ANKARA URGES US TO PREVENT VOTE ON "GENOCIDE" CLAIMS
Turkey is redoubling its efforts to prevent a possible US House of Representatives vote today on Armenian "genocide" claims, with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan sending a letter to President Barack Obama stressing the gravity of the situation. Top Turkish political figures have warned that passing the resolution could greatly damage Turkish-US relations. "In the letter, the prime minister pointed to the seriousness and sensitivity of the situation," a Turkish Foreign Ministry official told reporters yesterday. "He called on President Barack Obama to work actively to prevent the resolution from going to the House floor. Erdogan also cited Ankara `s efforts to normalize relations with Armenia ." The official added, "Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, the Turkish Embassy in Washington , the Turkish and US Azeri lobbies and Turkish-US friendship groups are urging US officials to block the resolution." US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi could decide to withdraw the resolution, reasoning that it lacks the votes for passage, but this is unlikely, as the resolution is important for her, according to a source in Ankara . Since the House Foreign Affairs Committee passed the resolution in March, in a surprise development, the same could happen in the House, the source added. Turkish diplomatic sources said Ankara has gotten overwhelming support from the top levels of the US government, citing Deputy Secretary of State Philip Crowley`s statement last week that the State Department is categorically against any vote taking place. /Hurriyet Daily News/
ERDOGAN TOUTS GROWING COOPERATION WITH SYRIA
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan yesterday touted Turkey `s expanding strategic cooperation with Syria , saying it helps both countries` economies prosper. Erdogan, speaking to Syrian news agency SANA, said Turkey and Syria are working together to remove Cold War-era obstacles that until recently stood in the way of closer ties between the two neighbors, which had previously lived in peace for centuries, thus putting "history back on track." Erdogan was speaking prior to a meeting of the bilateral High-Level Strategic Council, which began yesterday in Ankara . The two-day gathering of Turkish and Syrian government ministers is the second such meeting, following the first one a year ago. Twelve government ministers from the Turkish side and 13 from the Syrian side are participating in the talks, as well as the prime ministers. Syrian Prime Minister Naji Otri was due to meet with Erdogan at a dinner last night as part of the high-level meetings. Erdogan said the council helped to establish a solid base for Turkish-Syrian ties to flourish. He also praised Syrian President Bashar Assad, saying his long-term strategic vision played a key role in the rapid progress of bilateral ties. /Today`s Zaman/
DAVUTOGLU: " TURKEY IS AGAINST NUCLEAR WEAPONS, BUT FOR THE RIGHT TO PEACEFUL NUCLEAR ENERGY"
Turkey stands against nuclear weapons, but believes in countries` right to obtain peaceful nuclear energy, said Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu yesterday. Speaking before Parliament, Davutoglu said, " Turkey has started a new initiative on nuclear disarmament along with Japan , Australia and Germany . Turkey will advocate the right for all countries to obtain nuclear energy, but stands clearly against nuclear weapons. Our efforts to make Istanbul a `city of the UN` will continue. European Union (accession) is one of the most important stages of Turkey `s modernization process. Despite the hurdles placed in its way, Turkey will remain determined on its EU path, because we are part of Europe `s history. And the future of Europe will largely depend on Turkey ." /Hurriyet/
SENIOR OFFICIALS MEET IN ISTANBUL BEFORE REGIONAL SUMMIT
Senior officials from Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) member states met in Istanbul yesterday ahead of this week`s 11th Summit of ECO Heads of State and Government. During the two-day meeting, senior officials will assess preparations for tomorrow`s 19th Council of Ministers Meeting and Thursday`s summit. Senior officials will also review the draft Istanbul Declaration, set to be approved at the end of the summit. President Abdullah Gul and Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu are scheduled to hold bilateral talks with their counterparts during the Istanbul meetings. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is scheduled host a banquet tomorrow in honor of the visiting heads of state and government. During the summit, Turkey will assume the ECO`s rotating presidency. The ECO, founded in 1985 by Turkey , Iran and Pakistan , is an intergovernmental regional organization promoting economic, technical and cultural cooperation. Turkey hosted previous ECO summits of heads of state and government in 1993 and 2002. /Hurriyet Daily News/
OUTGOING EU TERM PRESIDENT BELGIUM SEES PROGRESS IN OPENING COMPETITION CHAPTER WITH TURKEY
Reviewing his country`s six-month term helming the European Union, Belgian Foreign Minister Steven Vanackere told reporters in Brussels yesterday that progress had been made in opening the competition policy chapter as part of Turkey`s EU accession talks. A media kit handed out by Belgium stressed that the 27-member bloc`s enlargement process is continuing and that headway was made in opening Turkey `s competition chapter. Stating that they oversaw important developments in the EU enlargement process, Vanackere also spoke about structural reforms to tackle Europe `s economic crisis. Citing incomplete technical preparations on the part of Turkey , the EU previously announced that the competition policy chapter won`t be up for negotiations this month. /Sabah/
SYRIA`S ASSAD PROPOSES VISA-FREE TRAVEL ZONE WITH TURKEY , IRAN
Syrian President Bashar Assad on Sunday proposed a visa-free travel region for Syria , Iran , Turkey and other neighboring countries, similar to Europe `s Schengen Zone. "I was the first to bring this up. I started talking about (visa-free travel) between Turkey and Syria three years ago," Assad said in an interview with Turkish daily Hurriyet and German daily Bild. "When (Prime Minister Recep Tayyip) Erdogan said during my visit to Turkey last year that Ankara is ready (for a visa agreement), I was very surprised," he added. /Hurriyet Daily News/
BABACAN TO MEET WITH BANK CEOs TO REVIEW THE PAST YEAR AND LOOK AHEAD TO 2011
Deputy Prime Minister for the Economy Ali Babacan and other top economic officials are set to meet in Ankara tomorrow with the CEOs of 49 banks operating in Turkey . Also attending the meeting will be Treasury Undersecretary Ibrahim Halil Canakci, Central Bank Governor Durmus Yilmaz, and Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency (BRSA) head Tevfik Bilgin. During the meeting, the global and Turkish economies, financial markets, and developments in the financial sector over the past year will be discussed. Another topic of discussion will be how new financial sector regulations will work. /Aksam/
NEW CENTERS WORLDWIDE SET TO TOUT TURKISH CULTURE, TOURISM
The Culture and Tourism Ministry is preparing to open Turkish culture centers worldwide, in such countries as Britain , Russia , Germany and France . Testifying in Parliament`s budget debates yesterday, Culture and Tourism Minister Ertugrul Gunay said the planned centers, named after renowned 13th-century mystic poet Yunus Emre, a pioneer in the use of written Turkish, will help teach visitors the Turkish language and its various dialects. Pledging to make Turkey a must-see tourist destination, Gunay said, "Anyone who enjoys a certain level of income and cultural sensitivity should feel deprived if they haven`t visited Turkey at least once. We`re going to make seeing Turkey a badge of prestige for people worldwide." Stating that Turks have been living in Germany since the 1960s but lack a culture center there, Gunay said, "There`s the German Goethe Institute, Spanish Cervantes Institute, and similar French and British institutes in Turkey . Now Turkey has the Yunus Emre Institute. We`re going to open branches of this institute in the Balkans, Middle East , Germany , Britain , Russia and France ." The centers are an institutional landmark in preserving Turkish language and culture, Gunay added. /Hurriyet/
THOUSANDS FLOCK TO KONYA TO MARK ANNIVERSARY OF RUMI`S DEATH
Some 50,000 people this year attended festivities as part of seb-i Arus commemorations, marking the 737th anniversary of the death of Mevlana Rumi, a Sufi saint and founder of the Mevlevi order of Sufi dervishes. Konya Provincial Culture and Tourism Director Mustafa Cipan said thousands of tourists visited the city for the festivities on Dec. 7-17. Whirling dervish ceremonies were watched by 50,000 people at the Mevlana Cultural Center , he said, adding that they worked hard to welcome the thousands of guests who arrived from other Turkish provinces and abroad. "Everybody was pleased with the program," he said. "This year, both the quality of the events and the number of guests increased." Mevlana Rumi is world famous for his "Mesnevi" (The Couplets), written originally in Persian. /Today`s Zaman/
RECEPTION MARKS END OF ISTANBUL `S ONE-YEAR TENURE AS EUROPEAN CAPITAL OF CULTURE
Istanbul`s two-year tenure as European Capital of Culture is drawing to a close as the metropolis prepares to hand over the title to two other European cities – Turku , Finland and Tallinn , Estonia – in 2011. The end of Istanbul `s reign was marked with a reception on Sunday at the Harbiye Congress Center featuring a large group of guests, including top state officials and Istanbul 2010 ECOC Agency officials as well as members of the media. "The Istanbul 2010 agency launched the European Capital of Culture program, but all the people of Istanbul contributed to the events, and this helped reveal that there is a huge awareness of culture and arts in this community," Topbas said at the reception. "This is very important in terms of understanding the arts. … Istanbul 2010 was a milestone. From now on, the culture and arts will be seen differently, and urban life will develop in accordance with these Istanbul 2010 contributions." He added, "Another important landmark is that Istanbul is the only city outside the European Union that has assumed this title. Istanbul deserves this. It is already a city that owns these values. And now that we have all realized this, this will continue." /Today`s Zaman/
WITH NEXT MONTH`S WINTER UNIVERSIADE, ERZURUM HOPING TO DRAW HORDES OF WINTER TOURISTS
The eastern Anatolia province of Erzurum is set to host nearly 4,000 athletes from 20 countries as part of the 2011 Winter Universiade (University Olympics), set to be held from Jan. 27 to Feb. 6. Stating that Turkey `s current annual earnings from ski tourism are less than $1 million, Turkish Ski Federation (TKF) head Ozer Ayik said, "For the first time, Eurosport will broadcast the Winter Universiade live. This 10-day event is a great opportunity to tout Erzurum `s Palandoken facilities to ski lovers worldwide. Everyone knows Turkey as a country of sea, sand and sun, but Turkey stands at 1,132 meters above sea level, and 62 percent of our land is mountainous terrain. Turkey has more than 120 elevations over 3,000 meters." Stating that half of France `s tourism revenues, €39 billion, comes from winter tourism although its mountainous land area is only 12 percent, Ayik said, "The share of winter tourism in Turkey `s total tourism earnings should leap to 20-30 percent from the current 40 percent per thousand." He added, "A ski tourist spends three or four times more money than a summer tourist. The key factor behind the underdevelopment of ski tourism in Turkey is the lack of necessary facilities. We want to attract 300,000 winter tourists annually, but Turkey `s total bed capacity for this stands below 15,000." /Hurriyet/
DANISH TENNIS PLAYER BECOMES NEW FACE OF THY
Turkish Airlines (THY) yesterday introduced Danish tennis player Caroline Wozniacki as the spokesperson for THY`s new business class, under a three-year endorsement deal. Wozniacki, who recently became the world`s number one women`s tennis player, said she was pleased to join the THY family. "THY flies to every part of the world. It has high-quality services. I`m very happy to work with Turkey `s national carrier," Wozniacki said, adding that she visited Turkey in 2006. "I had a very nice time then, and now I`m here for THY. I`m looking forward to acting in the commercial … I like to develop relationships with brands I love." THY, Europe`s fastest-growing airline, also recently struck an endorsement deal with US basketball star Kobe Bryant. /Today`s Zaman/