ERDOGAN PLEDGES TO REACH OUT TO REFERENDUM OPPONENTS
The ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) will analyze the outcome of last month's referendum on constitutional changes while gearing up for next summer's general elections, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said over the weekend. Speaking to a gathering of AK Party officials in Ankara, Erdogan said they had done in-depth research on the Sept. 12 referendum in order to figure out how to win over voters who opposed the reform package, which was approved by 58 percent for, 42 percent against. The research disproves claims that the referendum exposed deep public rifts and possible social disintegration, Erdogan said. Voters from across Turkey voted against the package for various reasons, he added, but mainly due to disinformation, smear campaigns, baseless fears, and demagogic fear-mongering. The research also brought new responsibilities to the ruling party, he said. "The research revealed something that we stressed just after the initial referendum results came out, namely that we have to work harder to win over voters who voted against the package " he explained. "We have to sincerely address their fears, questions, and concerns." Stating that a province-based analysis of the research is now underway, Erdogan said this would result in outreach projects to the package's opponents. "When we reach out to those citizens, to better explain ourselves to them and sincerely share our planned foreign policy steps and national unity and brotherhood project with them, when we manage to achieve this, I believe that then we will have also established a great Turkey," he said. "We will reach out to every sector of society to dispel prejudices." /Turkiye/
GERMAN PRESIDENT TO ADDRESS PARLIAMENT TOMORROW
German President Christian Wulff today starts a five-day official visit to Turkey, the first such trip in 10 years. Wulff's official meetings start tomorrow, when he will be received by President Abdullah Gul with a military ceremony after laying a wreath at Anitkabir, Ataturk's mausoleum. After a joint presidential press conference, Wulff will hold talks with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Religious Affairs Directorate head Ali Bardakoglu, and later will address Parliament. On Wednesday Wulff will meet with Turkish civil society representatives and then travel to Gul's hometown, the Central Anatolian province of Kayseri, and address the Turkish-German Economy Forum, before proceeding to Adana. On Thursday he will attend a religious ceremony at the St. Paul Church in Tarsus before flying to Istanbul for an address at the historic Hagia Eirene church, on the grounds of the Topkapi Palace museum, where a German chamber choir will give a concert accompanied by Turkish pianist Sabri Tulug Tirpan. That evening the president and First Lady Hayrunnisa Gul will host a dinner for Wulff and his wife. On Friday Wulff will meet with Greek Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew, visit Sultanahmet and the Hagia Sophia museum, and finally break ground, with Gul, on a long-planned Turkish-German University in Istanbul's Beykoz district. /Hurriyet Daily News/
PM ERDOGAN SET TO VISIT GREECE
After a lull before last month's constitutional referendum, both trips by Turkish officials abroad and visits by foreign leaders to Turkey are now picking up. In the wake of official visits to Bulgaria, Germany, Syria and Pakistan in recent weeks, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is due to visit Greece this week to attend a conference on climate change in the Eastern Mediterranean. During the trip, Erdogan will also hold bilateral talks with his Greek counterpart George Papandreou, highlighting the importance placed by Turkey on its policy of zero problems with neighboring countries. Recently Turkey also hosted a number of high-level foreign leaders, including Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao, NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen, and heads of state of Turkic-speaking countries. German President Christian Wilhelm Walter Wulff is also due to arrive in Turkey today for a five-day official visit, the first such visit in a decade, accompanied by senior German officials and many businesspeople. /Turkiye/
US' CLINTON, EU'S ASHTON HAIL TURKEY'S GLOBAL ROLE
European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton last week praised candidate country Turkey as "a partner" in dealing with regional and global challenges, while US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said she appreciates its growing regional and global clout. The remarks by Ashton and Clinton were made on a special BBC program on the sidelines of a NATO ministerial meeting. Clinton reiterated her country's support for Turkey's EU accession, and also addressed some members' reluctance about Turkey's accession, saying: "This is an area where we don't have a vote; the member states do. But we are very committed to working with Turkey. They're a very involved ally in NATO." She continued, "We have a great deal of bilateral business that we conduct with Turkey. And Turkey is becoming a much greater regional and global presence. Their economy is growing dramatically. They reach out to countries and try to influence behavior and policy on their own as well as in concert with us. So I think there's a lot that is still to be done, but we're deeply committed to that." For her part, Ashton said that Turkey's position is very important for her, saying, "They are a partner, in many cases, as we work together to look at some of the challenges we face regionally and internationally. And so from the perspective of looking at external relations, when I look at the countries with whom I need to have a strong relationship, Turkey is clearly one, for the reasons that Hillary has well expressed." She also stressed that she has been working with Turkey "on the basis of its being a candidate country." /Today's Zaman/
EFFORTS TO FLESH OUT MODEL PARTNERSHIP WITH US GAIN MOMENTUM
Efforts to put flesh on the bones of the proposed model partnership between Turkey and the US have picked up momentum in recent months. A joint conference between the Turkish-American Business Council (TAIK) and Foreign Economic Relations Council (DEIK), and the first ministerial meeting on the establishment of a model partnership between the two countries, are scheduled to take place this week. The annual conference of the American-Turkish Council (ATC), set to begin today in Washington, will be attended by a host of high-level Turkish officials and businesspeople, including Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Defense Minister Vecdi Gonul, State Minister for Foreign Trade Zafer Caglayan, TAIK head Haluk Dince, Turkish Union of Chambers and Commodities Exchanges (TOBB) head Rifat Hisarciklioglu, and Koc Holding Chairman Mustafa Koc. The three-day gathering will also include the first ministerial meeting of Framework for Turkish-American Strategic Cooperation, coordinated on Turkey's side by Babacan and Caglayan and on the US side by Commerce Secretary Gary Locke and Trade Representative Ron Kirk for the US. The groundwork for the framework was laid during Erdogan's US visit early this year. The meeting is expected to produce a blueprint and cooperation agreement to boost bilateral trade ties. After taking office early last year, Barack Obama paid his first overseas visit to Turkey and proposed the model partnership. /Star/
HOPEFUL FOR TURKISH-BRITISH RELATIONS, CEVIKOZ PRESENTS CREDENTIALS TO QUEEN ELIZABETH
Turkey's new Ambassador to London Unal Cevikoz yesterday presented his letter of credentials to Britain's Queen Elizabeth at the Buckingham Palace. On his plans to boost relations between Turkey and Britain, Cevikoz, who took office this summer, told Sabah daily about a number of projects to improve bilateral cooperation in such areas as education and culture in order to bring the Turkish and British peoples closer together. Citing British Prime Minister David Cameron's landmark official visit to Turkey shortly after taking office in May, Cevikoz said this clearly shows the importance the British government places on relations with Turkey. During that visit, Cameron and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan signed an updated strategic cooperation deal to carry bilateral relations to a comprehensive strategic partnership, and Cameron stressed Turkey's importance to Britain and the EU. He also pledged to campaign vigorously for Turkey's EU bid and to urge German and French leaders to reconsider their opposition to Turkey's accession. Stating that Britain's three leading parties - his Conservatives, along with Labour and the Liberal Democrats - ardently support Turkey's EU bid, Cameron said the parties understand the EU hurdles Turkey has faced but also want a lasting solution to the Cyprus issue to speed up Turkey's EU accession. "The EU made an important mistake by admitting the Greek Cypriots into the Union in 2004 without solving the Cyprus issue," he continued. "If it hadn't made this mistake, either a comprehensive solution to the Cyprus issue could have been reached or Turkey's EU accession process could have made more progress by now." Britain isn't the only EU member country which recognizes what Turkey will bring to the Union and so supports its bid, he added. Cevikoz also expressed hope that EU opponents of Turkey will take off their blinders, adding that the swelling ranks of Turkey's friends and supporters in the EU could soon have the majority. /Sabah/
AMID BAGHDAD POLITICAL STALEMATE, IRAQ'S AL-MALIKI TO VISIT TURKEY
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki will visit Turkey and other neighboring countries this week amid a protracted government crisis that has beset the country since its general elections this March. Since the elections, Turkey has welcomed a number of Iraqi politicians representing the country's rival political factions. This will be the first visit to Turkey since the elections by Al-Maliki, whose Shiite-dominated group came in second after former Prime Minister Iyad Allawi's cross-sectarian al-Iraqiyya coalition. "The aim of the visit is to assure that all political groups will be included in the new government," said an adviser to al-Maliki. "The prime minister will give assurances that no political party or list will be marginalized." /Today's Zaman/
BAGIS CALLS FOR "TABOO-BREAKING" DEBATES ON TURKISH-GREEK RELATIONS
A new approach to some longstanding issues between Turkey and Greece will help further improve ties between the two Aegean neighbors, Egemen Bagis, Ankara's chief negotiator for European Union accession talks, told Greek media over the weekend. Bagis said the persistence of problems between the two countries serves no one's interests. "We need to sit down and discuss taboo issues, issues that have become matters of pride," he was quoted as saying by Greek newspaper Typos tis Kiryakis yesterday. "Rehashing the same statements never did anyone any good in the past and won't in the future either." He added, "We may not have made the desired progress yet, but we can sincerely say that our governments and peoples share the same approach to overcoming unresolved issues." Bagis also described issues of the Greek and Turkish minorities in the two countries as matters of human rights, stressing that these should be addressed by both countries' governments with good will. /Today's Zaman/
TURKISH-US CONFERENCE TO DISCUSS MULTIDIMENSIONAL RELATIONS
The 29th annual conference on US-Turkish relations, co-organized by the Foreign Economic Relations Board (DEIK), the Turkish-American Business Council (TAIK) and the American Friends of Turkey (AFOT), will start today in Washington. The three-day gathering will address aspects of the bilateral relationship between the two NATO allies with the theme "2010: Achieving Common Objectives." Among Turkish dignitaries at the conference are Deputy Prime Minister for the Economy Ali Babacan, Defense Minister Vecdi Gonul, Foreign Trade Minister Zafer Caglayan, Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Feridun Sinirlioglu, Defense Industry Undersecretary Murad Bayar, and Haluk Dincer, who heads both DEIK and TAIK. During the conference, the first ministerial-level meeting of the US-Turkey Strategic Economic and Commercial Cooperation dialogue will be held. The two NATO allies are seeking to improve bilateral commercial and economic ties to attract more direct US investment in Turkey and strengthen economic and commercial cooperation in third countries though joint projects. The meeting is expected to create a roadmap for achieving these goals. Also during the conference, Ankara and Washington will sign an agreement for cooperation in science and technology. /Today's Zaman/
TURKEY, GULF COUNTRIES TO DISCUSS STRATEGIC DIALOGUE, TRADE TIES
Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu flew to Kuwait yesterday to attend talks with his counterparts from six Gulf countries on strategic and economic ties. The meeting will be the second such gathering since Turkey and the member countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) agreed to develop a "strategic dialogue" on regional political and economic issues in 2008. The first foreign ministerial gathering took place last year in Istanbul. Today's meeting, to be attended by Davutoglu and his counterparts from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Bahrain and Kuwait, will focus on ways to expand trade cooperation, according to a Foreign Ministry statement. There will also be an exchange of views among Turkey and the GCC countries on regional and international issues. /Today's Zaman/
ISTANBUL-IZMIR HIGHWAY PROJECT SET TO BOOST REGIONAL ECONOMY
Cutting in half to three hours the travel time between Istanbul and Izmir, two of Turkey's biggest cities, the Gebze-Orhangazi-Izmir highway, to be completed in 2017, is set to create huge changes in the economic and social life all along its route. Cities such as Kocaeli, Bursa, Balikesir and Izmir, which lie along the highway, will likely experience a boom in exports, tourism, and employment. As the project links Izmir to both Istanbul and Europe, it will boost Izmir's economic and social development, according to Ekrem Demirtas, head of the Izmir Chamber of Commerce. Last month Ankara signed a build-operate-transfer deal with a consortium of six construction companies to build the road, the country's largest-ever highway project. The $11 billion project will include a 3,000- meter suspension bridge, the world's second longest, over the Gulf of Izmit. According to Demirtas, the project will help Izmir to reach its tourism goals. "Our tourism centers, such as Cesme, Seferihisar, Foca, Dikili and Bergama, will attract more visitors," he said. /Hurriyet Daily News/
200,000 RUNNERS CROSS FROM ASIA TO EUROPE
Some 200,000 runners gathered yesterday on Istanbul's Asian side to participate in the world's only marathon spanning two continents. Runners in the shortest segment of the race, the eight-kilometer fun run, spent the approach to the Bosphorus Bridge, the official starting line for the 32nd Intercontinental Istanbul Eurasia Marathon, zigzagging through a carnival-like atmosphere. As the crowds of walkers continued streaming through the end of the eight-kilometer course outside Inonu Stadium, the winner of this year's marathon, Kenyan runner Vincent Kiplagat, was crossing the finish line in Sultanahmet. /Hurriyet Daily News/