Category: Asia and Pacific

Russian tourists will prefer Armenia for Turkey and Egypt

YEREVAN. – Armenia has great chances to increase influx of Russian tourists considerably, said Russian official during round-table discussions on tourism held in Yerevan.

Head of Federal Agency on Tourism Alexander Radkov said Egypt and Turkey, traditional directions preferred by Russians, experience hard times. Therefore, Russians show stronger interest in cultural tourism.

“Due to cold climate in Russia, the sun and the sea are always in demand, but people do not want to visit the same places every time. Nowadays, Russians have become more interested in cultural tourism and Armenia has a good chance to receive more Russian tourists,” he said.

Armenia is interesting for its religious monuments, skiing resorts and cultural directions. He stressed there should be “an Armenian brand” to attract Russians. Alexander Radkov promised to lobby Armenia’s interests in Russia.

via Russian tourists will prefer Armenia for Turkey and Egypt | Armenia News – NEWS.am.

April 20, 2011
An Islamabad-Istanbul train that will traverse 6,500 km

Islamabad, April 18 (IANS) A cargo train that will cover a distance of 6,500 km from Islamabad through Tehran to Istanbul will be ‘running in less than a year’, an official said.

The ambitious project got a final shape during the April 11-14 official visit of President Asif Ali Zardari to Turkish capital Ankara.

Turkish Union of Chambers (TOBB) has said it will immediately start a company to run the project and the company will seek collaboration with Pakistan and Iran business groups to execute it, Associated Press of Pakistan reported.

‘We are planning to get the train running in less than a year,’ TOBB president Rifat Hisarciklioglu was quoted as saying.

The weekly trains are expected to make a one-way trip in 11 days between Istanbul and Islamabad.

The report said the train will open up the European and Asian markets for Pakistan.

President Asif Ali Zardari, during his visit, held discussions with Turkish President Abdullah Gul, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and Grand National Assembly Speaker Mehmet Ali Sahin.

Pakistan and Turkey are keen to expand their bilateral trade volume from existing $1 billion to $2 billion by year 2012.

April 19, 2011
Iran, Turkey, Azerbaijan strengthen ties

Tehran Times Political Desk

TEHRAN – The two-day Iran-Turkey-Azerbaijan trilateral forum, which was attended by the foreign ministers of the three countries, concluded in Urmia, West Azerbaijan Province on Sunday.

Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi held separate talks with Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov on the sidelines of the meeting on Sunday.

Salehi and Mammadyarov stated that providing customs facilities, increasing the volume of trade between Iran and Azerbaijan, and expanding cooperation in various areas must be put on the agenda.

They also emphasized the necessity of implementing the agreements signed by the two countries.

Mammadyarov also extended an invitation to Salehi to visit Azerbaijan.

In another meeting, Salehi and Davutoglu explored ways to increase the volume of trade between Tehran and Ankara.

Salehi stated that Iran and Turkey have good cooperation in the regional and international arenas and called for closer bilateral cooperation between the two countries.

Davutoglu said that the trilateral meeting of Iranian, Turkish, and Azerbaijani foreign ministers paved the way for the expansion of regional cooperation.

And Turkey is keen to increase cooperation with Iran, particularly in economic interactions and the area of transportation, he added.

Iran, Turkey open new border crossing

Iran and Turkey opened a new border crossing during a ceremony held in Urmia on Saturday.

The Razi-Kapikoy border crossing is the third border crossing between Iran and Turkey, connecting Iran’s West Azerbaijan Province and Turkey’s Van Province.

Salehi, Davutoglu, and Mammadyarov attended the opening ceremony, which was held on the sidelines of their trilateral meeting.

The Turkish foreign minister delivered a speech during the ceremony, in which he said that the opening of the third border crossing between Iran and Turkey will mark a turning point in the relations between the two countries.

“Today (Saturday) the border crossing will be opened for the traffic of passengers and light vehicles, and will be ready for the passage of heavy vehicles on September 11,” Davutoglu stated.

Strengthening ties with neighboring states in all areas has been a foreign policy priority of Turkey over the past eight years, he added.

Davutoglu also stated that the volume of trade between Iran and Turkey is currently $10 billion and will reach $30 billion in the near future given the fact that a new border crossing has been opened between the two countries.

The Iranian foreign minister also delivered a speech at the ceremony, in which he said that the inauguration of the Razi-Kapikoy border crossing will help increase cooperation between Iran and Turkey.

Tehran and Ankara should make every effort to strengthen their relations, Salehi added.

April 18, 2011
Turkey expects Azerbaijan to lift visas for businesspeople

Turkish Foreign Trade Minister Zafer Çağlayan has said his government expects Azerbaijan to remove visa requirements for Turkish businesspeople to further increase trade between the two brotherly nations.

Speaking at the Turkey-Azerbaijan Business Forum organized by the Foreign Economic Relations Board (DEİK) in Ankara on Friday, Çağlayan said Turkish businesspeople should be able to travel visa-free to Azerbaijan just as their Azerbaijani counterparts can to Turkey. “We are one nation in two states. Our history, culture, brotherhood, holy book and prophet are the same. Looking from that framework, there is nothing that separates us,” the minister said, adding that the trade volume between the two countries, however, is not reflective of those strong bonds. Last year, Turkish-Azerbaijani trade was recorded at $2.5 billion. Çağlayan said it should be easy to bring this number up to $10 billion. For him, a free-trade agreement between the two nations is a must to that end. In his speech, Çağlayan also gave political messages and underlined that Turkey will never approve any rapprochement with Armenia — which currently occupies 20 percent of Azerbaijan’s territories, including Nagorno-Karabakh — before the ongoing issue between Azerbaijan and Armenia is resolved.

Also speaking at the same event, Azerbaijani Minister of Economic Development Shahin Mustafayev drew attention to opportunities for cooperation between the two countries in the field of energy. He also urged businesspeople from both countries to cooperate in third countries.

April 16, 2011
Armenian leader mulls Turkey’s invitation to UN conference

Armenian President Serge Sarkisian will not meet with any Turkish leaders even if he decides to attend a U.N.-sponsored conference in Istanbul in May, his spokesman said Wednesday.

The Yerevan government is still considering whether or not the president will attend the Fourth United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries, to be held in Istanbul from May 9 to May 13, spokesman Armen Arzumanyan told the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review.

“We want to underscore that there will not be any diplomatic contact between Sarkisian and any Turkish leaders even if the president decides to attend Fourth United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries,” Arzumanyan said.

Turkey has also invited Israeli President Shimon Peres but his attendance is not yet certain either. Bilateral relations between Turkey and Israel have been strained since last year.

Mithat Rende, coordinator for the conference, said that 192 U.N. member states were invited to the conference, which aims to ensure the sustainable economic and social development of the world’s least developed countries, the Anatolia news agency reported.

April 14, 2011
Talks continue over Taliban office in Istanbul

ANKARA – Hürriyet Daily News

Potential U.S. support to the idea of Turkey hosting a political office for Taliban militants from Afghanistan has given a boost to the initiative, first suggested late last year.

Former Afghan President Burhanuddin Rabbani, who heads the Afghan High Peace Council, discussed the issue during a visit to Turkey last month, a member of the council told the Associated Press.

“Turkey didn’t say no,” Arsala Rahmani was quoted as saying. “It is a key issue for resolving the situation in Afghanistan. It’s important for the Taliban to have a political address – a place – to talk to the world face-to-face. We have said in the past that without an address, solving the problem will be difficult.”

No official application has yet been made for such an office, but Turkish approval could bolster Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s efforts to integrate moderate Taliban into mainstream society, a senior Turkish Foreign Ministry diplomat said Monday.

“This is an issue still under discussion. The Americans also say an office can be opened,” the diplomat told the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review, speaking on condition of anonymity. “We are not acting on our own. This can happen only with the positive opinion of every party concerned.”

Rahmani, a member of the peace council set up by the Afghan government to work toward a political solution, told the Associated Press that Turkey is already making plans for the office but it will take time to work out the details.

The issue is expected to come up during the visit of Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari, who was scheduled to be in Ankara late Monday.

“Pakistan fully supports Afghan efforts for peace and stability in Afghanistan,” a Pakistani Embassy spokesman told the Daily News.

April 12, 2011