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ANKARA Turkey on Wednesday called on the Israeli government to halt what it called "illegal settlement policies" on Palestinian land.

Ibrahim Kalin, the spokesman for President Tayyip Erdogan, made the comment at a news conference in Ankara. Erdogan has previously condemned Israel's decision to ramp up settlements in the West Bank as an "absolute provocation".

Israel announced plans last month for 3,000 more settlement homes in the occupied West Bank. It has also retroactively legalized about 4,000 settlement homes built on privately owned Palestinian land, a move that brought condemnation from the United Nations and the European Union.

(Reporting by Tulay Karadeniz and Daren Butler; Writing by Humeyra Pamuk; Editing by David Dolan)

LONDON/CAIRO An Islamic State suicide bomber from Britain who blew himself up in an attack on Iraqi forces this week had been given compensation for his detention in the Guantanamo Bay military prison, Western security sources said on Wednesday.

DUBAI The United States should expect a "strong slap in the face" if it underestimates Iran's defensive capabilities, a commander of the elite Revolutionary Guards said on Wednesday, as Tehran concluded war games.

BEIRUT The Syrian army and its allies took a small district on the outskirts of Aleppo from rebels on Wednesday, a war monitor and a military media unit run by Damascus ally Hezbollah said.

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Spokesman for Turkey's Erdogan calls on Israel to halt 'illegal settlements' - Reuters

New York Times

Turkey Tries 47 Ex-Soldiers in Erdogan Assassination Plot New York Times IZMIR, Turkey Dozens of former Turkish soldiers were brought to trial on Monday on charges of trying to kill President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during a coup attempt in July, the latest in a series of trials in the plot. Prosecutors in Mugla, a city in ... Turkish soldiers accused of trying to kill Erdogan go on trialReuters Alleged Erdogan assassination attempt trial opens in TurkeyWashington Post Erdogan 'assassination plot' trial begins in MuglaAljazeera.com Financial Times -FRANCE 24 -Deutsche Welle all 54 news articles »

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Turkey Tries 47 Ex-Soldiers in Erdogan Assassination Plot - New York Times

Following multiple acts of militancy, including the devastating attack at Istanbuls Reina nightclub on New Years Eve, the Turkish government undoubtedly has major security issues to address. Yet, in the face of this violence, the authorities have been downplaying one of the sectors most heavily affected: the economy.

Turkey continues to invest in big projects, such as the construction of Istanbuls third airport, while neglecting rising national debt. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan continues to label himself the enemy of interest rates, even as the country faces serious investment issues. Consistent militant attacks, meanwhile, have significantly lowered consumer confidence. It is no wonder why the Turkish lira continues to drastically fall.

Against the U.S. dollar, the Turkish lira has depreciated 10 percent since the start of 2017, and this trajectory shows no indication of changing anytime soon. Instead, Turkey continues to endure one of its most troubling periods in years. And with investor confidence at an all time low, the lira may face more significant dips in the days to come.

The instability of Turkeys security environment is a major factor. While it is true that Turkish authorities have gotten somewhat of a grasp on Kurdish violence in the southeast, four different acts of militancy in Istanbul in January alone, plus the assassination of the Russian ambassador in Ankara at the end of 2016, have illustrated the serious security challenges Turkey still faces. Undoubtedly, the economy has felt the impact.

The governments handling of this economic turmoil, however, is what truly has led to the liras descent. At the end of 2016, Ankara received troubling data regarding the risk of rising inflation. But even as this problem persists, the government has done little to get these numbers in check.

Turkeys central bank could make a difference. It has the power to increase interest rates. Such a move would likely motivate international investors to deposit their money into Turkish banks, and thus, increase the value of the ailing currency. However, constant pressure on the central bank from President Erdogan has practically paralyzed the institution, particularly as the president argues that a hike in rates would discourage consumer spending within Turkey.

The Turkish government must get out of its own way. While authorities can do all they want to restore confidence in the states security apparatus, serious solutions to the falling lira will not be realized until the government allows meaningful economic reform. The central bank has the tools at its disposal to at least ease the concerns of international investors. Additionally, the longer the bank waits to take necessary steps, the harder it will be to solve these issues with the lira, as a much higher interest-rate hike would be needed to assist the currency in the future.

Ankara has shown little indication that it is willing to embrace such economic reforms. Instead, Erdogan has focused on increasing the powers of his own office by pushing forward a constitutional referendum to change the countrys parliamentary system into a presidential one. The potential passing of this referendum not only raises concerns for international investors worried about Turkeys political stability, but also for the central bank, which could face even more backlash for acting against Erdogans wishes.

Tourists have also been taking notice of Turkeys instability. The number of foreigners visiting Istanbul dropped to about nine million in 2016, marking a 26 percent decline from the previous year. Tourism is among Turkeys most crucial industries. The Turkish economy, once viewed as one of the largest in the developing world, is now falteringand the future looks bleak.

Businesses have not given up all hope, though. Immense natural resources and vast terrain still allows Turkey to attract a wide array of investors. Potential still exists for Ankara to turn the situation around. But it will be difficult. The central bank must be willing to act quickly, regardless of political pressure. Politicians must stand up to President Erdogan and ensure that his venture to increase his own power does not ultimately damage the economy. There are opposing factions, like the Republican Peoples Party (CHP), who can attempt to balance out the presidents policies.

In the end, though, if the goal of militant groups operating in Turkey is to destabilize the economy, they are succeeding. And if economic reform does not occur, the country may be but a few attacks away from a serious recession.

Garrett Krivicich is an intelligence manager at MAX Security Solutions, a geopolitical and security risk consulting firm based in the Middle East.

Image: Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Prime Minister of Turkey. Wikimedia Commons/World Economic Forum, swiss-image.ch/Andy Mettler

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Erdogan's Power Grab Is Hurting Turkey's Economy - The National Interest Online

As Donald Trump prepares for his inauguration, he is struggling with opposition from the US media, intelligence agencies, government apparatus, parts of the Republican Party and a significant portion of the American population. Impressive obstacles appear to prevent him exercising arbitrary power.

He should take heart: much the same was said in Turkey of Recep Tayyip Erdogan in 2002 when he led his Justice and Development Party (AKP) to the first of four election victories. He faced an army that, through coups and the threat of coups, was the ultimate source of power in the country, and a secular establishment suspicious of his Islamist beliefs. But over the years he has outmanoeuvred or eliminated his enemies and using a failed military coup on 15 July last year as an excuse is suppressing and punishing all signs of dissent as terrorism.

As Trump enters the White House, the AKP and far right nationalist super majority in the Turkish parliament is this month stripping the assembly of its powers and transferring them wholesale to the presidency. President Erdogan will become an elected dictator able to dissolve parliament, veto legislation, decide the budget, appoint ministers who do not have to be MPs along with senior officials and heads of universities.

All power will be concentrated in Erdogans hands as the office of prime minister is abolished and the president, who can serve three five year terms, takes direct control of the intelligence services. He will appoint senior judges and the head of state institutions including the education system.

These far-reaching constitutional changes are reinforcing an ever-expanding purge begun after the failed military coup last year, in which more than 100,000 civil servants have been detained or dismissed. This purge is now reaching into every walk of life, from liberal journalists to businessmen who have seen $10bn in assets confiscated by the state.

The similarities between Erdogan and Trump are greater than they might seem, despite the very different political traditions in the US and Turkey.

The parallel lies primarily in the methods by which both men have gained power and seek to enhance it. They are populists and nationalists who demonise their enemies and see themselves as surrounded by conspiracies. Success does not sate their pursuit of more authority.

Hopes in the US that, after Trumps election in November, he would shift from aggressive campaign mode to a more conciliatory approach have dissipated over the last two months. Towards the media his open hostility has escalated, as was shown by his abuse of reporters at his press conference this week.

Manic sensitivity to criticism is a hallmark of both men. In Trumps case this is exemplified by his tweeted denunciation of critics such as Meryl Streep, while in Turkey 2,000 people have been charged with insulting the president. One man was tried for posting on Facebook three pictures of Gollum, the character in The Lord of the Rings, with similar facial features to pictures of Erdogan posted alongside. Of the 259 journalists in jail around the world, no less than 81 are in Turkey. American reporters may not yet face similar penalties, but they can expect intense pressure on the institutions for which they work to mute their criticisms.

Turkey and the US may have very different political landscapes, but there is a surprising degree of uniformity in the behaviour of Trump and Erdogan. The same is true of populist, nationalist, authoritarian leaders who are taking power in many different parts of the world from Hungary and Poland to the Philippines. Commentators have struggled for a phrase to describe this phenomenon, such as the age of demagoguery, but this refers only to one method and that not the least important by which such leaders gain power.

This type of political leadership is not new: the most compelling account of it was written 70 years ago in 1947 by the great British historian Sir Lewis Namier, in an essay reflecting on what he termed Caesarian democracy, which over the previous century had produced Napoleon III in France, Mussolini in Italy and Hitler in Germany. His list of the most important aspects of this toxic brand of politics is as relevant today as it was when first written, since all the items apply to Trump, Erdogan and their like.

Namier described Caesarian democracy as typified by its direct appeal to the masses: demagogical slogans; disregard of legality despite a professed guardianship of law and order; contempt of political parties and the parliamentary system, of the educated classes and their values; blandishments and vague, contradictory promises to all and sundry; militarism; gigantic blatant displays and shady corruption. Panem et circenses [bread and circuses] once more and at the end of the road, disaster.

Disaster comes in different forms. One disability of elected dictators or strongmen is that, impelled by an exaggerated idea of their own capacity, they undertake foreign military adventures beyond their countrys strength. As an isolationist Trump might steer clear of such quagmires, but most of his senior security appointments show a far more aggressive and interventionist streak.

A strength of President Obama was that he had a realistic sense of what was attainable by the US in the Middle East without starting unwinnable wars as President George W Bush did in Iraq and Afghanistan. During the presidential election campaign, Trump showed signs of grasping as Hillary Clinton did not that Americans do not want to fight another ground war in the Middle East or anywhere else. But this naturally limits US influence in the world and will be at odds with Trumps slogan about making America great again.

The disaster that Namier predicted was the natural end of elected dictators has already begun to happen in Turkey. The Turkish leader may have succeeded in monopolising power at home, but at the price of provoking crises and deepening divisions within Turkish society. The country is embroiled in the war in Syria, thanks to Erdogans ill-judged intervention there since 2011. This led to the Syrian branch of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) establishing a de facto state in northern Syria and Isis doing the same in Syria and Iraq. At home, Erdogan restarted the war with the Turkish Kurds for electoral reasons in 2015 and the conflict is now more intractable than ever.

Every few weeks in Turkey there is another terrorist attack which is usually the work of Isis or a faction of the PKK although the government sometimes blames atrocities on the followers of Fethullah Gulen, who are alleged to have carried out the attempted military coup last July. In addition to this, there is an escalating financial crisis, which has seen the Turkish lira lose 12 per cent of its value over the last two weeks. Foreign and domestic investment is drying up as investors become increasingly convinced that Turkey has become chronically unstable.

Erdogan and Trump have a further point in common: both have an unquenchable appetite for power and achieve it by exploiting and exacerbating divisions within their own countries.

They declare they will make their countries great again, but in practise make them weaker.

They are forever sawing through the branch on which they and everybody else are sitting.

Excerpt from:
The terrifying parallels between Trump and Erdogan - The ...

Ibrahim Cat, a supporter of the ruling AK Party, had never hesitated to vote for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Until now.

As Turks prepare to vote on a proposal to give Erdogan sweeping powers, people like Cat are signaling to the man who has never lost a major election that victory is not assured. Two months before the referendum, surveys show the no side with a narrow lead. At least 10 percent of the electorate hasnt made up its mind.

I think too much power is being given to one man, said Cat as he waited for patrons at the wedding gift shop he owns in Ankaras old town. We trust Erdogan but who will replace him when he passes away?

Read: How Turkeys Erdogan Might Get Still More Power: QuickTake Q&A

What Erdogan seeks to achieve is nothing less than overturning the parliamentary politics enshrined in the modern, secular Turkish state by founder Mustafa Kemal Ataturk after World War I. The proposed constitutional amendments would make the presidency the center of power instead of parliament, abolish the post of prime minister and give the president greater control over judicial appointments.

Erdogan and his supporters say the stakes for Turkey have never been higher. In speeches, interviews and newspaper opinion pieces, they argue that giving the president more powers is the only answer to a wave of terrorist attacks, a raging conflict with Kurdish separatists, an economic slowdown and the turmoil that followed a failed coup attempt in July.

The constitutional change opens the way for a strong, great and prosperous Turkey, Erdogan said in Istanbul on Feb. 11. The nation needs this system, not me.

Yet while the AK Party says parliament will still be able to curb the presidents authority, opponents say the changes would promote autocracy by weakening checks and balances.

Read: Turkeys Power Struggles Stem From Erdogans Grip: QuickTake

This is not an ordinary referendum, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, leader of the main opposition CHP party told faction lawmakers on Feb. 14. Turkey will heave a sigh of relief if the result is no.

A MetroPoll survey published Feb. 9 showed almost 51 percent of voters oppose the proposed constitutional change. Three survey companies say between 10 and 14 percent of Turkeys 55 million eligible voters -- or some 5 million to 7 million people -- havent made up their minds.

Ilnur Cevik, a chief adviser to Erdogan, indicated that the president and AK party understand the challenge.

There is a colossal change in Turkey that will have to be explained to the people, once they realize what is going on, I think the approval rate will really go up, increase, he said in an interview.

It wouldnt be the first time Erdogan and his party trailed in the polls only to emerge as winners. In past elections, the AK Party he co-founded has nimbly changed tactics mid-campaign to adjust to public sentiment. In this race, it has already softened its tone toward referendum opponents, no longer calling them terrorists as it originally did.

Erdogan has also issued a slew of economic decrees, including tax breaks and cheaper health insurance, that have been welcomed by loyalists but disparaged by opponents as a blatant attempt to curry favor with voters.

Erdogan backer Soner Kurt, 38, said he had no reservations about the proposed constitutional changes.

Ive read the entire 18 article-package, I dont see anything harmful in it, Kurt said as he packed sugar-dusted cubes of Turkish delight, the countrys signature sweet, in a small shop in Ankara. I like his leadership, his strong stance against the U.S. He starts everything with in the name of God. He is an honest man.

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That tack resonates with many.

I will definitely vote yes in the referendum for stability in the country, for economic development and security, said 28-year-old real estate agent Bekir Karadavut in the AK Party stronghold of Pursaklar on the outskirts of Ankara. There is a need for an authoritarian figure in this country to put things on the right track.

For Kurds, who make up about 15 percent of Turkeys population, the referendum is a red flag. Lawmaker Ahmet Yildirim of the pro-Kurdish, opposition HDP party predicted a high turnout among the partys constituents to protest the jailing of their lawmakers on charges of terrorism.

The people are aware that avoiding the ballot box would amount to saying yes, he said.

Erdogan is banking on the support that he secured as prime minister by curtailing the power of the fiercely secular military and driving economic growth through massive infrastructure projects and a sweeping reform of the banking industry. Gross domestic product rose by an average of 5.9 percent since he first took office in 2003.

Turkeys luster, however, has dimmed as Erdogan consolidated his grip on power, both as prime minister and then as president. A succession of corruption allegations, deadly militant attacks and a government crackdown on opponents have sparked accusations of authoritarianism.

The economy has also suffered, in part because of swings in global market and also because of investor concerns over Erdogans leadership. The lira has lost more than 20 percent of its value against the dollar since the end of 2015. Growth and foreign direct investments have also slowed.

Erkan Ulker, a 36-year-old owner of a textile shop in Ankara, said he voted for the AK Party in the last election to stop the country from sliding into chaos.

Now, I have concerns on whether the president will rule the country with an increasingly authoritarian style, he said.

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Even Some Erdogan Diehards Flinch at Giving Him More Powers - Bloomberg