Turkey News May 2023
Business
Banks phase of Istanbul Finance Centre opened
The banks phase of the Istanbul Finance Centre (IFC) has been opened with a ceremony attended by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Erdoğan said: “The centre will create a new financial ecosystem in Istanbul, the meeting point of three continents.” At an investment cost of TRY 65 bn, IFC is intended to host domestic and international clients with its 1.3 million square meters of office space, 100,000-square-meter shopping mall, 2,100-people congress centre, 5-star hotel, and smart city model.
Apr. 18, 2023
PSA International acquires Alışan
PSA International, a Singapore-headquartered port operator and supply chain company, has signed a partnership agreement with Alışan Lojistik, an international logistics service provider that is among the top 500 companies in Turkey, acquiring a 75 percent stake. The deal is scheduled to be completed by mid-2023. Established in 1985, the family business Alışan has more than 1,600 employees and 39 warehouses.
Apr. 19, 2023
Delivery of natural gas from Black Sea starts
32 months after its discovery, Black Sea natural gas has been commissioned at the processing facility in Filyos (Zonguldak province) with the participation of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. In the first stage of the project, 10 million cubic meters of natural gas will be extracted per day. With the latest discoveries, Turkey’s known gas reserves in the Black Sea reached 710 billion cubic meters.
Apr. 21, 2023
Construction of Turkey’s first battery factory started
The foundation of the Siro Battery Development and Production Campus has been laid in Gemlik (Bursa province) with a ceremony attended by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. The battery factory was established by a 50-50 partnership of Turkish electric vehicle producer TOGG and Chinese manufacturer Farasis Energy. Battery cell production is to begin in 2026, and is planned to reach 20 GWh capacity by 2031 and 50 GWh by 2035.
Apr. 25, 2023
Ankara-Sivas High Speed Train makes first voyage
The high-speed train line reducing travel time between Ankara and Sivas to two hours has been commissioned. The 405 km long railway track has been designed for a maximum speed of 250 kilometres per hour. With the completion of the 8-station train line, the total length of Turkey’s high-speed train lines has increased to 2,228 km.
Apr. 27, 2023
First nuclear fuel arrived in Akkuyu
A ceremony to mark the first nuclear fuel delivery to Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant has been held, with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Russian President Vladimir Putin attending by remote live connection. With the delivery of nuclear fuels by air and sea to the power plant, Akkuyu – located on the Mediterranean Sea in Mersin province – has gained the status of a nuclear facility. Describing Akkuyu NPP as one of the biggest joint projects in Turkish-Russian history, Putin stated that the plant will contribute to the neighbourly relations of the two countries. All four units of the pressurized water reactor are to be put into service gradually until 2028, and 10 percent of Turkey’s electricity consumption is to be provided by this power plant alone.
Apr. 28, 2023
New Zigana Tunnel opened
The new Zigana Tunnel, at 14,476 m Turkey’s longest road tunnel, has been opened with a ceremony attended by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. The tunnel features a twin tube carrying two lanes of traffic in each direction. It will be an important route connecting the Eastern Black Sea and Eastern Anatolia regions.
May 3, 2023
Amadeus expands its R&D office in Turkey
The Madrid-based global travel technology company Amadeus has decided to expand its R&D office in Istanbul. Providing service to travel agencies, airline companies, hotels and destination management offices, Amadeus, with its new investment, aims to further strengthen the strategically located Turkish market, and to double the number of its employees. Established in 1994, the company has two offices and 300 employees in Istanbul.
May 5, 2023
Politics
Foreign Ministers of Russia, Turkey, Syria and Iran meet
Meeting in Moscow, the foreign ministers of Russia, Turkey, Syria and have agreed to prepare a roadmap for the normalization of relations between Damascus and Ankara. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu met with his Syrian counterpart Faisal Mekdad for the first time since the beginning of the Syrian war in 2011. Cooperation in the fight against terrorism and the return of refugees to Syria were among the topics discussed at the meeting.
May 10, 2023
Presidential election to go into second round
According to the preliminary results of the presidential election, the incumbent Recep Tayyip Erdoğan received 49.5%, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu 44.9%, and Sinan Oğan 5.2% of the votes. Since none of the candidates won more than 50%, the presidential election will be decided in a run-off, meaning that Turkey will go to the polls again on May 28. In the parliamentary elections, the Justice and Development Party (AK Parti) won 266 seats, the Republican People’s Party (CHP) 169, the Green Left Party (YSP) 62, the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) 50, the Good Party (İYİ Parti) 44, the New Welfare Party (YRP) 5, and the Workers’ Party of Turkey (TİP) 4 seats, which will enable the ruling AK Parti-MHP coalition to remain in power.
May 15, 2023
Economy
Turkish Central Bank keeps interest rate constant
The Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey has kept its policy rate (the one-week repo auction rate) constant at 8.50%. The bank stated that “the current monetary policy stance is adequate to support the necessary recovery in the aftermath of the earthquake by maintaining price stability and financial stability.”
Apr. 27, 2023
4.4% more exports in March
In March 2023, the exports of the Turkish economy increased by 4.4%, while imports were up 3.4% compared to the same month of the previous year (YOY). With exports of USD 23.6 bn, and imports of USD 31.9 bn, the trade deficit rose by 0.9% to USD 8.3 bn during the same period. In March, Germany remained Turkey’s primary export partner (USD 2.0 bn), leading the USA (USD 1.4 bn) and Italy (USD 1.2 bn). Russia continued to be the country accounting for the most imports to Turkey (USD 3.9 bn), ahead of China (USD 3.8 bn) and Germany (USD 2.7 bn).
Apr. 28, 2023
Inflation continues to decrease
In April 2023, consumer prices in Turkey increased by 2.39% over the previous month, and the CPI went up by 43.68% YOY. The highest monthly price hike took place in communication (5.93%), followed by hotels, cafés and restaurants (4.24%). The only decrease among the main product groups occurred in housing (-1.47%). The biggest annual price increment was in health (66.62%). The domestic producer price index (D-PPI) increased by 0.81% monthly and by 52.11% YOY.
May 3, 2023
Non-seasonally adjusted unemployment decreases
In March 2023, some 3,515,000 people in Turkey aged 15 and older were officially out of work. The non-seasonally adjusted unemployment rate of 10.2% was 0.5 points lower than in the previous month and 1.2 points lower YOY. The labour force participation rate was 53.1% in total, and 35.2% for females.
May 10, 2023
Industrial production stagnates
In March, Turkey’s industrial production index slightly decreased by 0.1% YOY, whereas the manufacturing industry recorded an increase of 1.4%. The biggest increases in the manufacturing industry category occurred in the product groups “other transport equipment” (112.5%), “leather and related products” (27.0%), and “computer, electronic and optical products” (25.6%). The highest decreases were reported in the product groups “basic metals” (-18.0%), “textiles” (-17.9%), and “coke and refined petroleum products” (-16.2%).
May 10, 2023
Overview of Monthly Data
Growth Rates
Inflation
