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Turkey

Turkey

May 10, 2026

Ankara 2:12 pm

22°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

Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan addresses members of the parliament of his ruling AK Party (AKP) during a meeting at the Turkish Parliament in Ankara on June 24, 2014. AFP PHOTO/ADEM ALTAN (Photo credit should read ADEM ALTAN/AFP/Getty Images)

Erdogan: 'No one should expect me to provoke ISIS'

Turkey pursues a cautious policy while Iraq's military crisis escalates.

Turkish girls attend a class at the Kazim Karabekir Girls' Imam-Hatip School in Istanbul February 10, 2010. The imam-hatip network is a far cry from the western stereotype of the madrassa as an institution that teaches the Koran by rote and little else. Originally founded to educate Muslim religious functionaries in the 1920s, the imam-hatip syllabus devotes only around 40 percent of study to religious subjects like Arabic, Islamic jurisprudence and rhetoric. The rest is given over to secular topics. To ma

Erdogan's reforms meant to educate 'pious generation'

A far-reaching overhaul underway in Turkey’s educational system indicates that the government uses education as a tool to shape conservative and pious students.

Troops and vehicles from the national army in Kufra, are seen taking part in a "Operation Dignity" mission, at the Libyan-Egyptian border, near Kufra, June 5, 2014. The operation, a self-declared campaign launched by former Libyan army officer Khalifa Haftar, is conducted against Islamist militants by irregular forces - a mixture of a mixture of militias, regular army and air force units - loyal to Haftar. Picture taken June 5, 2014. REUTERS/Stringer (LIBYA - Tags: CIVIL UNREST POLITICS MILITARY) - RTR3SQND

Hifter accuses Turkey of supporting terror in Libya

Retired Libyan rebel Gen. Khalifa Belqasim Hifter's accusation is another sign of Turkey's deepening isolation in Arab politics.

Mugla, TURKEY: People sunbathe at Iztuzu beach 13km from Dalyan, 27 June 2006. Iztuzu beach is one of the rare beaches in the world where Caretta Caretta (loggerhead turtles) leave their eggs, and human activities on this beach are limited. AFP PHOTO/MUSTAFA OZER (Photo credit should read MUSTAFA OZER/AFP/Getty Images)

Real estate sales boom as Turkey opens to foreign buyers

Following measures making it easier for foreigners to acquire property in Turkey, sales have skyrocketed. Foreigners’ locations of choice include Istanbul as well as the Turkish coast, especially Antalya.

Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan greets members of parliament from his ruling AK Party (AKP) as he arrives for a meeting at the Turkish parliament in Ankara June 17, 2014. REUTERS/Umit Bektas (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR3U7QZ

AKP pushes its own brand of Turkish neonationalism

Turkish neonationalism, traditionally a product of authoritarian state power, is being pushed by proponents of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) and nurtured by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Syrian Kurdish leader: Turkey turns blind eye to ISIS

Salih Muslim, the leader of the Syrian Kurdish movement PYD, gives an exclusive interview to Al-Monitor on post-Mosul developments and Turkey's alleged support for ISIS.

Iraqi Shi'ite Turkmen fighters take part in an intensive security deployment in the town of Taza, south of the northern oil city of Kirkuk, June 19, 2014. The United States is contemplating talks with its arch-enemy Iran to support the Iraqi government in its battle with Sunni Islamist insurgents who routed Baghdad's army and seized the north of the country in the past week. REUTERS/Stringer (IRAQ - Tags: CIVIL UNREST POLITICS) - RTR3UORW

Iraqi Turkmen feel abandoned by Turkey

Many Iraqi Turkmen claim Turkey has given priority to its relations with the Kurdistan Regional Government at their expense.

A woman wearing a head scarf checks her mobile device as she awaits the speech of the Turkish Prime Minister during an event to mark the 10th anniversary of the Union of European Turkish Democrats UETD at the Albert Schultz Hall in Vienna, Austria on June 19, 2014. Austria warned the Turkish Prime Minister on June 12, 2014 not to say anything that may "split" Austrian society during his visit.
AFP PHOTO / PATRICK DOMINGO (Photo credit should read Patrick Domingo/AFP/Getty Images)

Erdogan riles Austrian hosts in visit to Vienna

In his visit to rally expatriate Turks in Austria for his likely presidential campaign, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s comments annoyed Austrian leaders, a replay of the prime minister’s visit to Germany last month.

How a Turkish girl broke the heart of a shah

In her latest book, Turkish novelist Nazli Eray shares the story of her mother, a woman whose beauty once stunned Middle East elites and left the Iranian shah heartbroken.

Iraqi soldiers stand beside Al-Yaroubia crossing in the province of Hasakah November 10, 2013. REUTERS/Stringer (SYRIA - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST CONFLICT MILITARY) - RTX158J9

Iraqi Kurds seize control of key Syria border crossing

The Syria-based Democratic Union Party (PYD) fears a return to isolation after a Kurdish rival, the Iraq-based Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), captures the Rabia border crossing.

Volunteers who have joined the Iraqi Army to fight against the predominantly Sunni militants, who have taken over Mosul and other Northern provinces, chant slogans in Baghdad, June 14, 2014. Iraq's most senior Shi'ite Muslim cleric urged followers to take up arms against a full-blown Sunni militant insurgency to topple Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, escalating a conflict that threatens civil war and a possible break-up of the country. REUTERS/Thaier Al-Sudani (IRAQ - Tags: CIVIL UNREST POLITICS M

Iraqi Turkmen take up arms in Kirkuk

Iraqi Turkmen, wary of gains by both Iraqi Kurds and the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), have moved to create their own armed militia.

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) REUTERS/Fatih Saribas

Iraq crisis hits Turkish economy

Iraq is Turkey's second leading export market, but trade routes to Baghdad and farther south are currently blocked because of ISIS's capture of Iraqi territory.