ISTANBUL: Turks were voting on Sunday in municipal elections, with all eyes on Istanbul, the national “jewel” that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan hopes to pry away from the opposition.
But there appeared no excess of enthusiasm at polling stations, AFP correspondents reported, to a backdrop of raging inflation and massive devaluation.
“Everyone is worried about the day to day,” said Guler Kaya, admitting she had had to stop going out.
“The crisis is swallowing up the middle class, we have had to change all our habits,” said the 43-year-old.
“If Erdogan wins, it will get even worse,” she added.
In the capital Ankara, Meliha Sonmez sounded a warning as she prepared to vote: “This election is not just municipal.”
“If Erdogan loses the ballot, he will be weakened,” said the retired woman in her 60s who lost 32 relatives in the devastating February 2023 earthquake in Hatay.
Erdogan may not be a candidate in the municipal vote, but his name has dominated from campaigning to voting day.
His road to power in Turkiye began in Istanbul when he was elected mayor of the mythic city straddling Europe and Asia in 1994.
His allies held the city until Ekrem Imamoglu of the secular Republican People’s Party (CHP) wrested control five years ago, generating international headlines.
As soon as Erdogan clinched re-election as president last May — he has held the position since 2014 — he launched the battle to reclaim the city of 16 million people.
“Istanbul is the jewel, the treasure and the apple of our country’s eye,” the 70-year-old leader said at a recent rally in the city.
“Whoever wins Istanbul, wins Turkiye,” Erman Bakirci, a pollster from Konda Research and Consultancy, recalled Erdogan once saying.
Armed clashes were reported from a village in Turkiye’s Kurdish-majority southeast with voting underway, leaving one dead and 12 wounded, a local official told AFP.
The Turkish president has named former environment minister Murat Kurum as his candidate.
Polls gave Imamoglu a slight lead, but analysts caution that opinion polls in Turkiye have been wrong before and that the outcome is far from certain.
The 2019 vote was controversially annulled, but Imamoglu won the re-run vote by an even greater margin, which turned him into an instant hero for Turkiye’s notoriously fractured opposition and a formidable foe for Erdogan.
If Imamoglu manages to retain the Istanbul mayor’s seat, he’ll likely be the main challenger to the ruling party in the next presidential elections, set for 2028.
The election is being held with inflation at a whopping 67 percent and with a massive devaluation of the lira, which slid from 19 to a dollar to 31 to a dollar in one year. Analysts say this could work in favor of the opposition.
Erdogan threw all his energy into campaigning for his candidate.
On Saturday, he appeared at three campaign rallies in Istanbul, pressing his message that Imamoglu, whose name he never mentions, is a “part-time mayor” consumed by presidential ambitions.
“Istanbul has been left to its own devices these past five years. We hope to save it from disaster,” he said.
Imamoglu focused his campaign on local issues and defended his achievements in office.
“Every vote you give to the CHP will mean more metros, creches, green spaces, social benefits and investment,” he has promised.
Some 61 million voters are picking mayors across Turkiye’s 81 provinces, as well as provincial council members and other local officials.
The opposition has been fractured ahead of the polls, in contrast with the local elections five years ago.
This time around the main opposition party, the social democrat CHP, has failed to rally support behind a single candidate.
And the pro-Kurdish DEM party, the third largest in the 600-seat parliament, is fielding two candidates for Istanbul mayor, whereas in the 2019 race it agreed to stay out of the vote to implicitly support the opposition.
Polls opened at 0400 GMT in the east of the country and were due to close at 1400 GMT in the west, including Istanbul.
The first estimates are expected to be released late on Sunday.
Istanbul top prize as Turkiye votes in local polls
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Istanbul top prize as Turkiye votes in local polls
- The race is on for key cities as Turkey holds local elections in test of Erdogan's popularity
UAE to host World Crisis and Emergency Management Summit 2025 in Abu Dhabi
- Forum to be held under patronage of Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, deputy ruler of Abu Dhabi and national security adviser
- Sheikh Tahnoon highlights UAE’s efforts to address crises, emergencies, and disasters worldwide
LONDON: Global resilience and policies for mitigating future risks will be explored at the World Crisis and Emergency Management Summit 2025 hosted by the UAE in Abu Dhabi this week.
The summit will be held under the patronage of Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, deputy ruler of Abu Dhabi and national security adviser, from April 8-9 under the theme “Together Towards Building Global Resilience.”
Sheikh Tahnoon said the summit reflects the UAE’s “firm belief that international cooperation and cross-border collaboration are vital to achieving true global resilience.”
He highlighted Abu Dhabi’s efforts to address crises, emergencies, and disasters worldwide, the Emirate News Agency reported.
“Our strategic deployment of artificial intelligence and cutting-edge innovations places us at the forefront of leveraging technology to enhance emergency preparedness and response systems,” Sheikh Tahnoon said.
This year’s summit will focus on global resilience, strategic foresight, and enhancing partnerships among governments, international organizations, and the private sector.
Emerging technologies, particularly artificial intelligence and advanced communication systems, will also be discussed, the WAM added.
The summit will bring together decision-makers and experts, and feature two exhibitions: the Crisis Management Technologies Exhibition 2025 and the Generation Readiness Exhibition 2025. Both will explore the connections between technology and education to promote resilient, preparedness-oriented societies.
Sheikh Tahnoon said the UAE has consistently led efforts to deliver urgent aid to crisis-stricken communities worldwide, and the summit reflects Abu Dhabi’s commitment to unifying global humanitarian initiatives and strengthening international solidarity.
“We are confident that the dialogues and outcomes of this summit will generate shared insights and unify aspirations, contributing meaningfully to the creation of a safer, more sustainable, and prosperous future for all of humanity,” he added.
Palestinians in West Bank strike to demand end to Gaza war
- A coalition of Palestinian political movements — including rivals Fatah and Hamas — called the strike to protest what they described as “the genocide and the ongoing massacre of our people”
- Israel resumed air strikes on Gaza on March 18, ending nearly two months of ceasefire with Hamas
RAMALLAH: Shuttered storefronts lined empty streets in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank on Monday, as Palestinians held a general strike demanding an end to the Gaza war.
“I walked through the city today and couldn’t find a single place that was open,” Fadi Saadi, a shopkeeper in Bethlehem, told AFP.
Shops, schools and most public administrative offices were closed across the West Bank, which Israel has occupied since 1967.
A coalition of Palestinian political movements — including rivals Fatah and Hamas — called the strike to protest what they described as “the genocide and the ongoing massacre of our people.”
It called for the strike “in all the occupied Palestinian territories, in the refugee camps... and among those who support our cause.”
Israel resumed air strikes on Gaza on March 18, ending nearly two months of ceasefire with Hamas. Dozens of Palestinians have been killed almost daily since Israel restarted its military offensive.
“We close today about our family in Gaza, our children in Gaza,” said Imad Salman, 68, who owns a souvenir shop in Jerusalem’s Old City.
“In Jerusalem, in the West Bank, we can’t do something more than what we’re doing here now,” he told AFP.
In Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem, the usually bustling commercial Salaheddin street was empty.
“This strike is in solidarity with Gaza and what is happening there, and the war being waged against the Palestinian people, whether by (US President Donald) Trump, (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu, the Israeli government, or the American government,” said Ahmed, who did not want to his surname.
“This war must stop, the killing and destruction must stop, and only peace should prevail — peace, and nothing but peace.”
A rally is planned Monday in the center of the West Bank city of Ramallah, where the Palestinian Authority has its headquarters.
“This time, the strike is serious, and the population’s commitment is significant because Israeli aggression now affects all Palestinian households, whether in the West Bank or Gaza,” said Issam Baker, a community organizer in Ramallah.
“We have seen total commitment in support of the strike today throughout the West Bank, which has not happened since October 7” 2023, when the Gaza war started, said a security source from the Palestinian Authority.
Since the start of the Gaza war, violence has soared in the West Bank.
Israeli troops or settlers have killed at least 918 Palestinians, including militants, in the territory since then, according to health ministry figures.
Palestinian attacks and clashes during military raids have killed at least 33 Israelis, including soldiers, over the same period, according to official figures.
Dutch tighten controls on military and dual use exports to Israel
AMSTERDAM: The Dutch government said on Monday it had tightened export controls for all military and ‘dual use’ goods destined for Israel.
All direct exports and the transit of these goods to Israel will be checked to see if they comply with European regulations, and will no longer be covered by general export licenses, the government said in a letter to parliament.
“This is desirable considering the security situation in Israel, the Palestinian territories and the wider region,” foreign minister Caspar Veldkamp and trade minister Reinette Klever wrote.
“Exporters will still be able to request permits, that will then be checked against European regulations.”
The government said no military goods for Israel had been exported from the Netherlands under a general permit since Israel started its war in Gaza following the attacks by Hamas on October 7, 2023.
It said that the general license for the export of “low risk information security goods,” such as routers for network security, was frequently used for export to Israel.
It estimated that between 50 and 100 permits for the export of those goods would now have to be requested on an individual basis.
A Dutch court last year ordered the government to block all exports of F-35 fighter jet parts to Israel over concerns they were being used to violate international law during the war in Gaza. Israel denies violating international law.
Dossier accuses British serving in Israeli military of war crimes in Gaza
- Report compiled by Hague-based UK lawyers will be handed to Metropolitan Police
- ‘British nationals are under a legal obligation not to collude with crimes committed in Palestine’
LONDON: A group of UK citizens who served with the Israeli military in Gaza will be the subject of a war crimes complaint handed to the Metropolitan Police, The Guardian reported on Monday.
A 240-page dossier compiled by a group of lawyers based in The Hague documents the activities of 10 Brits in Gaza, with complaints against them including alleged targeting of civilians and aid workers, coordinated attacks on hospitals and protected sites, and the forced displacement of people.
The dossier, which covers the period from October 2023 to May 2024 and took six months to compile, will be handed to the Met’s war crimes unit.
The complaint against the 10 Brits, who cannot be named for legal reasons, will be brought on behalf of the Gaza-based Palestinian Centre for Human Rights and the UK-based Public Interest Law Centre.
The dossier includes eyewitness testimony from civilians in Gaza. One passage features evidence from a witness who recalled an attack on a hospital, including seeing corpses “scattered on the ground, especially in the middle of the hospital courtyard, where many dead bodies were buried in a mass grave.”
The account added that a bulldozer being used to demolish part of the hospital “ran over a dead body in a horrific and heart-wrenching scene desecrating the dead.”
Raji Sourani, director of the PCHR, said: “This is illegal, this is inhuman and enough is enough. The government cannot say we didn’t know; we are providing them with all the evidence.”
PILC legal director Paul Heron said: “We’re filing our report to make clear these war crimes are not in our name.”
The 2001 International Criminal Court Act says it “is an offence against the law of England and Wales for a person to commit genocide, a crime against humanity, or a war crime.”
Michael Mansfield KC, the lawyer leading the group, said: “If one of our nationals is committing an offence, we ought to be doing something about it. Even if we can’t stop the government of foreign countries behaving badly, we can at least stop our nationals from behaving badly.
“British nationals are under a legal obligation not to collude with crimes committed in Palestine. No one is above the law.”
Sean Summerfield, a barrister who also worked on the dossier, said: “The public will be shocked, I would have thought, to hear that there’s credible evidence that Brits have been directly involved in committing some of those atrocities.”
More than 50,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since October 2023.
Netanyahu and Trump to talk tariffs, Iran and Gaza
- Analysts said Netanyahu would seek to secure an exemption from the tariffs for Israel
- Netanyahu will also discuss the war sparked by Hamas’s October 2023 attack, the Israeli hostages still held in Gaza, and the “growing threat from Iran,”
WASHINGTON: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was in Washington on Monday to meet Donald Trump, whom he will likely ask for a reprieve from US tariffs while seeking further backing on Iran and Gaza.
Netanyahu becomes the first foreign leader to meet Trump in the US capital since the “Liberation Day” tariffs announcement sent global markets crashing.
He was also due to discuss the war in Gaza, following the collapse of a short-lived truce that the United States had helped broker.
Arriving in Washington direct from a visit to Hungary, Netanyahu’s chief objective was to try to persuade Trump to reverse the decision, or at the very least to reduce the 17 percent levy set to be imposed on Israeli imports before it takes effect.
Upon arrival, Netanyahu met with US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, according to his office.
Before leaving Budapest, Netanyahu had said his discussions would cover a range of issues, including “the tariff regime that has also been imposed on Israel.”
“I’m the first international leader, the first foreign leader who will meet with President Trump on a matter so crucial to Israel’s economy,” he said in a statement.
“I believe this reflects the special personal relationship and the unique bond between the United States and Israel, which is so vital at this time.”
Analysts said Netanyahu would seek to secure an exemption from the tariffs for Israel.
“The urgency (of the visit) makes sense in terms of stopping it before it gets institutionalized,” said Jonathan Rynhold, head of political studies at Bar-Ilan University in Tel Aviv.
Such an exemption would not only benefit Trump’s closest Middle East ally but also “please Republicans in Congress, whose voters care about Israel, but are unwilling to confront Trump on this at this point,” he said.
Israel had attempted to avoid the new levy by moving preemptively a day before Trump’s announcement and lifting all remaining duties on the one percent of American goods still affected by them.
But Trump did not exempt Israel from his global salvo, saying the United States had a significant trade deficit with the country, the top beneficiary of US military aid.
The Israeli leader’s visit is “also a way for Netanyahu to play the game and show Trump that Israel is going along with him,” said Yannay Spitzer, a professor of economics at Hebrew University.
“I would not be surprised if there is an announcement of some concession for Israel... and this will be an example for other countries.”
Netanyahu will also discuss the war sparked by Hamas’s October 2023 attack, the Israeli hostages still held in Gaza, and the “growing threat from Iran,” his office said.
Israel resumed intense strikes on Gaza on March 18, and the weeks-long ceasefire with Hamas that the United States, Egypt and Qatar had brokered collapsed.
Efforts to restore the truce have failed, with nearly 1,400 people killed in renewed Israeli air and ground operations, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-controlled territory.
Palestinian militants in Gaza are still holding 58 hostages, including 34 the Israeli military says are dead.
On Iran, Trump has been pressing for “direct talks” with Tehran on a new deal to curb the Islamic republic’s nuclear program.
But Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmail Baghai said Tehran’s proposal for indirect negotiations was “generous, responsible and wise.”
There has been widespread speculation that Israel, possibly with US help, might attack Iranian facilities if no agreement is reached.
Baghai also said that Iran was ready to respond in case of attack.
“Should the threats against Iran be realized, they would precipitate a swift, immediate and global response from Iran’s side,” he said.
