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Turkey

Turkey

December 1, 2025

Ankara 12:52 am

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Cagri Izdar's mix of miniatures, puppets and and dance macabre (Photo Baris Ozcetin/Offgrid)

Culture

Young artists pull traditional Turkish art into zeitgeist

A new generation of young artists in Istanbul is transforming traditional Turkish arts — from miniature to tile — into sharp contemporary tools for exploring dystopia, environmental anxiety and social fragmentation.

Mansour Abbas, head of Israel's conservative Islamic Raam party, speaks to the press before casting his ballot at a polling station in the northern Israeli village of Maghar on November 1, 2022. - Israelis began voting in their fifth election in less than four years, with veteran leader Benjamin Netanyahu campaigning for a comeback alongside far-right allies. (Photo by AHMAD GHARABLI / AFP) (Photo by AHMAD GHARABLI/AFP via Getty Images)

Analysis

Trump’s Muslim Brotherhood move reignites Israel’s battle over Raam

Israeli officials hailed the decision by President Donald Trump to start the designation process of Muslim Brotherhood chapters, though the move risks generating havoc within Israeli politics.

Rina Bassist

By Rina Bassist

In Paris, reporting on Israeli politics and European affairs

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

Latest News

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

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

Analysis

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

Andreas SOLARO / AFP via Getty Images

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

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

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

Presentation of "Strengthened Parliamentary System" signing ceremony in Ankara on Feb. 28, 2022.

Turkey's opposition unites in advance of 2023 elections

The jury’s out on whether a pledge by Turkey’s six opposition parties to bring back the parliamentary system is an agreement on the lowest common denominator or a historical pact that would unseat Erdogan.

Russian navy's submarine Rostov-on-Don sails with a naval ensign of the Russian Federation through the Bosporus on the way to the Black Sea past the city of Istanbul, Turkey, Feb. 13, 2022.

Turkey's Black Sea warning may impact Syria more than Ukraine

ADEM ALTAN/AFP via Getty Images

Breaking | Last Updated: March 3, 2022, 10:38 am

Turkey, Azerbaijan step up aid to Ukraine

Despite their valuable ties with Russia, Turkey and its close ally Azerbaijan are busily sending aid shipments to Ukraine.

ADEM ALTAN/AFP via Getty Images)

Turkey’s economy up 11%, but growth brings risk

Turkey’s flashy growth rate in 2021 has been accompanied by a dangerous uptick in inflation and appears bound to drop sharply this year.

Demonstrators hold placards during a protest against Russia's military operation in Ukraine in front of the Russian embassy in Istanbul on February 24, 2022. - Russia's President has launched a military operation in Ukraine on February 24, 2022 after weeks of intense diplomacy and the imposition of Western sanctions on Russia that failed to deter him. (Photo by Yasin AKGUL / AFP) (Photo by YASIN AKGUL/AFP via Getty Images)

With one eye on Russia, Turkey expresses support for Ukraine

The success of Turkish-made drones in Ukraine is the most obvious sign of Ankara’s backing for Kyiv, but fear of Russian backlash is making Turkey tread lightly.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (L) and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky hold a joint press conference after their meeting, Kyiv, Ukraine, Feb. 3, 2022.

Erdogan stuck on fence in Ukraine crisis

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has chided NATO for failing to do more for Ukraine but remains averse to antagonizing Russia.

INDRANIL MUKHERJEE/AFP via Getty Images

Turkish fintech seeks Qatari investment

The financial technology sector in Turkey has grown significantly, and is looking to Qatar for further expansion.

OLGA MALTSEVA/AFP via Getty Images

Turkey evacuates citizens from Kyiv

Turkey has begun to evacuate Turkish citizens stranded in Kyiv as Ankara's political opposition slams the government for failing to act sooner.

OZAN KOSE/AFP via Getty Images

Turkey evaluates Ukraine’s request for closure of Turkish straits

Ankara "will to use its discretion in favor of peace,” a top ruling party official said on Ukraine's call for the Russian navy to be barred from passing into the Black Sea and for sanctions on Moscow.

Customers stand at the counter of an exchange office, Ankara, Turkey, Feb. 23, 2022.

In Turkey, high inflation drives home sales

The demand on Turkey’s housing market, stoked by a rush to protect savings from soaring inflation, is likely to increase despite skyrocketing prices unless inflation shows signs of easing.

Ukrainian servicemen patrol in the settlement of Troitske in the Lugansk region near the front line with Russia-backed separatists on Feb. 22, 2022, a day after Russia recognised east Ukraine's separatist republics and ordered the Russian army to send troops there as "peacekeepers".

Ukraine crisis exposes Turkey’s limits

The Ukraine crisis has exposed Ankara’s limits on foreign policy, yet Turkey’s President Erdogan can still score points from rapprochement with the UAE and Israel.

OZAN KOSE/AFP via Getty Images

Turkey’s quota plan for refugees alarms rights activists

Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu is advocating quotas for foreigners to prevent ghettos and clashes, but activists worry relocations would cut vulnerable refugees' access to work and services.