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☆ Turkey's central bank hikes interest rate to 15% in dramatic U-turn to tackle 40% inflation
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-22 | by ( Natasha Turak | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Residents waiting at a bus stop under a large Turkish flag in Istanbul, Turkey, on Sunday, April 30, 2023. Turkey's central bank jacked up the country's key interest rate Thursday, almost doubling it from 8.5% to 15% as the new economic administration of recently re-elected President Recep Tayyip Erdogan embarked on a dramatic monetary policy U-turn. The bank said that there will be further gradual monetary tightening until the inflation picture in the country improves. The whopping 650-basis-point rate rise is the country's first since March 2021, but was below analyst expectations of a 1,150-basis-point hike to 20%. Not enough," Timothy Ash, emerging markets strategist at BlueBay Asset Management, wrote in an note via email.

Persons: Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Hafize Gaye Erkan, Timothy Ash, — Organizations: Turkish, BlueBay Asset Management Locations: Istanbul, Turkey, Turkey's

☆ U.S. still expects Sweden's NATO ascension by July despite Turkey tensions, U.S. ambassador says
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-16 | by ( Lee Ying Shan | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Ambassador to Turkiye Jeffry Flake speaking in Washington D.C., United States on May 3, 2023. The U.S. is still holding out hope that Sweden will join NATO by July in spite of Turkey's apprehensions, Ambassador to Ankara Jeffry Flake said. "We hope Sweden can become a member of NATO soon," Flake told CNBC's Dan Murphy Friday, adding that Sweden has taken a number of measures to address Turkey's security concerns. Officials from Sweden, Turkey, Finland and NATO had convened in Ankara with hopes of easing Turkey's objections. Turkey, Finland and Sweden had last year inked an agreement to on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Madrid, committing to address Turkey's security demands.

Persons: Turkey's apprehensions, Ankara Jeffry Flake, Flake, CNBC's Dan Murphy, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Erdogan Organizations: Washington D.C, NATO Locations: Washington, United States, U.S, Sweden, Ankara, Vilnius, Turkey, Finland, Turkish, Anadolu, Madrid

☆ CNBC Daily Open: The Fed paused, but so did markets
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-15 | by ( Yeo Boon Ping | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Federal Reserve Board Chairman Jerome Powell speaks during a news conference following the Federal Open Market Committee meeting, at the Federal Reserve in Washington, DC, on June 14, 2023. This report is from today's CNBC Daily Open, our new, international markets newsletter. CNBC Daily Open brings investors up to speed on everything they need to know, no matter where they are. Pause and playThe Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged, as widely expected. That could mean a return to raising rates to combat Turkey's sky-high inflation, which was 39.6% in May.

Persons: Jerome Powell, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Erdogan, Elon Musk, Noel Barrot, Barrot, Jeffrey Gundlach, Gundlach Organizations: Federal Reserve, CNBC, Dow Jones, Nasdaq, Twitter, DoubleLine Locations: Washington ,, Europe, France, EU, U.S

☆ Turkey's Erdogan says he agrees to monetary policy turnaround under new Finance Minister Simsek
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-14 | by ( Natasha Turak | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has named former economy chief Mehmet Simsek as his new treasury and finance minister. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday appeared to make a crucial shift regarding the future of his inflation-ridden country's monetary policy. Newly appointed Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek, who previously served as deputy prime minister and finance minister between 2009 and 2018, is widely respected by investors. The president was referring to his opposition to raising interest rates, which he said was not changed. "But upon the thinking of our treasury and finance minister," Erdogan added, "we have accepted that he will take steps swiftly, comfortably with the central bank."

Persons: Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Mehmet Simsek, Erdogan Locations: Turkey

☆ Turkey's Erdogan appoints a former Goldman executive as its new central bank chief
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-09 | by ( Lee Ying Shan | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Exterior of the Turkish Central Bank, known as Turkiye Cumhuriyet Merkez Bankasi in Ankara. Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has appointed a former Wall Street banker Hafize Gaye Erkan as the country's new central bank governor — another move that could potentially mark a policy pivot away from economic unorthodoxy. Erkan, Turkey's first female central bank chief, was a former managing director at Goldman Sachs and co-CEO at First Republic Bank. She is also Turkey's fifth central bank governor in four years. The caveat would lie in how much autonomy the central bank could exercise, and to what extent —something that Demiralp says investors will have to wait and see.

Persons: Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Hafize Gaye Erkan, —, Turkey's, Goldman Sachs, Mehmet Simsek's, Selva Demiralp, Demiralp Organizations: Turkish Central Bank, Wall Street, First Republic Bank, Princeton, Koç University, CNBC Locations: Ankara, U.S, Istanbul

☆ What Turkey’s new cabinet says about where the country is headed
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-07 | by ( Gul Tuysuz | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

The cabinet appointments hint at a return to orthodox economic policy while holding course on foreign policy as the president heads into his third decade in power. Erdogan’s unorthodox economic policies over the past few years have led to a cost-of-living crisis and a plummeting Turkish lira. Shadow diplomatThe new foreign minister is a well-known figure to Turks and international players who have negotiated with Turkey of late. Hakan Fidan, who had served as head of Turkish Intelligence Agency (MIT) since 2010, has been in every room and every discussion that has been pivotal to Turkish foreign policy over the last few years. He’s been ever-present but rarely heard – a shadow diplomat in Erdogan’s foreign policy arsenal who has charted rough waters in Syria, Libya and beyond.

Persons: Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Mehmet Simsek, –, Nureddin Nebati, ” Simsek, Erdogan, Simsek, Mehmet Celik, Cevdet Yilmaz, Omer Bolat, ” Celik, Hakan Fidan, He’s, Fidan, Ibrahim Kalin, “, ” Fidan, ”, Suleyman Soylu, Istanbul Ali Yerlikaya, Hulusi Akar, Mevlut Cavusoglu, They’ve Organizations: Istanbul CNN —, Reuters, Daily, Trade, CNN, NATO, Turkish Intelligence Agency, MIT, Kurdistan Workers ’ Party, EU, Defense, Development Party, AK Party Locations: Istanbul, Turkish Republic, Turkish, “ Turkey, Daily Sabah, Turkey, Syria, Libya, Greece, West, Celik, Damascus, Ankara, Sweden, Yerlikaya

☆ Turkey at a crossroads: Will it turn to the East or West?
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-06 | by ( Idil Karsit | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Turkey joined NATO in 1952, formally cementing its place in the free world and within the Western fold. The two countries doubled their trade to $68 billion in 2022, despite sanctions on the Russian economy by Turkey's NATO allies. "This creates a system in which midsize players have more space to conduct partially independent foreign policies from the United States," she explained. "As the United States is less interested to play the regional politics, I think Turkey becomes an important actor — a stabilizing actor," he added. As Erdogan secures a third term in office, Turkey is at a crossroads: will it pivot to the East or West?

Persons: Recep Tayyip Erdogan, China —, Senem Aydin, Talha Kose, Erdogan Organizations: NATO, Shanghai Cooperation Organization, China, United, Sabanci University, Foundation for Political, Social Research Locations: Turkey, Ottoman, Russia, United States, China, India, Turkish

☆ Ukraine war live updates: Russia says it thwarted large-scale offensive in Donetsk; Ukraine says it is moving forward into Bakhmut
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-05 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Turkey, Finland and Sweden will meet on June 12 to discuss Stockholm's bid to join the NATO military alliance, which has so far been stalled by Ankara's objections, according to a NATO statement released on Sunday. The announcement followed a meeting of NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg and newly reelected Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Istanbul. Finland and Sweden renounced their long-standing policy of political neutrality following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine and jointly applied for NATO membership in June last year. Finland was accepted and joined the military organization in April. Stockholm's accession has been delayed by Turkish concerns that Sweden harbors militants of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, which Ankara, the United States, the EU and others designated as a terrorist organization.

Persons: Jens Stoltenberg, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Stockholm's Organizations: NATO, Kurdistan Workers ' Party Locations: Turkey, Finland, Sweden, Istanbul, Ukraine, Ankara, United States, EU

☆ Erdogan's new pick for Turkish finance minister has markets hoping for economic orthodoxy
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-05 | by ( Lee Ying Shan | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has named former economy chief Mehmet Simsek as his new treasury and finance minister. In the unveiling of his new cabinet, Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan named former economy chief Mehmet Simsek as his new treasury and economy minister, leading to some optimism that the country will now forge a new economic path. Simsek was known for his market friendly policies, and subsequently went on to become the country's deputy prime minister from 2015 to 2018 after his stint as Turkey's finance minister. Simsek creating a new team in the key economy portfolio would imply that he will have "pretty strong control over broader economic policy," BlueBay Asset Management's Senior EM Sovereign Strategist Timothy Ash said via e-mail. "The Turkish economy has a chance of pulling back from the brink," he continued.

Persons: Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Mehmet Simsek, Simsek, Erdogan, Timothy Ash

☆ NATO Turkey: Alliance is in a race against time to save itself from a major embarrassment
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-01 | by ( Luke Mcgee | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

CNN —NATO officials are in a race against time to avoid the embarrassment of seeing the alliance miss its own stated aim of admitting Sweden to the alliance by July 11. Sweden has a permanent delegation at NATO and is considered a close partner to the alliance, meaning joining should be relatively straightforward. The second is that Turkey isn’t the only fly in the ointment: Hungary also objects to Sweden joining NATO. Sweden joining NATO would be the latest in a long list of good news stories for the alliance since Russia invaded Ukraine. That’s precisely why officials are so concerned about Turkey vetoing Sweden’s accession on NATO’s own timetable.

Persons: it’s, Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s, Christine Olsson, Erdogan, Putin’s, Putin, ”, “ Erdogan, Yves Herman, –, Emmanuel Macron, Turkey vetoing Organizations: CNN, NATO, Russia, Kurdistan Workers ’ Party, Turkish, Reuters, TT, Agency, AFP, Sweden –, European Union, Diplomats, US, EU Locations: Sweden, Finland, Ukraine, Russia, Turkey, East, Europe, Ankara, Turkish, Stockholm, Lithuanian, Vilnius –, Atlantic, North Korea, China, ”, Eastern European, Brussels, Hungary, United States, United Kingdom, Asia

☆ Biden says Sweden will 'soon' join NATO at U.S. Air Force address
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-01 | by ( Steve Holland | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/7] U.S. President Joe Biden attends the graduation ceremony at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado, U.S., June 1, 2023. Biden, in a flag-waving commencement address in Colorado Springs, Colorado, warned graduates they will enter service in an increasingly unstable world, citing challenges from Russia and China. Biden told reporters Erdogan repeated Ankara's desire to buy F-16 fighter jets from the United States, while Biden urged Ankara to drop its objection to Sweden's joining NATO. Biden made clear the United States would not back down from the challenge posed by China amid deep strains in the relationship. China and the United States should be able to work together where we can to solve some global challenges, like climate," he said.

Persons: Joe Biden, Kevin Lamarque, Biden, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Erdogan, Sweden's, Vladimir Putin's, Antony Blinken, Steve Holland, Caitlin Webber, Heather Timmons, David Gregorio Our Organizations: Air Force Academy, REUTERS, Sweden, NATO, U.S . Air Force Academy, Nordic, F16s, Ukraine, Thomson Locations: Colorado Springs , Colorado, U.S, Kevin Lamarque COLORADO SPRINGS , Colorado, Russia, China, United States, Ankara, Ukraine, Finland, Sweden, Vilnius, Lithuania, Turkey

In his speech, he declared “family is sacred for us” and insisted that L.G.B.T.Q. They were familiar themes, heard often throughout Mr. Erdogan’s campaign for re-election: He frequently attacked L.G.B.T.Q. people, referring to them as “deviants” and saying they were “spreading like the plague.” But Ms. Oz said she had hoped it was just electioneering to rally the president’s conservative base. “I was already worried about what was to come for us,” said Ms. Oz, 49. citizens became a lightning-rod issue during this year’s election campaign.

Persons: Yasemin Oz, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, “, L.G.B.T.Q, ”, Oz, Erdogan Locations: Istanbul

☆ Erdogan intent on taking back Istanbul after presidential victory
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-31 | by ( Nadeen Ebrahim | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

CNN —Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has stretched his rule into a third decade after Sunday’s presidential election victory. Are you ready to win both Uskudar (a large district in Istanbul) and Istanbul in the local elections in 2024? Then let’s not stop.”By winning back Istanbul, Erdogan means having it governed by a mayor from his Justice and Development (AK) Party. Before beginning his term as prime minister in 2003, Erdogan was himself mayor of Istanbul between 1994 and 1998. The opposition beat Erdogan by nearly three points in both Istanbul and Ankara in Sunday’s presidential runoff.

Persons: Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Erdogan, ” Erdogan, Ekrem Imamoglu, Imamoglu, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, Berk, “ Imamoglu, ” Esen, you’ve, you’re, ” Imamoglu, ”, MetroPoll, Erdogan “, Soner Cagaptay, ” Cagaptay, Canan Kaftancioglu, Esen, “, Turkey ’ Organizations: CNN, Uskudar, ”, Istanbul, Development, Party, Welfare Party, AK Party –, Republican People’s Party, Sabanci University, “, Analysts, Electoral, Rights Watch, Washington Institute for Near East, Foreign Affairs, Union of Chambers, Commodity Exchanges, Erdogan’s Locations: Istanbul, Ottoman Empire, Turkish, Ankara, Sunday’s, CHP’s Istanbul, Izmir, Erdogan’s Istanbul, Turkey

☆ AOC said Elon Musk put his 'finger on the scale' during Turkey's presidential election and is 'concerned' it will set a precedent for the 2024 US election
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-31 | by ( Hannah Getahun | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said Elon Musk is setting a precedent for the 2024 election. "All of it is precedent-setting and testing waters ahead of '24," Ocasio-Cortez wrote. "I am concerned about next year's election given Musk putting his finger on the scale in Turkey, etc. There is a line where the harm of unchecked disinfo exceeds the benefits of direct, authentic communication," Ocasio-Cortez wrote on BlueSky. Q is how to respond when gov overall won't, or may not in time," Ocasio-Cortez wrote.

Persons: Alexandria Ocasio, Cortez, Elon Musk, —, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Musk, Erdogan Organizations: Twitter, Service, Elon Locations: Alexandria, Turkey, COVID, Ocasio

☆ Opinion | Turkey’s Election Is a Warning About Trump
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-30 | by ( Bret Stephens | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

And it should serve as a warning about other places — including the Republican Party — where autocratic leaders, seemingly incompetent in many respects, are returning to power through democratic means. That’s not quite the way Erdogan’s close-but-comfortable victory in Sunday’s runoff over the former civil servant Kemal Kilicdaroglu is being described in many analyses. The president, they say, has spent 20 years in power tilting every conceivable scale in his favor. Erdogan has used regulatory means and abused the criminal-justice system to effectively control the news media. He has exercised his presidential power to deliver subsidies, tax cuts, cheap loans and other handouts to favored constituencies.

Persons: Jean, François Revel, “, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, Erdogan, Ekrem Imamoglu Organizations: Republican Party — Locations: French, Turkey, Sunday’s, Turkish, Istanbul

☆ Turkish lira continues slide to new record lows following Erdogan's election victory
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-30 | by ( Lee Ying Shan | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

People walking next to a Turkish national flag at the historical grand bazaar in Istanbul. The Turkish lira slumped to yet another all-time low Tuesday, extending its slide after the re-election of incumbent President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The currency was last trading at 20.15 against the greenback at around 5 a.m. Tuesday morning local time, surpassing Monday's lows. Turkey's Election Board on Sunday confirmed that Erdogan won Turkey's 2023 presidential election with 52.14% of the votes, while his opponent Kemal Kilicdaroglu received 47.86%. He subsequently went on to become the country's deputy prime minister from 2015 to 2018.

Ten years ago, Emine Kilic, was focused on raising her two children at home in Istanbul when she decided to set up her own clothing company to help support her family. Her business, started with an interest-free government-backed loan for female entrepreneurs, now employs 60 people and exports to 15 countries, said Ms. Kilic, who has an elementary-school education. She credited a powerful motivator who inspired her to transform her life — President Recep Tayyip Erdogan — calling him a champion for women. “Thanks to my president, I became the boss of my own company,” said Ms. Kilic, 38. To beat back the most serious political threat to his two-decade tenure as Turkey’s dominant politician, Mr. Erdogan counted on the fervent support of an often underappreciated constituency: conservative religious women.

☆ 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.

☆ Putin congratulates 'dear friend' Erdogan as NATO's Turkey challenge looks set to stay
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-29 | by ( Natasha Turak | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

Russian President Vladimir Putin was among the leaders that congratulated Erdogan on his win on Monday, calling him a "dear friend," according to the Kremlin. Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan meets with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Sochi, Russia August 5, 2022. Putin, in his congratulatory message Monday, praised Erdogan's efforts to "conduct an independent foreign policy," according to his spokespeople. The outlook is mixed among political and economic analysts inside and outside of Turkey whether Erdogan is bad news for the future of NATO. "Putin clearly wants NATO to fragment, and Erdogan in charge increases the likelihood of NATO fragmenting," Harris said after the election's first round in mid-May.

☆ 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's lira sinks to near record low as Erdogan is reelected
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-29 | by ( Lee Ying Shan | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

The Turkish lira sank Monday as incumbent Recep Tayyip Erdogan secured his victory in the 2023 presidential election, extending his rule into a third decade in power. "We have a pretty pessimistic outlook on the Turkish Lira as a result of Erdogan retaining office after the election," Wells Fargo's Emerging Markets Economist and FX Strategist Brendan McKenna told CNBC's "Squawk Box Asia." He expects Turkey's unorthodox monetary and economic policy frameworks to remain in place going forward. Turkey's monetary policy places an emphasis on the pursuit of growth and export competition rather than taming inflation, and Erdogan endorses the unconventional view that raising interest rates increases inflation. "With limited FX reserves and massively negative real interest rates the pressure on the lira is heavy," Ash continued.

☆ Europe markets open higher after U.S. debt ceiling deal
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-29 | by ( Jenni Reid | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Sectors were all cautiously higher or flat, with autos and banks leading gains. European stock markets opened higher Monday after U.S. President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy reached a deal to raise the nation's debt ceiling. U.S. political leaders must now gather enough bipartisan support to pass the debt ceiling bill in Congress before the June 5 deadline to avoid a federal default. Asia-Pacific markets were mixed even as Japan's Nikkei 225 climbed to trade at the highest levels since July 1990. Elsewhere, the Turkish lira slumped to a near-record low after incumbent President Recep Tayyip Erdogan secured reelection.

☆ 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 secures Turkish election win
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-29 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailErdogan secures Turkish election winIncumbent President Recep Tayyip Erdogan claimed victory in Sunday's historic electoral race, extending his two-decade rule for another five years. CNBC's Dan Murphy reports from Istanbul.

☆ We have a pessimistic outlook on the Turkish lira, strategist says
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-29 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

In this videoShare Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailWe have a pessimistic outlook on the Turkish lira, strategist saysBrendan McKenna of Wells Fargo Securities says it expects Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to retain his unorthodox monetary policy, given his reelection victory.

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