Turkey in February 2026: the most important developments in politics
In February 2026 Turkey's political agenda was led by its regional diplomacy. On February 4 President Recep Tayyip Erdogan met Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi in Cairo, where the two held a strategic cooperation council and signed several agreements, with Gaza a central topic. The week before he had visited Saudi Arabia, where he and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman announced new cooperation deals. Turkey also received Jordan's King Abdullah, held a phone call with the UAE president, and agreed to deepen security cooperation with Pakistan.
Iran was the second main theme. Turkey worked with Egypt and Qatar to arrange US-Iran talks, first planned for Istanbul. They were held in Oman from February 6, and Erdogan welcomed them. Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said airstrikes would not bring down the Iranian government and warned of a nuclear arms race if Iran obtained weapons. Further talks were scheduled in Geneva, and a Turkish source said Ankara was weighing measures in case of a US-Iran conflict. On February 28 Erdogan warned that the Middle East was turning into a ring of fire after what he described as joint US-Israeli attacks on Iran.
At home, Erdogan replaced his justice and interior ministers on February 11, naming a prosecutor whom critics call controversial as justice minister. The jailed mayor of Istanbul challenged Erdogan to call early elections, and a journalist was arrested in Ankara on charges of insulting the president. A parliamentary committee rejected a proposed amnesty for PKK fighters while lawmakers backed measures to reintegrate former fighters. An NGO said Turkey again blocked an aid convoy for Kurds in Syria.
Erdogan said disputes with Greece are complicated but solvable ahead of a planned meeting with Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, though Athens rejected a Turkish official's call to demilitarise Greek islands. Turkey opposed a gas exploration deal near Crete. On a visit to Ethiopia around February 17 he criticised Israel's recognition of Somaliland.
by WorldBrief & Maksim Micheliov | AI-generated summary
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