Turkish Forum

Category: News

  • Turkey ‘No Enemy’ To Armenia

    Turkey ‘No Enemy’ To Armenia

     

     

     

     

     

    AFP

    President Abdullah Gul sent a reconciliatory message to neighboring Armenia on Saturday, saying Turkey is “no enemy” to any country in its region, as he mulled a possible landmark trip to Yerevan.

    The conflict between Georgia and Russia shows the need for “early measures to resolve frozen problems in the region and… prevent instability in the future,” said Gul in televised remarks in the central city of Nevsehir.

    “This is our understanding on all problems. We are no enemy to anyone in the region,” he said, reiterating a Turkish proposal to set up a regional forum for stability in the Caucasus.

    Gul’s conciliatory remark came in response to a question on whether he would accept an invitation by Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian to go to Yerevan in September to watch a World Cup qualifying match between Turkey and Armenia. He replied he was still evaluating the invitation.

    Ankara has refused to establish diplomatic ties with Yerevan since the former Soviet republic gained independence in 1991 because of Armenian efforts to secure international recognition of Armenian massacres under the Ottoman Empire as genocide. In 1993 Turkey shut its border with Armenia in a show of solidarity with its close ally Azerbaijan, then at war with Armenia, dealing a heavy economic blow to the impoverished nation in the strategic Caucasus region.

    Diplomats from Turkey and Armenia met secretly in Switzerland in July in a fresh effort to normalize ties following three rounds of talks in 2005 and 2006. No progress is so far publicly known.

    Turkish and Armenian leaders have meanwhile met on the sidelines of international gatherings, including a Black Sea regional summit in Istanbul last year.

  • Call on Europe for sincerity in counterterrorism

    Call on Europe for sincerity in counterterrorism

    Tevfik Ziyaeddin Akbulut, the chairman of the parliamentary Commission for Interior Affairs, has warned European countries that have failed the test of sincerity with respect to counterterrorism and called on them to stop lending support to terror.

    Last week Ankara discussed secret support lent to terror by certain European countries, and Turkey is now preparing to file a complaint with the UN against the Netherlands and Belgium.

    The death of Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party/Front (DHKP/C) leader Dursun Karataş at a hospital in the Netherlands was the straw that broke the camel’s back for Turkey. A member of the Cabinet said the Netherlands had previously rejected Turkey’s demands to return Karataş to Turkey, claiming that he was not in the Netherlands. [HYPOCRISY IS A HOMAGE THAT VICE PAYS TO VIRTUE -H]

    Turkey discovered that Karataş had been in the Netherlands for cancer treatment for six months, during which Dutch Interpol did nothing about it. After receiving official statements explaining their inaction, Turkey will file complaints against the Netherlands and Belgium vis-à-vis their tolerance toward the DHKP/C.

    Belgium had its share in the recent crisis as it had pursed a similar policy with respect to Fehriye Erdal, a key suspect in the 1996 murder of Özdemir Sabancı. The same Cabinet member argued that no country has immunity to be tolerant toward terror and other crimes against humanity, recalling that Germany and France had in the past shown similar indifference and that they had paid a heavy price for it.

    The government official argued that the Netherlands had been caught red handed. “They did not provide the slightest piece of information about Karataş, who was being treated at a hospital in Arnhem for several months, and this is unacceptable and unjustifiable. Likewise, Belgian authorities’ attitude concerning the terrorist Erdal cannot be explained by human rights or law. How can you justify the protection afforded to terrorists who killed innocent people? These two countries are openly violating the European Convention on Extradition,” he said.

    Ankara will demand that the UN must be more sensitive about tolerance afforded to terrorists as this undermines Turkey’s counterterrorism efforts.

    Turkey will inform the UN of such cases in detail. The release of Erdal by Belgian courts was an act that undermined Turkey’s faith in Belgian justice. Belgium turned a deaf ear to Turkey’s repeated warnings and did not extradite Erdal. It also gave political asylum to Zübeyir Aydar, the top Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) figure in Europe.

    Karataş had been apprehended but released by German and French authorities. After he was caught by German police in Cologne on March 3, 1993, and later released, he was caught by the French police on Sept. 9, 1994 in France and he was released pending trial after four months.

    One leftist politician was not content with Karataş’s designation as a leftist. “Their hands are stained with blood, as they sold their ideology to terrorism. It is very disconcerting that an organization that was subcontracted by the international terrorist and fascist Ergenekon organization can still be called a leftist organization,” he said.

    The DHKP/C’s suspected assassination of Yaşar Günaydın, the public prosecutor of the İstanbul State Security Court (DGM), may be connected to the Ergenekon case, as Günaydın was investigating the failed assassination of former President Turgut Özal. Günaydın had launched an investigation into Workers’ Party (İP) leader Doğu Perinçek, who will be tried in the Ergenekon case, for concealing evidence.

    No one is innocent

    Disappointment about the country’s performance at the Olympics has given rise to several interesting assessments. A deputy from the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) voiced an interesting shortcoming on Turkey’s part. “We discuss the performance of our athletes. But the Olympics represent a big international organization. How many Turks are working for this international event?” he asked.

    The MHP deputy noted that Turkey did not have a strategy for training qualified personnel for such international organizations. “There are so many international organizations that do not employ any Turkish citizens. There are only individual cases of employment. However, even small European countries have made it an official policy to train personnel for such organizations. In our country, neither the state nor the nongovernmental organizations or universities do this. We are nonexistent in these organizations. But do we have efforts to sponsor athletes? I am unaware of any institution that sponsors athletes for international sports events. Do we provide facilities for education and training facilities for our kids who have potential for success at the Olympics?” he added.

    Left may boost Turkish sports

    Deputies from left-wing parties were not eager to make comments about the country’s performance at the Olympics.

    One journalist attributed this to leftist parties being distant to sports, which he said was a significant deficiency for them.

    A former deputy from leftist politics said such a comment was not fair and argued that only left-wing parties could boost Turkish sports. “I say this clearly: Unless leftist parties take the initiative, only coincidence will determine whether this country will have universal sportsmen or not. For success at the Olympics, you need to train your athletes starting from childhood. But you cannot give special training to children before the age of 15. This disastrous heritage of the Feb. 28 [1997 unarmed coup] process cannot be abolished by rightist parties. Only leftist parties can introduce an exemption for sports to the Compulsory Education Law,” he said. We will wait and see whether leftist parties will have the courage to propose an amendment to this law to boost Turkish sports.

    Source: Today’s Zaman, 18 August 2008

  • Iran’s talks with Istanbul prove fruitless

    Iran’s talks with Istanbul prove fruitless

    Maryam Sinaiee Foreign Correspondent

    The United States opposed any gas deal between Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, left, and his Turkish counterpart, Abdullah Gul. Bulent Kilic / AFP

    TEHRAN // Iran and Turkey had differing views about how the two-day working trip of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Iranian president, could serve their national interests, but neither side seems to have accomplished much of what they had hoped, analysts say.

    Abdullah Gul, his Turkish host, had been eyeing the possibilities of establishing a mediatory role for Turkey between Iran and the West, despite pressure from the United States and Israel not to host the Iranian president.

    Before and during the visit, which wrapped up on Friday, the Turkish media largely focused on Mr Gul’s mediation initiative. His success in establishing such a role for Turkey, a Nato member, could have greatly strengthened his Islamist Justice and Development Party’s position in Turkey, which pits him and his party against his secular opponents, who had opposed the visit, the analysts said.

    “It was clever of the Turks to attempt to assume such a mediatory role,” said Mohammed Atrianfar, a high-ranking member of Iran’s reformist Servants of Construction Party and a journalist. “Iran’s nuclear standoff with the West is of such international importance that many countries will be very willing to mediate between Iran and the West if Iran shows interest in backing away from the position it has had over the past three years.”

    Iran might prefer to talk about suspending uranium enrichment, which can be used to help build an atomic bomb, in direct negotiations with major European powers, and perhaps might not see the point of involving Turkey in the process, Mr Atrianfar said.

    At a joint press conference during his visit, the Iranian president praised Mr Gul’s support for dialogue and diplomacy as the solution to the nuclear problem, but he did not signal any change in the position he has maintained.

    In an interview with CNN before his trip, Mr Ahmadinejad reiterated that Iran’s nuclear issue was neither a technical nor a judicial one, and that no mediation from Turkey was required.

    Iran insists that all its nuclear activities meet the regulations set by the International Atomic Energy Agency and the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, of which Iran is a signatory.

    Ali Majedi, a former Iranian deputy foreign minister in economic affairs and a former ambassador to Japan, said he does not believe that Turkey or any other country could play a mediating role between Iran and the West.

    “Some countries may convey messages between Iran and the West, but given the circumstances in Iran, it seems too far-fetched to me that any country, including Turkey, would be able to play an actual and effective mediating role,” Mr Majedi said.

    Turkey has shown support for Iran’s peaceful nuclear programme to meet the country’s energy needs. But analysts believe it would be wrong to assume that Turkey will go any further than offering its support.

    “Turkey’s long-term strategic interests are defined within their relations with the West. They are a member of Nato and are trying to join the European Union. They can only be interested in maintaining their good relations with Iran,” Mr Atrianfar said.

    If Iran’s nuclear standoff with the West intensifies, Turkey and most other countries will avoid spoiling their relations with the West for the sake of economic relations with Iran, Mr Majedi believes.

    Mr Ahmadinejad’s government had been hoping to sign a natural gas deal with Turkey, one that would allow Iran to export its own gas as well as gas bought from Turkmenistan to Europe through a pipeline in Turkey. The Iranian president was accompanied by Parviz Fattah, Iran’s oil minister, on his visit to Turkey. Iran hoped to close a gas deal worth $3.5 billion (Dh12.9bn) with Turkey.

    The two countries failed to reach an agreement over differences on pricing and conditions for investment. Mr Ahmadinejad and his Turkish counterpart said reaching a deal of this kind is time consuming and that negotiations would continue.

    The Iranian media said that if signed during the visit, the gas deal could have been considered a defeat for the United States and its allies and a victory for Mr Ahmadinejad.

    The United States had opposed the deal and warned Turkey of consequences of signing the deal with Iran.

    A deal of this kind could strengthen the position of Mr Ahmadinejad domestically, too. He has been under heavy criticism from his political opponents in Iran for the economic failures of his government, including the inability to attract foreign investment.

    During Mr Ahmadinejad’s visit the two countries signed five protocols, including one on co-operation against terrorism. The two countries have for years worked together in this regard and share intelligence on armed separatist Kurdish groups.

    “The issue of Kurds is a matter of national interest to both Iran and Turkey regardless of what governments rule in these countries. Security co-operation in this regard will therefore always be desirable and sought by both sides,” Mr Majedi said.

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  • Iran and Turkey ink 5 cooperation agreements

    Iran and Turkey ink 5 cooperation agreements

    ISTANBUL (IRNA) — Iran and Turkey on Thursday signed five protocols for security, economic and cultural cooperation.

    The five cooperation protocols were signed after talks between Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad and his Turkish counterpart Abdullah Gul in Istanbul.

    Under the protocols, drafted in the Persian, Turkish and English languages, the two neighbors will cooperate in campaign against organized crimes, terrorism and drugs transit, environment protection, and transportation.

    A memorandum of understanding was also signed in the ceremony for cooperation between Iranian and Turkish national libraries and archives.

    Iranian president visited Turkey on Thursday. He returned home on Saturday.

    Ahmadinejad said Iran seeks to increase trade deals with Turkey to 20 billion dollars within four years.

    Source : Tehran Times

  • Middle East poised to invest in Turkey

    Middle East poised to invest in Turkey

    Posted: 17-08-2008 , 19:38 GMT

    Premier international forum to examine prospects for Islamic finance as Turkey recovers from legal stand-off over religion and secularism

    Renewed interest in Turkey by Islamic investors from the Middle East is expected with the ending of a legal stand-off between the country’s ruling party and secular fundamentalists.

    “Turkey was plunged into political and economic uncertainty by the court case over an attempt to ban the AK Party over allegations that it had been trying to create an Islamic state by stealth,” said Swati Taneja, conference director of the Islamic finance industry’s leading global event, the twice-yearly International Islamic Finance Forum that next takes place in Istanbul from 13 -17 October 2008.”Turkey, at the crossroads of east and west, is an overwhelmingly Muslim but avowedly secular state,” she added. “The 1.5 billion strong Islamic world has been watching closely to see if Turkey has been able to balance accommodating religion and secularism.

    “The AK Party narrowly escaped being dissolved by the constitutional court but, had the court accepted the request for a ban, it would have been difficult to have seen a substantial increase in investor confidence from Islamic and Middle East countries, with potentially disastrous effects for the economy.”

    Levels of Middle East investment in Turkey have been significantly increasing in recent years. The Islamic banking sector in particular has been on the receiving end of large sums but other sectors are starting to attract heavy Middle East interest including insurance, energy and real estate.

    “Internationally Sukuk – referred to in Turkey as participation certificates – is one of the fastest growing asset classes in the financial industry,” Taneja added. “The Turkish market is in need of such instruments and investor groups from the Arabian Gulf are ready to inject more into the Turkish economy provided the right regulatory regime is put in place.”

    Banks operating on Islamic principles in Turkey are known as participation banks. They are a small but rapidly expanding segment of the Turkish financial sector.

    The participation banks – Albaraka Türk, Bank Asya, Kuveyt Türk and Türkiye Finans – administer about $21.5 billion in assets, representing 5% of the Turkish banking system and the sector aims to double its share within the next 10 years. Public offerings and mergers and acquisitions are already part of the landscape in the sector

    Participation bank Albaraka Türk, with Bahrain’s Albaraka Banking Group as major shareholder, successfully went public recently and valuations of Turkish participation banks are relatively attractive compared with the valuations of similar banks in the Gulf region.

    Earlier this year, Saudi Arabia’s National Commercial Bank completed its acquisition of a 60% equity stake in Turkish Islamic bank Türkiye Finans for approximately $1.08 billion. Türkiye Finans has 124 branches and had assets at the end of last year of $2.9 billion.

    Meanwhile, Kuwait Finance House aims to become one of the top bankers in Turkey. It wants to boost branches of Kuveyt Turk, in which it holds a majority stake, to 113 from about 100 now by year-end and become one of the top ten lenders by organic growth. Kuveyt Turk, which had assets worth $3.18 billion at the end of 2007, is the third-largest Islamic bank in Turkey by assets, according to the Turkish Participation Banks Association.

    The underlying Turkish economy remains strong, Taneja added. “According to government figures, the economy grew by 6.6% in the first quarter of 2008 and performed better than expected despite the uncertainties both global and local and could reach a 4.5% target by the end of the year,” she said.

    A special session on Turkey at the crossroads will take place at the Istanbul forum which will also examine the status of Turkey’s attempts to become a member of the European Union. The session will be moderated by Dr Adnan Büyükdeniz, General Manager of Albaraka Türk Participation Bank, with panelists including Piraye Antika, Chief Executive Officer and Group General Manager of HSBC Bank, Turkey, and Michael Baldwin, Managing Director of D’Arblay Ltd., Turkey.

    The results of a study on the impact of politics on the underdevelopment of Islamic finance in Turkey will also be presented by Dr Mehmet Asutay, Lecturer in Political Economy at the School of Government and International Affairs, Durham University, UK.

    The forum will also identify new markets for Islamic finance as well as examine Sukuk structures and capital markets; emerging Takaful development; Islamic jurisprudence; alternative asset classes including private equity and real estate; and sustainability with the greening of Islamic finance.

    For more details about the 2008 International Islamic Finance Forum in Istanbul, please visit: www.iiff.com

    About the International Islamic Finance Forum

    Established in Dubai eight years ago by the IIR Middle East, the International Islamic Finance Forum is considered the premier event in the Islamic finance event calendar with many imitators but no equals. The International Islamic Finance Forum taking place from 13-17 October 2008 at the Çirağan Palace Kempinski Hotel, Istanbul, will be the forum’s 15th edition.

    The International Islamic Finance Forum is a truly global event attended by companies, organisations and individuals from across the world.

    Pioneering international Islamic finance practitioners and the world’s leading Islamic finance scholars will meet at the Istanbul forum for the most important networking event in the Islamic finance industry calendar.

    © 2008 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)

    Source: www.albawaba.com, 17-08-2008

  • TAI To Manufacture Turkey’s First Commercial Helicopter

    TAI To Manufacture Turkey’s First Commercial Helicopter

    Published: 8/17/2008

    ANKARA – Countdown has started for Turkey`s first commercial helicopter to be built by Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) that has become a global defense industry giant after manufacturing F-16 fighter jets.

    TAI plans to collaborate with national and international aerospace companies and projects to begin ground and flight tests once the prototype is completed in 2010.

    Turkey`s first commercial helicopters are planned to have a capacity to carry 6 or 8 passengers and weigh 2 tons, TAI officials said.

    TAI engineers have been working to produce fuselage and other parts of the prototype. Engineers will then manufacture avionics, engine, fuel tank and other related parts of the helicopter.

    (TÇ-UK)

    (GEN)

    Source: www.turkishpress.com, 17.08.2008