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Category: Middle East & Africa

  • Iran says new oil and gas deals more attractive

    Iran says new oil and gas deals more attractive

    TEHRAN, Aug 25 (Reuters) – Iran’s revised oil and gas development contracts offer more incentives to foreign firms and Turkey’s reservations about the deals reflect an initial lack of knowledge, the Iranian oil minister said on Monday.

    A Turkish Energy Ministry source said last week Turkey would not sign a natural gas accord with Iran until changes acceptable to global investors were made to so-called “buy-back” deals, which are often criticised by foreign firms.

    The gas deal was expected to have been signed when President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad visited Turkey earlier in August.

    “The Oil Ministry’s international agreements have made good progress. The modification of the buy-back contracts provides more incentives for foreign companies to participate in Iranian projects,” Oil Minister Gholamhossein Nozari said.

    He did not give details.

    “The Turks were not informed about the culture of the buy-back contracts. But with the negotiations that took place there (in Turkey), they were told the price ceiling of the contract is determined after carrying out tenders,” he said.

    His comments were made to journalists, according to the Oil Ministry’s news website SHANA.

    Turkey and Iran last year signed a preliminary accord on joint gas production and export under which Iranian gas would be exported to Europe through Turkey and Turkey would produce 20.4 billion cubic metres of natural gas in the South Pars gas field.

    The United States, which is seeking to isolate Iran in a row over Tehran’s nuclear ambitions, has opposed the deal.

    The Turkish ministry source said the proposed buy-back system created “serious risks” for Turkey in terms of pricing. Turkey wants to buy gas directly from the fields and wants Iran to give a guarantee on contributing towards investments.

    Under such buy-backs, firms generally hand over operations of fields to Iran after development and receive payment from oil or gas production for a few years to cover their investment.

    Iran says it is revising terms but has not given details.

    The Turkish source said the risks linked to the buy-back system included issues such as commodity price rises, financing costs, the lack of a production guarantee and insurance costs.

    Nozari dismissed the idea of production sharing deals, a form of oil contract found elsewhere. “Such contracts have been abolished in the world and less than 10 percent of oil production is done using this mode of contract,” he said.

    An Iranian oil official told Reuters this month Iran was negotiating a deal with Asian oil firms for two oil and gas blocks in the Caspian Sea and this could involve a production sharing contract, if parliament and the authorities agreed that the model was best for the high-cost Caspian area.

    Iran says a study has shown Iran’s Caspian region contains an estimated 21 billion barrels of oil and gas equivalent.

    “A number of wells have been drilled in the shallow parts of the Caspian Sea in order to determine commerciality but we have not received a definitive answer on that,” Nozari said, adding that seismological tests were also going ahead. (Reporting by Hashem Kalantari, writing by Edmund Blair)

  • Syria: we’ll host Russian missile system

    Syria: we’ll host Russian missile system


    AFP Photo / Vladimir Rodionov

     

    <I class=annotation>Syria says it’s ready to put a Russian missile system on its soil as a counterweight to U.S. plans to deploy a missile shield in Poland and the Czech Republic. The offer was made during a meeting between Syrian leader Bashar Al-Assad and President Dmitry Medvedev in the Black Sea resort of Sochi. Meanwhile, Moscow is considering a request from Syria for more Russian-made weapons.

    It was the first meeting between the two leaders, and President Al-Assad was keen to show Syria’s support for Russia.

    “We understand what is behind Russia’s position … We believe this is a response to Georgian provocation. We support Moscow in this and are against any attempts to blacken Russia,” Al-Assad said.
     
    Many expected a tit-for-tat response after the U.S. sealed a deal to deploy interceptors in Poland as a part of their missile defence system.

    Ahead of the visit, there were reports that Russia might deploy a missile system in Syria, in particular, the Iskander system. It’s something Syria has been requesting for a long time. After Friday’s meeting, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that Russia is ready “to consider the offers of the Syrian government in connection to the delivery of new weapons, only for defence purposes”.

    Moscow has temporarily suspended cooperation with NATO. It follows NATO’s criticism of Russia’s actions in South Ossetia and threats to shut down the NATO-Russia Council. Lavrov was clear on Russia’s course: “We are not going to slam the door on NATO. NATO could slam this door, though. Everything depends on NATO’s priorities: if the priorities are absolutely supportive of Saakashvili’s bankrupt regime to the detriment of partnership with Russia, then it is not our fault,” he said.
     
    Meanwhile, the withdrawal of Russian troops from the conflict zone is well under way. There will be at least 500 peacekeepers deployed in the so-called security zone near the border. The rest of the peacekeepers will remain within the de facto borders of South Ossetia. The rest of the troops in the area will return to Russia.

    Russia says it’s fully committed to the six principles of the cease-fire, but, according to Lavrov, some countries are resorting to diplomatic tricks.

    Both South Ossetia and Abkhazia, Georgia’s two separatist regions, have again asked Moscow to recognise their independence.

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  • GÜLEN, KÜÇÜK, AND THE EDUCATION OF SOUTH KURDISTAN

    GÜLEN, KÜÇÜK, AND THE EDUCATION OF SOUTH KURDISTAN

    Asagidaki yazi Kurt kokenli bir siteden, ilginc aciklamalar var..
    MeltemB
     

    Saturday, August 23, 2008

     

    “Gulen gave a new decree and a new kind of mobilization to assimilate Kurds and to steal their minds by injecting religious ideology and by causing them to sell their birthright.”
    ~ Aland Mizell.

    At the beginning of the month, I posted some news about the Ergenekon gang that had been published in Taraf. At the time, I mentioned that the nexus of the Ergenekon indictment could be found in a weirdo named Tuncay Güney:

    It would appear, however, that the lies surrounding the issue of “The Antidote” stem from Tuncay Güney, a one-time, small-time journalist in whose possession the original Ergenekon documents were found in 2001. Güney has been linked to Fethullah Gülen and Gülen’s Samanyolu TV. Güney claims to have brought the photos of Öcalan and Perinçek to MİT. He claims to have taken a bribe of $15,000 to PKK in order not to shut down Gülen’s schools in Hewler, although how PKK would have had any control over anything in Hewler is a huge question. Perhaps the KDP took the bribe by introducing themselves as PKK members? Güney also claıms to have delivered money from Fethullah Gülen to ultra-fascist Muhsin Yazıcıoğlu so that he could establish the BBP. 

    Zaman has some additional weird tidbits about Güney:

    “Meanwhile, in an interview with the Yeni Şafak daily, Tuncay Güney, a former journalist whose ties with various secret services, both domestic and international, have been documented, stated that Kurdish separatist terrorism would come to an end if the Ergenekon gang wanted that to happen. Güney, who now lives in Canada and works as a rabbi, has suspected ties to the group. Güney came to prominence when the first documents related to the Ergenekon gang were seized on his computer in a 2001 police raid.

    “Güney, currently a rabbi at the Jacobs House Jewish Community Center in Toronto, praised Ergenekon prosecutor Zekeriya Öz for having “done a great job” so far in the investigation, although he expressed doubts that the operation would be very successful in the end. “However, they are very close to the end and I think it is very difficult moving on further from this point. There is no power in Turkey that can stop Ergenekon,” he said, expressing doubts that the investigation will bring about the collapse of the crime group.”

    A check of YouTube reveals that Güney does, in fact, appear to be a member of an Orthodox Jewish community in Toronto, although he now denies any connection with Fethullah Gülen, as his appearance on Mehmet Ali Birand’s 32. Gün indicates. If the first Ergenekon documents were found in Güney’s possession, why has he not been indicted? Did he cut a deal and, if so, what kind of deal was it? Is his life now, in an Orthodox Jewish community in Toronto some kind of strange “witness protection” program?

    Now, there’s more from Güney on the connectıon between the Ergenekon gang, Fethullah Gülen, and Gülen’s schools in South Kurdistan, from Milliyet:
    Küçük knows Gülen for a long time 

    Güney, in his statement in 2001, claims that he and Mehmet Demircan, an important name in Fethullah Gülen’s movement, spent intense efforts to gain Küçük into the movement and that the two [Gülen and Küçük] knew each other for a long time.

    Tuncay Güney’s statement in 2001, which he gave to Istanbul police, is one of the most fundamental pieces of evidence that Ergenekon prosecutor Zekeriya Öz, is working on. In this statement, Tuncay Güney gave a detailed explanation of Fethullah Gülen’s movement. In the Ergenekon indictment’s 442nd file, there are interesting claims that Güney made. Here, Güney claims that, since the 1970s, Fethullah Gülen knew retired Brigadier General Veli Küçük, who is under arrest in the Ergenekon case, from the right-wing National Struggle Movement (MMH). Güney explained that he learned that Küçük and Fethullah Gülen knew each other for a long time, while he and one of Gülen’s prominent members, Mehmet Demircan, made efforts to gain Küçük to the movement.

    “All of them are strugglers for nationalism”

    When Tuncay Güney was detained in 2001 for by Istanbul police for fraud, he was working for Samanyolu TV, which is linked to the Fethullah Gülen movement. In the statement he gave to police while under interrogation, he pointed out that taking advantage of his position, he had the possibility to meet with important names in Fethullah Gülen’s movement.

    Within this framework, Güney mentions that he and Demircan tried to gain, the then active duty Veli Küçük, for the movement. “When we gain him, we will be more powerful in the eyes of Fethullah Gülen,” Güney says.

    Again, referring to Demircan, Tuncay Güney ascribed the information that Gülen knew Veli Küçük from the National Strugglers’ Movement. “Look at all of Fethullah Gülen’s members; they are all National Strugglers,” he said.

    Support for Gülen’s schools

    In his statement, Güney said that Veli Küçük helped Fethullah Gülen to open a school in Northern Iraq [South Kurdistan]. According to Güney’s statement, they had stopped in Diyarbakır, where they were on the way to Erbil, in order to open private Irbil Light College. There (in Diyarbakır), they called Veli Küçük to let him know they were there, thus Jandarma Regional Commander Eşref Hatipoğlu met them. Hatipoğlu sent Güney and Gülen’s members to Silopi in a military helicopter. From there, the group passed to Nehciban (there he means Neçirvan) and talked to Barzani and Talabani.

    “Veli Küçük’s teacher collared Erdoğan”

    Güney also made a statement about field officer Necabettin Ergenekon’s involvement with Gülen’s movement. According to Güney, Necabettin Ergenekon was Küçük’s teacher. According to Güney’s claims, Necabettin Ergenekon had talks with R. Tayyip Erdoğan, then the Refah Partisi (RP) Istanbul chairman. In one of these talks, Ergenekon caught Erdoğan by the collar and shook him. According to Guney’s statement, Erdoğan, in RP’s Tepebaşı office, was having a discussion with Necabettin Ergenekon about pan-Islamism. Then Ergenekon became nervous and grabbed Erdoğan by the collar saying, “This is bullshit, Tayyip; there won’t be pan-Islamism if there isn’t Turkism.”

    Güney said that the person who introduced him to Veli Küçük, was Veli Küçük’s teacher, Ergenekon. “The field officer in Izmit (Veli Küçük), is my student. I’ll take you and introduce you to him” said Ergenekon according to Güney.

    It was claimed that Küçük had named the Ergenekon organization after his teacher’s last name.

    He spied for Eymür about Gülen

    In his statement, Güney said that when he was in Fethullah Gülen’s movement, he was regularly informing MİT chairman Mehmet Eymür’s staff. Güney said, “When I was working there, Mehmet Eymür’s men would come and get information periodically . . . Besides this information, they were asking about the hot issues in the movement anyway.”

    In February, as war preparations against South Kurdistan were underway, Nêçîrvan Barzanî and the KRG gave the go-ahead for the foundation of a new Gülen university in Hewlêr. 

    There was no mention of anyone having given PKK a $15,000 bribe in connection with this Gülen enterprise, but that may be because any bribes would actually be given to the cehş of the KRG who are only too happy to contribute to the destruction of the Kurdish people for a price.

  • Turkish-Iranian energy ties deepen

    Turkish-Iranian energy ties deepen

    By JOHN C.K. DALY, UPI International Correspondent 

    Published: Aug. 21, 2008 at 5:52 PM

    WASHINGTON, Aug. 21 (UPI) — The repercussions of Russia’s reassertion of power within what it deems its “sphere of influence” in “the near abroad” continue to ripple throughout Eastern Europe, the Balkans and the Caucasus. Washington’s increasingly strident rhetoric over the Russian-Georgian conflict over South Ossetia is having repercussions from Prague through Warsaw to Kiev, as governments scramble to assess the fallout from the dispute.

    Edging closer into Washington’s orbit, Poland has agreed to base 10 U.S. anti-ballistic interceptor missiles and the Czech Republic its complementary radar facility by 2011-2013 to complete a system with components already situated in the United States, Greenland and Britain. While the Bush administration avers that the system is designed to intercept rogue missile launches from renegade states such as Iran, the Kremlin fiercely maintains that geography alone plainly shows the system’s anti-Russian intent and that, along with incorporating former Eastern European and former Soviet republics within NATO, it is an American-led attempt to encircle Russia.

    Even more infuriating to Moscow, earlier this week Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko, following Russia’s unilateral abrogation earlier this year of a 1992 agreement with Ukraine on the use of Ukraine’s two Soviet-era missile early warning system tracking stations, issued a decree ending Ukrainian participation in the accord and made an offer of the two stations for “active cooperation with European nations.”

    If Eastern Europe has been traumatized by the recent display of Russia’s military might, with Ukraine and Georgia seeing possible NATO membership as the surest guarantor of their security further east, another stalwart NATO member is carefully evaluating Russia’s other rising influence — energy. As Turkey re-evaluates Eurasia’s changing political and economic landscape, Washington in its eagerness to confront Russia may see another of its cherished foreign policy tenets, that of blockading Iran with sanctions, weakened, perhaps fatally.

    Since the 1979 Iranian Revolution overthrew the Shah, it has been a core tenet of U.S. foreign policy to contain the Islamic Republic of Iran, currently enshrined in the 1996 Iran-Libya Sanctions Act. Expanding Washington’s reach, ILSA threatened even non-U.S. countries and companies with possible sanctions if they invested more than $20 million in developing Iran’s energy resources.

    For Turkey, which imports 90 percent of its energy supply, the Washington dictum of “happiness is multiple pipelines” is a stark reality, however much Washington loathes the mullahcracy in Tehran. Turkey does not have the luxury of allowing “pipeline politics” to trump its national energy security policies, as its current choice of major natural gas suppliers is stark — Russia or Iran, while waiting for Azerbaijan to ramp up production. Highlighting the vulnerability of regional pipelines to conflict, the fighting in South Ossetia halted Azeri oil shipments through Georgia.

    Iran, which contains the world’s second-largest gas reserves, currently provides nearly one-third of Turkey ‘s domestic demand, while Russian energy giant Gazprom provides 63.7 percent of Turkey’s imports, primarily via the Black Sea undersea Blue Stream pipeline, with smaller volumes coming from Azerbaijan. Much to Washington’s annoyance, in 1996 Turkey signed a contract with Iran for natural gas deliveries, which began in December 2001 via a pipeline from Tabriz to Ankara. Five years later the South Caucasus pipeline, also known as the Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum natural gas pipeline, opened; with an annual capacity of 8.8 billion cubic meters, BTE carries Azeri Caspian natural gas to Turkey via Georgia.

    In June Turkey’s Devlet Planlama Teskilati (State Planning Organization) prepared a comprehensive projection for Turkey’s economy covering 2009-2011, which included measures to ensure Turkey’s long-term energy supply security and accorded top priority to decreasing Turkey’s dependency on imported natural gas. In the interim, however, given the vulnerability of Azeri imports because of the unsettled nature of current Georgian-Russian relations and the apparent unpredictability of the Kremlin, Ankara is deepening its ties with Tehran, however much Washington disapproves. On July 29 Iranian Petroleum Minister Gholamhossein Nozari said in Tehran that Turkey and Iran are negotiating over Turkey being a transit corridor for Iranian natural gas exports to Europe and that Iran will provide increased amounts of natural gas to Turkey during the winter.

    Nor is Turkey limiting its interest in Iranian energy purely to transit policies: In July 2007 Ankara signed a deal with Iran to develop three gas projects in its giant South Pars offshore gas field in the Persian Gulf as well as to build two pipelines to transport an estimated 30 billion cubic meters of Iranian and Turkmen gas annually through Turkey for resale to Europe. The 3,745-square-mile Persian Gulf South Pars-North Dome gas condensate field, straddling Iranian and Qatari territorial waters, is the world’s largest gas field, containing an estimated 51 trillion cubic meters of natural gas, 50 billion barrels of condensate and reserves equivalent to 360 billion barrels of oil.

    The next result of such activity has been a rapid increase in bilateral trade; in 2007 bilateral Turkish-Iranian trade exceeded $8 billion, a 19.5-percent increase over 2006.

    In case Washington was inclined to shake its sanctions stick at Ankara in the wake of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s two-day visit to Turkey last week, Turkish President Abdullah Gul hailed the visit as “fruitful and helpful” and added, “Expansion of relations on a regional level seems quite natural for Turkey, and it is not important what other states think of it; Turkey cares for its own interests. Turkey will establish good ties with its neighbors with an aim of stability and security in the region.” Underlining Turkey’s commitment to improving its energy ties with Iran, Turkish Energy Minister Hilmi Guler will pay a return visit to Iran within the next two weeks.

    Gul tersely summed up Ankara’s concerns in his closing remarks: “We are an independent country. Here we eye our country’s interests. … We have to make investments for the (energy) supply security of Turkey.” In the 21st century, keeping your electorate warm trumps alliance politics every time.

  • Turkey denies searching for Africa’s raw materials

    Turkey denies searching for Africa’s raw materials

    afrol News, 22 August – The chairman of the newly established Africa-Turkey Chamber of Commerce has dispelled the notion that Turkey is coming to Africa in search of raw materials.Riftat Hisarchikloglu, who uttered the remarks at the end of a three-day Turkish-African summit in Istanbul on Thursday, declared, “We are not coming to Africa for raw materials and in search of a supermarket, we are interested in lending our manufacturing expertise to Africa.”

    Rather, he said, Turkey’s main interest is to exchange competencies and technologies with Africa.

    Mr. Rifat also said Turkey proposes to ease access of African products to the world market as well as favour its development and stability.

    Africa-Turkey adopted the Istanbul Declaration, establishing partnership between Turkey and more than 50 African states on a wide range of issues.

    The leaders resolved that through Turkish International Cooperation and Development Agency [which already has offices in Senegal, Sudan and Ethiopia], Turkey should open more offices in Africa to carry out some development projects.

    The declaration seeks to aims to stimulate investments and trade between Turkey and Africa as well as promote greater cooperation on disarmament, collaborate on legal matters to ensure peace and stability.

    They also commit themselves to strengthen diplomatic, bilateral and multimateral meetings.

    Turkey and African states also recognised and agreed to facilitate the private sector as a critical tool for economic growth, and direct special focus towards the devlopment of agriculture, agro-processing, manufacturing, water resources and small and medium scale enterprises as a means of wealth creation for both sides.

    Mr. Rifat said through a paradigm shift in economic management, Turkey, a struggling economy only 20 years back, was able to pull itself out of poverty becoming the 15th largest economy in the world and the 5th biggest in Europe.

    “We were closed economy but when we opened up and welcomed the world to Turkey, our economy boomed,” he said, adding that Turkish goods are consumed all over Europe and America.

    By staff writer

    Source : afrol News

  • Turkey seeks to invest in Africa

    Turkey seeks to invest in Africa

    Musyoka represented the country during the signing of the agreement which seeks to promote Turkish investments in Africa

    Vice President Mr. Kalonzo Musyoka on Wednesday witnessed the signing of an agreement establishing the Africa Turkey Chamber of Commerce and Industry, which seeks to promote Turkish Investment and enhance trade in Africa.”We are not coming to Africa for raw materials and in search of a Supermarket, we are interested in lending our manufacturing expertise to Africa”, declared Mr. Riftat Hisarcikloglu Chairman of the Turkey Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

    The Vice President was among several African leaders who were hosted for a business breakfast with the CEOs of 100 leading Turkey Companies and their country’s leader Mr. Abdullah Gul.

    Mr. Rifat said Turkey was a struggling economy only 20 years ago but through a paradigm shift in economic management, it was able to pull itself out of poverty becoming the 15th largest economy in the world and the 5th biggest in Europe.

    “We were closed economy but when we opened up and welcomed the world to Turkey, our economy boomed” he said.

    Turkey goods are now consumed all over Europe and America, while Turkish contractors last year earned 20 billion from contracts on Sea Ports, Airport and Roads construction around the world.

    “This is exciting for Kenya. For a long time we have been searching for investors who are able to add value for our raw materials by setting up manufacturing bases in Kenya”, said the VP

    “With the signing of this agreement, we will be able to attract investment in agro-processing textile manufacturing, mining and energy (coal etc) and ICT” he added.

    “Turkey has significant experience in a value addition Technologies in Agro-business, water and textile, as well as in mediation for large scale manufacturing, that is why we have gone in to this strategies partnership” he said.

    The three day Turkey- Africa Cooperation Heads of State and Government concluded on Thursday with the adoption of the Istanbul Declaration establishing Partnership between Turkey and Africa on a wide range of issues.

    Musyoka represented the country at the meeting held in Istanbul-Turkey.

    The leaders resolved that Turkey, through Turkish International Cooperation and Development Agency (TIKA),(which already has offices in Senegal, Sudan and Ethiopia,) will open more offices in Africa to carry out some development projects.

    The declaration also calls for the exchange of high level visits and regular inter-governmental dialogue.

    On trade and investments, the summit pledged to create a favourable legal framework for doing business as well as protecting investments.

    They also recognized and agreed to facilitate the private sector as a critical tool for economic growth.

    Special focus will be directed towards the development of Agriculture, Agro-processing, manufacturing, water resources and Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs) as a means of wealth creation in Africa and Turkey.