Turkey - AL-MONITOR: The Middle Eastʼs leading independent news source since 2012

Turkey

Turkey

November 11, 2026

Ankara 1:52 pm

10°C

Chris McGrath/Getty Images

Explainer

Iran war pushes up coal use, complicating Turkey’s COP31 pledge

Turkey is asking world leaders at COP31 to back a global push to use more electricity, even as the Iran war has driven up natural gas prices and pushed some power producers back to coal.

OZAN KOSE/AFP via Getty Images

Turkey bars MP’s wife from travel after his fund scandal criticism: What to know

Opposition politicians and rights advocates described Yonca Verdioglu Sik’s brief detention as an attempt to intimidate her husband, opposition lawmaker Ahmet Sik, over his criticism of the government.

A steel worker works in front of giant iron melting pot in Kardemir Iron and Steel Factory in Karabuk, northwestern Turkey, Aug. 26 2005. (TARIK TINAZAY/AFP via Getty Images)

Steel factory explosion in western Turkey kills at least 16

Footage from the scene showed a huge plume of thick smoke spreading into the sky as flames engulfed a tall structure within the plant.

Latest News

Analysis

Will Democrats block Trump’s push to deliver Turkey F-35s, lift sanctions?

MEHMET ESER/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

Costa Rica's Grynspan extends lead in UNSG poll as Nusseibeh places fourth

United Arab Emirates

Turkey’s parliament ratifies Mecca pact in boost to Saudi Arabia

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan addresses Turkish members of parliament during the opening of the parliamentary session at the Grand National Assembly of Turkey in Ankara, on Oct. 1, 2026.

Samuel Wendel

Senior Analyst, Middle East Business & Tech

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

Can Syrian Democratic Council play unifier in postwar Syria?

In an interview with Al-Monitor, Ilham Ahmed, Kurdish co-president of the Syrian Democratic Council, discussed the reasons behind the council's establishment and its aspirations for Syria.

A member of Forces loyal to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad carries his weapon as he walks past damaged buildings in a government held area of Aleppo, Syria December 9, 2016. REUTERS/Omar Sanadiki - RTSVEBH

Turkey scrambles to cut its losses in Syria

Turkey’s Syria policies "lie in shreds"; Syrian Kurds coordinate with government forces in Aleppo; would Russia support federalism in Syria?

Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan (C) greets his supporters as he arrives at a mosque for Friday prayers in Istanbul, Turkey, May 29, 2015. Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said the launch of Ziraat Bank's Islamic business should help to attract new funds to Turkey and urged other state lenders to help to triple Islamic banking's share of the market by 2023. Islamic finance has developed slowly in Turkey, the world's eighth most populous Muslim nation, partly because of political sensitivities and the secul

How Islamic will Erdogan’s presidential system be?

As the presidential system looks more probable than ever, Turkey’s pro-government pundits are looking for references for it within the Islamic tradition.

How one woman is standing up to Turkey’s purges

A Turkish academic, expelled after the July 15 coup attempt, has kept up a solo protest in downtown Ankara since early November, despite frequent detentions and mistreatment by the police.

Erdogan's money troubles

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called on citizens to convert their dollars to Turkish lira to shore up the economy, but many are choosing other options.

People sit in the back of a truck as they celebrate what they said was the liberation of villages from Islamist rebels near the city of Ras al-Ain in the province of Hasakah, after capturing it from Islamist rebels November 6, 2013. Redur Xelil, spokesman for the armed wing of the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD), said Kurdish militias had seized the city of Ras al-Ain and all its surrounding villages. Syrian Kurdish fighters have captured more territory from Islamist rebels in northeastern Syria

Where do Kurds fit in Syria conflict?

The future of the Syrian Kurds hinges on the policies of US President-elect Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin toward Turkey.

Turkey's shredded Syria policy

The fall of Aleppo to Syrian government forces has Ankara recalibrating its options in Syria.

Turkish Energy Minister Berat Albayrak speaks to media ahead of the 23rd World Energy Congress in Istanbul, Turkey, October 9, 2016. REUTERS/Murad Sezer - RTSRFQG

WikiLeaks dump casts rare light on Erdogan inner circle

WikiLeaks' dump of emails has put Energy Minister Berat Albayrak's dealings back in the news.

People shop at an open air bazaar in Baglar neighborhood in the Kurdish-dominated southeastern city of Diyarbakir, Turkey, September 5, 2016. Picture taken September 5, 2016. REUTERS/Sertac Kayar - RTX2OAM3

Turkey’s emergency rule hits thousands of destitute Kurds

Like dozens of Kurdish media outlets, local administrations and civic groups, a charity helping some of Turkey’s poorest Kurds has fallen victim to Ankara’s post-coup crackdown.

A woman uses her mobile phone to take a picture of a display board at a currency exchange office at the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul, Turkey, December 5, 2016. Picture taken December 5, 2016. REUTERS/Murad Sezer - RTSUWLI

Turkey mobilizes against 'economic coup'

For President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the steep decline of Turkey’s national currency is an “economic sabotage” by the nefarious powers that were also behind the coup attempt of July 15.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan delivers a speech during the International Istanbul Law Congress in Istanbul, Turkey, October 17, 2016. REUTERS/Murad Sezer - RTX2P58Q

Are Erdogan’s outbursts undermining Turkey’s interests?

Impulsive statements made by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan leave Ankara without a coherent and consistent foreign policy.

Smoke rises from al-Bab city, northern Aleppo province, Syria October 26, 2016. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi - RTX2QLVW

What's at stake in Syria

Al-Bab is the current focal point of complicated, interwoven developments unfolding in northern Syria.