Government

Under the Turkish Constitution, the moment a candidate is elected president he is no longer a parliamentarian and should sever all ties with political parties, as the president ought to be above party politics. Because under the Constitution the prime minister must be a parliamentarian, continuing in the prime ministry after being elected president cannot be on the cards anyway.

Ever since I watched Madonna sing from Casa Rosada in Evita, I have had a soft spot for balcony speeches. Not anymore. Supreme Leader Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s remarks on the Turkish economy during his balcony speech following his election victory were full of factual errors, if not outright lies.

Synthetic drug “bonzai” has been rapidly increasing in Turkey since 2011, and Istanbul tops the list with the highest number of users, according to new police data.

The majority of police narcotics operations have taken place in Istanbul, with 3,692 operations being taken against “bonzai” in the first six months of 2014, according to data released by the police department.

The row over the troublesome unified property tax (ENFIA) continued on Thursday as coalition partner PASOK said that children’s charity Smile of the Child was incorrectly asked to pay the levy.

PASOK said the Finance Ministry had made a mistake in sending a bill to the charity after its president, Costas Giannopoulos, revealed that its property tax bill came to almost 95,000 euros.

Boyko Borisov is trying to scare the people and blackmails them to give him support, which he does not have, Radan Kanev, leader of the Democrats for Strong Bulgaria said. 

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has vowed to hand over the leadership of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) after consultations, as he prepares to take over the presidency from Abdullah Gül on Aug. 28.

Parliament Speaker Cemil Çiçek has carefully declined to comment on controversy surrounding the legitimacy and legality of President-elect and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s refusal to resign from his posts as ruling party leader and prime minister.

By Costas Iordanidis

Last Sunday’s Turkish presidential election confirmed Recep Tayyip Erdogan as the third most powerful political leader of the European system – in the broader sense of the word – after German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Shares in Turkish Islamic lender Bank Asya will remain suspended until uncertainty regarding its ownership is resolved, the Istanbul stock exchange has said.

We have been experiencing a “new Turkey” since the beginning of this week. A “new Turkey” in which president-elect Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is destined to become the sole decider for both the future of the ruling party and the country.

The results of the Aug. 10 presidential election give politicians two important messages: