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☆ 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

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

In remarks ahead of their talks, Putin told Erdogan that Russia is “open to negotiations” on the grain deal. Shifting power balanceErdogan and Putin last met face-to-face in October on the sidelines of an Asia summit in the Kazakh capital Astana. Ahead of his re-election, Erdogan hailed his “special” relationship with Putin as Western states pressured Ankara to join sanctions against Moscow. “(Erdogan) has not really gotten in the direction of trying to please Putin,” Ulgen told CNN. The reconfigured power balance between the two leaders could yet yield positive results with the efforts to revive the Black Sea grain deal, experts say.

Persons: Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Vladimir Putin, Putin, Erdogan, Monday’s, ” Putin, ”, Sinan Ulgen, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, “, ” Erdogan, CNN’s Becky Anderson, Asli Aydintasbas, ” Aydintasbas, ” Ulgen, Volodymyr Zelensky, Ulgen, Turkey’s, “ Putin, ” “ Erdogan Organizations: CNN, TASS, Astana, Atlantic Treaty Organization, NATO, Brookings Institution, “ Locations: Russia’s, Sochi, Moscow, Black, Russia, Turkey, Qatar, Russian, Turkish, Asia, Kazakh, Ukraine, Ankara, Istanbul, Washington , DC, United States, ”, Finland, Sweden, East

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

☆ Turkish lira continues slide to new record lows following Erdogan's election victory
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-30 | by ( Lee Ying Shan | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

People walking next to a Turkish national flag at the historical grand bazaar in Istanbul. The Turkish lira slumped to yet another all-time low Tuesday, extending its slide after the re-election of incumbent President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The currency was last trading at 20.15 against the greenback at around 5 a.m. Tuesday morning local time, surpassing Monday's lows. Turkey's Election Board on Sunday confirmed that Erdogan won Turkey's 2023 presidential election with 52.14% of the votes, while his opponent Kemal Kilicdaroglu received 47.86%. He subsequently went on to become the country's deputy prime minister from 2015 to 2018.

☆ Opinion | Turkey’s Election Is a Warning About Trump
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-30 | by ( Bret Stephens | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

And it should serve as a warning about other places — including the Republican Party — where autocratic leaders, seemingly incompetent in many respects, are returning to power through democratic means. That’s not quite the way Erdogan’s close-but-comfortable victory in Sunday’s runoff over the former civil servant Kemal Kilicdaroglu is being described in many analyses. The president, they say, has spent 20 years in power tilting every conceivable scale in his favor. Erdogan has used regulatory means and abused the criminal-justice system to effectively control the news media. He has exercised his presidential power to deliver subsidies, tax cuts, cheap loans and other handouts to favored constituencies.

Persons: Jean, François Revel, “, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, Erdogan, Ekrem Imamoglu Organizations: Republican Party — Locations: French, Turkey, Sunday’s, Turkish, Istanbul

☆ Opposition Turkish TV probed for 'insulting' election coverage
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] Election officials count votes during the second round of the presidential election, in Diyarbakir, Turkey, May 28, 2023. President Tayyip Erdogan extended his two-decade rule in the second round of the election on Sunday. His rival, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, said it was "the most unfair election in years" but did not dispute the outcome. RTUK penalised four television stations in March for their election coverage. International rights groups and Turkish opposition parties have accused the RTUK of attempting to silence opposition media as a tool of the government.

Persons: Tayyip Erdogan, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, RTUK, Gurkan Ozturan, Burcu Karakas, Nick Macfie Organizations: REUTERS, Radio, Television Supreme, Borders, Media, European Centre for Press, Toksabay, Thomson Locations: Diyarbakir, Turkey, Sertac, ANKARA, Turkish, Istanbul, Ankara

☆ Erdogan survived the biggest test of his political career. What’s next?
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-29 | by ( Nadeen Ebrahim | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Official results showed Erdogan winning with 52.1% of the vote, while opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu emerged with 47.9%. Murat Somer, a political science professor at Koc University in Istanbul, expects a hardened approach by Erdogan towards the opposition and his critics. “[Erdogan is] likely to continue his unorthodox economic policies because these actually serve his interests,” Somer told CNN. Becky Anderson's full interview with Turkish President Erdogan 20:52 - Source: CNNKorhan Kocak, an assistant professor of political science at New York University Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates, worries about Erdogan’s moves after the election. And Erdogan is the man that delivered that to them.”Cagaptay said that Erdogan’s foreign policy is unlikely to change.

☆ Five Takeaways From Turkey’s Presidential Election
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-29 | by ( Ben Hubbard | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s re-election grants him five more years to deepen his conservative imprint on Turkish society and to realize his ambition of increasing the country’s economic and geopolitical power. Turkey’s Supreme Election Council named Mr. Erdogan the victor after a runoff election on Sunday. He won 52.1 percent of the vote against the opposition candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu, who had 47.9 percent with almost all votes counted, the council said. The election was closely followed by Turkey’s NATO allies, including the United States, who have often seen Mr. Erdogan as a frustrating partner because of his anti-Western rhetoric and close ties with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, which have grown since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Mr. Erdogan has given no indication that he plans to change his policies abroad, where he has sought to use Turkey’s place at the juncture of Europe, Asia and the Middle East to expand its influence, or at home, where has consolidated power in his hands and responded to an inflation crisis with unconventional measures that economists said exacerbated the problem.

[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.

☆ Opinion: Why Erdogan’s win isn’t all it seems
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-29 | by ( Opinion Ruth Ben-Ghiat | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

In the run-up to the first round of voting, Erdogan’s interior minister, Süleyman Soylu, tellingly likened the election to the 2016 attempted coup. Off the back of Erdogan’s win, we can expect Turkey to draw even closer to Russia, which supplies more than one-third of its petroleum and oil products. So look for Erdogan to follow whatever geopolitical path benefits his Russian patron, including continued opposition to Sweden joining NATO. Erdogan’s economic policies have contributed to horrific inflation: over 80% in October, a 24-year record, and still at 44% last month. For all his bluster about modernizing Turkey, Erdogan has created an environment of fear, hostility and economic hardship.

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.

☆ Erdogan win sends stark note on economy and votes
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-29 | by ( Lisa Jucca | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

MILAN, May 29 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Tayyip Erdogan’s re-election in Turkey sends a sharp message to leaders around the world: politics is trumping sound economics. Official results released show the sitting strongman won 52% of ballots, implying citizens are deeply divided over his return to power. Erdogan’s victory will likely exacerbate multiple long-term money-matter headaches for the country’s more than 80 million people. Erdogan’s win also suggests the country will continue to pivot away from the West. Follow @LJucca on TwitterCONTEXT NEWSTurkish President Tayyip Erdogan secured a fresh five-year term in elections on May 28, beating challenger Kemal Kilicdaroglu.

☆ 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.

☆ Days after Twitter blocked Turkish President Erdogan's political opponents from posting on the site, the increasingly authoritarian leader won re-election after a contested vote
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-28 | by ( Katherine Tangalakis-Lippert | Associated Press | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has won re-election after a contested vote. A day before the election, Twitter blocked posts by Erdogan critics from being viewed in the country. Erdogan's increasingly authoritarian rule now extends into its third decade. "We will continue to be at the forefront of this struggle until real democracy comes to our country," Kilicdaroglu said in Ankara. He added that the people have shown their will "to change an authoritarian government despite all the pressures."

☆ Erdogan seeks new term in Turkey runoff election
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-28 | by ( Tamara Qiblawi | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —Polls have opened in Turkey’s presidential runoff as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan fights for a historic third term on Sunday. Erdogan is going head-to-head with opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu, a 74-year-old bureaucrat and leader of the left-leaning CHP. In the first round of voting on May 14, Erdogan secured a nearly five-point lead over Kilicdaroglu but fell short of the 50% threshold needed to win. Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan speaks at the AK Party headquarters in Ankara, Turkey May 15, 2023. Umit Bektas/ReutersSix opposition groups had formed an unprecedented unified bloc behind Kilicdaroglu to try to wrest power from Erdogan.

She had also survived a smaller earthquake in the southeastern province of Elazig in 2020, she said, and expected Mr. Erdogan to help now as he had helped then. “Otherwise, the people wouldn’t have voted for him.”Interviews with quake survivors indicated many reasons that the disaster had not changed their political outlook. Some whose homes were destroyed said they had more faith in Mr. Erdogan to rebuild the affected areas than they had in his challenger, the opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu. There are empty lots where buildings that collapsed once stood and blue and white tents sheltering quake survivors are scattered around town. Instead of voting based on the government’s quake response, residents said they focused on other issues.

☆ Turkey's Kilicdaroglu says to continue struggle after vote disappointment
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

ANKARA, May 28 (Reuters) - Turkey's opposition presidential candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu said he will continue to lead his struggle, after early results showed him losing in what he said was "the most unfair election in years" against incumbent Tayyip Erdogan. Speaking in Ankara, Kilicdaroglu, who got some 47.9% of votes in Sunday's runoff election, said the results showed people's will to change an authoritarian government. He is saddened by the "troubles" awaiting Turkey, he said. Reporting by Huseyin Hayatsever and Ezgi Erkoyun; Writing by Ali Kucukgocmen; Editing by Jonathan SpicerOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Turkey votes in runoff election after candidates double down on nationalism and fear
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-28 | by ( Natasha Turak | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

People walk past an election campaign poster for Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on May 25, 2023 in Istanbul, Turkey. The country is holding its first presidential runoff election after neither candidate earned more than 50% of the vote in the May 14 election. Still, no candidate surpassed the 50% threshold required to win; and with Erdogan at 49.5% and Kilicdaroglu at 44.7%, a runoff election was set for two weeks after the first vote on May 14. "Kilicdaroglu has adopted a harder line on immigration and security ahead of the run-off … is unlikely to be enough," Kinnear said. Already, though, his anti-refugee rhetoric has angered many of his supporters and prompted resignations from some of his campaign allies.

☆ Erdogan and rival cast votes in Turkey runoff
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-28 | by ( Reuters Editorial | ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

PoliticsErdogan and rival cast votes in Turkey runoffPostedIncumbent Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and and leader of the opposition Kemal Kilicdaroglu vote in Sunday's (May 28) presidential election runoff.

☆ Best actress at Cannes returns to polarised Turkey on runoff day
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-28 | by ( Deniz Uyar | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

ISTANBUL, May 28 (Reuters) - Merve Dizdar, best actress winner at the Cannes Film Festival, returned to Turkey on Sunday and was met both by cheering fans and sharp criticism, highlighting the extreme polarisation in the country. “I am overwhelmed with the support I see here,” Dizdar told Reuters after casting her vote at an Istanbul school. In her Cannes speech, Dizdar said that she didn’t need to rehearse for the teacher’s role because she has known how such women feel “by heart since the day I was born". "You shall first learn to respect your own country, Merve Dizdar,” Uslu said on Twitter. The Turkish actress was unapologetic.

[1/3] A child walks at a polling station while people attend voting during the second round of the presidential election in Istanbul, Turkey May 28, 2023. REUTERS/Hannah McKayANKARA/ISTANBUL, May 28 (Reuters) - Here are some views from Turkish citizens as the country voted on Sunday in an election runoff that may extend President Tayyip Erdogan's rule into a third decade or see a transfer of power to his rival Kemal Kilicdaroglu. Nobody can deny this," said housewife Songul Aslan, 45, after voting for Erdogan. In Diyarbakir, largest city in the mainly Kurdish southeast:"In the first round I voted for Kilicdaroglu for the presidency. Change is essential to overcome the economic crisis and problems that Turkey faces, so I voted for Kilicdaroglu again.

☆ Despite Inflation, Earthquakes and Tough Race, Erdogan Is Re-elected
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-28 | by ( Ben Hubbard | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan beat back the greatest political challenge of his career on Sunday, securing victory in a presidential runoff that granted five more years to a mercurial leader who has vexed his Western allies while tightening his grip on the Turkish state. His victory means Mr. Erdogan could remain in power for at least a quarter-century, deepening his conservative imprint on Turkish society while pursuing his vision of a country with increasing economic and geopolitical might. Turkey’s Supreme Election Council declared Mr. Erdogan the victor late Sunday. He won 52.1 percent of the vote; the opposition candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu got 47.9 percent with almost all votes counted, the council said. Mr. Erdogan’s supporters shrugged off Turkey’s challenges, including a looming economic crisis, and lauded him for developing the country and supporting conservative Islamic values.

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.

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