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Turkey

Turkey

June 17, 2026

Ankara 8:04 am

19°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

Brett McGurk, U.S. envoy to the coalition against Islamic State, speaks during a news conference at the U.S. Embassy in Amman, Jordan, November 6, 2016. REUTERS/Muhammad Hamed - RTX2S6NC

Ankara decries ‘provocative’ remarks by US anti-IS envoy

Turkey continues to be concerned about the relationship between the United States and the Syrian Kurds.

Russia's Russian S-400 Triumph air defence missile system rides through Red Square in Moscow during the Victory Day military parade night training on May 3, 2017.
Russia celebrates the 72nd anniversary of the 1945 victory over Nazi Germany on May 9 / AFP PHOTO / VASILY MAXIMOV (Photo credit should read VASILY MAXIMOV/AFP/Getty Images)

US, NATO wait to see if Russia-Turkey defense deal goes through

Turkey’s recent move to acquire a Russian S-400 missile defense system has raised eyebrows in the United States, as Moscow looks on with a smile.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel meets Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on the eve of the G-20 summit in Hamburg, Germany, July 6, 2017. REUTERS/Michael Kappeler,POOL - RTX3ADT9

Tensions with Germany expose rift in AKP ranks

The contrasting statements of Turkey's president and prime minister over the latest row with Germany signal a rift ahead of the 2019 presidential election.

Members from a coalition of rebel groups called "Jaish al Fateh", also known as "Army of Fatah" (Conquest Army), man a checkpoint in Idlib city, Syria July 18, 2017. Picture taken July 18, 2017. REUTERS/Ammar Abdullah - RTX3C9L9

Does Turkey face day of reckoning with al-Qaeda in Idlib?

Al-Qaeda affiliate gains upper hand in northern Syrian city; Turkey’s shameful show trial of independent journalists part of “vicious crackdown.”

Disputed territories pose major challenge to Kurdish referendum

The upcoming Iraqi Kurdistan’s referendum will include the disputed territories, but given the practical and technical challenges, holding the referendum on Sept. 25 will be highly unlikely.

People walk along during sunset in the Aegean port city of Izmir, Turkey, April 15, 2017. REUTERS/Osman Orsal - RTS12GNP

Istanbul residents chase the Aegean dream

Many Istanbulians dream of leaving the hustle and bustle of the city behind for a quiet life on the Aegean coast, and some are doing just that.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan gestures during a news conference to present the outcome of the G20 leaders summit in Hamburg, Germany July 8, 2017. REUTERS/Wolfgang Rattay - RTX3ANEA

Erdogan’s anti-Israel rhetoric may not have impact he expects

Turkey, with a fragile economy mostly dependent on the benevolence of its European partners and Israel, cannot swagger about in the Middle East.

Members from a coalition of rebel groups called "Jaish al Fateh", also known as "Army of Fatah" (Conquest Army), man a checkpoint in Idlib city, Syria July 18, 2017. Picture taken July 18, 2017. REUTERS/Ammar Abdullah - RTX3C9L8

Turkey might have to do its own dirty work at Idlib

Ankara faces tough choices now that al-Qaeda-linked Hayat Tahrir al-Sham has routed Turkey's proxies at Idlib.

Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan addresses his supporters during a ceremony marking the first anniversary of the attempted coup in front of the Turkish Parliament in Ankara, Turkey July 16, 2017. REUTERS/Umit Bektas - RTX3BN1M

Turkey's pervasive president may be wearing out his welcome

"Erdoganmania" is evolving into Erdogan fatigue as he exhausts people with his constant interference in their lives.

Pro-Kurdish opposition Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) lawmakers walk with placards in Kurdish and Turkish during a protest against a state crackdown, which has seen dozens of lawmakers and mayors jailed over suspected links to militant separatists, in Diyarbakir, Turkey July 26, 2017. REUTERS/Sertac Kayar - RTX3CYDA

Turkish parliament expels more pro-Kurdish lawmakers in absentia

Turkey has stripped two more pro-Kurdish lawmakers of their seats in its ever-widening dragnet as pro-Kurdish politicians and their supporters take to the streets of Diyarbakir.

Israeli, Turkish chefs hope food can bridge divide

For Israeli food blogger David Dudi Califa, a victim of the IS attack in Istanbul a year ago, the best reply to terrorism is to cook with love.

Turks savor small doses of heartwarming news

Though Turkey's various crises continue to bubble, the recent news wasn't all bad.