National news brief:
African heatwave to scorch Turkey
A HEATWAVE approaching from Africa will scorch Turkey this week, resulting in temperatures over 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) throughout the country.
Istanbul Technical University Meteorological Engineering Department Faculty Prof. Orhan Şen said the African heatwave currently hitting Europe will arrive in Turkey next week.
Temperatures are expected to reach over 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) throughout the country as of Wednesday, especially in the southern provinces along the Mediterranean Sea.
Şen noted temperatures will be 5-6 degrees Celsius higher than seasonal norms.
Coalition remains in balance
TURKEY is just as likely to forge a coalition government as it is to hold a fresh election, the ruling Justice & Development Party or AKP said following talks with the country’s largest opposition group.
“The odds of a government partnership and odds of an early election are fifty-fifty,” Minister of Culture and Tourism Omer Celik said.
Parliamentary elections in June saw AKP lose its overall majority for the first time since 2002, forcing it to seek coalition partners.
The parties have until mid-August to form a government or face the prospect of fresh elections.
ING ‘move’ for HSBC Turkey
HSBC is set to agree to sell its Turkish business to Dutch lender ING Group for around USD 700 million-USD 750 million in the next few days, two people familiar with the matter told Reuters.
HSBC, the 12th-largest bank in Turkey, is selling the money-losing business in a global drive to cut costs and assets, boost profitability and reduce complexity.
Acquiring HSBC’s business would allow ING to roughly double its around USD 15 billion of assets in Turkey, putting it on better footing in a highly competitive market.
“The deal is imminent. It may be finalized in the next few days,” said one of the people, both of whom declined to be identified because the information is not yet public. Both HSBC and ING declined to comment.
Turkish Airlines eyes Britain for low-cost unit
TURKISH Airlines is considering starting flights with its low-cost unit AnadoluJet to Germany, France and Britain, although no decision has yet been taken, the carrier’s chief executive told a German paper.
Next summer is being considered as a possible time for AnadoluJet to start flights to Germany, Turkish Airlines CEO Temil Kotil was quoted as saying in Handelsblatt in an advance copy of a story to be published on July 23.
“The tickets are on average 30 to 40 percent cheaper than Turkish Airlines flights,” Kotil told the paper.
AnadoluJet was founded in 2008 and has 31 planes, according to its website, and flies domestic routes within Turkey.