GUL TO PAY FIRST-EVER PRESIDENTIAL VISIT TO YEMEN
President Abdullah Gul is scheduled to leave today for a two-day official visit to Sana’a, at the invitation of his Yemeni counerpart Ali Abdullah Saleh, the first-ever presidential-level visit from Turkey to Yemen. Accompanying Gul will be Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc, Defense Minister Vecdi Gonul, and Health Minister Recep Akdag, as well as various deputies, academics, businessmen and members of the media. Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu may also make the trip, according to diplomatic sources, thus postponing his previously scheduled visit to Iraq. That visit, meant to pave the way for Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s visit to Iraq, will take place within 10 days, the sources added. While in Sana’a, in addition to holding talks with senior officials, Gul will deliver a speech to the Turkey-Yemen Business Forum. He will also inaugurate a Turkish cemetery and a high school restored by the Turkish government. The two countries are expected to sign an agreement for cooperation among their military industries, as Turkey is keen to help Yemen develop its military industry, Yemeni media reported last week, citing Turkish diplomats. Yemen has repeatedly invited President Gul to pay the country a visit, which he last visited in 2005 as foreign minister. /Today’s Zaman/
CAGLAYAN: "TURKEY COULD CLINCH $160 BLN IN EXPORTS BY 2013"
By 2013, Turkey’s exports should be up to $160 billion, Foreign Trade Minister Zafer Caglayan told the Anatolia news agency over the weekend. The notable economic growth Turkey saw in 2010 is expected to continue this year, he added, saying that the mid-term economic program through 2013 focuses on investments to bring down unemployment and boost exports. "If the global economic recovery continues in the near future, we’ll be able reach export figures of $160 billion by the end of 2013," Caglayan said. Since the 1980s, Turkey has pursued an economic growth strategy based on higher exports, and so shifted its inward-oriented industrialization model to an outward-oriented one, he said. "Thanks to this model, Turkey’s exports have become one of the driving forces behind the nation’s economy," he added. Turkey’s previous goal was to sharpen industrial competitiveness to get a greater share of global exports, he said. "Towards this end, we tried to develop a planned, proactive foreign trade policy," he explained. "In this context, our aim is to transform Turkey into a country with exports of $500 billion by 2023." Last year’s exports were recently announced at some $113 billion – an 11.3 percent increase year-on-year, but falling short of the 2008 record high of $132 billion. Turkish businesses should explore the European Union and emerging African countries to improve Turkey’s trade ties there, he said. On the recent push towards exports to Africa, Caglayan stressed that reworking Turkey’s strategy has led to a significant boost in trade ties. Last month Caglayan led a large delegation of businesspeople on a visit to nine African countries – Libya, Morocco, Tunisia, Nigeria, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Angola and Ethiopia – where they attended several joint business forums. Along the same lines, he is expected to visit Tanzania and Ethiopia in March. Also part of Turkey’s strategy to boost exports, Caglayan said he hopes to sign further free trade agreements with various European countries. /Today’s Zaman/
FLYOVERS, FENCE MAR GREEK PM’S VISIT TO TURKEY
Allegations that Turkish fighter jets have been flying over half a dozen Greek islands in the Aegean Sea soured a "gesture visit" by Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou to Turkey late last week. Speaking to a conference in Erzurum of Turkish ambassadors, Papandreou criticized the alleged flyovers, but Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s response was conciliatory. "We have to find a solution to the problems in the Aegean based on mutual benefits, and we will," he said at the conference, adding that Papandreou is Turkey’s friend. "We have to get into the spirit of consensus. There’s no reason why we can’t solve this problem." One Foreign Ministry official said, "Generally, 2010 was a great year for the Turkish-Greek relationship. There were several high-level successful visits." Another recent glitch in ties is Athens’ plan to build a 12-kilometer fence along its land border with Turkey in order to stem illegal immigration by third-country nationals. "We need highways, not walls," Erdogan told the conference. /Hurriyet Daily News/
KIDNAPPED TURKISH ENGINEER IN AFGHANISTAN RESCUED
A Turkish engineer kidnapped last year in Afghanistan has been rescued and reached the Turkish Embassy in Kabul, said Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu yesterday. Coskun Caloglu has been missing for a year after being abducted in the country’s Nemrus region. Turkey’s ambassador to Kabul, Basat Ozturk, told Davutoglu about the developments while in the eastern Anatolian province of Erzurum to attend a conference of Turkey’s ambassadors from all over the world. "I have good news for you: The Turkish engineer who was kidnapped has been rescued," Davutoglu later told reporters. Diplomatic sources said that the rescue had not come about as the result of any kind of ransom negotiations. The engineer is now staying at the Turkish Embassy’s guesthouse in Kabul and is set to soon return home. /Hurriyet Daily News/
DEADLINE FOR UN PROBE INTO DEADLY FLOTILLA RAID AGAIN POSTPONED
A UN inquiry into the Mavi Marmara tragedy has again postponed the release of its report. The deadline for the UN probe, announced last August, has been postponed once more to April. The Turkish side remains anxious to finish the inquiry before May 31, the first anniversary of the deadly incident. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon had set a deadline of mid-September last year for the panel to submit a first progress report. Chaired by former New Zealand Prime Minister Geoffrey Palmer, the panel included an Israeli and a Turk among its four members. Turkey handed its own report into the incidents on Sept. 1, as both countries were asked to present their national inquiries to the panel by that date. Israel’s acquiescence to cooperating with the UN probe was unprecedented, and came as a result of months of negotiations on the panel’s mandate. Yet as Israel has not presented the panel its own investigation report, the deadline for the work of the panel was postponed to the end of February. As Israel continued to delay its report, which is finally expected to be delivered in the second half of this month, the deadline of the panel’s work was again postponed to late March-early April. The panel plans to start work in the second week of February. "We don’t want any more delays. The panel’s work should finish before May 31," said a Turkish official familiar with the process. /Hurriyet Daily News/
EU’S ASHTON TO VISIT TURKEY AHEAD OF IRAN NUCLEAR TALKS
European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton will visit Turkey this week ahead of nuclear negotiations between Iran and world powers set to be held in Istanbul later this month. Ashton will lead the nuclear negotiations in Istanbul, following on from December’s negotiations in Geneva, on behalf of the P5+1 nations – UN Security Council permanent members China, France, Russia, Britain and the US, plus Germany. The Istanbul nuclear talks are likely to take place on Jan. 20-21. During Ashton’s two-day visit, set to begin Thursday, Turkish-EU ties will also be reviewed, in addition to Iran’s controversial nuclear program. /Today’s Zaman/
IRANIAN VP: "TRANSPORTING OUR NATURAL GAS THROUGH TURKEY WOULD BENEFIT BOTH SIDES"
Transporting Iranian natural gas to Europe via Turkey would benefit both countries, predicted Iranian First Vice President Muhammad Riza Rahimi on Saturday. Both countries are eager to set up this transportation, he said. Adding that the issue was discussed last week, when Energy Minister Taner Yildiz paid a one-day visit to Tehran, Rahimi said both sides agreed to cooperate on energy projects. /Sabah/
TURKISH AIRLINES CEO: "TURKEY’S FOREIGN POLICY HAS GIVEN US A BOOST"
Turkey’s foreign policy has boosted the growing business of Turkish Airlines (THY), the air carrier’s CEO Temel Kotil said over the weekend. "The lifting of visa requirements [with several countries] has raised the number of our flights," Kotil said, speaking at a panel on the economic benefits of a new airport in Edremit, in the northwestern province of Balikesir. Noting that the Gulf of Edremit, a popular destination for Turkish tourists, is also home to prominent olive and olive oil producers, Kotil urged local businesspeople to set their sights high. "When Edremit is ready to export olives or olive oil, with our 70-ton capacity cargo planes we’ll be ready to carry these anywhere in the world," he said, adding that THY wants to fly to every destination in Turkey. "Turkey has benefited from the global crisis and made use of emerging opportunities to raise the quality of its service," he said said. "Our aim is to make Istanbul a global center for aviation, which in fact it already is." He added, "Turkish foreign policy supports us a lot. THY has raised its quality. We earn our position with our quality and branding." THY’s greatest growth was in the African market, followed by the Middle East, he said. /Hurriyet Daily News/