ANTAKYA, Turkiye: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan stares down from a campaign poster at the earthquake ruins of Antakya, inspiring confidence in Ahmet Gulyildizoglu ahead of Sunday’s election runoff.
Millions across the ravaged region defied expectation and voted for the man who has ruled Turkiye for two decades and fell just short of securing another five-year term on May 14.
Erdogan’s secular rival, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, “does not fill you with hope,” Gulyildizoglu said in front of a debris-strewn expanse once occupied by his six-floor apartment building.
“On the other hand, you have an alliance that keeps their promises,” the pensioner added, referring to Erdogan’s Islamic-rooted party and its far-right allies.
Erdogan’s ability to maintain support across Turkiye’s southeastern disaster zone contributed to Kilicdaroglu’s disappointing showing in the first round, which he ended trailing by nearly five points.
The Turkish leader is now the strong favorite, capping a remarkable turnaround.
Seething anger at the government’s stuttering response to the February disaster, in which more than 50,000 died, put Erdogan in the unfamiliar position of issuing public apologies.
But Berk Esen, an associate professor at Istanbul’s Sabanci University, called Erdogan’s election rebound “not very surprising.”
Esen argued that the region is filled with pious voters who trusted Erdogan’s explanation that the massive toll resulted from an unavoidable act of nature — not state negligence over lax building standards.
In addition, “the opposition did not campaign heavily in the area and could not offer an alternative, credible message,” Esen said.
Instead of giving up, Kilicdaroglu is radically changing course.
Ditching his embracing vows to heal Turkiye’s social divisions, Kilicdaroglu has struck a stridently nationalist tone, pledging to expel millions of Syrians and other migrants.
The message resonates in Syria-border cities such as Antakya, a mountain-rimmed cradle of civilizations once known as Antioch.
Kilicdaroglu has plastered Antakya with posters declaring: “The Syrians will go.”
“We will not turn Turkiye into a depot for migrants,” the 74-year-old said on a visit to Antakya on Tuesday.
The tough talk pleased Mehmet Aynaci, 20, who blames Syrians for local housing problems.
“Before the earthquake, if you looked for a flat, there were a lot of Syrians,” Aynaci said.
“Of course they must go,” added Atilla Celtik, who like Aynaci is one of the few who has not left the almost completely deserted city.
“They will be asking for our land in the future,” he said. “We are worried.”
The historically liberal lean of Antakya’s Hatay province gave Kilicdaroglu a slight edge here over Erdogan in the first round.
It was one of just three of the 11 quake-hit provinces to vote against the incumbent.
Kilicdaroglu’s future success will depend in part on how many people who left the disaster zone are willing to make a second trip back for the runoff.
Nearly 1.7 million of the displaced failed to change their registration address by an April 2 deadline, meaning they must come back to vote.
Sema Sicek, whose anger at Erdogan is just as strong as the days when thousands slowly died under the debris while the government unwound its response, thinks they simply must.
“Walk if you have to but don’t give up on your land,” the 65-year-old said, accusing Erdogan of “burying us alive.”
Some of that fury has spilled over onto social media, where survivors were targeted for backing Erdogan.
The Turkish leader mentions these messages often on the campaign trail, trying to blame them on Kilicdaroglu.
Gulyildizoglu’s daughter Hatice said the attacks stung.
“This really offended us,” she said. “Our grief is immense. You have to live it to understand.”
Erdogan has won votes with pledges to build victims new homes by early next year — “maybe a little later” for those in Antakya.
Kilicdaroglu is trying to do the same, telling Tuesday’s rally that “nobody should ever doubt” his ability to rebuild the region.
But Hakan Tiryaki, the provincial head of Kilicdaroglu’s leftist party, is sensitive to complaints that the opposition did not make its voice heard enough before the first round.
Campaigning any harder might have given the impression that the opposition was trying to profit from people’s grief, Tiryaki said.
It might also have failed to change the mind of voters such as Omer Edip Aslantas, 51, who remembers chatting with other leftists about developing Turkiye in the 1970s.
“The Turkish left is no longer the same,” he said in Kirikhan, a northern Hatay district that backed Erdogan.
“They have become anti-Turk, anti-Muslim.”
Turkiye quake victims rally around Erdogan ahead of runoff
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Turkiye quake victims rally around Erdogan ahead of runoff
- Millions across the ravaged Antakya region defy expectation and vote for the man who has ruled Turkiye for two decades
- The Turkish leader is now the strong favorite, capping a remarkable turnaround
Sudan rescuers say more than 120 killed by shelling around capital
The “random shelling” in western Omdurman has resulted in “an initial toll of 120 civilians” dead, said the Ombada Emergency Response Room, part of a network of volunteer rescuers across the war-torn country, without specifying who may be behind the attack.
Erdogan ally urges jailed Kurdish militant leader to announce PKK’s disbandment
ANKARA: Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan’s key nationalist ally urged jailed PKK militant group leader Abdullah Ocalan to explicitly announce the group’s disbandment after his next expected meeting with the country’s pro-Kurdish political party.
The remarks by nationalist Devlet Bahceli came after a rare meeting between officials from the pro-Kurdish DEM Party and Ocalan last week.
The PKK, designated a terrorist organization by Turkiye, has waged an insurgency against the Turkish state since 1984 and more than 40,000 people have been killed in the conflict.
'Final round' of Gaza talks to start Tuesday in Qatar: source briefed on negotiations
Dubai: A “final round” of Gaza truce talks is due to start Tuesday in Qatar, said a source briefed on the negotiations aimed at ending the Israel-Hamas war after more than 15 months.
“A final round of talks is expected to take place today in Doha,” the souce told AFP on condition of anonymity, adding that Tuesday’s meetings “are aimed at finalizing the remaining details of the deal” with the heads of Israel’s intelligence agencies, the Middle East envoys for the incoming and outgoing US administrations and Qatar’s prime minister present.
Mediators are to meet separately with Hamas officials, the source said.
Syria’s new central bank chief vows to boost bank independence post Assad
- Central bank is preparing draft law to boost independence, review of FX, gold reserves is under way
- Governor says wants avoid printing money due to inflation impact
DAMASCUS: Syria’s new central bank governor, Maysaa Sabreen, said she wants to boost the institution’s independence over monetary policy decisions, in what would be a sea change from the heavy control exerted under the Assad regime.
Sabreen, previously the Central Bank of Syria’s number two, took over in a caretaker role from former governor Mohammed Issam Hazime late last year.
She is a rare example of a former top state employee promoted after Syria’s new Islamic rulers’ lightning offensive led to President Bashar Assad’s fall on Dec. 8.
“The bank is working on preparing draft amendments to the bank’s law to enhance its independence, including allowing it more freedom to make decisions regarding monetary policy,” she told Reuters in her first media interview since taking office.
The changes would need the approval of Syria’s new governing authority, though the process is at this stage unclear. Sabreen gave no indication of timing.
Economists view central bank independence as critical to achieve long-term macroeconomic and financial sector stability.
While the Central Bank of Syria has always been, on paper, an independent institution, under Assad’s regime the bank’s policy decisions were de facto determined by the government.
Syria’s central bank, Sabreen added, was also looking at ways to expand Islamic banking further to bring in Syrians who avoided using traditional banking services.
“This may include giving banks that provide traditional services the option to open Islamic banking branches,” Sabreen, who has served for 20 years at the bank, told Reuters from her office in bustling central Damascus.
Islamic banking complies with sharia, or Islamic law, and bans charging interest as well as investing in prohibited businesses such as trading in alcohol, pork, arms, pornography or gambling. Islamic banking is already well established in the predominantly Muslim nation.
Limited access to international and domestic financing meant the Assad government used the central bank to finance its deficit, stoking inflation.
Sabreen said she is keen for all that to change.
“The bank wants to avoid having to print Syrian pounds because this would have an impact on inflation rates,” she said.
Asked about the size of Syria’s current foreign exchange and gold reserves, Sabreen declined to provide details, saying a balance sheet review was still underway.
Four people familiar with the situation told Reuters in December that the central bank had nearly 26 tons of gold in its vaults, worth around $2.2 billion, some $200 million in foreign currency and a large quantity of Syrian pounds.
The Central Bank of Syria and several former governors are under US sanctions imposed after former Assad’s violent suppression of protests in 2011 that spiralled into a 13-year civil war.
Sabreen said the central bank has enough money in its coffers to pay salaries for civil servants even after a 400 percent raise promised by the new administration. She did not elaborate.
Reuters reported that Qatar would help finance the boost in public sector wages, a process made possible by a US sanctions waiver from Jan. 6 that allows transactions with Syrian governing institutions.
Inflation challenge
Analysts say stabilising the currency and tackling inflation will be Sabreen’s key tasks — as well as putting the financial sector back on a sound footing.
The Syrian currency’s value has tumbled from around 50 pounds per US dollar in late 2011 to just over 13,000 pounds per dollar on Monday, according to LSEG and central bank data.
The World Bank in a report in spring 2024 estimated that annual inflation jumped nearly 100 percent year-on-year last year.
The central bank is also looking to restructure state-owned banks and to introduce regulations for money exchange and transfer shops that have become a key source of hard currency, said Sabreen, who most recently oversaw the banking sector.
Assad’s government heavily restricted the use of foreign currency, with many Syrians scared of even uttering the word “dollar.”
The new administration of de facto leader Ahmed Al-Sharaa abolished such restrictions and now locals wave wads of banknotes on streets and hawk cash from the backs of cars, including one parked outside the central bank’s entrance.
To help stabilize the country and improve basic services, the US last week allowed sanctions exemptions for humanitarian aid, the energy sector and sending remittances to Syria, although it reiterated the central bank itself remained subject to sanctions.
Sabreen said allowing personal transfers from Syrians abroad was a positive step and hoped sanctions would be fully lifted so banks could link back up to the global financial system.
Final draft of Gaza truce deal presented to sides after ‘breakthrough’, official says
- Biden says ceasefire and hostage deal he had championed was on “the brink” of coming to fruition
- Another round of talks is planned in Doha on Tuesday morning to finalize remaining details of deal
DOHA/CAIRO: Mediators gave Israel and Hamas a final draft of a deal on Monday to end the war in Gaza, an official briefed on the negotiations said, after a midnight “breakthrough” in talks attended by envoys of both outgoing US President Joe Biden and President-elect Donald Trump.
Biden said a ceasefire and hostage release deal he had championed was on “the brink” of coming to fruition and Hamas said it was keen on reaching an agreement.
“The deal ... would free the hostages, halt the fighting, provide security to Israel and allow us to significantly surge humanitarian assistance to the Palestinians who suffered terribly in this war that Hamas started,” Biden said in a speech to highlight his foreign policy achievements.
The official briefed on the talks, who did not want to be otherwise identified, said the text for a ceasefire and release of hostages was presented by Qatar to both sides at talks in Doha, which included the chiefs of Israel’s Mossad and Shin Bet spy agencies and Qatar’s prime minister.
Another round of talks is planned in Doha on Tuesday morning to finalize remaining details, with Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and Biden’s envoy Brett McGurk expected to attend, as they had on Monday, the official said.
An Israeli official said negotiations were in advanced stages for the release of up to 33 hostages as part of the deal. The Hamas delegation in Doha issued a statement after a meeting with Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani saying talks were progressing well.
Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, told reporters the negotiations were at a “pivotal” point, with gaps between two sides slowly getting removed. “I think there is a good chance we can close this ... the parties are right on the cusp of being able to close this deal,” he said.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the sides were “closer than we’ve ever been” to a deal, and the ball was in Hamas’ court.
“We are very hopeful that we get it over the finish line, finally after all this time,” he told MSNBC, adding that the proposed deal was based on a framework Biden put out in May.
Blinken said negotiators wanted to make sure Trump would continue to back the deal on the table so Witkoff’s participation has been “critical.”
Israel’s Kan radio, citing an Israeli official, reported on Monday that the Israeli delegation had briefed Israel’s leaders. Israel, Hamas and the foreign ministry of Qatar did not respond to requests for confirmation or comment.
Officials on both sides, while stopping short of confirming that a final draft had been reached, reported progress.
“The negotiation over some core issues made progress and we are working to conclude what remains soon,” a Hamas official told Reuters.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar told reporters: “There is progress, it looks much better than previously. I want to thank our American friends for the huge efforts they are investing to secure a hostage deal.”
The United States, Qatar and Egypt have worked for more than a year on talks to end the war in Gaza.
In Cairo, an Egyptian security official told Reuters the draft sent to the two warring sides did not comprise the final agreement but “aims to resolve outstanding issues that had hindered previous negotiations.”
Sullivan said Biden would soon speak with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi about the negotiations.
Hell to pay
Israel’s Channel 12 said Israeli government institutions had been told to prepare for the intake of weak and sick hostages.
The warring sides have agreed for months broadly on the principle of halting the fighting in return for the release of hostages held by Hamas and Palestinian detainees held by Israel. But Hamas has always insisted a deal must lead to a permanent end to the war and Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, while Israel has said it will not end the war until Hamas is dismantled.
Trump’s Jan. 20 inauguration is now widely seen as a de facto deadline. Trump has said there would be “hell to pay” unless hostages held by Hamas are freed before he takes office, while Biden has also pushed hard for a deal before he leaves.
The official who first disclosed the draft said talks went until the early hours of Monday, with Witkoff pushing the Israeli delegation in the Qatari capital Doha and Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani pushing Hamas officials to finalize an agreement.
The head of Egypt’s general intelligence agency Hassan Mahmoud Rashad was also in Doha as part of the talks. Rashad left Doha on Monday but a source familiar with the talks said an intelligence delegation stayed behind to play an active role.
Trump envoy Witkoff has traveled to Qatar and Israel several times since late November. He was in Doha on Friday and traveled to Israel to meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday before returning to Doha.
Biden also spoke on Sunday by phone with Netanyahu, stressing “the immediate need for a ceasefire in Gaza and return of the hostages with a surge in humanitarian aid enabled by a stoppage in the fighting under the deal,” the White House said.
Israel launched its assault in Gaza after Hamas fighters stormed across its borders in October 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
Since then, more than 46,000 people have been killed in Gaza, according to Palestinian health officials, with much of the enclave laid to waste and most of its population displaced.
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and his Religious Zionism party, a hard-line nationalist party which has opposed previous attempts at a deal, said all its members would oppose a deal that didn’t achieve Hamas’ “destruction” and the latest proposal endangered Israel’s national security.
Bloodshed continued in Gaza on Monday. Residents reported a series of explosions in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip that targeted homes and roads. Palestinian health officials said at least 40 Palestinians were killed and dozens were wounded in Israeli military strikes in the Gaza Strip on Monday.
The Israeli military said five soldiers had been killed in fighting in northern Gaza, bringing to nine the number of its troops killed since Saturday.
