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Turkey

Turkey

June 17, 2026

Ankara 7:27 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

Smoke rises after shelling on a rebel-held area of Deraa, Syria, June 4, 2017. REUTERS/Alaa Al-Faqir - RTX3909A

Applying the ‘Bosnian model’ to Syria’s crisis

Could the United States and Russia learn from the Dayton Agreement to reach a lasting peace deal in Syria?

Qatari Crown Prince Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani (R) 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)

Ankara's paranoia spikes as Qatar shunned

The news that five Arab countries have cut ties with Qatar, its close regional ally, has rattled Turkey, which depends on its political, military and business ties with Qatar.

United Arab Emirates

Protesters listen to a man playing the violin in a public garden in Ankara, on June 7, 2013. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on June 7 his Islamic-rooted government was open to "democratic demands" and hit back at EU criticism of his handling of a week of deadly unrest. Turkey's protests began when police cracked down heavily on a peaceful campaign to save Istanbul's Gezi Park, spiralling into nationwide anti-government demos. AFP PHOTO / ADEM ALTAN (Photo credit should read ADEM AL

Ankara's governor decrees no protest singing after sundown

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s fascination with bans is increasing along with his desperation to remain in control.

Turks don't click and tell on e-matchmaking

Turkey’s largest online dating site has 18 million registered profiles and 1 million people who have logged in over the last 12 months, but few will tell about their experiences.

People sit in the back of a truck as they celebrate what they said was the liberation of villages from Islamist rebels near the city of Ras al-Ain in the province of Hasakah, after capturing it from Islamist rebels November 6, 2013. Redur Xelil, spokesman for the armed wing of the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD), said Kurdish militias had seized the city of Ras al-Ain and all its surrounding villages. Syrian Kurdish fighters have captured more territory from Islamist rebels in northeastern Syria

Ankara looks beyond Raqqa offensive for fate of northern Syria

The Turkish government is worried about how the Democratic Union Party will transform northern Syria once the Islamic State is defeated in Raqqa.

Kurdish fighters from the Popular Protection Units (YPG) man a checkpoint near the city of Afrin, which is under the control of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), April 30, 2014. REUTERS/Mahmoud Hebbo (SYRIA - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST CONFLICT) - RTR3NB2H

Kurdish cantons in northern Syria already linked

One of the most heated issues of the Syrian war has been the possibility of Kurdish cantons connecting, overcoming Turkey’s threatening objections. And now, with the Aleppo road open, Kurdish cantons are connected for the first time in four years.

Members of the Sinjar Resistance Units (YBS), a militia affiliated with the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), sit with an Arab tribal fighter (L) in a house in the village of Umm al-Dhiban, northern Iraq, April 30, 2016. They share little more than an enemy and struggle to communicate on the battlefield, but together two relatively obscure groups have opened up a new front against Islamic State militants in a remote corner of Iraq. The unlikely alliance between the Sinjar Resistance Units, an offshoot of a le

Despite deadly border clash, Iran-PKK war unlikely

Though attributed to the PJAK, the recent deadly border clash along Iran’s border with Turkey involved the PKK and is unlikely to escalate.

Kurdish Regional Government President Masoud Barzani speaks to the media during his visits in the town of Bashiqa, after it was recaptured from the Islamic State, east of Mosul, Iraq, November 16, 2016. REUTERS/Azad Lashkari - RTX2TYYB

Iraqi Kurdistan faces many obstacles to independence referendum

Amid a strong regional disagreement, Iraqi Kurdistan is insisting on holding a referendum on independence in the fall.

Syrian Democratic Forces(SDF) fighters stand with their weapons north of Raqqa city, Syria March 8, 2017. REUTERS/Rodi Said TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY - RTS120ZB

YPG tightens noose around Raqqa

The battle for Raqqa is near as arms from the United States are dispersed among the coalition’s Kurdish ally, the Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units.

A retired manufacturer and head of an Alevi association Muzaffer Aksakal, 65, poses in his association's cafe in Istanbul, Turkey April 10, 2017. Aksakal describes himself as being "socialist and secular". He says he will vote 'No' in the referendum. "If the 'Yes' wins, parliament will be useless and the right to declare war or peace will be in the hands of a single man." Aksakal belongs to the Alevi religious minority, which make up about 15-20 percent of Turkey's 80 million people. Alevis draw from Shi'i

Turkey's Alevi community fears more than just IS

With evidence indicating imminent IS attacks against them, Turkey's Alevi minorities wonder who they can trust after years of dangerous rhetoric and polices from the AKP government.

Turkey wary of NATO's decision to join fight against IS

Turkey didn't veto NATO’s decision to join the anti-Islamic State coalition in Syria and Iraq, but it does consider the move part of a plan to strengthen the Kurdish People’s Protection Units.

US pastor remains political hostage in Ankara

If speculation is true that American pastor Andrew Brunson is being held as leverage for the extradition of Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen and Iranian-Turkish gold trader Reza Zarrab, it marks a new low for Turkey.