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Turkey

Turkey

November 11, 2026

Ankara 12:35 pm

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Explainer

Iran war pushes up coal use, complicating Turkey’s COP31 pledge

Turkey is asking world leaders at COP31 to back a global push to use more electricity, even as the Iran war has driven up natural gas prices and pushed some power producers back to coal.

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.

Latest News

Analysis

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

MEHMET ESER/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images

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

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.

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

Blue jerry cans usually used by smugglers ferrying fuel smuggled into Turkey from over the border in Syria are stacked in front of a shop for sale in Turkish border town of Hacipasa, Hatay province, September 8, 2013. Each night, a stream of beaten-up cars and trucks weighed down with blue jerry cans rumbles along the muddy lane, ferrying fuel smuggled into Turkey from over the border in Syria. The thousands of liters of diesel that make their way by cover of darkness to Turkey's southern Hatay province are

Turkey opens first case against oil smuggling with Syria

A court started to hear the first legal case of oil smuggling, revealing the dilemma between national security and the fight against radical Islamists.

Forces loyal to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad hold their weapons as they walk in Handarat area, north of Aleppo, after saying they have regained control of the area, October 4, 2014. The Syrian army has taken control of three villages, state television said, in a campaign by Assad's forces that could encircle insurgents in the city. Although there are smaller, more indirect routes into Aleppo, taking the northern road would also allow the army to besiege areas of the city which fell to insurgents in 201

Syrian regime takes advantage of coalition strikes

While the world focuses on the Islamic State, the Syrian army is making significant gains in Damascus and Aleppo.

A man looks at a damaged branch of Halkbank, set on fire during clashes between Kurdish protesters and riot police overnight, in Diyarbakir October 8, 2014. At least 12 people died on Tuesday during violent clashes across Turkey, local media reported, as the fate of the besieged Syrian border town of Kobani stirred up decades of tensions with Turkey's Kurdish minority. Violence erupted in Turkish towns and cities mainly in the Kurdish southeastern provinces, as protesters took to the streets to demand the g

Kurdish riots overshadow Fitch’s Turkey rating

Deadly protests in Turkey over the siege of Kobani led to a shock at financial markets despite the good news of Fitch affirming the country’s investment grade.

A participant wears a bridal dress as he waves the rainbow flag during a gay pride parade in central Istanbul June 29, 2014. REUTERS/Osman Orsal (TURKEY - Tags: CIVIL UNREST SOCIETY POLITICS TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) - RTR3WBAI

Turkey’s first 'gay marriage'

Two young men who exchanged marriage vows found that Turkey remains a long way from accepting same-sex marriage.

Turkish army tanks take position on top of a hill near Mursitpinar border crossing in the southeastern Turkish town of Suruc in Sanliurfa province October 11, 2014. A senior Kurdish militant has threatened Turkey with a new Kurdish revolt if it sticks with its current policy of non-intervention in the battle for the Syrian town of Kobani. Kurdish forces allied to the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), the People's Defence Units (YPG), are fighting against Islamic State insurgents attacking Kobani close to the

Erdogan's Syria policies spark riots in Kurdish cities

Turkey’s Syria policies spark massive protests in Kurdish cities, with at least 30 protesters killed; no relief for Syrians in Homs and Aleppo; Jabhat al-Nusra attacks Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Turkey's Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu (C) attends a debate marking the reconvene of the parliament after a summer recess at the Turkish Parliament in Ankara October 1, 2014. REUTERS/Umit Bektas (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR48IO6

Turkey slides into deeper isolation over Syria

Turkey’s Western allies are increasingly frustrated with its attempts to direct the US-led military coalition’s focus from the Islamic State to the Syrian regime, while Russia and Iran are openly opposing Turkey’s attempts to establish a buffer zone.

An Islamic State fighter gestures from a vehicle in the countryside of the Syrian Kurdish town of Kobani, after the Islamic State fighters took control of the area October 7, 2014. U.S.-led air strikes on Wednesday pushed Islamic State fighters back to the edges of the Syrian Kurdish border town of Kobani, which they had appeared set to seize after a three-week assault, local officials said. Picture taken October 7, 2014. REUTERS/Stringer (SYRIA - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST CONFLICT) - RTR49CW1

How Turkey repeated US mistakes in Afghanistan

Turkey’s Syrian adventure, and its unintended midwifery to the Islamic State, hold major lessons for Turkish foreign policy.

Smoke rises from the Syrian town of Kobani, Turkish army tanks take position on the Turkish side of the border, as seen from near the Mursitpinar border crossing on the Turkish-Syrian border in Sanliurfa province October 8, 2014. U.S.-led air strikes on Wednesday pushed Islamic State fighters back to the edges of the Syrian Kurdish border town of Kobani, which they had appeared set to seize after a three-week assault, local officials said. REUTERS/Umit Bektas (TURKEY - Tags: MILITARY CONFLICT POLITICS TPX I

Kobani is becoming Turkey's war

Turks are fighting on both sides of the Islamic State-YPG battle for Kobani, but increasing numbers of Kurdish fighters, including women, are coming from Turkey to join the battle.

People play on the shore of a beach in the Mediterranean coastal city of Antalya, September 6, 2007. REUTERS/Fatih Saribas(TURKEY) - RTR1TIKC

Turkish home sales to foreigners on the rise

Foreigners bought 1,774 homes in Turkey in August, a twofold increase from the same period last year, with Britons, Russians and Germans topping the list of buyers.

A Turkish woman walks past a national lottery ticket seller offering tickets in Istanbul for the New Year draw with a highest ever prize. A Turkish woman walks past a national lottery ticket seller offering tickets for the New Year draw with a prize of 15 trillion TL ($10.4 million) for only one person, highest ever in its kind, in central Istanbul's busy shopping district of Beyoglu December 14, 2004. EU leaders are widely expected to agree at a summit on - RTR15CVO

Turkey hits jackpot by privatizing gambling

Turkey’s government has decided to privatize all games of chance, driven both by religious motives and financial woes.

Turkish soldiers are seen on top of an armoured vehicle, with the Syrian town of Kobani in the background, near the Mursitpinar border crossing on the Turkish-Syrian border, in the southeastern Turkish town of Suruc in Sanliurfa province October 3, 2014. Kurdish fighters defending a Syrian border town warned on Friday of a likely massacre by Islamic State insurgents as the Islamists encircled the town with tanks and bombarded its outskirts with artillery fire. Turkey said it would do what it could to preven

Assad, not Islamic State, in Ankara’s crosshairs

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu is trying to convince Washington that the real enemy is the Syrian regime, but appears to be failing to do so as the US-led coalition keeps its focus on the Islamic State.

A Kurdish flag and a Islamic State flag flutter on each end of the Mullah Abdullah bridge in southern Kirkuk September 29, 2014. Members of the Kurdish security forces and the Islamic State are holding fort behind sandbags on different ends of the bridge. REUTERS/Ako Rasheed (IRAQ - Tags - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST CONFLICT) - RTR4884H

Can PKK transform military might into political power?

As regional developments open new military and political arenas to the PKK, it is unlikely that the Turkish peace process will end with the Kurds disarming.