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Turkey

Turkey

November 28, 2025

Ankara 7:55 am

2°C

President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan greets Pope Leo XIV during a welcome ceremony at the Presidential Palace, Ankara, Nov. 27, 2025.

In first foreign visit, Pope Leo meets Erdogan, urges Turkey to uphold pluralism

On his inaugural foreign visit to Turkey, Pope Leo called for respect for pluralism after meeting with the Turkish president.

Andreas SOLARO / AFP via Getty Images

Analysis

Pope Leo heads to Turkey, navigating faith, politics and Orthodox tensions

The visit will bolster Turkey’s image on religious tolerance and shared positions with the Vatican while Ankara navigates sensitive issues surrounding the Halki Seminary and the Greek Patriarchate’s ecumenical status.

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

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

Latest News

Turkey’s spy chief holds talks in Egypt over trapped Hamas militants

BASHAR TALEB/AFP via Getty Images

Culture

Turkey’s graphic-novel culture blossoms in face of censorship

cartoons

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

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

Recep Tayyip Erdogan shakes hands with Abdel Fattah el-Sisi in Qatar on Nov. 20, 2022.

Erdogan’s base unfazed by U-turns as Turkey prepares to host Egypt’s Sisi

According to unconfirmed reports in Turkish media, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi might even arrive in the Turkish capital as soon as Thursday.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (L) meet with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Ankara, Turkey, July 25, 2023.

Erdogan hosts Abbas, stresses Palestinian unity ahead of Cairo meeting

The Abbas-Erdogan meeting in Turkey indicates increasing regional efforts aiming to convince rival Palestinian groups to advance their dialogue.

PETRAS MALUKAS/AFP via Getty Images

Following Saudi drone deal, Turkey's Erdogan targets $6B in defense sales

Speaking at the opening of Turkey’s largest defense fair, the Turkish president has pledged to raise military exports by 36% while his defense industry chief reveals that last week’s drone deal with Riyadh alone was worth $3.1 billion.

Volunteers help to extinguish a wildfire that broke out in the Datca district of Mugla, Turkey, July 13, 2022.

Wildfires hit Turkey’s Mediterranean coast as temperatures soar

More than 250 fires have raged across the country in less than two months amid unusually high temperatures.

Turkish Airlines planes are parked at the new Istanbul Airport, Istanbul, Turkey, April 6, 2019.

Russian migration to Turkey spikes by 218% in aftermath of Ukraine war

Nationals of Iran and Iraq, meanwhile, constitute the largest group of foreigners who left Turkey in 2022.

Turkey drone

Analysis

From Ukraine to Libya, why are Turkey’s Baykar drones so popular?

Saudi Arabia's recent purchase emphasizes the unmanned combat vehicles' affordability, tech support and offensive capabilities.

In Bristol, reporting on regional business, climate change, AI, tech

Turkey Saudi Arabia

What is behind Erdogan's multi-pronged foreign policy push for Turkey in Gulf?

Veteran diplomats and foreign policy analysts welcome the recent turnaround in Ankara’s international dealings, while remaining skeptical over its sustainability.

A photograph taken on October 31, 2022 shows a cargo ship loaded with grain being inspected in the anchorage area of the southern entrance to the Bosphorus in Istanbul. - Cargo ships loaded with grain and other agricultural products left Ukrainian ports on october 31, 2022 despite Russia's decision to pull out from a landmark deal designed to ease a global food crisis. As one of the brokers of the grain deal, Turkey has stepped up diplomacy with the two warring countries in a bid to save it as Russia warned

Turkey's Fidan says no solution without Russia to grain deal impasse

The top Turkish diplomat Hakan Fidan dismissed Kyiv's alternative solution offer to ship Ukrainian grain without an agreement with Moscow.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (L) and his Algerian counterpart Abdelmadjid Tebboune (C) review a military honour guard hand-in-hand during a arrival ceremony, in Ankara, on May 16, 2022. (Photo by Adem ALTAN / AFP) (Photo by ADEM ALTAN/AFP via Getty Images)

Algeria’s Tebboune heads to Turkey after China visit

The Algerian president will be the fourth foreign leader the Turkish president will host after his inauguration.

Turkey cyprus

Erdogan links Cyprus peace talks to Turkish Cypriot status recognition

The Turkish leader doubled down on Turkey’s support to Cyprus, while EU officials said that renewed talks about the island must be based on UN resolutions.

This combination of pictures created on April 1, 2018 shows a file photo taken on November 19, 2017 of Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (L) attending the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem and a file photo taken on December 15, 2017 of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during the inauguration ceremony of Turkey's first automated urban metro line on the Asian side of Istanbul. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused Benjamin Netanyahu on April 1, 2018 of being "a terrorist" after the I

Israel's Netanyahu to visit Turkey after 14 years as ties with Erdogan improve

Once archenemies, Netanyahu and Erdogan will meet for the first time after many years of conflict.

The Liberia-flagged bulk carrier Asl Tia en-route to China transits the Bosporus.

Russia pulls inspectors from Turkey after Kremlin nixes grain deal

The joint operation center in Istanbul, which was set up as part of the Black Sea grain deal, has been the sole mechanism through which Ukrainian and Russian officials were directly working together on a regular basis since the invasion of Ukraine.