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

Turkey

Turkey

May 10, 2026

Ankara 1:10 pm

21°C

ISTANBUL, TURKEY - MAY 06: A man poses for a photograph in front of the newly unveiled, Turkish made intercontinental ballistic missile Yildirimhan at the SAHA International Defence and Aerospace Expo on May 06, 2026 in Istanbul, Turkey. The International Defence and Aerospace Exhibition, showcased Turkish and foreign companies new products and technology. The expo was dominated by UAV products as modern warfare increasingly shifts to drone and unmanned technologies. (Photo by Chris McGrath/Getty Images)

Analysis

From drones to deterrence: Turkey's ICBM missile signals bigger ambitions

Turkey’s planned test of a 6,000-kilometer missile could boost Ankara’s defense industry prestige, strengthen its deterrence messaging and feed a powerful domestic narrative of technological self-reliance, but it also raises questions about cost, timing and NATO protection.

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

MURAT KOCABAS/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images

Culture

How ‘dog mom’ vacuum cleaner ad sparked culture war in Turkey

A Mother’s Day advertisement featuring a “dog mom” triggered a backlash from conservative media, government officials and regulators, turning a soft consumer campaign into a flashpoint over motherhood, declining birth rates, stray dogs and even antisemitism.

Latest News

Turkey, Japan launch defense industry partnership with eye on drones

People look at a drone on display at the Baykar exhibit at the SAHA International Defence and Aerospace Expo on May 06, 2026 in Istanbul, Turkey.

Saudi FM in Turkey as Ankara, Riyadh step up coordination amid Iran war

Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud and Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan in Ankara, May 6, 2026.

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 trucks and tankers, shuttling between Turkey and Iraq, queue on a road leading to the Habur border gate in southeastern Turkey, before crossing into Iraq with their goods, February 23, 2008. Turkey's exports to Iraq jumped nine percent last year to $2.8 billion and its influence can be felt across northern Iraq in the form of supermarkets, consumer goods, construction firms and traders from all over Turkey. To match feature TURKEY-IRAQ/CONFLICT REUTERS/Fatih Saribas (TURKEY) - RTR1XKEF

Turkish truckers try to get on the road again

With the dangers and difficulties now inherent in transiting in Iraq and Syria, the Turkish transportation sector is looking for alternative routes to Middle Eastern markets.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyib Erdogan`s wife Emine Erdogan (L), Recep Tayyip Erdogan (2nd L), Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew (C), Armenian Orthodox Archbishop Aram Atesyan (R) talk during a dinner on August 28, 2011, at the Archeology Museum Garden in Istanbul. Erdogan hosted religious leaders and the heads of about 160 minority trusts at a fast-breaking dinner for Ramadan. AFP PHOTO/BULENT KILIC (Photo credit should read BULENT KILIC/AFP/Getty Images)

Armenian Patriarchate of Istanbul sues for fraud

The defrauding of the Armenian Patriarchate of Istanbul reflects how vulnerable minorities are in Turkey.

Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan speaks to supporters during his visit in Cologne May 24, 2014. REUTERS/Wolfgang Rattay (GERMANY - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR3QO46

What should West expect from Erdogan as president?

The United States and others in the West are speculating about what Turkish foreign policy might look like under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whose nomination speech left no doubt about his strong Islamic inclinations.

Eggs packed in cartons are pictured at a chicken farm in the western town of Schleiden January 6, 2011. The German government moved to calm public fears on Wednesday after highly toxic dioxin contamination in the feed of poultry and hogs turned out to be far more widespread than first thought. REUTERS/Ina Fassbender (GERMANY - Tags: POLITICS HEALTH FOOD) - RTXW9LJ

Turkey assesses losses from Iraqi market

Turkish officials, politicians and traders are trying to calculate Turkey's losses in the Iraqi market after the ISIS takeover of Mosul and other Iraqi cities.

Supporters of Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan cheer as he declares his candidacy in Ankara July 1, 2014. Erdogan declared his candidacy on Tuesday for a more powerful presidency which rivals fear may entrench authoritarian rule and supporters, especially conservative Muslims, see as the crowning prize in his drive to reshape NATO member Turkey. REUTERS/Umit Bektas (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS ELECTIONS) - RTR3WLVO

Erdogan looks for first-round knockout in presidential contest

Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan will use all his power to clinch a first-round victory in the presidential race on Aug. 10, which is not assured.

An image of Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan on a twitter account is pictured through a magnifying glass in this illustration picture taken in Istanbul March 21, 2014. Turkey's courts have blocked access to Twitter days before elections as Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan battles a corruption scandal that has seen social media platforms awash with alleged evidence of government wrongdoing. The ban came hours after a defiant Erdogan, on the campaign trail ahead of key March 30 local elections, vowed to "wi

Turkish judiciary bulwark against authoritarian tilt

The Turkish judiciary emerges as a block on a trend toward more centralized power by Prime Minister Erdogan.

Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan (C), his wife Emine Erdogan and Deputy Chairman of AK Party (AKP) Mehmet Ali Sahin attend a meeting where he is named as his party's candidate for the country's first direct presidential election in Ankara July 1, 2014. Tayyip Erdogan declared his candidacy on Tuesday for a more powerful presidency which rivals fear may entrench authoritarian rule and supporters, especially conservative Muslims, see as the crowning prize in his drive to reshape NATO member Turkey. REUT

Erdogan’s path of 'illiberal democracy'

To understand where Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is taking Turkey, look to Latin America.

Visitors walk inside a cave situated below the ancient towns of Maresha and Beit Guvrin in the Judean Lowlands June 24, 2014. UNESCO designated the caves of Maresha and Beit Guvrin as a world heritage site on Sunday. The site features expansive man-made ancient tunnel systems, some dating back as early as the first century BC. REUTERS/Finbarr O'Reilly (ISRAEL - Tags: ENVIRONMENT SOCIETY TRAVEL) - RTR3VIXK

Turks come to Israel in record numbers

The strengthening of business ties between the two countries results in an increase in Turkish citizens arriving in Israel, Israeli officials say.

A map of the Kurdistan region is seen on the wall of a school where a Christian family who fled from the violence in Mosul two days ago, is staying in Arbil, in Iraq's Kurdistan region June 27, 2014. Iraqi forces launched an airborne assault on rebel-held Tikrit on Thursday with commandos flown into a stadium in helicopters, at least one of which crashed after taking fire from insurgents who have seized northern cities. REUTERS/Ahmed Jadallah (IRAQ - Tags: CIVIL UNREST POLITICS CONFLICT SOCIETY) - RTR3W0Y0

Would Turkey accept a Kurdish state?

As the likelihood of an independent Kurdish state on Turkey’s eastern border grows, Ankara is losing its historical resistance to the idea.

Members of the Iraqi security forces fire artillery during the clashes with the predominantly Sunni militants from the radical Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in the town of Dalli Abbas in Diyala province, June 28, 2014. Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, the most influential Shi'ite cleric in Iraq, called on the country's leaders on Friday to choose a prime minister within the next four days, a dramatic political intervention that could hasten the end of Nuri al-Maliki's eight year rule. Picture take

The Syria disconnect in US Iraq policy

Iraq welcomes Syrian airstrikes on ISIS; Aleppo’s water crisis.

Stacks of Turkey's lira coins are seen in this picture illustration taken in Istanbul July 23, 2013. Turkey's central bank raised interest rates on Tuesday and said it would, if necessary, take further steps to stop the lira from falling. The move - a rise in the overnight lending rate to 7.25 percent from 6.5 percent - was a reaction to capital outflows that have knocked the lira down as much as 9 percent against the dollar. REUTERS/Osman Orsal (TURKEY - Tags: BUSINESS POLITICS) - RTX11W1S

US-Turkish citizens hit with sticker shock over new tax law

Turks with US citizenship making profits from the stock market and interest in Turkey are now liable for taxes going back six years.

Kurdish demonstrators hold flags with portraits of jailed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Ocalan in front of the European Parliament in Strasbourg February 16, 2012, in support of Ocalan, who was captured on February 15, 1999, and is currently serving a life sentence in Turkey. REUTERS/Vincent Kessler (FRANCE - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR2XXY4

AKP seeks to 'legalize' PKK peace talks

Turkey’s ruling party has drafted a bill that puts the peace process with the PKK in a legal framework, which is also seen as a means for the AKP to win Kurdish support in the August presidential elections.