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Turkey

Turkey

September 27, 2026

Ankara 11:02 pm

17°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

A masked Kurdish protestor try to pull down a Turkish flag on June 8, 2014 in Diyarbakir, eastern Turkey, after a man was killed during clashes with Turkish soldiers the night before in Lice. Two Kurdish protesters have died of gunshot wounds sustained during fierce clashes with Turkish soldiers in the country's southeast on June 7. Three people, including two soldiers, were hospitalised after the demonstrators opened fire, hurled stones and fireworks at security forces, according to an AFP reporter on the

Removal of Turkish flag stokes anti-Kurdish sentiments

Turkey is in an upheaval over the removal of its flag from a military base.

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

Why is Jabhat al-Nusra no longer useful to Turkey?

The Turkish government may be waking up to its failed Syria policies.

A woman pushes a baby's stroller loaded with belongings recovered from her home in the Wadi Al-Sayeh district at the al-Khalidiyeh area in Homs May 14, 2014. The fall of Syria's third largest city to government forces is a major blow to the opposition and a boost for Assad, weeks before his likely re-election. Picture taken May 14, 2014. REUTERS/Omar Sanadiki (SYRIA - Tags: CIVIL UNREST CONFLICT) - RTR3PD8B

Will Homs truce be repeated in Aleppo?

Hezbollah sources indicate that efforts are underway, including interventions by Iranian and Turkish authorities, to repeat the truce reached in Homs last month in Aleppo.

A giant banner, which reads: "Negotiation or war" and shows different pictures of jailed Kurdish militant leader Abdullah Ocalan of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), is displayed during a gathering celebrating Newroz, which marks the arrival of spring and the new year, in Diyarbakir March 21, 2014. Ocalan called on the Turkish government on Friday to create a legal framework for their peace talks, whose fate is looking increasingly uncertain a year after he called a ceasefire by his fighters. Tens of thous

Turkey's Kurds key to Erdogan's presidency bid

The Kurdish movement, uneasy with the stalling of the peace process, may have a card to play in the August presidential elections.

Syrian Kurds continue to blame Turkey for backing ISIS militants

In a report from northeast Syria, Syrian Kurds, locked in a bloody battle with the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), also fear a potential clash with Syrian government forces.

Mahamet, a 17-year-old Syrian boy from Azaz, waits for customers in front of the jewellery shop where he works as a translator in Kilis on the Turkish-Syrian border March 18, 2014. The busy market district of Kilis in southeast Turkey is full of Syrian refugee children, repairing household goods, serving baklava and selling jewellery to become the main breadwinner of their families because their parents struggle to find jobs. The civil war in neighbouring Syria has killed more than 140,000 people and driven

Refugees help spark Turkish trade with Syria

Despite the war, Turkish-Syrian trade is growing in several sectors, fueled in part by the influx of Syrian refugees.

Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan (R) and Kurdistan Region President Masoud Barzani shake hands before their meeting in Istanbul April 19, 2012. REUTERS/Stringer/Pool (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR30XVH

How Turkey lost its influence in Iraq

Ankara's tilt toward the Kurdistan Region of Iraq has undermined its once considerable influence in Iraq.

A vendor sells potatoes and other vegetables to a customer in an open market in central Ankara February 5, 2014. The humble potato has become a factor in Turkey's political and economic turmoil as prices of the staple soar, hurting the living standards of poorer Turks just before the ruling AK Party's toughest election test in a decade. At a market in the lower-income Istanbul suburb of Kucukcekmece, potatoes sell for between 3 and 4 lira ($1.33 and $1.77) a kilogramme, up from slightly more than 1 lira at

Turkish inflation at its 'worst' before expected slowdown

Turkey’s inflation shot up to a two-year high in May, but a slowdown is expected to begin in June.

Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan addresses members of his ruling AK Party (AKP) during a meeting at the Turkish Parliament in Ankara on June 3, 2014. Erdogan is set to announce his candidature for presidential elections in August despite deepening concern over his polarising rule. Already in his third term as prime minister -- the maximum permitted under his Justice and Development Party (AKP)'s rules -- Erdogan has made no secret of his ambition to run for president. AFP PHOTO/ADEM ALTAN

Turkey’s intra-Islamic witch hunt

The deeper lesson from the Erdogan-Gulen war is that even "good Muslims" do not fare well when dominating an authoritarian state.

Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan addresses his supporters during a meeting of his ruling AK Party (AKP) in Ankara January 24, 2014. Turkey received a vote of confidence in its underlying economic health on Thursday, with foreign investors lapping up a $2.5 billion eurobond issue even as a corruption scandal swirled and the central bank intervened to prop up the lira. The graft investigation, one of the biggest threats to Erdogan's 11-year rule, has shaken Turkey in recent weeks, helping send the lira

Erdogan's interest rate agenda

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's pressure on the Central Bank governor to lower the interest rate is a mix of populism and ideology.

Share prices are seen on a screen alongside flags at the Istanbul Stock Exchange October 14, 2011. Picture taken October 14, 2011. REUTERS/Murad Sezer (TURKEY - Tags: BUSINESS) - RTR2SSND

Turkey warned on credit ratings

Lowering of interest rates by the Turkish Central Bank despite high inflation prompts “lowering” warnings from ratings agencies.

Displaced young Syrians find home in Gaziantep cafe

A hip cafe in Gaziantep, near the Syrian border, has become a refuge for young, educated Syrian refugees.