Turkey - Al-Monitor: The Middle Eastʼs leading independent news source since 2012

Turkey cover image

Turkey

August 17, 2024

Ankara 6:34 am

16°C

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

A stray dog sits in front of the Blue Mosque in Istanbul, Aug. 23, 2022.

Analysis

Turkey’s opposition fears political motives behind stray dog bill

As Turkey inches closer to passing a bill that could lead to the mass culling of stray dogs, some critics argue that it will provide a mechanism for the government to turn up the heat in opposition-held municipalities.

Ezgi Akin

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

This picture taken on October 29, 2023, in Istanbul shows Turkish naval forces warship Frigates TCG F 497, Goksu sails during a military naval parade on Bosphorus to mark 100th anniversary celebrations of Turkish republic.

Somaliland warns against Turkey's naval deployment off Somalia's coast

The Turkish parliament will soon vote on a two-year mandate allowing the Turkish army to dispatch troops to Somali waters.

Turkey's Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek speaks during a breakout session on Creating Competitive Economies at the Qatar Economic Forum in Doha on May 15, 2024. (Photo by KARIM JAAFAR / AFP) (Photo by KARIM JAAFAR/AFP via Getty Images)

Turkey returns $5B deposit to Saudi Arabia amid economic recovery

The Saudi Fund for Development decided to hold the funds in the Turkish Central Bank in March 2023 after ministerial meetings the previous year — the deposit helped Turkey firm up its weakened currency, the lira.

Foreign exchange rates are displayed against the Turkish lira on Istiklal Avenue, Istanbul, Turkey, March 21, 2024.

Turkey’s Central Bank keeps interest rates at 50% as inflation cools

The decision, part of a pause in monetary tightening since April, comes as the country’s annual inflation slowed down in June for the first time in eight months, but still remains above 70%.

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 walks back controversial stray dogs bill amid fears of mass cullings

The Turkish president’s ruling party will introduce a change to the draft bill to narrow down the conditions under which stray dogs will be euthanized.

Media film and photograph the Abdulhamid Han drill ship, the fourth built by Turkey, in Mersin on August 9, 2022 before it leaves for gas exploration to an undisputed area in the Mediterranean Sea, in south of the city of Gazipasa. - Turkey on August 9, 2022 sent its newest drill ship on the first eastern Mediterranean energy exploration mission in nearly two years. The search for natural gas in energy-rich waters around the divided island of Cyprus has turned into an irritant in Turkey's ties with the Euro

Turkey’s natural gas hub: the end of a dream?

Gerald Kepes

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional energy trends

US President Donald Trump and Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (L) take part in a joint press conference in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC on November 13, 2019.

Analysis

How Turkey-US ties could shift if Trump wins in November

Turkey-United States relations had ups and mostly downs when Donald Trump was president, but he and his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, usually got along.

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

Turkey's Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan meets with Bakary Yaou Sangaré, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Cooperation and Nigeriens Abroad of Niger in Niamey, July 17, 2024.

Analysis

Will Turkey’s inroads in Sahel spark cooperation with US in Africa?

Turkey’s increasing footprint in the Sahel region provides an avenue of cooperation between Ankara and Washington, experts believe.

Ezgi Akin

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

Empty baggage trucks are seen by a Turkish airlines Boeing 777, Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), Jan. 11, 2023.

Turkish Airlines cancels 84 flights amid global IT outage

The Turkish transportation minister said the government expects the disruption to end “within hours.”

Iraq's new first lady and Iraqi-Kurdish politician and writer Shanaz Ibrahim Ahmed receives a bouquet of flowers during her husband's inauguration and handover ceremony as the new Iraqi president at al-Salam Palace in the capital Baghdad on Oct. 17, 2022.

Iraq’s first lady blasts Turkey’s assault against PKK in Kurdistan Region

The first lady's own family history and the upcoming parliamentary elections are likely behind her decision to speak up now.

US President Donald Trump (L) and Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (R).

Turkey’s Erdogan praises Trump’s 'bravery' in call with former president

The Turkish president became one of the few world leaders to speak with the former US leader following the assassination attempt.

Stray dogs lie on the grass in front of the Blue Mosque in Istanbul on August 23, 2022.

Turkey’s animal rights advocates fear mass culling as lawmakers debate stray dog bill

Animal rights activists claim that the bill could lead to mass culling of the country’s some four million stray dogs.