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Turkey

Turkey

June 17, 2026

Ankara 7:08 am

18°C

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan meets with Orthodox Patriarch of Bartholomew at the presidential complex, Ankara, Turkey, June 16, 2026.

Culture

Turkey’s Erdogan meets Orthodox patriarch amid push for reopening Halki Seminary

The meeting comes ahead of US President Trump’s expected attendance at next month's NATO leaders’ summit in Turkey, after Trump personally urged his Turkish counterpart to reopen the Halki Seminary.

Turkey's Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan attends the NATO Foreign Ministers' meeting in Helsingborg, Sweden, on May 22, 2026.

Turkey’s Fidan heads to Moscow as S-400 sanctions issue returns to fore

The visit comes weeks before Turkey hosts NATO leaders, on the sidelines of which Ankara hopes to reach a deal with Washington over CAATSA sanctions over its purchase of Russian S-400s.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan received Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Turkish House in New York on Sept. 19, 2023.

Analysis

Erdogan-Netanyahu war of words signals deeper rivalry for regional influence

The latest Erdogan-Netanyahu clash underscored how Turkey-Israel tensions have grown beyond the Palestinian issue and into a wider regional rivalry spanning Syria, Lebanon, Iran and the eastern Mediterranean.

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

Yasin AKGUL / AFP via Getty Images

Feature

Turkey’s World Cup return clouded by politics, dawn kickoffs

Turkey finally has the World Cup moment it waited 24 years for, but much of the country will either be asleep for it or arguing over efforts to claim it.

Ezgi Akin

In Ankara, reporting on diplomacy, EU-Turkey ties, NATO

Latest News

Explainer

Turkey slams France-Cyprus military pact as East Med rivalries deepen

Cyprus' President Nikos Christodoulides (2nd L) and his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron (C) review the honor guard at the Presidential Palace in Nicosia on April 23, 2026, ahead of a meeting on the sidelines of a European summit.

Analysis

As Trump admin drops Halkbank case, S-400 last big hurdle in US-Turkey ties

Russian S-400 anti-aircraft missile launching system is displayed at the exposition field in Kubinka Patriot Park outside Moscow on Aug. 22, 2017 during the first day of the International Military-Technical Forum Army-2017.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

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

Cameras installed on armoured military vehicles monitor Syrian side of the border, near the southeastern city of Kilis, Turkey, March 2, 2017. REUTERS/Murad Sezer - RTS114SP

Fate of Russian detainees in Turkey still unclear

Turkish officials have yet to decide the future of three Russians — including a toddler — who were intercepted as they were allegedly traveling to Syria to join the Islamic State.

Iraq's Kurdistan region's President Massoud Barzani gestures during a joint news conference with German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel (not pictured) in Erbil, Iraq April 20, 2017. REUTERS/Azad Lashkari - RTS1348S

KRG not concerned by Turkey's reactions to independence vote

Although Kurdistan Regional Government officials are optimistic about the Turkish government's ultimate position on the independence referendum, the Turkish president's recent remarks say differently.

Mehmet Gormez, head of Turkey's Religious Affairs Directorate, addresses the media in Ankara January 8, 2015. REUTERS/Umit Bektas (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS RELIGION) - RTR4KMRF

Why Erdogan fired Turkey’s top cleric

The departure of Mehmet Gormez, who headed Turkey's Directorate of Religious Affairs (Diyanet), had many wondering if he was not loyal enough to the Turkish president.

Turkey's Prime Minister Binali Yildirim (R), flanked by Chief of Staff General Hulusi Akar (L) and the country's top generals, leaves Anitkabir, the mausoleum of modern Turkey founder Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, after a wreath-laying ceremony ahead of a High Military Council meeting in Ankara, Turkey, July 28, 2016. REUTERS/Umit Bektas - RTSK1K6

Turkey tells a story with major military personnel moves

Turkey's military council made some surprise decisions this week that provide insight into the president's re-election strategy.

TAL ABYAD, SYRIA - JUNE 19: (TURKEY OUT) A Kurdish People's Protection Units, or YPG fighter controls the weapons in downtown of Tal Abyad, Syria. June 19, 2015. Kurdish fighters with the YPG took full control of Tal Abyad, dealing a major blow to the Islamic State group's ability to wage war in Syria. Mopping up operations have started to make the town safe for the return of residents from Turkey, after more than a year of Islamic State militants holding control of the town. (Photo by Ahmet Sik/Getty Image

US pushes back on Turkish media claims about Syrian Kurds

US Embassy in Ankara refutes fevered claims about aid deliveries to Syrian Kurds.

A South Korean tourist (R) takes a selfie as she visits the Ottoman-era Sultanahmet mosque, also known as the Blue Mosque, in Istanbul, Turkey, June 10, 2016. REUTERS/Murad Sezer - RTSGWZG

Tourism report signals wider issues for women in Turkey

Turks are angry about Forbes magazine's story that listed Turkey as being a dangerous destination for women traveling alone, but do they have cause?

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and Chief of Staff General Hulusi Akar chat as they attend the funeral of Major General Aydogan Aydin who was killed in a helicopter crash in Sirnak, on Wednesday, at Ahmet Hamdi Akseki Mosque in Ankara, Turkey, June 1, 2017. REUTERS/Umit Bektas TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY - RTX38KLG

Heads roll at top of Turkey's military

The Turkish government reshuffled the top echelons of the military as the trial of more than 500 alleged coup plotters got underway.

Turkey's cyclists bike for a cause

In Turkey, bicycling is not only a means of transport and leisure but also, for one group, of social activism.

Brett McGurk (C), US special Presidential Envoy for the Global Coalition to Counter IS, and Rupert Jones (L), deputy commander of Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve (CJTF-OIR), arrive for a meeting with the Tabqa Civil Council in the town of Tabqa, about 55 kilometres (35 miles) west of Raqa city, on June 29, 2017. / AFP PHOTO / DELIL SOULEIMAN (Photo credit should read DELIL SOULEIMAN/AFP/Getty Images)

Turkey in uproar over McGurk

The Turkish media's outlandish attacks on US envoy Brett McGurk hint at the anxiety in Ankara over US relations with Syrian Kurds.

Germany's patience with Erdogan may be running out

The latest moves by the German government against Turkey suggest Germany's patience with President Erdogan may have run its course.

Clouds gather over Turkish-German economic ties

Exasperated over Turkey’s disregard for the rule of law and its arrest of German nationals, Berlin has raised the specter of economic sanctions against Turkey.

Internally displaced people who fled Raqqa city ride a vehicle with their belongings in a camp near Ain Issa, Raqqa Governorate, Syria May 19, 2017. Picture taken May 19, 2017. REUTERS/Rodi Said - RTX36QES

Syrian regime says it's time for the displaced to return

Hundreds of people displaced from al-Waer neighborhood in Homs, Syria, have now left the Zoghra camp outside of Aleppo and returned to the regime-controlled Homs.