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

Turkey

Turkey

March 17, 2026

Ankara 10:13 am

9°C

An Iraqi oil tanker waits at the Khawr Abd Allah canal leading up to Al-Faw port in southern Iraq, on June 6, 2024.

Desperate to sell its oil, Iraq turns to Turkey amid standoff with Kurds

As Iraq looks to reroute oil to Turkey, Baghdad is also using the plan to push the Iraqi Kurds to greenlight exports through their territory.

Ali IHSAN OZTURK / AFP via Getty Images

Analysis

No strangers to turmoil, Turkey-Iran to maintain ties under Mojtaba Khamenei

Even as war heighten tensions between Ankara and Tehran, the mix of rivalry and pragmatic cooperation that has long defined Turkey–Iran relations is likely to endure.

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

Iranian nationals arrive in Turkey after passing through the Razi-Kapikoy border crossing in Van, northeastern Turkey, on March 3, 2026.

Feature

Iranians crossing into Turkey haunted by regime crackdown more than war

Many Iranians crossing into Turkey suggest the regime’s deadly crackdown on recent protests, not the bombardment, is the trauma they cannot shake.

Ezgi Akin

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

Latest News

Analysis

Oil-price hikes from Iran war threaten Turkey's rate cuts in inflation fight

Yasin AKGUL / AFP via Getty Images

Ezgi Akin

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

Analysis

Oil crisis stokes inflation risks for Mideast as Iran war exposes importers

Smoke and flames rise at the site of airstrikes on an oil depot in Tehran on March 7, 2026.

Samuel Wendel

By Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

Culture

The weight of war: Erdal Duman’s sculptures probe politics of violence

Artist Erdal Duman's work titled "Whoever Owns the Tank Is Soleiman" takes a dig at power.

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

Nuland says Turkey can return to F-35 consortium if S-400 issue resolved

The visit to Turkey by the US State Department's No. 2 comes as another signal of the burgeoning positive momentum in Washington-Ankara ties after Turkey approved Sweden’s membership in NATO.

The US Treasury Department building is seen in Washington, DC, January 19, 2023, following an announcement by the US Treasury that it had begun taking measures Thursday to prevent a default on government debt, as Congress heads towards a high-stakes clash between Democrats and Republicans over raising the borrowing limit. - The world's biggest economy could face severe disruption with Republicans threatening to refuse the usual annual rubber stamping of a rise in the legal borrowing limit, and this could pu

US Treasury sanctions ISIS facilitators in Egypt, Turkey

The Treasury Department imposed sanctions on a pair of cybersecurity experts in Egypt and a Turkey-based individual involved in transferring funds to individuals associated with the Islamic State.

Turkey’s parliament ejects jailed lawmaker Can Atalay, defying top court

With the ejection, lawmakers from the Turkish president’s ruling coalition unprecedentedly defied the country’s highest court.

OZAN KOSE/Afp/AFP via Getty Images

What does ISIS' church attack in Turkey say about rise of Tajikistani militants?

The shooting at a church in Istanbul marks the first Islamic State attack in Turkey since 2017 as the extremist offshoot ISIS-K seeks to expand.

TOPSHOT - Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks with US President Joe Biden at the start of the first plenary session of the NATO summit at the Ifema congress centre in Madrid, on June 29, 2022. (Photo by GABRIEL BOUYS / AFP) (Photo by GABRIEL BOUYS/AFP via Getty Images)

Can Turkey, US finally clean the slate after Sweden’s NATO ratification?

Ankara’s ratification of Stockholm’s NATO bid creates new opportunities for US-Turkish relations.

An export train to Russia and China leaves Ankara station, Jan. 29, 2021.

As Turkey, Azerbaijan advance Zangezur Corridor, will Armenia play ball?

The Zangezur transport corridor is set to help link Europe and China later this year, but Armenian resistance remains an issue.

A man walks past a US Air Force (USAF) General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon multirole fighter aircraft during the 2023 Dubai Airshow at Dubai World Central - Al-Maktoum International Airport in Dubai on November 13, 2023. (Photo by Giuseppe CACACE / AFP) (Photo by GIUSEPPE CACACE/AFP via Getty Images)

State Department to notify Congress of Turkey’s F-16 sale: sources

Sources told Al-Monitor that the State Department will formally notify Congress of the pending F-16 sale as soon as today.

ADEM ALTAN/AFP via Getty Images

Turkey welcomes Biden’s F-16 letter to Congress, expects 'positive' conclusion

Following its ratification of Sweden’s membership in NATO, Ankara has turned to the Biden administration for progress on the F-16 sale.

Turkey inflation 1

Turkey’s Central Bank raises interest rates to 45%

A pause in hikes will follow, ahead of upcoming local elections in March, when Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is looking to regain control of key cities.

While hosting Iran’s Raisi, Turkey’s Erdogan avoids harsh criticism of Israel

Erdogan's measured tone on Israel comes in midst of US-Turkey rapprochement following Ankara's ratification of Sweden's entry into NATO this week.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan shakes hands with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi during a meeting in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, Sept. 17, 2022.

Iran's Raisi makes first visit to Turkey seeking to close gap on Gaza, Zangezur

Apart from economic ties, the Gaza war is expected to be in focus, on which the two sides may share public rhetoric but diverge deeply when it comes to policy and interests.

Turkish Central Bank Governor Hafize Gaye Erkan attends the Planning and Budget Commission of the Turkish Grand National Assembly in Ankara on Oct. 03, 2023.

Turkey's first female central bank chief faces potential axe amid nepotism claims

The question concerning Hafize Gaye Erkan's dismissal is increasingly not "if" but "when," observers say.