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Turkey

November 5, 2024

Ankara 5:23 am

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Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan (R) and the leader of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), Devlet Bahceli, talk on stage during a rally before local elections in Ankara, March 23, 2019.

Turkey ousts 3 Kurdish mayors amid renewed efforts to forge deal with PKK

The dismissals come as Ankara has renewed talks with the Kurdistan Workers' Party and as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan eyes a third term.

Visitors look at the Bayraktar Kizilelma UCAV during the opening day of SAHA EXPO 2024, an international defense and aerospace exhibition, Istanbul, Oct. 22, 2024.

Analysis

Turkey slated to boost defense exports after major arms fair sees $6.2B in contracts

While the additional foreign revenue is good news for Ankara, experts warn that success in the defense industry sector comes with potential risks.

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP via Getty Images

Turkey to ditch Siemens for China contractor to build nuclear plant

Turkey’s first nuclear power plant has faced delays due to Siemens’ lateness in delivering of key parts.

CLEMENT MAHOUDEAU/AFP via Getty Images

Turkey announces initial payment for $23B F-16 jets deal

The first batch of payments has been made in Turkey’s nearly five-year effort to purchase new F-16 fighter jets from the United States, the Turkish Defense Ministry said.

Latest News

Why Turkey's Erdogan is mulling release of PKK leader from prison

FREDERICK FLORIN/AFP via Getty Images

Turkey’s Erdogan signals deadly attack won’t derail opening to Kurdish dialogue

Members of the police carry the coffins of victims of the attack that occurred on Oct. 23, 2024, at the Turkish Aviation Company facility, during a funeral ceremony on Oct. 24, 2024, in Ankara, Turkey.

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Interview

Syrian Kurdish commander: Turkey-PKK talks doomed if aimed at collapsing Kurds' self rule in Syria

Syrian Democratic Forces commander-in-chief Mazloum Abdi speaks during an interview with AFP in Syria's northeastern city of Hasakeh on Oct. 26, 2024.

Mazlum Kobane

Mazlum Kobane

SDF commander in chief

Analysis

With Gulen dead, Turkey sees chance to weaken group, improve US ties

The casket of Turkish Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen arrives for a prayer service at Skylands Stadium in Augusta, New Jersey, on Oct. 24, 2024.

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

Amberin Zaman

Chief Correspondent

In London, 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

Samuel Wendel

Senior Market Research Analyst

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

Mustafa Sonmez

In Istanbul, reporting on economics

Smokes billows in Qamishli in northeastern Syria close to the Turkish border on Dec. 25, 2023, amid Turkish military strikes in the area.

Breaking | Last Updated: January 13, 2024, 2:36 pm

Turkey launches retaliatory strikes in Syria & Iraq, Erdogan convenes security meeting

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will hold an emergency national security meeting on Saturday.

Volunteers unload a truck as a convoy carrying humanitarian aid arrives in Syria after crossing the Bab al-Hawa border crossing with Turkey, on Sept. 19, 2023.

Syria extends humanitarian aid deliveries via Turkey to rebel-held zone

The crossing is the sole artery for UN supplies for the rebel-held northwest of the country.

ODESSA, UKRAINE - APRIL 25: A view of the sign which reads "Caution: mines" on the beach on April 25, 2022 in Odessa, Ukraine. Ukrainian forces, as well as civilian Odessans, remain on guard against a potential Russian advance on this historic port city, whose capture could help give Russia control of Ukraine's southern coast. But given Russia's setbacks in this two-month-long war, including the sinking of its Black Sea Fleet's flagship Moskva, analysts regard a full-scale attack on Odessa to be unlikely. (

Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania ink deal to remove floating mines from Black Sea

The mission will be solely open to Black Sea NATO countries, the Turkish Defense Ministry stressed following signing the ceremony.

This picture taken on Oct. 31, 2022 shows a view of an oil tanker, seized by Iranian naval forces at the Gulf port of Bandar Abbas in southern Iran.

Turkey says tanker seized by Iran carrying Turkish oil purchased from Iraq

The ship was seized by the Iranian navy off the coast of Oman.

Chris McGrath/Getty Images

Fatal 'Brazilian butt lift' reveals ugly side of cosmetic tourism in Turkey

Turkey is a premier destination for cosmetic surgery thanks to low prices and attractive vacation packages, but not everyone is making it home in better shape.

01/01/2024, Istanbul, Turkey. People sits on the iron fences to watch and participate the solidarity march. Thousands gathered in Istanbul Galata Bridge in a demonstration expressing solidarity with the Palestinian people amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestine. (Photo by Ilker Eray / Middle East Images / Middle East Images via AFP) (Photo by ILKER ERAY/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images)

‘Only the first step’: Turkey's Erdogan flaunts anti-Mossad op as against Israel

The Turkish president also hinted that new counterespionage operations against Israeli spy networks could be underway.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan welcomes Antony Blinken on Jan 6.Source: Turkish Presidency

What are the three files that Turkey pressed Blinken on during visit?

The Turkey leg of Blinken’s new regional tour landed him a meeting with Erdogan as Washington-Ankara ties see improvement.

A ritual of hope: Exploring Istanbul's 'First Day of the Month Church'

On the first day of 2024, hundreds from different faiths, including Muslims, flock to a famous Istanbul church, engaging in ancient rituals that transform New Year's aspirations into realities.

How Turkey contained Super Cup crisis with Saudi Arabia

A soccer debacle in Riyadh last week over Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of secular Turkey, has become a public debate over the trajectory of secularism in Turkey.

Kemi Badenoch 1

UK, Turkish trade ministers meet in Turkey, announce joint railway deal

The two countries have an existing trade deal that covers goods but not services, digital trade or data.

Members of a band play music s they participate in a demonstration in support of Somalia's government following the port deal signed between Ethiopia and the breakaway region of Somaliland at Eng Yariisow Stadium in Mogadishu on January 3, 2024. Somalia vowed to defend its territory after a controversial Red Sea access deal between Ethiopia and the breakaway state of Somaliland that it branded as "aggression". (Photo by ABDISHUKRI HAYBE / AFP) (Photo by ABDISHUKRI HAYBE/AFP via Getty Images)

Ethiopia-Somaliland deal receives wide condemnations, including from Egypt, Turkey

Several countries in the region condemned a recent deal giving Ethiopia access to Somaliland’s coast.

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

Ahead of Blinken's trip, Turkey's patience is wearing thin on F-16s sale

Ahead of the US top diplomat’s visit, Ankara has signaled that its patience over its bid to purchase new F-16 fighter jets from the United States is wearing thin.