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Turkey

Turkey

November 11, 2026

Ankara 7:27 am

4°C

OZAN KOSE/AFP via Getty Images

Turkey bars MP’s wife from travel after his fund scandal criticism: What to know

Opposition politicians and rights advocates described Yonca Verdioglu Sik’s brief detention as an attempt to intimidate her husband, opposition lawmaker Ahmet Sik, over his criticism of the government.

A steel worker works in front of giant iron melting pot in Kardemir Iron and Steel Factory in Karabuk, northwestern Turkey, Aug. 26 2005. (TARIK TINAZAY/AFP via Getty Images)

Steel factory explosion in western Turkey kills at least 16

Footage from the scene showed a huge plume of thick smoke spreading into the sky as flames engulfed a tall structure within the plant.

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

Latest News

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

United Arab Emirates

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

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.

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

TOFIK BABAYEV/AFP via Getty Images

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

An Islamic State fighter walks near a black flag belonging to the Islamic State as a Turkish army vehicle takes position near the Syrian town of Kobani, as pictured from the Turkish-Syrian border near the southeastern town of Suruc, Sanliurfa province October 7, 2014. Turkey has asked the United States to step up air strikes to keep Islamic State militants from seizing a key Syrian Kurdish border town, a senior Turkish official was quoted as saying on Tuesday. Islamic State fighters advancing into the south

Islamic State releases first Turkish publication

Pro-Islamic State groups ramp up their propaganda in Turkey and issue their first online periodical.

Selahattin Demirtas, co-chairman of the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), speaks as his supporters wave Kurdish (L) and Turkish national (R) flags in the background, during an election rally for Turkey's June 7 parliamentary election, in Istanbul, Turkey, June 6, 2015. Turkey's Kurdish-rooted opposition party, which could scupper Tayyip Erdogan's ambitions for sweeping new powers, accused the President on Saturday of a lack of respect for supporters killed in a bomb attack in an election rally an

Will voters reject Turkey’s ‘precious loneliness’?

Parliamentary elections on June 7 could signal a shift in Turkey’s foreign policy; Islamic State’s radicalization campaign extends to Iraqi Kurdistan; Iran not backing down in Syria; Soleimani promises "surprise" in battle against Islamic State.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan's Presidential Palace complex is pictured in Ankara, Turkey, May 28, 2015. Irritated by accusations of lavishness, Erdogan has vowed to resign if the leader of the main opposition can find a single golden toilet seat in his vast new palace. Kemal Kilicdaroglu of the Republican People's Party (CHP) has repeatedly criticised Erdogan's profligacy in campaign speeches ahead of a June 7 parliamentary election. "Gentlemen in Ankara, palaces have been built for you, planes bought,

Will elections bring end of 'Erdogan era'?

The rising fortunes of the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party may mean the beginning of the end of the "Erdogan era."

Turkish Parliament convene for a debate in Ankara January 20, 2015. Parliament was to vote on Tuesday on whether to commit four former ministers for trial over the corruption allegations. REUTERS/Umit Bektas (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS CRIME LAW) - RTR4M7DM

What sort of parliament awaits Turkey after the election?

Even slightly disparate results in Turkey’s June 7 election could take the country in different directions.

Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan adressess his supporters in front of a mosque after Friday prayers in Istanbul, Turkey, May 29, 2015. Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said the launch of Ziraat Bank's Islamic business should help to attract new funds to Turkey and urged other state lenders to help to triple Islamic banking's share of the market by 2023. Islamic finance has developed slowly in Turkey, the world's eighth most populous Muslim nation, partly because of political sensitivities and the secular n

The Islamization of Turkey

Two remarkable developments in Turkey on May 29 have increased concern of growing Islamization in the economy and society.

Turkish soldiers salute during a ceremony marking the 91st anniversary of Victory Day at the mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, founder of modern Turkey, in Ankara August 30, 2013. REUTERS/Umit Bektas (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS MILITARY) - RTX131DP

What are Turkish troops going to do in Qatar?

Per a security cooperation agreement between Turkey and Qatar, Turkey will set up a permanent military facility in Qatar.

Turkey's Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu addresses members of parliament from his ruling AK Party (AKP) during a meeting at the Turkish parliament in Ankara March 2, 2015. REUTERS/Umit Bektas (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR4RQ92

Could AKP's negative campaign strategy backfire?

Is the AKP’s negative election campaign alienating too many social groups in Turkey and creating a united front against it?

Mehmet Gormez, head of Turkey's Religious Affairs Directorate, addresses the media in Ankara January 8, 2015. REUTERS/Umit Bektas (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS RELIGION) - RTR4KMRF

Turkish cleric U-turns on million dollar Mercedes

Turkey’s top official Islamic cleric has found himself in a tight spot after his decision to give up a flashy Mercedes under public criticism prompted a defiant Erdogan to send him an even more expensive car, complete with a pledge for a private jet.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, accompanied by his wife Emine Erdogan (L), greets his supporters as he arrives at the a ceremony to mark the 562nd anniversary of the conquest of the city by the Ottoman Turks, in Istanbul, Turkey, May 30, 2015. REUTERS/Murad Sezer - RTR4Y59A

Will elections change Turkey’s foreign policy?

Many believe that if Erdogan is further empowered, Ankara’s foreign policy will remain turbulent.

Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan speaks during an opening ceremony in Istanbul, Turkey, May 26, 2015. Turkey's general election looks likely to push Tayyip Erdogan's dream of an all-powerful presidency further from his reach, and usher in a period of turbulence as its most divisive modern leader jockeys to maintain his dominance. Barred by the constitution from party politics as head of state, Erdogan has nonetheless campaigned across Turkey before the June 7 parliamentary vote in a sign of how much he has

Erdogan: Journalist will pay 'heavy price'

The Turkish president is furious with the editor of Cumhuriyet for publishing photos of the contents of the infamous MIT trucks stopped en route to Syria, but even more outraged that his policy of intimidation is failing to silence media criticism.

Bride Mutlu and groom Ihsan Baran pose for their photographer in front of the New mosque at Eminonu square in Istanbul September 11, 2014. REUTERS/Murad Sezer (TURKEY - Tags: SOCIETY) - RTR45W6X

Turkish court stirs marriage debate

Turkey’s Constitutional Court has ruled that a civil marriage is no longer compulsory for religiously married citizens, worrying civil groups about the implications for women's rights.

Nezahat Eleftos (R) chats with her daughter Leyla at her home in Diyarbakir, in the Kurdish-dominated southeastern Turkey, April 20, 2015. For nearly four decades, Eleftos tried to guard her grandmother Zarife's secret that she too had been born a Christian Armenian - and not a Muslim Kurd like all her neighbors in Onbasilar, a village set in the rocky hills of Turkey's Diyarbakir province. A century after the killing of Zarife's brothers and hundreds of thousands of other Armenians in Ottoman Turkish lands

How some Armenians are reclaiming their Christian faith

Armenians in Turkey, who for a century have been forced to conceal their identities, are trying to return to their roots.