Tag: Egypt

Turkey to finalise payments to Egypt in two months

Türkiye Amerikan usulü emperyalizmi öğreniyor, Mısır’a 2 milyar dolar borç veriyor!

Turkey will transfer the remaining US$1 billion of a $2 billion loan to Egypt in two months, according to sources

Turkey will transfer the remaining US$1 billion of a $2 billion budget support package agreed for Egypt last year within the next two months, Turkish economy officials and banking sources said on Wednesday.

The loan will be a shot in the arm for Egypt, which on Tuesday failed to agree with the International Monetary Fund on a $4.8 billion loan that could ease a worsening economic crisis in the Arab world’s most populous nation.

Under the Turkish agreement, announced last September during a visit to Ankara by Egyptian President Mohamed Morsy, Turkey’s Treasury loaned Egypt the first $1 billion.

Turkey’s Eximbank will now supply the second tranche in the next two months, the sources said, although the interest rate on the loan had not yet been settled.

“The Egyptians are completing the deal’s conditions at the moment. We expect them to get it done by the end of the month and the deal to come into effect afterwards,” one of the sources close to the transaction said.

“The deal will include capital goods and pre-determined projects. Egypt will soon have a short list of these projects.”

Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan has presided over Turkey’s emergence as a power in the Middle East over the past decade and championed the pro-democracy uprisings of the “Arab Spring”, which saw dictatorships unseated in Tunisia, Libya and Egypt.

His government is keen to position Turkey, whose construction sector is heavily engaged in frontier and emerging markets in Central Asia, Africa and the Middle East, as a key player in rebuilding the region’s post-conflict economies.

Turkish trade with Egypt rose to $5 billion in 2012, consisting mostly of Turkish exports to the Arab nation, from around $3 billion the previous year.

Egypt has been rapidly burning through the hard currency reserves it needs to import food to feed its 84 million people. It is grappling with falling tourism, a soaring budget deficit and an atmosphere of political confrontation that has led to waves of violent street protests.

It secured $5 billion in stopgap finance from Qatar and Libya last week, which, together with the Turkish loan, will buy it time as it seeks to avert social unrest over fuel shortages and food price increases in the run-up to parliamentary elections expected in October.

Before the Qatari and Libyan loans, its foreign currency reserves had dwindled to a low of $13.4 billion in March, less than needed to cover three months’ imports.

via Turkey to finalise payments to Egypt in two months | Al Bawaba.

April 19, 2013
Egyptian legislators approve Bourse tax, Turkey loan

Egypt’s Shura Council approve new taxes, tax hikes and a $1 billion loan

Ahram Online

Egypt’s Shura council, currently tasked with legislation, approved on Saturday tax increases and stamp duties, and a loan from Turkey.

The council passed a stamp duty levy on stock market transactions, amounting to 0.002 percent, to be imposed on buyers and sellers equally. Other initially proposed taxes on capital gains and dividends was not passed.

“The new tax will not affect market activity, but it will help curb speculative trading and encourage medium and long term investment,” Abdallah Shehata, adviser to the minister of finance told state owned Al-Ahram daily.

The council also approved an increase in stamp duties levied on advertisements from 15 to 20 percent.

Turkish support

The Shura Council has approved a loan deal between Egypt and the Export Credit Bank of Turkey whereby Turkey provides $1 billion for Egyptian investors importing Turkish capital goods and machinery.

Egypt is currently seeking international support to curb its balance of payments deficit. Last week, Egypt announced it will receive a $2 billion loan from the Libyan government and will also get $3 billion from Qatar in the form of US dollars denoted treasury bonds.

via Egyptian legislators approve Bourse tax, Turkey loan – Economy – Business – Ahram Online.

April 15, 2013
Turkey, Egypt in Joint Naval Exercises

Turkey and Egypt are both concerned over the Iranian threat – and are conducting a joint military exercise to show their solidarity.

By David Lev

Turkish vessel (right) in an exercise U.S. Navy

Egyptian navy ships were on their way to the waters off Turkey Thursday afternoon, where they will rendezvous with Turkish navy vessels for a joint exercise. Egypt’s top naval commander, Muhav Mamish, said in an interview that the the exercise is “not directed against any specific country, and is designed to strengthen ties and exchange information between Turkey and Egypt.” The name of the exercise, Voice of Israel radio reported, was “Sea of Friendship.”

Israeli officials speculated that the exercise was not necessarily aimed at Israel, but against Iran, which has both Turkey and Egypt worried. Turkey, long a rival with Iran for leadership of the Islamic world, is concerned over recent Iranian threats against it. In recent weeks, Iranian officials have threatened Turkey with attack if the U.S. or Israel attempt to attack its nuclear facilities. Iran, the officials said, would attack the NATO missile shield.

A report Sunday, for example, quoted Hussein Ibrahim, the vice president of the Iranian parliamentary national security and foreign policy panel, as saying that “it is Iran’s natural right to target the missile defense shield system in Turkey in case of an attack, and we will definitely resort to that.” Several days earlier, Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh, the head of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards’ aerospace division, said that “should we [Iran] be threatened, we will target NATO’s missile defense shield in Turkey and then hit our next targets.”

Other Iranian officials have made similar statements in recent weeks. On Tuesday, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu met with his Iranian counterpart Ali Akbar Salehi and questioned him on the statements, but Salehi said that the comments did not represent Iranian policy, but the “personal opinions” of officials.

Meanwhile, say analysts, the Egyptian military is seeking friends outside the Iran/Islamic fundamentalist orbit, considering that the country is likely to be run by those groups in the near future. Thursday was the second day of the second round of voting in Egypt’s first democratic election in decades, and once again, the Islamist parties – the Muslim Brotherhood and Salafist al-Nour party – are said to be doing very well, according to informal polls by Egyptian and foreign media. This round of voting is taking place in areas such as Giza, Luxor and Aswan, which in the past have favored conservative Islamic candidates in local elections. Egyptian military leaders believe that there is a close connection between the Islamists and Iran, and are thus seeking to improve their ties with Turkey, the only other country in the region they believe can take on Iran politically.

via Turkey, Egypt in Joint Naval Exercises – Middle East – News – Israel National News.

December 16, 2011
Iran Khodro to design D8 joint car

Iran Khodro Co. (IKCO) has announced that the Group of Eight Developing Countries (D8) has chosen the company to design the platform for their joint car.

The D8 industry ministers attended a summit in Istanbul from October 4-6, 2011 and appointed IKCO to design the D8 joint car with the cooperation of Turkey and Indonesia, read a statement released by IKCO on Sunday.

D8 members include Iran, Turkey, Malaysia, Pakistan, Nigeria, Egypt, Bangladesh and Indonesia.

D8 members also agreed to promote research and development activities in the fields of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) technology, hybrid technology, plug-in cars, new materials and nano-technology.

“Improving the quality, level of technology and also the capacity if supply chain was another issue settled by the D8 vehicle working group,” the statement continued.

IKCO was founded in 1962 and is currently regarded as the biggest automaker in the Middle East.

The company won an award from Tehran’s Third International Nanotechnology Festival in 2010, as the leading company in nano-related auto industry.

HMV/HGH

via PressTV – Iran Khodro to design D8 joint car.

October 17, 2011
Turkish P.M. Erdogan: We Cannot Deny Our Ottoman Past

Posted by Ishaan Tharoor Thursday, September 29, 2011 at 2:24 pm

Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan stands among Justice and Development Party (AKP) members during a meeting at the party headquarters in Ankara, September 28, 2011. (Photo: Adem Altan /AFP / Getty Images) Read more:

Our interview with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, published earlier this week on Global Spin, dwelled mostly on the growing shadow cast by the charismatic premier across the face of Mideast geo-politics. One question edited out of the earlier transcript raised the legacy of the Ottoman Empire, whose dominion once stretched over much of the region. As they now swagger through Cairo, Tripoli and other former Ottoman strongholds, Erdogan and — perhaps to even greater degree — his Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu have earned the monicker of “neo-Ottomans.”

Few democratically-elected statesmen in this day and age would welcome the label of imperialists. And, for whatever connotations “neo-Ottomanism” invokes abroad, it’s a far more sensitive subject domestically in Turkey. Nearly a century of Ataturk-inspired, Western-facing secularism meant those raised in modern Turkey looked with wariness upon the decadence, decay and religiosity of Ottoman times, when, after all, Istanbul was the veritable capital of the putative Caliphate.

But much has changed since Erdogan’s rise to power. Turkey no longer pines after Europe — indeed, see Erdogan’s matter-of-fact retort at the close of our interview with him — is ruled by a moderate Islamist party, and has signaled clear intent to influence events in many of the countries once ruled by Ottoman Sultans. Below is Erdogan’s response to a question I posed to him on whether he accepted donning the neo-Ottoman mantle:

Of course we now live in a very different world, which is going through a scary process of transition and change. We were born and raised on the land that is the legacy of the Ottoman empire. They are our ancestors. It is out of the question that we might deny that presence. Of course, the empire had some beautiful parts and some not so beautiful parts. It’s a very natural right for us to use what was beautiful about the Ottoman Empire today. We need to upgrade ourselves in every sense, socially, economically, politically. If we cannot upgrade ourselves and the way we perceive the world, we will lag behind tremendously. It would be self-denial. That’s why whether it be in the Middle East or North Africa or anywhere in the world, our perception has in its core this wealth that is coming from our historical legacy. But it’s established upon principles of peace. And it all depends on people loving one another without discrimination whatsoever.

Critics may wonder how willing Erdogan and other Turkish leaders are to actually admit to the empire’s “not so beautiful parts”, not least the grisly massacre of Armenians when the Ottoman Empire itself was on its last legs. Turkish diplomats on the sidelines of U.N. meetings spoke to TIME of Erdogan’s professed commitment to values of peace, tolerance and neighborly love — a lofty sentiment not exactly on display during the continued Turkish offensive against rebel Kurds in the country’s east.

Still, it’s noteworthy that the Turkish P.M. sees in the Ottoman past a “wealth” — a soft-power cachet, based presumably on the empire’s extraordinary diversity and tolerance of many faiths — to inform the present. We tend to forgive many Western powers, say the French, British and even the Americans, for tracing their foreign policies sometimes in memory (or nostalgia) of lapsed empire. An ascendant, capable Turkey has every right to walk its own post-imperial path as well.

via Turkish P.M. Erdogan: We Cannot Deny Our Ottoman Past – Global Spin – TIME.com.

Read more:

September 30, 2011
Israel and Turkey: How a Close Relationship Disintegrated

Israel and Turkey: How a Close Relationship Disintegrated

Posted by Karl Vick Monday, September 12, 2011 at 1:08 pm

37 Comments • Related Topics: arab uprisings, Egypt, israel, Palestinian, Turkey

Pro-Islamic Turks stage a protest to show their solidarity with Palestinians and to protest against Israel on the "Jerusalem Day" outside the Israeli embassy residence in Ankara on August 26, 2011. (Photo: Adem Altan / AFP / Getty Images)

Many are the challenges facing Israel on the cusp of a new season.

The Palestinians’ approach to the United Nations for statehood looms. The bid, set for Sept. 21, bears down on Jerusalem with the certainty of an autumn chill.

The weekend desecration of the Israeli embassy by a Cairean mob was one of those shocks that is not quite a surprise, given the longstanding antipathy of the Egyptian public toward the Jewish State. More telling was the response of the Egypt’s military rulers, who according to Israeli officials went missing during the hours that mobs laid siege as Israeli guards awaited rescue from Egyptian commandos who didn’t show up til 4 a.m. How fraught are relations between Egypt and Israel? On Sunday, an Israeli army vehicle patrolling near the site of the Aug. 18 terror attack near the resort city of Eilat took fire from the Egyptian side of the border. The Israelis did not return fire. Who knew who was shooting at them?

And yet, the trash talk with Turkey qualifies in many ways as the great crisis of the moment. It’s not just that Turkey’s Prime Minister was threatening to send warships to confront the Israeli naval blockade of the Gaza Strip, calling the 2010 deaths of eight Turks at the hands of Israeli commandos “a casus belli,” or act of war. Nor is it reports that, in response, Israel’s reliably bellicose Foreign Minister, Avigdor Lieberman, mulled aloud about reaching out to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK — regarded by the U.S. as a terrorist organization — just to mess with the Turks.

It’s that, not five years ago, these two countries were not merely allies, but strategic allies, the kind a nation forms a foreign policy around.

“Israel-Turkey relations were great up to three or four years ago,” recalls Dan Haloutz, a former chief of staff for the Israel Defense Forces. “When I was a commander, I used to fly to Turkey on every military training we had with the Turkish air force, and we had a lot — a lot.”

The ties were snug, and at least appeared essential. Israel hasn’t a lot of air space, and so was grateful for access to the wide open skies over Anatolia for fighter pilots to log flight hours. In return Turkey bought Israeli tanks, and still relies heavily on Israel’s remote controlled drones to track and attack the very PKK rebels the foreign minister reportedly was looking to cultivate. Away from government, commerce runs at least $3 billion a year between the countries.

And though 99 percent of Turks are Muslims, Jews have been long welcome in Istanbul, not least since the Spanish Inquisition, when the Ottoman sultan gave refuge to those offered the choice of conversion to Christianity, death or expulsion. Some still speak Ladino, or “Jewish Spanish.” Even after 9/11 Israelis felt safe enough in Turkey to flock to its Mediterranean discount resorts; the departures board at Ben Gurion Airport on a summer day lists charter flight after charter flight to Antalya.

That abruptly changed on Memorial Day, 2010, when Israel’s version of the SEALs boarded the Mavi Marmara. The converted ferry was en route to supply the besieged residents of Gaza, an act that ostensibly violated Israeli sovereignty. These were the people about whom Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan had angrily lectured Israel’s head of state at Davos a year earlier, in the wake of the three-week Israeli military incursion that left 1,400 Palestinians dead.

After the flotilla fiasco, charters to Turkey were cancelled overnight, and Israel began steering its tourists toward Greece. But things really did appear to be on the mend this summer. In June, Turkey joined Greece in preventing the makings of a new flotilla from leaving their ports to challenge the Gaza blockade anew. Behind the scenes, Israel dispatched diplomats to hammer out language that would salve the wounds to Turkey’s quite extraordinary national pride and finally put the 2010 deaths behind both countries, who said they wanted to be friends again. “Turkey welcomes you,” said the resort ads that began appearing in Israel. In smaller print: “As always.”

The negotiations, however, ended not in language acceptable to both sides but in the release of a United Nations report on the flotilla that found fault with both sides but simply outraged Turkey. Israel’s ambassador to Ankara was formally expelled to Jerusalem. He was joined the following week by Israel’s ambassador to Egypt, who merely fled. And on Monday, Erdogan arrived with great fanfare in Cairo.

The days are growing shorter.

via Israel and Turkey: How a Close Relationship Disintegrated – Global Spin – TIME.com.

September 13, 2011