Turkey in September 2026: the most important developments in politics
In Turkey in September 2026 politics was dominated by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's foreign diplomacy and by questions over his political future. Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan travelled to Azerbaijan in mid-September for talks on defence, trade and regional peace, and was received by President Ilham Aliyev. Erdogan attended the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Bishkek at the start of the month, said Turkey could deepen ties with the group, and met Vladimir Putin. At the UN General Assembly he called for reform of the Security Council and an end to the veto, saying the world is bigger than five; Russia answered that the Council should add permanent members but keep the veto. He also urged pressure on Israel over Gaza, called for recognition of Palestine, raised Kashmir, and said Turkey and Armenia had made progress toward normalising relations; he and Nikol Pashinyan stressed the importance of advancing that process.
At home, an adviser said on 17 September that Erdogan will run again in an early presidential election expected in April 2028, which would be his last campaign. On 12 September a Turkish court sentenced Erdogan's rival Ekrem Imamoglu to two years in prison. Ankara Mayor Mansur Yavas quit the opposition CHP on 23 September and will remain in office as an independent. A comedian, Deniz Goktas, was convicted over a joke calling Erdogan a dictator and released pending appeal. The PKK warned that its disarmament process could stall without political reforms.
Regionally, Turkey held talks with Pakistan and Saudi Arabia under the Mecca defence pact after Houthi attacks on the kingdom, and condemned the attack on Mecca. Relations with Israel stayed strained: on 24 September Israel Katz called Erdogan a paper sultan, and Turkey's Foreign Ministry rejected the remarks. With Greece, Turkey protested a Greek border fence extension along the Evros river and restated that the militarisation of Aegean islands is illegal. On the Black Sea, Erdogan said attacks on ships were inexplicable, and Turkey proposed a security plan to Russia and Ukraine. Hendrik Wuest, premier of North Rhine-Westphalia, met Erdogan in Ankara on 28 September. Iraq said talks were under way on the withdrawal of Turkish troops from its territory.
by WorldBrief & Maksim Micheliov | AI-generated summary
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