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Turkey

August 17, 2024

Ankara 4:48 am

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TOPSHOT - Turkish ruling and opposition lawmakers fight each other after a scuffle between former footballer Alpay Ozalan (unseen), a lawmaker from Erdogan's ruling AKP party and Turksih Workers Party (TIP) deputy Ahmet Sik (unseen) at Grand National Assembly of Turkey in Ankara on August 16,2024. A brawl broke out in Turkey's parliament on August 16, 2024, after lawmakers convened to discuss the status of a jailed opposition figure controversially stripped of his parliamentary immunity earlier this year. T

Brawl erupts at Turkey's parliament over jailed MP, 2 lawmakers injured

The scuffle took place after lawmakers convened to discuss the status of a jailed opposition figure controversially stripped of his parliamentary immunity earlier this year.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmud Abbas meets with Turkey's Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara.

Palestinian President Abbas meets Erdogan ahead of speech to Turkey's parliament

Abbas’ visit to Turkey comes at a critical time as it remains unclear how relations between the Palestinian Authority and its rival, Hamas, will evolve under Yahya Sinwar's leadership.

This combination of file photographs created on July 7, 2024, shows Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (L) in Ankara on May 29, 2023, and Syria's President Bashar al-Assad in Damascus on July 16, 2023.

Turkey’s defense chief: Syria wants timetable for troop withdrawal to resume talks

The defense minister said that Turkey "perceives" such a condition as an unwillingness to return to peace.

A blind man guided by a girl walk in front of a sign, in the city of Hargeisa, Somaliland, on September 16, 2021. - For 30 years, Somaliland has tried unsuccessfully to convince the world of its case for statehood, holding democratic elections and avoiding the anarchy that engulfed the rest of Somalia. (Photo by EDUARDO SOTERAS / AFP) (Photo by EDUARDO SOTERAS/AFP via Getty Images)

Somaliland rejects Turkey-led proposal for Ethiopia-Somalia talks

The breakaway region reaffirmed its commitment to a controversial deal it signed with Ethiopia in the face of Turkey’s alternative proposal.

Latest News

Analysis

What’s next for Ethiopia-Somalia rift as talks in Turkey end with no breakthrough?

Turkish Foreign Ministry

Ezgi Akin

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

Woman who blamed Erdogan for Turkey’s Instagram ban jailed for 'insult'

OZAN KOSE/AFP via Getty Images

Turkey arrests teen who live streamed knife attack on five elderly people

An elderly woman pulls a trolley ahead of the May 28 Turkey's presidential run-off, Istanbul, Turkey, May 22, 2023.

Turkey’s stray dogs killed in droves after passage of Erdogan-backed law

Turkish animal rights activists pet a dog during a demonstration to protect stray dogs and cats in Istanbul on July 30, 2024.

Analysis

With its ally Haniyeh gone, how will Turkey approach Sinwar-led Hamas?

Yahya al-Sinwar (C), Gaza Strip chief of the Palestinian Islamist Hamas movement, shakes hands with a masked fighter of Hamas' Qassam Brigades during a rally marking the 35th anniversary of the group's foundation, in Gaza City on December 14, 2022. Hamas will end talks on securing a prisoner exchange with Israel unless there is progress soon, the militant group's leader in the Gaza Strip said on December 14. Since Israel's 2014 invasion of the Gaza Strip, the Islamist group has held the bodies of Israeli so

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

Ezgi Akin

Associate Editor (Turkey)

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

Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

Mustafa Sonmez

In Istanbul, reporting on economics

Nazlan Ertan

In Izmir, reporting on culture

Melda Dogan

In Istanbul, reporting on culture

Pro-Palestinian demonstrators wave Palestinian flags as they take part in a rally to protest the death of the Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, following evening prayers in Fatih district of Istanbul on July 31, 2024.

Analysis

Erdogan blasts Israel in call with Biden as Haniyeh’s death stirs fury in Turkey

Across the ideological divide, Turks are airing fury at the Hamas leader's assassination.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

In London, reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

US journalist Evan Gershkovich, arrested on espionage charges, stands inside a defendants' cage after a hearing to consider an appeal on his extended pretrial detention, at the first court of appeal in Moscow, April 23, 2024.

US-Russian prisoner swap including Evan Gershkovich completed in Turkey

The US and Russia exchanged dozens of prisoners, including Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, on Thursday in the Turkish capital of Ankara.

KALAMAZOO, MICHIGAN - JULY 17: U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris attends a moderated conversation with former Trump administration national security official Olivia Troye and former Republican voter Amanda Stratton on July 17, 2024 in Kalamazoo, Michigan. (Photo by Chris duMond/Getty Images)

US election drama raises stakes for Mideast economic powers eyeing 2025

Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas listens as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (not pictured) speaks during a meeting in Ankara, on March 5, 2024.

Abbas to visit Turkey mid August as both condemn Haniyeh’s killing

The visit is scheduled amid rising tensions after the Hamas leader's assassination in Tehran, with experts urging Turkey to exercise caution vis-a-vis Hamas amid regional instability.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan delivers a speech during a national event at the Turkish Pavilion of Expo 2020, in the Gulf emirate of Dubai on February 15, 2022. (Photo by Karim SAHIB / AFP) (Photo by KARIM SAHIB/AFP via Getty Images)

Growing Gulf-Turkey investment ties evolving unevenly following Erdogan’s $50B breakthrough

Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

Animal right activists attend a protest against the ruling party AKP's bill aimed at removing stray dogs from the streets, on June 2, 2024, in Istanbul, Turkey.

Turkey passes controversial stray dog bill amid fears of imminent mass culling

Activists fear the bill will lead to massacres of the country's roughly 4 million stray dogs and government critics are concerned it will be used to coerce opposition-controlled municipalities.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks during a press conference on the sidelines of the NATO 75th anniversary summit at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, DC, July 11, 2024.

Israel’s FM tells NATO to expel Turkey as Erdogan threatens war over Gaza

As Turkey threatens military intervention in Gaza and Israel pushes for Turkey's removal from NATO, questions of how Turkey and Israel's already strained relations will be affected arise.

Turkey's Dogu Kapi border gate to Armenia, Kars, Akyaka province, April 15, 2009.

Turkish, Armenian peace envoys to use common land border in symbolic breakthrough

Hints of a breakthrough came last week when Armenia’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan toured the newly refurbished Margara checkpoint on the Armenian side of the border.

NICOSIA, CYPRUS - JULY 20: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks during celebrations marking the 50th anniversary of Turkey's invasion of Cyprus on July 20, 2024 in occupied northern Nicosia, Cyprus. Fifty years has passed since Turkey's invasion and occupation of northern Cyprus, spurred in 1974 by Greece's attempts to oust the Cypriot president and forge a political union with the island. Over time, the northern part became the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), which is largely populated

Analysis

As Assad softens tone, can Turkey and Syria normalize relations?

As news of normalization between Turkey and Syria and a meeting between the Turkish president and his Syrian counterpart abound, many strategic and technical questions need to be addressed.

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

People visit the booth of Chinese automobile manufacturer BYD during the Indonesia International Motor Show in Surabaya on May 29, 2024.

Analysis

What's behind China carmakers' foray into Turkey following BYD deal?

As a growing number of Chinese carmakers have shown interest in investing in Turkey, Turkish companies in the sector are positioning themselves amid the Chinese foray.

Mustafa Sonmez

By Mustafa Sonmez

In Istanbul, reporting on economics

MAXIM SHEMETOV/AFP via Getty Images

Russia, Turkey FMs meet in Laos, discuss Syria reconciliation efforts

The two top diplomats’ talks come after the Russian and Syrian presidents discussed the Turkish president’s invitation to hold a three-country leaders' summit with his Syrian counterpart after more than a decade of hostilities.

Shanaz Ibrahim Ahmed (L), the wife of Iraqi President Abdul Latif Rashid, comforts a Kurdish woman during a ceremony marking the Anfal mass killings, after corpses were transferred from Baghdad to the Kurdish town of Chamchamal for burial, on February 21, 2024.

Ankara brushes off Iraqi first lady’s accusations labeling Turkey as 'invader'

In an unusual effrontery, the first lady accused Turkey of displacing hundreds and destroying large swaths of agricultural areas.