AID FLOTILLA INQUIRY COMMISSION SET TO VISIT TURKEY
Members of an international fact-finding commission established by the UN to investigate Israel`s May 31 raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla, which left eight Turks and one American of Turkish descent dead, are set to visit Turkey later this month. The commission members are expected to visit Ankara, Istanbul and Iskenderun, where the flotilla set sail for Gaza. They are also expected to examine three boats which were part of the six-ship flotilla, including lead ship the Mavi Marmara. After the deadly raid Israel seized all six, and recently allowed them to be returned to Turkey. An examination of the ships by Turkish experts found that Israel tried to cover up the physical evidence of the raid. The commission is also scheduled to be received by Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu. After the raid dealt a serious blow to bilateral ties, Turkey demanded that Israel meet three conditions to put them back on track: agreeing to an international investigation into the incident, extending an official apology, and paying compensations to the families of the raid victims. After initially rejecting the international probe, Israel later agreed to cooperate with the UN commission, but has yet to fulfill the other conditions. /Star/
POLITICAL IMPASSE AMID US TROOP WITHDRAWAL HEIGHTENS ANKARA`S WORRIES ABOUT IRAQ`S FUTURE
Iraq`s continued inability to form a government nearly six months after general elections even as the US withdrew all of its combat troops from the fragile country has heightened Turkey`s concerns about Iraq`s future. Wanting Iraq to become a respected member of the international community, with its political unity and territorial integrity intact, Turkey is doing all it can to make this happen. While maintaining dialogue with all Iraqi groups, Ankara is urging them to forge a national consensus government post haste. Since March`s general elections, there has been no progress in forming a government in Iraq, which is still plagued by violence and instability. Because no political party got enough electoral support to form a government alone, a coalition government is needed in Iraq, where delicate ethnic and sectarian balances are at play. An October census is also expected to play a key role in determining the status of the northern city of Kirkuk. Turkmens and Arabs living in Kirkuk oppose the census, claiming that the city`s demographic structure has been distorted by the regional Kurdish administration in order to dominate the city and its rich oil reserves. Ankara believes Kirkuk should be given a special status, arguing that instability there would mean instability all over the country. The US last week withdrew its last combat troops from Iraq, leaving combat operations to Iraqi forces, but keeping 50,000 thousand troops stationed for non-combat purposes such as training security forces. /Turkiye/
ANKARA TELLS WASHINGTON IT WON`T FOLLOW NEW SANCTIONS ON IRAN
Turkish officials last week told a visiting American delegation that it has no intention of following unilateral US sanctions on Iran, according to both sides. Turkish and American officials have confirmed that a US delegation from the Treasury and State Department visited Ankara last week to have talks at the Foreign Ministry and the Treasury Undersecretariat about US sanctions on Iran. The talks came as Turkey said it would support Turkish companies making sales to Tehran despite unilateral US sanctions that restrict trade. "They were here to discuss and explain UN sanctions and also the new US sanctions package signed into legislation by President Obama on July 1," a US Embassy official in Ankara told Reuters on Friday. The official said Turkey was one of many countries the delegation was planning to visit. Foreign Ministry officials said the delegation had offered details about the US sanctions but that Turkey`s response was negative, the Anatolia news agency reported. "We told them we don`t feel obliged to adhere to sanctions other than those imposed by the UN," an official said. A delegation of Turkish officials, led by Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Feridun Sinirlioglu, is expected to begin talks with US officials in Washington today on a number of issues, including Iran`s nuclear program. /Today`s Zaman/
KYRGYZ POLITICIAN HAILS TURKEY AS MODEL FOR REGION
Turkey disproved the falsehood that a modern democracy in the Turkic and Islamic worlds is impossible, said Omurbek Tekebayev, a former Kyrgyz Parliament speaker and deputy prime minister, over the weekend. Tekebayev, the leader of Kyrgyzstan`s Ata Meken Party, made the remarks at a press conference in Ankara on Saturday, following talks with top officials including President Abdullah Gul, Parliament Speaker Mehmet Ali Sahin, and Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu. Turkey has pledged to help support Kyrgyzstan establishing a parliamentary system in the country. Speaking at the press conference, Tekebayev said the riots that led to the ouster of the Kyrgyz government earlier this year brought a historic change to the country. Kyrgyzstan is set to hold parliamentary elections in October. Tekebayev said the country has been ruled by only one family since the 1990s ushered in the post-Soviet era, which he branded a "criminal" period. Two Kyrgyz presidents have been ousted over the last five years, said Tekebayev, because the Kyrgyz people didn`t want a dictatorship. "Democracy is a lifestyle," he continued. "It is untrue to say that democracy cannot be established in Central Asia, Turkic and Islamic countries." He added, "Turkey`s parliamentary system proves that a modern democracy can be formed in the Turkic and Islamic worlds. We want to end the system that was handed down from father to son in Kyrgyzstan." /Hurriyet Daily News/
TURKEY TO PRESENT ROADMAP FOR KYRGYZ STABILITY
A Turkish delegation is visiting Kyrgyzstan this week to review recent developments there as well as to present an action plan to maintain stability in the strife-torn Central Asian country. The delegation, led by Deputy Foreign Undersecretary Hakki Akil, is in Kyrgyzstan from Sunday through Thursday, and will visit the capital Bishkek as well as the southern cities of Osh and Jalal-Abad, where ethnic clashes and riots last month killed hundreds. The delegation and Kyrgyz officials will discuss issues of bilateral cooperation, including the action plan meant to bolster the ethnically split former Soviet republic`s efforts to maintain stability during its fragile period of transition. When Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu visited Kazakhstan in June, he said Turkey and Kazakhstan had agreed on a joint plan to be implemented following a June 27 referendum. "This agreement came following talks on what could be done for Kyrgyzstan in the areas of domestic politics, diplomacy, economy and security," he said. /Today`s Zaman/
CAGLAYAN PREDICTS TURKEY SET TO EXCEED YEAR-END EXPORT TARGET
State Minister for Foreign Trade Minister Zafer Caglayan on Saturday said Turkey will surpass its year-end export target of $107.5 billion. Speaking at a fast-breaking iftar dinner in Ankara organized by the Akyurt Industrialists and Businessmen`s Association (AKSIAD), Caglayan said that by the end of last week Turkey`s exports had exceeded $70 billion, which shows that the year-end target will also be exceeded. This figure was reached despite the contraction of the European market, a further weakening of the euro against the dollar, and the high value of the Turkish lira, he added. On the country`s economic performance since the current government took office in late 2002, he said the private sector has played an important role in the success seen so far. Stressing that producers are making great strides despite difficulties, he said that in order to market Turkey`s products better, his "greatest dream" is to have an international fair center in Ankara. Steps towards this end, he added, will be taken by Parliament in October after it reconvenes from its recess. On next month`s referendum on a constitutional amendment package, he called this an issue above politics, saying the package contains changes that are in the interests of businessmen, the elderly, women, civil servants, pensioners, the disabled, and every individual in Turkey. /Today`s Zaman/