Turkey - AL-MONITOR: The Middle Eastʼs leading independent news source since 2012

Turkey

Turkey

November 9, 2026

Ankara 7:08 pm

5°C

MEHMET ESER/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images

Analysis

Will Democrats block Trump’s push to deliver Turkey F-35s, lift sanctions?

Democratic control of Congress complicates Turkey’s push for F-35s and sanctions relief, but Ankara remains hopeful Trump can still broker a deal.

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

Costa Rica's Grynspan extends lead in UNSG poll as Nusseibeh places fourth

The Costa Rican candidate received 12 encourage votes in Thursday's UN Security Council straw poll.

United Arab Emirates

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan addresses Turkish members of parliament during the opening of the parliamentary session at the Grand National Assembly of Turkey in Ankara, on Oct. 1, 2026.

Turkey’s parliament ratifies Mecca pact in boost to Saudi Arabia

Turkey will now decide the scope of military support for Saudi Arabia amid ongoing Iran-backed Houthi attacks on the kingdom.

Latest News

Can Erdogan’s Baku visit fix Turkey-Azerbaijan rift?

TOFIK BABAYEV/AFP via Getty Images

Turkey says soldier killed by gunfire from Iran at border: What to know

A sign marking the border of Turkey in Van, Turkey, on March 14, 2026.

Turkey probes Google’s AI search tools, orders protections for news websites

Turkey moves PKK leader Ocalan to prison villa as peace process faces new test

A protestor holds a flag bearing a portrait of jailed leader of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) Abdullah Ocalan during a demonstration of Kurdish people from all around Europe to mark the 27th anniversary of his arrest and to demand his liberation, in Strasbourg, Eastern France, on Feb. 14, 2026.

Samuel Wendel

Senior Analyst, Middle East Business & Tech

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

U.S. President Barack Obama meets with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (L) at the U.S. ambassador's residence during the World Climate Change Conference 2015 (COP21) in Paris, France December 1, 2015. Obama urged Turkey on Tuesday to reduce tensions with Moscow after the downing of a Russian warplane and to seal its border with Syria to choke off the supply of money and fighters to Islamic State militants. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque - RTX1WOVR

Turkish-US ties face fresh turbulence over Iraq, Syria

Washington’s demand that Turkey withdraw troops from Iraq and the US alliance with Syrian Kurds are potential flashpoints in US-Turkish relations.

Water war could leave Turkish Cyprus high and dry

A fight over profits has disrupted the water supply from Turkey to Turkish Cyprus less than three months after a unique water pipeline was inaugurated, threatening to leave Turkish Cypriots with neither water nor vital financial aid from Ankara.

Could Iran-Saudi conflict provide Turkey 'graceful exit' from Syria?

Turkish reactions to the Jan. 2 execution of Saudi Shiite cleric Nimr al-Nimr are quite telling for the future of Ankara’s regional policy.

Kurds on hunger strike for bodies of dead relatives

Kurdish families have launched a hunger strike to get the bodies of relatives killed while fighting with the security forces in Turkey’s conflict-ravaged southeast.

The real problem with Erdogan's Hitler comment

The official "correction" of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s reckless reference to "Hitler’s Germany" reveals more about Erdogan's real agenda than the reference itself.

Sergei Bainetov (R), deputy chief of the Russian Armed Forces' flight safety service, and Nikolai Primak, Chairman of the Air Accident Investigation Commission, attend a news conference, dedicated to the crash of SU-24 fighter-bomber, a Russian warplane shot down by Turkey in November, in Moscow, Russia, December 21, 2015. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov - RTX1ZMGZ

Was Syria intervention worth it for Russia?

While Moscow's military involvement in the Syria crisis has led to an increasingly important role for Russia in regional and global politics, critics wonder whether or not the costs will outweigh the benefits.

Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan (R) shakes hands with Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz during a luncheon ahead of the G20 summit in Belek in the Mediterranean resort city of Antalya, Turkey, November 14, 2015. REUTERS/Kayhan Ozer/Pool - RTS6ZYF

Has Turkey’s regional power grab come to an end?

Turkey is forfeiting its claims for regional supremacy by joining the Saudi-led Sunni alliance and making friendly overtures toward Israel.

Has Ankara abandoned Iraq’s Turkmens?

Shiite Turkmens of Iraq, feeling that Turkey has failed them, are fighting with Iraq's Popular Mobilization Units.

Christian Syrian refugee Ghassan Aleid displays his Syrian passport at a terminal at the Charles-de-Gaulle Airport in Roissy, France, October 2, 2015. After the efforts of the mayor of Le Mans and a family member, a doctor residing in Le Mans, France accorded travel visas, requested a year ago, for the family who fled the conflict in Syria. REUTERS/Stephane Mahe - RTS2S8H

Iraqis see fake Syrian passport as golden ticket to Europe

Iraqis are buying forged Syrian passports to try to increase their chances of winning asylum in European countries.

Armenia's President Serzh Sargsyan (L-R), Belarus' President Alexander Lukashenko, Kazakhstan's President Nursultan Nazarbayev, Russia's President Vladimir Putin and Kyrgyzstan's President Almazbek Atambayev pose for a family photo during a meeting of the heads of state of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council at the Burabai resort near Astana, Kazakhstan, October 16, 2015. The meeting of ex-Soviet leaders, including Putin, have agreed to create a joint task force to defend external borders in crisis situat

First the Middle East, now Central Asia slipping away from Turkey

Having lost influence in the Middle East, Turkey finds itself increasingly isolated from Central Asia and the Caucasus after its dust-up with Russia in Syria.

Shi'ite protesters carry posters of Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr during a demonstration in front of Saudi Arabia's Consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, January 3, 2016. REUTERS/Osman Orsal - RTX20V2E

Saudi-Iranian crisis complicates Ankara’s regional plans

Islamists and secularists alike want Turkey to stay out of the Iranian-Saudi conflict.

Three faiths, three commanders

The Popular Mobilization Units, initially identified as a Shiite militia, is changing the course of the battles in Iraq with participation of Sunnis and Christians.