Zeynep Karatas

Istanbul

Turkey reporter

Education: Western Illinois University, bachelor's degree in History

Zeynep Karatas is a news assistant in Turkey for the Washington Post. Since joining the paper in 2016, she has reported on some of the country's most important stories, including a failed coup against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government, the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul and the catastrophic earthquakes that struck southern Turkey in early 2023. She lives in Istanbul.
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Latest from Zeynep Karatas

Erdogan claims lead amid contested vote count in Turkey election

A pivotal election between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and challenger Kemal Kilicdaroglu was thrown into chaos late Sunday amid a dispute over the vote count.

May 14, 2023

Turkey elections: Erdogan’s challenger vows to end ‘authoritarian rule’

“Turkey is a country of prohibitions," Kemal Kilicdaroglu told The Post in an interview this week. "When we are in power, Turkey will be a country of freedom.”

May 10, 2023

From his kitchen table, Erdogan’s challenger gets his message out

Shut out of mainstream media ahead of Turkey's May 14 election, the main opposition candidate has put out videos online laying out his vision for a Turkey after Erdogan.

May 7, 2023

Turkey elections: Are voters ready to move on from Erdogan?

In interviews across Istanbul, voters expressed anxiety about the state of their finances ahead of pivotal presidential and parliamentary elections on May 14.

May 5, 2023

When the earth shook: Recounting the moments quakes hit Turkey, Syria

At 4:17 a.m. on Feb. 6, millions of people in Turkey and Syria were shaken out of their beds by an epochal earthquake. This is what it was like to live through it.

March 8, 2023

Turkey’s opposition chooses candidate to challenge Erdogan in May election

After days of infighting, a Turkish opposition alliance announced that they had chosen a veteran political leader to face Erdogan in pivotal May elections.

March 6, 2023

Years of warnings and inaction in Turkish city destroyed by earthquakes

Adiyaman wasn't ready for a powerful quake, experts told the government. But little was done to protect residents in the city’s most vulnerable structures.

March 2, 2023

In a swelling Turkish cemetery, a glimpse of the earthquakes’ rising toll

The expansion of a burial ground in southern Turkey is a sign of the overwhelming task to come, as more bodies are pulled hourly from collapsed buildings.

February 9, 2023

As foreign rescuers arrive, Turkish earthquake survivors scramble for aid

Help began to arrive to quake-ravaged parts of southern Turkey, but the distribution was at times scattershot and chaotic.

February 8, 2023

In a Turkish town shattered by the earthquake, death is everywhere

As hope for the missing dissolved, there were bursts of sorrow and anger, in terrible scenes that played out on what seemed like every block in the town of Nurdagi.

February 7, 2023