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Turkey

Turkey

June 17, 2026

Ankara 4:15 pm

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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

Turkish riot police detain a protester during a demonstration against the arrest by Turkish authorities of an academic and a teacher who have been on a hunger strike, in Ankara, on May 23, 2017.
Turkish authorities detained an academic and a teacher in Ankara who have been on a hunger strike for over two months in protest against their dismissal in the purge that followed last year's failed coup, media reported on May 22. Nuriye Gulmen and Semih Ozakca were sacked under the state of emergency imposed after

Turkey's elite get lenient treatment in post-coup probes

The apparent leniency accorded to figures linked to the ruling Justice and Development Party in Turkey’s post-coup investigations points to double standards.

Ankara voices cautious support as Turkish troops arrive in Doha

A top foreign policy adviser to the Turkish president has publicly defended Qatar in the same breath as the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas, while mixed signals from the US administration appear to have caught everyone off guard.

Erdogan tones down rhetoric in light of Qatar's fate

Turkey fears it could be next in line to be ostracized in the region due to guilt by association with Qatar and the Muslim Brotherhood.

Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighters stand along a damaged street in the Raqqa's al-Sanaa industrial neighbourhood, Syria June 14, 2017. Picture taken June 14, 2017. REUTERS/Rodi Said - RTS175OT

Kurds no safer after US shoots down Syrian jet

Though Syrian Kurds are widely celebrating the US downing of a regime fighter jet, their ally's move has made them a bigger target than ever.

Turkey's main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu walks during the third day of a protest, dubbed "justice march", against the detention of his party's lawmaker Enis Berberoglu, on the outskirts of Ankara, Turkey June 17, 2017. Placard reads, "Justice". REUTERS/Osman Orsal - RTS17GE4

Turkey’s opposition head leads march for justice

Turkey’s main opposition leader is heading a march from Ankara to Istanbul in his most powerful protest so far against the government’s toughening crackdown on dissent.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan addresses members of parliament from his ruling AK Party (AKP) during a meeting at the Turkish parliament in Ankara, Turkey, May 30, 2017. REUTERS/Umit Bektas - RTX387H1

Turkey reverses course as mediation efforts flop in Gulf

Turkey’s immediate support of Qatar has exposed its lack of leverage with Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states and left it scrambling for a way out of an intractable situation.

Power failure can't stop World Music Day in Egypt

The French-sponsored Fete de la Musique fuses traditional, electronic and other genres of music, drawing large audiences in the Middle East.

KILIS, TURKEY - MARCH 02: Turkish soldiers from the 1st Border Regiment Command run through alert drills at a military outpost on the Turkey/Syria border on March 2, 2017 in Kilis, Turkey. The military exercises were held to display the new border wall and new security measures such as thermal scanning and patrols by the new Tactical Armoured Reconnaissance vehicles (Kobra-2) that are being used to tighten Turkey's border. The government announced this week that more than half of the 511-kilometer wall ha

Turkey aims to cripple, not contain, PKK

Turkish security forces are taking a much more aggressive approach against the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), but how will Turkey transform operational military success into a sustainable and peaceful political resolution?

Turkish soldiers march during a parade marking the 93rd anniversary of Victory Day in Ankara, Turkey, August 30, 2015. REUTERS/Umit Bektas - RTX1Q9PW

Turkish military hit by food poisoning scandal

With hundreds of conscripts hospitalized and one dead from food poisoning, Turks from all political stripes demand answers.

People stand near by military vehicles displayed by Turkish company Otokar on June 13, 2016 during the the Eurosatory defence and security international exhibition in Villepinte, near Paris. / AFP / Jacques DEMARTHON (Photo credit should read JACQUES DEMARTHON/AFP/Getty Images)

Turkey's Altay tank project not ready to roll after all

Now that Turkey's government has rejected Otokar's bid for the Altay tank contract, other companies will participate in the tender, including BMC — a Turkish/Qatari partnership whose chairman is a close friend of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

A demonstrator chants slogans during a protest against detention of main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) lawmaker Enis Berberoglu, in Istanbul, Turkey June 15, 2017. The placard reads "Justice". REUTERS/Murad Sezer - RTS176U2

Turkish opposition struggles to unite amid government crackdown

In response to the arrest of one of its deputies, leader of Turkey’s secular opposition party Kemal Kilicdaroglu called for a popular march, but the protest move isn't distracting critics from his timid response to the president's increasing authoritarianism and fraud allegations.

The pictures of Qatarís Emir Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani (L) and Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan are seen on a car during a demonstration in support of him in Doha, Qatar June 11, 2017. REUTERS/Naseem Zeitoon - RTS16KYO

Turkey's economic interests dictate balanced stance in Gulf crisis

Through analyzing Gulf investment into Turkey, it is obvious that taking sides in the GCC dispute could have a detrimental effect on Turkey's economy.