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Turkey

Turkey

November 26, 2025

Ankara 5:17 pm

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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.

Analysis

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

The ongoing deadlock between Damascus and the SDF is seen as a major obstacle to progress in Turkey’s efforts to address its long-standing Kurdish issue.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

BASHAR TALEB/AFP via Getty Images

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

Turkey’s spy chief met with Qatari, Egyptian officials as the Gaza ceasefire process stalls over Hamas fighters trapped in tunnels.

cartoons

Culture

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

A fragile but growing ecosystem of artists, editors and cross-border collaborations is reshaping Turkey’s graphic-novel landscape under tight political and economic constraints.

A villager stands at a high point to survey the damage to the hill sides by quarrying in Ikizdere in the Rize Province in the Black Sea region of Turkey on June 7, 2021. A government-friendly company plans to extract 20 million tons of stone from a quarry in the northeastern town of Ikizdere for one of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's latest development projects. The locals are rising up in protest, challenging the government and its priorities in a region dear to the domineering Turkish leader's heart. (Ph

Culture

Can AI save Turkey’s endangered Laz language?

With few young speakers and little official support, activists are turning to artificial intelligence to help preserve one of Turkey’s endangered languages: Laz.

Latest News

Turkey secures COP31 climate summit after compromise with Australia: What to know

Fidan's confidant Nuh Yilmaz appointed ambassador to Syria, first in 13 years: What to know

NICOLAS TUCAT/AFP via Getty Images

Erdogan’s top ally Bahceli slams foot-dragging on meeting with PKK leader

Burak Kara/Getty Images

Samuel Wendel

Senior Market Research Analyst

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

Francesco Schiavi

In Bologna, reporting on security, defense, economy, governance

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

Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

Turkish Treasury and Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek looks on before the press conference following the cabinet meeting held at the Presidential Complex in Ankara on August 21, 2023. (Photo by Adem ALTAN / AFP) (Photo by ADEM ALTAN/AFP via Getty Images)

Can Turkey’s economic czar stick to belt-tightening after election loss?

The Turkish government hopes that its remaining four-year mandate will give it time to placate popular anger before the next polls.

Turkish cocaine bust

Lebanon-Venezuela kingpin detained in Turkey's 'third largest' cocaine bust

The Turkish Interior Minister reported some 1,340 pounds of cocaine seized in the operation, which also included the arrest of 13 people.

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks to supporters at his party’s Istanbul mayoral candidate Murat Kurum's campaign rally, Istanbul, Turkey, March 29, 2024.

Turkey restricts exports of 54 products to Israel until Gaza cease-fire

As Israel pledged to retaliate, analysts believe the move is aiming to allay growing dismay among Turkey's Islamists for the government’s refusal to sever trade ties with the Middle Eastern country over the Gaza conflict.

Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs Hakan Fidan speaks during a press conference at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Venezuela in Caracas on Feb. 24, 2024.

Turkey to take ‘series of measures’ against Israel after Gaza aid drop denied

The Turkish foreign minister said the measures would be "implemented step by step, without delay," but did not specify the actions to be taken.

(L-R) Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi wave hands during the group photo session, a head of the Dialogue of Emerging Market and Developing Countries, on the sideline of the 2017 BRICS Summit in Xiamen, southeastern China's Fujian Province on Sept. 5, 2017.

Al-Monitor/Premise poll finds Biden's unpopularity in Mideast makes room for China, Russia to outshine US

Washington’s influence remains potent despite its perceived disengagement from the Middle East, but Russia and China are eagerly finding gaps to fill.

Workers tasked with putting out the fire in an oil well, set ablaze by retreating Islamic State (IS) jihadists, assemble a water pipeline in the town of Qayyarah.

Iraq plans to reopen own oil pipeline as talks to restart Kurdish route stall

The move to reopen the pipeline will irk the Kurdistan Regional Government, as it introduces a rival route to a section of the pipeline in Kurdistan that has been shut for a year and is a crucial economic source for the semi-autonomous region.

An undated image of the Kaan.

The long road ahead for Kaan, Turkey’s nascent fifth-generation fighter jet

Turkey’s aspiring ruler of the skies will need to overcome various challenges before it can truly become a fifth-generation fighter, analysts say.

Northern Cyprus tightens property sales rules amid influx of Russian money

Northern Cyprus seeks to tighten its laws on real estate purchases to foreigners amid allegations of Russian black money, Zionist plots and encouragement from Ankara.

A view from a hotel roof top of downtown Mogadishu close to the site of a double truck bombs in early November in Mogadishu on November 10, 2022.

At least two staff of Turkey-based aid group killed in explosion in Somalia

Turkey-based humanitarian organization says it was targeted deliberately.

Workers walk along at refinery No. 2 (Phases 2, 3) of the South Pars Gas-Condensate field.

Turkey, Iran launch talks on energy cooperation

The talks, aiming to enhance energy cooperation between the two countries, kicked off in Tehran.

Protesters demonstrate on Kibris Sehitleri Avenue in Izmir against the denial of Abdullah Zeydan's right to be elected and the handover of the mandate to AKP candidate Abdulahat Arvas, April 2, 2024.

Turkey’s election board reverses decision to block pro-Kurdish party's local win

Turkey’s high election board will unblock the pro-Kurdish party candidate’s election win amid protests in the country's Kurdish majority southeast.

Supporters of the pro-Kurdish DEM Party.

Turkey’s pro-Kurdish party slams annulment of election victory in southeast

The move, which sparked violent protest in the southeastern province of Van, is widely seen as a fresh crackdown on the country's pro-Kurdish party by Turkish authorities.