Turkish Forum

Category: Turkey

  • Turkey celebrates 85th anniversary of Republic Day

    Turkey celebrates 85th anniversary of Republic Day

    The 85th anniversary of the foundation of the Turkish Republic is being celebrated all across the country with various activities on Wednesday.

    Republic Day’s first ceremony took place in Anitkabir, Ataturk’s Mausoleum, in the Turkish capital of Ankara. 

    State officials led by Turkish President Abdullah Gul placed a wreath on mausoleum, observed a minute of silence and sang Turkish National Anthem. 

    “Great Ataturk, we are celebrating the 85th foundation anniversary of our Republic proudly. We promise to further glorify the Republic –you commended us– on the path you set; and further develop it over the contemporary civilizations you have marked. Rest in peace,” Gul wrote to Anitkabir special notebook. 

    Parliament Speaker Koksal Toptan, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Constitutional Court President Hasim Kilic, Chief of General Staff Gen. Ilker Basbug, Republican People’s Party (CHP) Chairman Deniz Baykal, members of Council of Ministers, other political party leaders, military and civilian authorities also participated in the ceremony. 

    After the ceremony in Anitkabir, President Gul received congratulations at Turkish Parliament. 

    There will be glamorous activities with strong visual themes in Istanbul, while more official government ceremonies are being held in Ankara. 

    In Istanbul, the night sky will be lit up with fireworks, while the Bosporus Bridge and the Maiden Tower will be decorated with colorful lights and laser shows have been prepared. 

    Turkey became a republic on October 29, 1923. This formally declared the dissolution of Ottoman Empire; and Turkish State became a republic under the leadership of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. Republic Day is celebrated across Turkey every year with formal ceremonies.

  • Aide to Turkish Prime Minister: We are waiting for Armenians with open arms

    Aide to Turkish Prime Minister: We are waiting for Armenians with open arms

    Ankara – APA. “We are not enemies with Armenians and do not regard them as threat. We want to establish all possible best relations with Armenia. We want to establish good relations with all Armenians in the world, no matter where they live in Los Angeles or in Paris. We expect them to support the process, not impede it. We are waiting for Armenians with open arms,” Ahmet Davutoglu, the chief foreign policy aide to Turkey’s Prime Minister said in his interview to Hurriyet newspaper. Taking a stance on Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian’s interview to BBC Turkish service Ahmet Davutoglu said they were ready to solve all the problems with Armenia. Asked about Azerbaijan’s concerns the aide said:
    “Improvement of our bilateral relations will have influence on the Nagorno Karabakh issue,” he said.

    Edward Nalbandian said in his interview to BBC Turkish service that there was no obstacle in normalization of Turkey-Armenia relations.
    “First we expect diplomatic relations to be established and borders to be opened. We want intergovernmental commission to be set up to discuss all the problems between the two sides,” he said.

  • Turkey facing gas shortage

    Turkey facing gas shortage

    ANKARA, Turkey, Oct. 28 (UPI) — Turkey is faced with the possibility of a severe gas shortage if development of an Iranian natural gas pipeline falters, the state-owned pipeline firm said.

    BOTAS, the oil and natural gas pipeline firm in Turkey, warned government officials that gas shortages would emerge as early as January if a pipeline from the Iranian South Pars gas field was not completed soon, the business daily newspaper Referans reported Tuesday.

    Ankara and Tehran had agreed to develop additional arteries to meet Turkish demands as gas compression issues diminished the capacity along conventional routes.

    Iran hopes to link its South Pars gas field to the planned Nabucco pipeline, a project favored by the European Union as a means to ease dependency on Russian natural resources.

    Iran is keen on expanding its customer base amid Western-imposed economic sanctions as punishment for its controversial nuclear program. For its part, BOTAS has urged Iran to act expeditiously on developing its infrastructure to avoid shortages.

  • Turkey, the Region and U.S.-Turkey Relations: Assessing the Challenges and Prospects

    Turkey, the Region and U.S.-Turkey Relations: Assessing the Challenges and Prospects

    Event Summary

    Turkey has weathered exceptionally turbulent times in recent years and continues to face serious domestic and foreign policy challenges. Following the so-called “e-coup” warning of a possible military intervention, civil-military tensions climaxed during the summer of 2007. A year later, the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) government was nearly shut down by the Constitutional Court. The AKP’s landslide electoral victory in July 2007 was followed by another crisis over the presidency. In addition, PKK extremist attacks have been sharply on the rise. How should the next U.S. administration manage Turkish-U.S. relations? Where is Turkish domestic politics going? What is Turkey’s foreign policy outlook?

    Event Information

    When

    Tuesday, October 28, 2008
    9:00 AM to 5:00 PM

    Where

    Multi-Purpose Room
    University of California Washington Center
    1608 Rhode Island Avenue, NW
    Washington, DC
    Map

    Contact: Brookings Office of Communications

    E-mail: events@brookings.edu

    Phone: 202.797.6105

    On October 28, the Brookings Center on the United States and Europe and the SETA Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research will host a conference to examine Turkey’s domestic and foreign policy challenges and prospects. The conference will feature a keynote address by Professor Ahmet Davutoglu, chief foreign policy advisor to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey. After the keynote address, Ibrahim Kalin, founding director of SETA; Nonresident Fellow Omer Taspinar, director of the Turkey Project at Brookings; Visiting Fellow Mark Parris, former U.S. ambassador to Turkey; and Talha Kose of George Mason University will moderate a series of discussions featuring a distinguished group of Turkish and American experts, officials and scholars.

    After each panel, participants will take audience questions. A buffet lunch will be served from 12:30 to 1:00 p.m.

    Participants

    9:00 am — Welcome and Opening Remarks

    Omer Taspinar

    Nonresident Fellow, Foreign Policy

    Ibrahim Kalin

    SETA

    9:15 am — Keynote Address

    Ahmet Davutoglu

    Chief Advisor to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Republic of Turkey

    10:45 am — Panel One: U.S-Turkish Relations: What Will the New President Bring to the Table?

    Moderator: Mark R. Parris

    Visiting Fellow, Foreign Policy

    Cengiz Candar

    Radikal (Turkey)

    Ian Lesser

    German Marshall Fund

    Suat Kiniklioglu

    Member of Turkish Parliament

    1:00 pm — Panel Two: Turkey’s Challenges and Opportunities and Its Region: Iraq, Iran, the Caucasus and the EU Process

    Moderator: Talha Kose

    George Mason University

    Steven Cook

    Council on Foreign Relations

    Kemal Kirisci

    Bogazici University and Carleton University

    Taha Ozhan

    SETA

    3:00 pm — Panel Three: The Domestic Scene: The Continuing Battle for Turkey’s Soul

    Moderator: Ibrahim Kalin

    SETA

    Mustafa Akyol

    Turkish Daily News

    Bulent Ali Riza

    Center for Strategic and International Studies

    Omer Taspinar

    Nonresident Fellow, Foreign Policy

    4:45 pm — Closing Remarks<!–

    –>

  • Saakashvili sacks Georgian PM, ambassador to Turkey to replace

    Saakashvili sacks Georgian PM, ambassador to Turkey to replace

    Georgia’s Saakashvili dismisses PM

    Mon 27 Oct 2008, 13:40 GMT

    By Margarita Antidze

    TBILISI (Reuters) – Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili has dismissed reformist Prime Minister Lado Gurgenidze, a senior government source said on Monday, under a government overhaul following war with Russia in August.

    The announcement will be made at 6.00 p.m. (2 p.m. British time), the source told Reuters, adding that Saakashvili would name Grigol Mgaloblishvili, Georgia’s 35-year-old ambassador to Turkey, as his choice for the post.

    Gurgenidze, a 37-year-old pro-Western technocrat and former banker, became prime minister of the former Soviet republic in November 2007 with the chief task of attracting foreign investment and keeping the country’s economic growth rates high.

    A five-day war in August, when Moscow sent troops and tanks into its southern neighbour to halt a Georgian offensive to retake breakaway South Ossetia, has hit investor confidence and reined in otherwise healthy growth forecasts.

    Georgia’s pro-Western president, who came to power in the 2003 “Rose Revolution,” is facing increasing criticism from opposition leaders. They accuse Saakashvili of walking into a war Georgia could not possibly win.

    Some opposition factions have announced a protest for November 7, the first anniversary of a police crackdown against opposition demonstrators.

    (Reporting by Margarita Antidze; Writing by Matt Robinson; Editing by Dominic Evans)

    Source: www.reuters.com, 27 Oct 2008

  • McCain ‘doing fine’ despite polls

    McCain ‘doing fine’ despite polls

    McCain ‘doing fine’ despite polls

    John McCain said running mate Sarah Palin was very experienced

    Republican John McCain McCain has said his campaign to become the next US president is “doing fine” despite polls showing trailing his Democratic rival.

    Speaking on the NBC’s Meet the Press nine days before the election, Mr McCain said he had closed the gap with Barack Obama in the past week.

    “Those polls have consistently shown me much farther behind then we actually are,” he said. “We’re doing fine.”

    The weekend has seen both rivals campaigning in Western US states.

    Mr McCain was campaigning in Iowa and Ohio on Sunday, while Mr Obama was in Colorado.

    An NBC poll for Iowa gave Mr Obama 51% voter support, with Mr McCain at 40%.

    However, a Reuters/C-SPAN/Zogby poll released on Sunday suggested a closer race overall, with Mr Obama only five percentage points ahead of Mr McCain’s 44%.

    “We’ve closed in the last week and if we continue this close in the next week you’re going to be up very late on election night,” Mr McCain said from Iowa.

    She’s a role model for millions and millions of Americans. She’s just what Washington needs
    John McCain on Sarah Palin

    “I choose to trust my senses as well as the polls, and the enthusiasm at almost all of our campaign events is at a higher level than I’ve ever seen.”

    He added: “We’re very competitive here, and I’m very happy with where we are and I’m very proud of the campaign we’re running.”

    With reports of infighting in the Republican camp, Mr McCain was asked if he wanted to defend his vice-presidential running mate Sarah Palin.

    “I don’t defend her – I praise her. She needs no defence.”

    He also said the Alaskan governor had “more executive experience than [Democratic vice-presidential candidate] Senator [Joe] Biden and Senator Obama together.”

    He went on: “She is a dynamic person with executive experience, leadership, reform. She’s exactly what Washington needs.

    “She’s a role model for millions and millions of Americans. She’s just what Washington needs.”

    The party has had to respond to revelations last week that $150,000 has been spent on Mrs Palin’s wardrobe since her September appointment.

    “She lives a frugal life, she and her family are not wealthy, she and her family were thrust into this,” Mr McCain said, repeating that the clothes will be donated to charity.

    Responding to the Obama team’s emphasis that he voted with President Bush 90% of the time, Mr McCain said both he and Mrs Palin were mavericks.

    “Do we share a common philosophy of the Republican Party? Of course.

    “But I’ve stood up against my party, not just President Bush but others, and I’ve got the scars to prove it.”