GUL LAUDS TURKISH AEROSPACE INDUSTRIES
President Abdullah Gul, touring Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) facilities yesterday, praised the company, saying it serves to boost Turkey `s progress and prestige. During his visit to the facilities, Gul was briefed on TAI by Defense Minister Vecdi Gonul, Defense Industry Undersecretariat (SSM) head Murat Bayar, and Muharrem Dortkasli, TAI`s president and CEO. "I am very proud to be here," said Gul. "This facility shows us how far Turkey has gotten. Everyone in Turkey should follow TAI`s research, which makes us proud and increases our self-confidence." Predicting that in five to ten years TAI will have one of the world`s most distinguished facilities, Gul said key parts for airplanes worldwide are made by TAI. "Facilities like TAI`s are enduring, and will help Turkey advance and enhance its prestige," Gul added. Gul thanked everyone who has taken part in TAI`s projects, adding that he is ready to provide his full support to the facility. /Today`s Zaman/
TURKEY, SYRIA SIGN HOST OF NEW COOPERATION PACTS
Turkey and Syria yesterday took another step towards even deeper bilateral cooperation, to the benefit of both themselves and the region, by signing 11 cooperation agreements in various areas. "Welcome home," Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu told Syrian officials visiting Ankara for the second meeting of the bilateral High-Level Strategic Council, co-chaired by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Syrian counterpart Muhammad Naji al-Otri. "The cooperation between Turkey and Syria," said Davutoglu, "constitutes a model for the entire region, which has been closely watching its success, for if it succeeds, this will not only affect ties between our countries, but will also improve the unfortunate destiny of the region." Eleven government ministers from the Turkish side and 13 from the Syrian one participated in yesterday`s talks. The cooperative spirit between the two neighboring countries has rapidly spread across the region, with many countries taking initiatives to start similar high-level strategic cooperation mechanisms among each other, Davutoglu said. "We have held very frequent meetings with Syrian officials over the last year, and in this time have made perhaps a decade`s worth of progress," he added. "The Turkish-Syrian friendship will endure forever. No provocation or external factor will be able to harm this friendship. In time, the whole world will also see the wonderful fruits of this friendship." Also speaking at the meeting, Syrian Assistant Vice President Hassan Turkmani stressed that Erdogan and Assad`s vision has helped cement the friendship and cooperation between Turkey and Syria. /Today`s Zaman/
ARINC: "THE AGE OF CHAOS IN THE TURKIC WORLD IS OVER"
The "age of chaos" in the Turkic world is over, with Turkic nations growing closer in terms of solidarity and cooperation, Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc said yesterday. Speaking at the Turkic-speaking Countries Media Forum in Ankara, co-organized by the Prime Ministry`s Directorate General of Press and Information and the Foreign Ministry`s Strategic Research Center, Arinc said he was grateful to see that an era marked by inadequate emphasis on the protection of Turkic values has finally been left behind. Representatives from Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan took part in the forum. "Nations speaking the same language are finally embracing each other," he said. He said the media has a historic responsibility concerning developments in ties between Turkic countries. "When the Cold War Iron Curtain divided us, we were deprived of this," he said. "We all come from the same roots and drink from the same spring." /Today`s Zaman/
DAVUTOGLU URGES STRONG PRESS
Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu yesterday called for a strong press culture and powerful media. "Freedom of the press should be expanded, and the press should be strong," Davutoglu told the Turkic-Speaking Countries Media Forum in Ankara, co-organized by Turkey `s Directorate General of Press and Information and the Foreign Ministry`s Center for Strategic Research. Davutoglu said the Turkish media should have a stronger and more influential position in the world, adding that media organs are important players in public diplomacy. "Diplomacy is no longer a series of negotiations carried out by diplomats behind closed doors. New areas of diplomacy are expanding," he said. No matter what kind of decisions political leaders make or how they are implemented, they will never win public support without healthy public diplomacy, he added. The people of Ankara, Tashkent, Astana, Bishkek and Baku all enjoy a common fate, but if their goals and vision don`t overlap, this is a failure of diplomacy, Davutoglu said, adding that media organs should work to foster a positive and friendly atmosphere between countries. /Hurriyet Daily News/
BAGIS RECEIVES CROATIAN, TRNC DIPLOMATS
State Minister and Chief Negotiator for European Union talks Egemen Bagis yesterday separately received outgoing Croatian Ambassador to Turkey Gordan Bakota and Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) Ambassador Mustafa Lakadamyali. "You have contributed not only to Turkish-Croatian relations, but also to your own country`s and Turkey`s EU membership bids," Bagis told Bakota, set to leave Ankara soon. Bagis said Turkey and Croatia began EU membership talks at the same time, and have shared their experiences. Bakota, for his part, said Croatia will soon join the EU, and that it supports Turkey`s membership, as Turkey is an important European country. "I stress the importance of Turkey`s full membership wherever I go," Bakota said. Meeting later with Lakadamyali, Bagis said, "Turkey will give up neither Northern Cyprus for the EU, nor the EU for Cyprus." Turkey believes it is right on both issues, and is working to prove this, he said. "We will never forsake the Turkish Cypriots, and will continue to work for a just and lasting solution on Cyprus based on political equality," he added. /Hurriyet Daily News/
HUNGARY WARNS THAT EU ACCESSION FAILURE WILL TURN TURKEY INTO A RIVAL
Hungary, set to take over the European Union`s six-month rotating term presidency on Jan. 1, yesterday encouraged Turkey to stick with its EU accession bid, while warning the Union what a failure in this bid would bring. "Either a new Ottoman Empire will be established as a rival for EU, or Turkey will join the EU and our forces will be combined," Hungarian Foreign Minister Janos Martonyi told Brussels-based EU News. "I believe Turkey`s membership will bring key advantages to the EU. I think Turkey`s admission into the EU is a strategic choice of great importance." Pledging to do whatever is necessary to advance Turkey`s accession process, Martonyi said they plan to open the competition chapter to negotiations with Turkey as soon as possible. Urging Ankara not to be deterred by hardships in its accession process, and to continue with determination, Martonyi said, "We know the problems facing Turkey in its EU accession process. There are feelings of resentment on Turkey`s part. But Turkey shouldn`t get discouraged. During our term presidency, we will work to move Turkey`s accession process forward." If the political problems between Ankara and Brussels are overcome, Turkey`s accession process should gain momentum, he added. /Sabah/
ASSAD: "IF IT`S NOT REALLY A CHRISTIAN CLUB, THEN THE EU SHOULD ADMIT TURKEY "
If it wants to prove that it`s not a "Christian club," the European Union should accept Turkey, a predominantly Muslim country, into its ranks, Syrian President Bashar Assad told German daily Bild in an interview this week. Stating that European countries continually talk about openness and dialogue between cultures, Assad said, "But if you isolate yourself, and gravitate towards a monolithic culture and social order, you can`t maintain dialogue with others." Rebuffing claims that Turkey is turning its back on the West, saying that on the contrary it is the West that has started to steer away from Turkey, Assad stressed the importance of the role that Turkey has taken in the region in recent years. "Turkey has become a clear balancing element in a complicated region," he said. /Turkiye/
ANKARA SLAMS SEA JURISDICTION AREAS DEAL SIGNED BY ISRAEL, GREEK CYPRIOTS AS "NULL AND VOID"
In a strongly worded statement released yesterday, the Foreign Ministry blasted a maritime border agreement between the Greek Cypriot administration and Israel, calling the deal "null and void" as it disregards the rights and jurisdiction of Turkish Cypriots on the island. The Exclusive Economic Zone Restriction Agreement signed between Tel Aviv and Greek Cyprus last week is aimed at facilitating the search for mineral deposits in the Eastern Mediterranean, where huge natural gas reserves have been discovered by a US firm. The Foreign Ministry said Turkey has no claims on the areas subject to the agreement, but that "Turkish Cypriots also have rights and jurisdiction over the maritime areas of the island of Cyprus ." Stating that negotiations to find a solution to the Cyprus issue are currently continuing, the statement added that Greek Cyprus shouldn`t unilaterally sign international agreements in the absence of a solution. The agreement isn`t binding on Turkey, it said. /Sabah/
GEN. AKSAY: "TURKEY WILL BE A SPACE POWER BY 2020"
In line with the ambitions of the Turkish Armed Forces, Turkey will be an independent space power by the 2020`s, said Gen. Hasan Aksay, daily Aksam reported yesterday. In the future, Turkish satellites will fulfill its information and data needs, he added. The Turkish Air Force will keep its position as the most powerful in the region, but it will see significant changes in its structure, he said. "The F-35, standoff jammers, unmanned aerial vehicles, long-range air defense systems and airborne early warning and control systems will all be integrated into our current system," he said, adding that electro-optical systems supported by radar-display satellites would allow the air force to collect satellite images day or night, regardless of weather. Stressing that the technological developments and threats faced by Turkey are unprecedented, Aksay said the air force is the best power to counter Turkey`s enemies. /Hurriyet Daily News/
NEW BUSINESS CENTER IN PARIS SET TO WOO TURKISH INVESTORS
The French government has opened a business center in Paris to help Turks considering doing business in France. Speaking to reporters at the French Palace in Istanbul`s Beyoglu district yesterday, French Ambassador to Ankara Bernard Emie said the center, set to rent out space to Turkish firms, was jointly opened by the French Investment Agency (IFA) and French real estate company Regus at Charles de Gaulle Airport, near the gates for incoming Turkish Airlines and Air France flights from Turkey. Stressing that opening the center sends a strong signal to Turkish firms hesitating to invest in France, Emie said, "Turkey and France enjoy firm economic and trade ties. Along with Britain and Italy, France is ranked among the second-most-important group of Turkey `s trade partners, following Germany ." There are some 400 French firms doing business in Turkey, and Turkey is the second-biggest foreign investor in France `s foreign direct investment stock, he added. Complaining about the bilateral investment imbalance in favor of Turkey, Emie said French firms in Turkey employ some 100,000 people but in return for this, there are only 35 Turkish firms employing some 1,000 people in France. Now Turkish firms have no excuse to avoid investing in France, he added. /Hurriyet/
FINANCIAL TIMES COLUMNIST PRAISES ISTANBUL ATATURK AIRPORT, SLAMS HEATHROW
A columnist for British daily The Financial Times yesterday criticized Heathrow Airport as "a disgrace" while praising Ataturk Airport, saying, "To fly from Istanbul to London is to travel from the first to the third world." "Ataturk international airport sparkles with steel and glass modernity – a monument to Turkey`s status as a rising power, wrote columnist Philip Stephens. "Heathrow`s Terminal 3, scarred by broken travelators, exposed ceiling voids and filthy carpeting, has become an emblem of national decline." He added, "For the world`s rising states, international airports – and indeed their national airlines (Turkish Airlines beats BA [British Airways] hands down on the Istanbul route) – are a statement of modernity. They speak both to national pride and to integration in the global economy." /Milliyet/