GUL WARNS POLICE TO AVOID USE OF EXCESSIVE FORCE
President Abdullah Gul yesterday warned police to avoid the use of excessive force. "While providing security, (you must) also meet the standards of developed democratic countries in our country," Gul said in a speech marking the new academic year at Ankara's Police Academy. "This is where the understanding of security and democracy is formed and discussed theoretically." Saying that the authority to use force is a great responsibility, Gul added, "When mistakes are made, this directly interests the state." Evoking the unsolved murders of past decades, he said, "Today, I see with great contentment that these have remained in the past." Speaking at the same occasion, Interior Minister Besir Atalay said that torture in Turkey has been eliminated, as no torture cases have been filed this year. /Sabah/
IN MAJOR PROJECT, ERDOGAN SAID TO ANNOUNCE ISTANBUL CANAL TO RELIEVE STRAIT TRAFFIC
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan early next month is reportedly due to announce a major public works project in the form of a canal in Istanbul meant to relieve traffic on the Strait. Erdogan is set to make the announcement at the opening of the 24th International Project Management Association (IPMA) World Congress on Nov. 1. Erdogan previewed the announcement last week, but declined to elaborate on what he called his "crazy" project. Media reports say this "second Bosporus" would go between the city's Silivri and Catalca districts and would be set to finish by 2023, the Turkish Republic's centenary. The Istanbul Strait's ever-growing traffic of oil and natural gas tankers poses significant threats to Turkey's most populous city and economic center and has led to calls to reduce it. Under the purported project, sea traffic on the Bosporus would be channeled to this second artificial strait. The IPMA congress is expected to be attended by nearly 250 project management scholars from 50 countries. During the three-day gathering, more than 350 worldwide projects and scientific articles will be discussed. Participants will have the opportunity to share knowledge and exchange views on innovative new projects. Many leading figures from the world project management sector will make presentations, and a number of important projects from around the world will make their debut. In related news, conference organizer Cetin Elmas of Gazi University said Erdogan will make important announcements during the meeting. "For three days Turkey will host the world's top project managers," he said. "After Istanbul's yearlong reign as European Capital of Culture, this congress will make Istanbul the world's project management capital." During the event, transportation, healthcare, public works and education officials will make presentations about projects in those areas. Event organizers say the total worth of the projects publicized during the congress will exceed $50 billion. /Sabah/
TURKEY, US IN CRITICAL TALKS OVER FATE OF MISSILE SHIELD PLAN
Top Turkish and US officials held talks in Brussels on the sidelines of a NATO meeting yesterday, discussing Washington's plans to move forward with a missile defense system plan that Ankara insists should not intimidate its Middle East neighbors. Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and Defense Minister Vecdi Gonul met with their US counterparts - Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates - a few hours after NATO's secretary-general urged member states to endorse a proposed anti-missile system that would protect Europe and North America. NATO is proposing to expand an existing system of battlefield missile defense to cover the territory of all alliance members against ballistic missiles from nations such as Iran and North Korea. NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen has proposed that Russia also join the project, thus creating a network that would stretch from "Vancouver to Vladivostok." "The threat is clear, the capability exists and the costs are manageable," Rasmussen said in his opening remarks at the rare joint meeting of defense and foreign ministers of the alliance. "Starting today, NATO is in the sprint to the summit. The decisions we take in the next two weeks will shape the future of the world's most successful alliance." The US supports the missile defense proposal, but other governments have taken a dim view of it, citing high costs and saying it will not provide a robust nuclear deterrent. For its part, Turkey has asserted it would approve such a plan only if it was convinced that there was a concrete threat, or at least a perceived threat, against all NATO members. Nonetheless, rather than broad-based support, Turkey is seeking a unanimous agreement over such plans. "One is not smaller than the 27," is Ankara's customary motto when speaking about NATO issues, in an apparent reference to unanimous voting, which has been a cornerstone of the 28-member consensus-based alliance. In addition to consensus, Ankara also wants any planned missile-defense system to protect its entire territory, not provide partial protection. Ankara also wants the system to have a "deterrent" characteristic and fiercely opposes naming any particular country as a threat against the alliance, the latter concern related to potential harm to its growing ties with neighbors such as Iran. Over the past decade, Ankara has been proactively engaged in a "zero-problem" policy with its neighbors, the greater Middle East, and post-Soviet countries. /Today's Zaman/
ISTANBUL TO HOST UN MEETING ON LEAST-DEVELOPED NATIONS
The United Nations could accept a new 10-year action plan for the world's least-developed countries at a conference next year in Istanbul, a senior UN representative said Wednesday. Cheick Sidi Diarra, the UN high representative for least-developed countries (LDCs), told a press conference that the Fourth UN Conference on LDCs would be a milestone event. The conference will assess the implementation of the Brussels Program of Actions for LDCs for 2001-2010 and come to an agreement on a new generation of international support measures for LDCs. In order to properly support the conference, the UN secretary-general has appointed a commission to recommend international support measures to accelerate development in LDCs. Diarra said the commission would present a report to the secretary-general early next year on proposed solutions to the problems of the world's 49 least-developed countries. /Hurriyet Daily News/
PACE PRESIDENT CAVUSOGLU: "TURKEY AND RUSSIA SHOULD WORK TOGETHER"
Mevlut Cavusoglu, the Turkish parliamentarian currently serving as the president of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), said yesterday that Turkey and Russia, the two main non-European Union actors in the European region, should work together to solve problems. He made his remarks at an international symposium in Moscow on education in Europe along with Sergei Mironov, the head of Russia's Federation Council, which co-organized the event with the Council of Europe. "As you know, there are two main actors in the European sphere that are not EU members: Turkey and Russia," said Cavusoglu. "Turkey and Russia should cooperate to solve problems, particularly in the Balkans, Caucasus, and many other regions." Cavusoglu told reporters that Turkey "successfully carries out tasks it has assumed in both regional and international bodies, such as the United Nations and NATO. Our profile in the international arena as well as in decision-making bodies is rising because we're doing the right thing in working to promote stability and world peace." Cavusoglu said Turkey and Russia have good relations and working cooperation, adding that Russia is Turkey's top trade partner with an expected future annual trade volume of $100 billion. /Hurriyet Daily News/
CLAIMING "WAR CRIMES," LAWYERS FOR AID FLOTILLA VICTIMS ASK INTL CRIMINAL COURT TO ACT
Lawyers representing the victims of Israel's raid of a Gaza-bound aid flotilla in May, in which nine Turkish peace activists were killed, yesterday urged the International Criminal Court in The Hague to pursue those responsible. "We believe war crimes and crimes against humanity were committed," Ugur Sevgili, one of the lawyers, told reporters after presenting an evidence file to the office of Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo. "The office of the prosecutor of the ICC has a duty to prosecute," said Sevgili, adding that "we want to bring an end to impunity. We want to bring justice to the people of Palestine." Sevgili said the file contains evidence in the form of videos, photos, autopsy results, and a UN report condemning the incident. The ICC is the world's only independent, permanent tribunal with the jurisdiction to try genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. Neither Israel nor Turkey is a signatory to the ICC's founding Rome Statute, but Sevgili argued this should not affect jurisdiction. "If there are war crimes, there is jurisdiction and the ICC should act," he said. The office of the prosecutor, who declined to comment on yesterday's meeting, will now conduct a preliminary analysis to determine whether to launch a full probe. That could take more than a year, said Sevgili. /Hurriyet/
SENIOR DIPLOMAT SANBERK TO CHAIR MEETING ON TURKISH-ISRAELI CRISIS
Ozden Sanberk, a former foreign undersecretary and Turkey's representative on a UN probe of Israel's deadly raid this May on a flotilla of Gaza-bound aid ships, will chair a meeting of Turkish and Israeli scholars on Oct. 28 to discuss strained bilateral relations in the wake of the raid. Influential figures who have advised both countries will attend the meeting, to be held at Ankara's International Strategic Research Organization (USAK), which Sanberk heads. Nine Turkish peace activists were killed in the raid on the Mavi Marmara and other ships. /Aksam/
GERMAN UNIVERSITIES TO OFFER STUDY OF ISLAM
Amid debate in Europe over the role of millions of Turkish immigrants, the vast majority of them Muslim, a number of universities in Germany, which has a particularly large Turkish population, have announced plans to offer academic study of Islam. Germany's Federal Education and Research Minister Annette Schavan announced this week that the University of Tubingen is planning to open an Islamology Studies Center. Schavan also said that education in Islamology will be offered at the universities of Muenster and Osnabruck. /Hurriyet/
BABACAN ASSURES MARKETS ON FISCAL DISCIPLINE
Turkey will maintain its current policy of fiscal discipline, Deputy Prime Minister for the Economy Ali Babacan said yesterday. Turkey will retain its current policy on fiscal discipline for three more years, as Turkey's debt stock continues to decline, he said in a televised interview. "The medium-term economic program we recently made public is a continuation of last year's practices," Babacan added. Babacan said the ratio of public debt stock to national income would drop to 42 percent by year's-end, adding that Turkey is economically robust. But there are troubling external indications of a possible return to global recession, he said. In the recent global economic climate, two of the most important risk factors in developing countries were public debt and unemployment, he said, adding that Turkey has made exceptional achievements with the employment opportunities it created during the crisis. /Hurriyet Daily News/
FORMER WORLD BANK HEAD: "TURKEY HAS THE WORLD'S BEST ECONOMIC TEAM"
James Wolfensohn, who headed the World Bank for nearly a decade until he left the post in 2005, on Wednesday sung the praises of the Turkish economy and the team steering it. Speaking to reporters in New York, on the sidelines of a promotional meeting for the Fourth United Nations Conference on Least Developed Countries to be held in Istanbul next spring, Wolfensohn said Turkey has recently been implementing successful economic policies and has set a commendable example not only for its region but for the entire world. "As far as I know, Turkey's economic management team is the best in the world," he added. "I have watched the team and its success with astonishment and admiration." He extended his praise to the economy-related ministers in the Cabinet, the Central Bank administration, and the chiefs of watchdog institutions in sectors such as banking. Wolfensohn conveyed his admiration in particular for Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the various Cabinet ministers responsible for the economy. Praising Turkey as a large, important country, Wolfensohn said he was hopeful of Turkey's continued success, which he called inspiring for other, less developed countries. He further asserted that the growth in Turkey's economy and its resilience is contributing to peace in the region, which promotes better conditions for trade and wealth generation. /Today's Zaman/