Turkey plans to resume trading on Borsa Istanbul as of Wednesday as originally planned, an official with direct knowledge told Bloomberg. The Istanbul Stock Exchange had suspended trading on Feb. 8, two days after a pair of powerful earthquakes jolted 10 provinces across Turkey’s southeast and Syria. The quake has killed over 37,000 people across the region.
(Bloomberg) —
Turkey plans to resume trading on Borsa Istanbul as of Wednesday as originally planned, an official with direct knowledge told Bloomberg. The Istanbul Stock Exchange had suspended trading on Feb. 8, two days after a pair of powerful earthquakes jolted 10 provinces across Turkey’s southeast and Syria. The quake has killed over 37,000 people across the region.
Turkish, Israeli foreign ministers held a press conference in Turkey’s capital, Ankara.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will chair the first cabinet meeting following the temblors to coordinate the government’s response to the disaster later Tuesday.
Key Developments:
- Turkey Offers Support for Stocks as Trading to Resume Wednesday
- Turkey Plans Tax Waiver for Share Buybacks on Stock Exchange
- ‘The Dude’ Draws Regulator Ire With Big Sales After Turkey Quake
- Turkish Business Group Sees Quakes’ Economic Toll at $84 Billion
- Why Turkey’s Next Election Is a Real Test for Erdogan: QuickTake
- Turkish Anger Turns to Erdogan Over Quake Delays, Weak Buildings
- Quake Aid Is Political Pawn as Powers Clash Over Syria Access
(All times Istanbul, GMT+3)
Turkish, Israeli FMs Hold Presser in Ankara (11:08 a.m.)
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and his Israeli counterpart Eli Cohen held a joint press conference in Ankara. Cavusoglu praised Israel’s rescue teams dispatched to Turkey shortly after the quakes. Cohen is expected to visit the quake-hit areas.
Turkey Plans on Resuming Stock Trading Wednesday (10:24 a.m.)
Turkey is planning to restart trading at Borsa Istanbul Wednesday, according to an official with direct knowledge of the matter.
Authorities were weighing an extension to the trade halt ahead of Monday’s meeting. As of Tuesday morning, the plan is not to announce an extension and allow the trading to begin on Feb. 15 as originally intended.
Assad Allows UN to Use Additional Border Crossings with Turkey (8:45 a.m.)
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said he would grant United Nations agencies permission to use two additional border crossings with Turkey for a period of three months, according to statements issued by the UN and the Syrian government.
Although countries like Kuwait, Qatar and Saudi Arabia have already ferried aid through the Bab Al-Salam and Al-Ra’ee crossings, the UN held back because it had not secured Assad’s approval. The delay has angered Syrians opposed to Assad who say many lives could have been saved from underneath the rubble if the UN and world powers had acted sooner.
Syria Quake Aid Means Getting ‘Creative’, World Bank Says (08:35 a.m.)
Turkey and Syria will need tens of billions of dollars in aid for their cities to recover from the earthquakes, a senior World Bank official said.
“The bank just delivered $1.8 billion to Turkey because we have relationship,” said Ferid Belhaj, the lender’s president for Middle East and North Africa. “With Syria we don’t have that so we need to be creative,” he said in an interview with Bloomberg TV.
Reconstruction Starts Late February (01:17 a.m.)
Turkey will start reconstruction work in all 10 cities hit by the earthquakes before the end of February, Urbanization & Climate Change Minister Murat Kurum said, according to state-run TRT television.
No Refugee Flow (00:22 a.m.)
Vice President Fuat Oktay denied reports of a refugee flow from Syria after last week’s earthquakes left thousands dead and many people homeless. “A migration wave is out of the question, our borders are under control,” Oktay said referring to security measures in place against a new flow of refugees from across the Syrian border. Turkey, which is home to the world’s largest refugee population with about 3.7 million Syrians, has repeatedly said it can’t absorb more refugees.
Turkey’s Cabinet to Convene (00:17 a.m.)
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will chair the first cabinet meeting following the earthquakes at the headquarters of the country’s disaster management authority, known as Afad, in Ankara later Tuesday.
Tax Waiver for Share Buybacks (11:47 p.m.)
Turkey is planning tax waivers for share buybacks as regulators prepare for a resumption of equities trading following last week’s halt due to two massive earthquakes in the country’s southeast. Treasury and Finance Minister Nureddin Nebati decided to temporarily revoke the so-called withholding tax — currently 15% — that listed companies need to pay when they buy back their shares, according to an official with direct knowledge of the matter.
Post-Quake Sales Draw Regulator Ire (11:25 p.m.)
Turkey is seeking more information on trades made by an unknown investor or investors, referred to locally as “the Dude,” during a selloff the day after devastating earthquakes that struck Feb. 6.
Death Toll Nears 38,000 (3:30 p.m.)
The death toll in Turkey from the two quakes rose to 31,643, disaster management agency AFAD said. In Syria, the toll is 6,000, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which uses a network of activists on the ground.
The death toll has now far exceeded that of the 1999 earthquakes near Istanbul, when about 18,000 people died, according to official figures.
–With assistance from Firat Kozok, Kerim Karakaya, Tugce Ozsoy and Sam Dagher.
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