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Turkey

Turkey

September 28, 2026

Ankara 1:06 am

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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

A Palestinian boy holds a poster of Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan as he celebrates after Erdogan declared victory in local polls during a rally organised by Hamas movement in the northern Gaza Strip March 31, 2014. Erdogan declared victory in local polls that had become a referendum on his rule and said he would "enter the lair" of enemies who have accused him of corruption and leaked state secrets. The Arabic words read "Turkey Justice and development forward". REUTERS/Mohammed Salem (GAZA - Tags:

Hamas wary of improved Turkey-Israel ties

Many within Hamas are quietly disappointed that Islamist ally Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan may be pursuing reconciliation with Israel.

A protester is kicked by Yusuf Yerkel (L), advisor to Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, as Special Forces police officers detain him during a protest against Erdogan's visit to Soma, a district in Turkey's western province of Manisa May 14, 2014. Four Turkish labour unions called for a national one-day strike on Thursday in protest against the country's worst industrial disaster that killed at least 282 people in a coal mine in western Turkey. Picture taken May 14, 2014. REUTERS/Mehmet Emin Al/Depo Ph

AKP government under fire over coal mine tragedy

Was the mine disaster in Turkey, which has claimed at least 283 lives, the result of flawed policies and negligent acts, or an inevitable accident?

A member of Islamist Syrian rebel group Jabhat al-Nusra mans a checkpoint on the border crossing between Syria and Jordan, which they claim to have taken control of, in Daraa December 26, 2013. Flag reads, "There is no God but Allah, and Muhammad is his prophet. Al-Nusra front, al-Qaeda in the Levant". Picture taken December 26, 2013. REUTERS/Ammar Khassawneh (SYRIA - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST CONFLICT) - RTX16VW7

International efforts against Al-Qaeda key to Syria political solution

A UN counterterrorism committee can do even more to coordinate a more effective response to al-Qaeda in Syria and eventually a political resolution of the conflict.

A worker climbs down after completing work on a campaign billboard of presidential candidate and Egypt's former army chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, along a highway in Cairo May 12, 2014. An influential Qatar-based Islamist whose fiery sermons have caused tension between Gulf states said on Sunday that Egyptian presidential front runner Abdel Fattah al-Sisi will only bring downfall to the country. Sisi is expected to easily win the May 26-27 presidential election. The only other candidate is leftist politician

Hamas tones down Brotherhood links to improve Egypt ties

Hamas is positioning itself to welcome Abdel Fattah al-Sisi as Egypt’s likely next president, hoping it will result in an improvement in relations.

A worker stands and works on a campaign billboard of presidential candidate and Egypt's former army chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, along a highway in Cairo May 12, 2014. An influential Qatar-based Islamist whose fiery sermons have caused tension between Gulf states said on Sunday that Egyptian presidential front runner Abdel Fattah al-Sisi will only bring downfall to the country. Sisi is expected to easily win the May 26-27 presidential election. The only other candidate is leftist politician Hamdeen Sabahi, w

The false promise of Mideast elections

The coming presidential elections in Egypt, Syria and Turkey offer little hope for a regional trend toward stability and democracy.

Veiled women sit as they chat in a garden in the northern province of Raqqa March 31, 2014. The Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) has imposed sweeping restrictions on personal freedoms in the northern province of Raqqa. Among the restrictions, Women must wear the niqab, or full face veil, in public or face unspecified punishments "in accordance with sharia", or Islamic law. REUTERS/Stringer (SYRIA - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST CONFLICT RELIGION SOCIETY) - RTR3JCO4

Syrian girls forced to marry ISIS fighters

The Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham is forcing Syrian girls to marry its foreign fighters.

Residents carry belongings from home following the cessation of fighting between rebels and forces loyal to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad, in Homs city May 10, 2014. Hundreds of residents have started to return to Homs after rebels left the city. REUTERS/Khaled al-Hariri (SYRIA - Tags: POLITICS CONFLICT CIVIL UNREST) - RTR3OL1I

War-weary Syrians see hope in Homs deal

Syrian civilians, routinely shelled by regime forces and rebels, hope the Homs cease-fire is an indication of better times to come.

A man enters the Bourse Istanbul in Istanbul December 17, 2013. Turkey's Bourse Istanbul could acquire a minority stake in Nasdaq OMX Group as part of a tie-up that will involve the Turkish exchange using Nasdaq's market technologies, its chairman Ibrahim Turhan said on December 31, 2013. Bourse Istanbul will buy stock trading and clearing software and infrastructure from Nasdaq OMX and will be able to use and resell the software in 25 countries, in a move designed to attract more trade from the world's lea

What next for Turkey’s stock market?

Having recovered in the wake of political turmoil, Turkey’s stock market appears on a downward trend in the short run.

In this handout picture released by the Vatican press office, Pope Benedict XVI meets with Sufi mystic Sheikh Nazim Haqqani (L), who travelled from the north of the divided island of Cyprus, to see him at the Latin Church of the Holy Cross in Nicosia on June 5, 2010, the second day of the pontiff's visit to the mainly Greek Orthodox east Mediterranean island. AFP PHOTO / POOL / OSSERVATORE ROMANO -- RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE -- (Photo credit should read --/AFP/Getty Images)

Cyprus bids farewell to 'ecumenical' Sufi

Sheikh Nazim Qubrusi, who died at 92, was a colorful Sufi leader who spread the Naqshbandi order to the West and eased emotional barriers on long-divided Cyprus.

Workers hang banners for Hassan Abdallah al-Nouri in front of a banner for President Bashar al-Assad on a street in Damascus May 11, 2014. Assad will compete with other two candidates in a June presidential election, the Supreme Constitutional Court of Syria said on Saturday. The poster consists of the Arabic word "Sawa" (Together) and Assad's name and signature (back) and "bringing back the middle class" with Dr. Hassan al-Nouri on the banner of his opponent (front). REUTERS/Omar Sanadiki (SYRIA - Tags:

Syrian government ponders post-election scenarios

As the June 3 presidential elections approach in Syria, the government considers how domestic and internal actors will react to the expected re-election of President Bashar Al-Assad.

Tamir Pardo (L), head of Israel's spy agency Mossad, and Yoram Cohen, chief of Israel's Shin Bet internal security service, speak during a corner-stone laying ceremony for a memorial commemorating fallen soldiers on Mount Herzl military cemetery in Jerusalem April 30, 2014. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun (JERUSALEM - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR3N968

Israel rejects accusations of spying on US

Committed never to spy on American soil, some Israeli officials consider the espionage accusations as politically motivated to damage Israel-US relations.

Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan (C) cuts the ribbon during the opening ceremony of the new building of the Turkish Embassy in Doha December 4, 2013. REUTERS/Mohammed Dabbous (QATAR - Tags: POLITICS) - RTX163FZ

Turkey, Qatar strengthen economic ties

Turkey is again stepping up relations with Qatar by adding cultural and commercial links to their political collaboration in the international arena.