ISTANBUL // Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey's prime minister who is credited with turning his country into a regional power, says he will withdraw from party and parliamentary politics, which would make him the odds-on favorite for a possible move to the presidency in 2014.
Mr Erdogan will have to give up his role in the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), his seat in parliament and the office of prime minister if he becomes president. The presidency, now mostly a ceremonial post, is held by Abdullah Gul, a long-time friend of Mr Erdogan's as well as a former AKP prime minister and foreign minister. Mr Gul has not said whether he wants to run for a second term.
"In line with the promise we have given, we will be a candidate for party chairman for the fourth and last time," Mr Erdogan, 58, told a meeting of his ruling party in Eskisehir on Sunday, according to the text of his speech posted on the AKP website yesterday. The prime minister also renewed a promise that his current term as a member of parliament will be his last.
Mr Erdogan has not said publicly whether he wants to become president, but Huseyin Besli, one of his closest advisers, told a television interviewer last month that "Erdogan will be president in 2014".
The fact that Mr Erdogan has called on a parliamentary committee working on a new constitution to give the president new executive powers is also seen by political observers as an indication that he will seek the position.
The prime minister was not ready to leave the political arena, Mr Besli told the A Haber news channel, using the word "palace" as shorthand for the presidency, according to a summary of the interview posted on the channel's website. "Erdogan wants to move to the palace, and it is necessary that he does," Mr Besli said, without giving details.
Since becoming prime minister in 2003, Mr Erdogan has overseen political and economic changes in Turkey that unleashed an economic boom, reduced the political power of the military, made the country a candidate for EU membership and as well as strengthened Ankara's role in the region.
If re-elected at the party congress on September 30, which is almost certain given his dominating position in the party, Mr Erdogan's term as chairman will end in 2015 at the latest, according to the AKP bylaws. His term as a lawmaker in parliament and prime minister ends in 2015 as well.
"This will carry him through to the presidential elections" due in 2014, Soli Ozel, a political scientist at Kadir Has University in Istanbul, said yesterday about Mr Erdogan's announcement. He said Mr Erdogan was expected to pick a successor as prime minister close to the date of his departure from active party politics.
Mr Ozel said he expected possible successors of Mr Erdogan inside the AKP to jockey for job but did not think an open contest would break out. "Erdogan will point to somebody," he said.
Mr Erdogan said his insistence on term limits as lawmaker and party chief reflected the fact that the AKP was different from parties whose leaders clung to power as long as possible.
"There have been [party] chairmen in this country that were under the illusion that they were the best for every task in every age," he said at the Eskisehir meeting on Sunday.
Mr Besli, the Erdogan adviser, said a Russian-style role reversal that would see Mr Erdogan move to the presidency while Mr Gul would take over the post of prime minister was possible. "I expect no inner-party resistance if Abdullah Gul becomes prime minister," he said, referring to media reports about a swap like the one that saw Russia's president. Vladimir Putin, become prime minister under Dmitry Medvedev and vice versa.
But it is unknown whether Mr Gul is willing to go along with that plan. "The premise of the comparison with Russia is wrong," Mr Ozel said. "Medvedev was a nobody when he became president. Mr Gul was a co-founder of the AKP and a fairly successful foreign minister. He is not a nobody".
tseibert@thenational.ae
COMPANY PROFILE
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Total funding: Self funded
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Mamo Year it started: 2019 Founders: Imad Gharazeddine, Asim Janjua Based: Dubai, UAE Number of employees: 28 Sector: Financial services Investment: $9.5m Funding stage: Pre-Series A Investors: Global Ventures, GFC, 4DX Ventures, AlRajhi Partners, Olive Tree Capital, and prominent Silicon Valley investors. The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
Email sent to Uber team from chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi
From: Dara
To: Team@
Date: March 25, 2019 at 11:45pm PT
Subj: Accelerating in the Middle East
Five years ago, Uber launched in the Middle East. It was the start of an incredible journey, with millions of riders and drivers finding new ways to move and work in a dynamic region that’s become so important to Uber. Now Pakistan is one of our fastest-growing markets in the world, women are driving with Uber across Saudi Arabia, and we chose Cairo to launch our first Uber Bus product late last year.
Today we are taking the next step in this journey—well, it’s more like a leap, and a big one: in a few minutes, we’ll announce that we’ve agreed to acquire Careem. Importantly, we intend to operate Careem independently, under the leadership of co-founder and current CEO Mudassir Sheikha. I’ve gotten to know both co-founders, Mudassir and Magnus Olsson, and what they have built is truly extraordinary. They are first-class entrepreneurs who share our platform vision and, like us, have launched a wide range of products—from digital payments to food delivery—to serve consumers.
I expect many of you will ask how we arrived at this structure, meaning allowing Careem to maintain an independent brand and operate separately. After careful consideration, we decided that this framework has the advantage of letting us build new products and try new ideas across not one, but two, strong brands, with strong operators within each. Over time, by integrating parts of our networks, we can operate more efficiently, achieve even lower wait times, expand new products like high-capacity vehicles and payments, and quicken the already remarkable pace of innovation in the region.
This acquisition is subject to regulatory approval in various countries, which we don’t expect before Q1 2020. Until then, nothing changes. And since both companies will continue to largely operate separately after the acquisition, very little will change in either teams’ day-to-day operations post-close. Today’s news is a testament to the incredible business our team has worked so hard to build.
It’s a great day for the Middle East, for the region’s thriving tech sector, for Careem, and for Uber.
Uber on,
Dara
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%E2%80%98FSO%20Safer%E2%80%99%20-%20a%20ticking%20bomb
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
UAE squad
Humaira Tasneem (c), Chamani Senevirathne (vc), Subha Srinivasan, NIsha Ali, Udeni Kuruppuarachchi, Chaya Mughal, Roopa Nagraj, Esha Oza, Ishani Senevirathne, Heena Hotchandani, Keveesha Kumari, Judith Cleetus, Chavi Bhatt, Namita D’Souza.
Cricket World Cup League 2
UAE squad
Rahul Chopra (captain), Aayan Afzal Khan, Ali Naseer, Aryansh Sharma, Basil Hameed, Dhruv Parashar, Junaid Siddique, Muhammad Farooq, Muhammad Jawadullah, Muhammad Waseem, Omid Rahman, Rahul Bhatia, Tanish Suri, Vishnu Sukumaran, Vriitya Aravind
Fixtures
Friday, November 1 – Oman v UAE
Sunday, November 3 – UAE v Netherlands
Thursday, November 7 – UAE v Oman
Saturday, November 9 – Netherlands v UAE
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Ticket prices
- Golden circle - Dh995
- Floor Standing - Dh495
- Lower Bowl Platinum - Dh95
- Lower Bowl premium - Dh795
- Lower Bowl Plus - Dh695
- Lower Bowl Standard- Dh595
- Upper Bowl Premium - Dh395
- Upper Bowl standard - Dh295
Zayed Sustainability Prize
Avatar%20(2009)
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COMPANY%20PROFILE%20
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The biog
Name: Marie Byrne
Nationality: Irish
Favourite film: The Shawshank Redemption
Book: Seagull by Jonathan Livingston
Life lesson: A person is not old until regret takes the place of their dreams
How to wear a kandura
Dos
- Wear the right fabric for the right season and occasion
- Always ask for the dress code if you don’t know
- Wear a white kandura, white ghutra / shemagh (headwear) and black shoes for work
- Wear 100 per cent cotton under the kandura as most fabrics are polyester
Don’ts
- Wear hamdania for work, always wear a ghutra and agal
- Buy a kandura only based on how it feels; ask questions about the fabric and understand what you are buying
Napoleon
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The specs
Price: From Dh529,000
Engine: 5-litre V8
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Power: 520hp
Torque: 625Nm
Fuel economy, combined: 12.8L/100km
Business Insights
- Canada and Mexico are significant energy suppliers to the US, providing the majority of oil and natural gas imports
- The introduction of tariffs could hinder the US's clean energy initiatives by raising input costs for materials like nickel
- US domestic suppliers might benefit from higher prices, but overall oil consumption is expected to decrease due to elevated costs
Women & Power: A Manifesto
Mary Beard
Profile Books and London Review of Books