Whenever President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his People Alliance partner Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli meet, something changes in Turkey. This time President Erdoğan visited Bahçeli at his apartment in Ankara on Jan. 5, just like last year. President’s Communication office announced that the visit was to celebrate the nationalist leader’s birthday, which
Turkey is going through unprecedented days. At the beginning of December, while the exchange rate increased without any apparent barrier, the government raised the minimum wage by 50 percent. According to the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK), the annual increase in the consumer price index (CPI) was only 21 percent, and opposition parties were demanding an
On January 4, when the people of Kazakhstan took to the streets to protest against fuel and food hikes, President Tayyip Erdoğan was addressing the ruling Justice and Development Party’s (AKP) provincial leaders in Ankara. The opposition was at his target: “They say they take to the streets to fill the squares without feeling any
It is routine to write the highest/lowest such and such indicator of such and such year. No surprise and I will start by explaining the inflation rates announced on January 3 with a few boring figures. The currently used consumer price index has been published since 2003. The highest monthly inflation in this entire period
Political polarization has increased, and two main political blocks have solidified their base in Turkey the Kadir Has University Turkey Trends research showed, as Turkey seems to have entered the election atmosphere in the eyes of voters. “Voting bases are consolidating. There was a serious solidification among those who voted for the parties. We see
The political calculations in Ankara have become more or less clear: the opposition will delay announcing their presidential candidate unless the government will respond to their early election call positively. Last month, I had the opportunity to meet with the leaders of three opposition parties: main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, İYİ
Turkey’s annual inflation has soared to its highest since the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) came to power in 2002, as Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK) data shows a 13.58 percent increase in Consumer Price Index (CPI) in December and calculated the annual inflation rate as 36.08 percent. According to official statistical institute data, the
In his New Year’s message published at 10:00 am on December 31 2021, President Tayyip Erdogan said: “We will continue our fight against the plots of excessive price that emerged after the increase in global commodity prices well as the unbalanced rise of the exchange rate. We are determined to reach our goals by placing
There is a strange equation here. President Tayyip Erdoğan, or those courting favor of him, think that they discredit opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu by obstructing his attempts to visit public institutions. Yet, oddly enough, it was Erdoğan’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) itself that rose to power by benefitting from
The Democracy and Progress Party (DEVA) members filled the Ankara Atatürk Sports Hall for the party’s first Ankara congress, listening to the newly founded opposition party’s leader Ali Babacan. In his heated speech, the sections that he mentioned President Tayyip Erdoğan were the parts that the crowd reacted to the most as he often felt