When the clock struck midnight on Wednesday, Turkey's state of emergency was officially over - and yet new legislation could see many of its controversial provisions remain for at least another three years. The draft law, which will be presented to the Turkish parliament on Thursday and is set to be put to a vote on Monday, has been prepared by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) as a […]
Turkey's Tayyip Erdogan will fulfil a long-held ambition later Monday when he is sworn in as president with sweeping new powers over a country he has dominated and reshaped during his 15-year rule. Launching the executive presidency that he fought hard to secure, Erdogan will also appoint a streamlined cabinet he says will push for growth to make Turkey one of the world's biggest economies. Erdogan narrowly won a referendum […]
The validity of Turkey’s historic referendum result remained in doubt 48 hours after unofficial results were declared, as the main opposition party submitted its official appeal to the election overseer, and a European Council observer suggested irregularities with more than two million votes. The European Commission on Tuesday called on Turkey to investigate the alleged irregularities, a request dismissed by the Turkish EU minister, Omer Celik, as a "speculative statement" […]
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has welcomed the "Yes" vote in the referendum to amend Turkey's constitution and grant the country's presidential office new executive powers. "We have been attacked by other nations of the world. You have seen how the West attacked us," Erdogan told cheering supporters in Istanbul on Sunday. "We have not been divided… We have already been on our way, now we will gear it up [with […]
Hungarians on Sunday began voting on a referendum over European Union plans to relocate refugees and migrants among member states. The right-wing government of Prime Minister Viktor Orban has fiercely opposed the EU plan, which seeks to share 160,000 asylum seekers around the 28-member bloc via mandatory quotas. Under the scheme, Hungary would receive less than 1,300 people, but it has not accepted a single person allocated so far. In […]
VOC became the first Muslim radio station in South Africa when a special events license was granted to the station in Ramadan/January 1995. Subsequent temporary broadcast licenses were granted, permitting the station to broadcast for 24 hours.
