Analysis
Smart, independent reporting on Turkey's politics, economy and foreign affairs.
Amid renewed clashes between the Syrian government and Kurdish-led militia in Aleppo, the Turkish Defense Ministry said that the Turkish army would support the operation if Damascus requested assistance.
The Turkish Air Force shot down a drone that entered Turkish airspace from the Black Sea on Dec. 15 but Ankara refused to identify it, although all indications point to Russia.
Russian and Ukrainian envoys in Ankara were warned not to wage their war in Turkish territory. The warning came as tensions in the Black Sea in the first half of December escalated to fresh peaks in the four-year-old war.
South Cyprus is seeking large-scale military support from both the United States and the European Union, while expanding defense cooperation with Israel, in a move raising concerns in Ankara and Northern Cyprus.
The opening line of the anthem of Mülkiye, the prestigious Political Science Faculty of Ankara University, declares a single mission: we exist so that the state does not collapse, so that the country does not cry. The “we” here is not a party or a leader’s entourage. It is a cadre trained to answer to something longer than a parliamentary term.
While Turkey and Iran were on opposite sides during the Syrian civil war, Israel's hostility to the new regime in Damascus appears to be pushing Ankara and Tehran closer as both define Israel as a threat to Syria’s stability.
When Ukraine’s leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy landed in Ankara on Nov. 19, press reports had already started to make the headlines, revealing details of a peace plan drafted by the U.S. and Russia.
At their first meeting in Ankara, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and newly elected Northern Cyprus President Tufan Erhürman restated their long-held positions on the Cyprus issue — this time with a measured but noticeable distance.
Turkey’s Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency (BDDK) released new data covering the first nine months of 2025, revealing the country’s debt landscape by province. The capital, Ankara, recorded the highest total credit debt, while the central Anatolian province of Karaman had the largest share of citizens unable to repay their loans and facing collection proceedings.
The Defense Ministry denied reports that Turkey cannot use the Eurofighter Typhoon fighter jets it will procure from the U.K. against Greece over the Aegean Sea.
As the countdown continues for the NATO Summit to be hosted by Ankara on July 7-8, 2026, preparations are accelerating in the capital. Activity focuses on sites along the approximately 17.5-km route from the Presidential Palace, where the leaders' summit will take place, to the military airfield in Etimesgut.
Nearly a decade after the migration deal that was signed between the EU and Turkey under the leadership of Germany, the arrangement that succeeded in stopping migrants entering Europe via Turkey remains the backbone of the transactional relationship between Ankara and Berlin. However, although Turkey continues to be seen as a buffer zone stopping the migration flows, there is also a renewed discovery among European capitals of the country’s value as a strategic asset.