Category: Turkey

Can Turkey do it alone?

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan says Turkey can weather the economic storm without IMF assistance, but analysts see red flags ahead.

by Ayhan Simsek for Southeast European Times — 11/06/09

Stalled talks with the IMF raise concerns about Turkey's once mushrooming economy. Getty Images
Despite several tries, the government has been unable to strike a deal with the IMF since May 2008.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan staunchly opposes IMF demands that will tighten up the budget and make it more transparent, as well as decrease public employment and limit political influence over the economy.

“If they bring us an IMF deal in line with Turkey’s interests, then we will sign it. … They want us to make the Revenue Administration an autonomous institution. That is not possible,” Erdogan told the daily Sabah.

Though sceptics warn prolonged negotiations could turn off foreign investors, Erdogan has been defiant, saying Turkey can revive its economy with domestic resources.

Due to a wave of foreign direct investment, the EU candidate’s economy mushroomed from 2002 to 2006 at an annual rate of 6%, slowing to about 4.5% the following year.

Despite the slowdown, Turkey, a country of more than 70 million people, ranked among the 20 wealthiest countries in the world in 2008.

The impact of the global financial crisis, however, rocked Turkey. Unemployment rose to a historic 16% last February, and exports declined nearly 40% in May as compared to last year’s figure.

Economists warn that Turkey’s economy may contract further, estimating a deflation of 5.1% in 2009.

Some analysts see the IMF as a port for Turkey in the economic storm. If Erdogan and the IMF can reach common ground, the IMF is expected to pump between $10 billion and $20 billion into the economy.

However, an agreement also means restructuring that economy, which may be painful for small enterprises and trade unions.

Fears of an IMF “bitter pill” have divided business associations. The influential Turkish Industrialists’ and Businessmen’s Association (TUSIAD) — as well as the banking sector — have called for an urgent IMF deal.

Exporters, on the other hand, fear the consequences of a bailout.

“We may need fresh cash from the IMF, but this is a serious issue and should not be done haphazardly,” said Mehmet Buyukeksi, chairman of the Turkish Exporters Assembly (TIM).

In lieu of IMF assistance, Turkey proposed an incentive package last week, which aims to generate 500,000 jobs, as well as support investments in the country’s poorer regions, and give major tax-cuts to investors.

It’s not clear whether this package alone can cure Turkey’s ailing economy. Young Businessmen’s Confederation of Turkey President Hazim Sesli welcomed the stimulus package, but said he sees red flags down the road if an IMF agreement remains elusive.

“With the new stimulus package, a positive climate emerged in domestic markets. We are now looking forward to having an agreement with IMF soon, to expand this positive climate to international markets,” said Sesli.

“After 14 months of long talks between the government and IMF, now it is necessary to successfully conclude these negotiations as soon as possible.”

This content was commissioned for SETimes.com

Source: www.setimes.com, 11/06/2009

June 12, 2009
Turkish military officials praise Memorandum of Understanding with Iraq

ANKARA, June 12 (Xinhua) — Turkey’s General Staff Headquarters Spokesman Metin Gurak said on Friday that a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed between Turkey and Iraq would contribute to regional peace.

Gurak, also the head of the Communication Department of the General Staff, said at a weekly press briefing in Ankara, “the memorandum of understanding signed by the two neighboring countries that have historical, cultural and traditional ties will contribute to peace in the Middle East that is still facing negative developments.”

Turkish Deputy Chief of General Staff Gen. Hasan Igsiz and visiting Iraqi Deputy Chief of Staff Gen. Nasier Abadi signed a memorandum of understanding on military training, technical and scientific cooperation in Ankara on Tuesday.

Gurak said that the MoU would lay the legal groundwork for further agreements.

“Our friendly relations based on brotherhood, mutual understanding and cooperation will further improve with this memorandum,” Gurak said.

Ankara has sought close ties with Baghdad to enlist Iraqi support against the outlawed Kurdish Workers’ Party (PKK), whose members used northern Iraq as a base for launching attacks in Turkey.

Turkish security forces conducted frequent operations against PKK militants in eastern and southeastern Turkey.

The PKK took up arms in 1984 to create an ethnic homeland in southeastern Turkey. So far, some 40,000 people have been killed in the past two-decade conflicts.

Turkey’s military forces have taken tougher actions against the PKK after the country’s legislature extended the government’s mandate to launch cross-border operations against the rebels in northern Iraq.

Source: news.xinhuanet.com, 12.06.2009

June 12, 2009

Remembering The Turkish Brigade

in The Korean War

By Mark Meirowitz

It is Memorial Day 2009 in the United States, and I believe it is very fitting to remember with respect and thanks the contribution and heroism of the Turkish Brigade in the Korean War. These Turkish soldiers fought with bravery and heroism side by side with American soldiers.

In June, 1950, following the invasion by North Korea of South Korea, Turkey responded by sending a brigade of 5,000 troops to the conflict. “Turkey is ready to meet her responsibilities” was Turkey’s response to the need for action to combat the North Korean aggressor.

The Turkish Brigade, under the command of Brigadier General Tahsin Yazici, fought with courage in a number of battles, including those at Kunuri, Kumyangjang-ni, Taegyewonni and Wegas. It is estimated that Turkey lost over 700 men killed in action, with about 2,000 wounded and 400 missing in action. Over the entire campaign period, about 14,000 Turkish troops served in Korea. The Turkish Brigade received the Distinguished Unit Citation from US President Harry S. Truman and the Presidential Unit Citation from the President of Korea.One commentator said as follows: “The Turks acquitted themselves in a brave and noble fashion in some of the worst conditions experienced in the Korean War. Very little else could have been required or expected of them. Their heavy casualties speak of their honor and commitment. Their bravery requires no embellishment. It stands on its own.”

There is an expression, “the more things change, the more they remain the same”. The news this Memorial Day is of North Korea’s underground nuclear test. This is a stark reminder of America’s need for friends in this complex world. Turkey is, and has been, one of America’s most stalwart friends. It is a committed member of NATO, and, as we have seen, during the Korean War, when North Korea launched an attack on South Korea, Turkey stepped up and showed its friendship by committing its troops to the conflict.

Americans need to know this story, and learn about the many other ways that Turkey has been a solid ally of the United States, even in the most adverse circumstances.

The story of the Turkish Brigade in the Korean War resonates brilliantly and inspires us even until today.

To the veterans of the Turkish Brigade, we give our heartfelt thanks, and to the memories of those brave Turkish soldiers of the Turkish Brigade, who fell, along with American soldiers, in the Korean War, we say: Thank you from our hearts for your sacrifice, for which we will be eternally grateful.

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Mark Meirowitz is a business lawyer in Manhattan. He also holds a doctorate in Politics and teaches undergraduate courses in Politics, History and Law at various colleges in the NYC metropolitan area. He is studying Turkish and belongs to a number of Turkish-American organizations.

June 12, 2009

U.S. Envoy Upbeat On Turkey-Armenia Relations

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Europe and Eurasian Affairs Philip Gordon’s next stop on his regional tour is Georgia.

June 10, 2009

By Emil Danielyan, Ruben Meloyan

In Armenia on the first stop of his first tour of the region, the new top U.S. diplomat for Europe and the former Soviet Union sounded optimistic about prospects for the normalization of Turkish-Armenian relations.

“I have only been in office for two weeks, but it seemed to me that there are such important and even historic developments going on in Armenia and the region that I should try to come out here as soon as possible,” U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Philip Gordon told journalists on June 9.

After holding what he called “excellent and productive talks” with President Serzh Sarkisian and Foreign Minister Eduard Nalbandian, Gordon also criticized the Armenian authorities’ handling of the May 31 municipal elections in Yerevan.

According to official Armenian sources, the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and the Turkish-Armenian rapprochement were high on the agenda of his Yerevan talks. They also discussed the current state of U.S.-Armenian relations. Sarkisian was quoted by his office as telling Gordon that his government finds their expansion “extremely important.”

Speaking at an ensuing news conference, Gordon reaffirmed Washington’s strong support for the year-long fence-mending negotiations between Armenia and Turkey and an unconditional normalization of their relations.

“Turkey-Armenia normalization would benefit Turkey, it would benefit Armenia, and it would benefit the entire region. Because of that, we don’t think it should be linked to anything else,” he said, commenting on Turkish leaders’ renewed linkage between the reopening of the Turkish-Armenian border and a resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict with Azerbaijan.

Gordon stressed that normalization “should proceed within a reasonable time frame,” meaning that “the process can’t be infinite,” he said. “It can’t go on forever. I think the parties understand that.”

“It’s not for me to tell the parties exactly what that means,” added the U.S. official. “But I think both sides do appreciate that they need to move forward, and I think they are, and I think they will.”

Yerevan Vote ‘Not Satisfactory’

Gordon also discussed with Sarkisian and Nalbandian U.S. economic assistance to Armenia under the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) program. Some of that $236 million in assistance has been suspended by Washington because of Yerevan’s poor democracy and human rights records.

The Armenian Foreign Ministry said that Nalbandian briefed Gordon on “steps taken by the Armenian authorities to implement democratic reforms.” It did not specify whether those steps include the May 31 municipal elections in Yerevan condemned as fraudulent by the opposition.

Gordon indicated that the United States did not consider the polls free and fair. “The results were only tallied up a couple of days ago, and so we don’t have a formal statement or judgment right now,” he said.

“But I have heard reports of irregularities and problems with the election. That wasn’t up to the standard that we would like to see.”

The U.S. ambassador in Yerevan, Marie Yovanovitch, who was also present at the news conference, said a more detailed assessment of the elections based on the findings of U.S. Embassy observers will be released “in the next couple of days.”

“We saw a number of instances of irregularities, fraud, and intimidation not only in one or two districts but throughout the city during voting and also during the count,” she said.

Gordon at the same time disapproved of the decision by the main opposition Armenian National Congress not to take up its seats in Yerevan’s new city council. “Even imperfect election would be a better result if those who were asked to serve are able to do so,” he said.

https://www.rferl.org/a/US_Envoy_Upbeat_On_TurkeyArmenia_Relations/1751225.html

June 11, 2009
Diplomacy, Inc.

The Power of Lobbies

The Influence of Lobbies on U.S. Foreign Policy

John Newhouse

Summary —

Lobbies representing foreign interests have an increasingly powerful — and often harmful — impact on how the United States formulates its foreign policy, and ultimately hurt U.S. credibility around the world.

JOHN NEWHOUSE is a Senior Fellow at the World Security Institute and the author of a forthcoming book on foreign lobbies in the United States to be published by Simon & Schuster.

The area around K Street in Washington, D.C., abounds with lobbyists, many of whom represent foreign governments or entities. Although some major foreign governments continue to work mainly through their embassies in Washington, nearly one hundred countries rely on lobbyists to protect and promote their interests. The subculture of public relations and law firms that do this kind of work reflects a steady decline and privatization of diplomacy — with an increasing impact on how the United States conducts its own foreign policy.

The strongest lobbies promoting foreign interests are driven by cohesive ethnic population groups in the United States, such as Armenia, China, Greece, India, Israel, Taiwan, Ukraine, and, historically, Ireland. Even countries that have strong bilateral relations with the United States, such as Australia, Japan, and Norway, need lobbyists as well as embassies. Lobbyists can operate within the system in ways that experienced diplomats cannot. A lobbying group can identify with a domestic ethnic bloc even though it is paid by a foreign government. Ethnic politics can trump corporate interests and, more important, influence what agencies within the U.S. government may see as the national interest.

The United States is a nation of immigrants — a strength that has also created vulnerabilities. Although ethnic population groups have at times offset isolationist tendencies in the United States, they also can find themselves conflicted on issues that could divide the motherland from the adopted country, the United States. In other cases, these so-called hyphenated groups unhesitatingly side with the United States and, in effect, become more royalist than the king.

Source: www.foreignaffairs.com, May/June 2009

June 11, 2009
BNP wins two seats in Europe

[1]

LONDON (AFP) — The British National Party on Monday won its first seats in the European Parliament, in a major breakthrough for a party reviled by mainstream politicians for its anti-immigration stance.

Party chairman Nick Griffin was elected an MEP in the northwest of England region with eight percent of the vote, hours after Andrew Brons won the BNP’s first ever European seat in the nearby Yorkshire and the Humber region.

Griffin had earlier hailed Brons’ win — with almost 10 percent of the vote — as “a huge breakthrough” for his party, and used the victory to reiterate his party’s anti-immigration and anti-Islam stance.

He denied his party was racist, but said: “We do say this country is full up. The key thing is to shut the door.”

Griffin told Sky News television: “This is a Christian country and Islam is not welcome, because Islam and Christianity, Islam and democracy, Islam and women’s rights do not mix.

“That’s a simple fact that the elites of Europe are going to have to get their heads round and deal with over the next few years.”

The result is a vindication of efforts by Griffin, who was educated at the prestigious Cambridge University, to recast the party since taking over in 1999, emphasising its grassroots activism over extreme-right ideology.

Amid concerns about soaring unemployment and a deep recession and in particular the demise of the country’s manufacturing base, the BNP has pledged British jobs for British workers.

It is opposed to European integration and wants to pull Britain out of the European Union and halt all immigration to the country.

In recent weeks it has also capitalised on public anger over the row over lawmakers’ expenses, which has severely damaged the reputation of parliament and the mainstream Labour and Conservative parties.

Health minister Andrew Burnham described the BNP’s first MEP victory as a “sad moment“, and following Griffin’s success in the northwest, local Labour MP Tony Lloyd said he was ashamed at how some people had voted.

“I am genuinely not just disappointed, I think it is a matter of shame, this country has a deserved reputation for a tolerant society,” said Lloyd, the Labour MP for Manchester Central.

“Their (the BNP) vision for Britain is a nightmare for Britain. I think many people will wake up with some sense of shame.”

Government ministers and the Conservative party had sought to remind voters of the BNP’s policies, which include calls for the immediate halt to all immigration to Britain and the “voluntary resettlement” of all immigrants.

Copyright © 2009 AFP. All rights reserved.

Source: www.google.com, 08.06.2009

[2]

Sarkozy: “Islamization is Inevitable”

From the desk of Tiberge on Sat, 2009-06-06 18:36

There is nothing new here. We knew what Sarkozy’s vision of the future was: an “Islam of France”, “métissage” between races and ethnic groups, dissolution of nationalist, regional, and ethnic identities, subjugation to Brussels, openness to socialism, and a Turkey as closely aligned with Europe as possible, etc…

But it’s always sobering to hear it again, from one who knows Sarkozy personally. Philippe de Villiers was interviewed by the weekly Famille Chrétienne. The Catholic blogLe Salon Beige relates part of the interview:

– Why are you so focused on the theme of Turkey and Islamization?

– Quite simply because we will see the first transformations of churches into mosques in the coming three years. At any rate, that is what Nicolas Sarkozy told me.

– When?

– I had an in depth discussion with him at Elysée at the end of last year. He said to me: “You have intuition, I have the figures. And your intuition is confirmed by my figures. The Islamization of Europe is inevitable.” Careful: it’s a process that will not occur overnight, but will take decades.

– Why does this issue appear to be of central importance to you?

– Most politicians have a comforting ignorance of what Islam is and propose transforming Europe into a supermarket of competing religions. Unaware that Islam is not only a religion since, by melding the temporal and the spiritual, it imposes a law. But behind this comforting ignorance of politicians, there are those who know. (…) The reality is that we are headed for a criss-cross [chassé-croisé] with, on one side, Europe and its en masse abortions, its promotion of gay marriage, and on the other, immigration en masse (…)

“Chassé-croisé” is virtually impossible to translate. Originally a choreographic term, it usually refers to a crowded movement in one direction that passes but never encounters a crowded movement in another direction. Sometimes it is just kept as is in English.

– Aren’t you exaggerating the dimensions of the phenomenon?

– No. The crux of the issue is simple: Europe is refusing its own demographic future. And it is working with a fearsome weapon towards this end, written into the Charter of fundamental rights appended to the treaty of Lisbon: the promotion of gay marriage. This in turn is accomplished through the principle of non-discrimination and the disassociation of marriage from the sex of the spouses (which appears in article 7 of the Charter of fundamental rights). In reality, there are two weapons being used by European leaders to kill Europe demographically: the promotion of gay marriage and en masse abortions. And a third: the recourse to immigration that is 80% Islamic in order to replace the people who are no longer there (…)

As usual there are LSB readers who question Villiers’ sincerity and motives. But this time, there are also many who applaud his courage. He is certainly putting more muscle into his words on the eve of the election.

A spokesman for Elysée protested saying: “Philippe de Villiers is not the spokesman for Elysée. He makes multiple declarations on this topic, declarations that obviously need to be regarded with caution.”

Source: www.brusselsjournal.com, 06-06-2009

June 8, 2009