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Turkey

UN official puts Turkey’s quake damage at over $100bn

Damage caused by a devastating earthquake in Turkey will exceed $100 billion, a UN Development Programme official told a press briefing ahead of a major donor conference next week. “It’s clear from the calculations being done to date that the damage figure presented by the government and supported by international partners would be in excess […]

Turkey eyes investments of $40bn for second nuclear plant

Turkey expects to receive $40 billion worth of investment for the country’s second nuclear power plant (NPP) in Sinop province in the Black Sea region. The project manager Elektrik Uretim, renamed Tunas, plans to commence excavations at the site this year after finalising investment negotiations with technology companies, Daily Sabah newspaper reported. The plant will […]

Turkish watchdog fines Elon Musk over Twitter takeover

Turkey’s competition authority has fined billionaire Tesla owner Elon Musk for taking over Twitter without its permission. The competition authority said it fined Musk 0.1 percent of Twitter’s gross income in Turkey in 2022. Musk’s takeover did not effectively violate competition, but was still fined for not taking the authority’s permission, the Daily Sabah newspaper reported. […]

Turkey Saudi

Saudi deposits $5bn in Turkey’s central bank

Saudi Arabia has made a $5 billion deposit into the central bank of Turkey to support its economy. The deposit, first pledged in November, comes after the devastating impact of last month’s earthquake. It was made on Monday through the Saudi Fund for Development (SFD) and will “contribute to bolstering the Turkish economy by addressing […]

Turkey working to renew UN-backed Black Sea grain deal

Turkish foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has said that Ankara is working hard to extend a UN-backed initiative that has enabled Ukraine to export grain from ports blockaded by Russia following its invasion. The Black Sea Grain Initiative brokered by the United Nations and Turkey last July allowed grain to be exported from three Ukrainian ports. […]

Turkish building’s fatal collapse blamed on permit violations

The Trend Garden Residence, an upscale serviced apartment building in the Turkish city of Malatya, boasted a gym, freshly-furnished rooms and a roof-top cafeteria. But when a powerful earthquake jolted the city in the early hours of Feb. 6, the seven-floored building disintegrated, killing 29 people, according to two government officials. It was as if […]

Turkey and UAE foreign ministers Mevlut Cavusoglu, left, and Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan in Istanbul last year. Trade between the two countries jumped 40 percent in 2022

UAE-Turkey Cepa deal to boost non-oil trade to $40bn

The UAE and Turkey have signed a comprehensive economic partnership agreement that is expected to boost the value of non-oil bilateral trade between the two countries to $40 billion in the next five years. Signed by Turkey’s minister of trade Mehmet Muş and Abdulla bin Touq Al Marri, minister of economy of the UAE, the […]

Goldman says Turkey may face pre-election FX market turmoil

Goldman Sachs has warned of the potential for foreign exchange market instability in the run up to Turkey’s elections following years of currency reserve depletion and other costly measures. While not its base case, the Wall Street bank said problems could be triggered if savers and firms became worried that a shift to more orthodox […]

Electronics, Phone, Mobile Phone

Turkey fines TikTok for weak data protection measures

Turkish authorities have fined TikTok 1.75 million lira ($93,000) for not taking sufficient measures to protect users from unlawful processing of their data, the Personal Data Protection Board (KVKK) said on Wednesday. The fine comes amid growing international concern over the Chinese short video-sharing app and who accesses its user data. Government institutions in Europe […]

Turkey’s earthquakes revive concerns over industrial heartland

Earthquakes in southeastern Turkey that destroyed cities and killed 44,000 people have prompted authorities to look again at how the quake-prone nation might cope with a similar tremor in Turkey’s densely populated, northwestern industrial heartland. Istanbul, Turkey’s biggest city with a population of 16 million and the country’s commercial engine, lies near fault lines that […]

World Bank says quakes caused $34.2bn damage in Turkey

The two major earthquakes which hit Turkey on February 6 caused about $34.2 billion in direct physical damage, but total reconstruction and recovery costs facing the country could be twice as high, the World Bank said on Monday. The bank estimates that the earthquakes would also shave at least half a percentage point off Turkey’s […]

Turkey’s deficit stood at $8.13bn in June, seven times the deficit a year earlier

Turkish economic confidence down slightly following quakes

Turkey’s economic confidence index fell 0.3 percent month-on-month in February to 99.1 points, following massive earthquakes that devastated the country’s southern region, data from the Turkish Statistical Institute showed on Monday. The index, which points to an optimistic outlook when above 100 and pessimistic when below, hit a record low in 2020 before recovering as […]

Nature, Outdoors, Countryside

Turkey’s tourism beats pre-Covid levels as January arrivals up 57%

Tourist arrivals in Turkey have crossed pre-Covid levels in the first month of 2023, a local daily reported. The number of foreign visitors arriving in January jumped 56.51 percent from a year earlier to two million, Daily Sabah newspaper said, citing the Culture and Tourism Ministry. Foreign visitors reached 1.28 million in January 2022, compared […]

Loans for the earthquake zone will be exempted from the Turkish central bank's credit restrictions

Turkey begins to rebuild homes following devastating quakes

Turkey has begun work to rebuild homes following this month’s devastating earthquakes, a government official said on Friday, as the combined death count in Turkey and Syria surpassed 50,000. More than 160,000 buildings containing 520,000 apartments collapsed or were severely damaged in the February 6 earthquakes that killed tens of thousands in Turkey and neighbouring Syria. […]

Tie, Accessories, Accessory

Turkish central bank cut rates to cushion earthquake impact

Turkey’s central bank cut its main interest rate to 8.5 percent from nine percent on Thursday, moving to cushion the economic impact of a devastating earthquake that killed more than 43,000 people in country’s south on February 6. The cut was expected following the disaster, though some economists had predicted a considerably bigger reduction. “It […]

Earthquake to keep Turkish inflation above 40%

Turkey’s devastating earthquake will keep inflation above 40 percent in the run-up to elections scheduled for June and will necessitate an additional budget, a government official and four economists said. They predict that the February 6 earthquake, which killed more than 43,000 people in Turkey, will cost the economy more than $50 billion, in line […]

Turkey supports jobs and wages in earthquake-ravaged south

Turkey has launched a temporary wage support scheme and banned layoffs in 10 cities to protect workers and businesses from the financial impact of the massive earthquake that hit the south of the country. A 7.8 magnitude earthquake on February 6 killed more than 47,000 people in Turkey and Syria, damaged or destroyed hundreds of […]

Turkey dug deep into reserves to keep lira stable through quake

Turkey’s central bank used $7 billion of reserves in the last two weeks to help steady the lira in the aftermath of devastating earthquakes, and reserves could remain under pressure in the weeks ahead, bankers said. The worst disaster in Turkey’s modern history killed tens of thousands and levelled areas of the south, temporarily closing […]

Turkey’s exports to Middle East rose 16.1% in January 2023

Turkey’s exports to Middle East countries rose 16.1 percent year-on-year in January 2023 to reach $1.43 billion, according to Turkish Exporters Assembly data. Overall exports in January hit $19.38 billion, a 10.4 percent increase year-on-year, the Daily Sabah newspaper reported, citing the data. Turkey’s exports to the UAE reached $223.1 million, driven by the jewellery […]

Turkey rages at shoddy construction after homes topple

Residents of a luxury housing complex in southern Turkey thought their apartments were “earthquake-proof” until the structure toppled like a domino in last week’s devastating earthquake, leaving hundreds feared dead. Now the wreckage of the Ronesans Rezidans, which was advertised as “a piece of paradise” when it opened a decade ago, has become a focus […]

Turkey announces new measures to curb foreign currency demand

Turkey’s central bank has asked banks to widen the spread for gold and foreign currency transactions to curb foreign currency demand, two sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters. The central bank also asked the banking sector to increase derivative transaction costs to around 40 percent, the sources said, in a move aimed at […]

Turkey earthquake could mean loss of up to 1% of GDP in 2023

The devastating earthquake in Turkey could result in a loss of up to one percent of the country’s gross domestic product this year, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) said in a report published on Thursday. The bank added this is a “reasonable estimate” due to the expected boost from reconstruction efforts later […]