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

Turkey

Turkey

October 16, 2026

Ankara 7:48 am

9°C

Mihrac Ural, who was also known as Ali Kayali, was arrested

Explainer

Syria arrests Mihrac Ural, ex-Assad militia head also wanted by Turkey

The Turkey-born militia chief and a longtime ally of the Assad-regime, was sought by Ankara over the deadly Reyhanli bombings and by Damascus over his alleged role in massacres on the Mediterranean coast.

Abandoned cars piled up among debris and standing water following extremely heavy rainfall, Istanbul, Turkey, Oct. 15, 2026.

Turkey: Flash floods kill 3, paralyze Istanbul after record downpour

Heavy rains stranded hundreds, blocking major roads and disrupting air and public transportation, flooding buildings and forcing school closures across Istanbul province.

Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev (L) and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan attend the inaugural meeting of the European Political Community (EPC) at Prague Castle on Oct. 6, 2022 in Prague, Czech Republic.

Explainer

Why Israel, Armenia don't benefit from hijab spat between Turkey, Azerbaijan

Israel and Armenia have reasons to worry about the escalating dispute between Turkey and Azerbaijan, despite their own tensions with Ankara and Baku.

Serhan Asker, General Program Coordinator at Halk TV, makes a statement outside the Ankara branch of Turkey's most-watched news channel, Halk TV.

Live Updates

Turkey seizes opposition Halk TV as crackdown widens: What to know

Halk TV is a pro-opposition broadcaster and one of Turkey’s most-watched news channels.

Latest News

Iran mum as Azerbaijan’s school hijab ban, Israel ties test alliance with Turkey

A shop owner assists one of his customers at Malta bazaar in the Fatih district in Istanbul, on Dec. 6, 2024.

Explainer

PKK pulls out of Metina in northern Iraq amid Turkey peace process

Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) fighters arrive in the northern Iraqi city of Dohuk on May 14, 2013, after leaving Turkey as part of a peace drive with Ankara.

Analysis

Pragmatic politics: Why Turkey avoids blaming Russia for Black Sea attacks

A cargo ship at the Port of Trabzon, Turkey

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

Rubio signals US push to ease Greece-Turkey cable tensions

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio (R) meets with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis (L) during a visit on Oct. 7, 2026, in Athens, Greece.

Samuel Wendel

Senior Analyst, Middle East Business & Tech

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-backed Syrian fighters from the Turkish-backed 1st Corps of the Samarkand Brigade take part in a military parade in the opposition-held Afrin region of northern Syria, on Nov. 23, 2022.

Interview

Syrian-Kurdish KNC leader decries abuse by Turkey-backed Sunni factions in Afrin

Kurdish National Council President Sleiman Oso told Al-Monitor that dialogue with his group's rivals, the PYD, is still possible.

Sleiman Oso

Sleiman Oso

Kurdish National Council President

Russian S-400 missile air defense systems parade through Red Square during the rehearsal for the Victory Day military parade, central Moscow, May 7, 2022.

No shift in US position on Turkey's acquisition of Russian S-400s: Official

A Turkish Defense Ministry official rebuffed claims that Turkey and the United States were close to a compromise on the impasse over Turkey having the Russian air defense systems.

President Erdogan, who is in New York for the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly, met with Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis of Greece at the United Nations Headquarters.

Analysis

Turkey, Greece inch closer to Aegean talks, but may disagree on starting point

An increasingly unstable eastern Mediterranean forces Turkey and Greece to start negotiations to solve their disagreements over sovereignty rights in the Aegean Sea, though not without compromise.

Ezgi Akin

In Ankara, reporting on diplomacy, EU-Turkey ties, NATO

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks during the 79th Session of the United Nations General Assembly.

Turkey’s Erdogan calls for end to US defense sanctions amid reports of S-400 deal

Relations between the two NATO allies have worsened in recent years over political rifts regarding the Eastern Mediterranean, Gaza and Syria, as well as over Turkey’s purchase of Russian S-400 defense systems.

A Hellenic air force helicopter flies during the Olympic Cooperation 23 exercise at the Petrochori training area, near Xanthi, northern Greece, on Nov. 24, 2023.

Analysis

Following defense deal, can Turkey, US split difference over Cyprus, East Med?

The new defense cooperation agreement between the United States and Cyprus has displeased Turkey.

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

Women and a child queue to receive humanitarian aid packages at the Kurdish-run al-Hol camp.

Analysis

How ISIS brides held by Syria’s Kurds are smuggled to suitors in Europe

The women are finding their prospective husbands on the internet using smuggled mobile phones.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday hosts Abdel Fattah al-Sisi during the Egyptian leader's first-ever Turkey visit, in Ankara, on Sept. 4, 2024.

Analysis

With reconstruction in mind, can Turkey-Egypt thaw offer lifeline for Libya?

The complex interplay of regional and international interests and entrenched divisions within Libya itself suggest that progress may be slow and difficult to achieve.

Mohamed Eljarh

By Mohamed Eljarh

Turkish warships and submarine

Analysis

What to make of Turkey’s ambitious naval buildup

As Turkey moves from regional primacy to a more prominent global role, it is working to strengthen its naval forces.

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

The Olympic rings are seen during preparation works at the Eiffel Tower stadium in Paris on July 24, 2024, ahead of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

Analysis

Race for historic Middle East Olympics is on post-Paris

Regional players are ready to make their case for the 2036 games but face a crowded field of bidders.

Samuel Wendel

By Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

Coffin of US-Turkish activist Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, who was shot dead in the West Bank, is carried by Turkish honor guard police officers to a morgue at the Didim district in Aydin on Sept. 13, 2024.

Analysis

What Turkey’s legal campaign against Israel over slain activist entails

While experts expect few, if any, concrete outcomes to come from Ankara’s efforts to hold Israel legally accountable, the campaign will increase the political pressure on the Jewish state in the international arena.

Ezgi Akin

In Ankara, reporting on diplomacy, EU-Turkey ties, NATO

Amal and George Clooney speak onstage during the Clooney Foundation For Justice Inaugural Albie Awards at New York Public Library on September 29, 2022, in New York City.

Amal Clooney joins Europe's legal battle to free Turkey's Osman Kavala

The Clooney Foundation for Justice, co-founded by international human rights lawyer Amal Clooney, has intervened in the case of jailed Turkish philanthropist Osman Kavala.

Palestinians carry the body of slain Turkish-American Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, an International Solidarity Movement activist, during a funeral procession in Nablus in the occupied West Bank on Sept. 9, 2024.

Turkey seeks Interpol Red Notice in Israeli killing of US activist

Ankara's chief prosecutor has launched an investigation into the death of US-Turkish activist Aysenur Ezgi Eygi in the West Bank.