PRESIDENT GUL DUE IN CHINA
President Abdullah Gul is scheduled to pay a four-day official visit to China on June 24-28 to push for stronger trade ties between Turkey and the world's fastest-growing major economy at a time of global economic crisis. During his stay, Gul, accompanied by a large business delegation, is expected to hold talks in the capital Beijing, as well as the former capital Xi'an, Shenzhen and Guangzhou. Gul will meet with his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao, Prime Minister Ven Ciabao, and Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing, and will also attend a meeting of the Turkish-Chinese Business Council, where businesspeople from both countries will have the opportunity to hold bilateral and sectoral talks to establish new contacts. /Turkiye/
IRAQ'S HASHEMI MEETS WITH GUL, ERDOGAN
Iraqi Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi, currently in Turkey for a vacation, yesterday met with President Abdullah Gul and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. It was reportedly a symbolic meeting. /Cumhuriyet/
SINGAPORE PRESIDENT SEEKS STRONGER TRADE TIES WITH TURKEY
As part of his week-long official visit to Turkey, the first-ever by a Singapore head of state, Singapore President Sellapan Ramanathan met yesterday with his Turkish counterpart Abdullah Gul at the Cankaya Presidential Palace. Speaking at a joint press conference afterwards, Ramanathan said that in recent years Turkey had taken measures to become an important foreign investment magnet. Stating that they had discussed greater economic cooperation between Turkey and Singapore as well as the global economic crisis, Ramanathan said that a business delegation had accompanied him to learn more about investment opportunities in Turkey and chances for joint economic initiatives that could be undertaken with third countries. Stating that 14 percent of Singapore's population is Muslim, he also said that Turkey and Singapore could also cooperate in fighting extremism and providing security. For his part, Gul said, "My Singaporean counterpart Ramanathan's visit is the first ever by a Singapore president to Turkey, and marks the 40th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between our countries." Stressing that Turkey and Singapore enjoy excellent political relations, Gul said also bilateral trade ties between the two countries have developed remarkably in recent years, rising to $1 billion last year. "I believe this visit will open a new page in Turkish-Singaporean relations," Gul said, adding that they had also discussed ways to improve Turkey's ties with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), of which Singapore is a prominent member. Gul said, "Turkey and Singapore extend support to each other, and we also place great importance on improving cooperation in areas such as tourism and culture." Gul also said that they had also discussed strategic issues of the region and Asia in general in addition to bilateral relations. Ramanathan yesterday also attended a dinner hosted by Gul in his honor, and met with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Ramanathan is expected to meet with Parliament Speaker Koksal Toptan today, and later to proceed to Istanbul to attend a meeting of the Turkish-Singaporean Business Council. In related news, a Singapore parliamentary delegation led by Hawazi Daipi, co-chair of the Singapore-Turkey Inter-parliamentary Friendship Group, visited Parliament on Tuesday in a bid to improve cooperation between the two countries' legislatures. /Turkiye/
TURKEY, IRAQ SIGN MILITARY COOPERATION PACT
The Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) announced yesterday that it had signed a memorandum of understanding for military cooperation with Iraq. The announcement of the pact came on the day Iraq's vacationing vice president, Tariq al-Hashemi, was having talks with senior Turkish officials in Ankara. The TSK, in a statement posted on its webpage, said, "As the result of more than a year of efforts between Turkey and Iraq, a Memorandum of Understanding for Training, Technical and Scientific Cooperation in the Military was signed on June 9, 2009 by Deputy Chief of General Staff Gen. Hasan Igsiz and Iraqi Joint Forces Deputy Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Nasier A. Abadi at a ceremony held at General Staff headquarters." In related news, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu will visit Iraq later this month. During his visit, Davutoglu is expected also to hold talks in the northern Iraqi city of Erbil, a key center for the northern Iraqi Kurdish regional administration. /Today's Zaman/
IPI HONORS HURRIYET DAILY NEWS CEO
Hurriyet Daily News CEO Vuslat Dogan Sabanci this week was honored by the International Press Institute (IPI) in Helsinki, Finland for her work on press freedom and made a lifetime honorary executive board member of the institute. /Milliyet/