The Latest Breaking News from Türkiye

Türkiye’s president has announced May 14 as the date for the country's next parliamentary and presidential elections. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who plans to seek reelection, made the announcement during a Saturday youth conference in northwestern Bursa province. A video of the event was released Sunday. “I thank God that…

Turkish-Syrian border areas witnessed this week a military escalation, marking the five-year anniversary of Türkiye’s Operation Olive Branch aimed to clear members affiliated with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) from the Afrin region. On Saturday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Turkish forces and their proxies shelled the vicinity…

The cargo ship MKK 1, travelling from Ukraine to Türkiye, was grounded in Istanbul's Bosphorus Strait on Monday and traffic in the strait was suspended but no damage was reported, shipping agents Tribeca said. Several tugs were among vessels sent to provide assistance to the ship, the coastguard authority said.…

Clashes escalated between the Turkish forces and the regime forces in northern Syria, amid preparations for the foreign ministers meeting of Türkiye, Syria, and Russia, within the framework of the second phase of normalizing relations between Ankara and Damascus. A Turkish soldier was killed, and others were injured, after the…

Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mikdad said on Saturday that Türkiye would have to end its military presence in his country to achieve a full rapprochement. "We cannot talk about resuming normal ties with Türkiye without removing the occupation," he said after meeting his Iranian counterpart in Damascus. Türkiye has been…

Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian said on Friday his country was glad to see a rapprochement between its ally Syria and Türkiye, which has backed the political and armed opposition to Damascus over the last decade. "We are happy with the dialogue taking place between Syria and Türkiye, and we…

Angry protesters in Syria’s rebel-held enclave rallied Friday against reconciliation attempts between Türkiye and Syrian President Bashar Assad’s government and scuffled with a local Syrian opposition figure involved in those attempts. The crowd of several dozen demonstrators in the opposition-held town of Azaz first chanted slogans against the political efforts,…

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has tied reconciliation with Türkiye to its ending of its "occupation" of Syrian territory and "sponsorship of terrorism." Assad met with Russian Presidential Special Envoy for Syria, Alexander Lavrentiev in Damascus on Thursday amid reports that a meeting would be held soon between the Syrian and…

Israeli President Isaac Herzog on Wednesday invited his Turkish counterpart President Tayyip Erdogan to visit the country as he received Ankara's new ambassador in another token of the countries' recently warming ties. Last year, Herzog, whose role is largely ceremonial, was the first Israeli leader to visit Türkiye since 2008,…