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Turkey

Turkey

October 16, 2026

Ankara 5:18 pm

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

US President Joe Biden (R) and Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan hold bilateral talks the NATO Summit in Vilnius on July 11, 2023. (Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP) (Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)

Erdogan and Biden may meet at NATO's US summit in July, ambassador says

Amid widening differences over Gaza, Turkey postponed in April the Turkish president’s visit to the White House that was planned for May.

In this pool photograph distributed by Russian state agency Sputnik, Russia's President Vladimir Putin (L) attends a meeting with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan (R) in Moscow on June 11, 2024.

Putin meets Fidan, 'fully supports' Turkey’s aspirations in BRICS

The first bilateral meeting between Putin and Fidan saw the Russian leader embrace Ankara's interest in joining the BRICS as a counterweight to the West.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Hakan Fidan meets with Sergei Shoigu, Secretary of the Russian Federation Security Council, in Moscow, June 10, 2024.

Turkey’s Fidan holds talks in Russia ahead of BRICS summit

Fidan’s attendance at the BRICS+ summit comes at a time when Turkey’s dismay with the European Union is growing over pending resumption of the modernization of the Customs Union Treaty.

A Boeing 737 aircraft of Emirati airline FlyDubai is seen on the tarmac of Sulaimaniyah Airport in Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region on August 2, 2020, as the airport resumes flight operations following the COVID-19 lockdown.

Turkey extends flight ban on Iraq's Sulaimaniyah airport for 6 months

The extension of the ban indicated that Ankara and the Iraqi Kurdish party controlling Sulaimaniyah had yet to resolve their differences.

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (L) and India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi shake hands ahead of the G20 Leaders' Summit in New Delhi on September 9, 2023. (Photo by Ludovic MARIN / POOL / AFP) (Photo by LUDOVIC MARIN/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Analysis

After Modi's win, can Turkey-India ties grow despite Kashmir, IMEC differences?

Turkish officials and experts believe there is room for the two countries to expand cooperation despite their differences.

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

Hamas' political bureau chief Ismail Haniyeh addresses supporters during a rally in solidarity with the Palestinians outside Qatar's Imam Muhammad Abdel-Wahhab Mosque in the capital Doha on May 15, 2021. - Qatar's Foreign Minister hosted the political chief of Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas and called for an end to Israel's bombardment of Gaza, state media said. (Photo by KARIM JAAFAR / AFP) (Photo by KARIM JAAFAR/AFP via Getty Images)

In Turkey, Qatar defense chief says no plans to expel Hamas

The Qatari minister’s remarks came in response to increasing reports that the Gulf state is considering shuttering Hamas’ political headquarters in Doha.

The Soloturk aerobatic demonstration team of the Turkish Air Force flies an F-16 aircraft over Anitkabir, the mausoleum of Turkish Republic's Founder Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, during celebrations to mark the 100th anniversary of the Republic of Turkey in Ankara, on October 29, 2023. Turkey marked its centenary as a post-Ottoman republic on October 29, 2023, with somewhat muted celebrations held in the shadow of Israel's escalating war with Hamas militants in Gaza. (Photo by Adem ALTAN / AFP) (Photo by ADEM ALT

US welcomes Turkey’s signing $23 billion F-16 jets deal

Turkey's inking of the deal indicates that Ankara and Washington have agreed on the terms of the purchase and see an opportunity in exploring other avenues.

Syrian Kurdish women walk past an election campaign banner in the northeastern Syrian city of Qamishli on June 6, 2024.

Syrian Kurds postpone local elections amid US disapproval, Turkish threats

The prevailing consensus is that the Biden administration’s opposition was the main driver of the postponement.

In this picture taken on October 26, 2011 workers assemble one of the many car models at Chinese carmaker's Chery Automobile plant in Wuhu, east China's Anhui province. The growth of China's car market will be driven primarily by exports this year because domestic sales have slowed dramatically, as the world's largest car market -- sold 614,000 cars abroad in the first nine months of 2011, a 60 percent rise on the same period in 2010. CHINA OUT AFP PHOTO (Photo credit should read STR/AFP via Getty Images)

China’s EV giants target Turkey as trade wars intensify

Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan is on a visit to Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in northwest China Photo Credit: @HakanFidan on X

Analysis

Have Turkey, China hit reset button on Uyghurs as Fidan visits Xinjiang?

Experts say Beijing and Ankara skillfully managed the contentious Uyghur issue during the Turkish diplomat's China visit, but Fidan's messages might raise eyebrows in the West.

Ezgi Akin

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

Supporters of the Pro-Kurdish Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party (DEM) take part in the Kurdish celebration of Nowruz (aka Noruz or Newroz), the New Year of the Persian calendar, in Istanbul on March 17, 2024.

Outrage as Turkish court hands Kurdish mayor 20-year prison sentence

There is widespread anger in Turkey's Kurdish-majority city of Hakkari after its democratically elected mayor was handed a nearly 20-year prison sentence.

Turkish Foreign Minister, Hakan Fidan (C) welcomes his Chinese counterpart and Director of the Office of the Central Foreign Affairs Commission, Wang Yi (R) in Ankara, on July 26, 2023.

In China, Turkey’s Fidan says he plans to attend BRICS meeting in Russia

The top Turkish diplomat says his country explores new opportunities with BRICS