Turkey

Turkey’s Former Economy Czar Looks to Unseat Erdogan and the AKP

In a major political shake-up in Turkey, Ali Babacan, a former economy minister and once-close confidante of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, recently ended months of speculation and formally launched a new political party to challenge his old boss. Babacan, who resigned last July from Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party, or …

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Erdogan’s Weaponization of Religion Is Losing Its Edge

For more than three months, Turkey has been rocked by rolling protests centered in Istanbul. Following President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s controversial appointment of businessman Melih Bulu as the new rector of Bogazici University in January, students and professors began holding rallies to denounce the pick. They see Bulu as an …

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Was Erdoğan wirklich fürchtet

Mit aller Macht stemmt sich der türkische Staatschef gegen die Inflation. Nur leider mit den völlig falschen Mitteln. Die Teuerungsrate kostete schon einmal eine Regierung das Amt. Eine Regierung, die 36 Prozent Inflation in ihrer Jahresbilanz stehen hat, sollte sich fragen, was sie falsch macht. Denn sonst, und das ist …

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Erdogan’s End Game

Will He Undermine Turkish Democracy to Stay in Power? Over the past few months, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has looked increasingly desperate. He has stepped up his repression of critics and political opponents, including, most recently, Metin Gurcan, a founding member of the opposition Democracy and Progress Party (DEVA), …

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Turkish inflation hits highest level under Erdogan’s rule

Turkey’s consumer inflation is bound to increase further in the coming months after reaching 36% in 2021, with even bigger numbers recorded in the producer sector. Turkey’s consumer inflation surged by a staggering 13.6 percent in December, bringing the 2021 annual rate to 36 percent — the highest under the …

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Turkey urges Russia to moderate demands on NATO over Ukraine

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is offering to mediate the crisis, but its not clear Turkey has enough leverage to do so effectively. Turkey’s top diplomat publicly urged Russia’s government to drop what he called Moscow’s “one-sided” demands regarding NATO and Ukraine. Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Russia should take a …

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Turkey nabs 9 Daesh suspects in counterterrorism raids

Turkish police detained at least nine foreign nationals over their links to the Daesh terrorist group in Istanbul, security sources said Saturday. Anti-terror police squads launched an operation to nab the suspects, believed to be a part of groups planning attacks on behalf of Daesh, said the sources, who requested …

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Currency crisis threatens Turkey’s Syria strategy

Turkey’s economic turmoil might challenge Ankara’s grip over opposition-held areas in Syria, where in-house rivalries among the armed factions over financial resources have escalated. With economic turbulence rattling Turkey’s economy, the question is rising of whether Ankara can maintain its grip on Syria’s opposition-held areas where the Turkish lira is …

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Turkey freezes assets of 770 people for alleged terror links

Turkey froze the assets of 770 Turkish nationals and a Chicago-based foundation, according to a decision published Friday in the country’s official gazette. The list of targets includes 454 people with alleged links to Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, who lives in the United States. The Turkish government accuses Gulen and …

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Turkey, Qatar Agree to Jointly Run Kabul Airport, Present Plan to Taliban

Taliban officials in Afghanistan confirmed Friday that they had discussed plans with a joint delegation from Turkey and Qatar for firms from the two countries to run airports in Kabul and other Afghan cities. The talks came as the international community looks for ways to scale up delivery of urgently …

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