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2,500 Members of Erdogan’s Party Defect, Join Opposition

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. (Reuters)
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. (Reuters)
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2,500 Members of Erdogan’s Party Defect, Join Opposition

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. (Reuters)
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. (Reuters)

Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) on Monday witnessed the greatest split in its ranks since its founding in 2001 amid heated inner-party divisions over the policies of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

What possibly played a part in the mass exodus of AKP members are the controversial allegations made by the fugitive mafia boss and whistle-blower Sedat Peker, who is claiming that both incumbent and former AKP ministers and officials are deeply involved in corruption.

Pekar has also made allegations about AKP politicians and numerous government engagements in illegal activities, mafias and organized crime gangs.

AKP lawmaker Fatih Cengiz, of the eastern city of Muş, announced his official resignation from the ruling party and said he joined the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP).

Cengiz said that 2,500 AKP members also joined him.

“We set out with the CHP, and we will continue with it until the very end,” said Cengiz at a CHP ceremony for welcoming new members to the center-left party.

In other news, a recent survey conducted by the Eurasia Public Research Center (AKAM) revealed that the People’s Alliance, formed between the AKP and the opposition Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), led by Devlet Bahçeli, continued to shed votes.

The poll results, announced by AKAM President Kemal Özkiraz, showed that while the People’s Alliance votes were showing a downward trend, the Nation Alliance, which includes the CHP and the Good Party, led by Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu and Meral Akşener respectively, was gaining traction.

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Typhoon Yagi Weakens after Killing Dozens in Vietnam, China, Philippines

This picture shows swept motorbikes with the debris of destroyed waiting lounges on the shore after Super Typhoon Yagi hit Ha Long bay, in Quang Ninh province, on September 8, 2024. (AFP)
This picture shows swept motorbikes with the debris of destroyed waiting lounges on the shore after Super Typhoon Yagi hit Ha Long bay, in Quang Ninh province, on September 8, 2024. (AFP)
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Typhoon Yagi Weakens after Killing Dozens in Vietnam, China, Philippines

This picture shows swept motorbikes with the debris of destroyed waiting lounges on the shore after Super Typhoon Yagi hit Ha Long bay, in Quang Ninh province, on September 8, 2024. (AFP)
This picture shows swept motorbikes with the debris of destroyed waiting lounges on the shore after Super Typhoon Yagi hit Ha Long bay, in Quang Ninh province, on September 8, 2024. (AFP)

Typhoon Yagi, Asia's most powerful storm this year, was downgraded to a tropical depression on Sunday, after wreaking havoc in northern Vietnam, China's Hainan and the Philippines, claiming dozens of lives, according to preliminary reports.

Vietnam's meteorological agency issued the downgrade on Sunday but cautioned about the ongoing risk of flooding and landslides as the storm, the strongest to hit the country in decades, moves westwards.

On Saturday, Yagi disrupted power supplies and telecommunications in Vietnam's capital, Hanoi, causing extensive flooding, felling thousands of trees and damaging homes.

The government said the storm has led to at least three deaths in Hanoi, a city of 8.5 million, with these figures being preliminary. Fourteen people have died in Vietnam so far, according to reports, including four from a landslide in the province of Hoa Binh, about 100 km (62 miles) south of Hanoi.

A 53-year-old motorcyclist was killed after a tree fell on him in the northern Hai Duong province, state media reported. At least one body was recovered from the sea near the coastal city of Halong, where a dozen people were missing at sea, with rescue operations expected to start on Sunday when conditions allow.

Yagi has claimed the lives of four people on the southern Chinese island of Hainan, according to the latest update from local authorities. The civil defense office in the Philippines, the first country Yagi hit after forming last week, raised the death toll there on Sunday to 20 from 16 and said 22 people remained missing.

RISK OF FLASH FLOODS

After it made landfall in Vietnam on Saturday afternoon, Yagi triggered waves as high as 4 meters (13 feet) in coastal provinces, leading to extended power and telecommunication outages that have complicated damage assessment, the government said.

The meteorological agency warned of continued "risk of flash floods near small rivers and streams, and landslides on steep slopes in many places in the northern mountainous areas" and the coastal province of Thanh Hoa.

Relative calm returned on Sunday morning to Hanoi, where authorities rushed to clean up streets from toppled trees scattered across the city center and other neighborhoods.

"The storm has devastated the city. Trees fell down on top of people's houses, cars and people on the street," said 57-year-old Hanoi resident Hoang Ngoc Nhien.

Hanoi's Noi Bai international airport, the busiest in northern Vietnam, reopened on Sunday after closing on Saturday morning.

In Hainan, preliminary estimates suggested significant economic losses and widespread power outages, according to emergency response authorities cited by state-run Hainan Daily.