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

Turkey

Turkey

September 6, 2026

Ankara 9:20 am

23°C

TAI Hurjet

Analysis

With Hurjet test, Turkey seeks defense dominance beyond drones

With export revenue from the supersonic crewed aircraft, Ankara plans to fund next-generation projects and gain strategic diplomatic and military leverage across NATO and the region.

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

Ibrahim Kalin, Turkish presidential spokesperson, gives a press conference at the Presidential Complex, Ankara, May 25, 2022.

Turkey and Greece's intelligence chiefs hold rare talks: What to know

The meeting comes after Turkey recently warned Greece over what it called an arms race in the Eastern Mediterranean.

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

US sanctions Turkey-based bank over Iran ties

The Treasury Department said Golden Global Bank was facilitating transactions for Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Mecca Alliance

Israel, Greece sign $3.5 billion air-defense deal: What to know

Against the backdrop of growing tensions with Turkey, Israel signed one of its largest-ever defense industry deals to supply Greece with advanced air defense systems.

Latest News

Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Pakistan set Mecca Alliance into motion

Mecca Alliance

Analysis

Why Turkey welcomes Israel-Syria talks despite mounting red lines

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (R) and Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa arrive for a joint press conference following their meeting at the Presidential Palace in Ankara, Feb. 4, 2025.

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

Culture

In divided Cyprus, FC Barcelona youth camp sparks new dispute: What to know

Barcelona

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

<<enter caption here>> on March 7, 2017 in Nicosia, Cyprus.

Turkey looks to Cyprus to consolidate EastMed gains

Even as Ankara and Athens reengage in exploratory talks over long-running maritime disputes, Turkey is pressing ahead in its campaign for a two-state solution on the island.

Erdogan’s talk of new democratic constitution aims to cement his rule

Recep Tayyip Erdogan suggests the possibility of a newly rewritten Turkish Consitution, sparking debate over his real intentions.

The coffins of three Turkish military personnel killed in action are carried during funeral prays at the Ahmet Hamdi Akseki Mosque in Ankara on February 12, 2021. - The three soldiers Lt. Burak Coskun, Lt. Ertug Guler and Sgt. First Class Harun Turhan were killed during clashes with Kurdish militants in northern Iraq's Gara region as part of the Eagle Claw 2 operation by the Turkish military against the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). (Photo by Adem ALTAN / AFP) (Photo by ADEM ALTAN/AFP via Getty I

Turkey could leverage hostage tragedy to reach Sinjar

After the deaths of 13 Turkish captives in Iraqi Kurdistan during a raid against Kurdish militants, Turkey might be weighing an offensive against Sinjar, but vocal objections by pro-Iranian groups heavily deployed in the area are bound to complicate such a mission.

Prominent Turkish lawyer defiant after jail sentence over media trial

Eren Keskin, a prominent human rights lawyer, was among four defendants sentenced to prison on terror-linked charges Monday in a newspaper trial that raised concerns over media freedom in Turkey.

A handout picture taken on February 15, 2021 shows a 26-year-old woman (R), who had held New Zealand and Australian citizenships, and her two children escorted by Turkish plain clothes police officers after trying to enter Turkey illegally from Syria at Reyhanli district in Hatay. - New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern angrily accused Australia on February 16, 2021 of shirking its responsibility for a dual national arrested in Turkey with alleged links to the Islamic State militant group. The 40-year-o

New Zealand slams Australia for revoking citizenship of IS associate

Turkish authorities detained a woman with dual Australia-New Zealand citizenship allegedly affiliated with the Islamic State.

Main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu makes a press statement at his party's headquarters in Ankara, on September 16, 2020. (Photo by Adem ALTAN / AFP) (Photo by ADEM ALTAN/AFP via Getty Images)

Turkish opposition blames Erdogan for Turks killed in Iraq

Turkey's biggest opposition party has blamed the president for the deaths of 13 Turkish hostages in Iraqi Kurdistan over the weekend.

Leader of the Dutch far-right Party for Freedom (PVV) Geert Wilders speaks during a debate about French slain history teacher Samuel Paty at the House of Representatives in The Hague, the Netherlands, on November 12, 2020. - In the Netherlands, a teacher working in a school of Rotterdam had to go into hiding because of a cartoon he hanged in the classroom. (Photo by Sem van der Wal / ANP / AFP) / Netherlands OUT (Photo by SEM VAN DER WAL/ANP/AFP via Getty Images)

Dutch far-right politician under investigation for calling Turkish president a terrorist

The controversial Geert Wilders has had spats with the Turkish government before amid wider crises between Turkey and the Netherlands.

Inside Turkey’s raid on Iraqi cave where 13 captives were killed

The aftershocks of Turkey’s controversial raid on a PKK base inside Iraq are likely to pose the first test to the Biden administration in its complex relations with Turkey and Iraq.

A street vendor sits in front of the Blue Mosque during the new year's celebrations in Istanbul on December 31, 2020. - Turkish government announced a four-days lockdown between December 31 and January 04, 2021. (Photo by Yasin AKGUL / AFP) (Photo by YASIN AKGUL/AFP via Getty Images)

How Turkey became unsafe haven for dissidents

While Ankara requests the most renditions of any country, its own borders remain extremely porous, its security personnel vulnerable to corruption and its territory a playground for foreign intelligence services.

A photograph taken on July 15, 2020 shows the July 15 Monument, in Ankara, during the July 15 Democracy and National Unity Day's events held to mark the fourth anniversary of the failed coup. - A photograph taken on July 15, 2020 shows the (Photo by Adem ALTAN / AFP) (Photo by ADEM ALTAN/AFP via Getty Images)

Coup row haunts Turkish-US ties

Amid an already frosty start with the new US administration, Ankara has renewed accusations that Washington was behind the 2016 coup attempt in Turkey.

Newly confirmed US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrives for a welcome ceremony at the State Department in Washington,DC on January 27, 2021. (Photo by CARLOS BARRIA / POOL / AFP) (Photo by CARLOS BARRIA/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Blinken walks back State Department ambiguity over Turkish hostages killed in Iraq

After an earlier statement suggesting Washington didn't necessarily buy Ankara's narrative on the killings, the State Department today said that "PKK terrorists bear responsibility."

Turkish tanks are seen near the Habur crossing gate between Turkey and Iraq during a military drill on September 18, 2017.
Turkey launched a military drill featuring tanks close to the Iraqi border the army said, a week before Iraq's Kurdish region will hold an independence referendum on September 25. / AFP PHOTO / STR (Photo credit should read STR/AFP via Getty Images)

Turkey accuses PKK militants of executing 13 Turkish captives in Iraqi Kurdistan

Turkey could use the deaths as justification to launch an operation against the PKK in Yazidi-dominated Sinjar, something Ankara has been lobbying Baghdad to greenlight.