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Turkey

Turkey

May 11, 2026

Ankara 11:47 am

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

Palestinian Hamas militants march during a training exercise in Gaza February 17, 2014. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem (GAZA - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTX18ZRL

Hamas sinks in polls after cutting salaries to public servants

Hamas' popularity has fallen behind Fatah in the Gaza Strip, according to recent polls, as frustration mounts over its handling of the territory's economic crisis.

Turkish Alawite women pray in a tomb, a holy site to the Alawite community, in the Samandag district of Hatay province, close to the border with Syria, July 27, 2012. An influx of Syrians fleeing President Bashar al-Assad's military onslaught is stoking tension in the area of Turkey known for religious tolerance and setting Turks who share the Syrian leader's creed against their own government. In the Turkish frontier province of Hatay, home to the Antioch of the Bible and a mix of confessional groups rare

Syria war sparks Turkish Alawite anxiety

The Syrian war has led Turkey’s Arab Alawites to embrace their Alawite and Arab identity.

Displaced Somalis queue for food at a centre run by a Turkish aid agency in the Howlwadaag district of southern Mogadishu, January 22, 2012. From Turkey to Brazil, India to Saudi Arabia, a growing number of non-Western donors are bringing fresh funds, a different mindset and their own experience of managing natural disasters to the global humanitarian aid scene. Picture taken January 22, 2012. To match Feature DISASTERS-NEWDONORS/ REUTERS/Feisal Omar (SOMALIA - Tags: SOCIETY POVERTY) - RTR2WVRE

'Cash box’ crops up in Turkey’s Africa opening

The revelation that official Turkish aid to Somalia was delivered in boxes full of cash has raised questions about Turkey’s Africa policies.

A tanker sails in Mediterranean past a jetty at the Ceyhan crude oil terminal near Turkey's southern coastal city of Adana, July 13, 2006. A four-billion dollar project, Baku-Tblisi-Ceyhan crude oil pipeline, to carry oil from the Caspian Sea fields to western markets is inaugurated on Thursday in Ceyhan, southern Turkey. REUTERS/Fatih Saribas (TURKEY) - RTR1FGD4

Turkey defers to Baghdad on oil from Iraqi Kurdistan

Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Government Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani has been conducting shuttle diplomacy between Baghdad and Ankara to facilitate an agreement.

US, Russia should agree on a 'secular' Syria

The objective of a revived diplomatic process should be assuring a secular state, not necessarily Assad's departure.

Selahattin Demirtas, co-chairman of the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP), gestures during a rally to celebrate the spring festival of Newroz in Istanbul March 17, 2013. Kurdish parliamentarians set off by boat on Monday to visit Kurdish militant leader Abdullah Ocalan in his island prison where they expected him to summon his fighters to cease fire and leave Turkey to help end a 28-year-old insurgency. The conflict has been a major source of instability in Turkey, a NATO member, and a huge burden

Ocalan extends hand to Armenians

Abdullah Ocalan, head of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), has written a letter that seems to turn a new page in the bitter Armenian-Kurdish relationship.

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson delivers a speech in Washington February 7, 2014. REUTERS/Gary Cameron (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS MILITARY CRIME LAW) - RTX18D33

New US Syria policy should engage Iran

As the talks on a comprehensive nuclear agreement with Iran commence this week in Vienna, there is also an opening to engage Iran on Syria and terrorism.

People arrive for a meeting between the King of Saudi Arabia Abdullah bin Abdulaziz al-Saud and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in Rawdat al-Khuraim January 5, 2014. REUTERS/Pool/Brendan Smialowski (SAUDI ARABIA - Tags: POLITICS) - RTX172YX

Saudi Arabia plans to pitch Obama for regime change in Syria

Saudi Arabia has recently taken steps to discourage its nationals from joining jihadist forces in Syria, as it plans an appeal to US President Barack Obama to become more engaged in Saudi-backed efforts to overthrow Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Fighters of al-Qaeda linked Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant parade at the Syrian town of Tel Abyad, near the border with Turkey January 2, 2014. Picture taken January 2, 2014. REUTERS/Yaser Al-Khodor (SYRIA - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST CONFLICT) - RTX170UO

Iran calls for end to foreign support for extremist groups in Syria

An Iranian diplomat also notes his country’s active support for chemical disarmament and humanitarian relief corridors in Syria.

$Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan addresses the media next to Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu (R) at Esenboga Airport in Ankara November 21, 2013. A feud between Erdogan and an influential Islamic cleric, Fethullah Gulen, has spilled into the open months ahead of elections, highlighting fractures in the religiously conservative support base underpinning his decade in power. REUTERS/Umit Bektas (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS RELIGION) - RTX15NGG$

Is Erdogan hindering Turkey's foreign policy reset?

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan seems to be undercutting the efforts of his foreign minister to get Turkey’s Middle East policies back on track.

Pedestrians look at billboards with the pictures of Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan (R) and his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu (L), in Ankara March 25, 2013. Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday an Israeli apology for the 2010 deaths of nine Turkish pro-Palestinian activists that was brokered by U.S. President Barack Obama met Turkey's conditions and signalled its growing regional clout. The billboard reads, "Israel apologized to Turkey. Dear Prime Minister (Erdogan), We ar

Time not right for Turkish-Israeli reconciliation

Neither Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan nor Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are ready to do what is necessary to begin to normalize relations.

Kurdish female fighters of the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPJ) are seen in training at a military camp in Malikiya, Hassaka province December 9, 2013. Picture taken December 9, 2013. REUTERS/Rodi Said (SYRIA - Tags: CIVIL UNREST CONFLICT) - RTX17Q2P

Syrian Kurds recruit regime loyalists to fight jihadists

The Democratic Union Party (PYD) has reportedly established Arab brigades made up of regime loyalists.