkey can afford its alienation of Saudi Arabia and Saudi allies for the cause of Jerusalem.

Turkey closes door to bitcoin

Against the backdrop of a global bitcoin frenzy, the Turkish government has taken a stance against cryptocurrencies.