Foreign Policy
- NATO warns Russia over airspace violations as Syria airstrikes widen
- Turkey’s Erdoğan calls on EU to share refugee burden, calls for no-fly zones
- EU, Turkey to thrash out refugee action plan
- Turkish PM calls for ‘Syria without Assad’ in UN address
- Turkey’s voters need to feel safe to go to polls, US envoy says
- Shiite Militia Releases 16 Turkish Workers Abducted in Iraq
Economy and Energy
- Turkish Bonds Rise With Stocks as Fed Odds Boost Risk Appetite
- Turkish exports decline for fifth month in row
- Turkey: Foreign investment hit $3.39 billion in July
- Turkish Central Bank’s forex reserves decrease to three-year low
- Emerging Debt Trap: The Turkish Bonds That Trade Twice a Day
- The Two-Day Trick Masking Turkey’s Short-Term Debt Habit
- Garanti qualifies for Dow Jones emerging markets sustainability index
Domestic Politics
- Prominent Turkish journalist attacked in latest sign of pressure on media
- Turkish PM calls dragged corpse pic ‘unacceptable’, HDP leader urges interior minister to resign
- YSK’s rejection of ballot box relocation an ‘erosion of authority,’ says PM
- Parliament opens with ceremony of protests
- Press freedom key for well-functioning democracy, sustainable development: Boss
- Five children hurt in bomb blast in southeast Turkey
Foreign Policy
NATO warns Russia over airspace violations as Syria airstrikes widen
NATO warned Russia to stay away from Turkey on Monday after the Turkish Air Force intercepted Russian warplanes that strayed into its airspace from Syria, underscoring the heightened risk of a wider conflagration as Russia escalates its intervention in the Syrian conflict.
Washington Post, NATO warns Russia over airspace violations as Syria airstrikes widen, October 5, 2015
Turkey’s Erdoğan calls on EU to share refugee burden, calls for no-fly zones
Once again underlining that Turkey has struggled to cope with the mass influx of Syrian refugees over the past four years, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has called on the EU to share the burden, also presenting a three-pronged formula for a lasting solution.
Hurriyet Daily News, Turkey’s Erdoğan calls on EU to share refugee burden, calls for no-fly zones, October 5, 2015
EU, Turkey to thrash out refugee action plan
Leaders from the European Union and Turkey will fine-tune a plan Monday to help Ankara cope better with refugees from Syria and Iraq and limit the flow of people leaving to Europe.
Associated Press, EU, Turkey to thrash out refugee action plan, 5 October 2015
Turkish PM calls for ‘Syria without Assad’ in UN address
Anyone thinking of any solution to the Syrian conflict must think of a Syria without Bashar al-Assad, Turkish PM Ahmet Davutoğlu said Sept. 30, calling the embattled president “a vicious tyrant”.
Hurriyet Daily News, Turkish PM calls for ‘Syria without Assad’ in UN address, September 30, 2015
Turkey’s voters need to feel safe to go to polls, US envoy says
All voters in Turkey need to feel safe enough to go to the ballot boxes, U.S. Ambassador to Ankara John Bass has said amid debates about the ramifications of moving polling stations in some southeastern districts due to recent violence.
Hurriyet Daily News, Turkey’s voters need to feel safe to go to polls, US envoy says, September 30, 2015
Shiite Militia Releases 16 Turkish Workers Abducted in Iraq
Sixteen Turkish construction workers abducted four weeks ago by a Shiite militia in Iraq were released on Wednesday, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu of Turkey said in a statement on Twitter.
New York Times, Shiite Militia Releases 16 Turkish Workers Abducted in Iraq, September 30, 2015
Economy and Energy
Turkish Bonds Rise With Stocks as Fed Odds Boost Risk Appetite
Turkish bonds climbed the most in more than five months and stocks jumped to a seven-week high as reduced bets the Federal Reserve will increase interest rates boosted investor appetite in the country’s assets.
Bloomberg, Turkish Bonds Rise With Stocks as Fed Odds Boost Risk Appetite, October 5, 2015
Turkish exports decline for fifth month in row
Turkey’s exports declined 19.8 percent in September year-on-year, the Turkish Exporters Assembly reported Oct. 1.Exports fell to $10.61 million in September, representing the fifth consecutive month of decline. For the year to date, exports have dropped 10 percent year-on-year to $106.3 billion, according to the report.
Hurriyet Daily News, Turkish exports decline for fifth month in row, October 1, 2015
Turkey: Foreign investment hit $3.39 billion in July
Foreign direct investment (FDI) in Turkey reached $3.39 billion in July, according to a report from the Ministry of Economy on Sept. 30.
Hurriyet Daily News, Turkey: Foreign investment hit $3.39 billion in July, September 30, 2015
Turkish Central Bank’s forex reserves decrease to three-year low
The Turkish Central Bank’s gross foreign currency reserves have decreased to below $100 billion for the first time since 2012. According to data from the bank, the reserves were announced at $117.9 billion at the start of the week of Sept. 23, but only $99.5 billion of the reserves are in foreign currency, with the remainder being comprised of gold reserves.
Hurriyet Daily News, Turkish Central Bank’s forex reserves decrease to three-year low, October 2, 2015
The Two-Day Trick Masking Turkey’s Short-Term Debt Habit
Turkey’s central bank has spent 2015 forcing lenders to curb their addiction to short-term debt. On paper, it worked. The improvement was praised by everyone from Fitch Ratings to the finance minister. But dig a little deeper and the results look less convincing. While central bank data show the amount of foreign debt due in less than a year has dropped for the first time since the global credit crisis in 2009, the banks’ own filings reveal most new loans only count as long-term debt by a margin of a couple of days.
Bloomberg, The Two-Day Trick Masking Turkey’s Short-Term Debt Habit, October 5, 2015
Garanti qualifies for Dow Jones emerging markets sustainability index
Garanti Bank became the only Turkish company to qualify for the Dow Jones Sustainability Emerging Markets Index, according to the Turkish lender owned by Spain’s BBVA. “Garanti proved once again that it successfully integrated sustainability into all of its activities and banking operations by further qualifying to be a member of the Dow Jones Sustainability Emerging Markets Index,” read a statement by the bank on Oct. 1.
Hurriyet Daily News, Garanti qualifies for Dow Jones emerging markets sustainability index, October 1, 2015
Domestic Politics
Prominent Turkish journalist attacked in latest sign of pressure on media
A prominent Turkish journalist, Ahmet Hakan, has been beaten up outside his home, his newspaper said on Thursday, in what the country’s main opposition party called a sign of growing social tension under President Tayyip Erdogan.
Reuters, Prominent Turkish journalist attacked in latest sign of pressure on media, October 1, 2015
Turkish PM calls dragged corpse pic ‘unacceptable’, HDP leader urges interior minister to resign
Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu has “disapproved” an image tweeted of a corpse tied to the back of a security vehicle being dragged on a street in southeast Turkey where security forces are battling militants of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), while the co-leader of the Kurdish problem-focused opposition party has called for the immediate resignation of the interior minister over the scandal.
Hurriyet Daily News, Turkish PM calls dragged corpse pic ‘unacceptable’, HDP leader urges interior minister to resign, October 5, 2015
YSK’s rejection of ballot box relocation an ‘erosion of authority,’ says PM
Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu has joined criticism of Turkey’s top election authority for its refusal to call for the relocation of ballot boxes in several eastern and southeastern districts, though Deputy Prime Minister Tuğrul Türkeş voiced confidence that security forces and local administrations would find a “formula” for a safe election.
Hurriyet Daily News, YSK’s rejection of ballot box relocation an ‘erosion of authority,’ says PM, October 5, 2015
Parliament opens with ceremony of protests
The Turkish parliament opened on Oct. 1 for a short session before elections in one month’s time, but the event quickly became the scene of protests against President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
Hurriyet Daily News, Parliament opens with ceremony of protests, October 1, 2015
Press freedom key for well-functioning democracy, sustainable development: Boss
Sabancı Holding Chair Güler Sabancı has said social development cannot be sustainable if individual rights and freedoms are not prioritized and there is not a well-functioning democracy.
Hurriyet Daily News, Press freedom key for well-functioning democracy, sustainable development: Boss, October 5, 2015
Five children hurt in bomb blast in southeast Turkey
Five children were injured on Monday when a bomb tore through a street in the Turkish city of Diyarbakir, where deadly clashes have followed the collapse of a ceasefire by Kurdish militants.
Reuters, Five children hurt in bomb blast in southeast Turkey, September 29, 2015