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Turkey

Turkey

November 26, 2025

Ankara 8:55 pm

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Prominent Turkish journalist Fatih Altayli is pictured in this undated image.

Turkey sentences journalist over 4 years in jail for threatening Erdogan

Prominent Turkish journalist Fatih Altayli was sentenced to over four years in prison in a trial government critics say aimed at silencing one of Turkey's most influential journalists and intended to intimidate journalists nationwide.

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.

Latest News

Culture

Can AI save Turkey’s endangered Laz language?

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

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

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 Ambassador to the United Nations Sedat Onal speaks during the 10th Emergency Special Session (resumed) 39th plenary meeting on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict at the United Nations, in New York, on October 27, 2023. Thousands of civilians, both Palestinians and Israelis, have died since October 7, 2023, after Palestinian Hamas militants based in the Gaza Strip entered southern Israel in an unprecedented attack triggering a war declared by Israel on Hamas with retaliatory bombings on Gaza. (Photo by

Meet Sedat Onal, veteran diplomat named Turkey’s new ambassador to US

Analysts argue Onal's appointment is also an indication of increasing influence for the country's top diplomat, Hakan Fidan.

Kaan

Turkey’s fifth-generation fighter jet Kaan completes maiden flight

Kaan's 13-minute flight, at an altitude of 8,000 feet and a speed of 230 knots, is being hailed as a milestone in Turkey’s efforts to maximize self-sufficiency in the defense sector.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan addresses a meeting of provincial election officials at the headquarters of his ruling Justice and Development Party in front of giant portraits of himself and Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of modern Turkey, Ankara, Jan. 29, 2019.

Turkish lawyer detained over Sharia comments as Islamist-secularist debate flares

In the run-up to nationwide municipal elections, the arrest of the lawyer for her comments has provoked a fresh maelstrom over the role of religion in public life.

Supporters of China's Muslim Uighur minority wave flags of East Turkestan and Turkey during a demonstration at Beyazid Square, Istanbul, Dec. 14, 2019.

Turkey detains 6 people suspected of spying on Uyghurs for China

The suspects were rounded up in simultaneous raids in Istanbul for allegedly “collecting information” about prominent members of the Uyghur diaspora and their institutions based in Turkey.

ADEM ALTAN/AFP via Getty Images

Turkey to play 'important role' in sukuk market despite paused UAE deal

Turkey has been looking to shore up financing to help it rebuild its economy after devastating twin earthquakes in 2023 killed more than 53,000 people and cost the country north of $50 billion.

An ambulance leaves from Santa Maria Church as anti-riot police officers block the street after an attack in Istanbul, Turkey, Jan. 28, 2024.

How and why ISIS-K has resurged in Turkey

The latest attack on an Istanbul church signals the militant group’s resurgence in Turkey.

China Railway Express Chang'an freight train arrives at the Ankara train station, Turkey, on November 6, 2019. The first freight train, "Trans-Caspian China Railway Express", departing from China and going to Europe by using Marmaray, was sent off at Ankara Station.

Can Turkey, Iraq pull off 'Dry Canal' project?

While experts believe the ‘Dry Canal’ project involving road and rail networks faces an uphill battle, the initiative seems to stand a better chance than its alternatives.

Participants wave flags during a demonstration organized by The Kurdish Democratic Society Center against Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Sweden's NATO bid at Norra Bantorget square in Stockholm on January 21, 2023.

Sweden's Kurds pay price of NATO deal with Turkey

It's increasingly clear that Sweden's sizable Kurdish population was the loser in the wrangling between Ankara and Stockholm over the latter's bid to join the NATO alliance.

Norway's Minister of Defense Bjorn Arild Gram sits in the back of an F-16 aircraft at Bodo airport, Norway, on Jan. 3, 2024.

Turkey says talks with US on local production of new F-16 ongoing

Mutual quest for the swift delivery of the new F-16s increases the prospects of the Turkish co-production offer, an analyst believes.

Turkish Defense Minister Yaşar Güler and his Greek counterpart, Nikos Dendias, on the sidelines of a NATO summit in Brussels Feb. 15, 2024.

Turkey, Greece formally join German-led defense shield project

Turkey reportedly sought to join the initiative, announced by Berlin in 2022, earlier but didn’t receive an invitation.

Erdogan is met by Sisi in Cairo

Turkey’s Erdogan receives red-carpet reception in Egypt, calls Sisi 'brother'

Libya, the Gaza war and bilateral ties are set to top Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi's meeting during the first such visit since 2012.

People take part in a protest against the arrest of nine journalists working for Kurdish media outlets including Mezopotamya news agency in Istanbul, on Oct. 31, 2022.

Kurdish journalists harassed, detained ahead of key municipal race in Turkey

The detentions come amid ongoing demonstrations across the majority-Kurdish southeast region in the run-up to the 25th anniversary of the arrest of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party leader Abdullah Ocalan.