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☆ Turkey's inflation accelerates to nearly 70% in April
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-03 | by ( Natasha Turak | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Turkey's inflation accelerated to 69.8% annually for the month of April, the Turkish Statistical Institute reported Friday. On a monthly basis, Turkey's inflation increased 3.18%, led by price rises in alcoholic beverages and tobacco, and hotels, cafes and restaurants. April's inflation rate marks the highest annual increase since November 2022, when inflation was around 85%. But any hopes of interest rate cuts are a long way off, economists said. Turkey's central bank has hiked its key interest rate to 50%, citing the continuing need to counter climbing inflation in the country.

Persons: Kemal Ataturk, April's, Liam Peach Organizations: Turkish, Turkish Statistical Institute, Economics Locations: Turkish, Sisli, Istanbul, Turkey, London

☆ Turkey's central bank hikes interest rate by 500 basis points to 40%, well above expectations
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-23 | by ( Natasha Turak | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Turkey's Taksim Square, with the figure of Kemal Ataturk, the first president, and the Turkish flag in the background. Turkey's central bank on Thursday hiked its key interest rate, the benchmark one-week repo rate, by another 500 basis points to 40%. The move was seen as a continuation of the bank's attempt to combat high inflation and a falling lira , the Turkish currency. Timothy Ash, emerging markets strategist at BlueBay Asset Management, was one of the few experts who expected a 500-basis-point hike. "Really impressive move by the CBRT [Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey] - probing their orthodoxy and getting well ahead of expectations," he said in a note.

Persons: Turkey's, Kemal Ataturk, Timothy Ash Organizations: Turkish, BlueBay Asset Management, Central Bank of, greenback Locations: Turkish, Republic of Turkey, Ankara

☆ Erdogan criticises top Turkey court, stoking 'judicial crisis'
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-10 | by ( Ece Toksabay | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Murat... Acquire Licensing Rights Read moreANKARA, Nov 10 (Reuters) - Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan waded into a brewing judicial crisis on Friday, criticising the Constitutional Court for "many mistakes" and backing an unprecedented challenge to it by an appeals court, as opponents marched in Ankara. In a twist - which critics said highlighted the diminished state of Turkey's legal system - the top appeals court said the Constituional Court's ruling was unconstitutional. "The Constitutional Court cannot and should not underestimate the step taken by the Court of Cassation on this matter," he said. They were headed to the appeals court and video showed they were briefly delayed by police. "The Court of Cassation's backlash (...) is an open and combative attack against the Constitutional Court," said Bertil Oder, professor of constitutional law at Koc University.

Persons: Tayyip Erdogan, Ozgur Ozel, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, Murat, Tayyip Erdogan waded, Erdogan, Osman, Bertil Oder, intimidates, Ezgi Erkoyun, Jonathan Spicer, Emelia Sithole Organizations: Republican People's Party, Cassation, Constitutional, AK Party, Union, Koc University, Thomson Locations: Ankara, Turkey, ANKARA, Uzbekistan

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

☆ Turkey is celebrating 100 years as a republic. But today’s nation is a long way from 1923’s secular state
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-30 | by ( Zara Khan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

Today’s Turkey, however, is starkly different from the secular, Westernized state envisioned by Ataturk 100 years ago. The Turkish republic as imagined by Ataturk was firmly rooted in the West and a quick succession of reforms sought to modernize a population decimated by war. People often express such justification through religion, Murat Somer, a professor of political science at Ozyegin University in Istanbul, told CNN. What Ataturk may have been most proud of in today’s Turkey, however, is its growing influence on the world stage, analysts say. In 1926, after an assassination plot against him was discovered, Ataturk told his new nation: “One day my mortal body will turn to dust, but the Turkish republic will stand forever.”

Persons: Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Erdogan, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, Ataturk, Hagia Sofia, Ataturk’s, weren’t, Ozel, Murat Somer, ”, Somer, “, Ayse, Ismet Inonu, Power, Ataturk “, ” Somer, Adem Altan, “ I’m, ” Zarakol, ” Ozel Organizations: CNN, Turks, Ataturk, Hagia, Ottomans, Hulton, International Relations, Kadir Has University, Ozyegin University, Republican People’s Party, University of Cambridge, Anitkabir, Sunday, Getty, NATO, East, Central Asia Locations: Istanbul, Turkish, Ottoman, Today’s Turkey, Ottoman Empire, Europe, Russia, Anatolia, Ankara, The Turkish, West, fez, Hagia Sofia, Turkey, Hagia, Kasimpasa, “, Ataturk, Turkish Republic, AFP, today’s Turkey, Ukraine, Central

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan addresses members of parliament from his ruling AK Party (AKP) during a meeting at the Turkish parliament in Ankara, Turkey, October 25, 2023. Political analysts said his planned address in Istanbul aimed to reinforce his growing criticism of Israel's bombardment of the Gaza Strip and to overshadow Sunday's celebrations marking Turkey's secular roots. Turkey has condemned Israeli civilian deaths caused by Hamas's Oct. 7 rampage through southern Israel, but Erdogan this week called the militant group Palestinian "freedom fighters". ATATURK LEGACYThis week, Erdogan invited all Turks to attend the rally where he said "only our flag and the Palestine flag will wave". Erdogan, Turkey's longest-serving leader, and his Islamist-rooted AK Party have eroded support for the Western-facing ideals of Ataturk, who is revered by most Turks.

Persons: Tayyip Erdogan, Murat Cetinmuhurdar, Erdogan, Israel, Sinan Ulgen, Ulgen, ATATURK, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, Turkey's, Ataturk, Asli Aydintasbas, Gumrukcu, Jonathan Spicer, Helen Popper Our Organizations: AK Party, Turkish, REUTERS, Hamas, Gaza, Hamas's, Jerusalem, NATO, European Union, Centre for Economic, Foreign Policy Studies, Brookings, Thomson Locations: Ankara, Turkey, Handout, Israel Turkey, ISTANBUL, Israel, Istanbul, Italy, Turkish, Palestine, Washington

☆ Turkey's central bank hikes interest rate to 30%
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-21 | by ( Natasha Turak | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Turkey's Taksim Square, with the figure of Kemal Ataturk, the first president, and the Turkish flag in the background. Turkey's central bank hiked its key interest rate to 30% on Thursday, a 500-basis point jump from 25%, as Ankara continues to battle double-digit inflation. Traditional economic orthodoxy holds that rates must be raised to cool inflation, but Erdogan — a self-declared "enemy" of interest rates who calls the tool "the mother of all evil" — vocally espoused a strategy of lowering rates instead. After starting on its hiking path, the central bank in July stated its aim to get inflation down to 5% in the medium term — an ambitious forecast, as Turkey's annual inflation jumped to near 59% in August. Ankara now expects annual inflation to reach 65% at the end of 2023, up from a forecast of 24.9% a year ago.

Persons: Turkey's, Kemal Ataturk, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Erdogan —, — Organizations: Turkish, greenback Locations: Ankara, Istanbul, Turkey

☆ Turkey says UN peacekeepers intervention of Turkish Cypriot roadworks unacceptable
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Scuffles broke out on Friday between U.N. peacekeepers and Turkish Cypriot security personnel when peacekeepers tried to prevent roadworks starting in an area the U.N. says is part of a buffer zone under its jurisdiction. Erdogan also said Turkey will continue to side with the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), a breakaway state recognised only by Ankara. Turkish Cypriot authorities want to build a road that would give residents of Pyla/Pile, a village in the U.N.-administered buffer zone, direct access to territory under Turkish Cypriot control. Turkish Cypriot authorities say the peacekeeping force, known as UNFICYP, overstepped its boundaries. Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar characterised the road project as essential.

Persons: Tayyip Erdogan, Anitkabir, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, Erdogan, Scuffles, Ersin Tatar, Ezgi, Jonathan Oatis Organizations: Supreme Military Council, Presidential Press, REUTERS, Rights, United Nations, Peacekeeping Force, Turkish Cypriot, Thomson Locations: YAS, Ankara, Turkey, Rights ISTANBUL, Cyprus, Pyla, U.N, Turkish, Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, Turkish Cypriot

☆ Turkey's central bank raises interest rate less than expected, to 17.5%
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-20 | by ( Natasha Turak | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Turkey's Taksim Square, with the figure of Kemal Ataturk, the first president, and the Turkish flag in the background. Turkey's central bank on Thursday hiked its key interest rate by 250 basis points to 17.5%, coming in below analyst forecasts of 500 basis points as the country's monetary policymakers embark on a long and painful mission to tackle double-digit inflation. "Monetary tightening will be further strengthened as much as needed in a timely and gradual manner until a significant improvement in the inflation outlook is achieved," the bank said in a statement, following its interest rate decision. In its statement Thursday, the central bank reiterated its aim to get inflation down to 5% in the medium term — which many economists see as unrealistic at this rate. Traditional economic orthodoxy holds that rates must be raised to cool inflation, but Erdogan — a self-declared "enemy" of interest rates who calls the tool "the mother of all evil" — vocally espoused a strategy of lowering rates instead.

Persons: Turkey's, Kemal Ataturk, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Erdogan —, — Organizations: Turkish Locations: Turkey

☆ Turkish lira sinks to fresh lows following the central bank's interest rate hike
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-23 | by ( Lee Ying Shan | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Turkey's Taksim Square, with the figure of Kemal Ataturk, the first president, and the Turkish flag in the background. The Turkish lira sank to new record lows after Turkey's central bank raised the country's benchmark interest rate by 650 basis points in a dramatic monetary policy reversal. The central bank lifted its key interest rate by almost double, from 8.5% to 15% Thursday, marking the country's first hike since March 2021. The lira — which has been extending its plunge since President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's reelection — was last trading at 24.97 against the greenback. Newly appointed Governor Hafize Gaye Erkan hinted at more hikes until the inflation situation in the country improves.

Persons: Turkey's, Kemal Ataturk, Recep Tayyip Erdogan's, —, Steve Hanke, Hafize Gaye Erkan, Erkan Organizations: Turkish, Johns Hopkins University

[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.

It reinforced Erdogan's image of invincibility in the deeply divided NATO-member country, whose foreign, economic and security policy he has redrawn. Pro-government newspapers, part of an overwhelmingly pro-Erdogan media landscape that buoyed his election campaign in the nation of 85 million people, cheered his victory. Erdogan said inflation, which hit a 24-year peak of 85% last year before easing, is Turkey's most urgent issue. Turkey's main pro-Kurdish party, parliament's third largest, was among the opposition parties opposed to Erdogan and is accused of links to Kurdish militants, which it denies. Erdogan, head of the Islamist-rooted AK Party, appealed to voters with nationalist and conservative rhetoric in a divisive campaign that deflected attention from Turkey's economic problems.

☆ 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.

But he fell just short of the 50% needed to avoid a runoff, in a race with profound consequences for Turkey itself and global geopolitics. His camp has struggled to regain momentum after the shock of trailing Erdogan in the first round. A closely-watched survey by pollster Konda for the runoff put support for Erdogan on 52.7% and Kilicdaroglu on 47.3% after distributing undecided voters. [1/5] Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan attends a rally, ahead of the May 28 presidential runoff vote, in Istanbul, Turkey May 27, 2023. Erdogan has fused religious and national pride, offering voters an aggressive anti-elitism," said Nicholas Danforth, Turkey historian and non-resident fellow at think tank ELIAMEP.

☆ Turkey election 2023: What's at stake in the runoff?
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

The election takes place three months after earthquakes in southeast Turkey killed more than 50,000 people. WHAT'S AT STAKE FOR TURKEY ... [1/2] People walk next to posters of Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, ahead of the May 28 presidential runoff vote, in Istanbul, Turkey, May 25, 2023. Seeking a runoff boost from nationalist voters, Kilicdaroglu has in the last two weeks sharpened his anti-immigrant tone and promised to repatriate migrants. Pollsters later pointed to an unexpected surge in nationalist support at the ballot box to explain the result.

☆ Erdogan's election lead leaves Turkey's opposition reeling and an economy on the brink
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( Natasha Turak | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +9 min

Since neither candidate won more than 50% of the vote, however, the election will go to a runoff on May 28. They also reveal that despite Turkey's current economic turmoil, tens of millions of Turks still see Erdogan as their only viable leader. Supporters of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan celebrate at the AK Party headquarters garden on May 15, 2023 in Ankara, Turkey. Still, Kilicdaroglu's 44.9% of the vote is notable as the highest any opposition candidate ever received, said Orcun Selcuk, an assistant professor of political science at Luther College in Iowa, on Twitter. "The opposition clearly did not meet the expectations but it would be a misjudgment to say that opposition coordination failed.

☆ Opinion | The Earthquake Changed Turkey, but Change Is Complicated
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( Naomi Cohen | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Neither party managed to claim an outright majority in the first round, and a runoff is planned for May 28. If Mr. Erdogan is confident that he’ll succeed in the second round, it might be because of places like Adiyaman, where he won 66 percent of the vote. A huge poster of Mr. Erdogan nearby promised free natural gas for a year. Mr. Kilicdaroglu pledged free housing for earthquake victims on another poster, but that one was a three-and-a-half-mile drive away. : the party of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk and secularism; the party that once supported a ban against the head scarf in public institutions.

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.

But for the next two weeks, he may become the most important figure in Turkish politics, potentially deciding President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s political fate. Preliminary results from the YSK showed Erdogan as having received 49.51% of the vote, while Kilicdaroglu had 44.88%. Ogan, the third candidate, received 5.17%, enough to swing the runoff vote in favor of either of the candidates. But his political career began with the far-right Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), where he spent six years before splitting with it, partly due to its growing closeness with Erdogan’s AK Party, according to Turkish media. Formerly in the opposition, the MHP joined the People Alliance that is led by Erdogan’s AK Party in this election.

Long stuck in the shadow of Erdogan and his Islamist-rooted AK Party (AKP), opposition leader Kilicdaroglu has flourished on the campaign trail with polls showing he has a slight lead. Kilicdaroglu said a fundamental problem of Turkey's foreign policy during the tenure of Erdogan's AKP was the exclusion of the foreign ministry in the policy making process. 'PEACE-ORIENTED FOREIGN POLICY'"We would pursue a peace-oriented foreign policy that prioritises Turkey's national interest. Before entering politics, Kilicdaroglu worked in the finance ministry and then chaired Turkey's Social Insurance Institution for most of the 1990s. A year after losing a mayoral run in Istanbul, he was elected unopposed as party leader in 2010.

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 votes in pivotal elections that could end Erdogan's 20-year rule
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The election takes place three months after earthquakes in southeast Turkey killed more than 50,000 people. The pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) is not part of the main opposition alliance but fiercely opposes Erdogan after a crackdown on its members in recent years. Kilicdaroglu, a 74-year-old former civil servant, promises that if he wins he will return to orthodox economic policies from Erdogan's heavy management. Human Rights Watch, in its World Report 2022, said Erdogan's government has set back Turkey's human rights record by decades. If he wins, Kilicdaroglu faces challenges keeping united an opposition alliance that includes nationalists, Islamists, secularists and liberals.

☆ On final day of campaign, Erdogan accuses Turkish opposition of working with Biden
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-13 | by ( Ali Kucukgocmen | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

Polls show Erdogan trailing the main opposition candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu a day ahead of one of the most consequential elections in Turkey's modern history. Erdogan also criticised Kilicdaroglu for his comments on Russia, calling Moscow an important partner for Turkey. [1/3] Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan holds a present for supporters ahead of the May 14 presidential and parliamentary elections, in Istanbul, Turkey May 13, 2023. REUTERS/Dylan Martinez 1 2 3Turkey's Western allies have been irked by closer ties between Ankara and Moscow under Erdogan. Kilicdaroglu is a "separatist," Erdogan later said in Kasimpasa, an AK Party stronghold where he grew up.

☆ 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.

☆ 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.

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