Turkish Forum

Tag: Tansu Ciller

  • Greece Asks Turkey to Clarify Yilmaz’s Comments on Forest Fires

    Greece Asks Turkey to Clarify Yilmaz’s Comments on Forest Fires

    By Natalie Weeks

    Dec. 27 (Bloomberg) — Greece asked Turkey to clarify press reports that former Turkish Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz said some Greek forest fires were deliberately set by Turkey’s secret service.

    “As long as this information remains unclarified, it poisons public opinion and undermines efforts to build relations of trust,” Greece’s Foreign Ministry said in e-mailed statement today.

    A Greek Supreme Court prosecutor requested that cases on forest fires from 1995 to 1997 be reopened, Athens-based news site 24h.gr reported today, without citing anyone. That followed a Turkish newspaper report, repeated in the Greek press yesterday, that quoted Yilmaz as saying Turkey’s secret service had sparked the blazes, especially on eastern Aegean islands, 24h.gr said. Calls to the Supreme Court by Bloomberg outside regular operating hours weren’t answered.

    “The issue is completely distorted,” Yilmaz told Turkey’s state-run Anatolia news agency today. “I was referring to forest fires in Turkey. There was some speculation and information that large forest fires in 1990s were related to Greek secret services, and I said unless they are proven to be facts, publishing that information would be very wrong in terms of our relations with Greece.”

    Greece experiences frequent forest fires during the summer months. Some are deliberately lit to clear land for building. Fires killed 65 people in 2007.

    “Regardless of Mr. Yilmaz’s attempts to reformulate,” the Foreign Ministry said, “we asked that these statements and other public references that have seen the light of day in the past be investigated and that Greece be informed of all relevant information.”

    –With assistance from Ercan Ersoy in Istanbul. Editors: Jim Silver, Leslie Hoffecker

    To contact the reporter on this story: Natalie Weeks in Athens at [email protected]

    To contact the editor responsible for this story: Angela Cullen at [email protected]

    via Greece Asks Turkey to Clarify Yilmaz’s Comments on Forest Fires – Businessweek.

  • Who are Middle East’s most influential women?

    Who are Middle East’s most influential women?

    From Rima Maktabi, CNN

    An International Women's Day protest in Ankara, Turkey, in March 2011
    An International Women's Day protest in Ankara, Turkey, in March 2011

    An International Women’s Day protest in Ankara, Turkey, in March 2011

    STORY HIGHLIGHTS

    Tell us which women from the Middle East inspire you most

    Do you admire women artists, activists, politicians or business leaders?

    Arab Spring has given some women a chance to shine more than ever

    Istanbul, Turkey (CNN) — Whether it’s as activists or politicians, artists or business leaders, women in the Middle East are stepping into the spotlight as never before.

    Some stereotypes still need to be challenged; domestic violence, illiteracy and conservative views continue to fuel a gender gap in many part of the region.

    However, women are now proving their worth in most walks of life.

    ‘Saudi Women Revolution’ makes a stand for equal rights

    This month, Inside the Middle East focuses on a few women leading the charge: Iraqi political activists, Saudi artists, Turkish footballers and the renowned Egyptian author and feminist, Dr. Nawal Sadawi.

    We meet two Baghdadi women — one a human rights activist and the other a blogger — facing the challenges of trying to rebuild their shattered country and making sure the key decisions are not left solely to the men.

    We know we have missed many inspirational women and would like your help

    Revolution signals new dawn for Egypt’s women

    Meanwhile in Istanbul, the base for this month’s show, Turkey’s first female film director Cahide Sonku — adorns the wall of the Istanbul Modern Art Museum, which is celebrating Turkey’s women artists.

    The exhibition “Dream and Reality” highlights the changing position of women in Turkish society through paintings and videos by women artists over 150 years.

    But we know we have missed many inspirational women and would like your help.

    Who do you think are the Middle East’s most influential women?

    The woman who wants to be Egypt’s first female president

    Are you inspired by Saudi’s women drivers campaigning for equal rights? Or by the Lebanese fashion designer Reem Accra? By the women who slept out in Tahrir Square for nights on end during Egypt’s revolution? By Turkey’s former prime minister Tansu Ciller?

    Comment below to help us find the female stars of the Middle East.

    via Who are Middle East’s most influential women? – CNN.com.