Western countries have been increasing pressure on Turkey to admit Sweden to NATO after it made its bid in 2022, but Ankara wants concessions before it even considers the Scandinavian nation. Potential candidates for membership in NATO must be approved by all current members. The government of Turkey said it would oppose Stockholm’s entry into…

Turkey appears to have thrown cold water on a joint bid by Sweden and Finland to become members of the Western NATO alliance. On Jan. 23, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Sweden could “no longer expect” Turkish support for its NATO accession efforts. As a NATO member, Turkey wields veto power over bids by…

The restoration of ties between Damascus and Ankara is contingent upon the latter ending its military presence in northern Syria, Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad has said. Since 2016, Turkey has staged three ground offensives into northern Syria, where it still maintains thousands of troops. On Jan. 14, Mekdad called for an end to the…

ISTANBUL—Turkey has ramped up its cross-border strikes on Kurdish YPG militants in Syria and Iraq, while Iran struck dissident groups in northern Iraq’s autonomous Kurdish region this week. Russia and the United States, both of which maintain troops in Syria, have called on Turkey to show restraint amid fears of widening conflict in the region….

At least three people were killed on Nov. 21 in a series of mortar attacks in Turkey’s southern Gaziantep province, located adjacent to Syria, according to the Turkish Interior Ministry.  The ministry has blamed the cross-border attacks on the Kurdish YPG, the Syrian offshoot of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). Speaking to reporters in Ankara,…

In a sign of strained ties between Turkey and the United States, Turkish officials declined to accept Washington’s condolences after a deadly bombing in the heart of Istanbul that left six people dead on Nov. 13. According to the Turkish authorities, who swiftly detained the alleged bomber, the attack was planned and carried out by…

ANKARA—Turkey has not carried out any attacks targeting civilians in Iraq’s Dohuk province, where a strike killed eight and wounded 23, and Iraqi authorities must not fall for this “trap,” Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Thursday. Turkey on Wednesday rejected claims by Iraqi officials and state media that it had carried out an attack…