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Turkey

Turkey

September 28, 2026

Ankara 1:31 pm

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

France's President Francois Hollande (front R) shakes hands with Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan (front L) as they are accompanied by President Abdullah Gul during a dinner at the Presidential Palace in Ankara January 27, 2014. REUTERS/Umit Bektas (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS) - RTX17XCL

Gul, Erdogan agree on Gulenists

Turkey's prime minister and president are both convinced that Gulenists organized within the state should be confronted within the confines of law, reflecting the Turkish state's unity against the Gulenists.

Cemil Bayik, a founding member of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), speaks during an interview with Reuters at the Qandil mountains near the Iraq-Turkey border, October 19, 2013. Kurdish rebels are ready to re-enter Turkey from northern Iraq, Bayik, the head of the group's political wing said at his mountain hideout, threatening to rekindle an insurgency unless Ankara resuscitates their peace process soon. Picture taken October 19. To match Interview TURKEY-KURDS/PKK REUTERS/Stringer (IRAQ - Tags: PO

Why is the PKK siding with the AKP in the AKP-Gulen conflict?

The Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) may believe that the enemy of my friend is my enemy.

France's President Francois Hollande and his Turkish counterpart Abdullah Gul (R) address the media at the Presidential Palace in Ankara January 27, 2014. REUTERS/Umit Bektas (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS) - RTX17X3C

Gul proposes Turkey-Iran cooperation in Syria

Turkish President Abdullah Gul is distancing himself from the political culture and foreign policy of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu.

A forensic inspector collects evidence at the site of the two suicide bombings that occurred on Tuesday near Iran's embassy compound in Beirut November 20, 2013. Two suicide bombings rocked Iran's embassy compound in Lebanon on Tuesday, killing at least 23 people including an Iranian cultural attache and hurling bodies and burning wreckage across a debris-strewn street. REUTERS/Sharif Karim (LEBANON - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTX15LJV

Lebanon fights back against terrorists

Despite the ongoing terrorist attacks in Lebanon, the country’s authorities have made significant arrests in their war against terror.

U.S. Director of National Intelligence James Clapper is pictured at a House Intelligence Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, October 29, 2013. The hearing was on the potential changes to the foreign intelligence surveillance act (FISA). REUTERS/Jason Reed (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS MILITARY) - RTX14SXL

The Syria disconnect in US terrorism policy

The US national intelligence director, James Clapper, foresees a rise in "political uncertainty and violence" in the Middle East in 2014.

Başbakan Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, İran Cumhurbaşkanı Hasan Ruhani ile görüştü. Tahran'da resmi temaslarını sürdüren Başbakan Erdoğan, Sadabad Sarayı'nda gerçekleştirilen öğle yemeğinde, İran Cumhurbaşkanı Ruhani ile bir araya geldi. Başbakan Erdoğan, İran Cumhurbaşkanı Ruhani ile iki ülke arasında çeşitli alanlarda ikili işbirliği anlaşmaları imzaladı. (Kayhan Özer - Anadolu Ajansı)

Turkey, Iran seek workaround on Syria

Ankara and Tehran are attempting to normalize a relationship put off track by Syria.

Israeli soldiers ride an army jeep during a patrol along Israel's border with Lebanon near the northern village of Avivim July 3, 2013. Israel is bolstering its forces on the once-quiet frontier with Syria where it believes Lebanese Hezbollah militants are preparing for the day when they could fight Israel. Picture taken July 3, 2013. REUTERS/Baz Ratner (ISRAEL - Tags: MILITARY POLITICS) - RTX11IMI

Al-Qaeda now frontline threat to Israel

With gains in Syria, Lebanon and Egypt, al-Qaeda and its affiliates threaten Israel more than ever.

Syrian foreign minister calls for national unity government

In an exclusive interview with Al-Monitor, Walid Moallem, Syria's minister of foreign affairs and expatriates, said that the Syrian National Coalition's rejection of a resolution condemning terrorism was "unfortunate and strange."

A man carrying a wounded woman runs from the site of explosions near the Iranian embassy in Beirut November 19, 2013. Two explosions targeting the Iranian embassy hit the Lebanese capital Beirut on Tuesday killing at least 23 people, including Iranian cultural attache Ebrahim Ansari, and damaging buildings around the embassy compound, Lebanese sources said. REUTERS/Issam Kobeisy (LEBANON - Tags: POLITICS DISASTER) - RTX15JSM

Are UN Security Council anti-al-Qaeda terror statutes properly enforced?

The UN Security Council has established a regime for a travel ban, asset freeze and arms embargo against the al-Qaeda network since 1999, but new circumstances bring about serious doubts if such a regime is still functioning.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu (L) speak to reporters at the State Department in Washington November 18, 2013.
REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS) - RTX15J4I

US, Turkey try to contain chill in relations

US-Turkey relations have seen better days.

An Ultra-Orthodox Jewish man begs for change as he sits on a sidewalk in Jerusalem March 26, 2006. A growing number of Israelis live beneath the poverty line, many of them ultra-Orthodox Jews, immigrants and elderly. Poverty is a prominent issue in Israel's campaign for a March 28 parliamentary election. Picture taken march 26, 2006. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun - RTR17NNS

Israel faces crisis of growing poverty

Israel's new national committee on poverty has been asked to propose a comprehensive solution to the alarming increase in Israeli families living below the poverty line, most of them working poor.

A PORTER PUSHES AN ELDERLY PALESTINIAN CANCER PATIENT THROUGH THE EREZ CROSSING BETWEEN THE GAZA STRIP AND ISRAEL. A porter pushes an elderly Palestinian cancer patient through the Erez crossing between the Gaza Strip and Israel March 21, 2004. Palestinian doctors complain Israel has stopped allowing ambulances to bring patients into Israel from Gaza, forcing the sick to cross unaided through the heavily guarded checkpoint. REUTERS/Goran Tomasevic - RTRFRM5

Checkpoint hardship for sick Gazans seeking care in Israel

Some sick patients in the Gaza Strip have reported that Israeli security officers offered to exchange travel permits for information.