Turkey faces runoff election with Erdogan leading
Updated: 12:20pm (AEST) Ankara, Turkey Reuters Turkey headed for a runoff vote after President Tayyip Erdogan led over his opposition rival Kemal Kilicdaroglu in Sunday’s election but fell short of an outright majority to extend his 20-year rule of the NATO-member country. Neither Erdogan nor Kilicdaroglu cleared the 50 per cent threshold needed to avoid […]
‘We can’t afford anything’: Turkey’s cost-of-living crisis threatens Erdogan’s re-election
Istanbul, Turkey Reuters Istanbul barber Hakim Ekinci, a long-time supporter of Tayyip Erdogan, won’t be voting for the president next Sunday, blaming his economic policies for eroding Turks’ purchasing power and leaving many unable to afford even basic foodstuff. Erdogan and his Islamist-rooted AK Party were able to maintain their voter base, made up mainly […]
Turkey steps up rebuilding plans as quake toll nears 50,000
Antakya, Turkey Reuters Turkey has stepped up plans to house victims of the devastating earthquake which struck its border region with Syria, the interior minister said, as the combined death toll in the two countries crept towards 50,000. Suleyman Soylu said 313,000 tents had been erected, with 100,000 container homes to be installed in the […]
UN chief, in Ukraine, says he’s worried by situation at nuclear plant on front line
Kyiv/Lviv, Ukraine Reuters UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Thursday he was gravely concerned by the situation at Europe’s largest nuclear power station after it came under shelling at the front lines in Ukraine. Russia, which captured the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant soon after its 24th February invasion of Ukraine, said it could shut down the […]
Ukraine says fighting ‘deadlocked’ ahead of visit by UN chief
Kyiv, Ukraine Reuters Ukrainian forces said on Thursday they had beaten back a Russian attack in the southern region of Kherson, while the death toll from Russian shelling of Kharkiv city in Ukraine’s north-east climbed as the nearly six-month war grinds on without let-up. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and […]
More Russian military police arrive in Syria under peace deal with Turkey
Moscow, Russia/Ankara. Turkey Reuters Around 300 more Russian military police have arrived in Syria, the Russian defence ministry said on Friday, under an accord between Ankara and Moscow which halted Turkey’s military incursion into north-east Syria. The deal, reached on Tuesday by Presidents Tayyip Erdogan and Vladimir Putin, requires that Russian military police and Syrian […]
Erdogan says Turkey to resume Syria offensive if truce deal falters
Ankara, Turkey Reuters President Tayyip Erdogan said on the weekend that Turkey would press on with its offensive into north-eastern Syria and “crush the heads of terrorists” if a deal with Washington on the withdrawal of Kurdish fighters from the area was not fully implemented. Erdogan agreed on Thursday in talks with US Vice President […]
Thousands flee, dozens killed in Turkish offensive on US-allied Kurds in Syria
Istanbul/Ankara, Turkey Reuters Turkey pounded Kurdish militia in north-east Syria for a second day on Thursday, forcing tens of thousands of people to flee and killing dozens, in a cross-border assault on US allies that has turned the Washington establishment against President Donald Trump. The offensive against the Syrian Democratic Forces led by Kurdish YPG […]