Turkish Forum

Tag: TBMM

  • Big Builders to Lead Turkish Environmental Ministries

    Big Builders to Lead Turkish Environmental Ministries

    by Jennifer Hattam, Istanbul, Turkey on 07. 8.11

    The Turkish Parliament. Photo: TBMM.
    The Turkish Parliament. Photo: TBMM.

    Are the foxes watching the hen house in Turkey? That seems to be the feeling among many environmentalists and urban planners, who greeted with skepticism the announcement Wednesday of the new Turkish government cabinet following elections in mid-June. The figures selected to head up top-level forestry and environment ministries are veterans of state agencies much-criticized for their aggressive dam-building and development policies.

    ‘My Job Is To Build Dams’

    As head of the Environment and Forestry Ministry, Veysel Eroğlu drew the ire of environmentalists for his staunch defense of dam projects that would drown ancient cities and displace thousands of people. “My job is to build dams,” Eroğlu said last fall, adding that pop star Tarkan, an opponent of the Ilısu dam planned for Southeast Anatolia, “should watch his own business.”

    In the reconfigured cabinet, Eroğlu has been tapped to lead the newly created Forestry and Waterworks Ministry — an apt position for the former head of the State Waterworks Authority, or DSİ, which is responsible for building dams in the country, but one that seems to leave little room for protecting forests rather than exploiting them.

    Also newly created is the Environment and Urban Planning Ministry, headed up by Erdoğan Bayraktar, the former chief of the country’s Housing Development Administration, or TOKİ.

    Impacts Of Urbanization

    The combining of those two areas in one ministry riled Tayfun Kahraman, the president of the Chamber of Istanbul Urban Planners, who told the local paper Hürriyet Daily News: “It will be exceedingly difficult to administer a ministry that contains two opposing concepts as urban planning and the environment… It could result in negative consequences.”

    An argument could certainly be made that integrating the two fields is a positive step that could lead to more careful consideration of how urbanization — rampant in many parts of Turkey — impacts the natural environment. Under Bayraktar, though, TOKİ has drawn fire for its handling of poor residents displaced by gentrification, as well as for engaging in mass building projects that lack attention to infrastructure and livability needs — criticisms that the new minister has at least acknowledged. Whether Bayraktar will actually allow social and environmental issues to slow to Turkey’s rush to build remains to be seen.

    via Big Builders to Lead Turkish Environmental Ministries : TreeHugger.

  • German president in Turkey calls for religious freedom

    German president in Turkey calls for religious freedom

    wulff in turkish parliament1

    Germany’s president, visiting Turkey, said Turkish immigrants were a good influence but urged newcomers to “integrate responsibly”.

    Wulff addressed Turkish lawmakers at the parliament in capital Ankara, saying Turkey was a major asset for Europe as a bridge between the East and the West.

    “Many people of Turkish origin have established roots in Germany … many have become German citizens. That is a good sign. I would encourage everyone to integrate responsibly,” Christian Wulff said on Tuesday.

    “Committed to the West with an active and stability-building policy in the East and as a bridge between the East and the West, Turkey is a great asset for Europe,” Wulff said.

    The German president stated that his country monitored closely a recent overhaul of parts of Turkey’s constitution in a referendum, saying “Turkey has moved closer to standards of the European Union by adopting these reforms. I would like to support and encourage you to move ahead on this path.”

    “I believe that Turkey has a great opportunity to show that Islam did not contradict with democracy, the rule of law and pluralism. Turkey reconciles a vibrant Islam with a modern democracy. Turkey looks on both the East and the West. Germany specifically supports the continuation of Turkey’s march on the path to the EU. We are committed to the decision that Turkey’s open-ended negotiations with EU be pursued fairly and expect Turkey to fulfill its own obligations,” Wulff said.

    Wulff noted that Muslims in Germany are “free to practice their religious duties”, which he said was confirmed by the growing number of mosques in the country.

    “We believe that Christian living in Muslim nations also have the same right to live their religions freely. We believe that they must be able to build their churches and train their religious clerks. We believe that people in Turkey and in Germany and in any other country should be granted equal rights and opportunities regardless of their religious backgrounds. We see that Christianity has a long past in Turkey. Christianity obviously belongs to Turkey, too,” Wulff said.

    Wulff said he welcomed the growing number of Turkish people who supported the opening of new churches and the conducting of services there.

    Merkel, who is under pressure from the conservative wing of her Christian Democratic Union, said this weekend Germany’s bid to create a multicultural society had “utterly failed”.

    Earlier this month, following the resignation of central banker Thilo Sarrazin after making blunt comments about Muslims and Jews, Wulff urged Germany to accept its four million Muslims as part of society.

    Wulff said then, “Islam belongs to Germany” and echoed that by saying “Christianity belongs to Turkey”.

    Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan has pledged to expand rights for religious minorities to meet the standards of the European Union.

    President Abdullah Gul met Wulff earlier on Tuesday and thanked him for supporting Germany’s Muslims and backed his calls for newcomers to Germany to integrate.

    “It is a duty for all of us to ensure every citizen speaks the language of the country they reside in fluently,” Gul said. “The use of integration issues for political capital should be avoided, everybody must contribute to a solution instead.”

    Agencies