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Turkey

Turkey

June 17, 2026

Ankara 2:08 pm

29°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

Parchment down to last maker in ancient Turkish birthplace

Parchment, the game-changer in the ancient library war between Alexandria and Pergamum, is at risk of extinction in modern-day Bergama, where an 85-year-old man is the last surviving craftsman.

A Turkish army tank drives towards to the border in Karkamis on the Turkish-Syrian border in the southeastern Gaziantep province, Turkey, August 25, 2016. REUTERS/Umit Bektas - RTX2MYWT

Does the US have answer for Turkish threats against Syrian Kurds?

Turkey also seeks sway in Salafi-controlled Idlib; Hamas inches closer to Iran, Hezbollah.

People shout slogans as they hold Turkish and Qatari flags during a demonstration in favour of Qatar in central Istanbul, Turkey, late June 7, 2017. REUTERS/Murad Sezer - RTX39JA6

How Turkey fits into the Qatar puzzle

Turkey's military presence in Qatar seems to be complicating an already complex situation for the coalition that recently cut ties with Doha.

Syriac Christian monks attend a service at the ancient monastery of Mor Gabriel, 15 km (9 miles) away from the town of Midyat, in Mardin province of southeast Turkey January 13, 2009. Tucked amid rugged hills where mosques and minarets are silhouetted in the distance, the fifth century Mor Gabriel monastery stands out as a relic of another era when hundreds of thousands of Syriac Christians lived and worshipped in Turkey. But a land dispute between Mor Gabriel and neighbouring villages is threatening the mo

Turkey’s oldest indigenous culture fears extinction

Syriac Christians fear land dispute in Turkey threatens ancient culture’s survival.

Qatari Crown Prince Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani (2ndR) and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (2ndL), walk past a guard of honor during an official welcoming ceremony prior to their meeting at the presidential palace in Ankara, Turkey, on December 19, 2014. AFP PHOTO / ADEM ALTAN (Photo credit should read ADEM ALTAN/AFP/Getty Images)

The reason Erdogan champions press freedom abroad

Defending Al Jazeera’s right to report becomes a double-edged sword for Erdogan, who suffocates free media in Turkey and struggles to remain friends with Saudi Arabia.

Supporters of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) hold placards as they walk with the party's leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu (not pictured) during the second day of a protest, dubbed a "justice march", against the detention of CHP lawmaker Enis Berberoglu, in Saray near Ankara, Turkey June 16, 2017. Placards read "Justice". REUTERS/Osman Orsal - RTS17CJ8

Turkey’s main opposition changes focus from 'secularism' to 'justice'

Kemal Kilicdaroglu’s impressive march from Ankara to Istanbul shows one thing: The CHP is no longer the “state party” that it was throughout the 20th century.

Men ride a motorbike past a hazard sign at a site hit by an airstrike on Tuesday in the town of Khan Sheikhoun in rebel-held Idlib, Syria April 5, 2017. The hazard sign reads, "Danger, unexploded ammunition". REUTERS/Ammar Abdullah - RTX3475J

Ankara's offer to Moscow: Give us Afrin for Idlib

As the situation in northern Syria heats up, the future of Idlib and Afrin depend on strategic bargaining between Ankara and Moscow.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and German Chancellor Angela Merkel arrive for a bilateral meeting during the first visit since July's failed coup in Ankara, Turkey, February 2, 2017. REUTERS/Umit Bektas TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY - RTX2ZBNQ

Germany says Hamburg no place for Erdogan rally as G-20 meets

As Turkish-German tension continues to simmer, Germany has denied the Turkish president's request for a rally on the sidelines of the G-20 summit and a German former speaker of the European Parliament calls for an outright ban on pro-Erdogan rallies in Germany.

Turkey's Economy Minister Nihat Zeybekci makes a speech in Cologne, Germany, March 5, 2017. REUTERS/Wolfgang Rattay - RTS11K0S

Treasury borrowing aggravates Turkey’s interest rate woes

Ankara’s pressure on banks to lower interest rates has taken a menacing tone, but few seem to acknowledge the government’s own role in the increase of the rates.

Turkey's main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu (C) and Secretay General of the Socialist International Luis Ayala (2nd L) walk flanked by supporters during the 14th day of a protest dubbed "justice march" against the detention of CHP's lawmaker Enis Berberoglu, in Duzce, Turkey June 28, 2017. The placard reads "Justice". REUTERS/Umit Bektas - RTS18YW1

AKP frets as Turkish opposition's Justice March grows

Turkey’s main opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu is leading a march of thousands from Ankara to Istanbul to protest the policies of the ruling Justice and Development Party, and the ruling party has reason to worry.

Kurdish fighters from the People's Protection Units (YPG) rest in Raqqa, Syria June 18, 2017. REUTERS/Goran Tomasevic - RTS17KQ9

Turkey increasingly vocal against YPG’s foreign recruits

Turkey is growing increasingly angry because foreign individuals, including some from the United States, are joining the ranks of Kurdish forces in Syria.

Plainclothes police officers detain demonstrators during a protest against the detention of two hunger-striking teachers in Ankara, Turkey, June 16, 2017. REUTERS/Umit Bektas - RTS17CBV

Turks on both sides split over extending state of emergency

Turkey's state of emergency is set to expire next month, and political voices both in the government and in the opposition are split over its renewal.