IN WAKE OF TERRORIST ATTACKS, PRESIDENT GUL SET TO CHAIR SECURITY SUMMIT
In the wake of a trio of terrorist PKK attacks over the weekend which left 12 soldiers dead, President Abdullah Gul will chair a security summit today at the Cankaya Presidential Palace. Attending the meeting will be Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Chief of General Staff Gen. Ilker Basbug, Deputy Prime Minister Cemil Cicek, Interior Minister Besir Atalay, Defense Minister Vecdi Gonul, Land Forces Commander Gen. Isik Kosaner, Gendarmerie General Commander Gen. Atilla Isik, and National Security Organization (MIT) Undersecretary Hakan Fidan. Measures to take against rising numbers of terrorist attacks are set to be discussed. /Cumhuriyet/
AS TURKEY MOURNS FALLEN SOLDIERS, ERDOGAN VOWS NOT TO BOW TO TERRORISM
Turkey will never give in to violence and acts of terror, and terrorists will "drown in their own blood," an angry and sorrowful Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Sunday, condemning the brutal killings of 12 Turkish soldiers by the terrorist PKK over the weekend. Terrorists attacked an army border unit in Semdinli, Hakkari, at 2 am on Sunday. Nine soldiers were killed and 14 were wounded in the attack, the General Staff announced. Two other soldiers were later killed by a land mine in the area. A separate terrorist assault on a military outpost in the eastern province of Elazig late Saturday killed one soldier and injured another, raising the number of slain soldiers to 12. "Our sorrow is immense. Our grief is as high as the mountains," Erdogan said before the flag-draped coffins of the slain soldiers at a memorial ceremony at the Van Gendarmerie Security Command yesterday. "But we will not bow. We will bury our grief in the depths of our hearts and will not make those traitors happy. I am putting it very clearly: They will not win. They will not gain anything. They will melt in their own darkness. They will dry up in their own swamps. They will drown in their own blood. We have never been daunted, and never will be. We will never surrender to violence and acts of terror!" The ceremony was attended by Chief of General Staff Gen. Ilker Basbug, Deputy Prime Minister Cemil Cicek, Defense Minister Vecdi Gonul, Interior Minister Besir Atalay, State Minister and chief EU negotiator Egemen Bagis, and the envoys of 20 European Union member countries as well as many other statesmen and officials. The Turkish military responded to the violence by sending warplanes across the Iraqi border to bomb suspected PKK bases, while elite commandos crossed the border in pursuit of the terrorists in a daylong incursion on Saturday. The General Staff gave the PKK death toll as 12. Also on Saturday, Erdogan blamed the PKK violence on the terrorist group's "foreign collaborators," saying, "The Turkish nation knows very well on whose behalf the terrorist organization works as a subcontractor." Many saw this as a veiled allegation that Israel is behind the PKK assaults. Ties between Turkey and Israel have recently been severely shaken, with Erdogan openly accusing Israel of being engaged in anti-Turkish operations. In related news, the US signaled Sunday that it is ready to offer more assistance to Turkey in the fight against terrorism, rebuffing claims that intelligence cooperation is cooling in response to Turkey's stance on Iran. "We stand ready to review urgently any new request from the Turkish military or government," said Deborah Guido, a spokeswoman for the US Embassy in Ankara. Saying that there has been no change in the level of intelligence-sharing with Turkey, she added that the US shares Turkey's grief over the weekend deaths. /Today's Zaman, Hurriyet Daily News/
DAVUTOGLU SET TO DISCUSS KYRGYZ CIVIL STRIFE WITH KAZAKH OFFICIALS
In Astana, Kazakhstan for a two-day working visit which began yesterday, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu is expected to meet with Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev and Foreign Minister Kanat Saudabayev to discuss regional matters, particularly neighboring Kyrgyzstan, where recent ethnic clashes have killed at least 117 people and injured more than 1,100. Telling parliamentary deputies last week about Turkey's efforts to help turmoil-stricken Kyrgyzstan, Davutoglu said that a joint action plan to deal with the situation was being prepared with Kazakhstan. "We (both nations) will take action for Kyrgyzstan," he said. "Delegations from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and United Nations are also in Kyrgyzstan. Turkey has played an active role in dispatching them to the region." Davutoglu said once reports from Turkish and Kazakh delegations are ready, they will act on behalf of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia (CICA), chaired this year by Turkey, and the OSCE, chaired this year by Kazakhstan. /Sabah/
UN PUSHES FOR INTL PROBE INTO ISRAELI FLOTILLA RAID
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Friday urged Israel to agree to an international investigation of its deadly commando raid last month on a Gaza-bound aid convoy, and also called on the Israeli government to do "much more" to meet the needs of the Palestinians living there. The UN chief, speaking to reporters, said he has been trying to arrange the "prompt, impartial, credible and transparent investigation conforming to international standards" that the UN Security Council called for on June 1. Ban said Israel's own investigation into the flotilla raid - a public commission with two international observers - "is important" but lacks "international credibility," which is why he is continuing to urge the Israeli government to agree to an international panel under a third party "in which both Turkey and Israel would actively participate." The ships in the flotilla were Turkish flagged, and nine Turks died in the raid. He also said he was encouraged to see Israel reviewing its Gaza policy and its recent decision to allow more goods into Palestinian territory, but added that he wants a greater easing of the Israeli blockade. /Today's Zaman/
GUNAY ATTENDS NATIONAL DAY AT WORLD FAIR IN SHANGHAI
Culture Minister Ertugrul Gunay yesterday attended a National Day event at the Turkish pavilion at the Expo 2010 World's Fair in Shanghai, China, and also met with Chinese Deputy Culture Minister Li Hong Feng before the event's opening. In his address, Gunay praised Chinese officials' staging of the Expo 2010 World's Fair, the world's second-biggest event after the Olympics. "My visit shows that there is a great potential to boost culture and tourism relations between our countries," he said. Gunay said some 500 Turkish students are bound for China to work on their Chinese, saying this shows bridges are being built between the peoples of the two countries. For his part, Li spoke of the friendly relations between Turkey and China, saying that bilateral political confidence and cooperation are on the rise based on mutual trade and investment interests. The opening ceremony ended with a performance by Turkish dance group Fire of Anatolia. /Hurriyet Daily News/
ITALY SAYS EU'S DOORS OPEN TO TURKEY
The European Union's doors are open to Turkey, said Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini over the weekend, reiterating EU leaders' pledges to pursue full membership for Turkey. "The doors of the EU are open to Turkey. We will not break our promise," said Frattini in opening remarks at a European People's Party's (EPP) foreign ministerial-level meeting. "The roud to full membership is continuing." /Today's Zaman/
OIC HEAD IHSANOGLU VISITING CHINA
On an official visit to China, Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, the Turkish scholar who serves as secretary-general of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), yesterday proceeded from Beijing to the Hui autonomous region, where many Muslim Chinese live. Then he visited the historical Hiluan Mosque and Islamic Fine Arts College. Afterwards, he proceeded to Urumchi, the capital of the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, where he visited the Islam Institute and Han Tengri Mosque. /Turkiye/