GUL BEGINNING CRITICAL VISIT TO EGYPT TODAY
President Abdullah Gul will begin a critical trip to Egypt today, less than a month after President Hosni Mubarak was forced to step down following widespread protests. Gul’s visit aims to show solidarity with the Egyptian state and people; the president is also expected to share views about the transition period with Egyptian officials. "During this short visit, I’ll express our solidarity with the Egyptian people and our desire for the Egyptian state to emerge stronger from this process," the president said yesterday. The entire region is going through the most sweeping changes in its history, Gul said, adding that this change is being led by the people, and especially young people, not political leaders. The president also said Turkey and Egypt have long seen each other as brothers. "[Egypt] is going though a transition period. We’ll share our experiences and ideas," he said, reiterating the crucial importance of Egypt emerging stronger from its transition process. "It is very important that the Egyptian people achieve a new democratic order under the rule of law that they desire. I will make this visit to show that Turkey stands with them during their transition period," he said. Gul is expected to meet with Egypt’s new military rulers, the Supreme Military Council, which took over the administration after Mubarak’s Feb. 11 resignation from three decades in power. /Hurriyet Daily News/
BRITISH NEWSPAPER TO PAY ERDOGAN COMPENSATION FOR FALSE STORY
Ruling in favor of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s lawsuit against Britain’s Daily Telegraph, a British court yesterday ordered the paper to pay 25,000 pounds in compensation. The British high court ruled that the paper failed to ground its allegations that Erdogan had received political contributions from Iran on concrete evidence and that the story was inaccurate. The Daily Telegraph reported last September that Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) had accepted a $25 million in campaign contributions from Iran, and yesterday the paper apologized to Erdogan for the erroneous story. The newspaper’s lawyer, Helen Morris, said the Telegraph "accepts that it was misinformed and offers its sincerest apologies to the claimant." /Hurriyet Daily News/
DAVUTOGLU: "FOREIGN INTERVENTION IN LIBYA WOULD ONLY MAKE THINGS WORSE"
Foreign intervention in Libya would make the situation there worse, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu told reporters in Istanbul yesterday, stressing Turkey’s opposition to any such move. According to Davutoglu, even the protesters fighting to topple the regime of Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi would oppose any kind of external military intervention. On the ongoing turmoil in North Africa and the Middle East, Davutoglu said the region is in the midst of a transformation that Turkey supports unfolding in a peaceful way. "Outside actors that stand against this natural process will lose one way or another," he warned, calling what the world is witnessing in the region a "political earthquake." He added, "What we see in the Middle East today aren’t just passing incidents; these are events that trigger each other, and there will be aftershocks as well." /Hurriyet Daily News/
YILMAZ: "REGIONAL UNREST WILL BENEFIT TURKEY ECONOMICALLY"
The regional turbulence in the Middle East and North Africa will help Turkey further boost its image as one of the most attractive markets for global investors, predicted State Minister Cevdet Yilmaz yesterday. Speaking at a workshop on investment support and promotion strategies in Ankara, Yilmaz said Turkey, with its good macroeconomic indicators and continuing stability, presents a very appealing market for global investors in the region, where unrest is engulfing countries. Stating that foreign direct investment inflow to developing countries is still not at pre-crisis levels, Yilmaz said Turkey is well positioned to take advantage of investors seeking stable, secure markets. He predicted Turkey would get more FDI this year, touting Turkey as a "stable market with good macroeconomic indicators." Noting that there are 95,000 multinational companies worldwide, creating 74 million jobs, Yilmaz said he is determined to get a larger share of this pie. /Today’s Zaman/
EU CONDEMNS PKK AND ITS ENDING "CEASE-FIRE"
The European Union this week again condemned the PKK, saying it "deeply regrets" the terrorist group’s decision to end its so-called cease-fire. Natasha Butler, spokeswoman for EU Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fule, said Turkey’s southeast needs peace, democracy and stability. "We deeply regret the decision apparently announced by the PKK to end its unilateral ’non-action’ period," said a Commission statement. "We strongly condemn terrorism and understand Turkey’s concerns about the need to fight terrorism. The PKK is on the EU list of terrorist organizations. ... The Southeast of Turkey needs peace, democracy and stability as well as social, economic and cultural development. This can only be achieved via consensus over concrete measures expanding the social, economic and cultural rights of the people living in the region. The Commission strongly encourages the Turkish authorities to reinvigorate the process of consultation they started in 2009 and translate the consultation into concrete measures." /Today’s Zaman/
INDUSTRIAL EMPLOYMENT ROSE 6.5 PCT IN Q4
Turkey’s industrial employment rose 6.5 percent in the final quarter of 2010 year-on-year, up 0.6 percent from the preceding quarter, the Turkish Statistics Institute (TurkStat) announced yesterday. In its Industrial Labor Input Indices survey for the fourth quarter of 2010, growth in industrial employment in 2010 showed a 4.5 percent rise over 2009. The TurkStat data are in line with a continuous recuperation of the industrial sector. Turkey’s industrial production grew 17.4 percent in December year-on-year, seasonally adjusted from an earlier figure of 16.9 percent. Observers said that driven by such recuperation in industrial output, both non-agricultural and industrial employment will continue to enjoy strong, steady growth in the months to come. /Today’s Zaman/
TURK TELEKOM PURCHASES PANTEL, PLAYER IN CENTRAL/EASTERN EUROPE AND THE CAUCASUS
Turkey’s leading fixed line operator, Turk Telekom, has purchased Pantel International, which has 30,000 fiber optic networks in 16 countries, mainly in Central and Eastern Europe, as well as the Caucasus. "By purchasing Pantel International, we have spread our communication infrastructure to Europe," Turk Telekom CEO Gokhan Bozkurt told the Anatolia news agency yesterday during the CeBIT fair in Hanover, Germany. Saying that CeBIT is a good opportunity for Turk Telekom to show off its technology, Bozkurt added, "Our investments in technology and communications over the past five years have reached TL 9 billion ($5.6 billion). Our investments didn’t slow down, unlike the way other world companies stepped on the brakes due to the global [financial] crisis." /Today’s Zaman/