News Scan for Turkey, July 21st 2016

S&P downgrades Turkey’s sovereign credit rating after failed coup attempt

Ratings agency S&P on July 20 downgraded Turkey’s sovereign credit rating after July 15 failed coup attempt.

“Following the attempted coup in the Republic of Turkey on July 15, we believe the polarisation of Turkey’s political landscape has further eroded its institutional checks and balances,” said the agency, warning of “a period of heightened unpredictability.”

“In addition, we expect a period of heightened unpredictability that could constrain capital inflows into Turkey’s externally leveraged economy,” S&P added in a statement after lowering the foreign and local currency sovereign credit ratings a notch.

The negative outlook reflects our view that Turkey’s economic, fiscal, and debt metrics could deteriorate beyond what we expect, if political uncertainty contributed to further weakening in the investment environment, potentially intensifying balance-of-payment pressures,” S&P warned, saying it had put Ankara on negative watch. S&P estimated Turkey must roll over just under half of its total external debt — which it put at around $170 billion — over the next 12 months.

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/sp-downgrades-turkeys-sovereign-credit-rating-after-failed-coup-attempt.aspx?pageID=238&nID=101894&NewsCatID=344

Turkish capital controls out of the question: Deputy PM Şimşek

Turkish capital controls “are out of the question,” the country’s deputy prime minister has said.

“I have two simple messages to speculators: Turkey to maintain sound macroeconomic policies,” Mehmet Şimşek tweeted late July 19, adding: “Capital controls are out of the question”. A country can use capital controls to order its banks to impose strict limits on daily withdrawals and foreign country transfers of cash.

“Turkey’s banking sector is well capitalized and has strong asset quality,” Şimşek also tweeted. Our country’s macroeconomic fundamentals remain solid. We are taking all the necessary measures,” Şimşek said on July 17. “

The country’s top economic officials have been trying to reassure investors that the failed coup attempt on July 15 will not cause permanent damage to the economy. Turkey’s Central Bank acted on July 17 by cutting commissions on daily liquidity options for banks to zero and providing unlimited liquidity to maintain financial markets following the coup bid. It also said it would increase the daily foreign exchange auction limit from $50 million if necessary.

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkish-capital-controls-out-of-the-question-deputy-pm-simsek.aspx?pageID=238&nID=101863&NewsCatID=345

UN human rights chief urges Turkey to uphold rule of law in response to attempted coup

The United Nations human rights chief today called on Turkish authorities to respond to the attempted military coup on Friday by reinforcing the protection of human rights and strengthening democratic institutions and checks and balances.

“The Turkish people bravely took to the streets to defend their country against those who sought to undermine its democracy. I urge the Government of Turkey to respond by upholding the rule of law, by strengthening the protection of human rights and by reinforcing democratic institutions,” said UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein in a news release issued by his Office (OHCHR). In the aftermath of such a traumatic experience, it is particularly crucial to ensure that human rights are not squandered in the name of security and in the rush to punish those perceived to be responsible,” he added.

According to media reports, thousands of soldiers have been arrested and hundreds of judiciary members removed since Friday’s uprising, which left at least 290 people dead and more than 1,400 injured following a night of violence.

http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=54492#.V5B0I_mLTcc

Licenses of 21,000 teachers revoked, 1,577 deans ordered to resign

Turkey has revoked the licenses of 21,000 teachers working in private institutions, an Education Ministry official told Reuters. It’s the latest in a string of crackdowns on workers allegedly tied to the exiled cleric blamed for last week’s coup attempt.

An earlier report from the state-run Anadolu news agency stated the ministry had dismissed 15,200 education personnel. Meanwhile, Turkey’s High Education Board has ordered the resignation of 1,577 deans at all universities – both public and private – across the country, state broadcaster TRT reported. The news caused the Turkish lira to weaken beyond 3 to the US dollar.

In addition, 399 employees of the Ministry of Family and Social Polices were stripped of their responsibilities on Tuesday, and 257 people working at the office of the prime minister were also sacked, Anadolu reported.

https://www.rt.com/news/352119-turkey-purge-coup-attempt/

Turkey: WikiLeaks releases thousands of AKP emails

WikiLeaks has published 294,546 emails along with thousands of attached files from 762 mail boxes that allegedly belong to the primary email domain of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP). The most recent email in the trove released by the whistle-blowing organisation on Tuesday was sent on July 6, 2016. The oldest dates back to 2010.

“It should be noted that emails associated with the domain are mostly used for dealing with the world, as opposed to the most sensitive internal matters,” WikiLeaks said on its official website. WikiLeaks said it obtained the emails a week before Friday’s attempted coup.

“WikiLeaks has moved forward its publication schedule in response to the government’s post-coup purges. We have verified the material and the source, who is not connected, in any way, to the elements behind the attempted coup, or to a rival political party or state,” the organisation said.

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/07/turkey-wikileaks-releases-thousands-akp-emails-160719204637732.html

Traffic accidents claimed 7,530 lives in 2015

While 132 people died during the nine-day Ramadan Bayram earlier this month, statistics show that traffic casualties are far from falling. The state-run Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) announced yesterday that 7,530 people were killed and 304,421 others injured in 183,011 accidents in 2015, with the overall number of accidents reported as 1.1 million.

Figures show the majority of accidents took place in rural areas, and 3,831 people died at the scene accident while the rest died from their injuries in hospitals. More than 3,000 people die in traffic accidents each year, but for the first time TurkStat included in their figures those who died later.Accidents remain a major concern for Turkey despite improvements in road conditions, with more lanes added to existing roads in a bid to prevent accidents stemming from overtaking of vehicles.

http://www.dailysabah.com/nation/2016/07/20/traffic-accidents-claimed-7530-lives-in-2015

This is a news-scan from major Turkish papers and internet sites. However, we do not verify above stories neither do we vouch for their accuracy.

21.07.2016
compiled by Editor BTT