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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

☆ Turkish cargo ship hits mine in Black Sea, sustains minor damage
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, Oct 5 (Reuters) - A Turkish-flagged general cargo ship hit a mine on Thursday in the Black Sea off the coast of Romania and sustained minor damage but the crew was safe, maritime and security sources said. The vessel dropped anchor for a short period to assess the damage," Ambrey said in a note. The Black Sea area has been listed as a high risk zone by insurers and floating mines remain a peril. Since then, Ukraine has set up a temporary "humanitarian corridor" for cargo vessels, and several ships have left Ukrainian Black Sea ports since August. Russia may use sea mines to target civilian shipping in the Black Sea, including by laying them on the approach to Ukrainian ports, the British government said on Wednesday citing intelligence.

Persons: Ambrey, Yoruk Isik, Kafkametler, Jonathan Saul, Pavel Poltityuk, Sandra Maler Organizations: Bosphorus Observer, Reuters, Kafkametler, Thomson Locations: Romania, British, Sulina, Istanbul, Vylkove, Russia, Ukraine, Ukrainian, Russian, London, Kyiv

CNN —Turkish airstrikes killed at least 11 people in multiple Kurdish-controlled locations in northeastern Syria, the Kurdish Internal Security Force said Thursday, the latest response from Ankara’s forces following a bomb attack in Turkey’s capital claimed by Kurdish militants. “Eleven people were martyred, including five civilians and six members of the Internal Security Forces,” Asayish said. Eight civilians and two members of the Kurdish security forces were wounded, it added. Later Sunday, the Turkish Defense Ministry said its warplanes had destroyed 20 PKK targets in northern Iraq in response to the attack. According to Ankara, the PKK trains separatist fighters and launches attacks against Turkey from its bases in northern Iraq and Syria, where a PKK-affiliated Kurdish group controls large swaths of territory.

Persons: ” Asayish, Hakan Fidan, Fidan, ” Fidan Organizations: CNN, Turkish, Kurdish Internal Security Force, Kurdish, Internal Security Forces, Turkey’s Defense Ministry, Kurdistan Workers ’ Party, United Nations Charter, European Union, Ministry, Turkish Defense Ministry, Turkish Armed Forces, Group, Kurdistan Regional Government Locations: Syria, Kurdish, Turkey, Kurdistan, Ankara, United States, Turkey’s, Iraq, “, Turkish, Iran, Kordestan, Iraqi Kurdistan, Istanbul

☆ Stock market minnows are grabbing most of the world’s IPOs
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-03 | by ( Anna Cooban | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

The US is still the biggest single IPO market. It is now the world’s fourth-biggest IPO market when measured by the value of deals, totaling $3.2 billion so far this year, according to data provider Dealogic. Further south, the year-to-date value of IPO deals on Turkey’s Borsa Istanbul has hit $2.3 billion, more than double the value of deals on the London Stock Exchange. Not a ‘pretty picture’The United Kingdom’s IPO market is in more profound trouble, and the loss of the Arm IPO to New York stung. Kerr attributes the decline in the UK’s IPO scene partly to Brexit but also to the growing strength of stock exchanges in emerging markets.

Persons: EY, ” George Chan, Chan, you’ve, they’re, ”, Hidroelectrica, Michael M, Kevin Gordon, Charles Schwab, ” Gordon, Germany’s, Samuel Kerr, Kerr Organizations: London CNN, Nasdaq, CNN, Center, United Arab, Bucharest Stock Exchange, Turkey’s Borsa, London Stock Exchange, Tech, IPOs, New York Stock Exchange, Getty, Federal Reserve, United, Wall, “ Companies Locations: Turkey, Romania, Indonesia, Malaysia, India, Hong Kong, United States, United Arab Emirates, China, Jakarta, Frankfurt, Paris, Romanian, Turkey’s Borsa Istanbul, Europe, New York, London

☆ Prix Pictet photography contest winner captures the beauty and harshness of life in rural Rajasthan
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-02 | by ( Issy Ronald | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

For a portfolio that included these images captured in rural Rajasthan, Indian photographer Gauri Gill has won the prestigious Prix Pictet, a global award for photography and sustainability. “To live poor and landless in the desert amounts to an inescapable reliance on oneself, on each other, and on nature,” she added. “These fragments of shared experience now inhabit a large photographic archive called Notes from the Desert.”First launched in 2008, the Prix Pictet photography award aims to capture and highlight issues of work on themes connected to sustainability. Ragnar AxelssonEleven other portfolios of work were shortlisted for the award. A selection of the images can be viewed in the gallery above.

Persons: Gauri Gill, Gill, “, ”, Ragnar Axelsson, Ragnar Axelsson’s, Alessandro Cinque, Isabelle von Ribbentrop Organizations: CNN, Prix, Pictet, Victoria, Albert Museum Locations: Rajasthan, Indian, Iceland, Peru, London, Istanbul, Dublin, Bangkok, Stockholm

Istanbul CNN —Turkey’s military carried out airstrikes targeting Kurdish militants in northern Iraq on Sunday, just hours after the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) claimed responsibility for a deadly bombing in the capital in the latest attack of its nearly four-decade long insurgency. The ministry said in a statement that two attackers murdered a civilian and stole his vehicle ahead of the opening of parliament in Ankara. According to Ankara, the PKK trains separatist fighters and launches attacks against Turkey from its bases in northern Iraq and Syria, where a PKK-affiliated Kurdish group controls large swaths of territory. And in November last year, Ankara blamed the PKK for a bomb attack on a central pedestrian boulevard in Istanbul that killed six and injured dozens. In recent years, Turkey has carried out a steady stream of operations against the PKK domestically as well as cross-border operations into Syria.

Persons: Istanbul CNN —, ”, Ali Unal, Recep Tayyip Erdogan Organizations: Istanbul CNN, Kurdistan Workers ’ Party, Turkish Defense Ministry, United Nations Charter, European Union, Turkey’s, Ministry, Firat News Agency, Sunday, Group, Kurdistan Regional Government Locations: Istanbul, Iraq, Kurdistan, Metina, Gara, “, Turkey, United States, Ankara, Turkish, Iran, Kordestan, Iraqi Kurdistan, Syria, Kurdish

☆ Turkey says "neutralised" many militants in north Iraq air strikes
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-02 | by ( Daren Butler | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 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. Murat Cetinmuhurdar/PPO/Handout via REUTERS Acquire Licensing RightsSummary Air strikes destroy 20 militant targets in Iraq, Turkey saysPKK group earlier claimed responsibility for Ankara attackIt was the first such attack in Ankara in yearsISTANBUL, Oct 2 (Reuters) - Turkish air strikes in north Iraq late on Sunday "neutralised" many Kurdish militants and destroyed their depots and shelters, Turkey's defence ministry said, hours after a Kurdish group claimed responsibility for a bomb attack in Ankara. The outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militant group claimed responsibility for the attack. The bomb killed one attacker and authorities killed the other, the interior minister said. It launched an insurgency in southeast Turkey in 1984 and more than 40,000 people have been killed in the conflict.

Persons: Tayyip Erdogan, Murat Cetinmuhurdar, Daren Butler, Robert Birsel Organizations: REUTERS Acquire, Kurdistan Workers Party, Reuters, Immortals Battalion, European Union, Renault, Turkish, Islamic, Thomson Locations: Turkish, Ankara, Turkey, Handout, Iraq, ISTANBUL, Gara, United States, Ataturk, Kayseri, Islamic State

☆ 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

☆ 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

☆ Five new cargo vessels heading for Ukrainian Black Sea ports: MarineTraffic
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-01 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

A cargo ship carrying Ukrainian grain, and another originating from Ukraine, sail at the entrance of Bosphorus, in the Black Sea off the coast off Kumkoy, north of Istanbul, on November 2, 2022. Five new ships are on their way to Ukrainian sea ports using a new corridor opened to resume predominantly agricultural exports, an alternative arrangement to the Black Sea grain deal blocked by Russia, the MarineTraffic database showed on Sunday. The MarineTraffic database showed earlier on Sunday that three cargo vessels left Ukrainian Black Sea ports after loading, the latest to sail since Kyiv set up a temporary "humanitarian corridor" after Russia quit a deal allowing safe passage for Ukraine exports. The database identified the five vessels heading toward the ports as Olga, Ida, Forza Doria, New Legacy and Danny Boy. Deputy Prime Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov said last month that three cargo ships were heading towards Ukrainian Black Sea ports for further food and steel exports.

Persons: Olga, Ida, Forza, Danny Boy, Oleksandr Kubrakov, Ying Hao, Moscow Organizations: Russia, United Locations: Ukraine, Bosphorus, Kumkoy, Istanbul, Russia, Ukrainian, Forza Doria, China, Egypt, Spain, Moscow, Kyiv, United Nations, Turkey

☆ Ankara blast echoes past attacks in Turkey
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/2] Members of Turkish Police Special Forces secure the area near the Interior Ministry following a bomb attack in Ankara, Turkey October 1, 2023. Turkey blamed Kurdish militants for the Istanbul blast, which reminded Turks of a wave of attacks carried out by various militant groups in Turkish cities between mid-2015 and early 2017. June 28, 2016 - A triple suicide bombing and a gun attack killed 45 people and wounded more than 160 people at Istanbul's main airport. March 19, 2016 - A suicide bomber killed four people in a busy shopping district of Istiklal Street in the heart of Istanbul. Sept 8, 2015 - Kurdish militants killed 15 police officers in two bombings in eastern Turkish provinces of Mardin and Igdir.

Persons: Cagla, Tayyip Erdogan, Azra Ceylan, Canan, Gareth Jones, William Maclean Organizations: Turkish Police Special Forces, Ministry, REUTERS, Authorities, Kurdistan Workers Party, Islamic State, Kurdistan Freedom Hawks, Islamic, Explosives, Thomson Locations: Ankara, Turkey, Istanbul, Turkish, Izmir, Kayseri, Turkey's, Gaziantep, Islamic State, Istanbul's, Diyarbakir, Istiklal, Iranian, Mardin, Igdir, Suruc, Syrian, Gdansk

☆ Ankara blast: Terror attack injures 2 outside Turkish Interior minister building
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-01 | by ( Gul Tuysuz | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Istanbul CNN —Two terrorists carried out a bomb attack in front of Turkey’s Interior Ministry building in the Turkish capital Ankara ahead of the opening of parliament on Sunday, authorities said. Two police officers suffered non life-threatening injuries in the attack, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said in a statement on X, previously known as Twitter. The attackers arrived in a light commercial vehicle in front of the building’s entrance at about 9:30 a.m. local time, Yerlikaya. The apparent guard tower in front of the entrance to the building was slightly damaged in the blast. Police officers inspect the area after an explosion near the Turkish Parliament and Interior Ministry in Ankara on Sunday.

Persons: Ali Yerlikaya, CNN Turk, Osmancan, Yilmaz Tunc, Turkey’s, ” Tunc, Cagla Gurdogan, Adem Altan Organizations: Istanbul CNN —, Turkey’s, Ministry, Twitter, Reuters, Police, CNN, Turkish, Interior Ministry, Anadolu Agency, Turkish Police Special Forces, Getty Locations: Istanbul, Turkish, Ankara, AFP, Turkey, Syria

☆ Pope Francis appeals against polarization ahead of big Church meeting
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-30 | by ( Philip Pullella | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

About 18,000 people, mostly young Christians from around the world, attended, reading prayers for victims of war, injustice and sexual violence and calling for defence of the environment. Hundreds were later starting a three-day retreat north of Rome ahead of the opening of the synod. Various groups have arrived in Rome to hold news conferences, presentations and protests to illustrate their views, suggestions and demands. The prayer vigil was attended Christian leaders including Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, spiritual head of the worldwide Anglican communion, and Bartholomew I, the Istanbul-based Ecumenical Patriarch of Orthodox Christianity. In his homily at that event, he called for "an ever more symphonic and synodal Church".

Persons: Pope Francis, Francis, Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, Bartholomew I, Philip Pullella, Giles Elgood Organizations: CITY, Catholic Church, Peter's, Churches, Thomson Locations: St, Rome, Istanbul, Christianity

ISTANBUL (AP) — Turkey’s oldest film festival has been canceled amid controversy surrounding a politically sensitive documentary about the aftermath of a 2016 coup attempt. “Due to the mess created by their own hand,” the festival administration, artistic director and the entire artistic team were fired, he said. The documetary's director Nejla Demirci wrote on X Friday evening: “I am saddened to see, day by day, how negative attitudes have organized against a documentary film. Organizers had said they would remove “The Decree” from the film festival program. Festival director Ahmet Boyacioglu initially announced the film was removed from the national documentary category due to ongoing legal proceedings against one of the people featured.

Persons: Muhittin Bocek, ”, Fethullah Gulen, Gulen, “, Critics, terminations, Nejla Demirci, Ahmet Boyacioglu Organizations: —, Antalya, Orange, Turkish Culture and Tourism Ministry, Culture Ministry, Turkish, U.S, Wednesday Locations: ISTANBUL, Turkish Culture, Turkey, Antalya

☆ The 500-year-old hamam bringing Istanbul’s past to life
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-28 | by ( Alice Barnes-Brown | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

CNN —Closed to the public for more than a decade, the stunning Zeyrek Çinili Hamam has just reopened its wooden doors to the world. A team of archaeologists and historians at the hamam helped those institutions to identify exactly where their Iznik tiles came from. Ottoman know-how and seamless minimalism come together inside the Çinili Hamam to create the ultimate zone-out space. The glass stars on the domed ceilings (a signature of Ottoman hamam design) allow just enough natural light to shimmer in, but not so much that it dazzles. Yazgan says the Zeyrek Çinili Hamam will closely replicate time-honored Ottoman bathtime traditions.

Persons: Hamam, Mimar Sinan, Suleiman the, Çinili, ”, Koza Yazgan, “, Sinan, London’s, Yazgan, Brüeckner –, Hammam, Murat Germen, Murat, Germen Murat Germen, puffy, ‘, Istanbul’s, It’s Organizations: CNN, hamam, Istanbul Biennial, Marmara Group, Egyptian Museum, UNESCO, Hagia Locations: Istanbul’s Zeyrek, Fatih, Zeyrek, Cairo, Abu Dhabi, Mimar, Turkey, Istanbul, Ayasofya, Hagia Sofia, Ottoman, hamams, Aivita, Marmara, Valens, –

Menendez, the senior Democratic senator for New Jersey, has been a vocal opponent of Turkey receiving aircraft to update its fighter fleet. “One of our most important problems regarding the F-16s were the activities of U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez against our country,” Erdogan told journalists on a flight back from Azerbaijan on Monday. “Menendez’s exit gives us an advantage but the F-16 issue is not an issue that depends only on Menendez,” Erdogan added. Neither Washington nor Ankara have openly admitted a link between Sweden’s bid to the F-16 deal but it is widely acknowledged unofficially. “We will raise our voices even more for Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus to be recognized by other countries,” Erdogan said.

Persons: —, Sen, Bob Menendez, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Menendez, U.S . Sen, ” Erdogan, Antony Blinken, Hakan Fidan, Erdogan, Blinken, Fidan, ”, “, Benjamin Netanyahu Organizations: U.S, Senate Foreign Relations, Democratic, U.S ., Turkish, NATO, Finland, Israeli, General Assembly Locations: ISTANBUL, Turkish, New Jersey, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Ankara, Greece, Sweden, Stockholm, Ukraine, Hungary, Washington, Nakhchivan, Nagorno, Karabakh, Baku, Armenia, Iran, Tehran, New York, Israel, Cyprus, Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus

☆ Saudi Arabia and the UAE are battling to become the Middle East's economic superpower
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-24 | by ( Hasan Chowdhury | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

Saudi Arabia's crown prince is shaking up his economy in a move escalating its UAE rivalry. In March, Saudi Arabia unveiled Riyadh Air , a new airline serving as an alternative to the UAE's Emirates and Etihad Airways. If you want to do business with Saudi Arabia or Saudi state-owned entities, you've got to base your regional HQ in Saudi Arabia." "Saudi Arabia sees the separation project in Yemen as a way to let the Houthis control the north and therefore have a more-threatening border at the south of Saudi Arabia." Bandar Algaloud/Courtesy of Saudi Royal Court/Handout via REUTERSHow far the rivalry between the two nations goes largely depends on Saudi Arabia's actions.

Persons: Saudi Arabia's, Mohammed bin Salman, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, MBZ, Obama, You've, Kristian Ulrichsen, Rice, Sheikh Mohamed, Prince Mohammed, Sheikh Mohamed —, —, Leon Neal, Shaybah, Ulrichsen, Sheikh Zayed, Sultan Al Nahyan, Abu, Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Neom, Abishur Prakash, Jorg Greuel, Abdullah Alaoudh, Prakash, you've, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed, Ludovic Marin, Mohammed's, Jamal Khashoggi, Biden, Baker Institute's Ulrichsen, Alaoudh, wouldn't Organizations: United Arab Emirates, UAE, Service, Baker Institute, Saudi, UAE —, Qatar, Dubai, United, Freedom Initiative, UAE's Emirates, Etihad Airways, Saudi Public Investment Fund, Newcastle United FC, English Premier League, Manchester City, Saudi Crown, Getty, Ritz Carlton, Saudi Royal Court, REUTERS, Saudi Aramco, United Nations Locations: Saudi, Wall, Silicon, Saudi Arabia, East, Washington, London, UAE, Persian, Al Ain, British, Qatar, Abu Dhabi, United Arab, Riyadh, Manchester City . Saudi Arabia, New Delhi, Istanbul, Yemen, Iran, Saudi Arabia's, Bandar, Ukraine

☆ So many people want to attend a Middle East investment conference dubbed 'Davos in the desert' that they're charging $15,000 to get in the door
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-23 | by ( Polly Thompson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

About 5,000 delegates are paying $15,000 each to attend an investment conference in Riyadh next month. Growing interest in the conference also underlines Saudi Arabia's rising global influence. The annual event is the largest investment and business conference in the Middle East, and has been compared to Davos – the Swiss ski resort that hosts the World Economic Forum each January. As well as being a forum for discussion, the event is also an accelerator for Saudi investment opportunities. At last year's conference, more than 28 investment deals worth over $9 billion were signed, according to the US-Saudi Business Council.

Persons: Goldman Sachs, Sam Bankman, Jared Kushner, execs, Jamal Khashoggi, Prince Mohammed bin Salman's Organizations: Service, Future Investment Initiative, Street Journal, Economic, Bridgewater Associates, Saudi Business Council, Investment Initiative, FII Institute, Saudi Locations: Riyadh, Saudi, Wall, Silicon, Eastern, Davos, Saudi Arabian, Blackstone, BlackRock, Istanbul, FAYEZ, Saudi Arabia

☆ Syrians feel growing pressure from Turkey's anti-migrant political wave
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-22 | by ( Burcu Karakas | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/4] Adem Maarastawi, a 29-year-old Syrian activist, poses after an interview with Reuters in Istanbul, Turkey September 12, 2023. Hardship caused by Turkey's rampant inflation and anti-migrant rhetoric motivated his decision. DEADLINE TO MOVEAdem Maarastawi, a 29 year-old Syrian activist working in Istanbul, is registered in central Turkey's Kirsehir province. "Anti-migrant rhetoric is likely to rise before the March elections," said Deniz Sert, associate professor of international relations at Ozyegin University. Local government expert Ali Mert Tascier said opposition parties are likely to use anti-migrant rhetoric, with municipalities being the main players in managing migrants.

Persons: Adem Maarastawi, Dilara, scapegoated, Deniz Sert, Ali Mert Tascier, Tayyip Erdogan, Erdogan, Osman Nuri Kabaktepe, Maarastawi, Burcu Karakas, Daren Butler, William Maclean Organizations: Reuters, REUTERS, Authorities, Ozyegin University . Local, Erdogan's AK Party, Thomson Locations: Istanbul, Turkey, Istanbul ISTANBUL, Syria, Europe, Turkish, Belgium, Sanliurfa, Turkey's Kirsehir

☆ Saudi crown prince says normalization with Israel gets 'closer' every day
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-21 | by ( Nadeen Ebrahim | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Abu Dhabi, UAE CNN —Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) said that his country was moving “closer” each day toward reaching a normalization deal with Israel, the first time he has publicly acknowledged the process. We’re gonna see how it goes.”The Biden administration has for several months been in talks with Saudi Arabia on the matter, according to US officials. Saudi Arabia has been strengthening its ties with China as Washington’s rivalry with the Asian nation heats up. “We are the biggest buyer of American armored manufacturing,” he said, adding that Saudi Arabia is “critical” to US arms exports. Saudi Arabia is in the process of changing laws to make them “more realistic” for Saudis, he said.

Persons: UAE CNN — Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, ”, Biden, don’t, Benjamin Netanyahu, Netanyahu, Joe Biden, Fox News ’ Brett Baier, ” BRICS, BRICS, Jamal Khashoggi, Khashoggi Organizations: UAE CNN — Saudi Arabia’s Crown, Fox News, Saudi, MBS, ”, West Bank, Wednesday, CNN, Fox, White, America, CIA Locations: Abu Dhabi, UAE, Israel, Saudi, Saudi Arabia, Riyadh, ”, Iran, Tehran, China, Beijing, Gulf, America, Arabia, West, Russia, Istanbul

ISTANBUL (AP) — Turkey’s central bank raised its key interest rate by 5 percentage points Thursday, another large but expected hike that signals a continued push toward more traditional economic policies under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The Turkish central bank started cutting rates in late 2021 under pressure from Erdogan. Before their appointments, the central bank had cut its key interest rate from around 19% in 2021 to 8.5% earlier this year. Erdogan has fired three central bank governors who resisted pressure to cut rates before appointing Erkan’s predecessor in 2021. Following Erkan’s appointment, the bank has raised its key rate a series fo time: by an aggressive 7.5 percentage points in August, 2.5 percentage points in July and 6.5 percentage points in June.

Persons: Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Erdogan, Merrill Lynch, Mehmet Simsek, Hafize Gaye Erkan, Erkan’s Organizations: U.S . Federal Reserve, Bank of England, U.S Locations: ISTANBUL, Turkey, Turkish, Erdogan, Central, Ukraine

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

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

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

GENEVA (AP) — Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham made $100 million moves in the offseason and proved their worth Wednesday in Champions League debuts for their new clubs. England captain Kane and his likely successor Bellingham scored key goals for Bayern Munich and Real Madrid, respectively, to show why they are adored already by their new home fans. PSV Eindhoven was thrashed 4-0 in a no-doubt win sparked by England winger Bukayo Saka’s goal in the 8th. Late goals got Italian teams off to good starts in the last-ever group stage before the new Champions League format takes effect next year. OLD MASTERSReal Madrid was playing its 477th game in the European Cup or Champions League.

Persons: — Harry Kane, Jude Bellingham, Kane, Bellingham, ” Kane, Bayern “, ” Bellingham, Union Berlin, Bukayo Saka’s, Napoli, Sikou Niakaté, Lautaro Martínez, Union, Madrid’s, Jude Bellingham pirouetted, ”, Diego Armando Maradona, UNITED’S, Erik ten Hag, André Onana, Leroy Sané’s, Serge Gnabry, Bruno Fernandes, Rasmus Højlund, Casemiro, António Silva, Silva, Karim Konaté, Roko Šimić, Oscar Gloukh, Jonathan David, KÍ Klaksvík, ___ Organizations: GENEVA, League, England, Bayern Munich, Manchester United, Tottenham, CBS Sports, Bayern, Union, Borussia Dortmund, Arsenal, Champions League, PSV Eindhoven, Serie, Braga, Inter, Real Sociedad, Galatasaray, Copenhagen, Europa League, Sevilla, Lens, Real Madrid, Union Berlin, Servette, SC Motor Berlin, Napoli, Atalanta, Benfica, Salzburg, EUROPA CONFERENCE LEAGUE, Europa Conference League, Lille, Slovenian, Olimpija Ljubljana, Slovan Bratislava, Conference League Locations: Real Madrid, England, Madrid, Spanish, Mali, Argentina, Istanbul —, Geneva —, East Germany, ” Madrid, United, Denmark, French, Portuguese, Croatian, Israel, Canada, Faeroe

ISTANBUL (AP) — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that he trusts Russia as much he trusts the West. “To the extent the West is reliable, Russia is equally reliable. Erdogan is visiting New York four months after winning elections that extended his 20-year rule for another five years. Some members of the U.S. Congress have indicated the provision of F-16s to update Turkey’s fighter fleet is dependent on Ankara agreeing to Sweden’s NATO membership. Erdogan also drew a line between Sweden’s NATO bid and Turkey’s EU accession.

Persons: Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Vladimir Putin, Erdogan, “, ” Erdogan, Mr, Biden, ”, Putin Organizations: Kremlin, U.S, PBS, General, EU, ”, New York, European Union, Union, Washington, NATO, Congress, Turkish, Turkey ” Locations: ISTANBUL, Russia, Africa, New York, ” Ankara, Ukraine, Turkey, New, Turkish, Turkey’s, Hungary, Stockholm, Ankara, Sweden

☆ India entry into geopolitical storm will be costly
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-19 | by ( Una Galani | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

MUMBAI, Sept 19 (Reuters Breakingviews) - India may pay a price from getting caught in the eye of a geopolitical storm, but it may be a small one. New Delhi has dismissed as “absurd” Canada’s allegation of its involvement in the June murder in British Columbia of a Sikh separatist leader that India had branded a “terrorist”. A trade deal with India, now stalled, may have helped Ottawa pivot away from the People’s Republic a little bit faster. But India accounted for barely $6.5 billion, or less than 1% of Canada’s trade with the world in 2020. Canada also expelled India's top intelligence agent following the row, while India expelled a senior Canadian diplomat.

Persons: Sajjan Jindal’s, Joe Biden, Narendra Modi, Jamal Khashoggi, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, –, Tesla, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, Justin Trudeau, Nijjar, “, Trudeau, Lisa Jucca, Streisand Neto Organizations: Reuters, Resources, Crown, Canada, Apple, U.S . National Security Council, Thomson Locations: MUMBAI, India, New Delhi, British Columbia, China, Ottawa, People’s Republic, American, Vancouver, Australia, Canada, United States, Delhi, Saudi Arabia, Saudi, Istanbul . U.S, Canadian

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