GUL CALLS FOR SWEEPING JUDICIAL REFORMS
Turkey needs to agree on and implement radical changes to its judiciary and courts, said President Abdullah Gul yesterday. Speaking to reporters shortly before leaving for an official trip to Yemen, Gul weighed in on the judicial backlog, which recently resulted in the release of 10 Hizbullah members convicted of the brutal torture and killing of 188 people. The convicts, who had still been in the midst of appeals after 10 years, were released under a new law limiting how long a person can be kept in prison during the trial process. Their release triggered widespread public anger. Radical reform is the only answer to this and other current problems in the judiciary, Gul told reporters. Everyone in Turkey agrees on the need for reforms, he said, including speedier trial processes, meeting the needs of judges and prosecutors, and modernizing the judiciary. He said dragged-out trials and the lack of judicial reform have resulted in mistakes and injustice. There are more people in Turkish prisons awaiting trial than there are actual convicts, he added, calling this unworthy of Turkey. /Today’s Zaman/
WITH GUL’S VISIT, TURKEY EYES EXPANDING COOPERATION WITH YEMEN
President Abdullah Gul arrived in Yemen yesterday for a two-day visit expected to help deepen bilateral political and economic ties. Gul, the first Turkish president to visit Yemen, is accompanied by three government ministers and a large business delegation. The two countries are expected to sign 10 agreements, including one to eliminate visa requirements for their nationals, as well as pacts for cooperation in such areas as consular affairs, criminal extradition, management of industrial areas, media and education, according to Yemeni news reports. An agreement to establish a Turkey-Yemen business council is also to be signed. Gul is the guest of Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh. Speaking before the visit, Gul said he would discuss all regional and international issues concerning both countries, as well as economic cooperation. "Turkey has special ties with Yemen, based on shared history and cultural affinity," he added. "Both sides have the will to expand and deepen these ties." Pointing to the growing business ties, Gul said Turkish firms have undertaken projects worth $1.5 billion in Yemen over the past eight years. "The businessmen accompanying me will have talks with their Yemeni counterparts and review new opportunities for cooperation," said Gul. During his visit, Gul will also inaugurate a Turkish-Yemeni vocational high school and a renovated cemetery for fallen Ottoman soldiers. /Today’s Zaman/
PM’S VISITS MARK NEW ERA IN TIES WITH KUWAIT, QATAR
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan arrived in Kuwait yesterday for talks with leaders of the oil-rich Gulf state aimed at boosting economic and political ties. After wrapping up his visit today, Erdogan, accompanied by a 500-strong official and business delegation, is scheduled to proceed to Qatar for an official visit. "Turkey has historical and cultural ties with both Kuwait and Qatar, and has the political will to improve bilateral relations with all Gulf countries," Erdogan told reporters on Sunday before the trip. State Minister for Foreign Trade Zafer Caglayan stressed the economic aspects of Erdogan’s visits, pointing to huge export, joint investment and contract service opportunities in Kuwait and Qatar for Turkish entrepreneurs. Saying that Erdogan is expected to sign a memorandum of understanding with Kuwait in the area of industry, Caglayan told the Cihan news agency that the Gulf region has always been a vital commercial base for Turkey. "We’re here because we hope to further diversify opportunities for commercial and economic cooperation between Turkey and these two countries, to expand Turkish firms’ market share and create opportunities for cooperation in future infrastructure and superstructure projects, as well as in the fields of investment and contracting," he added. /Today’s Zaman/
ERDOGAN VOWS FULL COURT PRESS TO SOLVE IRANIAN NUCLEAR CRISIS
In remarks published yesterday, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan pledged all-out efforts by Turkey to resolve the dispute between world powers and Iran over Tehran’s controversial nuclear energy program. Every country has the right to peacefully develop nuclear energy, Erdogan told Kuwaiti daily al-Qabas ahead of an official visit. Istanbul next week will host the next round of nuclear talks between Iran and six world powers, but will not take part in the negotiations. But Ankara has voiced its readiness to make any kind of contribution if requested by the parties. /Today’s Zaman/
BAGIS WARNS GREEK CYPRUS OVER STALLING TURKEY’S EU BID
An acceleration of Turkey’s European Union accession would benefit both Greece and Greek Cyprus, State Minister and EU Talks Negotiator Egemen Bagis said yesterday, but any cessation of talks would be a "nightmare" for southern Cyprus. "Greek Cypriots know very well that Turkey’s EU process is their insurance policy," Bagis told reporters in Istanbul. "The ending of Turkey’s EU process would be their nightmare." He added, "On the Cyprus issue, Turkey has right on its side. European Council member countries, including Greece, earlier decided to remove the blockade on Northern Cyprus, but failed to implement this. First they should put an end to the unjust blockade." Turkey sent troops to Cyprus in 1974 to ensure security there, he explained, adding that the Greek Cypriot claim that violence had not been widespread in the runup to the intervention is disingenuous. Decrying a recent attack by Greek Cypriot hooligans on a visiting Turkish basketball team, he said, "They should not try Turkey’s patience." On the progress Turkey has made in its EU accession over the past two years, Bagis said, "Turkey’s Secretariat General for EU Affairs works hard, with close to 300 employees … We have prepared a strategy for Turkey’s accession process and have started to implement it." Bagis said their efforts would disregard whether negotiation chapters are being blocked for political reasons. The chapters on taxation and food safety, veterinary and phytosanitary policy were opened to negotiation over the past two years, he said, and Turkey made arrangements directly affecting the daily life of its citizens under the harmonization laws. A bio safety law, a legal arrangement on genetically modified organisms (GMO), has been enacted, outlawing their use in baby and children’s food, he said. Bagis said since January 2009 officials have prepared and begun to implement 25 laws and 108 secondary legal arrangements as part of the harmonization process, adding that very important steps were made in political reforms, the third platform of the country’s strategy. /Hurriyet Daily News/
YILDIZ SIGNALS NO RETREAT ON NABUCCO
Turkey’s plans for a nuclear power station and the Nabucco pipeline project are completely separate, and stepping back on Nabucco is out of the question, said Energy and Natural Resources Minister Taner Yildiz yesterday. Prime Minister Erdogan hasn’t said or suggested anything negative about Nabucco, he added. Yildiz said talks with companies and countries related to Nabucco are ongoing and that the Nabucco national company is continuing work on the project. /Milliyet/
TURKEY SET TO BOOST ECRI EFFORTS AGAINST DISCRIMINATION
Turkey, now term president of the Committee of the Ministers of the Council of Europe (CoE), is planning to strengthen the body’s discrimination monitoring mechanism, Deputy Foreign Undersecretary Fatih Ceylan yesterday told an Ankara meeting of the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI). The two-day seminar brings together national and international experts to discuss the implementation of ECRI recommendations to combat discrimination based on racial, ethnic, religious or other bias. Ceylan argued that Islamophobia, anti-Semitism and homophobia are among Europe’s worst problems, and that hate crimes and intolerance are on the rise. ECRI Chair Nils Muiznieks underlined that the standards of the fight against discrimination are adequate, but that there is a need to further explore religious discrimination. /Today’s Zaman/
TRNC TO OPEN REPRESENTATION IN KUWAIT
The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) is set to open a representation office in Kuwait. The decision was made during Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s meeting this week with his Kuwaiti counterpart Sheikh Nasser Al-Mohammed Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, according to media reports. The office will serve as diplomatic representation, but not an official embassy or consulate, as Kuwait has not recognized the TRNC. /Sabah/
AT ANNUAL MEETING, AMBASSADORS TALK "VISIONARY" DIPLOMACY
Turkey’s "visionary diplomats" are in pursuit of "visionary diplomacy," as stated in objectives set by Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, and Turkey’s ambassadors met last week to discuss ways to explain the country’s evolving foreign policy both to the public and to the countries where they are posted. The conference, the third of its kind since 2008, began in Ankara last Monday and continued in the eastern Anatolian province of Erzurum as part of efforts to communicate the new foreign policy to the entire country. In his opening address to the meeting, Davutoglu set the goal of putting Turkey at the top of the "wise" countries of the world. Diplomats should not be mere firefighters rushing to stop crises in any corner of the world but should also pursue policies to prevent crises from happening. This year Afghan Foreign Minister Zalmai Rassoul and Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou were distinguished guests at the meeting. Papandreou attended the Erzurum leg of the program, where he inaugurated the city’s new sports facilities with his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan; Erzurum will be hosting the Universiade winter games beginning later this month. Earlier the two had a working breakfast for some four hours. But Papandreou’s address to the ambassadors sent some unexpected shockwaves, when he called Turkey an "occupier" in Northern Cyprus and criticized Ankara for violating Greek airspace. Davutoglu, accompanying the Greek prime minister to the airport, told Papandreou that he could have made a more visionary speech, instead of letting fly the arrows of criticism, said one source involved in the talks. /Hurriyet Daily News/
GREEK MEDIA SHINES SPOTLIGHT ON TURKEY’S SUCCESS
Greece, rocked by economic woes, is shining its media spotlight on the success of its eastern next-door neighbor. A one-hour documentary called "Changing Turkey" yesterday on Greek government channel ERT explored Turkey’s recent economic, political, and social success, and how this might serve as an example to Greece. The program spoke with many Turkish politicians, businessmen, and nongovernmental organization officials, at a time when Turkish-Greek relations are seeing renewed tensions. The program argued, "The key for Turkey to overcome and move past its 2000 crisis was industrial production. Now Turkey is among the fastest-developing countries in the G20, with growth of 6.8%." /Star/