Noticias

The head of Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party’s (AKP) provincial branch inAnkara has resigned, apparently as part of a reorganization of the party according to results of the March 30 local elections.

Since the elections, AKP officials have been expecting changes in Ankara as the party leadership has apparently decided to renew the organization via changes at provincial branches where the ruling party failed to achieve its targets. 

The Constitutional Court ruled on May 29 that the ruling to block YouTube violated the rights of users and freedom of speech.

The Constitutional Court reviewed three separate appeals on the ban imposed on March 27 without a court decision on the YouTube.  One of the applications is filed by the company itself, while the others are filed by President Metin Feyzioğlu of the Union of Turkey’s Bar Associations (TBB) and scholar Kerem Altıparmak.

In remarkable scenes late on May 27, opposition parties joined forces for the approval of an amendment to the Labor Law, which they were able to pass due to the absence of ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) deputies.

The proposed amendments were penned by the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) and were approved as most AKP deputies were absent. The AKP usually dominates the agenda of General Assembly sessions due to its parliamentary majority. 

Justice Minister Bekir Bozdağ has voiced his conviction that the top court of Turkey will dismiss an appeal from the main opposition party’s candidate to order a rerun of the contested mayoral race in the capital, regardless of the application’s merits.

The Peoples’ Democracy Party (HDP) is opting to elect their own candidate for the upcoming presidential elections, a party group said during a visit to Hurriyet’s Ankaraoffice on May 21. 

The HDP’s candidate will have high democratic values and will serve as an alternative to the ruling and main opposition’s party polarization.

Supporting the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) in a possible second round was tied to the specific candidate, the group also said. 

In an exceptional move, lawmakers from Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) have lent support to the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) concerning a proposal on the Labor Law.

The move on May 20 came in the aftermath of the May 13 coal mine disaster in the Soma mine in the western Anatolian province of Manisa that killed 301 miners.

CHP Kocaeli deputy Haydar Akar drafted a proposal to amend the Labor Law in order to delegalize the employment of subcontractor workers, an issue at the heart of the nation-wide debate following the Soma disaster. 

Turkish expatriates will be entitled to vote in August’s presidential elections for the first time ever, with polling stations to be opened at 103 different diplomatic representations in 54 different countries.

Some 71 diplomatic mission buildings will serve as voting centers, while 32 other venues will be rented for voting as well.

Turkish expatriates need to ensure they are enrolled in the “Overseas Electoral Register” in order to cast their votes in the elections. 

Former Prime Minister Yıldırım Akbulut, who was considered Turgut Özal’s “yes man” when the latter was elected president in 1989, has said “coordination between the president and the prime minister is a must for the sake of the governing of the country.”