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Turkey

Turkey

September 27, 2026

Ankara 12:56 pm

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Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan (3rd R) with Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud (R) and Pakistan Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar (2nd R), Saudi Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman (C), Turkish Chief of the General Staff General Selcuk Bayraktaroglu (L), Pakistani Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif (2nd R), Pakistani Chief of Defence Forces and Chief of Army Staff Field Marshal Asim Munir (3rd R) at the first meeting of the Strategic Political and Defence Committee in relation to the

Analysis

Why Turkey is drawing the line at defense in its support for Saudi Arabia

Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia are forcing Mecca pact signatories to quickly operationalize their agreement, but are unlikely to draw Turkey into direct action against the Iran-backed group.

Ezgi Akin

In Ankara, reporting on diplomacy, EU-Turkey ties, NATO

Turkish soldiers conduct military exercises near the Habur crossing gate between Turkey and Iraq on Sept. 27, 2017 in the Silopi district, southeast Turkey.

Analysis

Can Turkey’s Bashiqa withdrawal pave the way for deeper Iraq ties?

Ankara hopes the planned handover of its Bashiqa base will deepen security cooperation with Baghdad and unlock broader economic ties, but implementation hinges on restoring Iraqi state authority in Sinjar, where previous efforts to remove armed groups have stalled.

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

Latest News

Turkey warns Greece-Cyprus-Israel power cable needs Ankara's approval

Servicemen of Yavuz class, TCG Turgutreis (F-241) warship, stand at attention on the deck as they participate in the live-fire phase of the "Blue Homeland-2026" (Mavi Vatan) tactical military exercises in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, in Antalya on April 9, 2026.

Explainer

Turkey agrees to hand over contentious Bashiqa base to Iraq

Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi meets with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in New York City, Sept. 23, 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

Islamist Syrian rebel group Jabhat al-Nusra members gesture while posing on a tank on Al-Khazan frontline of Khan Sheikhoun, northern Idlib province May 17, 2014. REUTERS/Hamid Khatib (SYRIA - Tags: CIVIL UNREST MILITARY POLITICS CONFLICT) - RTR3PM9N

Jabhat al-Nusra deflates hopes of Assad opponents

Following the Islamic State's advance, Jabhat al-Nusra has also moved to the Turkish border, routing moderate rebels and dashing the hopes of “train and equip” proponents eager for a renewed war on the Syrian regime.

An Israeli gas platform is seen in the back as a sailor in the Israeli navy stands aboard a patrol boat in the Mediterranean sea some 15 miles (24 km) west of the port city of Ashdod February 25, 2013. Israel's huge new offshore gas resource offers its enemies an obvious target and gives its navy, long overshadowed by other branches of the Israeli armed forces, a big job that will require extra spending. Picture taken February 25, 2013. REUTERS/Amir Cohen (ISRAEL - Tags: MILITARY ENERGY BUSINESS POLITICS MA

Military presence increases in eastern Mediterranean

Regional crises and economic squabbles have led to a military buildup in the eastern Mediterranean that threatens to shift from feints and preparation to armed conflict as Russian and NATO forces further complicate the situation.

Turkey's President-elect Tayyip Erdogan (R) and incoming prime minister Ahmet Davutoglu leave the stage together during the Extraordinary Congress of the ruling AK Party (AKP) in Ankara August 27, 2014. Erdogan said on Wednesday he would ask Davutoglu to form a new government on Thursday, and a new cabinet of ministers would be announced the following day. REUTERS/Umit Bektas (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR43Z11

Will Davutoglu ever emerge from Erdogan's shadow?

Having been forced into a secondary role, Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu merely implements what President Recep Tayyip Erdogan decides — but for how long?

Turkish gendarme soldiers prepare to change shifts with their colleagues standing in front of protesters waiting outside Silivri prison, some 70 km (43.5 miles) west of Istanbul, during the trial of a shadowy-right wing group 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/Osman Orsal (TURKEY) - RTX9U0U

Splitting gendarmerie from Turkish army: reform or bad timing?

The Turkish public is divided over the government’s decision to attach the Gendarmerie Command to the Ministry of Interior.

Riot police take up positions as they clash with protesters in Istanbul, during a pro-Kurdish demonstration in solidarity with the people of the Syrian Kurdish town of Kobani, October 7, 2014. Turkey's president said Kobani was "about to fall" as Islamic State fighters pressed home a three-week assault that has cost a reported 400 lives and forced thousands to flee their homes. REUTERS/Osman Orsal (TURKEY - Tags: CIVIL UNREST POLITICS) - RTR49AXB

Turkey adds entry to book of enemies

Turkey’s National Security Policy Document — known as the "Red Book" and infamous for designating social groups as “internal enemies” — has been taken off the shelf again.

Muslim pilgrims walk on a bridge as they head to cast stones at pillars symbolizing Satan during the final day of the annual haj pilgrimage in Mina on the third day of Eid al-Adha, near the holy city of Mecca, October 6, 2014. Muslims around the world celebrate Eid al-Adha to mark the end of the haj pilgrimage by slaughtering sheep, goats, camels and cows to commemorate Prophet Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son, Ismail, on God's command. REUTERS/Muhammad Hamed (SAUDI ARABIA - Tags: RELIGION) - RTR4

Turkish politician calls for Vatican-like administration of Mecca

A Turkish parliamentarian calls for a joint Muslim administration in Mecca and Medina, arguing the Saudis have failed to ensure smooth hajj pilgrimage for Muslims.

A man waves a Kurdistan flag as a Turkish military truck escorts a convoy of peshmerga vehicles at Habur border gate, which separates Turkey from Iraq, near the town of Silopi in southeastern Turkey, October 29, 2014. Iraqi peshmerga fighters arrived in southeastern Turkey early on Wednesday ahead of their planned deployment to the Syrian town of Kobani to help fellow Kurds repel an Islamic State advance, a Reuters witness said. REUTERS/Kadir Baris (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS MILITARY CONFLICT TPX IMAGES OF TH

Turkish military angered by Ankara’s peshmerga move

The Turkish military is said to be riled and to have informed the government of its opposition to seeing Iraqi Kurdish fighters in Turkey.

French President Francois Hollande (R) and Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan hold a joint press statement at the Elysee Palace in Paris, October 31, 2014. REUTERS/Philippe Wojazer (FRANCE - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR4CBOI

Syria strengthens Turkish-French ties

French President Francois Hollande met with his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in Paris on Oct. 31 to discuss the crisis in Syria.

Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan talks to the media in Istanbul February 3, 2014. Dozens of their colleagues are in prison or on trial, thousands of faceless opponents hound them on Twitter, and phone calls from government officials warn them over their coverage - all hazards of the trade for Turkey's journalists. Government critics who refuse to be muzzled can find themselves sacked. Others avoid trouble, such as the broadcaster which screened a documentary on penguins last June while police sprayed

The Middle East 'mastermind' who worries Erdogan

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his team apparently see the Middle East not as chaos populated by many independent actors, but as a chessboard whose men are controlled by an unseen power.

Foad, the brother of 15 year-old Nora who left her home in Avignon for Syria nine months ago, shows a portrait he took last September on his cell phone as he attends an interview with Reuters in Paris, October 6, 2014. Foad, a French truck driver of Moroccan origin, travelled alone through war-torn Syria to rescue his 15-year-old sister from an Islamist group she said was holding her captive. But when they finally stood face to face, in tears, she would not leave. Foad is convinced that his sister Nora, who

European women convert, join IS

European women have been converting to Islam and joining the Islamic State's ranks in Syria, after watching and hearing stories about jihad on social media platforms.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu attends the opening of a meeting of foreign ministers at the Zaatari refugee camp in the Jordanian city of Mafraq, near the border with Syria, May 4, 2014. Foreign ministers of major refugee hosting countries attended a one-day meeting in the Zaatari refugee camp to discuss a resolution for the Syrian refugee crisis. The meeting - the third for countries harbouring the largest number of Syrian refugees - brought together Foreign Ministers from Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt,

Turkey finds out one is the loneliest number

The regional and global loneliness Ankara dragged itself into with its foreign policy since 2009 is becoming hazardous with the threat from the Islamic State.

A man uses an ATM machine of Bank Asya in Istanbul August 12, 2014. Turkish Islamic lender Bank Asya said its second-quarter net profit fell 81 percent to 10.6 million lira ($4.9 million) as its deposit base shrank and lending wilted under pressure from the government. The lender has seen its profits and capital base collapse since December when it found itself at the centre of a power struggle between Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan and his political foe Fethullah Gulen, an Islamic cleric whose sympathisers

Islamic banking gains ground in Turkey

In a first for Turkey, a state-run bank is poised to enter the Islamic banking sector, and other major state lenders are expected to follow.