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Wednesday, 22 March, 2023 - 06:30

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan pledged Tuesday to step up the flow of water along the Tigris River to drought-stricken Iraq for one month.

Erdogan told Iraq's visiting Prime Minister Mohamed Shia al-Sudani that he was aware of the "urgent need for water" in Turkiye's war-scarred neighbour.

Official Iraqi statistics show the level of the Tigris entering the country last year dropping to just 35 percent of its average over the past century.

"For one month, we have taken the decision to increase the volume of water flowing along the Tigris River," Erdogan told a joint media appearance with Sudani.

"The issue of water will hopefully be resolved," AFP quoted Erdogan as saying.

For his part, Sudani expressed his gratitude and thanks to the president from the Iraqi people.

Also, Erdogan repeated his demand for Iraq to recognise the PKK as a terror group.

Sudani said that Iraq recognized Turkiye's security concerns.

"We won't allow Iraq to be used as a launching pad for attacks on Turkiye," he noted.

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Erdogan Vows to Boost Water Flow along Tigris River to Ease Iraqs Water Shortage - Asharq Al-awsat - English

Turkeys Peoples Democratic Party (HDP) dealt President Recep Tayyip Erdogan a significant blow on March 22 when the pro-Kurdish party announced that it and its leftist allies will not field a presidential candidate in the May 14 elections.

The move implicitly supports the candidacy of Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the main challenger to Erdogan put forward by the six-party Nation Alliance, or Table of Six. It paves the way for a repeat of the strategy that the HDP and main opposition Republican Peoples Party (CHP), headed by Kilicdaroglu, used in the 2019 mayoral elections. In those elections, Erdogans ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) lost both Istanbul and Ankara to CHP candidates.

We will fulfil our historical responsibility against one-man rule we will not nominate a candidate in the presidential election, Pervin Buldan, HDP co-chair, said during a news conference, in a jibe at Erdogan.

Turkeys February earthquake disaster forced the HDP to reassess the merits of challenging Erdogan on its own, said Buldan, who met Kilicdaroglu this week. The path towards a bright future and building political democracy is to expand the struggle together, she added.

The HDP is seen as a possible kingmaker in the upcoming parliamentary and presidential polls and many of its voters are said to view Kilicdaroglu, born in a predominantly Kurdish region of Turkey and a member of the Alevi faith, as a sympathetic figure.

If neither Erdogans People Alliance nor the Nation Alliance clearly win over most of the electorate ahead of polling day, the advice given to ethnic minority Kurdish voters by the HDP, the third biggest party in the parliament, which polls at around 10-12%, could be crucial to the election outcome.

The HDPs announcement was expected but still made Erdogans week to go from bad to worse, said Wolfango Piccoli at political risk consultancy Teneo. Over the past few days, Erdogan has suffered some humiliating refusals. A small Islamist party the New Welfare Party (YRP) rejected lending support to Erdogan or to his political alliance in the elections. The YRPs backing would have been valuable for Erdogan during the election campaign as YRP officials have a good network in central Anatolia.

Another rejection came from former finance minister Mehmet Simsek, who after meeting with Erdogan on 20 March stated that he is not interested in active politics. Erdogans Justice and Development Party (AKP) is also struggling to secure applications from candidates to stand in the parliamentary elections.

Piccoli added, however, that Erdogan may take some comfort from the fact that Muharrem Ince is expected to join the presidential race. Ince was the CHPs presidential candidate in 2018, securing 30.6% of the vote as Erdogan achieved re-election, but he split from the CHP two years ago to form the Homeland Party, which has a traditional secularist and nationalist platform.

After submitting an application to the Supreme Electoral Board, Ince must meet certain requirements by 27 March to be allowed to run, including collecting 100K signatures backing his candidacy. Ince, who currently polls at 5-7%, is an energetic but somewhat unpredictable campaigner who could draw anti-Erdogan votes away from the Nation Alliance, thereby raising the chances that the first round of the presidential election would end inconclusively, with no candidates securing more than 50% of the votes. A run-off two weeks later between Kilicdaroglu and Erdogan would give the latter more time to attack his opponent and to seek to divide his alliance, said Piccoli.

The HDP has faced the threat of closure since Turkeys Constitutional Court accepted in 2021 anindictmentseeking to shut down the party over alleged ties to the outlawed militant Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which it denies.

The Constitutional Court has rejected an application from the HDP to make a defence after the elections, though it remains unclear when the court will make its ruling. In case of a verdict for closure, the HDP is likely to run in the elections under the Green Left Party, which in October replaced its party logo with one similar to that of the HDP, Piccoli noted.

While the HDPs indirect support is a positive for Kilicdaroglus electoral prospects, it will allow Erdogan to attack the CHP leader for partnering with a party that is allegedly close to the PKK. This may drive off some more conservative and nationalist voters from Kilicdaroglus Nation Alliance coalition, he added.

The HDP is asking for a broad commitment to democratisation, Asli Aydintasbas, a fellow at the Brookings Institution think tank, was on March 22 reported as saying by the Financial Times, adding:Given that Turkey has gone through this extremely dark period, marked by an ultranationalist, securitised response to the Kurdish issue, that will have consequences, including getting Kurdish politicians out of jail.

Originally posted here:
Election blow to Erdogan as Turkey's third biggest party implicitly ... - bne IntelliNews

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan

Murat Cetinmuhurdar | Reuters

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday approved Finland's accession to NATO after months of talks, but added that discussions with Sweden will continue.

"We have decided to initiate the ratification of Finland's accession process to NATO in our parliament," Erdogan said in Ankara, according to a Reuters translation, as he met his Finnish counterpart Sauli Niinisto.

Erdogan added that he hoped the Turkish parliament would endorse Finland's bid before the country's May 14 elections.

In May, Finland and Sweden sent applications to join the military alliance. They decided to put an end to their policies of neutrality and military non-alignment in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

But the process to join NATO has not been as smooth as some had expected, particularly with Ankara demanding more security reassurances from Sweden.

As of 2022, NATO has expanded to let in three former Soviet states and all of the former Warsaw Pact countries.

Bryn Bache | CNBC

Friday's announcement paves the way for Finland to become a member of NATO in the coming months. Hungary is the only other member that has yet to approve Helsinki's membership out of the 30 NATO nations, although the ruling party in Hungary said Friday it would back Finland at a March 27 vote.

Friday's developments leave Stockholm a bit behind in the process.

Turkey's opposition to Sweden's NATO membership centers around what, it says, is their harboring of militants from the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

In January, far-right demonstrators burned a Quran and chanted anti-Muslim slogans in front of Turkey's embassy in Stockholm, Sweden. Ankara immediately denounced the act, as well as Sweden's granting of a permit to the right-wing group to hold the demonstration.

During a NATO meeting in Madrid in June 2022, Sweden, Finland and Turkey signed an agreement outlining a path to a compromise, with Ankara calling for further anti-terrorism guarantees. Speaking to CNBC in February, Sweden's Foreign Affairs Minister Tobias Billstrm said his country had done its part to fulfil the agreement.

"This is just a matter of time," he said about joining the alliance, adding he expects his nation to be a full member by July.

Former Finnish Prime Minister Alexander Stubb played down concerns about Sweden being left behind.

"Both Finland and Sweden will become Nato members at the latest at the summit in July. The situation is stable. We are already de facto members," he said on Twitter.

CNBC's Natasha Turak contributed to this report.

Read more:
President Erdogan says Turkey will start ratifying Finland's NATO application - CNBC

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Wednesday that he will speak by phone in the coming days with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to discuss the Black Sea Grain Initiative.

"We will have a phone call with Putin in two to three days," Erdogan said in an interview broadcast live on Turkish channels NTV and Star TV.

He said the world appreciates Trkiyes mediation efforts between Russia and Ukraine.

"We are already acknowledged in the world. Trkiye's success is on everyone's lips in the world," he added.

Last July, Trkiye, the UN, Russia and Ukraine signed a deal in Istanbul to resume grain exports from three Ukrainian Black Sea ports which were paused after the Russia-Ukraine war began in February 2022.

Erdogan announced the deal's extension on Saturday, one day before it was slated to lapse.

The president also recalled Putin's offer of sending grain to poor countries free of charge.

He added that Trkiye is in preparation for buying wheat to turn it into flour and sending it to poor countries.

"(Together with Putin), We will take our steps in this area as well," Erdogan said.

He added that Ankara is determined also to ship Russian fertilizer to less developed countries.

"There is need of fertilizer. We will supply them. We will send it (fertilizer) to world markets and underdeveloped countries and try to relieve them," he said.

Stressing that Trkiye will not be a party to any war and will always be on the side of peace, Erdogan said: "As a matter of fact, this is the step that we took in the Russia-Ukraine war."

- Earthquakes in Trkiye

On last month's powerful earthquakes in Trkiye's southern region, Erdogan said they are making efforts to heal the wounds of the victims.

On Feb. 6, magnitude 7.7 and 7.6 quakes struck 11 Turkish provinces Adana, Adiyaman, Diyarbakir, Elazig, Hatay, Gaziantep, Kahramanmaras, Kilis, Malatya, Osmaniye and Sanliurfa -- claiming the lives of over 50,000 people.

More than 13.5 million people in Trkiye have been affected by the quakes as well as many others in northern Syria.

Erdogan vowed to reconstruct the quake-hit regions, saying: "As we promised, we are starting to lay the foundation tomorrow (Thursday). I hope that we will be able to finish the permanent houses in one year."

The president said that 302 suspects were arrested as part of an investigation carried out after the earthquakes.

"We will be following (investigations) closely. Those who do not fulfill their responsibilities will be held accountable. There's no escape," he added.

- Trkiye's first indigenous electric car

Regarding Trkiye's first indigenous electric car TOGG, Erdogan said from the end of this month, TOGG will enrich the streets.

Nearly 80,000 orders for the automobile have been received to date, he said.

Pre-orders for the TOGG T10X will be taken online from March 16-27 and deliveries will start in late March.

The price of the standard range model T10X will start from 953,000 Turkish liras (about $50,200) to 1.055 million liras (about $55,600), while the long-range model was priced at 1.215 million liras (about $64,000).

Erdogan said the production target of TOGG is 20,000 this year, adding: "Hopefully we will have produced one million TOGGs by 2030."

Erdogan sent his warmest wishes as Muslims around the world begin the holy month of Ramadan.

"Tonight we will get up for suhur and we will start breathing the spiritual atmosphere of Ramadan," he said, referring to the meal eaten by Muslims before dawn during the fasting month.

Ramadan is believed to be a time of intense spirituality when the believers are surrounded by angels, the gates of heaven are open, and Allah's blessings and mercy are abundant.

Muslims in Trkiye will fast for 29 days beginning from Thursday, March 23, according to the Diyanet, Trkiyes top religious body.

Muslims will celebrate Eid al-Fitr at the end of the holy month of Ramadan.

Read more:
Erdogan to speak with Putin on grain deal in coming days - Yeni afak English

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan voices concern over rising attacks in occupied West Bank, underlines importance of preventing provocations in Al Aqsa Mosque.

Turkish President Erdogan (R) conveys his "deep concern" over increasing acts of violence in occupied West Bank. ( Reuters Archive )

Trkiye's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Israel's President Isaac Herzog discussed bilateral relations in a phone conversation late on Monday, Turkish communication's directorate has said.

According to a statement by the Turkish Communications Directorate on Tuesday, Herzog congratulated Erdogan for the upcoming Muslim holy month of Ramadan, while the Turkish president congratulated his Israeli counterpart's Jewish Passover holiday.

Thanking Israel for its solidarity and support after last month's massive earthquakes in southern Trkiye, Erdogan also reaffirmed Ankara's determination to strengthen relations.

Erdogan further conveyed his "deep concern" over increasing attacks and acts of violence in the occupied West Bank as Ramadan approaches, according to the statement.

He underlined the importance of not allowing provocations and threats against the historical status and spirituality of the Al Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem.

The statement also noted that Erdogan thanked Herzog for his efforts to preserve calm and the status quo.

READ MORE:Trkiye, Israel discuss security, regional issues in Ankara talks

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Trkiye's Erdogan reaffirms determination to strengthen ties with Israel - TRT World