Category: France

‘Iran is our friend,’ says Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan

• We have no difficulty with Ahmadinejad – Erdogan
• Warning to Europe not to ignore Turkey’s strengths

With its stunning vistas and former Ottoman palaces, the banks of the Bosphorus – the strategic waterway that cuts Istanbul in half and divides Europe from Asia – may be the perfect place to distinguish friend from foe and establish where your country’s interests lie.

And sitting in his grandiose headquarters beside the strait, long the symbol of Turkey‘s supposed role as bridge between east and west, Recep Tayyip Erdogan had little doubt about who was a friend and who wasn’t.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iran‘s radical president whose fiery rhetoric has made him a bête noire of the west? “There is no doubt he is our friend,” said Erdogan, Turkey’s prime minister for the last six years. “As a friend so far we have very good relations and have had no difficulty at all.”

What about Nicolas Sarkozy, president of France, who has led European opposition to Turkey’s bid to join the EU and, coincidentally, adopted a belligerent tone towards Iran’s nuclear programme? Not a friend?

“Among leaders in Europe there are those who have prejudices against Turkey, like France and Germany. Previously under Mr Chirac, we had excellent relations [with France] and he was very positive towards Turkey. But during the time of Mr Sarkozy, this is not the case. It is an unfair attitude. The European Union is violating its own rules.

“Being in the European Union we would be building bridges between the 1.5bn people of Muslim world to the non-Muslim world. They have to see this. If they ignore it, it brings weakness to the EU.”

Friendly towards a religious theocratic Iran, covetous and increasingly resentful of a secular but maddeningly dismissive Europe: it seems the perfect summary of Turkey’s east-west dichotomy.

Erdogan’s partiality towards Ahmadinejad may surprise some in the west who see Turkey as a western-oriented democracy firmly grounded inside Nato. It has been a member of the alliance since 1952. It will be less surprising to Erdogan’s secular domestic critics, who believe the prime minister’s heart lies in the east and have long suspected his Islamist-rooted Justice and Development party (AKP) government of plotting to transform Turkey into a religious state resembling Iran.

Erdogan vigorously denies the latter charge, but to his critics he and Ahmadinejad are birds of a feather: devout religious conservatives from humble backgrounds who court popular support by talking the language of the street. After Ahmadinejad’s disputed presidential election in June, Erdogan and his ally, the Turkish president, Abdullah Gul, were among the first foreign leaders to make congratulatory phone calls, ignoring the mass demonstrations and concerns of western leaders over the result’s legitimacy.

Talking to the Guardian, Erdogan called the move a “necessity of bilateral relations”. “Mr Ahmadinejad was declared to be the winner, not officially, but with a large vote difference, and since he is someone we have met before, we called to congratulate him,” he said.

“Later it was officially declared that he was elected, he got a vote of confidence and we pay special attention to something like this. It is a basic principle of our foreign policy.”

The gesture will be remembered when Erdogan arrives in Tehran this week for talks with Ahmadinejad and Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, that will focus on commercial ties, including Turkey’s need for Iranian natural gas. Ahmadinejad has voiced his admiration for Erdogan, praising Turkey’s recent decision to ban Israel from a planned Nato manoeuvre in protest at last winter’s bombardment of Gaza.

Since the election, Iran has witnessed a fierce crackdown on opposition figures that has resulted in activists, students and journalists being imprisoned and publicly tried. Detainees have died in prison, and there have been allegations of torture and rape. Some of those alleging mistreatment have sought refuge in Turkey.

But Erdogan said he would not raise the post-election crackdown with his hosts, saying it would represent “interference” in Iranian domestic affairs.

He poured cold water on western accusations that Iran is seeking a nuclear weapon, saying: “Iran does not accept it is building a weapon. They are working on nuclear power for the purposes of energy only.”

Erdogan has overseen a dramatic improvement in the previously frigid relations between Turkey and Iran, which was viewed with suspicion by the pro-secularist high command of the powerful Turkish military. Trade between the two countries last year was worth an estimated £5.5bn as Iran has developed into a major market for Turkish exports.

Erdogan’s views will interest US foreign policy makers, who have long seen his AKP government as a model of a pro-western “moderate Islam” that could be adopted in other Muslim countries. They will also find an audience with President Barack Obama, who signalled Turkey’s strategic importance in a visit last April and has invited the prime minister to visit Washington. They are unlikely to impress Israel, which has warned that Erdogan’s criticisms risk harming Turkey’s relations with the US.

Erdogan dismissed the notion, saying: “I don’t think there is any possibility of that. America’s policy in this region is not dictated by Israel.”

He insisted that the Turkey-Israel strategic alliance – which some AKP insiders have said privately is over – remains alive but chided the Israeli foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman, who he said had threatened to use nuclear weapons against Gaza.

The Guardian

October 26, 2009
Israel’s attacks will lead to its isolation

By Gideon Levy

Israel has been dealing one blow after another to the rest of the world. While China has still not recovered from Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman’s absence from the reception at its Tel Aviv embassy – a serious punishment for China’s support for the Goldstone report – France is licking its wounds after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “vetoed” a visit by the French foreign minister to Gaza. And Israel has dealt another blow: Its ambassador in Washington, Michael Oren, will boycott the conference next week of the new Israel lobby J Street.

China, France and J Street will somehow get by despite these boycotts, Turkey will also recover from the great vacationers’ revolt, and we can expect that even the Swedes and Norwegians will recover from Israel’s loud reprimands. But a country that attacks and boycotts everyone who does not exactly agree with its official positions will become isolated, forsaken and detestable: North Korea of today or Albania of yesterday. It’s actually quite strange for Israel to use this weapon, as it is about to turn into the victim of boycotts itself.

Israel strikes and strikes again. It strikes its enemies, and now it strikes out at its friends who dare not fall exactly in line with its official policies. The J Street case is a particularly serious example. This Jewish organization rose in America along with Barack Obama. Its members want a fair and peace-seeking Israel.

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That’s their sin, and their punishment is a boycott.

Oren, meanwhile, is a devoted representative: He also is boycotting. After criticizing Israeli columnists, including this one, in an article in The New Republic for daring to criticize Netanyahu’s speech at the UN – an outrage in its own right – the ambassador-propagandist uses the boycott weapon against a new and refreshing Jewish and Zionist organization that is trying to battle the nationalistic and heavy-handed Jewish-American establishment.

In whose name is Oren doing that? Not in the name of Israeli society, whose ambassador he supposedly is. The former ambassadors from Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union would have acted the same way.

Such aggressiveness is a bad sign. It will drive away our last true friends and deepen our isolation. “A nation alone” has turned into our goal, our isolation has become an aspiration. Whom will we have left after we attack and boycott everyone? Abe Foxman of the Anti-Defamation League? Our propagandist-attorney Alan Dershowitz?

Dividing the world up between absolute good and evil – our side and our enemies, with no middle ground – is a sign of despair and a complete loss of direction. It’s not just our ambassador in Washington, who knows nothing at all about democracy and pluralism and only wants to please his masters. Such behavior – kicking and barking crazily in every direction – is destroying Israel.

Without giving us a chance to voice our opinion, Israel is falling to the status of an international pariah, the abomination of the nations. And whom can we thank for that? Operation Cast Lead, for example. Only the United States remains our automatic and blind ally for all our mistakes. Another democracy that saw its status deteriorating so much would ask itself first and foremost what mistakes it had made.

In Israel our approach is exactly the opposite: The rest of the world is guilty. The Scandinavians are hostile and the Turks are enemies, the French and British hate Israel, the Chinese are only Chinese and the Indians can’t teach us anything.

Any legitimate criticism is immediately labeled here as anti-Semitism, including Richard Goldstone, the Jewish Zionist. We are pushing everyone into a corner roughly and hope they will change their opinions and suddenly be filled with a deep understanding for the killing of children in Gaza. Now America too, even its Jews, are no longer immune to this aggressive Israel mad with grandeur.

The damage is piling up from Beijing all the way to New York. After the J Street boycott even American Jews will know that Israel is not a tolerant, open-minded or liberal country, despite what they are being told.

Now they will know that “the only democracy in the Middle East” is not exactly that, and whoever does not repeat and proclaim its propaganda messages will be considered an enemy – they may also be punished severely.

They should just ask the billion Chinese who are licking their wounds from the mortal blow the Israeli Foreign Minster dealt them personally.

Haaretz

October 22, 2009
Nine suspected PKK members detained in France

French police have detained nine suspected PKK members for racketeering to collect money from Kurds living in France, security officials said

French police have detained nine suspected PKK members for racketeering to collect money from Kurds living in France, security officials said.

French counter-terror teams have also seized large amounts of cash in the houses of the detained PKK members in the large-scale operation conducted in the cities of Le Luc and Vidauban.

French security authorities have detained 40 PKK members since last June.

AA

Source: www.worldbulletin.net, 20 October 2009

October 20, 2009
Turkey’s chief negotiator: ‘Privileged partnership’ is an insult

Published: Thursday 8 October 2009

French colleagues have promised never to use the insulting phrase ‘privileged partnership’ again as Ankara negotiates full EU membership, the minister of European affairs and Turkey’s chief negotiator, Egemen Bagiş, told EurActiv in an exclusive interview.

Egemen Bagiş was until recently the vice-chairman of the ruling AKP party, a member of parliament and a promoter of the election of Istanbul as 2010’s European cultural capital.

He was speaking to EurActiv’s Georgi Gotev.

To read a shortened version of this interview, please click here.

A number of chapters in Turkey’s negotiations are blocked, mainly over the Cyprus issue, if my information is correct. Who blocked those chapters and why?

[Laughter] It’s as complicated as who killed Jesus […] I think that the most important thing that we should focus is that that the most difficult part of the negotiations is behind us. And the most difficult part has been putting the Turkey train on the EU tracks. The most difficult part was starting the accession talks. Every country that has ever stated accession negotiations has at the end completed them. Turkey will not be an exception.

It took us 40 years just to get a date to start accession talks. We did not give up. We were committed, we were decided, and we were patient. And today, we are even more committed, more decided and more patient than ever.

Which was the major turning point? Was it the December 1999 Helsinki summit, when Turkey became a candidate country?

I think the greatest moment was 17 December 2004, when after major debate, even walking out of the room, we were convinced by [Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter] Balkenende and the Dutch presidency to come back to the Council meeting, where we were told that the negotiations would start as of 3 October 2005.

What was the compromise? What made you return to the meeting room?

It was the Ankara Protocol issue – Cyprus [a decision from 2004 that Turkey should open its ports to Cyprus]. Turkey made a promise to open its ports, in exchange for ending the isolation for the Turkish Cypriots. We are behind our promise. If EU countries decide to have direct trade with Northern Cyprus, we will be more than happy to open our ports, and keep our part of the promise. The Greek Cypriots purchase the products of Northern Cyprus through the Green-line protocol of the UN, but they do not want 26 other EU members to do what they are doing themselves. We think EU is based on equality. And if one member country can enjoy the products of a third country, the other 26 should also be able to enjoy them.

But no one except Turkey recognises Northern Cyprus as a country…

By trading with Northern Cyprus they would not be recognising the state. Just like we all trade with Taiwan, but we don’t recognise Taiwan diplomatically.

Who should now make a move to unblock the situation? Do you expect the Swedes to help you to find a way out, as Balkenende did in 2004?

I don’t think we need someone to interfere, beacause the two leaders, [Turkish community] President Talat and [Cypriot] President Christofias have met 42 times this year alone. And they are already rolling the ball. And I’m very hopeful they will come to a conclusion of these talks in a positive manner, and they will announce to the world that they have come to an understanding together.

So the key for unlocking Turkey’s EU accession talks is the Cyprus reunification talks?

The Cyprus talks are very important, but the Cyprus problem was not a prerequisite for the membership of Cyprus itself. Therefore it should not be a prerequisite for the membership of another country.

Do you think the Union made a compromise by allowing Cyprus in the EU without its problems with Turkey being solved?

I’m not in a position to make a judgement on that. But I know some European leaders who have said publicly, including [German] Chancellor Merkel, that including Cyprus before a solution was a big mistake.

But this is not in your favour. Merkel probably means that the negotiations with Turkey should not have stated. Isn’t the situation with Ms. Merkel now more complicated for you?

No. 17% of all foreign investment in Turkey is German. There are three million Turks that live in Germany. 1.2 million of them are citizens of that great country. Germany and Turkey enjoy a very strong relationship. We may sometimes differ on issues, but we are allies, we are partners, we are friends and the relationship between the two countries is very solid. In every relationship, you have good days and better days. But Turkey and Germany can easily handle differences of views.

Coming back to Cyprus, do you think President Christofias wants a quick solution, or do you think he is buying time? How would you read his tactics?

The Cyprus issue is portrayed as a problem in EU-Turkey relations. But I think the Cyprus issue is an issue on its own.

But yourself you explained that it has implications.

Well, Cyprus is one of the 27 countries.

Who is blocking Turkey’s negotiating chapters?

Well, there are five chapters blocked by France, there are three by Austria and Germany, there are eight because of the Ankara Protocol, but it’s a Council decision, it’s not Cyprus. Cyprus is trying to prevent the opening of two chapters, education and energy. But I think these problems can be overcome.

In what timeframe?

It depends on the talks between Presidents Talat and Christofias. Hopefully by February they will come to an understanding that both sides can accept, and I can assure you, that any solution that is accepted by the Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots will have the full support of the Turkish nation. As long as the two communities on the island agree, we will back the agreement.

You are well informed about the Cyprus talks. You even appear to know when they will end. How do you keep contact with Mr. Talat? Does he report to you?

No, no. He’s the president of a sovereign democracy. He was elected into office by his own people, and he will face elections in April when his people will decide to keep him in office or not. He only reports to his own people. But as a very close ally, of course, we exchange information.

Do you think that Nicosia fears that most EU money for Cyprus would flow to the North?

I think Nicosia has a problem identifying the carrots and the sticks for a solution or lack of a solution. I think the world has to put more pressure to the island, on both sides, to speed up the process and come to a comprehensive solution.

Regarding the Turkey-EU talks, apart from the blocked chapter, your country has to deliver on the Union’s requirements as any other candidate country. Do you think that your country can deliver as well as the countries from the 2004 and 2007 enlargements?

I think that Turkey is more capable than many other countries in those issues. We have already fulfilled most of the Maastricht criteria, although we didn’t have to. When banks went bankrupt throughout Europe in 2008, not a single Turkish bank lost money. The only facilities of French automaker Renault that profited in 2008 were the ones in Romania and in Turkey. Turkey is a very young, dynamic nation. We have the fourth largest workforce in Europe. The medium age in Turkey is 28. Half of our nation of 70 million is below the age of 25. And we have come a long way in the last 10 years. Ten years ago we were the 27th largest economy in the world, today we are the 16th.

We have a case – we can become one of the top economies and top countries of the world, even without becoming a member of the EU. So EU membership is very important anchor, but it’s not our only option.

But this is precisely the message Mr. Sarkozy will be delighted to hear. As you say membership is not the only option, he is proposing a privileged partnership…

I said the EU is not the only option. I didn’t say full membership is not the only option. Turkey will only accept full membership, nothing less, nothing more. But Europe is not our only option. But if we chose plan A, we chose full membership. I checked the 100.000-page acquis, there’s nothing besides membership. There is no alternative to membership. It doesn’t exist. What President Sarkozy used to say, and what his colleagues promised me not to use those insulting, those horrible phrases again, does not exist. What insulting phrases? Privileged partnership.

Is it insulting?

Very insulting. Because it does not exist. There is no legal foundation for it.

But you may find Mr. Sarkozy even more reluctant after these statements.

Well, he will be hosting our president tonight (7 October) and I will be going from here to Paris today to meet with them. But I was there two weeks ago. And they realised that these phrases are insulting.

You spoke about the Maastricht criteria. What about the Copenhagen criteria?

The fulfilling of the critical mass for the Copenhagen criteria was a prerequisite to start accession talks. So we have met that critical mass.

But there is more.

We are working on it. That’s why we established the male-female gender equality committee in parliament, that’s why we announced 1 May as a national holiday, that’s why we have allocated more than 500 million euros to the South East Anatolia project, that’s why we have changed the criminal code to allow members of the military to be prosecuted in civilian courts, that’s why we have prepared a reform strategy for the judicial branch, that’s why we have announced an anti-corruption strategy document, that’s why the prime minister has had meetings with leaders of minority groups in Turkey…

But those efforts, also with respect to relations with Armenia, or with respect to the Kurdish minority: could they destabilise the country if they are not heeded by society and major political players?

Turkey is a democracy. People have the right to approve and to criticise the actions of the government.

I’m refereeing to the military establishment.

Believe me, there are political parties who are much more interested in criticising these initiatives than some of the institutions in Turkey. The military support Turkey’s EU ambitions, because the EU goal ensures keeping the direction that Ataturk, the founder of the Turkish republic, gave to Turks, which is to catch up with the Western civilian status. The EU is the most important contemporary civilisation level. And as we are continuing our reforms, we are ensuring that Turkey is becoming a better place to live in. A stronger and more stable ally for our European partners as well.

When does Turkey aspire to become an EU member? What date do you have in mind?

I am against giving dates. As I already said, we are a very patient nation. It took us 45 years to start negotiations.

Can you wait another 45 years?

I don’t think we can wait for another 45 years. I think the EU itself is a political union and it’s a political process, just as 18 million Eastern Germans became EU citizens overnight, without going to any negotiation, because there was a political need. The time will come for that great rendez-vous when 70 million Turks will become equal citizens of the EU. We just have to be prepared for that great rendez-vous. And that’s what I’m trying to do in my country – to increase the speed of the reforms, to make Turkey a better place for ourselves, and a ready place for our friends and allies in Europe.

If somebody says 2020 – is that a good proposal or a bad proposal?

I have to analyse the dynamics. I cannot say if it’s good or bad. It depends what’s attached to it.

But you didn’t say it’s a bad proposal?

I didn’t say it’s good either.

October 8, 2009
Violent Protests In Paris Greet Armenian President

France — Eiffel Tower, Paris in lights, 28Mar2009

02.10.2009

(AP) – Violent protests broke out Friday at the start of Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian’s tour of Armenian communities worldwide, with demonstrators in Paris shouting “traitor!” at him and decrying his plans to establish ties with Turkey.



Sarkisian embarked on the tour – which will also take him to the United States, Russia and Lebanon – to seek support for his landmark bid for diplomatic ties with Turkey after a century of enmity. But at least 200 protesters from the Armenian Diaspora in France showed up at a public appearance in Paris.



Riot police fought back belligerent demonstrators, a few dozen of whom shouted “No!” and punched riot shields. Police dragged several protesters away kicking and screaming. Sarkisian later put in a brief appearance, walking past protesters shouting through bullhorns.



The killing of up to 1.5 million Armenians under the Ottoman Empire has been the main barrier to reconciliation with Turkey. Armenians have long fought to persuade other governments to consider it a genocide. Turkey rejects the label and says the death toll is inflated.



The scuffles Friday erupted at a memorial event at a monument to an Armenian priest and composer targeted in the massacres. Earlier in the day, Sarkisian had lunch in Paris with crooner Charles Aznavour, one of France’s most famous Armenians, before meeting with members of the vocal Armenian community here, Sarkisian’s spokesman Samvel Farmanian said.



After Paris, Sarkisian is set to continue what is dubbed a “pan-Armenian tour” with visits to New York, Los Angeles, Beirut and Rostov-on-Don in Russia to discuss a planned meeting Oct. 10 when the Turkish and Armenian foreign ministers are expected to sign the deal to establish ties.



Armenians abroad – estimated at 5.7 million – outnumber the 3.2 million living in Armenia itself, the smallest of the ex-Soviet republics. The largest communities are in Russia (2 million), the United States (1.4 million), Georgia (460,000) and France (450,000), according to government data.

October 2, 2009
Poor Richard’s Report

Poor Richard’s Report

                                                                                                Over 300,150 readers

My Mission: God has uniquely designed me to seek, write, and speak the truth as I see it. Preservation of one’s wealth while providing needful income is my primary goal in these unsettled times. I have been given the ability to evaluate, study, and interpret world and national events and their influence on the future of the financial markets. This gift allows me to meet the needs of individual and institution clients. I evaluate situations first on a fundamental basis then try to confirm on a technical basis. In the past it has been fairly successful.

                             SPECIAL BULLITEN:

                             Our President is about to be Tested – Big Time

            The Middle East is about to blow sky high. We have now involved the UN Security counsel plus Germany (called P-5+1) to make Iran negotiate their nuclear weapons program. The due date is September 24, 2009. To make matters worse the President promised Israel that if they did not take military action with Iran, he would deliver crippling sanctions with Iran.

Big deal. What we withhold, China and Russia will deliver. This is now guts ball diplomacy that will reverberate across the whole world.

            Here is a scary and realistic scenario that could happen while everyone is concerned with what is going on in the kiddy pool of health care reform and economic recovery.

            ISRAEL will never, never allow itself to be at mortal risk. If and when their intelligence concludes the Iranians are close to getting a bomb, diplomacy will end. Russian expansionism has always been in the setting of somebody else’s war. Putin will ignite the match if he ever gets the chance. Imagine. They get Georgia without a contest, and open the door to secure Ukraine, and make trillions of Rubles selling “high test” to Europe after the Iranians close the Straits of Hormuz. It would stir up a real blizzard and they could retake the Baltic region while NATO is off figuring out how to get the gulf oil turned back on.

Buy GLD (NYSE-$99+) or CEF (NYSE-$13+) and top off your home fuel tanks.

Have a strong cash position also.

Richard C De Graff

256 Ashford Road

RER      Eastford Ct 06242

860-522-7171 Main Office

800-821-6665 Watts

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rdegraff@coburnfinancial.com

This report has been prepared from original sources and data which we believe reliable but we make no representation to its accuracy or completeness. Coburn & Meredith Inc. its subsidiaries and or officers may from time to time acquire, hold, sell a position discussed in this publications, and we may act as principal for our own account or as agent for both the buyer and seller.

September 17, 2009