been saying that turkey wants to build a safe zone in northern syria so that syrian refugees can return voluntarily. i hope that s still the policy. i see no reason why that would have changed after erdogan s views overall won in the election. still, as you say, much will depend on how or whether there is a normalisation or improvement in relations between ankara and damascus. in recent months, the turkish government has been trying to improve relations with assad, possibly normalise relations. turkey has been doing that with all its neighbours to the south, with saudi arabia to the south east, with united arab emirates, even with israel and armenia. so i think the process will continue with syria, but it s not clear that it will get to a point where erdogan will say, ok, the safe zone s safe enough for the refugees to return. i
has chosen its path. sinan ciddi is an expert on turkish politics and foreign policy and an associate professor in security studies at marine corps university in the us he told me about the challenges ahead for president erdogan. well, there was great expectations raised that this could be essentially the final lap for mr erdogan, who has been in power since 2003, either as prime minister or as president. not least because was presiding over quite a weakened and fragile economy, at the back end of a devastating series of earthquakes, but also this endemic corruption, nepotism and just an authoritarian term, which as you can see from the result, at least 50% of the country wanted to get rid of. but some people including myself have been saying this is a deeply authoritarian system and elections may not necessarily be enough to just
another five years in office potentially stretching his time in power to a quarter century. addressing a jubilant crowd, president erdogan promised to build a strong economy and called for unity. meanwhile, his opponent, kemal kilicdaroglu, said it was the most unfair election in years and that he felt saddened by the troubles awaiting turkey. our senior international correspondent, orla guerin, reports from the turkish capital ankara. the recep tayyip erdogan juggernaut rolls on. and tonight in the turkish capital, the streets belong to his supporters, who have stuck with him through thick and thin and hyperinflation. translation: we are blessed that our president is leading us again. there is no better feeling than this. let the world hear it. he is the leader who has taught the entire world a lesson.
agreement to raise the us debt an agreement to raise the us debt ceiling has been reached but a big question, at what cost? welcome to world business report, i m ben thompson. let s start in turkey, where the country s currency the lira has slipped to a new record low after the country s electoral authorities declared president erdogan the winner of the election run off. he will serve another five year term taking his rule into a third decade. president erdogan has presided over turkey during a period of economic crisis. the country s official inflation rate is currently more than a0%, although it has been dropping in recent months. in his victory speech, he said battling the rising cost of living is turkey s most urgent issue, but that it is not difficult to solve. let s cross live now to our reporter victoria craig who s based in he turkish capital ankara. president erdogan says it is not
one of turkey s most critical elections, which will decide if president erdogan should remain in power after 20 years. president erdogan faces his biggest challenge yet, with turkey in the midst of soaring inflation, and the country still reeling from two earthquakes in february in which more than 50,000 people died. the poll is one of the most consequential in the country s modern history, with mr erdogan s islamic party challenged by an opposition set on a more secular course, and promising closer ties to the west. his main rival is kemal kilicdaroglu, who is backed by a broad opposition alliance and has promised to scrap many of the powers acquired by the president. our senior international correspondent, orla guerin, reports from the turkish capital ankara. i don t think we can actually hear from herjust yet. joining me live is our correspondent silin girit at the opposition republican people s party headquarters in istanbul. our middle east corrrespondent, anna foster, is in the t