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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

☆ 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

☆ 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

☆ 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

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

[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.

☆ 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 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.

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.

We are not bound by the West’s sanctions,” Erdogan told CNN’s Becky Anderson. APBy contrast, Erdogan has doubled down on his relationship with Putin – and he thinks the West should follow suit. “This was possible because of our special relationship with President Putin,” he told CNN, referring to the grain deal. In his interview with CNN, Erdogan tackled another key flashpoint in Turkish tensions with the West: Sweden’s accession to NATO. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan tells CNN's Becky Anderson, left, he expects voters who value stability and confidence to back him in the May 28 runoff vote.

☆ 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.

☆ Erdogan rival pledges to repatriate all refugees before Turkey runoff
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] Kemal Kilicdaroglu, presidential candidate of Turkey's main opposition alliance, speaks during a press conference ahead of the May 28 runoff vote, in Ankara, Turkey May 18, 2023. Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the candidate of a six-party opposition alliance, won 45% support in Sunday's vote while Erdogan got 49.5%, falling just short of the majority needed to avoid a runoff vote. Kilicdaroglu's latest comments came amid expectations that a third candidate in the presidential race would announce his decision for the runoff. Sinan Ogan, a nationalist politician endorsed by an anti-refugee party obtained 5.2%, which made him a kingmaker in the runoff vote. "I am announcing here: I will send all refugees back home once I am elected as president, period," he added.

Kilicdaroglu, chair of the secularist Republican People's Party (CHP), received 44.9% in what was seen as the biggest electoral challenge to Erdogan's 20-year rule. A third candidate, nationalist Sinan Ogan, obtained 5.17% and both Erdogan and Kilicdaroglu are expected to seek his endorsement in negotiations this week. Turkey hosts the world's largest refugee population of around 4 million, according to official figures. Supporters of Kemal Kilicdaroglu, presidential candidate of Turkey's main opposition alliance, rally outside the Republican People's Party (CHP) headquarters on election night in Ankara, Turkey May 14, 2023. In Wednesday's video, Kilicdaroglu also accused Erdogan of cooperating with the network Ankara accuses of orchestrating a 2016 coup attempt.

☆ Turkey opposition contests thousands of ballots after election
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

ANKARA, May 17 (Reuters) - Turkey's main opposition party said on Wednesday it had filed complaints over suspected irregularities at thousands of ballot boxes in Sunday's landmark election, in which President Tayyip Erdogan performed better than expected. He said the CHP had formally raised objections over 2,269 ballot boxes nationwide for the presidential election and 4,825 for the parliamentary vote that also took place on Sunday. In the presidential vote, Erdogan is headed for a runoff on May 28 against challenger Kemal Kilicdaroglu after falling just shy of the 50% threshold needed to win outright in the first round. "We are following every single vote, even if it does not change the overall results," Erkek told reporters in Ankara. There were a total of 201,807 ballot boxes set up for the election, in Turkey and abroad, Erkek said.

Erdogan got 49.5% in Sunday's vote and fell just short of the majority needed to avoid a runoff in a vote seen as a referendum on his autocratic rule. But many of his supporters, including first-time voter Asim, were gloomy about Kilicdaroglu's chances in the runoff vote. The election is being closely followed in Washington, Europe and across the region, where Erdogan has asserted Turkish power. Opinion polls had shown Erdogan trailing Kilicdaroglu, but Sunday's outcome suggested he and his Islamist-rooted AKP were able to rally conservative voters despite Turkey's economic woes. Kilicdaroglu and his alliance want to restore a parliamentary system of government and scrap the powerful executive presidency introduced by Erdogan.

☆ Ex-NBA player raised in Turkey slams Twitter censorship: 'I don't want to hear about Elon Musk talking about free speech ever again. He's literally bowing down to a dictatorship'
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( Britney Nguyen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Former NBA player Enes Kanter Freedom doesn't want to hear Elon Musk talk about free speech. The Turkish-American said Musk is "bowing down to a dictatorship" by blocking tweets in Turkey. "I don't want to hear about Elon Musk talking about free speech ever again," Freedom said on CNN This Morning. "Turkish government called Elon to pretty much tell him, 'If you don't ban a couple accounts, then we are going to shut down the whole app in Turkey,'" Freedom added. "The whole country is saying enough is enough because we want to go back to democracy and freedom again," Freedom said on CNN.

☆ 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.

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.

☆ Turks vote in crunch election as President Erdogan faces greatest threat to his 20-year rule
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-14 | by ( Natasha Turak | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Supporters wave flags as Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan holds a rally ahead of the Presidential elections in Istanbul on May 12, 2023 in Istanbul, Turkey. Erdogan will face his biggest electoral test as voters head to the polls in the country's general election. For the presidency — which is expected to be close — if no candidate wins more than 50%, the vote goes to a run-off two weeks later. In a possibly game-changing development, one of the four presidential candidates, Muharrem Ince, pulled out of the race Thursday. A former CHP member, he had been under heavy criticism for splitting the opposition vote in a way that would hurt Kilicdaroglu's chances.

☆ 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.

☆ 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.

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