Latest news with #TurkeyPolitics
RNZ News
20 hours ago
- Politics
- RNZ News
Turkey detains prominent journalist for allegedly threatening Erdogan
Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks during the 51st session of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation in Istanbul, on June 21, 2025. Photo: AFP / YASIN AKGUL Turkish authorities have detained prominent independent journalist Fatih Altayli over social media comments allegedly threatening President Tayyip Erdogan, the Istanbul prosecutor's office said. Altayli, who has more than 1.51 million subscribers on his YouTube channel, posted a video on Friday (local time) referencing an unnamed poll showing 70 percent of Turks opposed Erdogan ruling for life, saying this would "never be allowed" by the Turkish people. Altayli also referenced past Ottoman rulers in his comments, saying people had "drowned", "killed", or "assassinated them in the past". His comments drew backlash from an Erdogan aide, Oktay Saral, who said on X that Altayli's "water was boiling". In a statement, the Istanbul prosecutor's office said the comments from Altayli "contained threats" against Erdogan, and said an investigation has been launched against him. Legal representation for Altayli could not immediately be reached for comment. Altayli's detention comes amid a series of detentions of opposition figures in recent months, including the arrest in March of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu who is Erdogan's main political rival . The main opposition party, CHP, says the detentions and arrests of its members, along with other opposition members and journalists or media personalities, is a politicised move by the government to muzzle dissent and eliminate electoral challenges to Erdogan. The government denies these claims, saying the judiciary and Turkey's courts are independent. Turkish authorities have in the past carried out widespread detentions and arrests against opposition politicians, namely pro-Kurdish local authorities. More than 150 people have been jailed so far over what Erdogan's government says is a ring of corruption, which the CHP denies. - Reuters
BBC News
22-05-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Erdogan denies bid to change Turkey's constitution means he'll run for presidency again
Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has denied he is trying to change the constitution so that he can stay on when his term ends in three years' has led Turkey for 22 years, first as prime minister from 2003 and then as its elected president since 2014. But he cannot run again unless the rules are changed or he calls early elections."We want the new constitution not for ourselves, but for our country. I have no interest in being re-elected or running for office again," he told reporters on yet Erdogan's recent remarks and actions have heightened speculation that he wants to remain president after his term ends in 2028. Last January he was asked by a singer if he was up for running for another term and he said, "I am, if you are." The next day his party's spokesman confirmed the issue was on their agenda: "What is important is that our nation wants it."While many Turks will be keen for Erdogan to continue as president, he is trailing in the opinion polls behind the opposition mayor of Istanbul, Ekrem Imamoglu, who was arrested in March and remains in arrest on alleged corruption charges, which he denies, has been widely seen by his supporters as politically motivated and has sparked some of the biggest protests Turkey has seen in more than a suggest that support for the mayor has risen since he was detained in prison in Silivri, west of Istanbul. Authorities have succeeded in blocking his social media feed on X inside Turkey and they have continued to target his city administration, detaining at least 18 staff on suspicion of corruption in recent days, including the municipality's public relations chief Taner Cetin. Although Imamoglu's detention in jail has been widely criticised internationally, President Erdogan has largely escaped censure, with Western allies viewing him as a key Nato his comments to reporters on Wednesday, Erdogan said Turkey's constitution did not reflect the views of civilians as it was mainly written in the wake of a 1980 military coup, even though it has been amended."In such a rapidly changing world, is it possible to get anywhere with a constitution that was written under the conditions of a coup?" he current constitution only allows two five-year presidential terms. Erdogan is already on his third, but he argued his initial term took place before Turkey moved from parliamentary rule to presidential change required a constitutional referendum in 2017 that gave Erdogan sweeping powers, but still only allows two presidential obtain another referendum he needs the backing of 360 MPs in the 600-seat parliament, but can currently only rely on 321. With 400 votes he could change the constitution recent move to bring an end to more than four decades of conflict with the Kurdish militant PKK has been interpreted by some as a bid to attract Kurdish support for a new said on Wednesday that by laying down its arms the PKK would enable the pro-Kurdish DEM party to continue in politics "in a much stronger way".The DEM party has 56 MPs and, with their backing, Erdogan would have a far greater chance in parliament to change the deputy chairman of Ekrem Imamoglu's opposition CHP party, Ali Mahir Basarir, said Erdogan had no chance of running again because of a constitution that he had designed himself. Erdogan could also call early elections, but he wasn't allowing those either, Basarir said.
Reuters
06-05-2025
- Politics
- Reuters
Turkey crackdown on Istanbul Mayor Imamoglu, Erdogan's main rival
ISTANBUL, May 6 (Reuters) - Jailed Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu is fighting a series of legal battles on charges of corruption, insulting officials and terrorism links amid a widening crackdown on the opposition in Turkey. Imamoglu, President Tayyip Erdogan's main rival, first became mayor in 2019, delivering a major electoral defeat to Erdogan's ruling AK Party (AKP). He secured a second term in 2024, when his main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) swept most of the country in local votes. Pollsters said Imamoglu's lead over Erdogan has firmed since his arrest and jailing pending a court ruling. Here is a timeline of the on Imamoglu and other figures that the opposition has criticised as a politicised and anti-democratic push in Turkey, a major emerging market and a NATO member country that Erdogan has run for 22 years. October 31, 2024 - A Turkish court jails, pending trial, Ahmet Ozer, the CHP mayor of Istanbul's Esenyurt district, on charges of links to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militant group, banned as a terrorist group in Turkey. January 17 - A court jails, pending trial, Riza Akpolat, the CHP mayor of Istanbul's central Besiktas district, in an investigation into an alleged criminal organisation suspected of rigging public tenders by bribing public officials. March 18 - Istanbul University annuls Imamoglu's university degree over irregularities, dealing a blow to the party days before it was set to pick him as its presidential candidate in the next election due in 2028. Having a degree is a pre-condition for being a presidential candidate. March 19 - Turkish police on charges of corruption and aiding a terrorist group, in what the main opposition party calls "a coup against our next president". The move triggers a lira currency slide of up to 12% to an all-time low of 42 against the dollar, while bonds and stocks also slide amid investor worries that the rule of law is being eroded. The central bank responds by suspending one-week repo auctions and hiking its overnight lending rate to 46%. March 21 - Protests against Imamoglu's detention spread across Turkey in the biggest show of civil disobedience in more than a decade. March 23 - A Turkish court jails Imamoglu pending trial on corruption charges, further inflaming protests by hundreds of thousands of Turks. On the same day, millions of CHP members and non-members endorse Imamoglu as the party's presidential candidate. March 25 - Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek and Central Bank Governor Fatih Karahan tell international investors they will do whatever is needed to tame market turmoil triggered by Imamoglu's arrest. March 27 - The number of people detained in the nationwide protests nears 1,900 and Turkey rejects what it says are prejudiced foreign statements regarding Imamoglu's arrest. April 2 - The government denounces opposition calls for a mass commercial boycott following Imamoglu's arrest, describing them as an economic "sabotage attempt". April 11 - Imamoglu appears before a court for the first time since his arrest and denies earlier and separate accusations that he insulted a prosecutor. April 14 - The head of the Council of Europe, the continent's leading human rights watchdog, tells Reuters it is worried about any violations of rights in Turkey after the jailing of Imamoglu. April 17 - The central bank hikes its key interest rate by 350 basis points to 46% in a surprise move that reverses an easing cycle following the market turmoil triggered by Imamoglu's arrest. April 30 - A court jails, pending trial, 18 Istanbul municipality officials on corruption charges in a further widening of the crackdown on the opposition and Imamoglu.
