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☆ Turkey's inflation climbs to 68.5% despite continued rate hikes
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-03 | by ( Natasha Turak | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Cagla Gurdogan | ReutersTurkey's annual inflation rose to 68.5% for the month of March, an increase on February's 67.1% inflation read, according to the Turkish Statistical Institute's report released Wednesday. Turkey has launched a concerted effort to tackle soaring inflation with interest rate hikes, most recently raising the country's key rate from 45% to 50% in late March. watch nowMuch of the inflation in recent months stems from a significant increase to the minimum wage that Turkey's government mandated for 2024. Economists expect further rate hikes from the central bank will be necessary. Turkey's central bank implemented eight consecutive interest rate hikes from June 2023 to January 2024, totaling a cumulative 3,650 basis points.

Persons: Cagla Gurdogan, Nicholas Farr, Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, Umit Bektas Organizations: Reuters, Economics, Istanbul Mayor, Republican People's Party Locations: Ankara, Turkey, Europe, London, Istanbul Metropolitan, Istanbul

☆ Turkey’s main opposition party wins major cities in elections blow to Erdogan
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-01 | by ( Scott Mclean | Mohammed Tawfeeq | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Istanbul CNN —Turkey’s local elections on Sunday marked a major defeat for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party, as the main opposition party claimed victory in key cities including Istanbul and Ankara. After his presidential victory, Erdogan had his sights on reclaiming cities lost to the opposition in 2019. Preliminary official results showed the opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) had won 49 out of 81 municipalities including 14 out of 30 urban areas in the country, Turkey’s High Electoral Council said. The AK Party lost 10 Istanbul districts to rivals in the latest election. “Unfortunately, we could not get the result we wanted and hoped for in the local election test,” Erdogan said in a speech delivered Monday at AK Party headquarters in Ankara.

Persons: Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Erdogan, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, Ekrem, Mansur Yavas, Tugay, ” Imamoglu, ”, Beyoglu, ” Erdogan Organizations: Istanbul CNN —, Development, Party, Republican People’s Party, Electoral, CHP, TRT, Nationwide, “, Erdogan, Welfare Party, AK Party –, AK Party Locations: Istanbul, Ankara, Turkey, Izmir, “ Istanbul, Sunday’s

☆ Erdogan's rival leads in Istanbul in high-stakes Turkey vote
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-31 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu led a challenger from President Tayyip Erdogan's AK Party in local elections on Sunday, an initial count showed, in a potential boost for the Turkish opposition's effort to reassert itself as a political force. In another blow to Erdogan, in the nation's second-largest city Ankara, incumbent opposition mayor Mansur Yavas declared victory over his AK Party (AKP) challenger less than three hours after polls closed in the nationwide municipal vote. The nationwide local elections are seen by analysts as a gauge of both Erdogan's support and the opposition's durability. Erdogan, who has led Turkey for more than two decades, campaigned hard for his party to reclaim control of Istanbul from rival Imamoglu, the incumbent mayor and potential future presidential challenger. According to official results based on 41.43% of ballot boxes opened, Imamoglu had 50% support compared with 41.26% for AK Party (AKP) challenger Murat Kurum, a former minister in Erdogan's national government.

Persons: Ekrem Imamoglu, Tayyip Erdogan's, Erdogan, Mansur Yavas, Imamoglu, Murat Kurum Organizations: Tayyip Erdogan's AK Party, AK Party, Anadolu Agency, Republican People's Party Locations: Istanbul, Turkish, Ankara, Turkey, Izmir, Bursa, Antalya, Adana

☆ At Stake in the Istanbul Mayoral Race: Turkey’s Political Future
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-31 | by ( Ben Hubbard | Safak Timur | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

The contest to run city hall in Istanbul, Turkey’s largest city and economic dynamo, is in many ways between one man who is on the ballot and another who is not. The first is the incumbent, Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, a rising star in the political opposition who won in a surprise victory in 2019 and is widely seen as a potential contender for the presidency. The second is President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who served as Istanbul’s mayor decades ago and has wanted to return his hometown to the control of his governing Justice and Development Party since Mr. Imamoglu’s win. The outcome will be decided by municipal elections on Sunday that will in many ways shape Turkey’s political future.

Persons: Ekrem Imamoglu, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Imamoglu’s Organizations: Development Party Locations: Istanbul, Turkey’s

☆ Turkey's local elections — and whoever wins Istanbul — could dictate the future of the country
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-29 | by ( Natasha Turak | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

As the sunsets, a ferry boat glides across the waters of the Golden Horn with the Suleymaniye Mosque and the city of Istanbul, Turkey in the background. Vw Pics | Universal Images Group | Getty ImagesTurkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan once said that whoever wins Istanbul wins Turkey. This is odd but also shows how important it is to win Istanbul," Tunca said. Major Turkish cities like Istanbul and the capital Ankara will be key races to watch. Istanbul Municipality Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu speaks at the 19 May Commemoration of Atatürk, Youth and Sports Day celebrations held at the Maltepe Event Area on May 19, 2023 on Istanbul, Turkey.

Persons: Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Imamoglu, Erdogan, People's Party's, Murat Kurum, Arda Tunca, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Tayyip Erdogan, Umit Bektas, Tunca, Kristin Ronzi, RANE, Erdogan's, Ekrem İmamoğlu, Hakan Akgun, Turkey's, Ronzi Organizations: Getty, Istanbul, sympathizing, Development Party, AK Party, Imamoglu, AK, CNBC, European Union, NATO, Reuters, Party, Imamoglu's CHP, Turkey's, CHP Locations: Istanbul, Turkey, Ukraine, Russia, Arab, Turkish, Ankara, East, North Africa

☆ Armed Attack During Istanbul Mayor Election Campaign Injures Woman
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-10 | by ( Feb. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: 1 min

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - A woman was wounded in an armed attack on Saturday during Turkey's ruling AK Party's mayoral election campaign in Istanbul, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said. An investigation has been launched into the incident, which occurred in the city's southwestern Kucukcekmece district, Yerlikaya said on social media platform X. The attackers fired with long-barrelled guns and pistols but there were no further details of their identity or motive. War in Israel and Gaza View All 206 ImagesTurkish President Tayyip Erdogan condemned the attack on X, previously Twitter. "No attack on our democracy, unity and solidarity will succeed," he said.

Persons: Ali Yerlikaya, Yerlikaya, Tayyip Erdogan, Burcu, Clelia Oziel Organizations: AK Locations: ISTANBUL, Istanbul, Kucukcekmece district, Israel, Gaza, Turkey

☆ Man Killed in Istanbul Church Shooting Was Out for a Walk, Relative Says
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-29 | by ( Jan. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +2 min

Murat Cihan, the victim's cousin, said his relative had no political or religious connections and lived "in his own world". CCTV footage verified by Reuters shows the two gunmen waiting briefly in an entrance hall at the church, before following a man inside. Another angle shows the attackers shooting the man walking in ahead of them. Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu said the Polish consul general was also inside the church with his family during the attack. Footage from inside the church on Monday showed bullet holes on the side of a pew, as well as another in a wall.

Persons: Mehmet Emin Caliskan, Tuncer Murat Cihan, Murat Cihan, Sukru Genc, Ekrem Imamoglu, Tayyip Erdogan, Tuncer, Alex Richardson Organizations: Islamic, Authorities, Italian Santa Maria Catholic Church, Reuters, Islamic State Locations: Mehmet Emin Caliskan ISTANBUL, Istanbul, Italian, Sariyer, Tajikistan, Russia, Sariyer's, Polish

Turkey's main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu attends a swearing-in ceremony as he is accompanied by Ozgur Ozel at the Turkish parliament in Ankara, Turkey, June 2, 2023. REUTERS/Umit Bektas/file photo Acquire Licensing RightsANKARA, Nov 4 (Reuters) - Turkey's main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) on Sunday elected Ozgur Ozel as its new leader, ending a 13-year term for incumbent Kemal Kilicdaroglu, as the country gears up for local elections next March. Ozel, 49, has been serving as the CHP's deputy parliamentary group chairman since 2015 and has been a lawmaker since 2011. Ozel, a pharmacist by trade, received 812 of 1,366 possible votes at a tense, hours-long party congress in Ankara that took two rounds. Imamoglu supported Ozel in a push for change at the CHP that has long been bogged down by in-fighting.

Persons: Kemal Kilicdaroglu, Ozgur Ozel, Umit, Tayyip Erdogan, Ozel, Kilicdaroglu, Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, Imamoglu, Erdogan, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, Ozer Sencar, pollster Metropoll, Sencar, Daniel Wallis, Hugh Lawson, David Evans Organizations: Republican People's Party, Turkish, REUTERS, Rights, Sunday, Istanbul Mayor, CHP, Thomson Locations: Ankara, Turkey, Rights ANKARA, Ozel, Istanbul, Black Sea, Rize, Turkey's

His case on Thursday was adjourned to Nov. 30 and the trial is set to hang over the opposition as it tries to regroup and rally disheartened voters ahead of local elections in March. At the same time, calls have grown louder for the opposition's defeated presidential candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu to resign as chairman of Imamoglu's Republican People's Party (CHP). Tanju Tosun, political science professor at Ege University, said the CHP's internal politics could overshadow its preparations for next year's local elections. "If the internal rifts within the CHP continues until local elections, candidates from the ruling AK Party (AKP) could defeat opposition candidates in many cities," he said. "YSP may field candidates (in Istanbul and Ankara)," Meral Danis Bestas, a senior YSP official, said.

Persons: Imamoglu, Tayyip Erdogan, Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, Erdogan, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, Kilicdaroglu, Tanju Tosun, Kemal Polat, Polat, We've, Ali Kucukgocmen, Huseyin Hayatsever, Daren Butler, Angus MacSwan Organizations: Istanbul Mayor, opposition's, Republican People's Party, Ege University, CHP, AK Party, Council of State, IYI Party, IYI, Left, Thomson Locations: Istanbul, ISTANBUL, Beylikduzu, Balikesir, Denizli, Kurdish, Ankara

☆ Erdogan intent on taking back Istanbul after presidential victory
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-31 | by ( Nadeen Ebrahim | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

CNN —Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has stretched his rule into a third decade after Sunday’s presidential election victory. Are you ready to win both Uskudar (a large district in Istanbul) and Istanbul in the local elections in 2024? Then let’s not stop.”By winning back Istanbul, Erdogan means having it governed by a mayor from his Justice and Development (AK) Party. Before beginning his term as prime minister in 2003, Erdogan was himself mayor of Istanbul between 1994 and 1998. The opposition beat Erdogan by nearly three points in both Istanbul and Ankara in Sunday’s presidential runoff.

Persons: Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Erdogan, ” Erdogan, Ekrem Imamoglu, Imamoglu, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, Berk, “ Imamoglu, ” Esen, you’ve, you’re, ” Imamoglu, ”, MetroPoll, Erdogan “, Soner Cagaptay, ” Cagaptay, Canan Kaftancioglu, Esen, “, Turkey ’ Organizations: CNN, Uskudar, ”, Istanbul, Development, Party, Welfare Party, AK Party –, Republican People’s Party, Sabanci University, “, Analysts, Electoral, Rights Watch, Washington Institute for Near East, Foreign Affairs, Union of Chambers, Commodity Exchanges, Erdogan’s Locations: Istanbul, Ottoman Empire, Turkish, Ankara, Sunday’s, CHP’s Istanbul, Izmir, Erdogan’s Istanbul, Turkey

[1/3] Kemal Kilicdaroglu, presidential candidate of Turkey's main opposition alliance, gestures after speaking following early exit poll results for the second round of the presidential election in Ankara, Turkey May 28, 2023. According to some party members, analysts and voters, Kilicdaroglu, the opposition presidential candidate in Sunday's runoff vote, will need to immediately re-focus on maintaining control of Turkey's big cities in the municipal elections. Instead Erdogan, modern Turkey's longest-serving leader, will extend his increasingly authoritarian rule into a third decade, backed by a majority for his alliance in parliament. Meanwhile the Republican People's Party (CHP), which Kilicdaroglu leads, holds internal discussions this week in Ankara to pick up the pieces. The broader six-party opposition alliance convened after Sunday's election results came in.

We are experiencing the result of this marathon with you tonight," Erdogan, 69, told thousands of flag-waving supporters from the balcony of his party's headquarters. But Erdogan, a veteran of a dozen election victories, emerged comfortably ahead of Kilicdaroglu, though just short of the majority needed to win. The outcome reflects the strong support Erdogan still commands, especially in religiously conservative regions where voters long felt marginalised by a once-dominant secular elite. Over two decades, Erdogan has redrawn Turkey's domestic, economic, security and foreign policy, rivalling historic leader Mustafa Kemal Ataturk who founded modern Turkey a century ago. Erdogan's government said the purge was justified by threats from coup supporters, as well as Islamic State and the PKK.

☆ Erdogan's milestones as Turkey faces May 28 runoff vote
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +8 min

[1/2] Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan greets supporters at the AK Party headquarters in Ankara, Turkey May 15, 2023. August 2001: He establishes the Justice and Development Party, or AK Party (AKP), and is elected chairman. November 2002: The AKP wins elections with nearly 35% of votes after the worst economic slump since the 1970s, promising to break with past mismanagement and recessions. June 2018: Erdogan wins snap presidential elections. Though his popularity has suffered due to a cost-of-living crisis, Erdogan wins more votes than his rival but falls short of the 50% threshold needed to win in the first round, teeing up a May 28 runoff.

The son of a sea captain, Erdogan has faced stiff political headwinds ahead of Sunday's election: he was already facing blame over an economic crisis when a devastating earthquake hit in February. Critics accused his government of a slow response and lax enforcement of building rules, failures they said could have cost lives. Two days before the vote, Erdogan said he came to office through the ballot boxes and if he had to, would leave the same way. A veteran of more than a dozen election victories, the 69-year-old Erdogan has taken aim at his critics in typically combative fashion. "I swear, Erdogan can solve it with a flick of his wrist," she said at a market in central Istanbul.

☆ Turkey's opposition sounds positive tone in landmark vote
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

ANKARA, May 14 (Reuters) - Turkey's opposition presidential candidate said on Sunday "we are leading" in initial election results in which President Tayyip Erdogan's 20-year rule was on the line, while opposition sources gave him a more than one percentage point lead. "We are leading," Kemal Kilicdaroglu of the six-party opposition alliance said on Twitter. Separately, four sources from the six-party opposition alliance told Reuters that Kilicdaroglu was leading Erdogan by a narrow margin according to initial results. They cautioned against relying on state-run Anadolu Agency results that gave Erdogan the initial edge. Earlier, Faik Oztrak, spokesman for Kilicdaroglu's Republican People's Party (CHP), said they were seeing a positive picture even as Anadolu showed Erdogan leading by 52% to 41% based on initial results.

☆ The Turkey candidates for president and other key figures
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

Only three candidates remain in the race for president after Muharrem Ince, representing a small party, withdrew. CHP LEADER KEMAL KILICDAROGLUKilicdaroglu, 74, head of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), was named the six-party opposition alliance's presidential candidate in March. Previously a staunch opponent of Erdogan, Bahceli's Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) began to work with the president and his AKP after a 2016 attempted coup. OPPOSITION FIGURES:IYI PARTY LEADER MERAL AKSENERFormer interior minister Meral Aksener, 66, leads the second-largest party in the opposition alliance, the centrist and nationalist IYI Party. ANKARA MAYOR MANSUR YAVASNationalist politician and lawyer Mansur Yavas, 67, defeated the AKP's Ankara mayoral candidate 2019 as the CHP candidate backed by an opposition alliance.

☆ Factbox: Key players in Turkey's election campaign
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

Turkey's longest-serving leader logged more than a dozen election victories and survived an attempted coup in 2016. CHP LEADER KEMAL KILICDAROGLUKilicdaroglu, 74, head of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), was named the six-party opposition alliance's presidential candidate in March. HOMELAND PARTY LEADER MUHARREM INCEFormer physics teacher and headmaster Muharrem Ince, 58, is seen as having little chance of becoming president. OPPOSITION FIGURES:IYI PARTY LEADER MERAL AKSENERFormer interior minister Meral Aksener, 66, leads the second-largest party in the opposition alliance, the centrist and nationalist IYI Party. ANKARA MAYOR MANSUR YAVASNationalist politician and lawyer Mansur Yavas, 67, defeated the AKP's Ankara mayoral candidate 2019 as the CHP candidate backed by an opposition alliance.

☆ Istanbul mayor's bus pelted with stones during rally
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-08 | by ( Reuters Editorial | ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

PoliticsIstanbul mayor's bus pelted with stones during rallyPostedTensions have risen one week ahead of tight elections in Turkey, as an opposition mayor was confronted by a stone-throwing crowd in a city known to be a ruling AK Party (AKP) stronghold on Sunday (May 7).

☆ Erdogan accuses opposition of provocations ahead of tight Turkish vote
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

ANKARA, May 8 (Reuters) - Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan accused the opposition on Monday of provoking disorder and siding with terrorists, without providing evidence, in a fiery speech days before close and increasingly fractious elections. Opinion polls suggest Erdogan faces the biggest electoral challenge of his career in presidential and parliamentary votes due on May 14. The following day, on the other side of Turkey during a rally in the western town of Edirne, Erdogan accused the opposition of being "pro-LGBT" and "siding with terrorists". "They (the opposition) are trying to defame our cities shamelessly by making a scene with their own provocations," Erdogan said, without making direct reference to the events in Erzurum. Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu also accused the opposition of inciting the violence in Erzurum.

[1/2] Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan addresses his supporters during a rally ahead of the May 14 presidential and parliamentary elections, in Izmir, Turkey April 29, 2023. As he seeks to shore up his appeal among conservative voters, Erdogan has also spoken against homosexuality, describing LGBT rights as a "deviant" concept he would fight. 'BUILDING TURKEY TOGETHER'Polls suggest voting could go to a second round and some show Erdogan trailing. "I swear, Erdogan can solve it with a flick of his wrist," she said at a market in central Istanbul. The interventions won few allies, however, and faced with a struggling economy the countdown to the election, Erdogan sought rapprochement with rivals across the region.

☆ Erdogan's milestones before Turkey's election
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +8 min

August 2001: He establishes the Justice and Development Party, or AK Party (AKP), and is elected chairman. In his early days, Erdogan tours Europe and the United States to promote his policies and advance Turkey's bid to join the European Union. May 2013: Protests against Erdogan's plans to redevelop Istanbul's Gezi Park accelerate into unprecedented nationwide demonstrations over what critics see as his authoritarianism. March 2019: Nationwide municipal elections produce Erdogan's first electoral defeat in nearly two decades. The lira hits all-time lows, inflation soars to its highest levels during Erdogan's rule, and his approval ratings sink.

☆ Erdogan calls opposition 'pro-LGBT' at election rally
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

ANKARA, May 7 (Reuters) - Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan accused the opposition of being "pro-LGBT" at a rally in Istanbul on Sunday, as he stepped up his rhetoric against his opponents a week before what is expected to be a tight election. Elsewhere, protesters threw stones at Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, a member of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), during an election rally in the eastern city of Erzurum, a stronghold of Erdogan's AK Party (AKP). On Sunday, he also attacked his key election rival Kemal Kilicdaroglu, who heads the main opposition alliance. The opposition has previously denounced claims by Erdogan linking them to terrorists as divisive and dangerous campaign rhetoric. In the 2018 presidential election Erdogan won 72% of votes in Erzurum.

☆ Turkey general election 2023 guide: what you need to know
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-01 | by ( Nadeen Ebrahim | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

And even if Kilicdaroglu wins the election, some analysts say Erdogan may not hand over power to his successor without a struggle. Here’s what you need to know about the vote that could become a pivotal moment in Turkey’s modern history:How Turkey’s elections workTurkey holds elections every five years. Parliamentary elections take place at the same time as the presidential elections. Four candidates are running for this year’s presidential election. CHP Istanbul mayor candidate Ekrem Imamoglu then went on to win the election re-run, dealing a blow to Erdogan.

Under a new proposal following a weekend of political intrigue, two popular mayors would serve as vice presidents should the opposition win in the presidential and parliamentary elections on May 14. With polls showing a close race, the vote is the biggest challenge Erdogan has faced in two decades in power. Instead, Aksener proposed that either Ekrem Imamoglu or Mansur Yavas, mayors of Istanbul and Ankara, be the candidate. "She has conveyed the proposal that the two mayors serve as executive vice presidents," Zorlu said. The opposition has failed in previous national votes to pose a serious challenge to Erdogan, whose AKP came to power in 2002.

[1/2] Turkey's main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu, accompanied by IYI Party leader Meral Aksener and Felicity Party leader Temel Karamollaoglu, talks to media following a meeting of the opposition alliance in Ankara, Turkey March 6, 2023. A cost-of-living crisis amid rampant inflation and years of economic turmoil have eroded Erdogan's support, giving Kilicdaroglu another advantage. Recent polling showed Erdogan's support had edged up since last summer thanks to measures including a raise in the minimum wage. The following year, he was elected unopposed as CHP leader after his predecessor's resignation in the wake of scandal. His election fuelled party hopes of a new start, but support for CHP has since failed to surpass about 25%.

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