Turkish presidential election

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has urged peace and stability in Iran during a telephone conversation with Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani, state-run Anadolu Agency reported on Jan. 3.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Jordan’s King Abdullah II spoke over the phone on Dec. 25 to discuss the issue of Jerusalem, according to a Turkish presidential official.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has discussed the recent developments in Jerusalem with the presidents of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Lebanon in separate phone calls on Dec. 9.

Prosecutors are investigating all 60 members of the main opposition Republican People’s Party’s (CHP) party assembly for “defaming and insulting the presidential post, the Turkish nation, state and its institutions,” upon complaints filed by the government and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in 2016.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel told President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan late on Nov. 30 that she will work to speed up the delivery of promised EU aid for Syrians in Turkey, according to presidential sources, Hurriyet reported.

Jailed Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) co-chair Selahattin Demirtaş was acquitted on Nov. 30 of “insulting a public official” over his remarks about former Chief of General Staff Necdet Özel, state-run Anadolu Agency has reported.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier spoke over the phone on Nov. 29 about last week’s Sochi summit and the Syria crisis, according to a Turkish presidential source.

The main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) has filed a complaint about state-broadcaster TRT for cutting the live broadcast of CHP head Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu’s parliamentary group speech, in which he revealed documents about off-shore bank transactions of the close circle of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has claimed that dark clouds hanging over the Turkish economy and the threat posed by terrorism are part of “dirty operations” trying to bring down the country.

At the Sept. 26 opening ceremony for the 2017-18 academic year, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan admitted that the government had been "unsuccessful" in the areas of education and culture.