Turkey

Turkish strikes on Syrian government troops and overt Kurdish attacks on targets inside Turkey signal that both sides are changing the rules of the game as Ankara eyes normalization with Damascus. Ankara’s reconciliation overtures to Damascus have been accompanied by growing Turkish attacks on Syrian Kurdish and government forces along …

In his memoir, Iraqi Kurdish leader Masoud Barzani shares that Turkey’s former President Turgut Ozal had once floated the idea of “annexing” Iraqi Kurdistan. As Turkey escalates its campaign against Kurdish militants in the north of Syria and Iraq and Kurdish politicians within its borders, Masoud Barzani, the preeminent leader …

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has announced that he is planning a new military offensive in northern Syria directed against the Kurds. If one authoritarian leader can defy world opinion, invade the territory of a sovereign state and incur only minor consequences, why not another? This may well have been …

Defense Minister Hulusi Akar has said the agreement to ship Ukrainian foodstuffs could be a stepping stone toward peace. Flushed with the success of the Ukrainian grain shipment deal it helped negotiate, Turkey is hoping to eventually translate its position as a mediator between Kyiv and Moscow into a peace …

Turkish strikes on Syrian government troops and overt Kurdish attacks on targets inside Turkey signal that both sides are changing the rules of the game as Ankara eyes normalization with Damascus. Ankara’s reconciliation overtures to Damascus have been accompanied by growing Turkish attacks on Syrian Kurdish and government forces along …

Russian gas giant Gazprom’s sudden “maintenance” shutdown of a major pipeline carrying gas to Turkey coincided with the talks over Finland’s and Sweden’s NATO membership bids. With Russian gas giant Gazprom this week again slashing its gas exports to Europe and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen accusing Moscow …

Gas payments in rubles will help Turkey reduce its foreign-currency demand. The economic outcomes of the recent Turkish-Russian summit and a string of financial moves by the Russian builder of a nuclear power plant in Turkey have come as fresh signs that Turkey is becoming a safe harbor for sanctions-hit …

A Turkish drone strike Tuesday killed at least four people in a northeast Syrian city held by Kurdish forces, the latest in a flurry of attacks, a war monitor said. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the attack struck near a hospital in Qamishli, the de-facto capital of …

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan visited Russia Friday for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin focusing on a grain deal brokered by Turkey and the UN, prospects for talks on ending hostilities in Ukraine, the situation in Syria and growing economic ties between Moscow and Ankara. Speaking at the start …

Ankara’s central role in facilitating the Russia-Ukraine grain deal could strengthen its hand in securing Moscow’s acceptance of a Turkish military incursion. Turkey’s president will meet Russia’s Vladimir Putin on Friday amid plaudits for his role in the Ukraine-Russia grain deal and plans for a military incursion into north Syria …