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☆ Turkish parliament won't speed up Sweden's NATO bid -committee chair
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-01 | by ( Huseyin Hayatsever | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

President Tayyip Erdogan submitted the ratification bill for Sweden's NATO membership bid to parliament last month, a move welcomed by Stockholm as it would clear the way for it to join the Western defence alliance. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has said he wants a "speedy vote" by Turkey's parliament and that the process was "going well". "Sweden's NATO membership is just one of the international agreements on our agenda waiting for ratification," Oktay told a meeting of lawmakers. The Sweden NATO membership bill must be approved by the committee before a vote by the full parliament, at which point Erdogan would sign it into law. Finland's membership was sealed in April, but Sweden's bid had been held up by Turkey and Hungary.

Persons: Tayyip Erdogan, Ataturk, Cagla, Jens Stoltenberg, Fuat Oktay, Oktay, Erdogan, Sweden's, Huseyin Hayatsever, Jonathan Spicer, Mark Heinrich Our Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, NATO, Sweden NATO, Kurdistan Workers ' Party, Thomson Locations: Anitkabir, Ankara, Turkey, Rights ANKARA, Turkish, Stockholm, Sweden, Finland, Ukraine, Hungary, Kurdistan

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

A logo of Turkey's Central Bank is pictured at the entrance of its headquarters in Ankara, Turkey October 15, 2021. The bank's policy committee repeated it is ready to raise rates further as needed to curb inflation, which climbed to an annual rate of 61.53% in September and is expected to rise into next year. It has weakened some 70% in two years, largely due to President Tayyip Erdogan's long-standing opposition to high rates and influence over the central bank. Erdogan chose former Wall Street banker Hafize Gaye Erkan as central bank chief after his May re-election. She has led a policy U-turn to relieve an economy strained by depleted FX reserves and surging inflation expectations.

Persons: Cagla, Tayyip Erdogan's, Erdogan, Hafize Gaye Erkan, Daren Butler, Jonathan Spicer Organizations: Turkey's Central, REUTERS, Rights, Wall Street, Thomson Locations: Ankara, Turkey, Rights ISTANBUL

However since parliament opened on Oct. 1, its foreign affairs commission, which would debate the NATO bid, has received almost 60 international agreements to review - excluding Sweden's, official data shows. A second person familiar with U.S.-Turkish talks said a rough proposal - in which each side would take steps toward ratifying the NATO bid on the one side, and the F-16s purchase on the other - had been delayed. IN NO RUSHTurkey, NATO's second-biggest military, is still expected to ultimately endorse Sweden's bid and could rapidly move on it. Addressing the drone incident, which occurred near U.S. troops on Oct. 5, Erdogan said last week: "Isn't Turkey a NATO ally of the U.S.? Finnish membership was sealed in April, marking an historic expansion of the Western defence bloc, but Sweden's bid remains held up by Turkey and Hungary.

Persons: Tayyip Erdogan, Ulf Kristersson, Jens Stoltenberg, Yves Herman, Joe Biden, RUSH Turkey, NATO's, Sweden's, Erdogan, Yasar Guler, Humeyra Pamuk, Simon Johnson, Bernadette Baum Organizations: NATO, REUTERS, Rights, Washington, State Department, AK Party, U.S, U.S . State Department, RUSH, Kurdistan Workers Party, European Union, Turkish Defence, Swedish, U.S . Senate, White House, Lockheed Martin Corp, Palestinian, Hamas, aircraft, Thomson Locations: Swedish, Vilnius, Lithuania, Rights ANKARA, Turkey, Sweden, Ankara, United States, Syria, U.S, NATO, Finland, Russia, Ukraine, Hungary, Brussels, Stockholm, Helsinki, Iraq, Gaza, Riyadh

☆ Turkey Says Israel's Call for Gazans to Move South 'Inhumane'
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-13 | by ( Oct. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +2 min

By Huseyin Hayatsever and Tuvan GumrukcuANKARA (Reuters) - Turkey said on Friday that Israel's call for Gazans to move south in 24 hours ahead of its planned ground offensive was inhumane and a violation of international law. Speaking at an event in Istanbul, he also urged Israel to allow humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip through Egypt's Rafah crossing. Two A400M Turkish military aircraft with humanitarian aid for Palestinians in Gaza have arrived in Egypt's Al Arish airport, Turkey's defence ministry said on Friday. Footage shared by the defence ministry showed boxes covered with the logo of Turkey's AFAD disaster management authority. The International Committee of the Red Cross said on Friday that humanitarian organisations would not be able to assist more than a million people in Gaza.

Persons: Huseyin Hayatsever, Israel, Tayyip Erdogan, Cross, Jonathan Spicer, Emelia Organizations: Hamas, Turkish, International Committee Locations: ANKARA, Turkey, Gaza, Palestinian, Israel, Istanbul, Rafah, Egypt's Al Arish

[1/5] A new building for earthquake survivors is under construction in Diyarbakir, Turkey August 26, 2023. With work underway on a fraction of the planned new buildings in the devastated city of Adiyaman, Kaplan fears a long wait together with his disabled wife and other survivors. One senior government official with direct knowledge of the reconstruction plan said the target could be missed, citing insufficient fresh funding to hold new tenders amid rising costs. They both said the effort had taken a blow when fewer companies bid for the reconstruction tenders after a post-election economic policy U-turn in June sent the currency plunging. "Our budget resources have been prepared for this huge, comprehensive project and can be updated when necessary," Erdogan's office said.

Persons: Stringer, Ismet Kaplan, Tayyip Erdogan, Erdogan, Kaplan, Bayir, Adiyaman, Turkey's, Mehmet Ozhaseki, Arvid Tuerkner, Mert Arslanalp, Erdogan's, Arslanalp, Mehmet Simsek, Simsek, Tahir Tellioglu, Tellioglu, Umit, Ezgi Erkoyun, Nevzat Devranoglu, Jonathan Spicer, Frank Jack Daniel Our Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Reuters, Union of Chambers of Turkish Engineers and Architects, Coordination Council, European Bank for Reconstruction, Erdogan's AK, Istanbul's Bogazici University, TAG, Construction, Thomson Locations: Diyarbakir, Turkey, Rights ISTANBUL, Adiyaman, Netherlands, Belgium, Syria, Hatay, Malatya, Gaziantep, Istanbul, Ankara

The military "neutralised" 26 Kurdish militants in northern Syria overnight in retaliation for a rocket attack on a Turkish base, the defence ministry said. Turkey also conducted air strikes and destroyed 30 militant targets elsewhere in northern Syria, including an oil well, a storage facility and shelters, the defence ministry said. Turkey said the attackers came from Syria but the Syrian SDF forces denied this. The Turkish foreign ministry statement said that one of Turkey's drones was lost during operations against Kurdish militants in northeast Syria due to "different technical evaluations" with third parties on the ground. Turkey has mounted several previous incursions into northern Syria against the YPG.

Persons: Ali Yerlikaya, Daren Butler, Huseyin Hayatsever, Jonathan Spicer, Nick Macfie Organizations: Syrian Kurdish, Kurdistan Workers Party, Syrian SDF, European Union, SDF, Islamic State, Pentagon, NATO, Kurdish, Thomson Locations: Turkey, Syria, Ankara, ISTANBUL, Turkish, Kurdish, Syrian, Syria's, Iraq, Agri, TURKISH, U.S, United States, Washington, Hasakah

☆ U.S.-led forces reportedly down drone in Syria as Turkey strikes area
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

A Turkish defence ministry official said the drone shot down by the coalition did not belong to the Turkish armed forces, without saying whose property it was. A Turkish defence ministry official said on Thursday a ground operation into Syria was one option Turkey could consider. Turkey has mounted several previous incursions into northern Syria against the Syrian Kurdish YPG group. In a statement, the security forces said Turkish attacks killed six members of the internal security forces in northeastern Syria, and two civilians in two separate strikes. Turkey has warned forces of third countries to stay away from facilities controlled by the PKK and YPG.

Persons: Huseyin Hayatsever, Tom Perry, Jonathan Spicer, Alex Richardson, Angus MacSwan Organizations: Kurdish, Syrian Observatory, Human Rights, NATO, Kurdistan Workers ' Party, Syrian Democratic Forces, Security, Islamic State, Thomson Locations: ANKARA, Syria, Syrian Kurdish, Ankara, U.S, Turkish, Turkey, Kurdistan, Kurdish, United States, Iraq, France

☆ Turkish official says ground operation into Syria an option after bombing
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

ANKARA, Oct 5 (Reuters) - A ground operation into Syria is one option Turkey could consider, a defence ministry official said on Thursday after Ankara found that two attackers who had set off a bomb near government buildings at the weekend had come from Syria. "Our only goal is to eliminate the terrorist organisations that pose a threat to Turkey. A ground operation is one of the options to eliminate this threat, but it is not the only option for us," the official said. Turkey conducted operations whenever and wherever necessary in the past, and these operations will continue if needed again," the defence ministry official said. "These operations are being conducted under self-defence rights arising from international law to eliminate terrorist attacks on Turkish territory and to ensure border security."

Persons: Huseyin Hayatsever, Jonathan Spicer, Alex Richardson Organizations: Kurdistan Workers ' Party, Syrian, Islamic State, Thomson Locations: ANKARA, Syria, Turkey, Ankara, Kurdistan, Iraq, U.S, United States, France

☆ After Ankara bombing, Turkey hits back in Iraq and at home
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-02 | by ( Daren Butler | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/5] Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan addresses members of parliament as he attends the reopening of the Turkish parliament after the summer recess in Ankara, Turkey, October 1, 2023. On Sunday morning, two attackers detonated a bomb near government buildings in Ankara, killing them both and wounding two police officers. It launched an insurgency in southeast Turkey in 1984 and more than 40,000 people have been killed in the conflict. It said the attackers had hijacked the vehicle and killed its driver in Kayseri, a city 260 km (161 miles) southeast of Ankara. Turkey's armed forces have in recent years conducted several large-scale military operations in northern Iraq and northern Syria against Kurdish militants.

Persons: Tayyip Erdogan, Murat Cetinmuhurdar, Abdul, Latif Rashid, Ali Yerlikaya, Yerlikaya, Yasar Guler, Huseyin Hayatsever, Robert Birsel, Jonathan Spicer, Mark Heinrich, Alex Richardson Organizations: REUTERS Acquire, Kurdistan Workers Party, United Nations, Iraq, European Union, Reuters, PKK, Counterterrorism, Immortals Battalion, Kurdish, Islamic, Defence, Thomson Locations: Turkish, Ankara, Turkey, Handout, Iraq, Iraq ISTANBUL, Istanbul, Iraq's, Gara, Kurdistan, United States, Kayseri, Kurdish, Ataturk, Islamic State, Syria

☆ Turkey says to re-start operations of Iraq oil pipeline this week
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Turkey's Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar talks during a meeting in Ankara, Turkey, September 14, 2023. Turkish Energy Ministry Press Office/PPO/Handout via REUTERS/File photo Acquire Licensing RightsABU DHABI, Oct 2 (Reuters) - Turkey will restart operations this week on a crude oil pipeline from Iraq that has been suspended for about six months, Turkey's Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar said on Monday. "Within this week, we will start operating the Iraq-Turkey pipeline after resuming operations. Turkey has been a reliable transit route for oil and gas, he added. Turkey was weighing legal action against Iraq, which has an outstanding enforcement case against Turkey, Bayraktar said last month.

Persons: Alparslan Bayraktar, ABU, Bayraktar, Maha El, Nadine Awadalla, Louise Heavens, Jonathan Spicer Organizations: Turkey's Energy, Turkish Energy Ministry Press, REUTERS, International Chamber of Commerce, ICC, Iraq, Thomson Locations: Ankara, Turkey, Handout, ABU DHABI, Iraq, Abu Dhabi, Baghdad

☆ What is the PKK, the Kurdish rebel group behind bomb blast in Turkey?
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

* The PKK is a militant group founded by Abdullah Ocalan in southeast Turkey in 1978 with an ideology based on Marxist-Leninist ideas. * It launched its insurgency against the Turkish state in 1984 with the initial aim of creating an independent Kurdish state. It subsequently moderated its goals to seeking greater Kurdish rights and limited autonomy in southeast Turkey. Much of the fighting in the past was focused in rural areas of mainly Kurdish southeast Turkey, but it has also conducted attacks in urban areas. * In recent years the conflict has moved from southeast Turkey to be focused mainly in northern Iraq, where the PKK has bases in the mountains.

Persons: Abdullah Ocalan, Ocalan, Abdul, Latif Rashid, Daren Butler, Jonathan Spicer, Angus MacSwan Organizations: Kurdistan Workers Party, Marxist, European Union, BATTALION, PKK, Turkish, Islamic, Thomson Locations: ISTANBUL, Turkish, Ankara, Turkey, Iraq, Kurdish, United States, Syria, Kenya, Istanbul, Kurdistan, U.S, Islamic State

☆ Turkey says 'terrorists' carried out bomb attack near government building
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

[1/3] Security forces are seen outside the Interior Ministry following a bomb attack in Ankara, Turkey October 1, 2023. REUTERS/Cagla Gurdogan Acquire Licensing RightsANKARA, Oct 1 (Reuters) - Turkey's interior minister said on Sunday that two "terrorists" carried out a bomb attack in front of the ministry buildings in Ankara, adding one of them died in the explosion and the other was "neutralized" by authorities there. Turkish media earlier reported that an explosion was heard near the parliament and ministerial buildings. Ali Yerlikaya, the minister, said on social media platform X that two police officers were slightly injured in the incident at 9:30 a.m. (0630 GMT). Reporting by Burcu Karakas; Wirting by Jonathan Spicer; Editing by Hugh Lawson and Alison WilliamsOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Cagla, Ali Yerlikaya, Burcu Karakas, Jonathan Spicer, Hugh Lawson, Alison Williams Organizations: Security, Ministry, REUTERS, Rights, Thomson Locations: Ankara, Turkey, Rights ANKARA

☆ Erdogan Sees Advantage in U.S. Senator Menendez's Troubles -Media
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-26 | by ( Sept. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +1 min

ANKARA (Reuters) - President Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey needs to turn the legal troubles of U.S. Senator Bob Menendez, a long-time critic of his government, into opportunity for its requested purchase of F-16 U.S. fighter jets, Turkish media said on Tuesday. NATO member Turkey requested in October 2021 to buy 40 Lockheed Martin Corp F-16 fighters and 79 modernisation kits for its existing warplanes. The Biden administration is linking F-16 fighter jet sales to Turkey with Ankara's ratification of Sweden's NATO membership bid, Erdogan also said. Turkey will ratify Stockholm's bid if the administration keeps its promise on the F-16 sale, he added.

Persons: Tayyip Erdogan, Bob Menendez, Menendez, Erdogan, Turkey's, Joe Biden's, Biden, Huseyin Hayatsever, Jonathan Spicer Organizations: Democrat, Senate Foreign Relations, NATO, Turkey, Lockheed Martin Corp Locations: ANKARA, Turkey, Jersey, U.S

☆ Turkey will back Sweden's NATO bid if U.S. keeps promise on F-16 sale - Erdogan
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

AXEL HEIMKEN/Pool via REUTERS/ File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsANKARA, Sept 26 (Reuters) - Turkey's parliament will keep its promise to ratify Sweden's NATO bid if U.S. President Joe Biden's administration paves the way for F-16 jet sales to Ankara, President Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday, according to Turkish media. Speaking to reporters on his flight back from Azerbaijan's exclave of Nakhchivan, Erdogan said that Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken discussed Sweden's NATO membership bid last week in New York. The U.S. administration is linking F-16 fighter jet sales to Turkey with Ankara's ratification of Sweden's bid, Erdogan said. "If they (the U.S.) keep their promises, our parliament will keep its own promise as well. Turkish parliament will have the final say on Sweden's NATO membership," he said.

Persons: AXEL HEIMKEN, Joe Biden's, Tayyip Erdogan, Erdogan, Hakan Fidan, Antony Blinken, Huseyin Hayatsever, Jonathan Spicer Organizations: US Airforce, Air, Rights, Sweden's NATO, NATO, Thomson Locations: Jagel, Germany, Rights ANKARA, Ankara, Azerbaijan's, Nakhchivan, New York, U.S, Turkey

☆ Erdogan sees advantage in U.S. senator Menendez's troubles -media
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan addresses the 78th Session of the U.N. General Assembly in New York City, U.S., September 19, 2023. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsANKARA, Sept 26 (Reuters) - President Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey needs to turn the legal troubles of U.S. Senator Bob Menendez, a long-time critic of his government, into opportunity for its requested purchase of F-16 U.S. fighter jets, Turkish media said on Tuesday. Erdogan raised Turkey's pending ratification of Sweden's NATO membership bid and said the White House must also fulfil its promise on the F-16s. The Biden administration is linking F-16 fighter jet sales to Turkey with Ankara's ratification of Sweden's NATO membership bid, Erdogan also said.

Persons: Tayyip Erdogan, Brendan McDermid, Bob Menendez, Menendez, Erdogan, Turkey's, Joe Biden's, Biden, Huseyin Hayatsever, Jonathan Spicer Organizations: General Assembly, REUTERS, Rights, Democrat, Senate Foreign Relations, NATO, Turkey, Lockheed Martin Corp, Thomson Locations: New York City, U.S, Rights ANKARA, Turkey, Jersey

☆ Turkey hikes inflation view on path to policy orthodoxy
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-06 | by ( Huseyin Hayatsever | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Presenting the new forecasts, Erdogan said that tight monetary policy would lower inflation to single digits, adding Turkey will not compromise on economic expansion as policies are adjusted. It trimmed GDP growth forecasts to 4.4% this year and 4% next year, which is still higher than most economists expect, from 5% and 5.5% previously. The economy is expected to slow through year-end - and ahead of nationwide municipal elections set for March next year - as stimulus tied to the May elections fades and as the policy rate hikes, to 25% from 8.5%, start to weigh. A Reuters poll last month showed expectations of 2.9% full-year growth, lower than trend in the emerging market economy that seeks to reverse a years-long exodus of foreign investors. Inflation will "be very high for an extended period of time, which will trigger second-round effects such as wage settlements."

Persons: Tayyip Erdogan, Vladimir Putin, Mikhail Klimentyev, Erdogan, Tatha Ghose, Huseyin Hayatsever, Jonathan Spicer, Peter Graff, Alexandra Hudson Organizations: Sputnik, REUTERS Acquire, Reuters, AK, Ece Toksabay, Alexandra Hudson Our, Thomson Locations: Sochi, Russia, Kremlin, ANKARA, Turkey, Istanbul, Ankara

☆ Turkey's Erdogan says to discuss grain deal with UN's Guterres this month
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Umit Bektas/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsANKARA, Sept 5 (Reuters) - President Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey is in close contact with the United Nations on reviving the Black Sea grain initiative and he will discuss it with Secretary-General Antonio Guterres at its general assembly this month, Turkish media reported. Speaking to reporters after talks in Russia with Vladimir Putin, Erdogan was quoted as saying the latest U.N. proposal sought to address some Russian demands, and he repeated he believed a solution could be found soon. NATO member Turkey is seeking to convince Russia to return to the so-called Black Sea Grain Initiative, brokered by Ankara and the United Nations. Erdogan will participate in the G20 summit in India on Sept. 9-10 before attending the U.N. General Assembly in New York on Sept. 18-26. "We will have meetings with Guterres there to discuss these issues," Erdogan was cited as saying.

Persons: Umit, Tayyip Erdogan, Antonio Guterres, Vladimir Putin, Erdogan, General Guterres, SWIFT, Putin, Daren Butler, Jonathan Spicer Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, United Nations, Agricultural Bank, TRT, Haberturk, NATO, Initiative, Moscow, General Assembly, Thomson Locations: Ukraine, Izmit, Kocaeli province, Turkey, Rights ANKARA, Russia, Moscow, Europe, Ankara, India, New York

☆ Turkey's economic team in Russia as Erdogan meets Putin -source
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Turkey's Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek speaks during the 66th General Assembly of Turkish Banks Association in Istanbul, Turkey August 17, 2023. REUTERS/Murad Sezer/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsANKARA, Sept 4 (Reuters) - Turkey's top economic policymakers are visiting Russia for meetings on Monday, a source said, travelling along with President Tayyip Erdogan who will meet Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin to discuss Black Sea grain exports. When the leaders meet later on Monday, Erdogan aims to convince Putin to return to a Ukraine grain-export deal that helped ease a global food crisis. It has opposed Russia's invasion of Ukraine while also opposing Western sanctions on Moscow and has advanced economic cooperation with Russia since the invasion early last year. Since June, Simsek and Erkan have moved to roll back regulations, partly free up the currency and launched an aggressive rate-hiking cycle.

Persons: Mehmet Simsek, Murad Sezer, Tayyip Erdogan, Vladimir Putin, Hafize Gaye Erkan, Erdogan, Putin, Simsek, Orhan Coskun, Jonathan Spicer, Daren Butler Organizations: Turkey's, General Assembly, Turkish Banks Association, REUTERS, Rights, Kremlin, Turkish, NATO, Thomson Locations: Istanbul, Turkey, Rights ANKARA, Russia, Russian, Sochi, Simsek, Ukraine, Moscow, Kyiv, UAE, Gulf

According to one of the bankers, 20% of the KKM accounts that were initially converted to lira from foreign currency were ended in August. Of those, around two thirds were converted back to forex while the rest moved into regular lira accounts, according to three bankers. But they said depositors were cautious about moving funds into lira deposit accounts just yet given expectations that deposit rates will rise more. More will shift into plain lira accounts - rather than dollars - as that happens, they added. But that trend halted in August at a peak of more than $15.7 billion as more KKM accounts were shuttered.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, Tayyip Erdogan, depositor, Ebru Tuncay, Daren Butler, Jonathan Spicer, Nick Macfie Organizations: Lira, REUTERS, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Ankara, ISTANBUL, forex, KKM

☆ Turkey's Erdogan to visit Russia 'soon' to discuss grain deal
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] Russia's President Vladimir Putin and Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan meet on the sidelines of the 6th summit of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-building Measures in Asia (CICA), in Astana, Kazakhstan October 13, 2022. Sputnik/Vyacheslav Prokofyev/Pool via REUTERS Acquire Licensing RightsISTANBUL, Aug 28 (Reuters) - Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan will visit Russia soon to discuss the collapsed United Nations deal that had allowed Black Sea exports of Ukrainian grain, a spokesperson for Turkey's ruling AK Party said on Monday. Ankara is seeking to persuade Russia to return to the agreement, under which Odesa's seaports shipped tens of millions of tons of grain. Omer Celik, the AK Party spokesperson, said Erdogan would visit Russia's Black Sea resort of Sochi "soon" but did not specify whether he would meet Russian President Vladimir Putin. "After this visit there may be developments and new stages may be reached regarding" the grain deal, he told reporters.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, Tayyip Erdogan, Vyacheslav Prokofyev, Moscow, Omer Celik, Erdogan, Putin, Ali Kucukgocmen, Jonathan Spicer, Conor Humphries Organizations: Sputnik, REUTERS Acquire, Rights, United Nations, AK, UN, AK Party, Bloomberg, Thomson Locations: Asia, Astana, Kazakhstan, Rights ISTANBUL, Russia, Turkey, Ankara, Sochi, India

Turkey's Central Bank headquarters is seen in Ankara, Turkey in this January 24, 2014 file photo. Yet five foreign investors told Reuters that this week's rate hike signalled a new independence among policymakers who are serious about addressing unrelenting pressure on the currency and reining in inflation expectations. "It feels like they are correcting the mistakes they made with their first rate hike decisions," said Viktor Szabo, portfolio manager at abrdn in London. Erdogan, who has fired four central bank chiefs in four years, has said little about the rate hikes. Reuters GraphicsTurkish stock, Eurobond and CDS markets are more attractive targets this year and next, especially after the rate hike, investors and officials say.

Persons: Umit, Erdogan's unorthodoxy, Mehmet Simsek, Goldman Sachs, Tayyip Erdogan's, Viktor Szabo, Ola El, Van Eck, ERDOGAN, Erdogan, Simsek, Hafize Gaye Erkan, Cevdet Yilmaz, Blaise Antin, TCW, Kaan, Neuberger Berman, Jonathan Spicer, Marc Jones, Jorgelina, Hugh Lawson Organizations: Turkey's Central Bank, Finance, Goldman, Reuters, abrdn, Emerging Markets, Wall Street, JPMorgan, Reuters Graphics, CDS, Yeni, United Nations, International Monetary Fund, Thomson Locations: Ankara, Turkey, ANKARA, LONDON, New York, London, Van, Los Angeles, Reuters Graphics Turkish, Yeni Safak, Morocco, Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong, Istanbul, Rosario

The surprise move leaves the policy rate at its highest level since 2019, and sent the Turkish currency to its strongest level since mid-July. The bank has raised its one-week repo rate (TRINT=ECI) by 1,650 basis points since June. The lira had touched new all-time lows almost daily in recent weeks, including in the minutes before the policy decision. The central bank said that rising oil prices and a deterioration in inflation expectations suggests that inflation will end the year at the upper bound of its forecasts. The central bank has also selectively tightened credit.

Persons: Tayyip Erdogan, Piotr Matys, Dado Ruvic, Erdogan, Hafize Gaye Erkan, Osman Cevdet Akcay, Fatih Karahan, Hatice, Ezgi Erkoyun, Christina Fincher, Angus MacSwan Organizations: Analysts, Istanbul bourse, Touch, Turkey Lira, REUTERS, Wall Street, Thomson Locations: ISTANBUL, Istanbul, Ankara

☆ Turkey begins rolling back costly FX-protected deposits
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

In a reversal, the central bank now wants lenders to set a new goal of transitioning KKM accounts into regular lira accounts, in part by dissuading companies and individuals from renewing the KKM accounts. According to a separate decree in the Official Gazette, the central bank also raised lenders' reserve requirement ratios for FX deposits, further nudging customers into regular lira accounts. KKM accounts have since ballooned to some $117 billion, or 3.1 trillion lira, around a quarter of total bank deposits. To cover KKM depreciation costs, the central bank paid an estimated 300 billion lira ($11 billion) in June and July, when the lira plunged again. The central bank said the KKM move would "enforce macro financial stability by supporting lira deposits" and pledged more such steps.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, Tayyip Erdogan's, Erdogan, Hakan Kara, Jonathan Spicer, Azra, Deepa Babington, Frances Kerry Organizations: Turkish Lira, REUTERS, Rights, Official Gazette, Bilkent University, Ece Toksabay, Thomson Locations: Turkish, Rights ANKARA

Analysts said it tests President Tayyip Erdogan's resolve to maintain good relations with Russian President Vladimir Putin, whom he has invited to Turkey this month to discuss resuming the UN-brokered deal that had protected grain exports from Ukraine. "Ankara's silence is strange but shows it is still counting on Putin to visit and return to the grain deal." It wants the West to accept some Russian demands, and for Russia to drop others, to restart Ukraine grain exports under UN and Turkish oversight. A Turkish defence ministry official, requesting anonymity, said Ankara was looking into the Black Sea raid but gave no more details. "Therefore Erdogan should negotiate and try to convince Western countries, not Putin, for the reinstatement of the grain deal," he said.

Persons: Mehmet Bey, Umit, Erdogan, Putin, NATO's, Tayyip Erdogan's, Vladimir Putin, Yoruk Isik, Grynspan, Sezer, Huseyin Hayatsever, Gabrielle Tétrault, Farber, Kirsten Donovan Organizations: Coordination Centre, REUTERS, Ankara, Analysts, UN, Bosphorus Observer, United Nations Conference, Trade, Development, Thomson Locations: Yenikapi, Istanbul, Turkey, ISTANBUL, Ukraine, NATO, Moscow, Russia, Ankara, Odesa, Turkish, Palau, Russian

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