Aviation Turkish Airlines to order 600 aircraft amid competition Turkish Airlines will order a total of 600 new aircraft in June to be delivered within ten years, company chairman Ahmet Bolat said. Such an order, if confirmed, would be the largest in the industry’s history by a single airline, eclipsing a record order by Air India for 470 Airbus and Boeing planes in December, […] May 12, 2023
Energy Turkey defers $600m Russian energy payment Turkey has deferred payment to Russia of a $600 million natural gas bill to 2024, two sources said on Wednesday, the first such postponement under a deal announced last week that underlines deepening ties between Ankara and Moscow. Under the terms of the agreement, up to $4 billion in Turkish energy payments to Russia may […] May 11, 2023
Analysis Tourism Turkey pins hopes on return of Gulf tourists Turkey is anticipating an increase in visitors from the Gulf countries in the coming months, following devastating earthquakes and Ramadan. Foreign tourist arrivals in the first quarter rose over 26.7 percent year-on-year to 6.2 million, reported the Daily Sabah newspaper, citing data from the Culture and Tourism Ministry. Industry officials expect an average 20 percent […] May 8, 2023
Economy Turkey’s opposition vows to roll back Erdogan’s policies Turkey’s opposition alliance has vowed to reverse many of President Tayyip Erdogan’s policies if elected in a May 14 election, including a return to a parliamentary democracy and economic orthodoxy and a major shift in foreign policy. Last month Kemal Kilicdaroglu, presidential candidate of the six-party Nation Alliance, unveiled the opposition’s programme for its first […] May 7, 2023
Energy Turkey discovers 1bn barrels of oil in southeast field Turkey has discovered 1 billion barrels of oil in a field in the southeast province of Sirnak, Turkish Petroleum said, in the largest onshore find in the country. Turkish Petroleum has drilled 2,771 metres deep so far and found a more than 162 metre light oil-bearing reservoir, it said, with further prospects to be explored […] May 5, 2023
Economy Turkey sticks to inflation forecast of 22.3% for 2023 Turkey’s central bank is sticking to its inflation forecast of 22.3 percent for 2023, governor Sahap Kavcioglu said – less than half of market expectations – even though the decline in inflation has been slower so far than it previously envisioned. Unorthodox rate cuts sought by President Tayyip Erdogan sparked a currency crisis in late […] May 5, 2023
Economy Turkish inflation slows to 44% ahead of landmark polls Turkish annual inflation slowed to 43.68 percent in April, according to official data, easing ahead of elections that polls show President Tayyip Erdogan risks losing largely due to a cost-of-living crisis. Unorthodox rate cuts sought by Erdogan sparked a currency crisis in late 2021, sending inflation to a 24-year peak of 85.51 percent last year. […] May 4, 2023
Sustainability Turkey’s $1bn solar plant to cut $450m fossil fuel use Turkey’s President Tayyip Erdogan has inaugurated Europe’s biggest solar power plant built on a single site. “Turkey will no longer be a country in need of energy resources, but will rather be capable of energy export,” he said. Developed by Kalyon Energy, an affiliate of Kalyon Holding, the plant in the central province of Konya has […] May 3, 2023
Banking and Finance Italy approves Whirlpool’s European unit sale to Arcelik Italy’s government has conditionally approved Whirlpool’s sale of a majority stake of its European domestic appliances business to Turkish rival Arcelik, a ministerial source said. The Europe-wide deal, announced in January, concerns four Whirlpool factories in Italy employing around 4,600 people. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s right-wing government had the right to scrutinise it under so-called […] May 2, 2023
Tourism Turkey’s tourism revenue rises 33% to $8.7bn in Q1 2023 Turkey’s tourism revenue rose 33 percent in the first quarter of 2023 to $8.69 billion, driven by a surge in foreign arrivals, said Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) in a report. Tourism revenue is paramount for the government to reduce the current account deficit to tackle high inflation and interest rates, Daily Sabah newspaper said. The […] May 1, 2023
Manufacturing Baykar plans production of new air combat drone Turkish defence firm Baykar aims to begin production of its new unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV) next year which is already attracting international interest, its chairman Selcuk Bayraktar said. Baykar has come to prominence internationally in recent years because of the company’s light drone TB-2, which has been used in Ukraine, Azerbaijan and North Africa […] April 30, 2023
Banking and Finance Turkey holds rate at 8.5% ahead of May elections Turkey’s central bank kept its policy rate at 8.5 percent on Thursday as expected, stressing the importance of supportive financial conditions to preserve economic growth momentum in its last policy meeting before May 14 elections. In February, the bank cut its key interest rate by 50 basis points (bps) to provide stimulus after earthquakes which […] April 28, 2023
Banking and Finance IIF cautious on Turkey’s lira amid possible devaluation The Institute of International Finance (IIF) has doubled down on its bullish view of the Brazilian currency while taking a cautious stance on the market’s pessimism towards Turkey’s lira. The IIF said in a report ahead of its currency fair value update that “market sentiment in both cases is more bearish than we are”. On […] April 28, 2023
Energy Veolia to operate Turkey’s first waste-to-energy plant French waste and water management company Veolia has secured the contract to operate and maintain Turkey’s first waste-to-energy plant, the largest in Europe, in Istanbul. The plant has a processing capacity of 1.1 million tonnes of non-recyclable household waste per year, Veolia said in a statement. The facility’s 85 mw turbine will save nearly 1.5 […] April 27, 2023
Agriculture Turkey imposes 130% tariff on some grain imports Turkey imposed a 130 percent import tariff of some grain imports including wheat and corn, according to a presidential decision published in the official gazette. The import duty comes after some European Union countries announced bans on grain imports from Ukraine last week. But some traders said Turkey’s move is largely to protect its local […] April 26, 2023
Economy Turkey inflation to fall 46% by end-2023 despite rate hike Inflation in Turkey will dip to 46.4 percent by end-2023, a Reuters poll showed, while the policy rate is seen rising to 24 percent next quarter after upcoming elections that pose the greatest challenge to President Tayyip Erdogan’s 20-year rule. Turkey’s consumer price index surged in the wake of a currency crisis sparked by an […] April 25, 2023
Banking and Finance Erdogan says interest rates will fall if he is in power Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said that interest rates will fall as long as he is in power and that inflation will decline with them, repeating his unorthodox views. Erdogan was speaking in Istanbul weeks before a presidential election on May 14. Some anticipate a shift to more orthodox policies after the vote. Turkey’s central bank […] April 23, 2023
Energy Erdogan offers free gas after first Black Sea field shipment President Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday flicked the switch on Turkey’s first delivery of natural gas to an onshore plant from a reserve discovered in the Black Sea and promised to provide free natural gas for households before May 14 elections. The ceremony was the government’s latest attempt to showcase large energy and infrastructure projects in […] April 21, 2023
Banking and Finance UAE and Saudi investors to focus on Turkey after polls International investors are looking to increase investments in Turkey, notably in mergers and acquisitions, as they anticipate a shift to a more orthodox economic policy after May 14 elections, four government officials and analysts said. Opinion polls show President Tayyip Erdogan facing the greatest electoral challenge of his two decades in power in the presidential […] April 20, 2023
Banking and Finance Turkish interest rates climb as election approaches Interest rates in Turkey are rising amid expectations that government policies will become more orthodox no matter who wins the May 14 elections, and after a regulatory change to make holding Turkish lira more attractive to counter forex demand, bankers said. Despite soaring inflation, the central bank has slashed its key rate to 8.5 percent […] April 19, 2023
Banking and Finance JPMorgan expects Turkey lira to drop sharply after polls Turkey’s lira is likely to drop sharply and could near 30 to the dollar following next month’s elections, bankers at JPMorgan have predicted, if it looks like only modest changes will be made to its unorthodox economic policies. Turkey’s tightly contested presidential and parliamentary elections on May 14 are perhaps the most consequential in the […] April 16, 2023
Retail Pizza firm DP Eurasia evaluates Russia presence DP Eurasia, which runs the Domino’s Pizza brand in Turkey and Russia, on Wednesday said it was still weighing options for its Russian business after reporting a rise in its annual core profit as it hiked prices to offset high inflation. The company said it continued to evaluate its presence in Russia, including a possible […] April 13, 2023
