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Turkey

Turkey

November 5, 2026

Ankara 6:28 pm

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Turkey probes Google’s AI search tools, orders protections for news websites

Turkey’s competition watchdog said it is assessing whether AI-generated answers appearing on Google Search divert traffic from news sites and impose unfair content-use terms.

A protestor holds a flag bearing a portrait of jailed leader of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) Abdullah Ocalan during a demonstration of Kurdish people from all around Europe to mark the 27th anniversary of his arrest and to demand his liberation, in Strasbourg, Eastern France, on Feb. 14, 2026.

Turkey moves PKK leader Ocalan to prison villa as peace process faces new test

The move is expected to give the PKK leader a more direct role in negotiations, but deep divisions over disarmament and Kurdish rights continue to threaten the process.

OSCE Secretary General Feridun Sinirlioglu is pictured during a joint press conference with the OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Switzerland's Foreign Minister at Vienna International Airport on Feb. 6, 2026 in Schwechat, Lower Austria.

Explainer

Who is Feridun Sinirlioglu, Turkey’s candidate for UN chief?

The Turkish president's confidant enters the race for UN chief with decades of diplomatic experience marked by both praise and scrutiny.

Demonstrators hold a banner reading "Free Gaza, free world"

Analysis

Gaza progress, Syria pullback: What Turkey wants from Israel’s next government

Ankara sees room for limited improvement in ties if Israel’s next government eases Gaza’s humanitarian crisis and reduces military pressure on Syria.

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

Latest News

Explainer

After EU rebuff, how Turkey is courting Egypt for maritime deal

Turkish Navy sailors wave their caps from the flight deck

Culture

Rock collapse near UNESCO-listed site in Turkey’s Cappadocia kills three

An view of the Uchisar settlement, east of Nevesehir in the province of the same name in central Turkey's historical Cappadocia region on Aug. 24, 2022.

Tornado kills 4 in Turkey’s Mediterranean tourism hub Antalya

Kepez

Saudi Arabia’s KBS, top Turkish and Pakistani officials hold rare meeting in Iran: What to know

GEOFFROY VAN DER HASSELT/AFP via Getty Images

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

Pedestrians walk on Istiklal Street, the main shopping street in Istanbul, on the fourth day of the Eid-al-Adha holiday on July 23, 2021.

Turkey’s record growth rate belies murky economic prospects

Eager to woo back disgruntled voters, Erdogan appears bent on stimulating economic growth at the risk of stoking Turkey’s currency troubles.

Abu Dhabi's Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan (L) shakes hands with Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan before a meeting in Ankara on Feb. 28, 2012.

Iraqi Kurdish leader helps ease Turkey-UAE tensions

Iraqi Kurdistan President Nechirvan Barzani helped facilitate a recent phone call between Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Jin of BTS performs onstage during 102.7 KIIS FM's Jingle Ball 2019 Presented by Capital One at the Forum on Dec. 6, 2019 in Los Angeles, California.

Turkey’s Family Ministry moves to turn down K-pop

Turkey is full of young fans of Korean pop music, angering conservatives who claim the K-pop movement encourages homosexuality.

Jandarma officers monitor Afghan migrants sitting in the back of a smuggler's van that was caught transporting the migrants from the Turkey-Iran border on July 10, 2021 in Caldiran, Turkey.

Turkey won't accept 'refugee burden' from Afghanistan

Turkey, which already hosts more than 300,000 Afghans, has warned it doesn't have the resources to accept additional migrants from the war-torn country.

Hayat Tahrir al-Sham in Syria celebrates Taliban's declared "Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan"

Are Syrian jihadis ready to take the fight to Afghanistan?

Afghanistan revives terror challenges for Washington; Russia anticipates security vacuum; Erdogan senses an opportunity.

OMAR HAJ KADOUR/AFP via Getty Images

Turkey’s targeted killings signal new strategy against Syrian Kurdish forces

A series of Turkish drone strikes targeting senior Kurdish figures in northeast Syria appears to be the prelude of an attrition strategy to further restrict the main Syrian Kurdish group in the region and hamper its autonomy project.

In this handout provided by the US Air Force, an aircrew prepares to load evacuees aboard a C-17 Globemaster III aircraft.

Turkey, Taliban hold talks in Kabul as airport security in doubt

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Ankara hasn't decided whether to provide the Taliban with technical assistance at Kabul's international airport.

Burak Kara/Getty Images

Weary of restrictions, maskless Turks risk fourth wave as variants take hold

Nearly 18 months of coronavirus and a growing vaccination campaign has left many in Turkey careless about the risks of new variants of COVID-19.

Sheikh Tahnoun bin Zayed al-Nahyan and Erdogan

How far might Turkey, UAE reach in fence-mending bid?

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's reception of the UAE national security adviser has raised the prospect of a reset in acrimonious bilateral ties.

People come out from a metro station at Laleli in Istanbul, on March 22, 2021

Turkey’s external debt drops $25 billion at a stroke

The jury is still out on Turkey’s downward revision of short-term external debt, but similar revisions that improved GDP figures in the past have cast doubt on the credibility of Ankara’s economic data.

British and Canadian soldiers stand guard near a canal in the late hours of Aug. 22, 2021, as Afghans wait outside the foreign military-controlled part of the airport in Kabul

Turkey begins pulling troops from Kabul airport as US deadline looms

Ankara's proposal to keep troops at Kabul airport appears dead in the water, at least for now.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu gives a joint press conference with his Jordanian counterpart at the foreign ministry headquarters in Amman on August 17, 2021.

Russian rebuke of Turkey for Crimea support highlights Ankara's delicate balancing act

Turkey's support for Crimea also highlights the growing value of Ukraine and Crimea for Ankara.