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☆ Turkey rages at shoddy construction after 'earthquake-proof' homes topple
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-17 | by ( Ali Kucukgocmen | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

[1/5] A cat stands on a destroyed street, in the aftermath of the deadly earthquake, in Antakya, Turkey February 17, 2023. It was said to be earthquake safe, but you can see the result," said 47-year-old jeweller Hamza Alpaslan. Turkey's Urbanisation Ministry estimates 84,700 buildings have collapsed or are severely damaged. The Urbanisation Ministry said documents would be moved to the ministry archive in the city and were stored digitally. BUILDING AMNESTYSector officials have said some 50% of the total 20 million buildings in Turkey contravene building codes.

[1/2] Rescuers work at the site of a collapsed building, in the aftermath of a deadly earthquake in Hatay, Turkey February 14, 2023. "I don't think it's time to talk about elections," an AKP official told Reuters, citing the state of emergency. He said the priority was to set an election date and get the High Election Board to start preparations. The AKP official expected the disaster to erode votes for the ruling alliance given the suffering, and the loss of life and property. The constitution sets a two-term limit for presidents, but they can seek another term if parliament calls an early election before the second term expires.

☆ 'A crane, for God's sake': Inside the struggles of Turkey's earthquake response
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +9 min

Many in Turkey say more people could have survived the 7.8 magnitude earthquake that struck the south of the country and neighboring Syria a week ago if the emergency response had been faster and better organized. Two experts consulted by Reuters partly blamed the delays on the centralisation of emergency response under AFAD by President Tayyip Erdogan's government. U.N. aid chief Martin Griffiths, speaking in Kahramanmaras on Saturday, called Turkey's disaster response "extraordinary" given the quake's historic size. Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said he commissioned the report precisely to improve Turkey's disaster response. But they have generally seen the state's emergency response as effective.

☆ Turkey looks positively on Finland's NATO bid but not on Sweden's -Erdogan
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/4] Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan addresses lawmakers of his ruling AK Party during a meeting at the parliament in Ankara, Turkey February 1, 2023. Presidential Press Office/Handout via REUTERSANKARA, Feb 1 (Reuters) - Turkey looks positively on Finland's application for NATO membership, but does not support Sweden's bid, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday. We will not say 'yes' to their NATO application as long as they allow burning of the Koran," Erdogan said in a speech to his AK Party deputies in parliament. Erdogan signalled on Sunday that Ankara could agree to Finland joining NATO ahead of Sweden and Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu on Monday made similar statements. Reporting by Nevzat Devranoglu and Ezgi Erkoyun; Writing by Huseyin Hayatsever; Editing by Daren ButlerOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

[1/2] Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan addresses lawmakers of his AK Party during a meeting in parliament in Ankara, Turkey, January 18, 2023. The main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) also condemned the incidents in Sweden and said they would serve Erdogan's re-election campaign. But Erdogan said this week that Sweden could no longer expect Turkey's support for its NATO bid, and Ankara cancelled a planned trilateral meeting. Washington, Stockholm and Helsinki had hoped Ankara would ratify the NATO bids before Turkey's election. While Erdogan's government backs the Nordics' NATO bid with conditions, his political opponents had been more supportive - before the Stockholm incidents.

☆ Court rejects Kurdish party bid to delay closure ruling till after Turkey elections
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] A supporter of Turkey's main pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) holds a mask of their jailed former leader and presidential candidate Selahattin Demirtas during a rally in Ankara, Turkey, June 19, 2018. The case against the HDP, Turkey's third-biggest party, comes ahead of elections that pose the biggest test for President Tayyip Erdogan's 20 years in power. Polls show he and his ruling AK Party could lose, especially if the HDP cooperates with an opposition alliance. Earlier this month, the court froze the HDP's bank accounts holding Treasury aid during the course of the trial. But it remains unclear when the court will deliver its final ruling on the party closure case.

☆ Turkish elections to be held on May 14 -Erdogan
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

ISTANBUL, Jan 22 (Reuters) - President Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey would hold elections on May 14, a month earlier than scheduled, setting up a tight test of his leadership after two decades in power. The president's office released video footage on Sunday of Erdogan announcing the date during a meeting with young voters in the northwestern province of Bursa late on Saturday. "I am grateful to god that we will be walking side by side with you, our first-time voting youth, in the elections that will be held on May 14," Erdogan told the group. Opinion polls show the parliamentary and presidential elections will be tight, and will mark Erdogan's biggest test in his two decades at the reins of the regional military power, NATO member and major emerging market economy. Turkey's presidential and parliamentary elections were scheduled to be held on June 18 but President Erdogan previously signalled that the vote could be brought forward.

☆ Turkey's Erdogan signals May 14 date for his biggest election test
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Polls show the parliamentary and presidential elections will be tight, and they mark Erdogan's biggest test in his two decades at the reins of the regional military power, important NATO member and major emerging market economy. Addressing lawmakers of his Islamist-rooted AK Party (AKP) in parliament, Erdogan said Turks will dismiss the opposition at the ballot box on the same date that elections were held in 1950. Last year Erdogan had repeated the vote would be held in June, but earlier this month he said the date may be brought forward from the scheduled June 18. Erdogan has championed religious piety, military-backed diplomacy, and low interest rates despite inflation soaring above 85% in October. The ruling AKP is still the strongest party in Turkey and will likely remain a powerful force in parliament, but opinion polls show Erdogan trailing against some potential challengers.

[1/4] Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and Central Bank Governor Sahap Kavcioglu are pictured during a signing ceremony in Ankara, Turkey, June 8, 2022. But his drastic transformation of the economy and financial markets means such a change would bring its own uncertainties. The election will also determine what role regional military power and NATO member Turkey plays in conflicts in Ukraine, where Erdogan has helped broker talks, and in neighbour Syria. In the short-term it seems to have worked however, halting a years-long rise in Turks converting lira into dollars. Last week, Turkey had no problem borrowing $2.75 billion from international capital markets.

☆ Explainer: What's at stake in Turkey's upcoming elections
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

WHAT'S AT STAKE IN THIS ELECTION FOR TURKEY... Opposition parties have pledged to restore central bank independence, bring back parliamentary government and introduce a new constitution enshrining the rule of law. Meanwhile Turkey's top court is hearing a case to shut down the third-largest parliamentary party, the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), and has frozen some of its accounts. Once campaigning starts, opposition parties may find it harder to get their message heard. Though the election deadline is mid-June, Erdogan's party has said they may be brought forward.

☆ Turkey's foreign minister to discuss F-16s and NATO during U.S. visit
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( Humeyra Pamuk | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

For its part, Turkey demands Washington not support the Syrian Kurdish militia that it sees as terrorists. Turkey now hopes to buy F-16 jets from the United States, a sale that some top members of Congress oppose despite support from the Biden administration. But recently, Ankara's refusal to ratify NATO membership of Sweden and Finland is emerging as a more central reason in their opposition. The two Nordic states applied for NATO membership last year following Russia's invasion of Ukraine but their bids need approval from all 30 NATO member states. He added he hoped the F-16 deal would not become "hostage" to the NATO memberships of Sweden and Finland.

☆ Turkey's AK Party mulls bringing elections 'slightly' forward
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

ANKARA, Jan 2 (Reuters) - Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan's ruling AK Party is considering a "slight change" on the date of elections scheduled for mid-June, a senior party official said on Monday. "We want elections to be held on June 18," AK Party spokesperson Omer Celik said at a news conference when asked about the possibility of snap elections. "But since this date corresponds with summer holiday season when people are travelling, ware evaluating bringing the date slightly forward." Turkey's parliamentary and presidential elections are scheduled to be held on June 18, and Erdogan previously said elections would be held in June. "This change of date will not amount to snap elections...

The 2023 budget includes 4.47 trillion lira ($239 billion) in spending and sees a deficit of about 3.5% of GDP for this year and next. "The annual salary burden is likely to reach approximately 150-180 billion lira, whereas the severance pay burden that will be shouldered by both the public and private sectors may exceed 300 billion lira," he said. A total of 142.9 billion lira has been earmarked for 2023 spending in the farm sector on support programmes and investment payments. SOCIAL AID, OTHER SPENDING:Spending on social aid in the 2023 budget was raised to 258.4 billion lira. Spending on education will be 650 billion lira, while 145.4 billion lira was set aside for support to the real sector.

☆ Turkey eliminates age requirement for retirement
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

ANKARA, Dec 28 (Reuters) - Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan eliminated the retirement age requirement on Wednesday in a move that allows more than 2 million workers to retire immediately, less than six months before an election. Previously, the retirement age was set at 58 years for women and at 60 years for men. It wasn't yet clear how much the new system would cost, but Erdogan said 2.25 million people were eligible to retire immediately. Labour groups had been protesting the minimum age requirement for several years, asking that instead workers should just be required to complete the mandatory number of work days to retire. Reporting by Ece Toksabay; Editing by Jonathan Spicer and Aurora EllisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Erdogan says courts will fix any mistakes after Istanbul mayor's sentencing
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

ISTANBUL, Dec 17 (Reuters) - Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday that the courts would correct any mistakes in an appeal process after the jailing of Istanbul's opposition mayor, and in the meantime Turks had no right to ignore legal rulings. "There's still no final court decision yet. The case will go to the Court of Appeals and the Court of Cassation," Erdogan said. "There have been many court rulings that we have harshly criticised ourselves, but that doesn't give anyone the right to insult judges or to ignore court rulings," Erdogan told a rally at Mardin in Turkey's southeast. Reporting by Azra Ceylan; Writing by Jonathan Spicer; Editing by John Stonestreet and David HolmesOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Egypt: How the Arab world's most populous country became addicted to debt
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( Cnn Staff | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +12 min

The loan, along with billions of dollars in cash inflows from Abu Dhabi and Riyadh, are Band-Aids, experts say, designed to keep the Arab world’s most populous country afloat. Without proper reforms, however, Egypt may never be able to shake off its chronic financial woes and break its growing debt addiction. Billions of dollars from Abu Dhabi and Riyadh have poured into the Egyptian economy in recent years. Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) also launched the Saudi Egyptian Investment Company (SEIC) in August, a company dedicated to investments in several vital sectors of the Egyptian economy. Still, the Egyptian economy has struggled to shake off its economic woes.

☆ Thousands protest in Turkey over Istanbul mayor's conviction
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( Ezgi Erkoyun | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/15] Supporters of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu gather in front of the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality during a rally to oppose the conviction and political ban of Imamoglu, in Istanbul, Turkey December 15, 2022. Alp Eren Kaya/CHP via REUTERSISTANBUL, Dec 15 (Reuters) - Thousands of people rallied in Turkey on Thursday to oppose the conviction and political ban of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, chanting slogans criticising President Tayyip Erdogan and his ruling AK Party before elections next year. A Turkish court on Wednesday sentenced Imamoglu, a popular rival to Erdogan, to two years and seven months in prison, which like the ban must be confirmed by an appeals court. "We are here today to protect our rights and the votes of millions of people from Istanbul. His comfortable win in the re-run vote ended the 25-year rule in Istanbul of the AKP and its Islamist predecessors.

☆ Turkish court orders jail time and political ban for Erdogan rival
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-14 | by ( ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +1 min

A Turkish court on Wednesday sentenced Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, a popular rival of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, to more than two years in prison and imposed a political ban for insulting public officials, in a ruling set to go to an appeal. The ruling comes just six months ahead of scheduled presidential and parliamentary elections, in which Imamoglu has been mooted as a potential strong challenger to Erdogan. A main opposition presidential candidate has not yet been chosen. Imamoglu narrowly won the municipal election in March 2019, beating a candidate from Erdogan’s ruling AK Party. A jail sentence or political ban would need to be upheld in appeals courts, potentially extending the case beyond the election due by June 2023.

☆ Turkish court sentences Erdogan rival to jail with political ban
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-14 | by ( Ali Kucukgocmen | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

A six-party opposition alliance has yet to agree their presidential candidate, and Imamoglu has been mooted as a possible leading challenger to run against Erdogan. 'VERY SAD DAY'[1/5] Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu and his wife Dilek sit at his office as a Turkish court sentenced Imamoglu, a popular rival of President Tayyip Erdogan, to more than two years in prison and imposed a political ban for insulting public officials, in Istanbul, Turkey, December 14, 2022. A jail sentence or political ban on Imamoglu would need to be upheld in appeals courts, potentially extending an outcome to the case beyond the elections date. "The ruling will be final only after the higher court decides whether to uphold the ruling or not. Under these circumstances, it would be wrong to say that the political ban is in place," Timucin Koprulu, professor of criminal law at Atilim University in Ankara, told Reuters after the ruling.

☆ Finland hopes for Turkish support for NATO bid soon, considers arms exports
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( Huseyin Hayatsever | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

ANKARA, Dec 8 (Reuters) - Finland's defence minister Antti Kaikkonen said the sooner Turkey ratifies its NATO membership bid the better and it would consider granting arms export permits to Turkey on a case by case basis. In an interview with Reuters after meeting his Turkish counterpart Hulusi Akar in Ankara, Kaikkonen said he could not foresee a timetable for Turkey's ratification of his country's NATO membership application. A leading Turkish politician from Turkey's ruling AK party said however the speed of ratification lay in Finland and Sweden's hands and how swiftly they met Turkey's requests. Earlier this week, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Finland must lift an arms embargo on Ankara as a condition to securing support from Turkey. "There have been some discussions with Finnish industry about exports from Finland to Turkey.

"We are continuing the air operation and will come down hard on the terrorists from land at the most convenient time for us," Erdogan told his AK Party's lawmakers in a speech in parliament. Meanwhile, the United States has conveyed serious concerns to Turkey, a NATO ally, about the impact of escalation on the goal of fighting Islamic State militants in Syria. Turkey has previously launched military incursions in Syria against the Kurdish YPG militia, regarding it as a wing of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which Turkey, the United States and the European Union designate as a terrorist group. NEARLY 500 TARGETS HITTurkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar said the army had hit 471 targets in Syria and Iraq since the weekend in what he said was Turkey's biggest air operation of recent times. It cited him as saying 254 militants had been "neutralised" in the operation, a term generally used to be mean killed.

The attack that killed six people on a busy Istanbul street on Sunday has brought national security back on the political agenda. With Turkey quick to accuse Syria-based Kurdish militants for the latest attack, analysts say Erdogan may now press for another cross-border campaign into northern Syria after three such incursions since 2016. Were Sunday's attack followed by more, Peker expected outcomes including a rapid escalation of "counter-terrorism operations, particularly against the PKK and the YPG". The YPG, espousing the same ideology as the PKK, has established control over swathes of northern Syria since war began there in 2011. In a November re-run - following that spate of violence and two major Islamic State bomb attacks - AK Party won comfortably.

☆ Turkey arrests bakers' union head for calling bread-eating societies 'stupid'
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Union for Bread Producers Chairman Cihan Kolivar made the comments to broadcaster Haberturk on Monday as he spoke about the rising price of bread and Turkey's soaring inflation. "Bread is the staple food for stupid societies. I speak scientifically, I am not making it up - per capita consumption is 210 kilos in Turkey; and 45-50 kilos in Sweden, Norway, Denmark, England, Japan," Kolivar said. Critics blame Turkey's economic ills on Erdogan's unorthodox monetary policies, which he says are aimed at boosting exports, investment and jobs. "In addition to insulting our nation and bread, this person's statements show that he is an element of the politics of hostility, the politics of hatred," Celik said.

The headscarf was once a source of deep discord in Muslim but secular Turkey, but ceased to stir controversy after reforms by the Islamist-rooted AKP during its 20 years in power. "We are ready to take other steps including a referendum," Erdogan told AKP deputies in parliament. The AKP was to hold talks with three opposition parties, including the largest Republican People's Party (CHP), broadcaster CNN Turk said. When Leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu announced the CHP's planned legislation on the headscarf in early October, Erdogan responded by saying the issue had already been resolved. Erdogan and AKP lawmakers have toughened their rhetoric against LGBT+ people in recent years, frequently labeling them "deviants" or "perverts" and raising concerns among members of the community.

Many rules require banks to bulk up on treasuries. Two other bankers said the executives expressed concerns over longer-term "systemic risks" due to the level of their bond holdings. Parliament, dominated by the AKP and nationalist allies, is debating next year's budget including record spending of 258.4 billion lira on social aid. VULNERABLE TO REVERSALThe series of rules increased the central bank's authority over the government debt, credit and loan markets, bankers say. Akbank's (AKBNK.IS) Q3 net profit was 17.07 billion lira versus 3.21 billion lira year ago.

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