News

CHP’s İnce rejects to use presidential powers if elected

May 11 2018
Turkey
Source: 
Hurriyet Daily News

Muharrem İnce, the main opposition Republican People’s Party’s (CHP) presidential candidate, has vowed he will never use the presidential powers granted by the 2017 referendum on constitutional amendments in the event that he is elected as president. 

“There are vast powers given to the president. But I will not use them. I will be afraid to,” İnce said at an event with representatives of civil society organizations in the Black Sea province of Trabzon on May 11.

Turkish citizens in hurry to be registered as voters ahead of June 24 early elections

May 08 2018
Turkey
Source: 
Hurriyet Daily News

People are standing in long queues outside civil registry offices across the country to be registered as voters for the upcoming June 24 presidential and parliamentary elections. 

The voter lists have already been posted at neighborhood councils for people to check if their names are on the list as eligible voters.  The deadline to notify authorities of change of address is May 12. 

İYİ Party chair Akşener vows to restructure 8 billion-lira debts of 4.5 million citizens

May 07 2018
Turkey
Source: 
Hurriyet Daily News

Revealing her party’s economic program ahead of the June 24 snap elections, İYİ (Good) Party leader Meral Akşener has vowed to restructure the debts of 4.5 million Turkish citizens, worth 8 billion liras, through a project called the “Turkey Solidarity Fund.”

Presidential candidate İnce challenges Erdoğan, calls for Demirtaş's release from jail

May 05 2018
Turkey
Source: 
Hurriyet Daily News

The presidential candidate for Turkey's main opposition on May 5 called for the release of Selahattin Demirtaş, former co-chair of Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), challenging President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to "let us race like men" in next month's snap elections.

On May 4, the Republican People's Party (CHP) nominated Muharrem İnce to challenge Erdoğan in the June 24 presidential election. The Kurdish issue-focused HDP nominated its jailed former leader Selahattin Demirtaş.

Main opposition CHP announces Muharrem İnce as presidential candidate in elections

May 04 2018
Turkey
Source: 
Daily Sabah

The main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP)'s parliamentary group officially announced on Friday that its candidate for the upcoming presidential elections on June 24 would be Muharrem İnce, its Yalova deputy.

İnce was seen as the strongest possible candidate by political circles close the party, while CHP leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu made it clear that he will not run for president, a decision criticized by some party members as well.

Release journalists before elections: Turkish Journalists Association claimed

May 03 2018
Turkey
Source: 
Hurriyet Daily News

The state of emergency “should be lifted” and imprisoned journalists should be released ahead of the upcoming elections on June 24, the Turkish Journalists Association (TGC) said in a statement to mark World Press Freedom Day on May 3. 

“We have been considering the necessity of lifting the state of emergency, releasing journalists in jail, the return of fundamental rights and freedoms to the citizens for healthy elections,” it said.

Party leaders should not run in presidential election: CHP head Kılıçdaroğlu

Apr 29 2018
Turkey
Source: 
Hurriyet Daily News

Political party leaders should not run in presidential elections because the position requires political impartiality, main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) chair Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu said on April 29. 

Speaking at a local media gathering in the Marmaris district of Muğla province, Kılıçdaroğlu once again said he would not be running in the upcoming snap presidential election on June 24, recalling that a president will have to swear an oath for “impartially” at parliament to take the seat.

Erdoğan kicks off election campaign in CHP stronghold İzmir

Apr 27 2018
Turkey
Source: 
Dawn News

The Justice and Development Party (AK Party) will begin working intensely for the early June 24 general and presidential elections as President and Chairman of the AK Party Recep Tayyip Erdoğan will kick off the campaign tomorrow in the western province of İzmir, a city known for being a stronghold for the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP).

Erdoğan signs election harmonization bill

Apr 26 2018
Turkey
Source: 
Yeni Safak

Bill to bring Turkey’s election system in line with constitutional reforms approved in 2017 referendum. 

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Wednesday signed a harmonization law to bring Turkey’s election system in line with constitutional reforms approved last year in a referendum, according to the presidency.

Under the law, Turkish citizens living abroad can cast their votes until three days before election day in Turkey, scheduled for June 24.

CHP party assembly authorizes Kılıçdaroğlu to form alliance

Apr 25 2018
Turkey
Source: 
Hurriyet Daily News

Main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) party assembly on April 24 granted full authorization to its leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu to hold electoral alliance talks and make all necessary decisions regarding the issue, CHP spokesman leader Bülent Tezcan has said. 

In its extraordinary meeting regarding the upcoming early presidential and parliamentary elections on June 24, the CHP party assembly unanimously accepted that Kılıçdaroğlu is fully authorized to take steps regarding a possible electoral alliance with other political parties.

Tensions rise in Turkish politics amid opposition election strategy maneuvers

Apr 23 2018
Turkey
Source: 
Hurriyet Daily News

National Sovereignty Day celebrations were marked by political tension between the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) on April 23, as the latter bids to find a strategy against the AKP and the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) alliance in the upcoming snap election.

15 CHP MPs quit and join İYİ Party to secure its participation in snap election

Apr 22 2018
Turkey
Source: 
Hurriyet Daily News

Fifteen main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) lawmakers quit their party on April 22 and joined İYİ (Good) Party in a bid to secure the latter’s participation in the upcoming early presidential and parliamentary elections on June 24.

“Upon the instruction of our party’s leader, 15 of our friends joined İYİ Party as a precautionary measure to prevent problems occurring right at the beginning of the election period,” CHP spokesman leader Bülent Tezcan announced at a press conference in parliament alongside the lawmakers who resigned.

Turkey’s opposition parties in intense bid to shape election strategies

Apr 21 2018
Turkey
Source: 
Hurriyet Daily News

Given only two months to prepare for the early presidential and parliamentary elections, Turkey’s political parties are scrambling to piece together strategies ahead of the vote.

The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) is set to announce its election manifesto in the coming week ahead of a large party congress in Istanbul, while the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) is still working to come up with an election strategy for the upcoming parliamentary and presidential elections and to find a candidate for the June 24 vote.

Main opposition CHP stages sit-ins across Turkey against emergency rule

Apr 16 2018
Turkey
Source: 
Hurriyet Daily News

The main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) on April 16 organized sit-ins to protest Turkey’s ongoing state of emergency, declared shortly after the July 2016 coup attempt. The theme of the protest, attended by CHP deputies and local party officials and supported by NGOs in some cities, was: “We want democracy, not the state of emergency.

Turkey’s state of emergency aims to silence dissent: CHP leader Kılıçdaroğlu claimed

Apr 13 2018
Turkey
Source: 
Hurriyet Daily News

The government is continuing to impose the state of emergency in a bid to crackdown on dissent in Turkey, main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu said on April 13. 

“Why are you continuing the state of emergency? For dissent, for those who voice dissident opinions,” Kılıçdaroğlu said in an address to his party’s mayors in Konya on April 13.

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