#TURKEY: Erdoğan Wins Third Term After Winning Runoff

[world politics news]

Incumbent President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has thanked voters after unofficial results showed him winning Turkey’s first-ever presidential election run-off.

The head of the Supreme Election Council said that Erdogan had won a third term, after the state-run Anadolu Agency had earlier given Erdogan a decisive lead over his rival, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, with nearly all of the votes from Sunday’s election counted.

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World Politics News is dedicated to raising Americans' knowledge of political events, elections, and legislation throughout the world.

#TURKEY: Close Presidential Vote Goes To Run-off May 28

[world politics news]

Turkey’s presidential election is headed for a run-off vote on May 28 after no candidate secured more than 50 percent of the vote.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan took 49.5 percent of Sunday’s vote, with his main challenger, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, getting 44.89 percent, Turkey’s Supreme Election Council said on Monday.

More than 64 million people were eligible to vote to elect a president and parliament for a five-year term.

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World Politics News is dedicated to raising Americans' knowledge of political events, elections, and legislation throughout the world.

#TURKEY: Ailing President Campaigns By Remote Video

[world politics news]

Turkey's ailing President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday will try to offset his absence from the campaign trail for the May 14 election,  by unveiling a Russian-built nuclear plant by video link.

Erdogan is also expected to speak with Russian President Vladimir Putin as he attempts to project health and vigour at one the more vulnerable moments of his two-decade rule.

The dominant 69-year-old leader has laid low since getting sick while conducting a live television interview on Tuesday evening.

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World Politics News is dedicated to raising Americans' knowledge of political events, elections, and legislation throughout the world.

,#TURKEY: Swedish PM Promises To Address Turkish Security Concerns

[world politics news]

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said his country would fulfill all pledges made to Turkey regarding the nation's security concerns on terrorist groups, which has been an obstacle to the approval of its NATO membership. In order for Sweden and Finland to join NATO, the vote must be unanimous among all NATO Nations, but Turkey has held up the vote, until assurances are made that security measures are taken against Muslim insurgents who have entered Sweden as immigrants in recent years.

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World Politics News is dedicated to raising Americans' knowledge of political events, elections, and legislation throughout the world.

#TURKEY: Media Groups Concerned Over "Disinformation" Legislation

[world politics news]

A years-old piece of draft legislation that seeks to criminalize the spread of disinformation is moving toward a vote in the Turkish parliament. The bill is being met with deep concern by media rights groups across the country.

If passed, the so-called "disinformation" law put forward by ruling majority parliamentarians would carry a sentence of up to three years in prison for the spread of fake new or disinformation as defined by government officials.

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World Politics News is dedicated to raising Americans' knowledge of political events, elections, and legislation throughout the world.

#TURKEY: Pres. Erdogan's 2018 Rival Forms New Party

[world politics news]

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's top rival in Turkey's 2018 election said on Monday he would quit the main opposition party and establish his own movement.

Muharrem Ince, a former Republican People's Party Member of Parliament, picked up 30.6 percent of the vote in the last election behind Erdogan with 52.6 percent.

Ince was a combative force during the campaign, building up solid support despite Erdogan and his ruling party's alliance partner, the Nationalist Movement Party, announcing the vote just months in advance.

Since then, Ince has stayed in the limelight and brandished his secular, nationalist credentials in a nationwide tour dubbed the "Motherland movement in 1,000 days" in 2020.

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World Politics News is dedicated to raising Americans' knowledge of political events, elections, and legislation throughout the world.

#FRANCE: Outrage Over President's Comments About Islam Grows

[world politics news] 

The backlash over French President Emmanuel Macron’s critique of Islam has intensified after Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan questioned his counterpart’s mental health, while Muslims in several countries are demanding a boycott of France.

The French debate on Islam was deepened after the beheading of a teacher who had shown caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad – previously published by a satirical magazine – in a class on freedom of expression. Muslims believe that any depiction of the Prophet is blasphemous.

Earlier this month, Macron described Islam as a religion “in crisis” worldwide and vowed to present a bill in December to strengthen a law that officially separated church and state in France.

Despite outrage in the Muslim world, Macron has found much support in Europe for his stance in favor of freedom of speech.

[FULL STORY HERE]

World Politics News is dedicated to raising Americans' knowledge of political events, elections, and legislation throughout the world.

#TURKEY: Opposition Parties Try To Use Courts To Fix Bill Barring Release Of Dissidents From Prison

[world politics news]

Turkey’s opposition parties plan to appeal to the country’s highest court against a bill that, if passed, would exclude dissidents from early release to protect them from the coronavirus.

But with Constitutional Court now stacked with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s appointees, the opposition will have its work cut out.

[FULL STORY HERE]

World Politics News is dedicated to raising Americans' knowledge of political events, elections, and legislation throughout the world.

#HUNGARY: PM Orban Will "Use Force" To Protect Borders If Turkey Unleashes New Wave Of Migrants On Europe

[world politics news]

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has warned he will 'use force' to fend off migrants if Turkey delivered on its threat to "open the gates" and allow 3.6 million refugees to flood into Europe if EU leaders continue to oppose Turkey's military action in northern Syria.

Orban built a steel fence on Hungary's border with Serbia to seal off the Balkans route of migration, where hundreds of thousands of people marched through from the Middle East to Western Europe at the peak of the migrant crisis in 2015.

'If Turkey sets off further hundreds of thousands (on top of those it has already), then we will need to use force to protect the Hungarian border and the Serbian-Hungarian frontier and I do not wish for anyone that we should need to resort to that,' Orban said Wednesday night. 

[FULL STORY HERE]

World Politics News is dedicated to raising Americans' knowledge of political events, elections, and legislation throughout the world.

#TURKEY: Erdogan Reacts Coldly To Proposal To Lower Vote Threshold To Elect Presidents

[world politics news]

Turkish Pres. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is reacting coldly to the idea of lowering the percentage of votes required to elect a president from 50% to 40%, saying voters want to see "serious politicians" elected to the office. The next presidential election is in 2023.

The issue was raised by former minister Faruk Çelik who suggested that the presidential elections should allow just 40% of support in the first round to be elected.

In April 2017, the Turkish people voted to switch Turkey from a parliamentary system to an executive presidential system of governance.

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World Politics News is dedicated to raising Americans' knowledge of political events, elections, and legislation throughout the world.

#TURKEY: Compulsory Military Conscription Reduced To Six Months From A Year; Move Towards More Professional Military

[world politics news]

Turkish Parliament has passed a bill reducing compulsory conscription from 12 months to six months and making paid military service exemption permanent. The moves are part of a plan to rely more on well-trained professionals instead of young men who had to undergo short military training before being dispatched to risky areas for counter-terrorism operations.

The bill, adopted by 335 votes in favor out of the 600-seated parliament with support from all parties, was signed into law by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan later the same day. More than 100,000 soldiers currently serving the one-year term will be discharged early as they finish serving six months.
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World Politics News is dedicated to raising Americans' knowledge of political events, elections, and legislation throughout the world.

#CZECHIA: Pres.Zeman Says Turkey Is An "Ally" Of The ISIS Terror Group

[world politics news]

President Milos Zeman has called Turkey an ally of Islamic State.

Czech Television reports that President Zeman called Turkey a de facto ally of the terror organisation, the Islamic State.

He alleged that Turkey had supported the Islamic State by selling its oil and providing logistical support when the group controlled parts of Syria and Iraq.

He added that Turkey was no longer the secular state founded by Kemal Ataturk, having aligned itself with radical Islam under Pres. Recep Erdogan.

[FULL STORY HERE]

World Politics News is dedicated to raising Americans' knowledge of political events, elections, and legislation throughout the world.

#TURKEY: Erdogan Wins Election To Powerful New Presidency; Party Wins Parliament

[world politics news]

Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been re-elected as Turkey's president, while an alliance led by his ruling party also won a majority in parliament. The vote ushers in a powerful new executive presidency, in line with constitutional changes narrowly approved in a referendum last year.

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#THENETHERLANDS: Dutch Won't Appoint New Ambassador To Turkey, Citing "No Progress" On Diplomatic Rift

[world politics news]

Citing "no progress" on a long-term diplomatic rift, the Dutch government has decided to officially withdraw the Netherlands' Ambassador from Turkey. The Netherlands will not issue permission for a new Turkish ambassador to take up duties in the Netherlands, added the Dutch ministry. The two nations have not exchanged ambassadors since last March, when tensions rose after Turkish government officials were barred from attending rallies in Rotterdam during a Turkish referendum on constitutional amendments to expand the Turkish president's powers.

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#TURKEY: Pres. Erdogan Won't End State Of Emergency Until "Peace & Prosperity" Achieved

[world politics news]

Despite calls from international rights organizations and the European Union, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday promised not to end an ongoing state of emergency and called for the continuance of a campaign against the Gülen movement, which the government says was behind last year's coup attempt. He made his remarks during the third extraordinary congress of the ruling Justice and Development Party, where he was to be elected chairman.

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#TURKEY: Oppo. Ldr. Echoes Erdogan's Call To Bring Back Death Penalty; Killing EU Prospects

[world politics news]

The leader of one of Turkey’s main opposition parties says Turkey should bring back the death penalty. Speaking to his Nationalist Movement Party's parliamentary group meeting, Devlet Bahceli called for the ruling Justice and Development Party to immediately bring a bill to reinstate capital punishment to parliament. Pres. Recep Tayyip Erdogan has also spoken about reinstating capital punishment, especially to punish plotters of last year’s failed coup. The European Union has repeatedly warned that reinstatement would mean the end of Turkey’ EU accession, but Erdogan has brushed off those warnings.

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#TURKEY: Gov't Seizure Of Churches Alarms Kurdish Christians

[world politics news]

The Turkish government has seized the historic Armenian Surp Giragos Church, a number of other churches and large swaths of property in the heavily damaged Kurdish city of Diyarbakir, saying it wants to restore the area but alarming residents who fear the government is secretly aiming to drive them out.

[FULL STORY HERE]

#TURKEY: Pres. Erdogan Wins Referendum Vastly Expanding His Presidential Powers

[world politics news]

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has narrowly won a referendum to expand presidential powers, which could keep him in office until 2029. With over 99% of ballots counted, the "Yes" campaign had won 51.37% and "No" 48.63%. Erdogan supporters argued that replacing the parliamentary system with an executive presidency will modernize the country. Turkey's two main opposition parties said they would challenge the results. The Republican People's Party (CHP) demanded a recount of 60% of votes. They criticized a decision to accept unstamped ballot papers as valid unless proven otherwise.

[FULL STORY HERE]

#TURKEY: Pres. Erdogan Says Ties With EU Will Be Reviewed After April Referrendum

[world politics news]

Turkey will review all political and administrative ties with the European Union after an April referendum, including a deal to curb illegal migration, but will maintain economic relations with the bloc, Pres. Tayyip Erdogan said. Ties have been strained after several nations have refused entry to Turkish politicians to campaign at rallies with Turks living in Europe, with Erdogan calling some nations "Fascist" and "Nazi" for restricting officials' attendance at the rallies.

[FULL STORY HERE]

#AUSTRIA: Chancellor Calls for EU-Wide Ban On Turkish Officials Campaigning For Referendum

[world politics news]

Turkish politicians should be banned from political campaigning across the European Union, Austrian Chancellor Christian Kern said Sunday. Turkey's president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, is sending government officials to European nations to campaign for an April 16 referendum that would greatly expand his powers. Kern said the EU should have a collective response, "to prevent such campaign events."

[FULL STORY HERE]