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

Turkey

Turkey

May 6, 2026

Ankara 1:35 pm

13°C

A picture taken near Kars on Feb. 28, 2024 shows the ruins of a bridge over Arpacay river, the natural border between Turkey and Armenia.

Turkey, Armenia agree to restore medieval bridge in normalization push

Ankara is pursuing normalization with Armenia ahead of June parliamentary elections in a thaw also positioned to advance its broader Middle Corridor ambitions.

Sabah Fidan

Turkey hosts Kuwaiti FM as UAE's OAPEC exit fuels Gulf rift

Kuwait's top diplomat visited Turkey as the Gulf rift deepens following the UAE’s exit from OPEC and its affiliated alliances, forcing Ankara to balance ties between Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi.

Zaidi

Analysis

Iraq’s Zaidi offers economic promise for Turkey but unknowns loom

Iraq’s prime minister-designate, Ali al-Zaidi, is expected to sustain growing economic and strategic ties with Turkey thanks to his business-oriented approach, though uncertainty over his political stance could test cooperation on sensitive issues.

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

Latest News

Turkey warns France over Cyprus troop deployment: What to know

Members of the UN Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP), from the British Army's 1st Battalion Coldstream Guards, No. 2 Company, patrol along the buffer zone separating the internationally recognized Republic of Cyprus and the breakaway Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus in the divided capital Nicosia on Feb. 17, 2026.

Turkey advances gas pipeline plan to northern Cyprus as East Med rivalry grows

This aerial photograph shows Turkey's first floating natural gas production platform, "Osman Gazi," passing through the Bosphorus, in Istanbul, on May 29, 2025.

In first, Libya’s rival armies to join drill in Turkey: What to know

Cadets of the Saiqa Force (Special Forces) of the self-styled Libyan National Army affiliated with eastern strongman Khalifa Hifter take part in a graduation ceremony in tribute to the force's late commander, Wanis Bukhamada, in the eastern city of Benghazi, on Jan. 20, 2022.

Turkey’s military spending jumps to $30B, leads Mideast growth in 2025

Turkey's submarines and fast-attack craft ships 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.

Samuel Wendel

Senior Market Research Analyst

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

Six days after disappearance, Turkish worker returns home

Following a public outcry, Turkish electrician Gokhan Gunes returned to his family Tuesday after six days of alleged torture.

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - NOVEMBER 05: Hillary Clinton and Chelsea Clinton speak onstage at 'Hillary Clinton and Chelsea Clinton discuss their new book 'The Book of Gutsy Women' at The Wilshire Ebell Theatre on November 05, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Emma McIntyre/Getty Images)

Turkey enraged by Clintons' TV show exalting Syrian Kurdish women fighters

Turkey’s state-run press agency is churning out angry coverage of former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and her daughter Chelsea producing a TV series about the Syrian Kurdish women fighters who were key in defeating the Islamic State.

Greece, France sign fighter jet deal amid tensions with Turkey

Athens' roughly $3 billion purchase of 18 Rafale fighter jets comes as Greek officials meet Turkish counterparts for exploratory talks to resolve disputes.

A concrete box placed by the Turkish Army, for use as a guard point, is pictured overlooking the M4 highway near the town of Ariha in Syria's rebel-held northwestern Idlib province on January 4, 2021. (Photo by AAREF WATAD / AFP) (Photo by AAREF WATAD/AFP via Getty Images)

Turkey faces mysterious jihadi enemies in Idlib

Turkish forces continue to expand their presence around the key M4 highway in Idlib as attacks by new groups fuel uncertainties in the rebel-held region.

WASHINGTON, DC - MAY 16: U.S. Vice President Joseph Biden (R) speaks as Prime Minister of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan (L) looks on during a luncheon at the State Department May 16, 2013 in Washington, DC. Prime Minister Erdogan was on a visit in Washington and had talks on Syria with U.S. President Barack Obama. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Erdogan seeks better ties with US and EU, but on his terms

How Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan hopes to improve ties with the United States and the European Union and get Turkey out of its economic morass without making any significant concessions remains unclear.

Turkish National Defence Minister Hulusi Akar gives a press conference at the ministry in Ankara on January 13, 2021. (Photo by Arif AKDOGAN / POOL / AFP) (Photo by ARIF AKDOGAN/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Will Turkish defense minister’s Iraq visit yield concrete results?

Although Turkey's defense minister seems to be satisfied with the outcome of his recent visit to Baghdad and Erbil, there are several impediments to Turkey's security demands.

Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan (R) and leader of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) Devlet Bahceli talk on stage during a rally for the upcoming local elections in Ankara, Turkey, on March 23, 2019. - Turkish will cast their ballots for local elections on March 31, 2019. (Photo by Adem ALTAN / AFP) (Photo credit should read ADEM ALTAN/AFP via Getty Images)

Political violence in Ankara is more than meets the eye

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s alliance with his nationalist partner appears under growing strain amid a combination of domestic and external pressures.

Turkish Central Bank holds interest rate steady

As forecasted, Turkey’s Central Bank policymakers held a key interest rate steady Thursday, saying they would continue working to reel in the nation’s double-digit inflation.

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Turkey's scapegoating of McGurk rooted in revisionism

National Security Council coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa Brett McGurk has worked closely with the Turks for many years on a range of knotty issues, and the growls from Ankara suggest that Turkey continues to pin US policies that it doesn’t like on "rogue" individuals.

Turkey-backed Syrian rebels take part in a military exercise in Ghandoura, in the northeastern countryside of Syria's Aleppo province, on January 14, 2021. (Photo by AAREF WATAD / AFP) (Photo by AAREF WATAD/AFP via Getty Images)

Who is behind recent attacks against Turkish presence in Idlib?

Unknown parties have carried out several operations against some of the Turkish army outposts in Idlib, with some accusing Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and others pointing the finger at Islamic State or regime cells.

Under Biden, US-Turkey relations face delicate balancing act

Analysts expect the Joe Biden administration to take a harder stance than the Trump administration did on diverging US-Turkey policies, while noting Washington will also need to take pains to avoid alienating the key NATO ally.

People pass in front of a crypto currency "Bitcoin Change" shop near the Grand Bazaar on December 17, 2020 in Istanbul. - Leading virtual currency bitcoin on 16 December traded above $20,000 for the first time following a sustained run higher in recent weeks. Bitcoin reached a record-high $20,398.50 before pulling back to $20,145, which was still an intra-day gain of nearly four percent. (Photo by Ozan KOSE / AFP) (Photo by OZAN KOSE/AFP via Getty Images)

Turkey faces alarming increase in public debt

Turkey’s public debt has swelled more than 40% over a year, adding to economic risks despite a relative recovery in the second half of 2020.