GUL ARRIVES IN JAPAN
President Abdullah Gul yesterday arrived in Tokyo, Japan, to pay an official visit upon the invitation of Japanese Emperor Akihito. Speaking to reporters after his arrival, Gul said, "Turkey and Japan enjoy good relations and we are here yield results from our deep-rooted friendship with Japan." Stressing that this is the first presidential-level visit from Turkey to Japan, he said that the visit would open a new page to implement the economy, tourism and investment potential between the two countries. Gul said that he would promote investment opportunities in Turkey during his talks with Japanese officials and investors and added that Turkey should increase its share in foreign investments of Japan and attract more Japanese tourists. Gul characterized his visit as an important opportunity to activate the actual economic potential between Turkey and Japan. Stating that the Turkish Year celebrated in Japan in 2003 highly contributed to Turkey's promotion, Gul also said, "Turkey declared the year 2010 as the Japanese Year and this will also boost cultural relations with Japan." Gul added, "We desire to see the Japanese Emperor in Turkey during the Japanese Year celebrations in 2010." Gul's visit will mainly focus on economy and seek ways to increase bilateral trade volume with Japan and to draw more Japanese investments in Turkey. Japan's direct investments in foreign countries were about $73 billion in 2007 and Turkey's share in those investments was only $2 billion The Japanese investments in Turkey are expected to reach $4 billion thanks to the visit. /Star/
ERDOGAN TO TOUT INVESTMENTS OPPORTUNITIES IN TURKEY
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan will chair an economy meeting that will bring together senior representatives of 18 multinational companies, high-level officials from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank (WB) as well as four leading business associations of Turkey. The meeting will be held by the Turkey Investment Advisory Council (YDK) in Istanbul on June 18 to promote investments opportunities in Turkey for the prominent multinational companies whose annual sales reach hundreds of billions of dollars. Erdogan has chaired YDK's four meetings so far. /Star/
BABACAN HOLDS TALKS IN THE US
Foreign Minister and chief negotiator for Turkey's European Union talks Ali Babacan, currently in the US, yesterday delivered a speech to the Atlantic Council think-tank. Stating that the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) has made many reforms to improve human rights and democracy for all citizens, he added, "We made reforms to guarantee the laws committed much more easily and to improve all citizens' conditions regardless of their religious, cultural or ethnical origin." Stressing that Turkey had to confront realities and speak about their problems, Babacan said, "Otherwise, Turkey couldn't find solutions to its problems. We have coped with problems one by one by since 2002." Touching on the case seeking the AKP's closure, Babacan stated that they didn't know when the case would end up, that the decision would be conclusive and have to be respected whether they are pleased or not. Babacan also met with Secretary of Energy Samuel W. Bodman and Secretary of Treasury Henry Paulson. Issues such as energy cooperation and investment possibilities of the US firms in Turkey were discussed during the gatherings. /Sabah-Aksam/
AB TV TO BROADCAST ENGLISH TO PROMOTE TURKEY BETTER IN EUROPE
State Minister Mehmet Aydin yesterday said that they were working on a TV project, calling "AB TV" which will broadcast English to promote Turkey better in the Europe. Speaking about newly adopted bill which Turkish Radio and Television Corporation (TRT) would be allowed to broadcast in local and regional languages and dialects, Aydin said that this wasn't enough to adopt a bill and that firstly the infrastructure should be established. /Turkiye/
BAYKAL: "ETHNIC IDENTITY IS ABOUT HONOR"
Ethnic identity is "a person's honor and a source of pride for the state," main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Deniz Baykal said yesterday. Speaking at his party's Agriculture and Farmer Assembly meeting in southeastern province of Sanliurfa, Baykal said that different ethnic identities didn't threaten the state, but rather they were wealth of the country. Blaming terrorism, Baykal said no one has the right to harm innocent people. "We shall stay away from terrorism, and not back terrorists even indirectly, but we'll try to convince them for peaceful means," the CHP leader stated. Concerning the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government's recent initiative to increase investments as part of the Southeastern Anatolia Project (GAP), Baykal urged the premier to complete the project soon. "GAP is a project for Turkey's peace and prosperity and aims to end regional unfairness," added Baykal. Meanwhile, CHP's tour of the region began with a tragic accident when the secretary general of the party's youth branch, Ersin Caldir, lost his life after hitting his head on a bridge while traveling on top of the party bus. /Hurriyet/
TOP COURT TO TAKE UP HEADSCARF ISSUE TODAY
The Constitutional Court will announce today, or tomorrow at the latest, its verdict on a constitutional amendment allowing women to wear Islamic headscarves at universities. The main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) applied to the top court for the annulment of the law. The decision is expected to have important repercussions for the closure case against the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), as Chief Public Prosecutor Abdurrahman Yalcinkaya pointed the AKP's headscarf legislation as an evidence of its anti-secular leanings in the indictment for the separate closure case. /Turkish Daily News/
CB REVISES ECONOMIC EXPECTATIONS
Following release of inflation figures for May, higher than expectations, the Central Bank revised next year's inflation target to 7.5 percent from 4 percent. Speaking to Reuters, CB Governor Durmus Yalcin said that the bank would do its best to ensure price stability, and decrease inflation figures into one digit at the end of the year, which are expected to increase in summer. Durmus also underlined that the revision was needed for middle term planning, and that didn't mean the CB would make concessions on its tight monetary policy. /Hurriyet/
AZERBAIJAN PRESIDENT: "NO ISSUE CAN BE SOLVED IN THIS REGION WITHOUT TURKEY-AZERBAIJAN COOPERATION"
After his meeting with Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev in Nakhchevan, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan yesterday stated that they agreed on Azerbaijan's offering necessary facilities to meet a part of Turkey's natural gas need through Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum natural gas pipeline. Aliyev told a press conference that Turkey's support was very important and that the two countries had similar stances towards all issues. "No issue can be solved in this region without the cooperation between Turkey and Azerbaijan," he said. For his part, Erdogan said that Turkey wanted Upper Karabakh problem to be solved within the framework of Azerbaijan's territorial integrity and in line with international laws. "Turkey will do its utmost for a lasting peace in southern Caucasus," said Erdogan and expressed pleasure over Azerbaijan's support to Turkish Cypriots. He added that economic relations between Turkey and Azerbaijan were developing and that Turkish investments in Azerbaijan reached $5.5 billion. /Milliyet/
EP'S SOCIALISTS: "THE EU WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO SOLVE ANY OF ITS ISSUES WITHOUT GIVING A KEY ROLE TO TURKEY"
The Socialists, European Parliament's (EP) second largest group, yesterday proposed EP to give a key role to Turkey in the Black Sea and Mediterranean Unions. At a press conference in Brussels, Socialist Group Chairman Hannes Swoboda said that the EU would not be able to solve any of its issues without giving a key role to Turkey. "Which of its problems can the EU solve without Turkey?" he said, adding, "Can it secure the energy resources, or diversify its energy supplies? Can it solve the immigration problem, clean the Mediterranean and the Black Sea and protect the regional security and stability? Or solve the Syria-Israel dispute? Or establish dialogue with Islamic states or solve the integration problems of the Muslim population in Europe?" Swoboda also said that they were fully supporting Turkey's EU bid and pointed out that their proposal was not an offer for privileged partnership. /Milliyet/