Tag Archives: Tayyip Erdogan

The Middle East Eye reports: Draft legislation could see “biological sex” written into law in Turkey and the “promotion” of LGBTQ rights criminalised. The Turkish penal code would mandate that a “person who publicly encourages, praises or promotes attitudes and behaviours contrary to the biological sex at birth and public morality shall be sentenced to imprisonment of one year to …

CBS News reports: A fire engulfed a hotel at a ski resort in northwestern Turkey on Tuesday, killing at least 66 people and injuring 32 others, the interior minister said. Witnesses said desperate guests had tried to escape using ropes, and video showed bedsheets hanging from the windows. Media reports suggested some people had died after trying to jump to …

Axois reports: The Turkish Parliament’s foreign affairs committee approved Sweden’s bid to join NATO on Tuesday. The vote that brings Sweden closer to achieving NATO membership comes after a series of delays in its attempt to become part of the alliance, including Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s initial refusal to accept Sweden’s bid. A country’s admission into NATO must be …

Reuters reports: Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday told United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres that Israel must be held accountable in international courts for what he called war crimes it committed in Gaza, the Turkish presidency said. Israel has mounted an offensive by air and ground against Hamas militants in Gaza in which more than 15,000 people have been …

Reuters reports: Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, in his strongest comments yet on the Gaza conflict, said on Wednesday the Palestinian militant group Hamas was not a terrorist organisation but a liberation group fighting to protect Palestinian lands and people. Speaking to lawmakers from his ruling AK Party, Erdogan also called for an immediate ceasefire between Israeli and Palestinian forces and …

Reuters reports: Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on Monday submitted a bill approving Sweden’s NATO membership bid to parliament for ratification, his office said, a move welcomed by Stockholm as it clears the way for it to join the Western defence alliance. Erdogan pleased his NATO allies at a summit in July by promising to send the legislation to parliament when …

Reuters reports: Turkey’s President Tayyip Erdogan complained on Thursday that he was uncomfortable with the use of what he described as “LGBT colors” at the United Nations, which is decorated this week with bright colors promoting the Sustainable Development Goals. “One of the issues that bothers me the most … is that when entering the United Nations General Assembly, you …

Reuters reports: Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan asked Tesla CEO Elon Musk to build a Tesla factory in Turkey, the country’s communications directorate said on Monday. It cited Musk as saying that many Turkish suppliers are already working with Tesla and that Turkey was among the most important candidates for its next factory. Erdogan and Musk were speaking during a meeting …

Reuters reports: President Tayyip Erdogan claimed victory in Turkey’s presidential election on Sunday, a win that would steer his increasingly authoritarian rule into a third decade. Addressing supporters, Erdogan said voters had given him the responsibility to rule for the next five years. The election had been seen as one of the most consequential yet for Turkey, with the opposition …

Politico Europe reports: When he ran for president, Joe Biden called Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdoğan an “autocrat” and said the U.S should support Erdogan’s opponents. Now, with Erdoğan leading in a tight runoff race for the Turkish presidency, Biden and his aides are a chastened bunch. When they’re willing to comment at all, they insist they’re not picking sides. …

Bloomberg reports: Turkey is set to head to a runoff in a vote that’s become the strongest electoral test yet of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s two decades in power. While preliminary results Monday showed Erdogan with a lead of more than 2 million votes, it wasn’t enough to secure the more than 50% of the ballot and avoid a second …

The New York Times reports: President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey was facing the greatest political challenge of his career after millions voted on Sunday in pivotal elections that could reshape the country’s domestic and foreign policies. The presidential and parliamentary elections took place three months after devastating earthquakes killed more than 50,000 people in southern Turkey, and were in …

The Daily Beast reports: Turkish opposition officials say their supporters will take to the streets in “massive protests” if President Recep Tayyip Erdogan follows through on his threat not to concede power if he loses this Sunday’s presidential election. Erdogan has implied that his main challenger, Kemal Kilicdaroglu of the secularist Republican People’s Party (CHP), is being supported by a …

Agence France-Presse reports: President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday launched a new attack against Turkey’s LGBTQ community as he played up his conservative credentials ahead of a crucial May 14 vote. Polls show the 69-year-old running neck-and-neck with leftist secular leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu in one of Turkey’s most important election races of its post-Ottoman history. “We are against the LGBT,” …

NPR reports: As Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan struggles to defend his response to last Monday’s devastating 7.8 magnitude earthquake, videos from a few years back have emerged showing him hailing some of the housing projects that crumbled, killing thousands of people. The videos have fueled public outrage over slow efforts to help residents in the aftermath of the massive …

Reuters reports: Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan visited southern Turkey on Wednesday to see first-hand the destruction wrought by a massive earthquake as anger grew among local people over what they said was a slow government response to the rescue and relief effort. The combined confirmed death toll from Monday’s quake, which struck a swathe of southern Turkey and neighbouring Syria, …

The Associated Press reports: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called for an immediate cease-fire between the Russian and Ukrainian forces. “Our call to both Russia and Ukraine is: let the firing stop as soon as possible, let Russia and Ukraine make a beautiful contribution to peace,” Erdogan said Tuesday during a joint news conference with Kosovar President Vjosa Osmani-Sadriu, …

The New York Times reports: President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey stepped back on Monday from a threat to expel 10 Western ambassadors, averting a diplomatic storm that analysts and diplomats were warning would bring economic disaster upon Turkey and a lasting rupture in the NATO alliance. In what seemed to be a calculated move, the 10 embassies involved issued …

Euronews reports: A Turkish law banning insults against President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has been condemned by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). The court said the law against attacks on the “image” of the head of state was “not in keeping with the spirit of the European Convention”. The ruling followed a case against a young Turkish man who …

The Hill reports: Turkish President Tayyip Erdoğan announced on Saturday that he had called on his foreign minister to banish 10 ambassadors from Western countries, including the United States, after they called for the “urgent release” of a Turkish philanthropist. “I gave the necessary order to our foreign minister and said what must be done: These 10 ambassadors must be …