Category: Regions

Turks hope Israeli apology for flotilla raid sparks tourism boom

AFP – The air-clearing apologies were both made and accepted.

Now, Turkey’s tourism industry is holding its breath and hoping that Israel’s apology for a deadly 2010 raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla will translate into a new love affair that will bring Israeli holidaymakers back to its beach resorts.

“After the apology, I think we’ll reach 500,000 (Israeli) tourists this year,” said Timur Bayindir, the president of the Association of Hotel Owners in Turkey (TUROB), convinced that any grudges between the two allies were erased thanks to last week’s diplomatic breakthrough.

And he is not the only one who is optimistic.

“The cooperation between the two countries will resume as before,” Basaran Ulusoy, the president of the Association of Travel Agencies in Turkey (TURSAB), told mainstream daily Sabah.

Prior to the spat, Turkey-Israel relations were warm, and vacationers from the Jewish state were a common sight along the Turkish Mediterranean coastline. Among the 558,000 tourists that visited Turkey in 2008, one out of every 13 was Israeli, making it their top holiday destination.

But relations soured in 2009, when Israel unleashed its devastating 22-day Operation Cast Lead on Gaza.

Turkey was infuriated.

It accused Israel of using disproportionate force in the conflict that cost the lives of 1,400 Palestinians — half of them civilians — and 13 Israelis, 10 of them soldiers.

The criticism did not go down well in Israel, where trade unions called for a boycott of Turkey. The number of Israeli tourists in Turkey fell to 312,000 that year.

A year later, relations between the two states hit rock bottom. Israeli commandos staged a botched pre-dawn raid on the six-ship flotilla to Gaza headed by Turkey’s Mavi Marmara, in which nine Turkish nationals are killed.

In response, Ankara expelled Israel’s ambassador to Turkey and suspended their military cooperation. And angry Turkish mobs took to the streets and burned Israeli flags.

That was when Israeli holidaymakers really began to turn their backs on Turkey.

In 2010, the number of Israeli tourists plummeted to 110,000, in 2011 to 79,000, and last year it only slightly rebounded to 84,000.

The March 22 apology made by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan — and brokered by US President Barack Obama — may reverse the trend.

“Before the apologies, we pushed very hard (for) Greece and Bulgaria, but since last week we try to do our best to push Turkish products,” Eyal Kashdan said, the chief executive of Flying Carpet Travel, one of the market leaders in promoting Israeli tourism in Turkey.

“Actually, clients prefer the (Turkish) products, the hotels of Turkey… because of the luxury of the hotels and the all-inclusive system, and they feel that the Turkish cuisine is similar to the Israeli cuisine,” he told AFP.

Still, he does not go as far as to say the Turks can now expect a boom in Israeli tourism. At least not yet. “I think the clients need more time to feel better with the (Turkish) hospitality,” he said.

His reservations are echoed by Daniel Zimet, president of the Zimet Marketing Communications agency which promotes Turkey in Israel.

“Israelis shall be ensured 100 percent that there is nothing to worry about when going to Turkey,” he said, adding that Erdogan is still walking a fine line in regards to doubts cast on whether the Israeli commanders of the flotilla raid still risk judicial proceedings in Turkey.

“It’s still a way to go before things will be totally clarified between the two nations.”

via Turks hope Israeli apology for flotilla raid sparks tourism boom | The Raw Story.

April 1, 2013
‘Turkey shot self in foot with its hostile anti-Syria policy’

The leader of Turkey’s main opposition party Kemal Kilicdaroglu says that Ankara has shot itself in the foot with its hostile anti-Syria policy.

Kemal Kilicdaroglu, leader of the main Turkish opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP)

During a speech in the southern city of Adana, the leader of the Republican People’s Party (CHP) condemned Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s stance towards Damascus.

Kilicdaroglu accused Erdogan of siding with Saudi Arabia and Qatar against the Syrian government of Bashar al-Assad.

He said that the Turkish government’s stance towards Syria is not in line with his country’s national interests, but instead serves that of the US, Germany, and France.

The opposition leader further warned Ankara against anti-Syria policies by saying that they would leave Turkey isolated in the region. He said Turkey should focus on gaining allies in the region instead of turning them away.

Qatar has recently allowed the Syrian opposition to open an embassy in its capital Doha. This is while the original Syrian embassy in Doha remains closed.

In February, Kilicdaroglu criticized Erdogan’s policy regarding Syria, calling it a “grave mistake.” He also said that as a result of Ankara’s financial and military support for the Syrian opposition, increasing numbers of Syrian people were losing their lives.

Protests have been held in Turkey against the government’s anti-Syria policies over the past months.

Syria has been experiencing unrest since March 2011. Many people, including large numbers of Army and security personnel, have been killed in the violence.

The Syrian government has said that the chaos is being orchestrated from outside the country, and that a very large number of the militants operating in the country are foreign nationals.

Several international human rights organizations have accused foreign-sponsored militants of committing war crimes.

SZH/HN

via PressTV – ‘Turkey shot self in foot with its hostile anti-Syria policy’.

March 31, 2013
Israel’s olive branch to Turkey indicates smart strategy

Arthur I. Cyr is Clausen Distinguished Professor at Carthage College and author of “After the Cold War.”

March 30, 2013 12:00 am • By Arthur I. Cyr(0) Comments

On March 22, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel reached out the hand of peace by telephoning Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey to apologize. Often belligerent “Bibi” Netanyahu was making amends for the notorious incident in 2010, when Israeli armed forces boarded a Turkish ship attempting to deliver humanitarian supplies to occupied Gaza.

Israel’s marines killed nine civilian Turkish activists in the incident, and once-solid ties between the two nations plummeted. The call was not only the right thing to do, but also a successful start down the long road of repairing relations between the two formerly close allies.

The conversation occurred at Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv. President Barack Obama, who was on the point of departure from his successful visit to Israel, brokered the conversation. The U.S. leader rightly deserves considerable credit for engineering this rapprochement.

The particularly effective last act of the Israel visit may prove the most important of Obama’s trip to the Middle East, thanks primarily to Turkey’s steadily expanding regional and international roles. Last June, a Syrian missile shot down a Turkish F-4 jet fighter.

Some expected war. Instead, Turkey’s government in Ankara expanded air defenses and troops on the border, consulted NATO and worked within international law. Ironically, Syria’s aggressive missile launchers increased the growing isolation of their government.

The destruction of the Turkish plane bolstered the collective international effort to bring down the Syria government. Turkey was added to the June Geneva summit of UN Security Council members to address the Syrian civil war.

Turkey is a pivotal nation, Western in practices with a Moslem majority population. Since the successful revolution in the 1920s led by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the government of Turkey has been constitutionally secular. The army has served as watchdog to keep religion at bay.

Since 2002, Turkey has been governed by the Islamic Justice and Development Party (AKP), with substantial popular support reinforced in elections in 2007 and 2011. Relations with the military have been tense but manageable. The people remain committed to representative government, an effective counter against al-Qaeda and other extremist movements.

Meanwhile, the European Union has turned Turkey’s application for membership into endless ordeal. Condescension combined with inefficiency is reflected in the slow motion of Brussels Eurocrats.

Turkey commands vital sea lanes and trade routes, including the Strait of Bosporus, and oil and gas shipping avenues. Last year, Azerbaijan and Turkey signed a $7 billion gas pipeline deal. Turkey’s trade and investment with Eastern Europe and Central Asia grows, effectively leaving behind a restrictive and often elitist European Union.

Ankara-Washington cooperation is strongly rooted. Turkey has been engaged in Afghanistan, including military command responsibilities. During the first Persian Gulf War, U.S. B-52 bombers were deployed on Turkish soil, a potentially risky move by Ankara. Turkey played a vital Allied role during the Korean War; the UN military cemetery at Pusan contains a notably large number of Turkish graves.

The Bush administration’s invasion of Iraq was bitterly opposed by Ankara. As predicted, Kurdish terrorists based in Iraq have been freed to attack Turkey, leading to retaliatory military strikes across the northern border.

Obama made a point of visiting Turkey at the start of his administration. Bringing Israel and Turkey back together provides a nice bookend at the start of his second term.

Washington must continue rebuilding relations with this great nation.

via GUEST COMMENTARY: Israel’s olive branch to Turkey indicates smart strategy.

March 31, 2013
Hockey Night in Turkey? Canadians promoting sport in unusual places

Benjamin Shingler, The Canadian Press

Published Saturday, March 30, 2013 10:02AM EDT

Last Updated Saturday, March 30, 2013 5:52PM EDT

MONTREAL — Slapping a Canadian Maple Leaf on your backpack when travelling abroad may have its perks, but Craig Klinkhoff has found an even better way to make friends in foreign lands.

He’s one of the young Montrealers behind Hockey Without Borders, a Canadian non-profit organization that aims to support fledgling ice-hockey programs in the unlikeliest of places.

“No matter where I went with my hockey equipment, when I’m meeting people from a local hockey community, they embrace you immediately,” Klinkhoff, 23, said in an interview.

Craig Klinkhoff, left, and Matthew Robins, ambassadors for hockey without borders, fool around at a hockey rink in Montreal, Tuesday, March 12, 2013. (Graham Hughes / THE CANADIAN PRESS)
Read more: http://www.ctvnews.ca/sports/hockey-night-in-turkey-canadians-promoting-sport-in-unusual-places-1.1217219#ixzz2P9NtvqWQ

Hockey Without Borders, a Canadian non-profit organization, aims to support fledgling ice-hockey programs and now has programs in Serbia, Turkey, and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

“You meet people that are so different from you culturally, even in some cases they don’t speak any English, but they treat you like you’re best friends.”

Founded in 2011, the organization now has programs in Serbia, Turkey, and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

While those are hardly hockey hot spots, Klinkhoff says the sport has a small but devoted following in each country. The idea is to send over young Canadian coaches to help the locals improve their existing program.

It’s not, Klinkhoff emphasized, to push hockey on communities with no interest in the game.

“We don’t go somewhere and say, ‘You’re going to play hockey now,”‘ he said. “We go because a local organization or club has asked us to help a hockey program.”

The project was started on an informal basis a few years earlier by another young Canadian, Fred Perowne.

The native of Sherbrooke, Que., and former U.S. college player developed strong ties while playing in Serbia’s professional league in the early 2000s.

Perowne ended up playing for the country in international competition and worked as an assistant coach for its junior teams, bringing over several other Canadians to help out.

The idea for Hockey Without Borders grew from there.

The organization now has three coaches in Serbia, working with roughly 100 young players, another two in Sarajevo working with 60, while 20 youngsters took part in a recent program in Turkey.

Organizers for Hockey Without Borders say the program isn’t just about sport — and that it offers valuable life lessons for everyone involved.

“We’re elevating people’s games abroad, but we’re also helping to grow individuals,” said Matthew Robbins, 24, a longtime friend of Klinkhoff.

“We see hockey as this incredible tool to teach other things in life, like leadership.”

As an example, Robbins pointed to the experience of a young man in Turkey who credits hockey with changing his life.

It’s far from common to spot a hockey stick or skates in Ankara, a bustling city of 4.3 million people, but a small segment of the city’s youth has gotten the bug, Robbins said.

Can Acar, 23, said hockey helped turn his life around.

“I used to be so lazy that I didn’t even leave my house for one month or more,” Acar said in a video produced by Hockey Without Borders.

“After I started hockey… it makes my life better.”

The program in Ankara is run with the help of the local Police Academy hockey club, which has a team in the Turkish hockey league. It’s designed to expose the players to English and offer a glimpse into a world beyond their own.

“This is a social program that allows people to get out and learn life skills from playing,” Klinkhoff said.

“The hockey community is where they form their friendships.”

The calibre, meanwhile, ranges widely.

Most of the players in Turkey only have a few years’ experience on the ice. While many draw from the experience of playing roller-hockey, Klinkhoff said they would struggle against a decent rec-league team in Canada.

In Serbia, the skill level is rapidly improving and the country recently won the Division II under-18 World Championships, he said.

The facilities also vary.

In Sarajevo, the locker rooms are in the complex from the 1984 Olympics but the ice surface was moved to a dome in the adjacent parking lot. Players have to put skate guards on and walk about 100 metres to get on the ice.

Hockey Without Borders is hoping to set up more programs in future — but for now, it’s concentrating on keeping things running with those already underway.

At the moment, the funding comes almost entirely from the volunteer coaches themselves, who must pay for their own flight abroad.

The organization has agreements in place with host clubs to provide an apartment and food, along with coaching-related expenses. It is trying to line up private and corporate sponsors to subsidize the cost of air fares for the coaches.

“Hockey Without Borders is only about a year and a half old,” Klinkhoff said.

“We think it’ll be an attractive program to donate to if one believes in the many benefits of hockey.”

via Hockey Night in Turkey? Canadians promoting sport in unusual places | CTV News.

March 31, 2013
Turkey resumes gold exports to Iran

Turkey resumes gold exports to Iran

Source: Radio Zamaneh

Turkey exported $120 million in gold to Iran in February and, according to Reuters, this evidence reveals that despite U.S. restrictions, the trade of natural gas for gold continues between the two countries, albeit at lower levels.

Reuters reported on March 29 that TUIK, Turkey’s statistics institute, says the country did not export any gold to Iran in January 2013; however, in February, $114.9 million in gold was sold to Iran, and gold exports to Dubai, which is often a route for the transfer of gold to Iran, went up from $371 million in January to $402.3 million.

A gold merchant in Istanbul told Reuters that the gold traders do not want to draw too much attention to their dealings with Iran, which is perhaps why gold exports to Iran were stopped in January.

Iran is a major supplier of natural gas and oil to Turkey, and U.S. sanctions on Iran have put restrictions on paying for these commodities in euros or dollars.

Turkey has been exempted from U.S. sanctions on trade with Iran but that exemption is due to expire in July.

via Turkey resumes gold exports to Iran.

March 31, 2013
Syria refugee crisis: One million and counting

Syria refugee crisis: One million and counting

Beirut, 24 days ago

One million people have fled Syria’s civil war, piling pressure on the country’s neighbours who are struggling to support them, the United Nations refugee agency said on Wednesday.

Around half the refugees are children, most of them aged under 11, and the numbers leaving are mounting every week, UNHCR added.

“With a million people in flight, millions more displaced internally, and thousands of people continuing to cross the border every day, Syria is spiralling towards full-scale disaster,” UN High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres said in a statement.

“We are doing everything we can to help, but the international humanitarian response capacity is dangerously stretched. This tragedy has to be stopped.”

Nearly two years ago, Syrians started trickling out of the country when President Bashar al-Assad’s forces started shooting at pro-democracy protests.

The uprising has since turned into an increasingly sectarian struggle between armed rebels and government soldiers and militias. An estimated 70,000 people have been killed.

UNHCR said the number of Syrians quitting their country has increased dramatically since the beginning of the year with more than 400,000 – nearly half the total figure – since January 1.

They arrive traumatised, without possessions and having lost members of their families, it added.

Most have fled to Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey, Iraq and Egypt and some arrive in North Africa and Europe.

Lebanon – the country closest to Syria’s embattled capital of Damascus – is the smallest of the country’s neighbours but has received the most refugees.

Including Syrian workers and self-supporting Syrian families, one in five people in Lebanon is now Syrian.

Refugee flows into Lebanon have doubled to 4,400 a day in the past three weeks, UNHCR representative in Lebanon Ninette Kelley told Reuters in an interview.

But despite pledges of $1.5 billion by international donors for a U.N. response plan to help Syria’s displaced, only 25 per cent has been funded, UNHCR said.

In Jordan, energy, water, health and education services are being strained to the limit, the agency added. Turkey has spent more than $600 million setting up 17 refugee camps, with more under construction.

There is no end in sight for Syria’s civil war and international powers are divided over how to respond to it. Russia and Shi’ite Iran support their historical ally Assad while the United States and Sunni Muslim Gulf countries back the opposition.

Both Damascus and the opposition have said they will consider peace talks but no meetings have been arranged. – Reuters

via Syria refugee crisis: One million and counting.

March 31, 2013