Turkey - AL-MONITOR: The Middle Eastʼs leading independent news source since 2012

Turkey

Turkey

May 3, 2026

Ankara 8:49 pm

7°C

Zaidi

Analysis

Iraq’s Zaidi offers economic promise for Turkey but unknowns loom

Iraq’s prime minister-designate, Ali al-Zaidi, is expected to sustain growing economic and strategic ties with Turkey thanks to his business-oriented approach, though uncertainty over his political stance could test cooperation on sensitive issues.

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

Members of the UN Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP), from the British Army's 1st Battalion Coldstream Guards, No. 2 Company, patrol along the buffer zone separating the internationally recognized Republic of Cyprus and the breakaway Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus in the divided capital Nicosia on Feb. 17, 2026.

Turkey warns France over Cyprus troop deployment: What to know

A potential French deployment to Greek Cyprus comes amid Turkey’s growing concerns of strategic encirclement in the Eastern Mediterranean.

This aerial photograph shows Turkey's first floating natural gas production platform, "Osman Gazi," passing through the Bosphorus, in Istanbul, on May 29, 2025.

Turkey advances gas pipeline plan to northern Cyprus as East Med rivalry grows

The Turkish energy minister said the country's oil and natural gas pipeline operator, BOTAS, has started the engineering work for the pipeline.

Latest News

In first, Libya’s rival armies to join drill in Turkey: What to know

Cadets of the Saiqa Force (Special Forces) of the self-styled Libyan National Army affiliated with eastern strongman Khalifa Hifter take part in a graduation ceremony in tribute to the force's late commander, Wanis Bukhamada, in the eastern city of Benghazi, on Jan. 20, 2022.

Turkey’s military spending jumps to $30B, leads Mideast growth in 2025

Turkey's submarines and fast-attack craft ships participate in the live-fire phase of the Blue Homeland-2026 (Mavi Vatan) tactical military exercises in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, in Antalya on April 9, 2026.

Analysis

Why Saudi Arabia, Egypt are wary of Turkey’s proposed 4-way defense pact with Pakistan

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan hosted the third meeting of the foreign ministers of Turkey, Egypt, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia on the margins of the 5th Antalya Diplomacy Forum, on April 17, 2026.

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

Turkey’s Baykar tests K2 swarm kamikaze drones for first time: What to know

CORLU, TURKEY- MARCH 2: A B model of Bayraktar AKINCI TİHA (Assault Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) in the sky on March 2, 2022 in Corlu, Turkey. (Photo by Baykar Press Office/dia images via Getty Images)

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 Tayyip Erdogan leaves from the Ottoman-era Dolmabahce mosque after Friday prayers in Istanbul, Turkey April 15, 2016. REUTERS/Murad Sezer - RTX2A3RC

Does Erdogan want his own Islamic state?

Erdogan is willing to not abolish Turkey’s constitutional secularism, as some fear, but rather to use religion in the most effective way.

US and Syria's Kurds: Love on the rocks?

PKK violence is complicating US relations with Syria’s Kurds just as Turkey steps up its cooperation against the Islamic State.

People wave flags outside the AK Party headquarters in Ankara, Turkey November 1, 2015. Turks went to the polls in a snap parliamentary election on Sunday under the shadow of mounting internal bloodshed and economic worries, a vote that could determine the trajectory of the polarised country and of President Tayyip Erdogan. The vote is the second in five months, after the AK Party founded by Erdogan lost in June the single-party governing majority it has enjoyed since first coming to power in 2002. REUTER

Mad love, amnesia or fear? How Erdogan pulls it off

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s political fortunes have not suffered from his contradictions, questionable denials and attacks on opponents.

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu makes a speech in the Kurdish-dominated southeastern city of Diyarbakir, Turkey April 1, 2016. REUTERS/Sertac Kayar - RTSD61V

Will Ankara’s new culture plan lead to more censorship of the arts?

In Turkey, where freedom of expression is curtailed, the AKP’s sustainable cultural development program finds little enthusiasm.

Will Turkey bid farewell to secularism?

Ismail Kahraman, the speaker of the Turkish parliament, has caused a sensation by proposing a constitution that avoids any reference to secularism as the ruling party continues to promote its Islamist agenda.

A papier mache caricature figure for a carnival float of Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan (L) is prepared for the upcoming Rose Monday carnival parade in Mainz, Germany February 2, 2016. REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach - RTX252Q1

Erdogan’s wrath against satire expands into Europe

After jailing and suppressing journalists in his country, will Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s onslaught on free speech in Europe backfire?

Police secure the scene after two rockets hit the Turkish town of Kilis near the Syrian border, Turkey, April 24, 2016. REUTERS/Umit Bektas - RTX2BEBD

Will Turkey ask NATO for help defending against IS rockets?

Turkish citizens are calling on their government to boost its feeble response to IS shelling from Syria.

A Turkish woman smokes at an open air tea house in Istanbul July 14, 2009. Smokers in Turkey tempted to flout an imminent ban in cafes, restaurants and bars will be spared execution as allegedly meted out in 17th-Century Istanbul -- but their Prime Minister has likened cigarettes to terrorism. That's a measure of how strongly Tayyip Erdogan feels about tobacco. Sultan Murad IV is said to have roamed the streets ordering the execution of those who defied a smoking ban aimed at curbing coffee house sedition.

Why Turkey's anti-tobacco efforts went up in smoke

Smoking and drug abuse are on the rise among Turks, and experts blame worsening poverty levels and faltering measures on the government’s part.

Erdogan, Davutoglu shed tears for Gaza, but do little else

Turkey as well as the oil-rich Gulf states have still not fulfilled their pledges to help with the reconstruction and development of Gaza.

What Turkey can learn from coup plot case dismissal

The judgments rendered in the Ergenekon coup-attempt case have been dismissed after nine years because of errors in merit and procedure.

Worshippers offer their Friday prayers during the first Friday of the holy month of Ramadan at Eyup Sultan mosque in Istanbul August 5, 2011.REUTERS/Osman Orsal (TURKEY - Tags: RELIGION SOCIETY) - RTR2PMXC

Is Islamophobia on the rise in Turkey?

A researcher in Turkey’s southeast says radical Islamist groups and the bloodshed in Syria have fueled estrangement from Islam in the Kurdish-majority region, where Islamist-secularist tensions have simmered for decades.

Turkish soldiers march during a parade marking the 93rd anniversary of Victory Day in Ankara, Turkey, August 30, 2015. REUTERS/Umit Bektas - RTX1Q9PW

How will Turkey's military use its restored standing?

Does the collapse of the coup attempt case enhance Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s power, or is it the resumption of the cycle that governed civilian and military relations during the last decades?