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Turkey

Turkey

May 4, 2026

Ankara 9:26 pm

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Sabah Fidan

Turkey hosts Kuwaiti FM as UAE's OAPEC exit fuels Gulf rift

Kuwait's top diplomat visited Turkey as the Gulf rift deepens following the UAE’s exit from OPEC and its affiliated alliances, forcing Ankara to balance ties between Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi.

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.

Latest News

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

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

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

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

Fighters of the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) patrol in the streets of the northern Syrian town of Kobani January 28, 2015. Kurdish forces battled Islamic State fighters outside Kobani on Tuesday, a monitoring group said, a day after Kurds said they had taken full control of the northern Syrian town following a four-month battle. Known as Ayn al-Arab in Arabic, the mainly Kurdish town close to the Turkish border has become a focal point in the international fight against Islamic State, an al Qaeda

US to arm Syrian Kurds, rebel groups fighting IS

The Pentagon will pause its beleaguered Syria train and equip program to instead provide arms and air support to Syrian Kurdish and Arab rebel groups already fighting the Islamic State.

Syria's increasingly congested skies

In addition to warplanes over Syria, cruise missiles are now carving out airspace.

Grew up Kurdish, forced to be Turkish, now called Armenian

When loose-talking Turkish officials toss around the word "Armenian" like it's a slur, they incite further hatred toward minorities.

Russian market huge disappointment for Turkey

Turkey’s hopes of replacing European countries as a major food exporter to Russia have been dashed.

Syrian Kurdish leader: Moscow wants to work with us

A senior leader in the PYD is in Washington seeking more military support and expressing ambivalence about Russia’s latest intervention.

Facts mingle with political fantasy in Ankara's Gulenist indictments

An indictment alleging an attempted coup against Turkey's ruling Justice and Development Party government follows the party's narrative of a sinister parallel state and its imperialist collaborators.

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker welcomes Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan (L) at the EU Commission headquarters in Brussels, Belgium October 5, 2015. Erdogan mocked European Union overtures for help with its migration crisis during a long-awaited visit to Brussels on Monday that in the end was partly overshadowed by Russia's violation of Turkish airspace near Syria. REUTERS/Francois Lenoir - RTS34DB

Erdogan's EU visit fails to produce results

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan tried to use his Brussels visit to enhance his own domestic political clout, but the Europeans were not very keen on helping him.

Armed members of YDG-H (back facing), youth wing of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), stroll at a street in Silvan, near the southeastern city of Diyarbakir, Turkey, August 17, 2015. The PKK has attacked military targets on a near-daily basis since the Turkish government launched air strikes on rebel camps in northern Iraq on July 25, wrecking a two-year-old ceasefire. REUTERS/Sertac Kayar - RTX1OIE1

Young guns rule their turf in Turkey

Members of the Patriotic Revolutionary Youth Movement, a youth group linked to the PKK, control the streets by force of arms in some parts of southeastern Turkey.

Erdogan uses refugee issue for his own benefit in EU

EU leaders' focus during Erdogan’s visit to Brussels was on stemming the flow of Syrian refugees, not on his authoritarian and undemocratic ways.

Another Syrian nightmare, courtesy of the Russians

Russian operations are rattling Turkey as militants fleeing Syria infiltrate Turkey.

Russian intervention throws a wrench into Turkey's Syria plans

Russian air superiority in Syria has destroyed Ankara's hopes for a safe zone in the north and "Syria without Assad."

New gas fields add more heat to already simmering Mediterranean

The recent gas discoveries in the eastern Mediterranean Sea have given the concerned countries, mainly Egypt, Turkey and Israel, a new urgency in settling their maritime border disputes.