![Turkish intelligence chief Hakan Fidan (R) and Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar wait prior to a meeting with the Russian President at the Kremlin in Moscow on August 24, 2018. - Turkish Foreign Minister on August 24, 2018 warned that seeking a military solution in Syria's last rebel-held province of Idlib would lead to disaster, while Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov said that the situation was "multi-faceted" and called for separating out "the healthy opposition from terrorist structures." Idlib is one](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/2023-06/GettyImages-1022466534.jpg?h=796747f3&itok=uUrzdh4W)
![Ezgi Akin headshot (new)](/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/2024-04/IMG_0153.jpg?h=502e75fa&itok=I9IFt0g8)
In Ankara, reporting on diplomacy, EU-Turkey ties, NATO
Ezgi Akin is Al-Monitor’s correspondent in Anakara and associate editor of the Turkey Pulse. Prior to joining Al-Monitor, she covered the foreign policy beat in the country for over a decade, working for various Turkish media outlets as well as international media. Akin is a Fulbright alumna.
![Turkish intelligence chief Hakan Fidan (R) and Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar wait prior to a meeting with the Russian President at the Kremlin in Moscow on August 24, 2018. - Turkish Foreign Minister on August 24, 2018 warned that seeking a military solution in Syria's last rebel-held province of Idlib would lead to disaster, while Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov said that the situation was "multi-faceted" and called for separating out "the healthy opposition from terrorist structures." Idlib is one](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/2023-06/GettyImages-1022466534.jpg?h=796747f3&itok=uUrzdh4W)
![Turkish Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek.](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/2023-06/GettyImages-165464230.jpg?h=c97ac499&itok=hFtndofJ)
![NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg speaks to the media before a meeting of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group at Ramstein Air Base on April 21, 2023 in Ramstein-Miesenbach, Germany. The group, which coordinates international military support for Ukraine, is meeting as allied countries are struggling to deliver sufficient amounts of artillery rounds and other ammunition to the Ukrainian military. (Photo by Thomas Lohnes/Getty Images)](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/2023-06/GettyImages-1483787095.jpg?h=b850f090&itok=yyRSNaqa)
![A picture shows election flags displaying imprisoned Selahattin Demirtas.](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/2023-05/GettyImages-978800572.jpg?h=a5ae579a&itok=w22FKnnx)
![Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks at his final election campaign rally of the second round of the election campaign on May 27, 2023 in Istanbul, Turkey. President Erdogan was forced into a runoff election when neither he nor his main challenger, Kemal Kilicdaroglu of the Republican People's Party (CHP), received more than 50 percent of the vote on the May 14 election. The runoff vote will be held this Sunday, May 28. (Photo by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/2023-05/GettyImages-1493775300.jpg?h=b1dc0f25&itok=vc-FYwik)
Breaking
| Last Updated: May 30, 2023, 9:39 am
![People chat outside a poling station in a school yard on May 28, 2023 in Istanbul, Turkey. President Erdogan was forced into a runoff election when neither he nor his main challenger, Kemal Kilicdaroglu of the Republican People's Party (CHP), received more than 50 percent of the vote on the May 14 election. The runoff vote will be held this Sunday, May 28. (Photo by Ed Ram/Getty Images)](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/2023-05/GettyImages-1258236779.jpg?h=780d05bb&itok=iVd5ndVz)
![ISTANBUL, TURKEY - MAY 25: People walk past an election campaign poster for Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on May 25, 2023 in Istanbul, Turkey. The country is holding its first presidential runoff election after neither candidate earned more than 50% of the vote in the May 14 election. (Photo by Chris McGrath/Getty Images)](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/2023-05/GettyImages-1493269585.jpg?h=84d5ef99&itok=vLWXPG0J)
![Supporters draped in the flags of the AKP, the Turkish flag and the image of Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan.](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/2023-05/GettyImages-1254994455.jpg?h=fcf0f332&itok=2lDKcGg6)
![Sinan Ogan, Turkish academician and presidential candidate of the ATA (Ataturk) nationalist alliance speaks during an interview with AFP, in his office in Ankara, on May 16, 2023. Turkey's election officials confirmed that there would be a second round because the remaining uncounted votes would not swing the outcome. Erdogan secured 49.5 percent of the vote and Kilicdaroglu picked up 44.9 percent. Nationalist candidate Sinan Ogan -- a former member of a far-right party now allied with the government -- won](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/2023-05/GettyImages-1255287726.jpg?h=193437f6&itok=qGG2liJj)
Breaking
| Last Updated: May 22, 2023, 12:05 pm
![Supporters of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and AK Party (AKP) wave flags at the AK Party headquarters in Ankara, Turkey May 14, 2023.](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/2023-05/GettyImages-1254902559.jpg?h=1d34674f&itok=mkUBPlWU)
![US warship Cyprus](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/2023-05/GettyImages-1248021724.jpg?h=0266ce9e&itok=g2L6fWlG)
![Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) leaders' summit in Samarkand on September 16, 2022. (Photo by Alexandr Demyanchuk / SPUTNIK / AFP) (Photo by ALEXANDR DEMYANCHUK/SPUTNIK/AFP via Getty Images)](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/2023-05/GettyImages-1243277067.jpg?h=2f3933f2&itok=RAnXTBSY)