Government

Dissidents in the Republican People’s Party (CHP) have called on Chairman Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu to resign and hold an extraordinary convention in protest at the presidential election results in which the party leadership nominated a conservative elitist instead of a social democrat figure for the presidency.

Prime Minister Erdogan’s use of his official position plus biased media coverage gave him a distinct advantage in Turkey’s presidential vote, international observers have said.

Islamic lender Bank Asya, which has recently found itself at the center of tension between the government and Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen, suffered a sharp downfall in its second quarter profit amid uncertainty over its future.

Bulgaria’s President Rosen Plevneliev has leveled strong criticism at the country’s politicians and oligarchs for relying too heavily on public funds, the FT reports.

Turkey’s Supreme Election Board (YSK) has decided on taking a U-turn from the “appointment system” implemented for the first time in foreign countries at the country’s debut popular presidential polls following a low turnout and reactions by the government.

Turkey’s most polarizing leader will now be sitting in a chair that was designed to be above polemics with a mission to reconcile political forces, rather than pit them against each other.

The first thing that Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdoğan did after getting elected as the country’s 12th president on Aug. 10 was to call the ruling Justice and Development Party’s (AK Parti) main executive body for a meeting on Aug. 11.

His plan was simple:

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan remains “Invictus” (Latin for unconquered or unbeatable). Once again he has come out on top after hotly contested elections, this time for the presidency. Nearly 52 percent voted for him in Turkey’s first direct election for president.

BERLIN - A conference on economic potentials and prospects of the Western Balkans will be held in Berlin on August 28, at the initiative of German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

BELGRADE - Serbia's Interior Minister Nebojsa Stefanovic has formed a special team to investigate the sale of the oil company Naftna industrija Srbije (NIS), which was once owned by the government.

NIS was privatised in late 2008 when Russia's Gazprom Neft bought 51 percent of the company, while the remaining 49 percent of shares were distributed for free to the Serbian people.