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

Turkey

Turkey

September 28, 2026

Ankara 1:47 am

14°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 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 rate rises to record levels

Higher-than-expected inflation in April makes it harder for Turkey’s Central Bank to lower interest rates as the government wishes, rekindling a long-standing controversy in the country.

A photo of Syria's President Bashar al-Assad is seen along a street in old Homs city May 8, 2014. Syrian forces say they will take full control on Thursday over Homs, a city once vibrant with pro-democracy crowds but now associated with images of ruin that epitomise the brutality of Syria's civil war. After holding the Old City of Homs for nearly two years, close to 1,200 rebel fighters boarded buses which took them out of the "capital of the revolution" in convoys on Wednesday and Thursday, activists said.

Ankara at crossroads on Syria policy

Developments in Syria have confounded the Turkish government’s efforts to depose President Bashar al-Assad and forced a rethink of its policies.

A gay rights activist waves a rainbow flag during a protest at Tunel Square in Istanbul June 23, 2013. REUTERS/Marko Djurica (TURKEY - Tags: SOCIETY CIVIL UNREST) - RTX10Y6T

Honor killings haunt Turkey's gay community

Two court cases of "gay honor killings" in Turkey reveal a similar pattern of deep-rooted prejudice and social codes that override even the closest family bonds.

Fighters from Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) burn confiscated cigarettes in the city of Raqqa April 2, 2014. REUTERS/Stringer (SYRIA - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST CONFLICT RELIGION SOCIETY TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) - RTR3JP4Z

Saudis fear Syria blowback after discovering ISIS cell

Fears of jihadist blowback from the Syrian war are starting to be realized after Saudi's discovery of a terrorist cell planning attacks on its soil.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (R), Turkey's President Abdullah Gul (L), Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan (C), his wife Emine Erdogan pray with Head of Turkey's Religious Affairs Directorate Mehmet Gormez during the opening ceremony of Marmaray, a subway links Europe with Asia some 60 metres below the Bosphorus Strait, in Istanbul October 29, 2013. Turkey opened the world's first underwater rail link between two continents on Tuesday, connecting Asia and Europe and allowing PM Erdogan to realise a project

Who speaks for Islam in Turkey?

Turkey's Religious Affairs Directorate is under scrutiny.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu listens to a question during a joint news conference with his Italian counterpart Enrico Letta at the end of a bilateral meeting at Villa Madama in Rome December 2, 2013. REUTERS/Alessandro Bianchi (ITALY - Tags: POLITICS) - RTX1616K

Netanyahu stalls on reconciliation with Turkey

Israel's premier still does not trust Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Journalists and activists participate in a rally calling for press freedom in central Ankara March 19, 2011. The recent arrest and jailing of some 10 journalists as part of investigations into Ergenekon, an ultra-nationalist, secularist network opposed to Prime Minister's Tayyip Erdogan's rule, has a triggered expressions of concern from the European Union, the U.S. and human rights groups about Ankara's commitment to media freedom and democratic principles. REUTERS/Umit Bektas (TURKEY - Tags: CIVIL UNREST

Freedom House right about Turkey

Turkish journalists should not follow Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu's suggestion to reject the press freedom report.

A civil defence worker runs towards a fire after what activists said was an air strike by forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad in Aleppo's Bustan al-Qasr April 18, 2014. REUTERS/Stringer (SYRIA - Tags: CONFLICT CIVIL UNREST) - RTR3LTHO

Aleppo's rebel fighters disillusioned with war

Rebel fighters in Aleppo look to Homs as a potential model for a cease-fire to end the war in the city.

Sinai residents complain of violations by Egypt army

Sinai civilians claim they are bearing the brunt of the Egyptian army’s war on terror in the peninsula.

Turkish lira banknotes are seen in this photo illustration taken in Istanbul January 7, 2014. Turkey's lira slipped against the U.S. dollar on Wednesday as the government bond yield curve, which had briefly inverted on Tuesday because of speculation about an emergency rate hike to rescue the currency, returned to a positive slope. Picture taken January 7, 2014. REUTERS/Murad Sezer (TURKEY - Tags: BUSINESS) - RTX1761J

Turkey’s currency prepares for a fall

After years of efforts to keep its currency valuable, Turkey’s government seems to be shifting to a cheaper lira policy in an attempt to boost exports and reduce the country’s gaping current account deficit.

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,

State Dept. rejects Davutoglu’s denial of media watchdog report

While the Freedom House report was expected to cause a stir, the statements by Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu stand out, eliciting a rebuke from the State Department.

A woman wearing a sign on her head that reads "No Harassment" takes part in a protest against Egypt's President Mohamed Mursi and the Muslim Brotherhood and in support of women rights in the constitution in front of the presidential palace in Cairo October 4, 2012. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh (EGYPT - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTR38T3N

Egyptian women scared to speak out against sexual harassment

Sexual harassment leads all crimes against Egyptian women, and experts say it is abetted by toothless laws, lax enforcement and societal acceptance of the phenomenon.