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It would ensure the central bank's independence and roll back measures such as allowing the cabinet to select its governor. FOREIGN POLICYIt would adopt the slogan of "Peace at Home, Peace in the World" as the cornerstone of Turkey's foreign policy. Judges' willingness to abide by Constitutional Court and European Court of Human Rights rulings would be considered when evaluating promotions. Measures would be taken to ensure courts quickly implement rulings by the two high courts. It would ensure that pre-trial detentions are the exception, a measure that critics say is abused under Erdogan's rule.

☆ Turkey's Erdogan cancels election rallies for a day for health reasons
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

[1/3] Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan greets his supporters during an election rally in Manisa, Turkey April 24, 2023. Presidential Press Office/Handout via REUTERSANKARA, April 26 (Reuters) - Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said he cancelled his scheduled campaign rallies on Wednesday due to health reasons, ahead of landmark May 14 elections. "Today, I will rest at home with the advice of my doctors," Erdogan wrote on his Twitter account. Late on Tuesday, Erdogan cut short a live TV interview during which he said he felt sick due to an upset stomach. Reporting by Ece Toksabay and Huseyin Hayatsever; Editing by Jonathan SpicerOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Erdogan offers free gas pre-election after first Black Sea field shipment
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Murat Cetinmuhurdar/Presidential Press Office/Handout via REUTERSANKARA, April 20 (Reuters) - President Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday flicked the switch on Turkey's first delivery of natural gas to an onshore plant from a reserve discovered in the Black Sea, and promised to provide free natural gas for households before May 14 elections. "We will provide free natural gas for household consumption up to 25 cubic meters monthly for one year," Erdogan said at the inauguration of an onshore natural gas port in the northern province of Zonguldak. Limitless natural gas for all household consumption will be free for the next month, Erdogan said. 10 million cubic metres of gas per day in Turkey's Black Sea gas fields will be produced initially, Erdogan said. Production will be increased to 40 million cubic metres of gas per day in the coming period, he said.

[1/4] Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, accompanied by his wife Emine Erdogan, greets the audience during a meeting of his ruling AK Party to announce the party's election manifesto ahead of the May 14 elections, in Ankara, Turkey April 11, 2023. Erdogan is facing the biggest political challenge since his AK Party (AKP) came to power in 2002, with polls showing support sagging in recent years after unorthodox economic policies hobbled the lira currency and sent inflation surging. Erdogan said last week a team was working on strengthening economic policies under the coordination of former economic tsar Mehmet Simsek, who is well respected by international investors. In the presidential election next month, Erdogan will be up against the main opposition alliance candidate, Kemal Kilicdaroglu. On foreign policy, Erdogan said the AKP would continue normalizing relations in the region and aim to build an "axis of Turkey".

☆ Ministers may meet in Moscow to advance Turkey-Syria ties
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

ANKARA, April 10 (Reuters) - The foreign ministers of Turkey, Russia, Iran and Syria may hold consultations in early May as part of Russia's attempt to help broker a rapprochement between the Turkish and Syrian governments, Turkey' foreign minister said on Monday. "The meeting will most probably take place in early May, in Moscow," Minister Mevlut Cavusoğlu told broadcaster A Haber, saying it could lead to a leaders' meeting. Syrian and Turkish defence ministers held talks in Moscow in December in the highest-level encounter since the war began. Moscow is Assad's main ally and Russia has encouraged a reconciliation with Ankara. But Damascus demands full withdrawal of Turkish troops for relations to be restored.

☆ Egyptian minister to visit Turkey as ties improve - Ankara
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

ANKARA, April 10 (Reuters) - Egypt's Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry is likely to visit Turkey again this week, the government in Ankara said on Monday, adding that progress could be made towards reinstatement of envoys after relations ended a decade ago. Cavusoglu visited Cairo last month, a decade after diplomatic links were cut by the overthrow of Egypt's then president and Ankara's ally Mohamed Mursi. Shoukry also visited Turkey two weeks ago to show solidarity after the massive earthquakes that killed more than 50,000 people in Turkey and Syria. Consultations between senior foreign ministry officials in Ankara and Cairo began in 2021 as Turkey sought better ties with Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Israel and Saudi Arabia. But normalisation between Ankara and Cairo accelerated after Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and his Turkish counterpart Tayyip Erdogan shook hands in Doha at the World Cup.

☆ Iraq calls on Turkey to apologize for attack on Sulaymaniyah airport
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Erbil, April 8 (Reuters) - Iraq called on Turkey on Saturday to apologize for what it said was an attack on Sulaymaniyah airport in Iraq's north, saying the Turkish government must cease hostilities on Iraqi soil. A Turkish defence ministry official told Reuters that no Turkish Armed Forces operation took place in that region on Friday. Turkey has conducted several large-scale military operations including air strikes over the decades in northern Iraq and northern Syria against the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia, Islamic State and the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). Claims of an attack came days after Turkey closed its airspace to aircraft travelling to and from Sulaymaniyah due to what it said was intensified activity there by PKK militants. The outlawed PKK, which has led an insurgency against the Turkish state since 1984, is considered a terrorist organisation by Turkey, the United States and the European Union.

☆ Turkey, Russia agree on need to lift fertiliser export obstacles
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-07 | by ( Huseyin Hayatsever | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

"We also agree that the obstacles to the export of Russian grain and fertiliser should be removed. Issues need to be addressed for the grain deal to be extended further," he said. Lavrov said the two top diplomats discussed the grain deal, a potential gas hub in Turkey, the conflict in Syria, and Ukraine. While Russian food and fertiliser exports are not under sweeping Western sanctions, Moscow says restrictions on payments, logistics and insurance industries are a barrier. Lavrov said that Russian grain and fertiliser exports were affected by a lack of access to insurance and to the SWIFT financial messaging system.

☆ Fact Check-Photo shows 2015 demolition of Istanbul’s rainbow stairs due to construction work, not to erase political message
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-05 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

A photograph showing Istanbul’s iconic rainbow stairs being demolished in 2015 due to construction has been miscaptioned by users online. A post with more than 3.3 million views at the time of publishing can be seen (here) with the caption, “Yes. There is no reference in the article to the stairs being destroyed in 2015 because of a visual reference to the LGBTQ community. Several other reports have also quoted Cetinel saying that painting the stairs did not stem from a political message, (here), and (here). This photo shows the demolition of Istanbul’s rainbow stairs due to construction work in 2015, and the painter of the stairs has said he was not inspired by activism and they do not have a political message.

☆ Explainer: After Finland joins NATO, why is Turkey making Sweden wait?
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

BACKGROUNDRussia's invasion of Ukraine in February last year convinced Sweden and Finland to ditch long-held policies of military non-alignment. WHY DOES TURKEY OBJECT TO SWEDISH NATO MEMBERSHIP? Unlike Turkey, Hungary does not have a list of demands, but says grievances need to be addressed before it can ratify Sweden's accession to NATO. WHEN WILL TURKEY AGREE TO SWEDISH NATO MEMBERSHIP? NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has said it would be inconceivable that the alliance would not support Sweden if it were threatened.

☆ Factbox: Steps in Finnish, Swedish path to NATO membership
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Hungary's parliament approved a bill this week to allow Finland to join NATO after Erdogan declared Turkey was ready to approve that bid. Turkey's parliament is expected to follow through on Erdogan's commitment with a vote this week, clearing the way for Finland to join NATO within weeks. Here are the key steps in Finland's and Sweden's path towards NATO membership so far:FINLAND AND SWEDEN SUBMIT MEMBERSHIP REQUESTThe applications, letters signed by the countries' foreign ministers, were formally handed in by Finland's and Sweden's NATO ambassadors on May 18, 2022. FINLAND FORGES AHEADAll NATO countries must ratify a would-be member's application before it can join the alliance. But NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has said getting Sweden's application over the line is a top priority.

☆ Erdogan says Putin may visit Turkey in April for power plant inauguration
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

ANKARA, March 29 (Reuters) - Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin may visit Turkey on April 27 for the inauguration of the country's first nuclear power reactor built by Russia's state nuclear energy company Rosatom. "Maybe there is a possibility that Mr Putin will come on April 27, or we may connect to the inauguration ceremony online and we will take the first step in Akkuyu," Erdogan said in televised comments on private broadcaster ATV. Turkey will load the first nuclear fuel into the first power unit of the Akkuyu nuclear power plant and officially grant it nuclear facility status on April 27, Erdogan said in an earlier announcement on Wednesday. The Kremlin on Monday denied Turkish reports that Putin was planning to visit Turkey. The Kremlin said on Saturday that Putin and Erdogan discussed during a phone call the successful implementation of joint strategic projects in the energy sector, including the construction of the Akkuyu nuclear power plant.

☆ Moscow to host Syria, Turkey, Iran, Russia meeting - official sources
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov speaks with journalists before a meeting of Russian President Vladimir Putin with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia February 27, 2019. The situation on the ground in Syria would be discussed at the April 3-4 in Moscow, a senior Turkish official said. A previously planned meeting of four countries' deputy foreign ministers scheduled in March was postponed. A senior Iranian foreign ministry official confirmed the meeting in Moscow in the first week of April. Citing Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov, Russian state-owned news agency RIA reported on Monday that the deputy foreign ministers of Russia, Turkey, Iran and Syria may hold consultations in Moscow in early April.

ANKARA, March 28 (Reuters) - Turkey's Energy Ministry said on Tuesday that Iraq had been ordered by the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) to pay compensation to Ankara in a longstanding arbitration case related to oil exports from northern Iraq via Turkey. The Turkish energy ministry statement was released after Iraq's oil ministry said on Saturday the ICC had ruled in its favour in the case. The Turkish statement said the ICC had recognised a majority of Turkey's demands, without saying how much compensation Iraq had been ordered to pay. "(The ICC) ordered Iraq to pay a compensation to Turkey," the ministry said, without revealing the amount of compensation. "This case is in fact a reflection of disagreement between Iraq's central government and Iraq's Kurdish Regional Administration," the Turkish ministry said.

The aim was to combat a global food crisis that was fueled in part by Russia's Feb. 24, 2022, invasion of Ukraine and Black Sea blockade. The United Nations and Turkey said on Saturday that the deal had been extended, but did not specify for how long. [1/2] Commercial vessels including vessels which are part of Black Sea grain deal wait to pass the Bosphorus strait off the shores of Yenikapi during a misty morning in Istanbul, Turkey, October 31, 2022. Dujarric said on Saturday that the United Nations was strongly committed to implementing both the Ukraine Black Sea grain deal and the pact with Moscow and urged "all sides to redouble their efforts to implement them fully." Ukraine has so far exported nearly 25 million tonnes of mainly corn and wheat under the deal, according to the United Nations.

At a joint news conference with his Turkish counterpart, Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said talks with Turkey on the possibility of restoring ties to ambassadorial level would happen at "the appropriate time". Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Turkey would upgrade its diplomatic relations with Egypt to ambassador level "as soon as possible". "There is a political will and directives from the presidents of both countries when they met in Doha ... to launch the path towards a full normalisation of relations," Shoukry said. Consultations between senior foreign ministry officials in Ankara and Cairo began in 2021, amid a push by Turkey to ease tensions with Egypt, the UAE, Israel and Saudi Arabia. As part of that tentative reconciliation, Ankara asked Egyptian opposition TV channels operating in Turkey to moderate their criticism of Egypt.

☆ Black Sea grain deal extended, say parties to agreement
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] Commercial vessels including vessels which are part of Black Sea grain deal wait to pass the Bosphorus strait off the shores of Yenikapi during a misty morning in Istanbul, Turkey, October 31, 2022. REUTERS/Umit Bektas/File PhotoANKARA, March 18 (Reuters) - A deal allowing the export of Ukrainian grain from Black Sea ports that was due to expire on Saturday has been renewed, following days of talks brokered by Turkey to extend the agreement. "The Black Sea Grain Initiative, signed in Istanbul on 22 July 2022, has been extended," the United Nations said in a statement, thanking the Turkish government for its diplomatic and operational support of the deal. Ukrainian Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov said the deal had been extended for 120 days. "(The Black Sea Grain Initiative) agreement is extended for 120 days," Kubrakov wrote on Twitter.

☆ Turkey plans to ratify Finland's NATO bid ahead of May polls, sources say
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( Orhan Coskun | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

A senior Turkish official told Reuters that Finland's bid would be approved independently from that of Sweden. Niinisto, who will visit Turkey on March 16-17, said he believed Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan will give his blessing to Finland's NATO bid when the two meet. Erdogan indicated that he would send ratification of Finland's NATO membership to parliament soon, saying that he would "keep his promise". After that, we will fulfil our promise," Erdogan told reporters on Wednesday, when asked whether he would send ratification of Finland's NATO bid to Turkish parliament next week. "Positive messages will be given to Finland's president during his visit," the second official said.

☆ Turkey plans to ratify Finland's NATO bid ahead of May polls -sources
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( Orhan Coskun | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Amid growing tensions with Sweden, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan signalled for the first time in January that Ankara could give a green light to Helsinki ahead of Stockholm. "It is highly likely that the necessary step for Finland's NATO membership will be completed before (parliament) closes and the election is held," the official said. Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan indicated that he would send ratification of Finland's NATO membership to parliament soon, saying that he would "keep his promise". After that, we will fulfil our promise," Erdogan told reporters on Wednesday, when asked whether he would send ratification of Finland's NATO bid to Turkish parliament next week. "Positive messages will be given to Finland's president during his visit," the second official said.

FOREIGN POLICYThe opposition bloc will adopt the slogan of "Peace at Home, Peace in the World" as the cornerstone of Turkey's foreign policy. While promising to "work to complete the accession process" for the full membership in the European Union, the alliance has vowed to review Turkey's refugee deal of 2016 with the EU. They have also promised to establish relations with the United States with an understanding of mutual trust, and to return Turkey to the F-35 fighter jet programme. They say Turkey would maintain relations with Russia "with an understanding that both parties are equal and strengthened by balanced and constructive dialogue." They will also reform the structure and elections processes for higher courts, such as the Constitutional Court, the Court of Cassation and Council of State.

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

Speaking at party headquarters in Ankara, the leader of Turkey's right-wing IYI Party, Meral Aksener, said the other five parties in the alliance had put forward Kemal Kilicdaroglu, leader of the Republican People's Party (CHP), as their presidential candidate. But Aksener said her party, the second biggest in the alliance, would not "bow down" to pressure to accept him. "It is no longer a platform through which potential candidates can be discussed but a table that works to rubber-stamp a single candidate," she said. "Just like over the past 20 years, the opposition turned out to be President Tayyip Erdogan’s greatest asset," Piccoli wrote. "With the main opposition bloc in disarray, Erdogan is now much better positioned to prevail on 14 May."

There had been conflicting signals over the likely timing of the presidential and parliamentary elections since last month's earthquake, with some suggesting they could be postponed until later in the year or could be held as scheduled on June 18. Erdogan has faced a wave of criticism over his government's handling of the deadliest quake in the nation's modern history. Now he also must contend with criticism over the response to the quake in a region that traditionally backed him. The quake also injured 108,000 people in Turkey. Some two million people were registered as having fled the region, which has been hit by more than 11,000 aftershocks, AFAD said.

☆ New Turkey quake kills one person, flattens more buildings
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( Timour Azhari | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The latest aftershock, with a magnitude of 5.6 and depth of 6.15 km, hit three weeks after a massive quake that killed more than 50,000 people in Turkey and Syria. Turkey has arrested 184 people suspected of complicity in the collapse of buildings in this month's earthquakes and investigations are widening, a minister said on Saturday. On Sunday, AFAD announced that the death toll in the devastating quake three weeks ago had risen to 44,374. More than 160,000 buildings containing 520,000 apartments collapsed or were severely damaged in Turkey by the disaster, the worst in the country's modern history. After the latest tremor, AFAD issued a fresh warning on Twitter telling people not to enter or even stand near damaged buildings in the earthquake zone.

Summary Egyptian FM says 'goal of visit primarily humanitarian'And to 'pass on our solidarity' from people of EgyptArab League suspended Syria in 2011DAMASCUS, Feb 27 (Reuters) - Egypt's foreign minister met Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu on Monday in the first visits to Syria and Turkey by a top Egyptian diplomat in a decade. "The goal of the visit is primarily humanitarian, and to pass on our solidarity – from the leadership, the government and the people of Egypt to the people of Syria," Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry told reporters in Damascus. "When the foreign minister of Egypt comes to Damascus, he comes to his home, his people, and his country," Mekdad said. Shoukry also visited Turkey, pointing to another shift in Egypt's foreign ties. "Foreign minister offers condolences for the victims of earthquake, affirms solidarity of Egyptian leadership, government and people with Turkey, and asserting continuity of aid for supporting Turkey and its brotherly people," Ahmed Abu Zeid, spokesperson for Egypt's Foreign Ministry, said.

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