Daily News Brief

April 1, 2024

Top of the Agenda

Turkey’s opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) won elections (CNN) in forty-nine of the country’s eighty-one municipalities yesterday, according to preliminary official results. The sweep included decisive mayoral victories (FT) in Turkey’s five biggest cities, according to Turkish state media, and constituted a severe electoral setback for President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, who was reelected, told supporters that “the period of one-man rule is over today,” and posted on social media site X that Istanbul stood as “a testament to the resilience of democratic values in the face of rising authoritarianism.” 

The poor performance of Erdoğan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP) comes after he narrowly won last year’s presidential election. Ahead of this weekend’s vote, voters voiced concerns over surging inflation and antidemocratic tactics. Erdoğan said in a speech today that he would focus more on improving Turkey’s economy.   

Analysis

“[Erdoğan] can no longer count on an opposition that is in disarray,” the Brookings Institution’s Aslı Aydıntaşbaş tells the Financial Times.

“Because of the [government’s] turn to economic orthodoxy, people are feeling the economic pain even more than before,” Özyeğin University’s Evren Balta tells the Economist.

Pacific Rim

Defense Minister and President-Elect Prabowo Subianto is in Beijing (Nikkei) to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping and strengthen bilateral defense ties, an Indonesian defense ministry spokesperson said. The visit is unusual as China usually welcomes foreign leaders after they are inaugurated, but the invitation comes as Beijing is eager for Jakarta to preserve its nonaligned posture amid U.S.-China competition.

For the Asia Unbound blog, CFR expert Joshua Kurlantzick spells out five things to expect from a Prabowo presidency. 

South Korea: President Yoon Suk Yeol said in a speech today that he was open to talks (Bloomberg) with doctors over their objections to new education policies aimed at addressing a national doctor shortage if they present a unified proposal. An ongoing standoff with nearly all of the country’s trainee doctors continues ahead of April 10 legislative elections.

South and Central Asia

The city’s water shortage is not due to drought alone but poor governance as well, analysts told the New York Times. The chair of the city’s water supply and sewerage board told the Indian Express that its interventions had reduced the number of complaints of water distress from one thousand to four hundred per day.

This Backgrounder by Claire Klobucista and CFR’s Kali Robinson details how water scarcity is worsening around the world. 

Myanmar: Territories that have become harder to police in Myanmar’s conflict between the military government and rebel groups have enabled the growth of methamphetamine trafficking, Nikkei reported. The United Nations estimated that opiates accounted for between 2 and 4 percent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) in 2023.

Middle East and North Africa

Tens of thousands of people attended demonstrations (WaPo) in Israel over the weekend calling for new elections and the release of hostages held in the Gaza Strip. They represented the merging of two protesting groups, one led by the families of hostages and one by the political opposition. The demonstrations came as Israel withdrew forces (BBC) from Gaza’s al-Shifa Hospital after a two-week operation that Israel said killed about two hundred Palestinian militants. The World Health Organization said twenty-one patients died during the raid. 

Lebanon: The United Nations is investigating an explosion that wounded (AP) four people assisting the peacekeeping mission in southern Lebanon on Saturday. The Israeli military and Lebanese militant group Hezbollah have exchanged near-daily attacks in recent weeks. 

Sub-Saharan Africa

Authorities in the Puntland region said yesterday that it will govern itself (VOA) independently in response to constitutional changes in Somalia that strengthen the power of the executive branch. Puntland officials said they were not consulted on the changes.

Mali: A group of political parties and civil society groups issued a public appeal (Reuters) yesterday for setting up elections as soon as possible, after a promised transition deadline lapsed last week. Mali’s military rulers broke a commitment to hold a vote and restore civilian rule by the end of March.

Europe

Germany became (AFP) the largest European Union country to legalize recreational cannabis with laws that took effect starting today. Adults over the age of eighteen can now carry small amounts of dried cannabis and cultivate up to three plants at home, while regulated associations will be legal beginning in July.

Americas

The surprise overnight raid on Saturday was part of an investigation centered on (NYT) allegations that President Dina Boluarte Zegarra failed to properly disclose how she obtained expensive jewelry and watches since becoming a senior official. She denied any wrongdoing.

Canada/Haiti/Jamaica: Around seventy Canadian troops traveled to Jamaica (CBC) on Friday to train personnel from several Caribbean countries for their participation in a UN-backed multinational security mission to Haiti, which continues to face surging gang violence. 

United States

The ban on Microsoft Copilot comes as U.S. government agencies navigate their internal use of artificial intelligence (AI), Axios reported. Last June, the House of Representatives restricted staffers’ use of ChatGPT. Microsoft says it plans to roll out a version fit for U.S. government use over the summer.

This Backgrounder by CFR’s Noah Berman unpacks AI and its growing international adoption. 

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