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Turkey

Turkey

September 27, 2026

Ankara 3:38 pm

23°C

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

Turkish army special force members stand guard during the EFES-2010 military exercise in Izmir May 25, 2010. REUTERS/ Osman Orsal (TURKEY - Tags: MILITARY) - RTR2ECRC

Are Turkish troops trapped at Syrian tomb?

Turkish troops guarding the Tomb of Suleiman Shah, a Turkish enclave in Syria, are facing increased risks as Ankara refuses to evacuate them.

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (C) and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry (R) leave a meeting at the president's office in Ankara September 12, 2014. Kerry met Turkish leaders on Friday to try to win support for U.S.-led military action against Islamic State, but Ankara's reluctance to play a frontline role showed the difficulty of building a coalition for a regional war. REUTERS/Brendan Smialowski/Pool (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR460SA

High stakes for Erdogan in fight against IS

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan turns hawkish on the Islamic State, but he is aware that the stakes are high if Ankara joins the war against the group.

Exclusive: PKK commander threatens to resume war

In an exclusive interview, the Kurdistan Workers Party's (PKK) top military commander, Cemil Bayik, says that Turkey has sabotaged the peace process and the PKK is ready to resume open conflict.

Turkey's Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan makes a speech during the Istanbul Finance Summit in Istanbul Septemer 16, 2014. Turkey stepped up its criticism of credit rating agencies on Tuesday, with President Tayyip Erdogan warning it could cut ties with Moody's and Fitch and his prime minister saying the country did not have the ratings it deserves. Deputy Prime Minister Babacan, who is responsible for overseeing the economy, joined the chorus, telling a finance conference in Istanbul that objective evalua

Turkey threatens credit rating agencies

Turkey’s top leaders have threatened to cancel the contracts of credit rating agencies Fitch and Moody’s as financial markets get nervous at the prospect of Turkey being downgraded.

A man smokes his waterpipe at the Galata bridge in Istanbul, April 8, 2014. REUTERS/Osman Orsal (TURKEY - Tags: SOCIETY) - RTR3KG89

Turks dislike Islamic State, but would leave fight to others

A recent survey by Metropoll, a prominent Turkish polling company, indicates that only 1.3% of Turks are sympathetic toward the Islamic State.

Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan speaks during the Climate Summit at the U.N. headquarters in New York September 23, 2014. REUTERS/Mike Segar (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS ENVIRONMENT) - RTR47E2N

Erdogan says Turkey will join fight against Islamic State

Ankara is being forced to get off the fence and join allies against the growing threat from IS and similar groups.

A worker checks the valve gears in a natural gas control centre of Turkey's Petroleum and Pipeline Corporation, 35 km (22 miles) west of Ankara, February 14, 2012. REUTERS/Umit Bektas (TURKEY - Tags: BUSINESS ENERGY) - RTR2XU1J

What will Turkey do if Russia turns off gas?

The risk of Russia cutting gas supplies to Europe amid the Ukraine crisis has exposed Turkey’s energy vulnerability, with Istanbul, its most populous city and main industrial hub, dependent on Russian gas.

A group of men smuggle diesel fuel from Syria to Turkey hoping to sell it at a higher price, across the Al-Assi River in Darkush town, Idlib countryside May 26, 2013. REUTERS/Muzaffar Salman (SYRIA - Tags: CONFLICT TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) - RTX1026I

The truth about Turkey and Islamic State oil

While oil sales by the Islamic State across the Turkish border are a real problem, the Turkish government does not condone it.

A Turkish soldier stands guard as Syrian Kurds cross the border fence into Turkey near the southeastern town of Suruc in Sanliurfa province, September 19, 2014. Several thousand Syrian Kurds began crossing into Turkey on Friday fleeing Islamic State fighters who advanced into their villages, prompting warnings of massacres from Kurdish leaders. Islamic State (IS) fighters have seized villages in northern Syria over the past two days and are besieging the mainly Kurdish town of Ayn al-Arab, known as Kobani i

Can Turkey set up buffer zone inside Syria?

The idea of a buffer zone on the Syrian side of the border has been revived again, but faces serious feasibility questions.

Turkey's Family Ministry shames singles in new ad

Turkey’s Family and Social Policies Ministry evokes comparisons to Islamist radicals after using the image of headless figures in a controversial campaign “to battle aloneness.”

Turkey's Economy Minister Nihat Zeybekci speaks during an interview with Reuters in Ankara August 11, 2014. Turkey's government will maintain its calls for lower interest rates following Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan's victory in the country's first direct presidential election, the economy minister said on Monday. Zeybekci told Reuters in an interview that the central bank's core mandate for price stability should be expanded to include employment and growth, although he added this would not be a top prior

Turkey’s economic growth fizzles

Turkey’s economic growth slowed to 2.1% in the second quarter, well below expectations, forcing the government to review its year-end target of 4%.

Turkey's new President Tayyip Erdogan (2nd L) and outgoing President Abdullah Gul (R), attend a handover ceremony at the Presidential Palace of Cankaya in Ankara August 28, 2014. Erdogan was sworn in as Turkey's 12th president at a ceremony in parliament on Thursday, cementing his position as the country's most powerful modern leader, in what his opponents fear will herald an increasingly authoritarian rule. REUTERS/Umit Bektas (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR444TR

Erdogan's $350M presidential palace

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has filled his newly constructed palace in Ankara with symbolism of his overthrow of Turkey’s old regime.