Page 6 - Turkey

Istanbul prosecutor probes Oppn boycott calls in wake of mayor's arrest

Istanbul's public prosecutor's office Tuesday launched an investigation into recent opposition calls for a boycott of pro-government businesses following the arrest of the city's mayor. The prosecutor's office determined that divisive rhetoric" on traditional and social media aimed at hindering the economic activity of a segment of society constituted hatred and discrimination and incitement to hatred and hostility, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported. Anadolu added that the new investigation is to be merged with ongoing investigations into physical and verbal violence committed against certain businesses. Last month saw Turkiye's largest protests in more than a decade, following the arrest of Istanbul's opposition Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, a key rival to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Imamoglu was jailed pending trial on corruption charges that many see as politically motivated. The government insists the judiciary is independent and free of political interference. Ozgur Ozel, the

Pikachu joins Turkey protests, flees as riot police crack down. WATCH

As Istanbul erupted in protests over the mayor's arrest, a Pikachu-costumed demonstrator was caught on camera fleeing riot police

Turkey's jailed mayor Ekrem Imamoglu criticises West for 'silence'

Imamoglu, the mayor of Istanbul, said the lack of international condemnation of Erdogan is helping ensure Turkey's shift toward authoritarianism

Erdogan blames opposition for wrecking Turkey's economy amid protest unrest

Turkey's president on Wednesday accused the political opposition of sinking the economy" during the country's largest protests in more than a decade over the arrest of Istanbul's mayor, the biggest challenger to Recep Tayyip Erdogan's 22-year rule. The opposition has called for a boycott of companies that it says support Erdogan's government. The Turkish president accused the opposition of being "so desperate that they would throw the country and the nation into the fire". In his address to lawmakers with his Justice and Development Party, or AKP, Erdogan added that "sabotage targeting the Turkish economy will be held accountable before the courts". Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, who was arrested a week ago, faces charges related to corruption and supporting terrorism within the Istanbul municipality alongside some 90 other suspects. A court ordered him to be imprisoned on Sunday. A trial date has not been announced. Many consider the case against Imamoglu to be politically motiva

Turkey political unrest: Why anti-Erdogan protests are escalating

Thousands of people took to the streets in Turkey's major cities in the past five days over the detention of Istanbul's mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, an prominent critic of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan

Turkey detains journalists amid protests over jailing of key Erdogan rival

Turkish authorities detained several journalists from their homes, a media workers' union reported on Monday, in what it said was a crackdown amid escalating protests triggered by the imprisonment of the mayor of Istanbul and top rival to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. On Sunday, a court formally arrested Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu and ordered him jailed pending a trial on corruption charges. His detention on Wednesday sparked the largest wave of street demonstrations in Turkiye in more than a decade and deepened concerns over democracy and the rule of law in the country. In an apparent escalation of the government's response to the growing protests, the Disk-Basin-Is union said at least eight reporters and photojournalists were detained in what it said was an attack on press freedoms and the people's right to learn the truth. You cannot hide the truth by silencing journalists! the union wrote on the social media platform X, calling for their immediate release. There was no immediate .

Thousands rally in Istanbul as President Erdogan warns against protests

Tens of thousands of people rallied at Istanbul's city hall for a third day on Friday to protest the arrest of Istanbul's mayor and top rival to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, despite the Turkish leader's stern warning that street protests would not be tolerated. The rally remained peaceful. However, some 500 metres away, police used pepper spray and tear gas to push back hundreds of protesters who tried to break through a barricade in front of the city's historic aqueduct and threw flares and other objects at them. Water cannons were used to break up demonstrations in Ankara, the capital, as well as in the Aegean coastal city of Izmir. Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu was arrested in a dawn raid on his residence on Wednesday over alleged corruption and terror links, escalating a crackdown on opposition figures and dissenting voices. Several other prominent figures, including two district mayors, were also detained. Many view the arrest as a politically driven attempt to remove a popular ...

Istanbul mayor and Erdogan rival arrested: What's going on in Turkey?

The arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, a key Erdogan rival, has sparked outrage across Turkey, with critics calling it a coup against democracy and free elections

Police arrest Istanbul mayor, key Erdogan rival over alleged corruption

Turkish police on Wednesday arrested Istanbul's mayor a popular opposition leader and key rival of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and several other prominent figures as part of investigations into alleged corruption and terror links. It was a dramatic escalation in an ongoing government crackdown on the opposition and dissenting voices in Turkiye. The state-run Anadolu Agency said prosecutors issued detention warrants for the mayor, Ekrem Imamoglu, and some 100 other people. Among those detained was Imamoglu's close aide, Murat Ongun. Authorities also closed several roads around Istanbul and banned demonstrations in the city for four days in an apparent effort to prevent protests following the arrest. Private NTV television reported that two Istanbul district mayors were among those detained. Critics say the crackdown follows significant losses by Erdogan's ruling party in local elections last year amid growing calls for early national elections. Government officials insist that

Turkey voids Erdogan's main rival's degree, risking presidency bid

The mayor, one of Turkey's most popular politicians, has been widely viewed as a contender to the presidency

Turkey, Israel face mounting tensions over future of post-Assad Syria

The fall of Syrian President Bashar Assad's government has aggravated already tense relations between Turkiye and Israel, with their conflicting interests in Syria pushing the relationship toward a possible collision course. Turkiye, which long backed groups opposed to Assad, has emerged as a key player in Syria and is advocating for a stable and united Syria, in which a central government maintains authority over the whole country. It welcomed a breakthrough agreement that Syria's new interim government signed this week with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, or SDF, to integrate with the Syrian government and army. Israel, on the other hand, remains deeply suspicious of Syria's interim president, Ahmad al-Sharaa, pointing to his roots in al-Qaida. It's also wary of Turkiye's influence over Damascus and appears to want to see Syria remain fragmented after the country under Assad was turned into a staging ground for its archenemy, Iran, and Tehran's proxies. Syria has become

Iraq's displaced Kurds hope to return as Turkiye's militants halt fight

Iraqi Kurdish villagers, displaced by fighting between Turkish forces and Kurdish militants that has played out for years in northern Iraq, are finally allowing themselves to hope they will soon be able to go home. Their hopes were raised after the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, on Saturday declared a ceasefire in the 40-year insurgency against the Turkish government, answering a call to disarm from earlier in the week by the group's leader, Abdullah Ocalan, imprisoned in Turkiye since 1999. The truce if implemented could not only be a turning point in neighbouring Turkey but could also bring much needed stability to the volatile region spanning the border between the two countries. In northern Iraq, Turkish forces have repeatedly launched blistering offensives over the past years, pummeling PKK fighters who have been hiding out in sanctuaries in Iraq's northern semi-autonomous Kurdish region, and have set up bases in the area. Scores of villages have been completely emptied of

Oil exports from Kurdish region by way of Turkey set to resume: Iraq

Iraq's oil ministry has announced the resumption of oil exports from northern Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdish region. The exports had been halted for nearly two years after the International Chamber of Commerce sided with Iraq in an arbitration case as a long-standing dispute over the independent export of oil by the Kurdish regional government. The ministry said in a statement on Saturday that it had completed the necessary procedures to restart shipments through Turkey's Ceyhan port. It said that exports will resume in accordance with federal budget regulations and Iraq's OPEC production quota, according to the "agreed-upon framework". The ministry urged the Kurdish region's authorities to transfer crude oil extracted from the region's oil fields to the State Organisation for Marketing of Oil, facilitating its exports via the Iraq-Turkey pipeline. "We call on the regional authorities to deliver the produced quantities in line with signed contracts to ensure smooth operations," i

Turkiye will host 15 Palestinian prisoners released as part of ceasefire

Turkiye's state-run news agency says the country will host 15 Palestinian prisoners who were released and deported as part of the ceasefire agreement between Hamas and Israel. The Turkish intelligence organisation, MIT, is taking steps to facilitate the arrival of the 15 Palestinians from Egypt, the Anadolu Agency said Tuesday. Arrangements were made to ensure the Palestinians can live peacefully and securely in Turkiye, Anadolu said. The news agency did not name the Palestinians that Ankara was preparing to take in. Those who were deported have been convicted of serious crimes. Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said Sunday that Turkiye was prepared to support the Palestinian people, including providing medical treatment for those wounded in the conflict and taking in released prisoners who would be deported from the region. Unlike its Western allies, Turkiye does not consider Hamas to be a terror organisation. A strong critic of Israel's military actions in Gaza, Turkish Presi

At least 76 people killed in hotel fire at resort in northwestern Turkey

A fire raged through a 12-storey hotel at a popular ski resort in northwestern Turkiye early Tuesday during a school holiday, killing at least 76 people at least two of them when they jumped from the building to escape the flames, officials said. At least 51 people also were injured in the fire at the Grand Kartal hotel in Kartalkaya, in Bolu province's Koroglu mountains, some 300 kilometres east of Istanbul, said Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya. The fire occurred near the start of a two-week winter break for schools, when hotels in the region are packed. We are in deep pain. We have unfortunately lost 66 lives in the fire that broke out at this hotel, Yerlikaya told reporters after inspecting the site. Atakan Yelkovan, a hotel guest staying on the third floor, told the IHA news agency there was chaos on the upper floors as other guests tried to escape the fire, including by trying to climb down from their rooms using sheets and blankets. People on the upper floors were screaming.

66 killed, 51 hurt as fire breaks out in hotel at ski resort in Turkiye

A fire broke out at a hotel at a ski resort in northwestern Turkiye on Tuesday, killing at least at least 10 people and hospitalising 32 others, officials said. The fire broke out overnight at the hotel's restaurant in the resort of Kartalkaya in Bolu province, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said. Two of the victims died after jumping out of the building in a panic, Gov. Abdulaziz Aydin told the state-run Anadolu Agency. Private NTV television said some people tried to climb down from their rooms using sheets. There were 234 guests staying at the hotel, Aydin said. Necmi Kepcetutan, a ski instructor at the hotel, said he was asleep when the fire erupted and he rushed out of the building. He told NTV television that he then helped some 20 guests out of the hotel. He said the hotel was engulfed in smoke, making it difficult for guests to locate the fire escape. I cannot reach some of my students. I hope they are OK, the ski instructor told the station. Television images showed th

Turkiye's central bank lowers key interest rate to 47.5%, 1st cut in 2 yrs

Turkiye's central bank lowered its key interest rate by 2.5 percentage points to 47.5 per cent on Thursday, carrying out its first rate cut in nearly two years as it tries to control soaring inflation. Citing slowing inflation, the bank's Monetary Policy Committee said it was reducing its one-week repo rate to 47.5 per cent from the current 50 per cent. The committee said in a statement that the overall inflation trend was flat in November and that indicators suggest it is likely to decline in December. Demand within the country was slowing, helping to reduce inflation, it said. Inflation in Turkey surged in recent years due to declining foreign reserves and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's unconventional economic policy of lowering rates as a way to tame inflation which he later abandoned. Inflation stood at 47 per cent in November, after having peaked at 85 per cent in late 2022, although independent economists say the real rate is much higher than the official figures. Most ..

Turkiye armament factory explosion leaves 12 dead and four injured

The blast occurred at a factory located in the province of Balikesir, which specialises in the production of military capsules

Turkey, Russia engage in delicate manoeuvre over Syria after Assad's fall

The rapid downfall of Syrian leader Bashar Assad has touched off a new round of delicate geopolitical manoeuvring between Russia's Vladimir Putin and Turkiye's Recep Tayyip Erdogan. With the dust still settling from the stunning events in Damascus, the outcome for now seems to be favouring Ankara, which backed the victorious rebels, while Moscow suffered a bruising blow to its international clout. In the game of Czars vs. Sultans, this is Sultans 1 and Czars 0, said Soner Cagaptay, director of the Turkish Research Program at the Washington Institute. Far from being allies, Turkiye and Russia are competitors. And in this case, Turkiye has outsmarted Russia. The Assad regime's demise opens another chapter in the complex relationship between Putin and Erdogan, with wide-ranging implications not just for Syria but also for Ukraine and the two leaders' ties with Washington. Russia and Turkiye share economic and security interests along with an intense rivalry. The personal relationship

US push for stability in post-Assad Syria: Here's all you need to know

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has wrapped up perhaps his last Middle East as America's top diplomat, with the aim of preventing Syria from spiralling out of control after the sudden ouster of President Bashar Assad. Blinken was one of several senior U.S. officials travelling across the region in the Biden administration's final weeks amid deep uncertainty in Washington and abroad over how Donald Trump will approach the Mideast when he takes office on Jan. 20, 2025. Blinken held meetings Jordan, Turkey and Iraq with the aim of trying to shape the future of post-Assad Syria by forging consensus among regional partners and allies whose interests often diverge. We know that what happens inside of Syria can have powerful consequences well beyond its borders, from mass displacement to terrorism," he told reporters Saturday in Aqaba, Jordan. "And we know that we can't underestimate the challenges of this moment. Here are some takeaways from Blinken's trip: Charting a new course