Turkey

ISTANBUL, May 14 (Reuters) - Turks voted on Sunday in one of the most consequential elections in the country's 100-year history, a contest that could end President Tayyip Erdogan's imperious 20-year rule and reverberate well beyond Turkey's borders.

The presidential vote will decide not only who leads Turkey, a NATO-member country of 85 million, but also how it is governed, where its economy is headed amid a deep cost of living crisis, and the shape of its foreign policy.

ISTANBUL, May 14 (Xinhua) -- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday cast his vote for twin presidential and parliamentary elections in a school in Istanbul, the country's largest city.

Erdogan arrived at the school in the Uskudar district on Istanbul's Asian side with his wife, Emine Erdogan, at 11:40 a.m. local time (0840 GMT).

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkey is voting Sunday in landmark parliamentary and presidential elections that are expected to be tightly contested and could be the biggest challenge President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has faced in his two decades in power.

The vote will either grant the increasingly authoritarian Erdogan a new five-year term in office or set the NATO member country on what his opposition contender calls a more democratic path.

ANKARA, May 13. /TASS/: The latest public opinion polls conducted by the opposition indicate that support for Kemal Kilicdaroglu has surpassed 49%, a high-ranking source in the opposition told a TASS correspondent on Saturday.

"According to the latest data from our surveys, Kemal Kilicdaroglu is garnering more than 49%. That is, that’s right on the edge. I am confident that in the first round, or at the very least, in the second, if it comes to that, he will definitely win," the source said.

ANKARA, May 13 (NNN-XINHUA) – Negotiations to extend a Black Sea Grain Initiative were nearing an agreement, after two days of talks in Istanbul, between Ukrainian, Russian, Turkish and UN officials, Türkiye’s Defence Minister, Hulusi Akar, said yesterday.

“As part of the first information received, the meeting in Istanbul was positive. We are heading towards an agreement on the extension of the grain deal,” Akar said in a statement.

ISTANBUL, May 13 (Reuters) - Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan held his last election rallies in Istanbul on Saturday, accusing the opposition of working with U.S. President Joe Biden to topple him while making a final appeal ahead of the biggest challenge to his 20-year rule.

Polls show Erdogan trailing the main opposition candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu a day ahead of one of the most consequential elections in Turkey's modern history. However, if neither of them win more than 50% of the vote and secure an outright win, the vote will go to a runoff on May 28.

ISTANBUL (AP) — Turkish politicians were holding final rallies in the last hours of campaigning on Saturday, the eve of pivotal presidential and parliamentary elections that could significantly shape the NATO member’s future.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who is facing the toughest challenge ever in his two decades of power, was speaking at neighborhood rallies in Istanbul, Turkey’s biggest city.

12 May 2023; MEMO: The national flag carrier, Turkish Airlines, will order nearly 600 aircraft in the next decade, according to the Airline's Board and Executive Committee Chairman, Anadolu News Agency reports.

Speaking at an event to unveil Turkish Airlines' renewed in-flight dining menus on Thursday, Ahmet Bolat disclosed that approximately 400 new orders will be for narrow-body aircraft and 200 for wide-body planes.

ANKARA, May 12 (Reuters) - Kemal Kilicdaroglu, main challenger of Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, said on Friday his party has concrete evidence of Russia's responsibility for the release of "deep fake" online content ahead of Sunday's presidential elections.

Kilicdaroglu, who has a slight poll lead over Erdogan two days ahead of the election, told Reuters in an interview it was unacceptable for Russia to interfere in Turkey's internal affairs, but added that should he become president he would maintain Ankara's good ties with Moscow.

ANKARA, May 12 (Xinhua) -- Negotiations to extend a Black Sea Grain Initiative were nearing an agreement after two days of talks in Istanbul between Ukrainian, Russian, Turkish and UN officials, Türkiye's Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said on Friday.

"As part of the first information received, the meeting in Istanbul was positive. We are heading toward an agreement on the extension of the grain deal," Akar said in a statement.