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Category: EU Members

European Council decided to open accession negotiations with Turkey on 17 Dec. 2004

  • Banking crisis claims Belgo-Dutch giant

    Banking crisis claims Belgo-Dutch giant

    LEIGH PHILLIPS

    Today @ 09:27 CET

    The global banking crisis, born across the Atlantic, again sent waves crashing into Europe on Sunday (29 September) as the Belgian, Dutch and Luxemburg governments partly nationalised Belgo-Dutch banking and insurance giant Fortis in an €11.2 billion bailout.

    The move was announced on Sunday evening by Belgian Prime Minister Yves Leterme, following a marathon weekend of talks between the three governments and European Central Bank chair Jean-Claude Trichet.

       

    Belgo-Dutch bank Fortis is the latest recipient of tax-payer bailouts in the financial sector (Photo: Wikipedia)

    “We have taken up our responsibility, we did not abandon the savers,” Mr Trichet told reporters.

    The deal will see the Benelux governments purchase 49 percent of the bank’s operations in each of the three countries. Belgium is to take on the biggest load, offering €4.7 billion towards the acquisition, with the Netherlands paying €4 billion and Luxembourg €2.5 billion.

    The move comes after shares in Fortis plunged sharply in the last two weeks, losing more than a third of their value. Over the past year, shares in the bank – whose assets are many times larger than Belgium’s GDP – have lost some three quarters of their value.

    The Belgian and Dutch governments have also said they will guarantee 100 percent the deposits of clients. Normally in the two countries, only an initial €20,000 is guaranteed by the state.

    The governments had hoped to avoid any moves towards nationalisation of the bank and were attempting to piece together a purchase of Fortis – or at least part of it – by Dutch bank ING or BNP Paribas in France.

    Negotiations broke off with the two banking groups when the Benelux governments refused to accede to demands that they offer guarantees against future losses.

    Trouble at mill

    Meanwhile in the UK, the government is set to nationalise troubled West Yorkshire-based bank Bradford & Bingley, according to British press reports.

    The UK’s finance minister, Alistair Darling, has convinced Spanish bank Santander to purchase some 200 of Bradford & Bingley’s branches and €28 billion (£22 billion) in savings, while the UK government is take over €52 billion (£41 billion) of the bank’s mortgages, according to UK daily the Guardian.

    The move significantly expands Santander’s presence in the UK, as it already owns Abbey and is in the process of purchasing Alliance & Leicester.

    In Germany, troubles at lender Hypo Real Estate are also the subject of emergency talks between German banks and domestic authorities.

    A possible rescue of the Munich-based bank is under consideration, while Reuters – quoting an unnamed source close to the discussions – is reporting that the group has received a credit line of some €35 billion from a consortium of private and public-sector banks in the country.

  • Orthodox patriarch backs Turkey’s EU bid

    Orthodox patriarch backs Turkey’s EU bid

    BRUSSELS, Belgium: The spiritual leader of the world’s Orthodox Christians urged the European Union on Wednesday to take on Turkey as a member if it improves democratic and human rights standards.

    “Europe needs to bring Turkey into its project,” Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I told the European Parliament.

    “What I and the majority of the people of Turkey wish is full integration, full membership of the European Union, on condition that the criteria and preconditions that apply to all candidates are abided by,” he told a later news conference.

    Bartholomew, who is based in Istanbul, Turkey, is the spiritual leader of hundreds of millions of Orthodox Christians worldwide.

    He appealed to the EU not to make religious or cultural differences an obstacle to Turkish membership. Turkey’s population of 70 million is predominantly Muslim.

    “But I do not think that should be considered to be a stumbling block,” Bartholomew said. “We must not exclude from the European family somebody who simply has a different belief from us.”

    But he said Turkey needs to improve protection for religious minorities as part of wider human rights reforms. Bartholomew called in particular for Turkish authorities to allow the reopening of a Greek Orthodox seminary and return Church property.

    Turkey’s efforts to join the EU have long been hampered by disputes over democratic standards, human rights and the divided island of Cyprus.

    The EU insists religion is not an obstacle to Turkey joining, but opinion polls indicate many Europeans are wary about letting the country into the 27-nation bloc.

    Bartholomew gave his backing to talks between the president of Cyprus and the country’s breakaway Turkish north in order to end the island’s 34-year division.

    “We are very optimistic and very hopeful that this time the dialogue between the two communities will have a happy outcome,” he said.

    Source: International Herald Tribune, September 24, 2008

  • EU Schools’ initiative and change grant for Turkish Cypriot community

    EU Schools’ initiative and change grant for Turkish Cypriot community

    The second Call for Proposals under the EU “Schools’ Initiative for Innovation and Change” Grant Scheme will give grants of between EUR10.000 and EUR 50.000 to pre-primary, primary and secondary schools in the northern part of Cyprus. Overall, up to EUR 745.000 will be available. The grants are financed from the EUR 259 mln EU aid programme for the Turkish Cypriot community.

    The grant scheme will offer support to the modernisation of the Turkish Cypriot community’s education sector by funding a range of activities including, amongst others, training courses, study visits, upgrading of materials and equipment. The aim of such activities is to promote the development of modern teaching and learning methods, to raise the capacity of teachers, to improve the overall management of the educational system and to encourage networking between stakeholders.

    The grant scheme consists of two Strands: Strand A covers small-scale upgrading projects, whereas Strand B aims at long-term and capacity raising projects. Pre-primary, primary and secondary schools can jointly apply for activities under Strand A and B, if such partnership is considered as bringing an added value or higher cost-efficiency.

    The deadline for submission of proposals is 20 November 2008, 16:00 Central European Time (17:00 local time). A first round of training courses for interested schools will be organised in the beginning of October 2008. The exact time and location of the training sessions will be forwarded to all pre-, primary and secondary schools through local contact points.

    Source: www.financialmirror.com, September 23, 2008

  • book in german on turkish-european jews and the holocaust

    book in german on turkish-european jews and the holocaust

    From: erdalkaynar@gmx.net
    List Editor: Mark Stein <stein@MUHLENBERG.EDU>
    Editor’s Subject: H-TURK: book in german on turkish-european jews and the holocaust [E Kaynar]
    Author’s Subject: H-TURK: book in german on turkish-european jews and the holocaust [E Kaynar]
    Date Written: Mon, 22 Sep 2008 10:47:01 -0400
    Date Posted: Mon, 22 Sep 2008 10:47:01 -0400

     

    Guttstadt, Corry Cover: Die Türkei, die Juden und der Holocaust

ISBN 978-3-935936-49-1 | 520 Seiten | erschienen September 2008 | 26.00
€ / 46.00 sF | lieferbar

Zum Buch:
Ab 27. September 2008 im Buchhandel - Vorbestellungen sind möglich.

Die erste Generation türkischer Migranten in Westeuropa war
mehrheitlich jüdisch. 20 bis 30.000 Juden türkischer Herkunft lebten
während der Zwischenkriegszeit in verschiedenen europäischen Ländern,
wo sie eigene sephardische Gemeinden gründeten. Obwohl viele von ihnen
Opfer der Schoah wurden, wurden sie in der internationalen
Holocaustforschung bislang kaum berücksichtigt.

Die Autorin untersucht die wechselvolle Geschichte der Juden der
Türkei. Noch gegen Ende des 19. Jahrhunderts hatten die etwa 400.000
Juden des Osmanischen Reiches weltweit eine der größten und blühendsten
Gemeinden gestellt. Die Kriege zu Beginn des 20. Jahrhunderts sowie der
forcierte Nationalismus der neu entstehenden Nationalstaaten trieb viele
von ihnen in die Emigration. In zahlreichen europäischen Metropolen
entstanden türkisch-jüdische Gemeinden, die ihre eigenen kulturellen und
sozialen Strukturen hervorbrachten. Während des Nationalsozialismus
wurden viele ihrer Mitglieder Opfer der Judenverfolgung, obwohl sie als
Angehörige eines neutralen Staates speziellen Bedingungen unterlagen.

Das Buch geht dem Schicksal türkischer Juden in verschiedenen
europäischen Staaten unter der NS-Herrschaft nach. Besonderes
Augenmerk liegt dabei auf der widersprüchlichen Politik der Türkei, die
zwar einerseits verfolgten deutsch-jüdischen Wissenschaftlern und
Künstlern Exil gewährte, andererseits jedoch wenig unternahm, um ihre
im NS-Machtbereich befindlichen jüdischen Staatsbürger zu retten. Auch
innerhalb der Türkei wurden Juden durch eine Sondersteuer faktisch ihres
Besitzes beraubt, sodass die Mehrheit der verbliebenen Juden der Türkei
nach Gründung des Staates Israel dorthin emigrierte.

Das Buch schließt nicht nur eine wichtige Forschungslücke, sondern
erhält vor dem Hintergrund eines erstarkten Antisemitismus in der
Türkei sowie der Diskussion um das Holocaustgedenken in der
Migrationsgesellschaft eine besondere Aktualität.

„Nach unserer Kenntnis ist dies die wichtigste Arbeit über die
sephardischen Juden türkischen Ursprungs, die Opfer des Holocaust wurden“
(Michael Halévy).
  • Germany says U.S. to lose financial superpower status

    Germany says U.S. to lose financial superpower status

    By Noah Barkin Reuters

    BERLIN (Reuters) – Germany blamed the Anglo-Saxon capitalist model on Thursday for spawning the global financial crisis, saying the United States would lose its financial superpower status and have to accept greater market regulation.

    In unusually stark language, German Finance Minister Peer Steinbrueck told parliament the financial crisis would leave “deep marks” and proposed eight measures to address it, including a ban on speculative short-selling and an increase in bank capital requirements to offset credit risks.

    “The world will never be as it was before the crisis,” Steinbrueck, a deputy leader of the centre-left Social Democrats, told the Bundestag lower house.

    “The United States will lose its superpower status in the world financial system. The world financial system will become more multi-polar,” he said.

    Steinbrueck lay the blame for the crisis squarely on the United States and what he called an Anglo-Saxon drive for double-digit profits and massive bonuses for bankers and company executives.

    “Investment bankers and politicians in New York, Washington and London were not willing to give these up,” he said. “Wall Street will never be what it was.”

    The collapse of U.S. investment bank Lehman Brothers and financial woes of other financial institutions like insurer AIG has prompted the U.S. government to unveil a $700 billion rescue package for the country’s financial sector.

    Steinbrueck said it was neither necessary nor wise for Germany to replicate the U.S. plan for its own institutions.

    The German Bundesbank said earlier this week that the financial market turbulence would hit the earnings of Germany’s big commercial lenders, its publicly-owned Landesbanks and its cooperative banks.

    Tighter credit in the wake of the crisis could also constrain household consumption and corporate investment, increasing the likelihood the German economy will fall into recession this year.

    But Steinbrueck said German regulator Bafin believed German banks could cope with losses and ensure the safety of private savings.

    He said the crisis showed the need for a greater state role in setting the rules for markets and called the turmoil primarily an American problem.

    “The financial crisis is above all an American problem. The other G7 financial ministers in continental Europe share this opinion,” he said.

    “This system, which is to a large degree insufficiently regulated, is now collapsing — with far-reaching consequences for the U.S. financial market and considerable contagion effects for the rest of the world,” Steinbrueck added.

    (Reporting by Noah Barkin and Kerstin Gehmlich)

    Source: uk.news.yahoo.com, 24 September 2008

  • Spanish titles sell to Turkey, Middle East

    Spanish titles sell to Turkey, Middle East

    By Pamela Rolfe

    Sept 23, 2008, 10:22 AM ETSAN SEBASTIAN, Spain — In a first for Spanish product, Turkish production house Altioklar has picked up format rights to the hit Spanish series “7 Lives” for digital platform Digiturk, while Minema Media will make a Turkish version of “My Adorable Neighbors,” Spanish sales outfit Imagina International Sales announced Tuesday.

    Additionally, Imagina announced groundbreaking sales in the Middle East, with Sabbah Media picking up “Countdown” for Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Oman.

    All the shows are Globomedia productions, as are “Boarding School” and “Countdown,” which Vietnam’s VTC9 channel picked up ahead of MIPCOM to start airing in September.

    Source : The Hollywood Reporter