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Turkey

Turkey

November 29, 2025

Ankara 7:55 pm

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Kurdish official Aldar Khalil, who played a key role in establishing Syria's semiautonomous Kurdish region in 2013, during an interview in Qamishli on Dec. 22, 2018.

Exclusive

Top PYD official Aldar Khalil: 'Syria is telling Kurds to separate'

Al-Monitor spoke exclusively to Aldar Khalil, a member of the executive council of the Democratic Unity Party (PYD), which shares power in the Kurdish-led administration in northeast Syria, about the halted talks between Syria’s transitional government and the Kurdish-led administration in northeast Syria.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan greets Pope Leo XIV during a welcome ceremony at the Presidential Palace, Ankara, Nov. 27, 2025.

In first foreign visit, Pope Leo meets Erdogan, urges Turkey to uphold pluralism

On his inaugural foreign visit to Turkey, Pope Leo called for respect for pluralism after meeting with the Turkish president.

Andreas SOLARO / AFP via Getty Images

Analysis

Pope Leo in Turkey, navigating faith, politics and Orthodox tensions

The visit will bolster Turkey’s image on religious tolerance and shared positions with the Vatican while Ankara navigates sensitive issues surrounding the Halki Seminary and the Greek Patriarchate’s ecumenical status.

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

Latest News

Turkey sentences journalist over 4 years in jail for threatening Erdogan

Prominent Turkish journalist Fatih Altayli is pictured in this undated image.

Analysis

PKK leader Ocalan gains legitimacy in Turkey, bigger sway over Syria’s Kurds

People take part in a demonstration to call for the liberation of Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Ocalan outside the European Council in Strasbourg, eastern France, on Sept. 15, 2025.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Turkey’s spy chief holds talks in Egypt over trapped Hamas militants

BASHAR TALEB/AFP via Getty Images

Culture

Turkey’s graphic-novel culture blossoms in face of censorship

cartoons

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

A man walks past the World Bank building in Washington on April 21, 2022.

World Bank says debt increasing in Middle East countries

Egypt, Iran and Turkey’s debt rose significantly last year.

Mayor of Istanbul metropolitan municipality Ekrem Imamoglu speaks during an interview to AFP on April 2, 2020 in Istanbul, amid the spread of the epidemic COVID-19 coronavirus. - Istanbul's opposition mayor Ekrem Imamoglu on Thursday called for more robust action and a lockdown after Turkey's largest city reported the highest number of cases in the country. Without a strict lockdown, Imamoglu warned, even if 15 percent of the residents in Istanbul would move around rather than stay home, that would represen

Turkish court sentences opposition leader to jail, political ban

As Turkey heads for a tight election, an Istanbul court has sentenced Ekrem Imamoglu, seen by some as the man who could unseat Erdogan, to two years and seven months in prison for insulting a public officer.

Turkey ship

Turkey, insurers reach deal to end oil tanker logjam

Ankara’s standoff with international insurers, which has created a line of crude oil tankers near the Turkish straits, ends with agreed wording on an insurance letter demanded by Turkey.

The Abdulhamid Han drill ship, the fourth built by Turkey, in Mersin on August 9, 2022 before it leaves for gas exploration to an undisputed area in the Mediterranean Sea, in south of the city of Gazipasa. (Photo by Adem ALTAN / AFP) (Photo by ADEM ALTAN/AFP via Getty Images)

Erdogan touts potential gas deal ahead of Turkmenistan summit

At Wednesday's summit in Turkmenistan, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is eyeing a gas deal that would extend into Europe.

US investment Middle East

How the US invests in the Middle East

In our latest PRO Trend Report, we take a deep-dive into American investment in the region and opportunities to expand it.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan attends a joint press conference with Cuban President in Ankara, on November 23, 2022. (Photo by Adem ALTAN / AFP) (Photo by ADEM ALTAN/AFP via Getty Images)

Greece compares Turkey to North Korea in latest row with Erdogan

Erdogan’s remarks raise stakes in rivalry between fellow NATO members as threatening rhetoric escalates.

A man walks past a French-language daily newspaper stand displaying the final issue of Algerian French-language daily newspaper "Liberté" in Algeria's capital Algiers on April 14, 2022. (Photo by RYAD KRAMDI/AFP via Getty Images)

In press freedom index, Middle Eastern countries go from bad to worse

Press freedom and journalist safety remain “very bad” in the majority of the Middle East and North Africa nations, Reporters Without Borders' 2022 index shows.

ATTA KENARE/AFP via Getty Images

Iranian dissident who disappeared in Turkey resurfaces in Evin prison

Mohammad Bagher Moradi who took refuge in Turkey has ended up in Iran's notorious Evin prison, five months after he went missing in Ankara, his lawyer told Al-Monitor.

ADEM ALTAN/AFP via Getty Images

Ukrainian efforts to stir Circassians against Russia divide diaspora in Turkey

A heated debate has erupted in the Circassian diaspora over calls to establish a Circassian battalion against Russia in Ukraine.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken (C) holds a joint press conference with Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto (L) and Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom (R) following meetings at the State Department in Washington, DC, Dec. 8, 2022.

Breaking | Last Updated: December 8, 2022, 3:49 pm

US confident Sweden, Finland will soon join NATO despite Turkey's holdup

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the two Nordic states had taken "tangible steps" to address Turkey's security concerns.

ADEM ALTAN/AFP via Getty Images

Child abuse case drags Turkey’s religious sects into public eye

A woman’s claims that she was married at 6 has raised questions about the role of Islamic orders and their influence in the state.

DANIEL SLIM/AFP via Getty Images

US unveils sanctions on Turkish businessman over IRGC oil sales

The United States designated what it described as an international oil smuggling and money laundering network led by Turkish businessman Sitki Ayan.