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Turkey

Turkey

November 30, 2025

Ankara 10:49 am

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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

Turkish President and leader of the Justice and Development Party Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Turkey’s ruling party members stick with Erdogan

Despite growing public discontent, senior members of Turkey's ruling party stick with President Erdogan.

Health care workers protest, calling on the government to improve working conditions in Ankara, on May 29, 2022.

Murder of Turkish doctor spurs rage against Turkey’s beleaguered health sector

The brutal shooting of a cardiologist in a conservative central Anatolian city has pitted the health sector not only against the government but also the General Directorate of Religious Affairs.

Erdogan Putin

Erdogan, Putin set to meet in Tehran

The Turkish, Iranian and Russian leaders are set to meet in Tehran next week amid lingering Turkish threats against Syrian Kurdish groups. Putin and Erdogan will separately discuss the Ukrainian grain crisis.

YASSER AL-ZAYYAT/AFP via Getty Images

Turkey, UAE continue to mend ties with space agreement

Turkish-Emirati economic ties have gradually strengthened this year, reducing tensions between the two regional powers.

NIKOLAY DOYCHINOV/AFP via Getty Images

Turkey looks to import gas from Turkmenistan, test exports to Bulgaria

Turkey and Turkmenistan are working on a gas deal that will likely extend to Europe in a bid to reduce Western dependency on Russian gas.

Rabbi Mendy Chitrik (L).

Culture

Rabbis forge special bond in Islamic world

Istanbul-based Alliance of Rabbis in Islamic States connects Jewish communities in some 20 predominantly Muslim countries and regions across Africa, Asia and Europe, in an effort to enable them to sustain their faith and thrive in their homelands.

This photo shows the inside of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in Strasbourg, eastern France, on Feb. 7, 2019.

Europe’s top court reprimands Turkey for jailing philanthropist

Today’s decision by Europe's top rights court on Osman Kavala, who has kept behind bars for four and a half years in pre-detention and sentenced to life, inches Turkey closer to suspension of its voting rights or even membership in the Council of Europe.

Ukrainian Ambassador to Turkey Vasyl Bodnar (C) speaks to media as he takes part in a protest against Russia's military invasion of Ukraine at Ulus districit in Ankara, on March 5, 2022.

Ukraine’s Turkey ambassador: strategic ties intact but public unhappy over Turkish stance on Russia

Turkey's ambassador to Kyiv has been summoned to voice Ukraine's displeasure over its grain stolen by Russia and shipped to Turkish ports.

(Foreground L to R) a Boeing 737 aircraft of Israel's El Al and an Airbus A321 aircraft of Turkish Airlines.

Turkey, Israel initial accord to pave way to resume El Al flights to Turkey

A new aviation agreement would pave the way for Israeli airline companies’ flights to Turkey, which were suspended due to security concerns in 2007.

:oading barley onto a cargo ship Sormovo-2 in the international port of Rostov-on-Don.

Turkey under pressure to crack down on Russian shipments of stolen Ukrainian grain

Ukraine’s growing pressure on Turkey to act against Russian shipments of “stolen” Ukrainian grain highlights the importance of establishing a safe export corridor under UN auspices.

A screengrab from the music video for Copshop, but Turkish popstar Mabel Matiz.

Turkey’s media watchdog warns against LGBTQ song as crackdown continues

Turkish pop star Mabel Matiz's “Copshop,” a song that tells the story of a gay man tortured in a police station, dovetails with a month-long government crackdown on LGBTQ groups and activities during Pride month.

INA FASSBENDER/AFP via Getty Images

Turkey blocks VOA, Deutsche Welle in pre-election media clampdown

The ban came after the websites failed to apply for licenses that would allow government to oversee their content.