The Russian Defense Ministry has proposed a new cease-fire that includes today for the evacuation of civilians from Ukraine. The Ministry offered to evacuate civilians from the Belarus-Russia route.
U.S. President Joe Biden announced a ban on Russian oil and other energy imports including natural gas yesterday in retaliation for the invasion of Ukraine. The European Union, meanwhile, has prepared a plan to reduce one-third of Russian natural gas imports within a year.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has banned exports and imports of some products and raw materials in order for the country’s manufacturing industry not to halt.
Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu announced that Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba have agreed to meet at a forum in southern Turkey tomorrow, the first potential talks between the top diplomats since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog visits Turkey today at the invitation of President Tayyip Erdogan, the most senior Israeli visit since 2008 as the regional rivals work to mend years of strained ties.
President Erdogan said Turkey has sufficient sunflower seed oil and olive oil stocks at the event held in the Presidential Complex.
Turkey has started the work to increase the upper limit of the penalty for stockpiling and price influence included in the Turkish Penal Code from two years to three years with the instruction of Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag.
The Republican People’s Party (CHP), IYI Party, Saadet Party, Democrat Party, Gelecek Party, and Democracy and Progress Party (DEVA), the six opposition parties that recently announced the declaration on the Strengthened Parliamentary System advocating against the Presidential System, convene again to announce the ‘road map for the transition period’ into the strengthened parliamentary system on March 27.
DAILY AGENDA
No critical data will be released today.
Meanwhile…
>> President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis will meet in Istanbul on March 13, according to the Greek government spokesman Ioannis Oikonomou.
>> The French carmaker Renault has included its Austral model in its SUV product portfolio. The new model is planned to be launched to the Turkish auto market in the last quarter of 2022.
>> Turkey reported more than 37,000 coronavirus cases yesterday. Some 37,407 new coronavirus cases and 130 deaths due to COVID-19 were reported in the last 24 hours by the Health Ministry. Turkey remains at 9th place among 192 states with the highest number of COVID-19 cases (over 14.4 million in total), according to the Coronavirus Resource Center at John Hopkins.
>> The Treasury’s cash balance registered a TRY 55.5bn surplus in February, according to the Ministry of Treasury and Finance. Cash revenues of the Treasury amounted to TRY 277.5bn last month, jumping 183% on a TRY basis from February 2021. Including interest payments of TRY 41.1bn, its expenditures hit some TRY 222.8bn, up 119% year-on-year.
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>> The impact of the Ukrainian war on the global economy
Our Foreign Policy Columnist Zeynep Gurcanli looks into the impact of the Ukrainian war on the global economy and Turkey.
