Newsroom
Turkey Watch: Live Updates on Ankara
Live tracking of Turkey: Ankara's military build-up, its revisionist claims against Greece and Cyprus, its defence industry, politics and moves across the region. Every entry links to our full report.
Tuesday 20 October 2026
Turkey
Netanyahu: “Turkey wants a clash with us” – he accuses Erdogan of seeking to rule Jerusalem and return to the Ottoman Empire, and points to Israel’s F-35s and F-16s
In an interview with Channel 14’s English-language service, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Turkish President Erdogan of wanting to rule Jerusalem and revive the Ottoman Empire, said Turkey wants a clash, and warned Ankara to avoid one.
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Provocative Bahçeli: “Cyprus is Turkish and will remain Turkish forever” – he calls federation a “raw fantasy” and the island the “strategic centre of the Blue Homeland”
Devlet Bahçeli, leader of Turkey’s MHP and Erdogan’s government partner, said Cyprus “is Turkish and will remain Turkish forever”, called federation a “raw fantasy” and described the island as the “strategic centre of the Blue Homeland”.
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Smyrna 1922 explained: what US diplomatic records show
US diplomatic telegrams from September 1922 record the fall of Smyrna, the fire, the shooting of refugees and the evacuation of 262,587 people. Here is what the primary record says.
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Mecca Joint Defence Agreement sent to the Turkish parliament for ratification – opposition demands its rejection
The Mecca Joint Defence Agreement between Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan was submitted to the Turkish Grand National Assembly for ratification on October 20, while the opposition demands its rejection and detailed briefing.
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US envoy Barrack: Israel is “way too smart” to start a real fight with Turkey – “What scares us all is the unintended accident”
US Ambassador to Turkey Tom Barrack said in Doha that Israel is “way too smart” to start a real fight with Turkey, but warned of an “unintended accident” and questioned what the Mecca defence pact means for Turkey in Yemen.
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Smotrich: “Strengthening the Greek alliance is necessary” against Turkey and Pakistan – “Turkey has a very large navy”
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich described Turkey as a threat that goes beyond Recep Tayyip Erdogan, said Turkey “has a very large navy”, and called strengthening the Greek alliance “necessary” against the alliance of Pakistan, Turkey and countries opposed to Israel.
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Monday 19 October 2026
Turkey
Turkey’s Fidan heads to Brussels for foreign, justice and interior talks with Belgium and meetings with NATO and EU officials
Turkey’s foreign ministry says Hakan Fidan, with the justice and interior ministers, will be in Brussels from 19 to 21 October for talks with Belgium and meetings with NATO and EU officials.
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UNCLOS explained: sea zones, islands and the Aegean dispute
UNCLOS sets how far a coastal state’s waters, resources and seabed rights reach. Here is what the treaty says on zones and islands, why it backs the rights of the Greek islands, and how Ankara contests them from outside the Convention.
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Turkish daily calls Greece’s NAVTEX for EUNOMIA a “pirate NAVTEX” – “We will not allow faits accomplis” to Athens and Nicosia
The pro-government Turkish daily Türkiye Gazetesi returns to the NAVTEX dispute south of Kastellorizo, calling the Greek NAVTEX for the multinational exercise EUNOMIA a “pirate NAVTEX” and warning Athens and Nicosia over the “Blue Homeland”; the article gives neither the Greek nor the Cypriot position.
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Cyprus to the UN: 626 Turkish airspace violations in two months – landing ships, submarines and frigates in the ports of Famagusta and Kyrenia
In a letter to UN Secretary-General António Guterres, the Republic of Cyprus reports 626 violations of its national airspace and 33 of its territorial waters by Turkish military assets in June and July 2026, and names the Turkish warships that used the ports of occupied Famagusta and Kyrenia.
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Treaty of Lausanne explained: borders, islands and minorities
The Treaty of Lausanne, signed on 24 July 1923, set the Greek-Turkish frontier, divided the Aegean islands and protected minorities. Here is what its articles actually say.
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Sunday 18 October 2026
Turkey
Christodoulides: Erhürman’s interview “particularly revealing” – “The Turkish side sets conditions for resuming talks”
President Nikos Christodoulides said that Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhürman’s interview shows one of the main reasons talks on the Cyprus problem have not resumed, speaking in Limassol on October 18.
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BREAKING: Netanyahu on Turkey: “I hope we do not reach a direct clash” – the “Muslim Brotherhood axis” led by Ankara
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Israeli reporters in Jerusalem that he hopes there will be no direct clash with Turkey, naming a “Muslim Brotherhood axis” led by Ankara alongside the Shiite axis led by Iran.
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Kurtulmuş attacks Annita Demetriou in Rome: a “coup” by the Greeks in 1963, a “Peace Operation” in 1974
Turkey’s parliament speaker Numan Kurtulmuş asked for the floor at the Council of Europe conference of parliamentary speakers in Rome to answer Cyprus House President Annita Demetriou, calling 1974 a “Peace Operation”, according to the Turkish parliament’s own account.
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Montreux Convention explained: who can pass the Bosphorus and the Dardanelles
The 1936 Montreux Convention governs passage through the Dardanelles and the Bosphorus. This explainer sets out the rules for merchant ships and warships and Turkey’s wartime powers.
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Hürriyet: Athens–Berlin “bargaining” over U212 CD submarines – Ankara reportedly asked for the same, built at Gölcük
Turkish daily Hürriyet claims Ankara has approached Berlin for the same new-generation submarines that interest Greece, proposing part of the construction at the Gölcük naval shipyard. The claim cites unnamed Greek press reports and is not confirmed by any government.
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Saturday 17 October 2026
Turkey
Turkey: 86% increase in the Defence Ministry budget for 2027 – purchases of weapons and ammunition up 229%
Turkey is raising the National Defence Ministry budget for 2027 by 86.2%, to 1.53 trillion lira, according to the budget bill’s justification. Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz said funds for weapons, ammunition and weapon systems rise by 229%.
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Turkey–Azerbaijan: the headscarf in schools and Israel bring the first big quarrel of “one nation, two states”
New dress rules in Azerbaijani public schools that in practice ban the headscarf, and Baku’s close ties with Israel, have triggered one of the most open public disputes between Turkey and Azerbaijan, which describe themselves as “one nation, two states”.
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Fidan to hand over OIC foreign ministers’ chairmanship to Iraq at Baghdad session
Türkiye’s foreign minister will open the 52nd OIC Council of Foreign Ministers in Baghdad on 17-18 October as outgoing chair, with the chairmanship passing to Iraq.
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Friday 16 October 2026
Turkey
Ankara against Israel: “provocations” at Al-Aqsa and an attempt to stop Syria getting back on its feet, says Erdoğan’s High Advisory Board
Turkey’s Presidential High Advisory Board, meeting under Erdoğan on October 14, accused Israel of provocations against Al-Aqsa and of trying to obstruct Syria’s recovery, and cited the Mecca defence agreement with Pakistan and Saudi Arabia.
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Wang Yi and Fidan meet in Baku: China readout cites Belt and Road, Middle Corridor and COP31
China’s foreign minister met Turkey’s Hakan Fidan at the CICA summit in Baku. Beijing’s readout cites the Middle Corridor, COP31 and security assurances from Ankara.
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Nineteen foreign ministries condemn Colombia’s Jerusalem embassy in a joint statement published by Turkey
A joint statement from 19 foreign ministries and delegations, published by Turkey, calls on Colombia to reverse its decision to open an embassy in Jerusalem.
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Thursday 15 October 2026
Turkey
Baykar shows Akinci, TB2, K2 and Kemankeş 1 working together at Ateş Serbest-2026
Baykar says its unmanned platforms demonstrated swarm operations, target detection, precision strike and network-centric mission management during the Ateş Serbest-2026 exercise near Ankara.
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Wednesday 14 October 2026
Turkey
EU and Türkiye hold third High-Level Dialogue on Trade in Brussels, with €217.6 billion in bilateral trade
Šefčovič and Bolat co-chaired the 13 October talks, which covered customs reform, the TAREKS import-control barrier and sanctions anti-circumvention.
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Tuesday 13 October 2026
Turkey
Baykar Akinci hits designated target in first firing of Aselsan’s Morfoz guidance kit
Baykar says the Akinci scored a direct hit on its first firing with Aselsan’s Morfoz guidance kit over the Gulf of Saros on 8 October.
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Milliyet: Retired Israeli brigadier sees Turkey as the new threat and calls for an “intelligence union” with Greece and Cyprus
Turkish newspaper Milliyet presents as a “confession” statements by a retired Israeli brigadier that Israel’s main threat is no longer Iran but Turkey, and that Israel should deepen its ties with Greece and Cyprus.
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Italy tests MBDA weapons for the Astore Levante, the Leonardo-Baykar drone built on the TB3
Italy’s air force chief says MBDA weapons are being tested on the Astore Levante, the Leonardo-Baykar armed drone derived from the Bayraktar TB3, with six aircraft planned.
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Occupied Cyprus: Üstel’s “Target 2033” plan with TRY 75 billion from Ankara, a cable and a pipeline to Turkey “despite the obstacles”
Ünal Üstel, the head of the occupation regime’s so-called government, unveiled in the occupied part of Nicosia on Monday, October 12, a programme called “Target 2033” (Hedef 2033), to be implemented jointly with Turkey.
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Cyprus: Kombos takes the illegal Turkey–occupied north memorandum on an undersea gas pipeline to the EU’s 27
Cyprus Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos is raising at the EU Foreign Affairs Council in Luxembourg on October 12 the “illegal Memorandum of Understanding” between Turkey and the secessionist entity in the occupied north on an undersea natural gas pipeline.
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Monday 12 October 2026
Turkey
Analysis: Military satellites in Greece and Turkey, Göktürk and İMECE against the Greek microsatellite swarm
Analysis: Turkey bet on a few large satellites with a military owner and a domestic industry; Greece on a dual-use swarm of microsatellites paid for by the Recovery Fund. Greece already has radar satellites in orbit but no purely military satellite. A comparison of what each country has…
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