Page 25 - Turkey

Turkey inflation hits fresh 24-year high of 83% in September, shows data

The acceleration follows a series of interest-rate cuts this year by central bank Governor Sahap Kavcioglu that threaten to pile even more pressure on inflation

Turkey's annual inflation hits new 24-year high at 83.45% in September

Turkey's annual inflation reached a new 24-year high of 83.45 per cent in September, according to official data on Monday, pushing the cost of essential goods higher and further hitting households already facing high energy, food and housing costs. The Turkish Statistical Institute said consumer prices rose by 3.08 per cent from the previous month. Experts say inflation is much higher than official statistics, and the independent Inflation Research Group on Monday put the annual rate at an eye-watering 186.27 per cent. Last month, Turkey's central bank delivered another interest rate cut, lowering the benchmark rate to 12 per cent despite rising prices, a plunging lira and an unbalanced current account. The lira has lost over 50 per cent of its value against the US dollar since the central bank began cutting rates last year. Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the lira's decline have stoked inflation. Economists say rising inflation in Turkey is fuelled by President Recep Tayyip ...

We can defend islands despite Turkey's threats: Greek defence minister

Greece has the right to take all defensive measures to protect its easternmost islands amid threats by neighbouring Turkey that dispute Greek sovereignty rights and raise the spectre of war, the Greek defense minister said Saturday. Speaking after Cyprus' independence day military parade, Minister Nikolaos Panagiotopoulos said Turkey's revisionist and destabilising behaviour also undermines security in the wider eastern Mediterranean region. Panagiotopoulos dismissed Turkey's demands to demilitarize the islands as if they're not being threatened and as if we don't have the right to take all defensive measures for them as baseless and unacceptable. Earlier this week, Turkey summoned the Greek ambassador to protest the alleged deployment of dozens of U.S.-made armored vehicles to the Aegean islands of Samos and Lesbos, which Ankara says should remain demilitarized in line with international treaties. Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan also warned that his country wouldn't hold b

Hotels, tour operators shed Covid baggage as Diwali promises to sparkle

Group tours at 65-70% of pre-pandemic levels; Southeast Asia, Egypt, and Turkey seeing maximum demand

Sweden moves closer to NATO, lifts 2019 arms embargo on Turkey

Would-be NATO member Sweden on Friday announced it will allow exports of arms to Turkey, which had threatened to block the Scandinavian nation's application to join the 30-member defence alliance. The decision means that Sweden, which has sought NATO membership along with neighbouring Finland, will lift an arms embargo it had imposed on Ankara in 2019 after Turkey's military operation against the Kurdish militia known as the YPG in Syria. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had threatened to block the Nordic pair's membership, insisting they change their stance on Kurdish rebel groups that Turkey considers terrorists and lift the arms embargo on Turkey. NATO operates by consensus so Turkey needs to approve. Sweden's application for membership in NATO greatly strengthens the defence and security policy reasons for granting the export of military equipment to other member states, including Turkey, the Inspectorate for Strategic Products, a Swedish administrative authority, said in

Turkish President Erdogan asks Putin to resolve Ukraine crisis via talks

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has asked his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to engage in negotiations to resolve the Ukrainian crisis, according to a statement by the Turkish presidency.

Turkey issues arrest warrant for 21 over links with failed coup in 2016

Turkish prosecutors issued arrest warrants for 21 suspects over their alleged links to a network accused of orchestrating a coup attempt in 2016, a local news agency reported

Over 194,000 Russians flee call-up to neighbouring nations amid Ukraine war

It took Vsevolod four days to drive from Moscow to Russia's southern border with Georgia. He had to abandon his car at one point and continue on foot. On Tuesday, he finally finished his 1,800-kilometer (1,100-mile) journey and crossed the frontier to escape being called up to fight in Russia's war in Ukraine. At 26, I do not want to be carried home in a zinc-lined (coffin) or stain (my) hands with somebody's blood because of the war of one person that wants to build an empire, he told The Associated Press, asking that his last name not be used because he feared retaliation from Russia. He was one of over 194,000 Russian nationals who have fled to neighboring Georgia, Kazakhstan and Finland most often by car, bicycle or on foot in the week since President Vladimir Putin announced a partial mobilization of reservists. The mass exodus of men alone or with their families or friends began Sept. 21, shortly after Putin's address to the nation, and continued all this week. Early on,

President Erdogan vows to protect Turkey's rights, interests against Greece

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed to "use all means" to protect Ankara's rights and interests against Greece

Turkey mediates Russia-Ukraine prisoner swap involving 200, says Erdogan

Besides, Saudi Arabia mediated a release of 10 foreigners by Russia under the exchange, according to the Saudi Foreign Ministry

LIVE: Cabinet approved National Logistics Policy, says Anurag Thakur

National Logistics Policy will introduce ULIP, standardization, monitoring framework and skill development for greater efficiency in logistics services, says Thakur

Jaishankar meets Turkish FM after Erdogan's neutral Kashmir reference

Jaishankar met Turkey's FM Mevlut Cavusoglu for a wide-ranging discussion on global affairs, hours after Ankara's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan made a neutral-sounding reference to Kashmir in UNGA

Turkish leader asks United Nations to be 'much more influential' at UNGA

Turkey's leader, overseeing a nation encircled by regional disputes, used his speech at the UN General Assembly on Tuesday to shine a spotlight on Turkish maneuvering in conflicts that span from Syria to Ukraine. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's speech comes as Turkey is beset by staggeringly high inflation officially at 80%, but more than double that, analysts say. Erdogan blamed inflation on globally high food and energy prices rather than his government's economic policies. His speech, however, focused more on laying out his view of Turkey's role in the world. He said Turkey is trying to be part of the solution in conflicts around the world. Touching on multiple hot-button issues, he spoke about the need for stability in Iraq, fair elections in Libya, food security in the Horn of Africa, the need for Palestinian statehood, the rights of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar and Uyghur Muslims in China, and standing up to anti-Muslim sentiment globally. His remarks also highlighted Turkey

Turkish President Erdogan rakes up Kashmir issue during UNGA address

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday once again raked up the Kashmir issue during his address to world leaders at the high-level UN General Assembly session here. "India and Pakistan, after having established their sovereignty and independence 75 years ago, they still haven't established peace and solidarity between one another. This is much unfortunate. We hope and pray that a fair and permanent peace and prosperity will be established in Kashmir," Erdogan, a close ally of Pakistan, said at the General Debate. His comment comes less than a week after he met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Summit in the Uzbek city of Samarkand on Friday during which they reviewed the full range of bilateral relations and discussed ways to deepen cooperation in diverse sectors. In recent years, the Turkish leader has referred to the Kashmir issue in his address to world leaders at the high-level UN General Assembly sessions, causing

Thousands march in Turkey to demand ban on LGBTQ associations, activities

An anti-LGBTQ group marched Sunday in Istanbul, demanding that LGBTQ associations be shuttered and their activities banned, in the largest demonstration of its kind in Turkey. Several thousand people joined the demonstration dubbed The Big Family Gathering. Kursat Mican, a speaker for the organisers, said they had gathered more than 150,000 signatures to demand a new law from Turkey's parliament that would ban what they called LGBTQ propaganda, which they say pervades Netflix, social media, arts and sports. Hatice Muge, who works as a nanny, came to the gathering from Bursa province. People are here despite the rain for their children, for future generations, she said, urging the Turkish government to take action. They should save the family, they should save the children from this filth." The group held banners that read: Protecting the family is a national security issue. LGBTQ parades have not been allowed in Turkey since 2015. Ahead of Sunday's demonstration, the organisers .

Greece gets first shipment of upgraded F-16 jets amid tensions with Turkey

Greece's air force on Monday took delivery of a first pair of upgraded F-16 military jets under a $1.5 billion programme to modernise its existing fighter fleet amid increasing tensions with neighbouring Turkey. The two F-16s presented at the Tanagra airbase northwest of Athens are the first of 83 to be refitted with advanced electronics, radar and weapons capabilities by late 2027 by Greece's Hellenic Aerospace Industry, in coordination with U.S. manufacturer Lockheed Martin. The head of Greece's joint chiefs of staff, Gen. Constantinos Floros, said the programme's successful and timely completion is an issue of the highest national importance. Any potential aggressor will have to think twice or thrice before trying their luck, once the upgrade is completed, he said at Monday's presentation ceremony, adding that the new planes would increase Greece's footprint within NATO. Relations with historic regional rival Turkey have hit a new low following repeated, thinly-veiled threats fr

Greece seeks open channels of communication with Turkey: PM Mitsotakis

Greece will always seek to keep open channels of communication with Turkey, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has said

Russian Unistream bank in talks on instant money transfers to India, Turkey

Russian bank Unistream, which specialises in money transfers, has seen a surge in remittances since Moscow began operations in Ukraine and plans to launch instant transfers to India, Turkey

Tension rises as regional rivals Turkey, Greece voice festering grievances

Troubled relations between regional rivals Turkey and Greece have worsened, with Turkey's president doubling down on a thinly veiled invasion threat and Athens responding that it's ready to defend its sovereignty. Turkey and Greece have decades-old disputes over an array of issues, including territorial claims in the Aegean Sea and disagreements over the airspace there. The friction between the neighbours has brought the NATO allies to the brink of war three times in the last half-century. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey could come all of a sudden one night in response to perceived Greek threats, suggesting a Turkish attack on its neighbour cannot be ruled out. Questioned about his earlier use of the phrase over the weekend and the possibility of Turkish military action, Erdogan reiterated the expression. What I'm talking about is not a dream, he said at a news conference in the Bosnian capital Sarajevo. If what I said was that we could come one night all of a

Turkey's annual inflation passes 80% in August after interest rate cut

Turkey's annual inflation passed 80% in August, according to official data on Monday, further hitting consumers facing high energy, food and housing costs. The Turkish Statistical Institute said consumer prices rose by 80.21% from a year earlier, up 0.6 percentage points from the previous month. Independent experts say inflation is much higher than official statistics. The Inflation Research Group put the annual rate at 181%. The central bank unexpectedly cut interest rates to 13% in August despite rising prices, a plunging lira and an unbalanced current account. The central bank slashed interest rates by 5 percentage points between September and December last year. The rate then stayed at 14% until last month. Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the lira's decline have stoked inflation. The lira has plunged over 50% against the U.S. dollar since the central bank began cutting rates. Economists say rising inflation in Turkey is fuelled by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's unorthodox .