GUL URGES RUSSIA'S MEDVEDEV TO PUSH FOR SETTLEMENT OVER KARABAKH
In a telephone conversation over the weekend, President Abdullah Gul urged his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev to push for a settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia. Gul reportedly expressed Ankara's unease over a recent Armenian Constitutional Court ruling raising the specter of preconditions and restrictive provisions on the historic normalization protocols between Armenia and Turkey. Gul urged Medvedev to play a more active role with Yerevan in order to keep the normalization process on track. /Hurriyet Daily News/
ADDRESSING HIS MUSLIM COUNTERPARTS IN KAMPALA, SAHIN SPEAKS OUT AGAINST ISLAMOPHOBIA
Addressing the Fourth Conference of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) in Kampala, Uganda over the weekend, Parliament Speaker Mehmet Ali Sahin said that some circles are fueling Islamophobia around the world through campaigns based on fear and prejudice. Stating that last year's Swiss referendum to ban construction of new minarets in the country portended the continuation of such campaigns, Sahin talked about a number of major issues facing the Islamic world, such as the Middle East peace process, the Palestinian issue, Afghanistan and Pakistan, concerns over Iraq's future, and recently rising tension in Yemen. Calling on Muslim parliaments across the world to take a more active stance to defuse prejudices and misconceptions about Islam and Muslims, Sahin said Turkey is already doing this on all international platforms. "The fight against this mentality nourished by prejudices will be a challenging one," he said. Calling for the revival of all efforts to solve the Palestinian issue, Sahin urged the Israeli government to end the construction of new settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories. Stressing that Turkey can't remain indifferent to developments in Gaza, Sahin also urged the Israeli government to lift its blockade of the strip to allow humanitarian assistance to arrive there and ease its disastrous state. Sahin said the OIC should assume a lead role on the issue, and that Turkey supports all initiatives to resume peace negotiations between Israel and Palestine. Sahin also urged Muslim countries to do more to end the unfair international isolation of the Turkish Cypriots. /Sabah/
ERDOGAN HONORS TWO MASTERS OF TRADITIONAL TURKISH MUSIC
Two master performers of traditional Turkish music - Niyazi Sayin, who plays the Neyzen (reed flute), and Necded Yasar, who plays the tambur (a mandolin-type instrument) - were honored with the 2009 Culture and Art Grand Award of the Culture and Tourism Ministry in a ceremony over the weekend in Istanbul. The prestigious award, given in a different branch of art each year to artists who have contributed to its development, is handed out by a committee headed by Culture and Tourism Minister Ertugrul Gunay. The committee honored Sayin and Yasar for their efforts to carry traditional Turkish music culture into the next century through their sterling performances as well as for improving the practice of solo virtuosity in Turkish music, Gunay said. The ceremony was attended by scores of high-profile guests, including Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, State Minister Hayati Yazici, and Istanbul Mayor Kadir Topbas. In a speech at the ceremony, Gunay said that Sayin and Yasar, who together have spent more than a century in music, deserve this honor more than any other living Turkish classical musicians. Sayin, 82, and Yasar, 79, received their awards from Erdogan during the ceremony, where "Bir Yasam Oykusu" (A Life Story), a film by Fahri Tanir about the two artists' lives and work, was also screened. /Today's Zaman/
WESETERWELLE: "GERMANY STANDS BEHIND ITS WORD"
Turkey is a partner with a strategic importance for the European Union, said German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle over the weekend. In an interview with Greek daily Kathimerini, he said the German government's stance on this issue is clear, adding, "We're reliable and we'll stick to our agreement." /Star/
BULGARIAN PM HOLDS TALKS IN ISTANBUL
Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov over the weekend visited the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate and met with Patriarch Bartholomew in Istanbul. Afterwards, Bartholomew said that he had asked Borissov to support Turkey's EU bid. /Hurriyet Daily News/
EURONEWS ADDS TURKISH TO ITS 24-HOUR BROADCASTS
International news channel Euronews' new Turkish-language broadcasts will open an important door for Turkey, Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc, who is also the state minister responsible for the state-run broadcaster Turkish Radio and Television Corporation (TRT) said yesterday. The multilingual broadcaster over the weekend added Turkish to its already existing broadcasts in German, English, Arabic, Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese and Russian. The Istanbul Chamber of Commerce (ITO) held a ceremony in Istanbul on Sunday to salute those behind Turkish being added to the lineup. "Turkey's efforts for full European Union membership will become stronger with the contributions of Euronews," Arinc told the ceremony, adding that Turkey would also become a better-known country through the broadcasts. Euronews' Turkish service will be reach 293 million people in 150 countries by satellite and cable providers and channels, including Turkey's TRT, as well as over the Internet. The ceremony was also attended by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, TRT head Ibrahim Sahin, ITO head Murat Yalcintas, and Euronews CEO Philippe Cayla. Under an agreement signed by TRT and Euronews, the supervisory board of Euronews, chaired by Pier Luigi Malesani, is now made up of 14 members, including TRT. The Turkish version of Euronews will be produced at the Euronews headquarters in Lyons, France, by a team of 20-30 permanent staffers, including 17 Turkish journalists. The Euronews Web site euronews.net will also have a Turkish version. Speaking to Euronews, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan complained about what he called the dishonesty of some EU member states towards Turkey's EU accession process. "They're trying to corner Turkey through conditions that are nowhere in the EU acquis communautaire. This is very wrong," he said. Stressing that the EU shouldn't become a "Christians only" club, but rather a union based on common values such as democracy and human rights, Erdogan expressed determination to pursue Turkey's EU bid no matter what obstacles stand in the way. He also warned of rising Islamophobia across the continent. /Turkiye-Milliyet/