Nationalists

It's impossible to write a new constitution as suggested by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan under current political and economic conditions, the head of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) has said, blaming the government for the mismanagement of the country.

Turkey's ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) is about to complete drafting bills to amend the Election Law and Law on Political Parties which foresee reducing the current 10 percent election threshold to 7 percent, daily Milliyet has reported.

Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, the chairman of the Republican People's Party (CHP), has slammed both the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) over the removal of the student oath from primary schools after a court decision.

The Turkish parliament on Dec. 22 approved a motion calling for an extension in troop deployment in Libya for another 18 months.

While the ruling AKP, and the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) backed the motion, the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), and Good (İYİ) Party voted against it.

Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu and Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) lawmakers had exchanged a war of words over security policies of the government that escalated tension at the budget talks of the parliament on Dec. 13.

During the budget negotiations, HDP MPs criticized the appointment of trustees to the municipalities where their party's candidates won at the elections.

The Turkish Parliament is set to re-convene on June 2 after nearly a 45-day break with a busy agenda, as the country has lifted many of the restrictions imposed in a bid to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Turkey's presidency submitted late Dec. 30 a motion on deploying troops to Libya to Parliament Speaker Mustafa Şentop, who called an extraordinary meeting for the general assembly to convene to vote against or in favor of the motion on Jan. 2.

There will be a second round in Sofia and a number of regional cities. GERB remains the strongest party, the BSP improves its results and goes on a run-off in a number of regional cities. The big surprise of the vote is the breakthrough of the independent candidate Boris Bonev in Sofia. At the same time, Bulgaria rejected national populists.

Parties dedicated to keep strong European Union will control two-thirds of seats in the new European Parliament, according to official forecasts released this morning.

The Balkan Investigative Reporting Network launched a cross-border journalism platform on Monday aimed at shining a light on issues affecting the health of democracy across a swathe of Europe vulnerable to rising populism and authoritarianism.