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☆ Turkish Opposition Disarray Lifts Erdogan's Hopes of Winning Back Istanbul
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-07 | by ( March | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +3 min

The alliance that helped propel Imamoglu to victory in Istanbul has since collapsed, and his nationalist and pro-Kurdish allies are fielding their own candidates this month. FRAGMENTED OPPOSITIONBut Imamoglu's hopes in Istanbul have been dented by the decision of the pro-Kurdish DEM Party and the Turkish nationalist IYI Party, whose voters supported him in 2019, to field their own candidates. Metropoll's latest survey showed support for Imamoglu among Kurdish voters had declined to 32% last month from 35% in January. Support among IYI party voters fell to 45% from 64%. Imamoglu has accused central government of hampering his delivery of services in Istanbul since 2019.

Persons: Tayyip Erdogan's, Ekrem Imamoglu, Erdogan, Imamoglu, pollsters MAK, Murat Kurum, pollster Murat Gezici, Kurum, Sencar, pollsters Metropoll, Imamoglu's, Ertan Aksoy, Canan Sevgili, Daren Butler, Gareth Jones Organizations: Birsen Altayli, AK Party, CHP, AKP, DEM Party, Turkish, IYI Party, Aksoy Research Locations: Birsen, Birsen Altayli ISTANBUL, Istanbul, Turkey's, Israel, Gaza, Ankara, Turkish, Imamoglu's, Turkey

☆ Arcelik's European deal with Whirlpool gets EU approval
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Employees stand at the Whirlpool company plant in the northern city of Amiens, France, June 14, 2017. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsCompanies Arcelik AS FollowWhirlpool Corp FollowGDANSK, Oct 24 (Reuters) - EU antitrust regulators have cleared Turkish domestic appliances maker Arcelik's (ARCLK.IS) proposed purchase of Whirlpool's (WHR.N) European domestic appliances business, an European Commission filing showed on Tuesday. "The Commission concluded that the transaction would not raise competition concerns given in particular the presence of alternative suppliers in the European Economic Area countries where both parties are active," the European Commission said in a statement. Under the deal announced in January, the companies will set up a new entity made up of Arcelik's European units producing major and small domestic appliances as well as consumer electronics with Whirlpool's European business. Britain's antitrust regulator said on Oct. 11 it had decided to refer the deal for an in-depth investigation.

Persons: Benoit Tessier, Arcelik, Blomberg, Canan, Daren Butler, Jason Neely Organizations: Whirlpool, REUTERS, Commission, Economic, European Commission, Markets Authority, Zenith, Thomson Locations: Amiens, France, GDANSK, Arctic, Altus, Grundig

☆ Global market reaction to a week of war in Israel
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-13 | by ( Marc Jones | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsLONDON, Oct 13 (Reuters) - Below are five charts showing the volatile response of global financial markets to this week's war between Israel and Hamas. 1/TAKING STOCKMSCI's main world stocks index (.MIWD00000PUS) has reacted to the conflict by notching up its best week in almost two months. But that may have more to do with global bond market borrowing costs which - after rising sharply and knocking the confidence of equity markets - have seen their biggest weekly drop since early June. Its more than 3% drop marks its biggest weekly fall since February when concerns about rule of law changes were still raw. Investors use CDS either as a protection tool or to speculate and this week the cost of buying Israel CDS has surged 80%.

Persons: Brendan McDermid, Israel, Brent, Moody's, Fitch, Marc Jones, Mark Potter Organizations: New York Stock Exchange, REUTERS, Federal Reserve, European Central Bank, GAS, Reuters, CDS, Thomson Locations: New York City, U.S, Israel, Iran, United States, Moscow, Ukraine, India

☆ Ankara blast echoes past attacks in Turkey
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/2] Members of Turkish Police Special Forces secure the area near the Interior Ministry following a bomb attack in Ankara, Turkey October 1, 2023. Turkey blamed Kurdish militants for the Istanbul blast, which reminded Turks of a wave of attacks carried out by various militant groups in Turkish cities between mid-2015 and early 2017. June 28, 2016 - A triple suicide bombing and a gun attack killed 45 people and wounded more than 160 people at Istanbul's main airport. March 19, 2016 - A suicide bomber killed four people in a busy shopping district of Istiklal Street in the heart of Istanbul. Sept 8, 2015 - Kurdish militants killed 15 police officers in two bombings in eastern Turkish provinces of Mardin and Igdir.

Persons: Cagla, Tayyip Erdogan, Azra Ceylan, Canan, Gareth Jones, William Maclean Organizations: Turkish Police Special Forces, Ministry, REUTERS, Authorities, Kurdistan Workers Party, Islamic State, Kurdistan Freedom Hawks, Islamic, Explosives, Thomson Locations: Ankara, Turkey, Istanbul, Turkish, Izmir, Kayseri, Turkey's, Gaziantep, Islamic State, Istanbul's, Diyarbakir, Istiklal, Iranian, Mardin, Igdir, Suruc, Syrian, Gdansk

Many investors think that will only happen if interest rates go to levels just too high for investors to pass up. "You wonder whether they have left it too late" said Mikhail Volodchenko at one of Europe's largest fund managers AXA IM. Reuters Graphics4/LOCAL PROBLEMSIn contrast to the dollar bonds, Turkey's 'local' lira-denominated bonds have had a shocker. Even if the lira is taken out of the equation the bonds are still down around 13% since Erdogan's election win. Reuters Graphics($1 = 0.8920 euros)Reporting by Marc Jones and Canan Sevgili Editing by Shri NavaratnamOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Tayyip Erdogan, Erdogan, Mehmet Şimşek, Hafize Gaye Erkan, Mikhail Volodchenko, Enver Erkan, Yatirim, Treasuries, COVID, Wednesday Erdogan, Simon Lue, Fong, Vontobel, Turkey's, Jeff, Michael Metcalfe, Metcalfe, Marc Jones, Shri Navaratnam Organizations: LONDON, AXA, Reuters, JPMorgan EMBI Global, NATO, Investment, Wednesday, United Arab Emirates, JPMorgan GBI, Street Global Markets, Reuters Graphics, Thomson Locations: Central, Turkish, Nigeria, Argentina, Turkey, U.S, Arab, Swiss, Lira

With the use of central bank reserves to protect the lira’s value before the election, reserves fell to a historical low in early June, with net reserves at minus $5.7 billion. Hence, there is no use of foreign exchange reserves and a period of increasing reserves has started," he added. His comments echoed the view of bankers that the central bank had "completely stopped" using its reserves. CENTRAL BANK MEASURESUnder new central bank steps announced at the weekend, the securities maintenance ratio that banks are required to allocate to their foreign currency deposit was reduced to 5% from 10%. The new regulation said banks whose lira deposits are less than 57% of total deposits will have to hold an additional seven percentage points of securities, compared to the previous seven additional points applied to banks that held less than 60% lira deposits.

Persons: Murad Sezer, Lira, Tayyip Erdogan, Hafize Gaye Erkan, Enver Erkan, Daren Butler, Canan, Jonathan Spicer, Emelia Sithole Organizations: REUTERS, Securities, Bankers, Thomson Locations: Istanbul, Turkey, ANKARA, backtrack, Turkish

☆ Turkey inflation dips to 39.6% on relief from free gas
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

ISTANBUL, June 5 (Reuters) - Turkish annual inflation fell to 39.59% in May, official data showed on Monday, broadly in line with expectations, largely due to the government offsetting price rises in other goods by providing natural gas free of charge. The government had pledged ahead of last month's elections that it would provide free gas in May, and a monthly free 25 cubic metres until May 2024. The poll had forecast that annual consumer price inflation (CPI) (TRCPIY=ECI) would be 39.2%, and was expected to end the year at 45%. Clothing and shoe prices recorded the largest monthly increase with 9.85%, followed by restaurant and hotel prices with 7.10%. The weight of natural gas in the inflation basket is 2.9%.

Persons: Tayyip Erdogan, Erdogan, Mehmet Simsek, Liam Peach, Peach, Cevdet Yilmaz, Canan Sevgili, Daren Butler, Ali Kucukgocmen, Jonathan Spicer, William Maclean Organizations: Turkish Statistical Institute, Treasury, Finance, Capital Economics, Thomson Locations: ISTANBUL

☆ Turkish lira hits record low, stocks gain after Erdogan secures re-election
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-29 | by ( Canan Sevgili Libgeorge | Canan Sevgili | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] A U.S. one dollar banknote is seen next to Turkish lira banknotes in this illustration taken in Istanbul, Turkey November 23, 2021. REUTERS/Murad Sezer/IllustrationLONDON, May 29 (Reuters) - Turkey's lira hit fresh record lows against the dollar on Monday, though stocks rallied, after President Tayyip Erdogan secured victory in Sunday's presidential election, extending his increasingly authoritarian rule into a third decade. The lira weakened to 20.077 to the dollar, breaking through the previous record low touched on Friday. The share of foreign asset managers holding Turkish stocks has dwindled in recent years and the market is chiefly driven by local investors. The nation's dollar bonds slipped to their lowest in at least six months last week, while CDS rose to a seven-month high.

☆ Turkey stocks rally, lira slips to record low after Erdogan victory
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

The nation is grappling with a cost of living crisis, a plunging currency and depleted foreign reserves. MARKET REACTION:LIRA: The Turkish currency touched a fresh record low of 20.105 on Monday. "In a scenario where Turkey ran out of foreign currency, lira’s value would likely collapse, inflation would explode and goods shortages could occur. A painful crisis affecting all assets is on the way, with very high inflation, very low interest rates and no net foreign reserves. Only the most optimistic would hope that Erdogan now feels sufficiently secure politically to revert to orthodox economic policy."

☆ Turkey election runoff 2023: what you need to know
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

[1/2] Women display flags with images of Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan next to an election campaign point, ahead of the May 28 presidential runoff vote, in Istanbul, Turkey May 25, 2023. Here is a guide to the runoff, the two candidates and the key issues as well as details on how the May 14 parliamentary election unfolded:PRESIDENTIAL VOTETurks will be electing a president for a five-year term. As president, Erdogan sets policy on Turkey's economy, security, domestic and international affairs. The ZP received 2.2% of votes in the parliamentary election. On foreign affairs, under Erdogan, Turkey has flexed military power in the Middle East and beyond, forged closer ties with Russia, and seen relations with the European Union and United States become increasingly strained.

☆ Turkey's market rout deepens after Erdogan's strong election showing
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( Libgeorge Canan Sevgili | Canan Sevgili | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Ahead of the elections, opinion polls had showed Kilicdaroglu in the lead, and investors expected him to scrap some of Erdogan's economic policies, including costly efforts to prop up the lira currency. Longer-dated, dollar-denominated government bonds saw the biggest falls in fixed income markets, although key corporate and banking sector bonds also edged lower. Credit ratings agency Fitch said the political and economic uncertainty would continue at least until after the runoff. Banking stocks, which had surged in the week ahead of the election on hopes of a policy change, tumbled another 8% (.XBANK) to take their losses since the election to nearly 20%. The overall Istanbul bourse index (.XU100), which had notched a 6.1% fall on Monday, its largest daily percentage drop since early February, was mostly flat.

☆ Factbox: Turkey elections 2023: what you need to know
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

The powers of the presidency were broadened in 2017 when a referendum narrowly approved switching Turkey from a parliamentary to a presidential system. By late on Sunday there could be a clear indication of the presidential election result. KEMAL KILICDAROGLUKilicdaroglu is the joint presidential candidate of the six-party main opposition alliance. He is chairman of the Republican People's Party (CHP), which was established by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk - the founder of modern Turkey. The HDP's cooperation with the opposition in the 2019 local elections helped defeat the AKP in major cities.

☆ Turks protest over government's quake response in stadiums, on streets
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

At a separate demonstration in Istanbul, riot police moved swiftly to detain protesters, who were handcuffed and dragged into police buses. Following the Besiktas fans' protest, Bahceli cancelled his membership of the club, his party announced in a statement. Fans from Istanbul team Fenerbahce chanted similar anti-government slogans during Saturday's match against Konyaspor. "Twenty years of lies and cheating, resign," Fenerbahce fans shouted during their 4-0 win over Konyaspor. Dozens of members and supporters of the far-left opposition party Workers' Party of Turkey were detained in central Istanbul on Sunday at an anti-government protest, the party said.

☆ Istanbul bourse rises nearly 10% after quake closure, govt measures
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

RAPID NEW REGULATIONSTurkish authorities pushed through new regulations including measures incentivizing company share buyback programs, and increasing obligatory pension fund allocation for stocks. The general assembly decision mandate for share buybacks was also waived, allowing listed companies to start share buyback programmes with just a management board decision. Additional measures could still be needed to stabilize the stock exchange, according to Tunc Satiroglu, strategist and founder of financial consulting firm Kanal Finans. The cancellations followed multiple market-wide circuit brakers in the two trading days following the earthquake, which failed to halt the slide to no avail. "I expect the stock market to be more stable...

☆ Turkey inflation higher than expected at nearly 58%
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

ISTANBUL, Feb 3 (Reuters) - Turkish annual inflation dipped to 57.68% in January, official data showed on Friday, but was well above forecasts despite a favourable base effect that is expected to carry on until President Tayyip Erdogan seeks re-election in May. Month-on-month, consumer prices rose 6.65%, the Turkish Statistical Institute said, nearly twice a Reuters poll forecast of 3.8%. Annually, consumer price inflation (TRCPIY=ECI) was forecast to be 53.5%. The annual price measure is now easing relative to that run-up, which included an 11% surge from December 2021 to January 2022. Economists expect annual inflation to dip to around 40% by the time of the May elections, which are expected to be tight according to polls.

[1/4] Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and Central Bank Governor Sahap Kavcioglu are pictured during a signing ceremony in Ankara, Turkey, June 8, 2022. But his drastic transformation of the economy and financial markets means such a change would bring its own uncertainties. The election will also determine what role regional military power and NATO member Turkey plays in conflicts in Ukraine, where Erdogan has helped broker talks, and in neighbour Syria. In the short-term it seems to have worked however, halting a years-long rise in Turks converting lira into dollars. Last week, Turkey had no problem borrowing $2.75 billion from international capital markets.

☆ Whirlpool partners Arcelik in Europe, quits MidEast and Africa
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Whirlpool also said it had agreed to sell its Middle Eastern and African businesses to Arcelik, which the Turkish firm said was for 20 million euros ($21.65 million) in cash. The moves come after Whirlpool launched a review of its Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) operations in April 2022 and said it planned to focus on higher margin businesses. The U.S. firm said the Middle Eastern and African businesses being sold to Arcelik had sales of around $4.2 billion in 2021. The entirety of Whirlpool's EMEA business reported sales of $5.01 billion last year. The deals are expected to be completed in the second half of the 2023, subject to regulatory approval, Arcelik said.

From almost nothing five years ago, the institutional residential property market has grown to the point where investors say housing is starting to challenge office buildings as a focus for their cash. And higher yields and scope for growth are spurring new projects, market players say. "We are currently surprised ourselves by the speed of the change and how the market is changing," he told Reuters. "Many institutional investors are looking to gain the first mover advantage and moving in," Wysokińska-Kuzdra told Reuters. The war in Ukraine has also created uncertainty, so that some investors are focused only on finishing current projects.

☆ Factbox: Deadly Istanbul blast echoes past attacks in Turkey
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Dec 31, 2016 - Islamic State claimed responsibility for a New Year's Day mass shooting in which 39 people were killed after a lone gunman opened fire in a packed Istanbul nightclub. View of ambulances and police at the scene after an explosion on busy pedestrian Istiklal street in Istanbul, Turkey, November 13, 2022. March 19, 2016 - A suicide bomber killed four people in a busy shopping district of Istiklal Street in the heart of Istanbul. Jan 12, 2016 - A suicide bomber killed at least 10 people, most of them German tourists, in Istanbul's historic heart in an attack then authorities blamed on Islamic State. Sept 8, 2015 - Kurdish militants killed 15 police officers in two bombings in eastern Turkish provinces of Mardin and Igdir.

Jars of Nescafe Gold coffee by Nestle are pictured in the supermarket of Nestle headquarters in Vevey, Switzerland, February 13, 2020. Russia's invasion of Ukraine has propelled energy and grain prices to all-time highs, driving up the cost of packaged goods. That has been felt particularly acutely in parts of Asia and North Africa, where people spend a higher proportion of income on food and fuel than in the United States and Europe, prompting some shoppers to stockpile non-perishable items. "Nestle is seeing hoarding with bouillon, to an extent soups, coffee for sure," Al Bitar told Reuters. Several countries in North Africa and Central Asia are suffering recurring shortages of basic necessities.

☆ Factbox: Europe's efforts to shield households from soaring energy costs
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-02 | by ( Susanna Twidale | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +9 min

Without the measure, average home energy bills were tipped to reach over 3,500 pounds a year in October with forecasts of much higher bills to come. CZECH REPUBLICThe Czech government has agreed to cap electricity and gas prices next year to shield households from soaring prices. ITALYItaly approved an aid package worth some 14 billion euros ($14 billion) in September to shield firms and families from surging energy costs. The measures came on top of some 52 billion euros already budgeted since January to soften the energy crisis in Italy. NORWAYNorway has been subsidising household electricity bills since December and now covers 80% of the portion of power bills above a certain rate.

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