ERDOGAN: "WE'RE DETERMINED TO CONTINUE THE DEMOCRATIC INITIATIVE"

Addressing Parliament during budget debates yesterday, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan expressed determination to press ahead with the democratic initiative to resolve the decades-old so-called Kurdish question or southeastern Anatolia issue through expanding the democratic rights and freedoms of Turkey's Kurdish-origin citizens. Erdogan emphasized Turkey's continued path toward European Union membership and the government's commitment to the initiative. On last week's Constitutional Court ruling closing the Democratic Turkey Party (DTP) on the grounds it became a focal point for ethnic separatism and failed to sever its links to the terrorist PKK, Erdogan said, "We're against the closure of political parties, but even in the most civilized countries terror is rejected." Erdogan also criticized the opposition, asking what the other parties in Parliament had contributed to the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party)-led democratic initiative. "The world looks favorably upon Turkey's accomplishments," he said. "But where do these accomplishments come from? What did you do, distinguished opposition leaders?" Erdogan said, "We wanted the opposition to participate in the democratic initiative. Parliament is where we find solutions. I'm inviting everybody to come and debate in Parliament." Erdogan also said all problems could be overcome through unity and solidarity within the framework of the initiative. Asked afterwards by a reporter if the government will continue passing laws under the initiative, Erdogan replied, "Absolutely." /Hurriyet Daily News/

DAVUTOGLU PLEDGES TURKEY'S CONTINUED SUPPORT FOR BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA

Meeting yesterday with the Serbian, Bosniak and Croatian members of Bosnia and Herzegovina's Presidency Council, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu reaffirmed Turkey's support for the country. Davutoglu was in Bosnia and Herzegovina to attend the Ministerial Meeting on the Alliance of Civilizations Southeast Europe Strategy. He had separate meetings with Croatian Council Chairman Zeljko Komsic, Bosnian Council member Haris Sladzic and Serbian member Neboysa Radmanovic. During the meetings, Davutoglu said Turkey has long supported Bosnia and Herzegovina, citing its efforts to support the country in the international arena. He told them about Turkey's vision of the Balkans, calling for a climate of peace and security. Davutoglu also urged mutual economic reliance among Balkan countries and pointed to the importance of multiculturalism, which he called one of the pillars of the region. On the sidelines of the ministerial meeting, Davutoglu and his Bosnia and Serbian counterparts Sven Alkalaj and Vuk Jeremic held a tripartite meeting as well. Davutoglu told reporters after the meeting that Turkey and Serbia are working to promote national unity in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Saying that Turkey, Serbia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina agree on the need for regional integrity, Davutoglu expressed pleasure at Bosnia and Herzegovina serving on the UN Security Council. Davutoglu said that the next tripartite meeting would take place in Belgrade. Alkalaj said that the meeting was very fruitful, adding that they would continue their efforts. Alkalaj said that they discussed matters concerning the three countries, and that they would pursue cooperation. For his part, Jeremic said that they try to hold this meeting once a month, adding that all three countries support Bosnia and Herzegovina's territorial integrity. At the end of this first regional meeting of the Alliance of Civilizations, a Sarajevo declaration called the Alliance of Civilizations Southeast Europe Strategy for Cultural Dialogue and Cooperation was released. /Aksam/

PUBLIC DIPLOMACY PUSH PLANNED FOR FOREIGN POLICY

After introducing Turkey's policy of zero problems with neighboring countries in recent years, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu is preparing to launch a major initiative to effectively use public diplomacy in the international arena in line with Turkey's foreign policy goals. Employed by leading world powers such as the US, Britain, Germany, France and China as an influential foreign policy tool to expand their international clout, public diplomacy means a diplomacy focusing more on communication-based activities towards foreign publics to gain their support for a particular foreign policy goal. Unlike classical diplomacy, which is limited to formal contacts between diplomats, public diplomacy helps a state tell about its policies to foreign audiences through mass media, the Internet, non-governmental organizations and opinion leaders to engage, persuade and attract their cooperation. Public diplomacy also aims to establish and foster relations based on mutual trust and understanding with foreign publics in the long run, thus helping to defuse prejudices and misconceptions on the initiator nation. In a sense, it is the management of perception of foreign or domestic audiences on a particular foreign policy goal, and tries to amend distorted, biased and baseless perception of a country, its culture and policies. Public diplomacy is also used to convince domestic audiences to support a particular policy. The Foreign Ministry is planning to implement its major public diplomacy plan starting early next year by doing necessary structural organization work and financial allocation. /Turkiye/

PARLIAMENT DEBATES 2010 BUDGET

Addressing yesterday's budget debate in Parliament, Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek praised the government's management of the economic crisis without seeking assistance from the International Monetary Fund. "The 2010 budget aims to maintain low interest rates," he said. "It allocates a greater amount for students and persons with disabilities; it allows greater benefits for civil servants and a bigger budget for education and health." He also voiced an expectation that the global economy, whose growth was pegged at 5.2 percent in 2007, would contract by 1.1 percent by the end of 2009. "We expect the Turkish economy to grow by 3.5 percent in 2010," he said. "But the IMF, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and international financial institutions have estimated that this figure will be between 3.7 and 5.5 percent." Simsek also said that according to the OECD's latest economic outlook, Turkey is expected to grow by 6.7 percent between 2011 and 2017. "I'd like to underline that this figure is the highest after those of China and India," he added. During his speech, Simsek said Turkey is among a handful of world nations that were able to minimize the negative effects of the crisis. "If interest rates are in the single digits, inflation is at the lowest level in the past 40 years, and our country's credit scores are improving, and if not a single bank has gone bankrupt, then we can say that Turkey is one of the countries which was least impacted by the economic crisis," he said. /Today's Zaman/

ERGUN: "TURKEY WILL SPEND MORE ON RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT EFFORTS"

Industry and Trade Minister Nihat Ergun said yesterday that low-tech products now dominate Turkey's production and exports, and that this must be changed. Speaking at the Technology Entrepreneurship Summit organized by Middle East Technical University (ODTU) in Ankara, Ergun said that if Turkey wants to be one of the world's top 10 economies, it must invest in information, science, research and innovation. Producing knowledge carries greater importance than access to knowledge acquired through imports, he said, adding that adopting imported technology will raise the standards of a country to only a limited degree. Turkey has been focusing on investing in research and development in recent years, Ergun said, explaining that the 2010 target of 40,000 jobs in research and development was reached in 2006 and that their target for 2013 is to increase this figure to some 150,000 jobs. The government also plans to spend 2 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) on research and development by 2013, he added. /Today's Zaman/