Turkish Forum

Category: Regions

  • Georgia Stops Gas Flow to Armenia

    Georgia Stops Gas Flow to Armenia

    Monday, January 12, 2009
    Updated at 12 January 2009 1:39

    Moscow Time.

    Georgia stopped Russian natural-gas transit flows to Armenia on Friday after a pipeline was damaged.

    Georgia said the stoppage was to carry out emergency repair work on the main Kazakh-Saguramo gas pipeline.

    Repair work on the pipe “will take approximately five days, the transit will continue after that,” Georgian Energy Minister Alexander Khetaguri said in an interview Sunday. The damage occurred in the town of Gardabani, about 40 kilometers south of the capital Tbilisi.

    Gazprom ships its gas to Armenia through Georgia, which gets 10 percent of transit volumes as fees.

    Gazprom and its Armenian venture ArmRosgazprom offered to help Georgia repair the damaged link to resume supplies “in the shortest time,” it said Sunday.

    Armenia has some gas reserves that it could use while repairs are being made, Khetaguri said.

    Source:  The Moscow Times » Issue 4061 » 12 January 2009

  • Heydar Jamal: “Like Russia US-Israeli tandem is absolutely not interested in the resolution of the Karabakh conflict”

    Heydar Jamal: “Like Russia US-Israeli tandem is absolutely not interested in the resolution of the Karabakh conflict”

    Today Russia is the main obstacle on the way to the resolution of the situation in the South Caucasus, said famous Russian political scientist and chairman of the Islamic Committee of Russia Heydar Jamal, speaking about the supply of arms to Armenia by Russia free of charge. He said if not for Moscow the Karabakh conflict could have been settled long ago.

    (more…)

  • Kazan Institute Seeks to Link Tatarstan to the World

    Kazan Institute Seeks to Link Tatarstan to the World

    Paul Goble

    Vienna, January 7 – The Center for Eurasian and International Research of Kazan State University provides a brain trust for the leadership of Tatarstan in its efforts to develop ties with foreign countries in much the same way that several research centers in Ukraine did before that republic gained its independence.
    In an interview posted on the Islamrt.ru site, the center’s director Bulat Yagudin describes what he calls “the only scientific research center in Tatarstan” which focuses on foreign policy issues in general and those across the Eurasian landmass in particular (www.islamrt.ru/htm/interv_yagudin.htm).
    (Because the word “Eurasian” in the institute’s name might lead some to think that it is associated with either classical Eurasianism or the neo-Eurasianism of Aleksandr Dugin, Yagudin hastens to say that is not the case and that researchers at his institute has no specific ideological agenda.)
    The center’s goal, Yagudin says, is to be an interdisciplinary institute where researchers will be able to provide broad assessments f social, economic and political phenomena across Eurasia and thereby be in a position to help the peoples and governments of these regions find “adequate paths for the resolution of problems.”
    To that end, he continues, the center “does not avoid cooperation with politicians, political scientists, religious activists and even charlatans,” a commitment that “requires much time and effort” but one that reflects “the principle of openness” on which the center was founded two years ago.
    The center earns its own way by doing contract research and transfers up to 40 percent of its earning to the university. But what is particularly important, Yagudin continues, is that the center provides “young specialists, graduate students, and even volunteers” of various kinds with the change to work “for the well-being of the entire republic.”
    The center already has an active program of publications and conferences. It launched a newspaper, “Eurasian Horizons,” last year and has now converted it into a monthly publication. In addition, it publishes a journal, “Eurasian Research,” a yearbook, “The Year in Eurasia,” and occasional papers.
    And Yagudin listed the following upcoming conferences: Later this month, the center plans a symposium on Tatarstan in 2008. In February, it will host on Islamic Studies in Post-Soviet Russia and the CIS. In March, it will be the venue for a meeting on the Caspian Region. And in July, it will host a forum on Geopolitics and Economics in Eurasia Today.
    As is often the case with new institutions, the Kazan Center reflects the personality and experience of its organizer. Born in Kazakhstan in 1957, Yagudin grew up in the Fergana valley, studied in a German language school, and served in the Soviet army in Ukraine, Armenia and Azerbaijan.
    Subsequently, he studied at the historical faculty of the Fergana State Pedagogical Institute. There he worked with the internationally known David Achildiyev, an Afghanist who later moved to the United States, where he published a highly regarded two-volume history of the Jews of Bukhara.
    With the collapse of the USSR, Yagudin, like many other members of the Tatar diaspora in the former Soviet space, returned to Tatarstan in order to support his nation. And on arrival, he became a graduate student at the historical faculty of Kazan State University, from which he graduated in 1992. Since that time, he has taught courses there on Africa and Asia.
    Yagudin is much less well-known abroad than many other scholars in Kazan, but his aspirations for his institute and his ability both to raise funds and organize publications and conferences suggest that he and his center are going to be increasingly important players in Kazan’s growing efforts to reach out to the broader world.

    http://windowoneurasia.blogspot.com/2009/01/window-on-eurasia-kazan-institute-seeks.html

  • The Torah Position on the Current Conflict in Gaza

    The Torah Position on the Current Conflict in Gaza

    Jan 4, 2009

    "The Zionists do not make Jews into heretics in order to have a state, they want a state in order to make Jews into heretics."–Lubavitcher Rabbi Sholem Schneersohn

    Once again, we find ourselves reading horrifying headlines regarding the unrest in the Middle East. In one long chain of tragedies and civilian bloodshed, residential neighborhoods have been transformed into war zones, the daily lives of civilians distorted by ever-present shadows of terror and fright.

    Our readers have long been familiar with the Torah position; let us re-announce it boldly and clearly:

    The Zionist ideology is antithetical to the Torah. Zionism was deviously designed to replace the Torah and its holy, God-given commandments with nationalistic, power-driven ideals that are devoid of holiness, godliness, or spirituality.

    God-fearing Jews believe that the ultimate Redemption of the Jewish Nation will come about only through the Hands of God, and that at the time of the Redemption, peace will reign in the entire world. Any other type of forced redemption is but a sinful transgression, condemned by God and His Holy Torah.

    What more proof does one need than the fact that for centuries, Jews have lived peacefully in Arabic countries, enjoying the respect and friendship of their neighbors? The tragedy of Zionism changed all of that. The painful truth is that in the eyes of the Zionist government, Jews are merely the cannon-fodder needed for the State of Israel to achieve its agenda.

    Obviously, the State of Israel has absolutely no connection with either Jews or Judaism. Furthermore, Torah-true Jews did not participate in the founding of the State, and for decades, we have announced our disapproval and disassociation from the State of Israel at every opportunity.

    “The following explanation clarifies this issue beautifully: Would the Jews be held responsible in a conflict between North Korea and South Korea? Obviously not! In the same way, Jews should not be held responsible for the Zionists conflicts with their neighbors. The State of Israel has as much to do with Jews and Judaism as does New Zealand or Zimbabwe,” said Rabbi Hersh Lowenthal.

    May it be clear to every nation, to every person in the entire world: JEWS ARE NOT ZIONISTS!

    The Zionists are neither our representatives nor our spokesmen. They have absolutely no right to speak in the name of world Jewry. It is a terrible mistake to confuse Jews with Zionism, or to blame Jews for Zionist actions. We truly wish to live in peace with every nation in the world. We pray for our Jewish brethren as well as for the non-Jews in the Middle East, that they may be saved from danger and peril.

    And most of all, we await that great day when G-d’s glory will be revealed in the entire world, and there will be peace for all of humanity.

    Amen.

    TRUE TORAH JEWS:

    Source:  www.jewsagainstzionism.com

  • Who in the world is Tuncay Guney?

    Who in the world is Tuncay Guney?

    Immigration
    In Turkey, the former reporter was embroiled in a political trial he insists will lead to his murder if he’s forced to return. In Cairo, he was accused of being an Israeli spy. In Toronto, Mr. Guney presents himself as a rabbi seeking refugee status, though the Jewish community has rejected him. ‘Tuncay Guney has 1,000 faces. Only God knows which is the real one’

    NICHOLAS BIRCH AND TU THANH HA

    Nicholas Birch is a freelance reporter

    January 9, 2009

    ISTANBUL and TORONTO — In his native Turkey, he is a key figure in one of the country’s biggest political trials, a convoluted, explosive tale of assassinations and conspiracy.

    He has also figured large in a Cairo court, where he was alleged to be an operative for Mossad, Israel’s spy agency, who recruited a Canadian to spy for Israel on Arab bank customers.

    Here in Canada, Tuncay Guney presents himself as a rabbi, with hat and black coat – though the Jewish community says he’s not one of their own.

    A cagey, unassuming-looking 36-year-old with shaky English, the former reporter left a path of intrigue and controversy on three continents before turning up in Toronto as a refugee claimant.

    “Going back to Turkey would mean arranging a date with the Angel of Death,” he said in an e-mail in Turkish.

    For the past six months, few days have gone without him being on the front page of a Turkish newspaper.

    He is the informant behind the closely watched Ergenekon trial, in which leading intellectuals and military officers are accused of attempting to overthrow the Muslim-rooted AK party that governs Turkey.

    United only by their hatred of the AK, the 85 right-wing nationalists and hard-line secularists in the dock are accused of being part of a secret organization called Ergenekon and charged with plotting high-level killings to destabilize society and force army intervention.

    “I sparked a revolution in my country. The masks fell,” Mr. Guney said in his e-mail. “If I talk, everything will change.”

    The case began in 2001 when police in Turkey pulled him in for selling a stolen car.

    The man was a nondescript sort: a failed journalist with a primary school certificate and a thick Anatolian accent. Then he began to talk.

    “I’ve never seen anybody like Tuncay Guney,” recalled Ahmet Ihtiyaroglu, the organized-crime interrogator who took over from his gobsmacked colleagues in small crimes. “It was as if somebody had sent him in to reveal everything.”

    The police called in investigative magistrates. But out on bail, Mr. Guney fled to the United States.

    He left behind 140 pages of depositions and six boxes of documents – some top-secret – that hold a prime place in the indictment. Mr. Guney is mentioned more than 400 times in the indictment and named as a “suspect on the run.”

    In his deposition, Mr. Guney said he worked for General Veli Kucuk, a former military intelligence chief suspected in dozens of homicides.

    This week, the trial heard that his aliases included Daniel Levi, Kemal Kosbag and Tuncay Bubay.

    Those names had cropped up before, in a spy case against an Egyptian-Canadian CIBC employee in Toronto.

    In 2007, a Cairo court sentenced Mohamed el-Attar to 15 years in prison after he was arrested in Egypt while visiting family. The prosecution said that Mr. el-Attar worked for Mossad, while in Turkey and Canada, and had been recruited by Daniel Levi, Kemal Kosba and Tuncay Bubay.

    According to Newsweek’s Turkish edition, a former housemate said Mr. Guney once introduced Mr. el-Attar to him as a friend. The Israeli consulate said the Mossad allegations were “madness.”

    Daniel is also the name Mr. Guney uses in his Toronto life – as rabbi Daniel T. Guney.

    Jacob House, the congregation he says he represents, appears to be little more than a website and a postal box.

    The Toronto Board of Rabbis and the Canadian Jewish Congress say Mr. Guney is not a member of the community and appears to be associated with the Messianic Judaism movement, evangelical Christians who try to convert Jews.

    According to the Turkish media, Mr. Guney became acquainted with evangelical Christians while in New York. When his asylum demand in the United States was rejected, a Kurdish convert drove him to Canada in 2004.

    “People let him enter their lives because they felt sorry for him. He always appeared a poor, weak character,” says one Turkish journalist who first met him in 1994.

    “Tuncay Guney has 1,000 faces. Only God knows which is the real one,” said Hasan Yilmaz, editor of the Toronto-based newspaper CanadaTurk.

    Mr. Guney, meanwhile, is in no hurry to be back where he triggered so many shockwaves.

    “The state is not in control of the streets or the prisons. Look at the seniority of the Ergenekon suspects and what they did. Do you think they would permit me to live in liberty or in jail?”

    Source:  www.theglobeandmail.com, January 9, 2009

  • “We Will Not Let Our People Go Cold,” Says Turkish Energy Minister

    “We Will Not Let Our People Go Cold,” Says Turkish Energy Minister

    “We Will Not Let Our People Go Cold,” Says Turkish Energy Minister

    Publication: Eurasia Daily Monitor Volume: 6 Issue: 4
    January 8, 2009 04:20 PM
    By: Saban Kardas

    The dispute between Russia and Ukraine over natural gas prices continues to threaten the energy supply to Europe in the midst of plunging temperatures (EDM, January 5). The disruptions caused by the row between the Russian gas company Gazprom and Ukraine’s Naftohaz has already led to the halting of deliveries to many European countries that are dependent on Russian gas. Amid mutual accusations and contradictory claims by both parties, several European leaders and European Union officials have asked those involved to relax tensions (BBC News, January 7).

    As a country that depends heavily on natural gas for electricity production and household heating, Turkey is also discussing the implications of the crisis. Turkey’s gas imports from Russia amount to 65 percent of its total needs of 135 million cubic meters (MCM) per day. Turkey imports 40 MCM of gas from Russia a day via the West pipeline passing through Ukraine and Bulgaria and another 35 MCM through the Blue Stream pipeline underneath the Black Sea. Turkey also imports around 15 MCM of gas from Iran and 17 MCM from Azerbaijan per day. The state-owned Petroleum Pipeline Corporation (BOTAS) has signed various contracts to secure the import of the following amounts annually: 16 billion cubic meters (BCM) via Blue Stream, 14 BCM through the West pipeline, 10 BCM from Iran, and 6.6 BCM from Azerbaijan. Moreover, BOTAS has also signed agreements with Nigeria and Algeria for 1.2 BCM and 4 BCM, respectively, of liquefied natural gas (LNG) (Cumhuriyet, January 7).

    The International Energy Agency (IEA) maintains that if the gas supply and winter conditions remain unchanged, Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania, and Greece may face problems (www.ntvmsnbc.com.tr, January7). Since Turkey already confronted a similar crisis in 2006, it has had greater experience in learning how to deal with these types of shortages.

    At the beginning of the crisis, representatives from BOTAS and the Energy Ministry announced that the Ukrainian crisis was not affecting Turkey and the gas flow from both West line and Blue Stream, as well as from Iran, was continuing. They also noted that Turkey did not expect a cutoff in the West line but that there were contingency plans in case this did happen. BOTAS officials noted that the underground tanks were full and Turkey could increase the capacity of Blue Stream up to 50 MCM by activating a compressor station in Corum (www.ntvmsnbc.com.tr, January 2).

    When the news about Russia’s decision to cut off gas to Ukraine arrived, Energy Minister Hilmi Guler told reporters that gas supplies from the West pipeline had been completely halted. Guler also noted that the gas supplies from Blue Stream would soon be increased to 48 MCM per day. He assured the Turkish public, “We will not let our people go cold” (Anadolu Ajansi, January 6).

    Guler announced that Turkey had already started to implement some precautions. First, the ministry asked the power stations producing electricity from natural gas to switch to secondary fuels. Although Reuters reported that in three stations electricity production had been halted (Hurriyet Daily News, January 8), energy officials have denied these claims, saying that production was continuing normally (Cihan Haber Ajansi, January 8).

    Moreover, if the supply shortages continue, the ministry plans to cut gas delivery to industrial facilities producing their own electricity from natural gas that is sold at subsidized prices. Since falling industrial production due to the global economic crisis has already reduced Turkey’s energy consumption, such reductions would probably not create major power supply problems. Nonetheless, experts note that using alternative sources such as fuel oil to produce electricity is likely to increase production costs by up to 20 percent (www.ntvmsnbc.com.tr, January 7).

    Furthermore, like other countries, Turkey has started tapping strategic reserves and using LNG. Guler noted that six ships were scheduled to bring additional LNG in January; and, if need arose, Turkey would seek additional deliveries. According to official sources, if deliveries arrive as scheduled, Turkey will be unlikely to experience major shortages. At the same time, Turkey is working to expand the daily supply capacity of its underground reserve depots.

    A source from the Iranian Embassy in Ankara said that Iran was ready to increase its gas exports to Turkey to offset the shortfall, as long as Iran’s domestic consumption did not prevent it (Today’s Zaman, January 7). Minister Guler said, however, that additional supplies from Blue Stream would be enough to maintain the supply balance and that Turkey would not take up the Iranian offer. Last winter, when Iran cut exports to Turkey due to its own domestic needs, Gazprom helped avoid shortages by increasing its supplies to Turkey. Given this experience, Turkey’s reluctance to rely on the Iranian option is understandable.

    Overall, the goal of these measures is to reduce the impact of the crisis on households. Since major metropolitan areas rely on natural gas for heating, the public has become increasingly worried about these developments. In response to this concern, the IGDAS gas distribution company in Istanbul issued a statement maintaining that the gas and LNG depots supplying the city had sufficient reserves and that there were no grounds for anxiety about shortages in Istanbul (www.nethaber.com, January 6). The precautions in place have already reduced Turkey’s daily consumption from 130 MCM to 107 MCM (www.cnnturk.com, January 7).

    Despite the optimistic statements from official sources, energy expert Necdet Pamir maintains that Turkey’s reserve capacity is too limited, which makes it vulnerable to such supply shocks. Moreover, Pamir notes that switching to secondary sources for electricity production by buying LNG on spot markets incurs additional costs (www.cnnturk.com, January 7). Some experts claim, however, that under the contract between Turkey and Russia, Gazprom will have to compensate Turkey for its losses (Cihan Haber Ajansi, January 6).

    Other experts refer to the positive implications of the crisis for Turkey. Bahadir Kaleagasi, the Turkish Industry and Business Association Representative to the EU, notes that the row once again demonstrates the vulnerability of Europe’s energy supplies. The EU will come under pressure to diversify transportation routes, which will strengthen Turkey’s position in negotiations over the Nabucco project for supplying Europe with gas by means of pipelines going through Turkey (ANKA, January 7).

    https://jamestown.org/program/we-will-not-let-our-people-go-cold-says-turkish-energy-minister/