News

AKP, MHP propose to reduce election barrier to 7 percent

Mar 14 2022
Turkey
Source: 
Hurriyet Daily News

The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and its main ally, Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), have submitted a draft law to the parliament to decrease the election threshold from the current 10 percent to 7 percent.

The 15-article draft law was introduced to the parliament on March 14 by the AKP and the MHP officials. The new electoral law can be applied in the next parliamentary elections slated for June 2023.

Turkish opposition parties promise return to parliamentary system

Feb 28 2022
Turkey
Source: 
Al Jazeera

Leaders of six opposition parties in Turkey have signed a joint declaration outlining their plan to restore parliamentary system and strip the powers of the president if they win 2023 elections.

The plan aimed to entirely overhaul the existing executive presidential system, which has been backed by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his allies, and in force since June 2018.

A 48-page document covering 23 articles was signed on Monday by the leaders at a large event organised in a hotel in the capital Ankara.

Turkish opposition skeptical of Erdoğan's call for a new constitution

Feb 03 2021
Turkey
Source: 
DuvarEnglish

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's call for drafting a new constitution was met with skepticism by opposition parties, which question Erdoğan's motive in changing the existing one. 

While all parties agree that a new constitution is needed, the opposition emphasizes that the new one should include the return to a parliamentary system. 

Erdogan looks for new allies ahead of elections

Jan 18 2021
Turkey
Source: 
Arab News

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is hunting for potential electoral allies to bolster the People’s Alliance that he formed with the ultra-nationalist party MHP.

The next elections are not scheduled until June 2023, but the growing popularity of the opposition has made him aware of his vulnerability in a possible snap election.

The unification of the opposition brought victory in key municipalities, including Istanbul and Ankara, during the 2019 local elections. The mayors of both cities are potential presidential challengers to Erdogan.

Turkey's opposition alliance calls for snap polls amid turrmoil within ruling AKP

Nov 25 2020
Turkey
Source: 
DuvarEnglish

Turkey's opposition alliance has called for snap polls amid the deepening turmoil within the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP). "We want elections to be held as the opposition," İYİ Party leader Meral Akşener told reporters during a joint press briefing with CHP leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu on Nov. 25.

Turkey's opposition Nation Alliance has called for holding early elections amid the turmoil within the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP). 

CHP leader refutes claims of joint constitutional work

Nov 16 2020
Turkey
Source: 
Hurriyet Daily News

The Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu refuted the claims that his party, along with İYİ (Good) Party, People’s Democratic Party (HDP), and Felicity Party had conducted a joint study to make a new constitution in 2018.

Recalling the claim by İYİ Party Deputy Ümit Özdağ, Kılıçdaroğlu on Nov. 15 stated the allegation did not reflect the truth.

“There is no such constitutional work. I am watching this debate with amazement,” the CHP leader said, addressing a group of heads via videoconference.

Istanbul votes again: An existential battle for the heart and soul of Turkey

Jun 22 2019
Turkey
Source: 
Alaraby

For the first time in 24 years, Turkey's AKP lost control of Istanbul. Now, the battle is happening all over again.

It's nearing sundown in one of Istanbul's most popular bar districts, but the streets are unusually quiet.

A short walk away, a few hundred locals are gathered in a park, snacking on sunflower seeds and drinking beer.

That's not an unusual summertime sight in the city's few green spaces, but this time, Istanbulites have come out for more than a sunset picnic.

Turkey, Russia face conflicts over Syria’s push into Idlib

Jun 01 2019
Syria
Turkey
Source: 
Concord Monitor
Ankara and Moscow are again facing an escalation of violence in Syria’s last rebel-held territory, a development that puts their cooperation to the test even as they support opposing sides in the eight-year war that has devastated Syria.
 
An all-out offensive by Syrian government forces to capture Idlib in northwestern Syria from insurgents could unleash an unprecedented humanitarian crisis, for the area is home to 3 million people.
 

Turkey Says Nearly 330,000 Syrians Returned Home

May 28 2019
Syria
Turkey
Source: 
ASHARQ AL-AWSAT
Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said 329,000 Syrians have returned from Turkey since the end of the operations carried out by Turkey and pro-Syrian factions, including the Free Syrian Army, Turkey’s interior minister said Sunday.
 
Soylu said those Syrians returned to their homeland thanks to the peace reached in Afrin, Azaz, Jarablus, and al-Bab where the Olive Branch and Euphrates Shield operations were carried out.
 

Turkey's election board under pressure to explain Istanbul vote annulment

May 16 2019
Turkey
Source: 
Reuters

ANKARA (Reuters) - Ten days after it annulled Turkey’s most dramatic election upset in years, the country’s electoral authority faces a barrage of questions from opposition parties who say there was no legal basis to cancel the vote.

The High Election Board said irregularities affected the outcome of the March 31 mayoral election in Istanbul, when the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) narrowly defeated President Tayyip Erdogan’s AK Party (AKP).

Istanbul rerun will be a race between opposition candidate and Turkish President - Foreign Policy

May 10 2019
Turkey
Source: 
Ahval News
The rerun of local elections in Istanbul on June 23 will be a contest between the opposition candidate and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Foreign Policy said on Thursday.
 
Erdoğan put his credibility on the line by campaigning hard in Istanbul and after the results were announced, he publicly urged electoral authorities to annul the results and decide for a rerun.
 

Ousted Istanbul mayor says election re-run a battle for democracy

May 09 2019
Turkey
Source: 
REUTERS

Istanbul’s ousted mayor says he will go into battle for Turkish democracy next month when he stands in a re-run of an election he thought had granted him the city to govern for five years.

Ekrem Imamoglu is confident he will win again on June 23, despite what he calls the theft of the narrow victory he won in March over President Tayyip Erdogan’s AK Party, but for him there are also bigger issues at stake.

Brazil court orders release of businessman accused by Ankara of terrorism

May 08 2019
Turkey
Source: 
FRANCE 24

Brazil's Supreme Federal Court ordered Tuesday the release of a Brazil-based Turkish businessman who was arrested over links to US-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen.

Ali Sipahi, a restaurant owner in Sao Paulo who has lived in Brazil for 12 years, faces charges in Ankara of belonging to a "terrorist organization" involved in the failed coup against Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in July 2016, Brazil's Supreme Court said.

Turkey’s opposition seeks cancellation of 2018 elections

May 08 2019
Turkey
Source: 
The Associated Press

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkey’s main opposition party on Wednesday appealed to the country’s top electoral body to annul local election results in Istanbul’s 39 districts, as well as last year’s presidential and parliamentary results, after the authority annulled the opposition’s victory in Istanbul’s mayoral race and ordered a new vote.

Erdogan defends Istanbul election re-run

May 07 2019
Turkey
Source: 
SOCIALNEWS.XYZ

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday defended the controversial decision to re-run local and mayoral elections in Istanbul, claiming there were "irregularities" in the voting process against his ruling Justice and Development (AKP) party.

In the March 31 vote that was seen as a referendum on Erdogan's popularity, the social democrat Republican People's Party (CHP), Turkey's main opposition, narrowly won the race for Mayor in Istanbul, ostensibly bringing an end to 25 years of AKP dominance in the city.

It had also won in Ankara.

Turkish opposition confident of winning Istanbul poll re-run, lira sinks again

May 07 2019
Turkey
Source: 
REUTERS

Turkey’s main opposition party said on Tuesday its candidate for Istanbul mayor would again contest and win the post, after the election board ordered a re-run of the city election in a ruling that has spooked investors and drawn European criticism.

President Tayyip Erdogan had pushed hard for the re-run after his ruling AK Party (AKP) lost control of Turkey’s biggest city in the March 31 poll and he welcomed the High Election Board’s (YSK) decision. But one opposition leader compared it to a “civilian coup” and Germany urged Ankara to respect democracy.

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