Turkish Forum

Category: Regions

  • U.S. warship enters Black Sea, Turkey rules out Montreux breach

    U.S. warship enters Black Sea, Turkey rules out Montreux breach

    U.S. destroyer USS McFaul bound for the Black Sea Saturday passed through the Turkish straits for the second time in a month. Turkish foreign minister said the passage was made in line with the Montreux Convention.

    The guided-missile destroyer USS McFaul had sailed back through the Turkish straits toward the Aegean Sea earlier this month, after it delivered humanitarian aid for Georgia.

    However, the second passage of the McFaul in a month raised question marks about whether the passage breached the Montreux Convention, which governs international traffic through the Bosporus and Dardanelles straits.

    Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan said later on Saturday the traffic through the straits has been running in accordance with the convention.

    The 1936 Montreux Convention allows foreign vessels to stay in the Black Sea for only 21 days.

    The destination of the warship, USS McFaul, is unknown.

    Source : Hurriyet

  • President Bush Meets with President Talabani of Iraq

    President Bush Meets with President Talabani of Iraq

    Wednesday, September 10, 2008
    President Bush met with the Big Sister of the Year at the White House. Later, President Bush met with Iraqi President Jalal Talabani to discuss progress in his country, where violence is down to its lowest point since the spring of 2004. Civilian deaths are down, sectarian killings are down, suicide bombings are down, and normal life is returning to communities across the country. The Iraqi government has passed budgets and major pieces of legislation.

    President Bush Meets with President Talabani of Iraq

    • In Focus: Iraq
    • In Focus: Global Diplomacy
  • Armenia to Supply Electric Power to Turkey

    Armenia to Supply Electric Power to Turkey

    Azerbaijan, Baku, 12 September /Trend Capital/ Yerevan will supply electric power to Turkey via Kars on the basis of the agreement signed between the Armenian Energy Company and Turkeyїs Unit company, Iranїs IRIB News reported.

    In conformity with the contract, Armenia will export 1.5bln KW/hour of power to Turkey at the initial stage, but the amount will further double.

    Armenian Energy Minister Armen Movsisyan said to journalists that his country was ready to export power to Turkey, but Ankara had requested a delay for preparation.

    Turkey will import 1 KW/hour of power for 5.7 cents. Representatives of Unit, which is engaged in power purchase/sale, were included into Turkish delegation during the visit of Turkish President Abdullah Gul to Yerevan.

    Trend Capital : Armenia to Supply Electric Power to Turkey.

  • Lousy Timing Could Overshadow Turkey’s Logical Caucasus Solution

    Lousy Timing Could Overshadow Turkey’s Logical Caucasus Solution

    Within days of the start of full-scale hostilities last month between Georgia and Russia, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan floated the idea of a Caucasus stability pact modeled on a 1999 Balkan agreement.

    But the diverging geopolitical and economic interests of the proposed five members and the ambiguous status of Georgia’s breakaway republics of South Ossetia and Abkhazia constitute seemingly insurmountable obstacles to such an alliance.

    As outlined by Erdogan, the proposed Caucasus Stability and Cooperation Pact would bring together Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Russia, and Turkey. His stated intention of discussing the initiative with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon suggests that he envisaged the UN assuming the role of “patron” in the same way as the European Union did for the 1999 Balkan Stability Pact, which came in the wake of the Kosovo conflict.

    Turkish President Abdullah Gul endorsed Erdogan’s proposal one day later, on August 12, saying the Caucasus pact would be “important for stability in the region” and could encompass a mechanism for addressing and resolving problems, presumably before they escalated into violence.

    There are, however, several fundamental differences between the Balkans in 1999 and the South Caucasus in 2008. In 1999, the countries of Southeastern Europe, including the Yugoslav success

    EurasiaNet Eurasia Insight – Lousy Timing Could Overshadow Turkey’s Logical Caucasus Solution.

  • UN envoy cautiously optimistic on Cyprus peace talks_English_Xinhua

    UN envoy cautiously optimistic on Cyprus peace talks_English_Xinhua

    NICOSIA, Sept. 12 (Xinhua) — UN Secretary General’s special advisor on Cyprus expressed on Friday his optimism about the newly launched substantive negotiations aimed at reunifying the east Mediterranean island.

    Alexander Downer, the former Australian Foreign Minister, however, stressed that there was no doubt that this would be a very difficult process after all.

    “There has not been any successful conclusion to the Cyprus problem for many years, therefore it is not going to be a simple and easy process,” Downer told a press conference.

    He described the atmosphere of the first substantive talks on Thursday between the Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders as “good, friendly” and the negotiations are “productive.”

    Cyprus President Demetris Christofias, a Greek Cypriot, and Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat met for more than four hours on the issues of governance and power-sharing.

    Downer added that he was encouraged by what he had heard not only from separate discussions he had with the two leaders and other political party representatives in Cyprus, but also from his meetings he recently held with officials in Greece and Turkey.

    UN envoy cautiously optimistic on Cyprus peace talks_English_Xinhua.

  • Work on Iran-Armenia pipeline concludes

    Work on Iran-Armenia pipeline concludes

    YEREVAN, Armenia, Sept. 12 (UPI) — Construction on a natural gas pipeline from Iran to Armenia to transport 81 billion cubic feet of gas has been concluded, Armenian energy officials said Friday.

    Armenian Energy Minister Armen Movsisyan said the pipeline is important to secure energy supplies for his country, noting testing would commence in the coming days, Trend Capital News said.

    “The opening of the Iranian-Armenian pipeline will guarantee the energy safety of Armenia,” he said. “Armenia will receive from 2.3 billion to 2.5 billion cubic meters of gas from Tehran through this pipeline a year.”

    Movsisyan added the Armenian government was entering into trilateral talks with Iran and Russia on the construction of an oil refinery and examinations of a new oil pipeline.

    The planned $2.5 billion Armenian refinery would have the capacity to produce around 50 million barrels of oil per year.