MGK PLEDGES UNWAVERING FIGHT AGAINST TERRORIST PKK
Chaired by President Abdullah Gul, the National Security Council (MGK) convened yesterday in Istanbul, with top government and military officials in attendance. Chief of General Staff Gen. Ilker Basbug, set to hand over his post to Gen. Isik Kosaner on Aug. 30, attended the council meeting for the last time, while it was the first MGK meeting for Gen. Necdet Ozel, who took over the Gendarmerie Command from Gen. Atila Isik earlier this month. A statement issued after the meeting underlined Turkey's determination to continue fighting the separatist terrorist PKK and its supporters with the help of the Turkish people. "During the meeting, the determination to continue the fight without any concessions against the separatist terrorist group, which targets our country's unity and indivisible integrity, as well as the public order and right to life, and its proponents with the nation's support was once again confirmed," said the statement. Referring to incidents of social unrest in various parts of the country as the PKK steps up its terrorist campaign, the statement said, "During the meeting, the ironclad conviction that our people, as always, will act with common sense in the face of provocation efforts by the terrorist group and its proponents to create chaos, weaken public amity, and spoil the social peace, and will never allow these sources of evil to reach their goals." Israel's May 31 aid flotilla raid and subsequent developments were also discussed during the meeting, the statement said, adding that the council members had reviewed national and international efforts to investigate the incident, which was a grave violation of international law. Regional issues were also discussed at the meeting, the statement said. On the Iranian nuclear issue, the statement said Turkey will continue its efforts to facilitate a peaceful solution to the issue, adding that talks Iran might hold with the Vienna Group within the context of the Tehran Declaration, as well as talks with the P5+1 (five permanent UN Security Council members plus Germany) in a broader context, carry great importance for finding a diplomatic solution to the issue. On a recent border skirmish between Lebanon and Israel, the statement said preserving peace and stability in Lebanon is directly related to regional peace and stability. The statement also expressed deep solidarity with flood-stricken Pakistan, saying that Turkey's aid to the suffering Pakistani people would continue. /Sabah/
AS IRAN TALKS LOOM, TURKEY PREPARES FOR TURN AT HELM OF UN SECURITY COUNCIL
Turkey will take over the rotating presidency of the 15-member UN Security Council on Sept. 1 for one month, as talks on a standoff over Iran's nuclear program are expected to resume. Iran said it was ready to resume long-stalled nuclear talks with world powers in September, after the Muslim holy month of Ramadan is over, despite sanctions imposed by the Security Council, the United States, and the European Union on the Islamic republic. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, speaking late last month, said he also wanted Turkey and Brazil, which brokered a nuclear fuel swap deal with Tehran and then voted against UN sanctions at the Security Council, to be part of the new talks. However, diplomatic sources said the consent of all parties involved in the talks is needed to include Turkey and Brazil. Iran said in a recent letter to the UN atomic watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), that Iran is ready to unconditionally start talks on the proposed uranium exchange plan and wants Turkey and Tehran to also join the negotiations. But the Vienna group, made up of the IAEA, the US, Russia and France, has so far not commented on Tehran's request. The exact date of the new talks will be set on the basis of the Vienna group's response to the Iranian letter to the IAEA. In related news, on Sept. 21 President Abdullah Gul is set to host world leaders at a summit as part of the opening of the UN General Assembly's 65th session to discuss issues such as Iran, Iraq, the Middle East, North Korea, terrorism, and climate change. Every month the General Assembly holds a session on an issue chosen by the president of the Security Council. Turkey, during its term presidency, chose Peacekeeping as the topic of the September meeting. A summit on the Millennium Development Goals will also take place on the sidelines of the General Assembly. After playing an active role at the UN in recent years, Turkey has also assumed the co-presidency of the UN Counter-Terrorism Committee. Turkey became a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council in 2009, and its two-year term in the powerful world body closes at the end of this year. /Today's Zaman, Turkiye/
FM DAVUTOGLU MEETS WITH MAIN KYRGYZ PARTY LEADER
Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu yesterday met with the leader of Kyrgyzstan's largest political party to discuss the country's political situation ahead of its October parliamentary elections. Davutoglu reportedly told Omurbek Tekebayev, leader of the Ata-Meken Socialist Party, that Turkey places great importance on Kyrgyzstan's welfare and stability and wants to do its best to support the country. During the meeting, Davutoglu and Tekebayev reportedly discussed recent developments in Kyrgyzstan and the Oct. 10 parliamentary elections. Kyrgyzstan's opposition party took power and dissolved Parliament in the strategically important Central Asian state after a bloody uprising in early April that forced ousted President Kurmanbek Bakiyev to flee the capital. Two months later, ethnic Uzbek and Kyrgyz communities in southern Kyrgyzstan clashed, leaving hundreds of people dead and thousands injured. Tekebayev is one of the founding members of the interim government that came to power following the uprising. He was a deputy prime minister in the interim government who was also responsible for constitutional reforms. He resigned when he decided to run in the parliamentary elections in October. /Today's Zaman/
SIMSEK: "APPROVING THE CONSTITUTIONAL REFORM PACKAGE WILL SPEED UP OUR ECONOMIC GROWTH"
Turkey's economy could grow six times faster than Europe's this year, Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek predicted yesterday. Speaking at a fast-breaking dinner marking the Turkish market debut of the sukuk, an Islamic financial certificate similar to a bond, Simsek spoke on the economic importance of a major constitutional reform package set for to face a public referendum next month. "If the package wins public approval, it will give a big boost to the economy's potential for growth," he said. Stating that Turkey needs considerable amounts of financing and capital to help it catch up with developed countries, Simsek added, "Turkey now stands at an important crossroads," he said. "With the passage of the reform package, I believe Turkey will become a predictable country with a well-functioning judiciary." Simsek also cited nearly 10 percent growth in the first half of this year as evidence that Turkey is poised to fully shake off the global economic crisis this year. As an alternative financial tool, the sukuk will make important contributions to Turkey's development, Simsek added. Asked about Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan criticizing the Turkish Industrialists' and Businessmen's Association (TUSIAD) for not endorsing the package, Simsek said, "You can't expect a TUSIAD-like organization to be indifferent to something that will have such a decisive impact on our country's future." Erdogan recently urged TUSIAD to take a stand on the package, saying that it can't be unconcerned with such a historically important development for Turkey. /Star/
POLAND'S WALESA: "THERE'S NO EUROPE WITHOUT TURKEY"
Turkey must be admitted to the European Union, Nobel laureate Lech Walesa, the former Polish president and labor leader, said on Wednesday. "There's no Europe without Turkey," Walesa told AFP in an interview. "Turkey should gradually reach Europe's level of development and enter tomorrow." Turkey started its EU membership talks in 2005, but the process has been sluggish, in part due to France and Germany's reluctance to admit the Muslim-majority nation of 75 million. Poland, which is due to take over the EU's rotating presidency in the second half of 2011, backs Turkish entry into the 27-nation bloc. The deeply Catholic Walesa said religious-rooted concerns should not come into play. "Borders and splits have led to conflict, especially on the religious side," he said. "Religion has been exploited." He added, "Religion will return to its proper place. People will understand that in reality, God is the same for all religions but there are too many defenders of the faith." /Hurriyet Daily News/
TURKEY MOBILIZES TO PROVIDE MORE AID TO FLOOD-STRICKEN PAKISTAN
As one international agency after another announces that millions of people in Pakistan are in dire need of aid, Turkish institutions have mobilized to provide relief to the nation in the aftermath of the most disastrous floods in the country's history. Most Turkish newspapers spotlighted urgent appeals for aid on their front pages yesterday, and some even started campaigns of their own. Since the Muslim world is in the holy month of Ramadan, the appeals are even more significant, as every Muslim must pay zakat al-fitr (a type of charity) at this time. Only a small minority of the 6 million Pakistanis desperate for food and clean water have received help after floods that have killed up to 1,600 people. Pakistan's ambassador to Turkey called on the international community to help his country after the devastating disaster. Ambassador Tariq Azizuddin told the Anatolia news agency that nearly 20 million people had been affected by the floods and landslides stemming from heavy monsoon rains in Pakistan. "A 165,000-square-meter area is currently under water. This equals 20 percent of Pakistan's total surface area," he said. Noting that Turkey sent a significant amount of aid immediately after the disaster hit, the ambassador added: "I believe Turkey will continue its help. Governments do the best they can, but the important thing is what the Turkish people do." /Today's Zaman/
NEW EXHIBIT IN ISTANBUL SEEKS TO CHANGE VIEWS OF MUSLIM SCIENCE
Providing a look at the golden age of Islam's heritage, a new exhibit called 1,001 Inventions is hoping to inspire revisions of global school curriculums to include the contributions of Muslim inventors in math, geography and physics. "Every civilIzation reached higher by building on top of the scientific and technological advances of its predecessors," said Professor Dr. Salim al-Hassani, head of nonprofit educational group the Foundation for Science, Technology and CivilIzation (FSTC). Unfortunately, he said, Europeans didn't acknowledge the debt they owed great Muslim scholars in advancing science. "The exhibit has made a big contribution toward dispelling the prejudices of Western people against Islam. We organIzed it in an attempt to provide cultural balance," said al-Hassani, adding that over the next four years the show is set to travel to 30 cities on five continents. The interactive exhibit is currently at Istanbul's Sultanahmet Square, and it previously drew 500,000 people to the London Science Museum. "The idea to create the exhibit came when Donald Cardwell, head of the University of Manchester's Department of the History of Science and Technology, told me to research the lost thousand years of science in Europe known as the Dark Ages," al-Hassani said. He found that while there was little creative output in Europe during that time, there was a wealth of scientific endeavors in the Muslim world. "In order to explain this to people, instead of building a new museum, we thought we would find a new way to communicate," he said, stressing that the exhibit entertains and educates through interactive techniques and modern technology. "We demand the inclusion of Muslim inventors in school curriculums so that future generations can be inspired." Lagari Hasan Celebi's manned-rocket flight, al-Jazari's battery-operated water clock, Hezarfen Ahmed Celebi's glider flight, and Mimar Sinan's architectural genius are just some of the major figures on show in the free exhibit. The next destination of the exhibit, which can be seen until Oct. 5 in Istanbul, is New York. /Hurriyet Daily News/
THIS YEAR'S IZMIR INTERNATIONAL FAIR TO FOCUS ON ENERGY
The Izmir International Fair, Turkey's premier international trade show, this year is set to focus on energy as it opens its doors to millions of visitors for the 79th time. Izmir Greater Municipality Mayor Aziz Kocaoglu told a press conference yesterday at the fairgrounds that the event will draw an estimated 1.5 million visitors from Aug. 27 to Sept. 5 and that the guest of honor will be the city of Gaziantep. On choosing the theme for this year's fair, Kocaoglu said energy is a hot topic both internationally and in Turkey, with ever-growing demands for more energy resources to fuel economic growth. He said during this year's fair, the Energy and Natural Resources Ministry will sponsor a panel summit on energy on Sept. 2-4. "I hope we will take the opportunity to refresh our knowledge of renewable energy sources, including geothermal, solar and hydroelectric energy, as well as provide information to the public about new technologies and advances in the energy sector both at home and abroad," he said. Over 800 Turkish companies will take part in the fair along with 250 foreign firms from 55 countries, marking a nearly 50 rise in the number of participants. /Today's Zaman/