TOP OFFICIALS REAFFIRM TURKEY ’S COMMITMENT TO FULL EU MEMBERSHIP
Speaking at a panel in Ankara yesterday on Turkey’s European Union accession process, Turkey’s chief European Union negotiator and foreign and justice ministers reaffirmed Ankara’s commitment to implementing reforms towards the goal of full EU membership, despite ongoing political obstacles. According to diplomatic sources, many of the panel members saw little recent progress in Turkey ’s negotiations. "The problems facing Turkish negotiations were discussed," said one source. "It was agreed that the current picture isn’t worse than it was at the 1997 Luxembourg summit." The panel, hosted by Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu to mark five years of Turkey ’s official EU accession talks, was convened as part of a conference bringing together Turkish ambassadors from all over the world. The panel was also attended by Justice Minister Sadullah Ergin and chief EU negotiator Egemen Bagis. Addressing the panel, Davutoglu stressed that Turkey ’s objective is full EU membership, categorically rejecting Germany ’s so-called "privileged partnership" proposal. On the future of Turkish-EU relations, the three top officials said the Turkish public remains willing to join the EU, but negative signals from some EU member states have eroded public confidence that Ankara will one day be able to join the bloc, according to sources. Bagis said 18 of Turkey ’s 35 negotiation chapters have been blocked for political reasons. "The blockage of more than half of the chapters is a first in the history of EU enlargement," he said. "But our basic goal isn’t opening or closing chapters or the number of opened or closed chapters but raising Turkey ’s standard of living." /Hurriyet Daily News/
GONUL: " TURKEY ’S DEPENDENCE ON FOREIGN-MADE UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLES IS AT AN END"
Turkey’s dependence on foreign-made unmanned aerial vehicles is at an end, said Defense Minister Vecdi Gonul yesterday, after the signing of a protocol between the Defense Industry Undersecretariat and Vestel Defense Corporation to develop a tactical unmanned aerial vehicle for the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK). "I’m happy to say that, with the mini and tactical unmanned aerial vehicles and ANKA unmanned aerial vehicle manufactured by the Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI), Turkey ’s dependence on foreign sources for the supply of its unmanned aerial vehicles has ended," Gonul said. Vestel invested $25 million in the project prior to the protocol, which is set to develop an unmanned aerial vehicle called Karayel able to fly 20 hours continuously at an altitude of 22,000 feet. Calling the protocol a milestone, Vestel Defense CEO Aziz Sipahi said, "We want to develop Karayel for export to various countries." /Hurriyet/
SWEDISH FM BILDT: " TURKEY WILL BE IN THE EU"
Turkey is a big player and will have a big impact on the European Union, Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt told Skyturk TV in an interview set to air today. According to Bildt, historical experience shows that at the end of the day, a democracy that knocks on the door of the EU will never be refused. Turkey has some complicated issues from its own history that need to be addressed for it to join the bloc, he added. Bildt said that EU has regained the strategic perspective of enlargement. " Turkey is of course particularly important in a number of aspects, but let me clearly say that there is (still) a need for reform," he said. /Hurriyet Daily News/
GREECE SAYS PLANNED BORDER FENCE NOT AGAINST TURKEY
A fence Greece plans to build on its border with Turkey to stop undocumented immigrants is not intended to be against Turkey , Greece ’s Citizen Protection Minister Christos Papoutsis said on Monday, but is instead meant to ease and boost mutual cooperation. Papoutsis said Greece plans to build a fence along a section of its border with Turkey , the busiest transit point for illegal migration to Europe . Earlier reports speculated that Greece was planning a fence along the entire 200-kilometer-plus border, which mostly runs along a river. "In an effort to manage the inflow of illegal migrants, we are proceeding with the installation of means to deter illegal entries along a 12.5-kilometer land border in Evros," Papoutsis said. The fence will be built in the area where most migrants attempt to enter, officials said. Last year some 128,000 migrants crossed into Greece , more than 40,000 of them at the Evros border post, Papoutsis said. "This is the hard reality, and we have an obligation to Greek citizens to deal with it." /Today’s Zaman/
NETANYAHU: "ISRAEL WANTS TO PUT TIES WITH TURKEY BACK ON TRACK"
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday expressed a willingness to normalize relations with Turkey, yet said that Israel has no intention of offering the apology demanded by Turkey. Netanyahu, speaking at a Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee meeting, said Israel will not apologize for a commando raid in late May that resulted in the deaths of nine Turks, but is willing to express regret for the loss of lives during the raid. Netanyahu emphasized that he "saw an opportunity with Turkey " during the recent Carmel forest fire, which Turkey sent aid to combat, and that contact with Ankara is continuing, The Jerusalem Post reported. Officials from the two countries held talks in Geneva last month to discuss a plan for compromise, but as yet without any result. "We are not interested in a continuation of the deterioration of the relationship," Netanyahu was quoted as saying, underlining that Israel would not accept a formula implying that Israeli Defense Forces soldiers were guilty of wrongdoing. /Today’s Zaman/
TEHRAN, ANKARA WORKING TO SOLVE CASE OF EX OFFICIAL WHO DISAPPEARED FROM ISTANBUL
Iranian and Turkish officials have been in contact and are looking for clues about the fate of a former senior Iranian official who Tehran says was kidnapped from a hotel in Istanbul in 2006 and killed by Israel . Former Deputy Defense Minister Ali Reza Asgari disappeared during a visit to Istanbul in December 2006. There has been speculation that he defected to a Western country and now lives in the US , but Iran insists he was kidnapped by Israeli agents and transferred to a prison in Israel . The issue came to the fore once again when the Israeli media last week reported the suicide of an unidentified prisoner in solitary confinement in Ayalon Prison. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said yesterday that Tehran has held many talks with Turkish officials to investigate Asgari’s disappearance. "Consultations are currently underway with Turkey to find clues to the fate of the missing Iranian," he added. /Today’s Zaman/
YOUNG SCIENTIST PRIZE GOES TO TURKISH RESEARCHERAtaman Sendol, a Zurich-based Turkish molecular biologist, has been named one of three regional winners of the Young Life Scientist 2010 Prize awarded jointly by GE Healthcare and Science magazine. Sendol was awarded the prize for Europe for his PhD dissertation on cancer and mechanisms for controlling programmed cell death. He received his award and a cash prize of $5,000 at a recent awards banquet in Stockholm . The Young Life Scientists Prize aims to support and reward promising young scientists in their research in the field of molecular biology. Since 1995, the prize has been awarded to over 81 winners from around the world. /Hurriyet Daily News/
UNIVERSIADE TORCH ARRIVES IN ANKARA
After visiting cities throughout Turkey since its flame was lit in Istanbul on Dec. 8, the torch for the 2011 Winter Universiade arrived in Ankara yesterday. The winter games, expected to be a turning point for winter sports in the host city, Erzurum , will start on Jan. 27 and last until Feb. 6. /Today’s Zaman/