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

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

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

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

[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.

It reinforced Erdogan's image of invincibility in the deeply divided NATO-member country, whose foreign, economic and security policy he has redrawn. Pro-government newspapers, part of an overwhelmingly pro-Erdogan media landscape that buoyed his election campaign in the nation of 85 million people, cheered his victory. Erdogan said inflation, which hit a 24-year peak of 85% last year before easing, is Turkey's most urgent issue. Turkey's main pro-Kurdish party, parliament's third largest, was among the opposition parties opposed to Erdogan and is accused of links to Kurdish militants, which it denies. Erdogan, head of the Islamist-rooted AK Party, appealed to voters with nationalist and conservative rhetoric in a divisive campaign that deflected attention from Turkey's economic problems.

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

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

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

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

☆ Turkey election runoff 2023: what you need to know
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

[1/2] Women display flags with images of Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan next to an election campaign point, ahead of the May 28 presidential runoff vote, in Istanbul, Turkey May 25, 2023. Here is a guide to the runoff, the two candidates and the key issues as well as details on how the May 14 parliamentary election unfolded:PRESIDENTIAL VOTETurks will be electing a president for a five-year term. As president, Erdogan sets policy on Turkey's economy, security, domestic and international affairs. The ZP received 2.2% of votes in the parliamentary election. On foreign affairs, under Erdogan, Turkey has flexed military power in the Middle East and beyond, forged closer ties with Russia, and seen relations with the European Union and United States become increasingly strained.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

☆ Turkey 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.

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

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's Erdogan urges voters to turn out, rival sees 'last exit'
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-27 | by ( Ezgi Erkoyun | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/6] Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan attends a rally, ahead of the May 28 presidential runoff vote, in Istanbul, Turkey May 27, 2023. The two candidates are aiming to attract some 8 million voters who did not go to the polls in the first round. Erdogan got a boost earlier this week when Sinan Ogan - a nationalist politician who came third with 5.2% - endorsed him. Kilicdaroglu, who is chair of Turkey's biggest opposition party, the CHP, meanwhile secured the endorsement of the anti-immigrant Victory Party for the runoff. Polls will open at 8 a.m. (0500 GMT) and close at 5 p.m. (1400 GMT) for more than 60 million voters.

☆ 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.

[1/2] An election campaign billboard of Kemal Kilicdaroglu, presidential candidate of Turkey's main opposition alliance, with a slogan that reads "Syrians will go! ", is pictured, ahead of the May 28 presidential runoff vote, in Istanbul, Turkey, May 25, 2023. "Most Syrians now feel as if the course of their entire lives depends on the results of the elections," he lamented. Like other regional leaders, Erdogan is also mending fences with Assad, raising the possibility of a rapprochement that could worry many Syrians in Turkey. He recounted an incident when a friend was robbed but feared he would be assaulted if he went to the police to illustrate the precarious position many Syrians feel themselves to be in in Turkey.

☆ What can we expect from Turkey's election runoff?
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-26 | by ( Reuters Editorial | ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

PoliticsWhat can we expect from Turkey's election runoff? PostedTurks vote on Sunday (May 28) in a presidential election runoff between the incumbent Tayyip Erdogan and his challenger Kemal Kilicdaroglu that will decide whether the president extends his rule into a third decade. Fiona Jones reports.

☆ Turkey's runoff election is paralyzing key oil exports from northern Iraq
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-25 | by ( Ruxandra Iordache | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

Oil typically flows through Turkey from both the Iraqi state and the semi-autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG). More specifically, this Kirkuk crude flows down the Iraq-Turkey Pipeline linking the north of the Gulf country with Turkey's Ceyhan port in the Mediterranean. But the flows have been paralyzed since March 25 by a legal dispute involving federal Iraq, the KRG and Turkey. This decision led to U.S. companies deciding to exit contracts in Kurdistan and deterred some KRG oil buyers from further purchases. "The ruling party in Turkey [Erdogan's AKP] wants to settle the elections and then deal with KRG's oil with Baghdad."

Persons: KRG, Hayan Abdul, Ghani, —, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, Lawk Ghafuri, Yerevan Saeed, Saeed, Bilal Wahab, Wagner Organizations: CNBC, Kurdistan Regional Government, Turkey Pipeline, International, Commerce's, Reuters, ICC, Baghdad, BTC, Kurdistan, Gulf Institute, Sinjar, Washington Institute for Near East Locations: Turkey, Ankara, Baghdad, Iraqi, Kurdistan, Kirkuk, Iraq, Basra, Paris, U.S, Ceyhan, Baku, Syria, Erbil, Yerevan, Washington

☆ Erdogan Secures Endorsement of Former Rival for President
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-22 | by ( Ben Hubbard | Gulsin Harman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The candidate who came in third in Turkey’s presidential election last week announced on Monday that he was endorsing President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the runoff vote on Sunday, granting Mr. Erdogan an additional boost against his remaining challenger. Mr. Erdogan, the dominant figure in Turkish politics for 20 years, appears to have an edge in the runoff, whose victor will shape Turkey’s domestic and foreign policies for the next five years. Throughout the campaign, Mr. Erdogan aimed to link himself in voters’ minds with the image of a strong Turkey, with expanding military might and geopolitical clout. Although most polls in the run-up to the initial vote on May 14 showed Mr. Erdogan trailing his main challenger, the opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the president overcame voter anger at high inflation and frustration with the government’s initially slow response to catastrophic earthquakes in February to win 49.5 percent of the vote. Mr. Kilicdaroglu, the joint candidate of a coalition of six opposition parties that came together to try to unseat Mr. Erdogan, won 44.9 percent.

☆ Turks abroad begin voting in presidential election runoff
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-20 | by ( Daren Butler | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The runoff election will be held in Turkey on May 28 after Erdogan fell just short of the 50% threshold needed to win the presidential vote outright last Sunday in what had been expected to be his greatest ever political challenge. Some 3.4 million Turks are eligible to vote abroad, out of a total electorate of more than 64 million, and will cast their ballots from May 20-24. Germany is home to the world's largest Turkish diaspora, where there are some 1.5 million Turkish citizens eligible to vote. Kilicdaroglu, candidate of a six-party opposition alliance, won 44.88% support in the presidential election, trailing Erdogan on 49.52% and confounding expectations in opinion polls that the challenger would come out ahead. Any decision by him to support one of the two candidates in the runoff could potentially have a decisive role.

☆ Turkey's Erdogan touts 'special relationship' with Putin, stands by his refusal to impose sanctions
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( Natasha Turak | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan touted his country's "special relationship" with Russian leader Vladimir Putin, speaking to CNN during an interview broadcast Friday. "We are not at a point where we would impose sanctions on Russia like the West have done. We are not bound by the West's sanctions," Erdogan told the network. "We are a strong state and we have a positive relationship with Russia." The powerful Turkish leader's closeness to Putin, despite its membership in NATO, has made many Western leaders and diplomats nervous.

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