Turkish Forum English

Category: Syria

  • EU not doing its part to fight PKK, Turkish PM says

    EU not doing its part to fight PKK, Turkish PM says

    ANKARA – The Anatolia News Agency

    The Turkish prime minister on Saturday criticized European countries for not extending sufficient assistance and support to Turkey in countering terrorism.

    Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said European countries that appear to be Turkey’s friends have not fulfilled the requirements of that friendship.

    “Their [the terrorist organization’s] financial resources are mainly coming from Europe, as well as is their income from illicit drug trafficking and human trafficking,” Erdoğan told a televised interview.

    Erdoğan said Germany had never behaved sincerely, nor had France, Belgium or the Netherlands. “I have told ambassadors from these European countries that they would get Turkey’s help if they faced a similar problem, because a joint fight against terrorism is obligatory. Unfortunately Turkey has not seen that support,” he said.

    Erdoğan said Turkey would continue to implement the trilateral mechanism with Iraq and the United States to combat terrorism and attached great importance to the initiatives of the Supreme Board of Counter Terrorism.

    Turkey was closely monitoring Iraq’s reconstruction and efforts to form a new government, he said. Erdoğan underlined the importance of relations with Iraq because the region needed peace, stability and order.

    The prime minister also highlighted the importance of relations with northern Iraq and said the presence of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, there was threatening stability in the region. “Therefore, there are some decisions and steps we have to take with the United States and the Iraqi administration,” he said.

    Erdoğan said there was also a PKK problem in Syria and Iran, and therefore Turkey, Iran, Syria and Iraq should create a regional solidarity agreement. The prime minister also said almost 2.5 million people would be employed when the Southeastern Anatolia Project, or GAP, and Eastern Anatolia Project, or DAP, were completed.

    www.hurriyetdailynews.com, August 29, 2010

  • More Arab tourists visit Turkey after abolishing visa requirements

    More Arab tourists visit Turkey after abolishing visa requirements

    Arab Tourists in Turkey(DP-News-World Bulletin)

    Abolishing visa requirements with some countries has driven an exceptional rise in the number of tourists to Turkey, particularly from Arab countries such as Syria, Lebanon and Libya, recent data revealed.

    According to data the Tourism Investors Association (TYD) shared with Cihan News Agency, the overall number of tourists from Arab countries to Turkey has risen by almost 50 percent in the first six months of this year over the same period of 2009, a direct result of recently improving relations with countries in the region.

    Speaking about the increasing interest of Arab tourists in Turkey, TYD President Turgut Gur says people from Middle Eastern countries tend to prefer vacation hubs such as Istanbul and Antalya; however, the Black Sea region is gradually becoming more popular with these same Arab tourists.

    “There has been a remarkable increase in the number of Arab tourists visiting Turkey particularly after the elimination of visa requirements with some countries in the region. One can assume that Arab tourists feel more comfortable in Turkey than in any European country or in the US due to certain cultural and religious similarities,” he suggested.

    Along with the elimination of visa requirements, the government’s recent interactions with Israel, due to the ongoing Gaza blockade, and the spread of Turkish soap operas among the Arab population, via satellite TV, has created a positive image for Turkey in the region.

    According to Gur the existing Arab tourist potential for Turkey could certainly increase even more if Turkey knows how to “take advantage of it.” “We need to improve our relationship with Arab tourists with such incentives as employing more Arabic-speaking people in tourism facilities,” he suggested. Gur had earlier said he expects the number of Arab tourists to reach 1 million this year.

    Businesses attune themselves to Arab tourists’ preferences
    Having seen the growing interest in and curiosity about Turkey, tour operators, hotel owners and business owners are looking to hire new employees who can speak Arabic as they want to provide better service and attract as many as Arab tourists as they can, Cuneyt Mengu, the owner of the Mercan tourism agency says. He remarked, “We see that businesses are trying to prepare themselves for this new trend in the Turkish tourism market.”

    Some shops include product labels in Arabic, while restaurants are preparing menus to suit the tastes of Arab customers. In a unique example, following the recent flocking of Arab tourists to the region, the Trabzon Governor’s Office earlier started a program to train people who can speak Arabic to work at tourist facilities on the city’s Uzungol Plateau, famous for its scenic lake, as well as fresh fish and green scenery. Some Arab entrepreneurs are even considering buying land to build new hotels in the region, stated officials.

    “Most Arab tourists that we have served in the past,” Mengu continues, “say they are happy to see people speaking Arabic in Turkey.” Noting that they are happy with the current interest from Arabs, Mengu says their company enjoyed a 15 percent increase in the number of Arab tourists in first six months over the same period of last year.

    “We believe the market will see an increase in this number by the end of the year. I call on Turkish entrepreneurs to make good use of such potential,” he added.

    Turkish Association of Travel Agents (TURSAB) President Basaran Ulusoy said that Turkey’s potential to attract Arab tourists should be capitalized upon since “these people stay for relatively longer and spend more than average.”

    “Turkey is one of the safest and most attractive vacation destinations for the Arab world. Geographical proximity is one other advantage for us,” he said. According to Ulusoy Turkish travel agents have been successful in hosting Arab tourists by using effective advertising campaigns.

    , 11/07/2010

  • Syria Jails 400 in Crackdown on PKK

    Syria Jails 400 in Crackdown on PKK

    by Avi Yellin

    Turkey’s state news agency Anatolian reported on Thursday that Syrian security forces have detained 400 people in five cities as part of an extensive operation against the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

    Turkey has sought the support of its neighbors in the region and of the United States in its attempts to suppress Kurdish guerrillas [(sic.) terrorists in UK, EU and USA] , who have succeeded in killing more than 50 Turkish occupation soldiers in the last two months of escalating resistance. (For US position, click here).

    […]

    , 02.07.2010

  • US Warns Turkey to Stop Playing Both Sides

    US Warns Turkey to Stop Playing Both Sides

    Philip Gordon
    Philip Gordon, US Diplomat on EU Affairs

    On June 11, Turkey and Brazil both voted against further sanctions on Iran, a disappointing vote to the Obama Administration. On one hand, Turkey has applied to join the EU and is now a member of NATO, long hailed to be one of the only Muslim countries with a democracy and a western outlook. On the other hand Turkey has been strengthening ties with Iran. Turkey imports a significant portion of its natural gas from Iran and a Turkish company helped build the airport in Teheran. Turkey’s philosophy has changed, Turkey wants to play a significant role in regional relations. In order for that to occur it needs to develop its credibility with nations such as Syria and Iran.

    One way to accomplish that is to “play hardball” at the U.N. Turkey was of course aware of the fact that its vote would not prevent the sanctions resolution from passing but a negative vote would be appreciated by Iran. Another way is to minimize its relationship with Israel. And indeed, Erdogan’s administration that supported the flotilla to Israel eventually used its outcome to do so.

    US recognizes that Turkey is currently playing both sides, as Gordon added:

    “There is a lot of questioning going on about Turkey’s orientation and its ongoing commitment to strategic partnership with the United States,” he said. “Turkey, as a NATO ally and a strong partner of the United States not only didn’t abstain but voted no, and I think that Americans haven’t understood why.”

    www.worldofjudaica.com, Jun 26, 2010

  • Israel Launches Spy Satellite

    Israel Launches Spy Satellite

    The Israeli government has launched a spy satellite apparently capable of monitoring Iran. The Horizon-9 satellite was launched this week from a southern Israeli military base. The launch comes shortly after the former head of Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency said Israel should launch a military attack on Iran. Speaking to an Israeli conference, Shabtai Shavit said, “Since there is an ongoing war, since the threat is permanent, since the intention of the enemy…is to annihilate you, the right doctrine is one of preemption and not of retaliation.”

  • In Kurdistan (sic.), Mossad is is an embarassment to Washington

    In Kurdistan (sic.), Mossad is is an embarassment to Washington

    by G. M.
    Resumed after the war which drove Saddam Hussein out of power in Baghdad in 2003, the secret security co-operation between Israelis and Iraqi Kurds was put to a crushing stop these last few months, under Washington’s influence.
    After Jalal Talabani’s (the Kurdish leader) nomination to the presidency of
    the Republic of Iraq in spring 2005, “a conflict of interest appeared
    between the two allies”, estimates an expert in Middle East safety. “In
    order not to be criticized by the Shiites and the sunnites,” he adds, “the
    new Head of the State Talabani could not allow the further development of a
    relationship that is condemned by the immense majority of the Iraqis. The
    Kurdish two-sided-game was stopped.” Since then, some of the Israeli agents
    are believed to have left the north of Iraq. Apparently, there would remain
    only one hundred of them, and Israeli businessmen practically only act
    through Kurdish or Jordanian intermediaries.
    The conflict had however helped to tighten the partnership between Mossad,
    the Israeli secret service, and the Kurdish leadership, who combined their
    effort in thirty years struggle against the nationalist regime of Baghdad.
    Israel wanted to support the Kurds’ federal aspirations and contain the
    Iranian influence over Iraq. “After the hostilities, the Israelis, anxious
    to see thousands of so-called Iranian pilgrims entering Iraq, tried in vain
    to convince the Americans to close the border between Iran and Iraq”,
    explains Patrick Clawson, deputy manager of the American research center
    “The Washington Institute for Near East Policy”. But the United States,
    willing to preserve their relationship with their Iraqi Shiites allies,
    refused to act.
    The Israelis then decided to take matters in their own hand. In Erbil and Souleymanieh, Israeli instructors, often disguised as businessmen, were charged to improve the training of the pechmergas, the Kurdish militiamen. Beginning of 2004, approximately 1,200 agents either from Mossad or from the Israeli military intelligence operated in Kurdistan, according to French
    military estimates. Their mission was to set up sufficiently strong Kurdish commandos that could effectively counter the Shiites militia in the South of Iraq (that are more or less manipulated by Teheran), in particular that of the troublemaker Moqtada Al-Sadr. The Kurdish leaders returned the favor by making positive declarations. Last 6 June, Massoud Barzani, of the democratic Party of Kurdistan, estimated that a relation with Israel “is not a crime since the majority of the Arab countries maintain the relationship” with the Hebrew State.
    Kurdistan’ mountains have always been filled with spies. “The presence of many people in this area, autonomous since 1991, makes it possible to the Israelis to recruit agents which will infiltrate other organizations“, declared the former boss of a European intelligence service. Today, the Kurdish priority to infiltrate the new Iraqi army, directed by one of their own, serves the Israeli interests. Through its alliance with the Iraqi Kurds, the Hebrew State has reinforced its monitoring on Iran and Syria, its two great enemies in the Middle East. But Israeli actions ended up disturbing Washington. “We’ve received strong pressure from Washington to stop our operations with the Kurds”, said an Israeli sent to Erbil under cover of being a student. “the Americans do not agree any more with the Israeli plans”, he affirms. Washington does not seem to tolerate anymore this presence that threathens its interests.

    Le Figaro International, 28 Sept 2005