ERDOGAN TO TOUR IRAQ, GULF COUNTRIES NEXT MONTH
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan yesterday announced he will pay a visit to Iraq next month, just after Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu. "I will be going to Iraq with a large delegation," Erdogan said yesterday during a meeting with the Turkish Contractors’ Union (TMB). Davutoglu is expected to be in Iraq within days to prepare for the visit. Turkey and Iraq recently established a high-level strategic council to seek ways to deepen economic, political, energy and transportation ties. The two countries also want to increase the level of interdependency. Erdogan said he also plans to travel to Qatar and Kuwait on Jan. 9-12, again preceded by Davutoglu. There are still risks for visitors to Iraq, Erdogan said. "But the economy is based on risks," he added. "Entrepreneurship is a risk. But if we take these risks together and take steps accordingly, the future will be very different." Praising Turkish construction companies worldwide for boosting Turkey’s entrepreneurial reputation, Erdogan said it is government’s job to lay the groundwork for the Turkish private sector to do business abroad. Erdogan also criticized people the lack of vision of "who still do not understand our foreign policy and approaches to regional and global issues," saying, "There are those who do not want to see our commitment to joining the European Union, those who do not want to comprehend our cooperation with the European Union in different geographies, especially in the Middle East." /Hurriyet Daily News/
DAVUTOGLU: "TURKEY WILL SPEAK FOR THOSE WITHOUT VOICES"
Often called a bridge between East and West, Turkey is now poised to span the divide between the North and South, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said over the weekend. Although Turkey is part of the group of developed countries known collectively as "the North," it is speaking up for the concerns of the poor and underdeveloped "South," Davutoglu told a press conference. "Turkey will speak up about political inequalities," he said, adding, however, that this should not be seen as "Third Worldism." According to Davutoglu, a country can’t carry weight in the international arena unless it voices the problems of the South, a position Turkey will seek to carry out as it leads the UN Conference on the Least Developed Countries (LDC) for the next 10 years. As part of Turkey’s efforts to spread awareness of the problems of underdeveloped countries, the government will merge two summits that Istanbul is hosting next May. Though the Fourth LDC conference and the foreign ministerial meeting of the Council of Europe (CoE), which Turkey is presiding over through next year, will be held separately, Ankara will arrange for a one-day joint meeting of both groups, in the biggest world gathering since the fall UN General Assembly meetings. There are 50 countries in the LDC and 47 in the Council of Europe. With this initiative, Turkey will try to ease economic tensions and continue to play the role of the conscience of the international system, Davutoglu said. Turkey’s performance as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, ending this week, seems to testify to Ankara’s rising interest in global issues. While Turkey has presided over UN committees on Korea, Somalia and Congo, it is also preparing to form an "international mediation group" as part of an initiative it started with Finland. Davutoglu reiterated his desire to make Istanbul a center for mediation and preventive diplomacy, and added that Turkey is now working on nuclear disarmament alongside Austria and Japan. In line with Turkey’s growing international role, several Turkish officials have recently taken up high-level posts in multilateral platforms, he added. /Hurriyet Daily News/
KINIKLIOGLU: "IF ISRAEL DOESN’T SEIZE THE OPPORTUNITY, A ’COLD PEACE’ COULD RESULT"
Saying that Turkey’s recent swift aid to help Israel fight a massive forest fire opened a new window of opportunity for mending Turkish-Israeli ties, Cankiri deputy and Justice and Development Party (AK Party) Foreign Affairs Deputy Chairman Suat Kiniklioglu added, "If Israel doesn’t move to take advantage of this opportunity, then unfortunately we will enter a period of what I call ’cold peace’." In an interview with Today’s Zaman published today, Kiniklioglu, who also chairs the US-Turkish Interparliamentary Friendship Group, said, "If Turkey’s good intentions are not understood and the diplomacy that came about as a result of Turkey’s aid to Israel to fight the recent fire is obstructed for domestic political reasons, then a period will follow in which relations will not only be cold but mutual cooperation will be limited. During this period, there will probably be a diplomatic framework in which Turkey is represented at a low level." /Today’s Zaman/
2011 ANNOUNCED YEAR OF NORTHERN CYPRUS IN TURKEY
Under a deal signed yesterday, 2011 will be celebrated in Turkey as the Year of Northern Cyprus. Turkey’s Culture and Tourism Ministry will oversee iimplementation of the agreement with the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC). /Hurriyet/
TURKEY SHOWS ITS ’SOFT POWER’ THROUGH KEY INTL POSTS
Turkey’s two-year non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council for, set to conclude this week, may be its most significant international mission in recent years, coming almost a half-century since it last held a seat. In addition to the importance of that mission, the rotating helms of several regional bodies are currently being held by Ankara, while senior diplomats have helped boost Turkey’s visibility in multilateral diplomacy with posts in international organizations. Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu’s ambition and his personal support for such appointments is a decisive factor. However, the capabilities of these diplomats should not be ignored, with the ministry itself calling these appointments "concrete signs of Turkey’s soft power." Istanbul will become a center for international peace and mediation efforts, Davutoglu said yesterday, speaking about Turkey’s ambition to win another term on the Security Council, reflecting Turkey’s determination to become more influential and visible as a soft power. Last month Davutoglu became chair of the Council of Europe’s (CoE) Committee of Ministers, its executive arm, for six months. This January, Deputy Mevlut Cavusoglu became the first-ever Turkish citizen to head the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE). In June, again at a summit held in Istanbul, Turkey took over the term presidency of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia (CICA) from Kazakhstan. CICA members represent a region of the world plagued by various historical hostilities between members. /Today’s Zaman/
TURKISH CONTRACTORS AIM TO WIN $30 BLN IN PROJECTS ABROAD
Foreign Trade Minister Zafer Caglayan said yesterday that next year Turkey’s contracting industry hope to win $30 billion in international projects. Caglayan said that over the decades Turkish contracting firms have fulfilled more than 5,600 projects in 83 countries, worth a total of $180 billion. "Up to 2002 firms undertook $44 billion worth of projects in foreign countries, but this figure rose to $135 billion when this government came to power," he said during an award ceremony in Ankara. "This means that our contractors fulfilled 25 percent of their projects up to 2002 and 75 percent after that." The contracting industry’s international project target is $50 billion for 2015 and $100 billion for 2023, he added. /Today’s Zaman/
NOVEMBER TOURISTS NUMBERS SEE 6.25% SPIKE
Some 27.5 million visitors came to Turkey last month, pushing year-on-year tourism figures for November up 6.25%. Over 1.6 million of the tourists came for overnight stays. The top 10 countries sending tourists to Turkey were Germany (15.42% of the total), Russia (11.15%), Britain (9.61%), Iran (6.5%), Bulgaria (4.81%), the Netherlands (3.81%), Georgia (3.69%), France (3.26%), Syria (3.02) and Italy (2.34%). /Milliyet/