BAGIS: "MILITARY INTERVENTION IN LIBYA COULD BRING FATAL RESULTS"
Military intervention in Libya could bring fatal results, warned State Minister and Chief European Union Talks Negotiator Egemen Bagis yesterday. Diplomatic means should be tried first, he said. "The world should learn lessons from what happened in Iraq," Bagis told Portuguese daily Diario de Noticias. "The best thing for Libya is to stop the bloodshed immediately, and then we can discuss how we can contribute to stability and the adoption of a regime that the Libyan people want." /Sabah/
CAGLAYAN THROWS STATE WEIGHT BEHIND TURKISH CONSTRUCTION FIRMS SEEKING CONTRACTS IN IRAQ
Ankara is backing the country’s construction companies in bids to win Iraqi tenders, State Minister Zafer Caglayan said yesterday. "Turkish contractors have joined a tender to build New Sadr City in Iraq. Ankara places great importance on the project and gives its full support," Caglayan told an Ankara press conference alongside visiting Iraqi Housing and Municipalities Minister Muhammad Sahib al-Daraji. "I hope a Turkish consortium will win the tender, since Turkish contractors have the necessary power, experience and technology." On Turkey’s economic and commercial ties with Iraq, Caglayan said last year the bilateral trade volume reached $7.4 billion. "We want to boost this to $12 billion by year’s end," he added. "To date more than 260 Turkish firms have carried through 587 projects in Iraq worth $11 billion." Caglayan also stressed the importance of setting up a Turkey-Iraq construction business council. Al-Daraji, for his part, said Turkey is playing an important role in efforts to ensure a new democratic process in Iraq. /Hurriyet Daily News/
TUNISIAN ISLAMIST LEADER EMBRACES TURKEY, PRAISES ERBAKAN
Turkey’s political experience "inspires the Arab world," the leader of Tunisia’s newly legalized Islamist movement Ennahda (Awakening) told reporters in Istanbul yesterday. Rached Ghannouchi, who was in exile during the rule of ousted Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, came to Turkey to attend the funeral Tuesday of the country’s first Islamist prime minister, Necmettin Erbakan. He told a mixed group of Turkish and Arab journalists that Turkey serves as an example for budding Tunisian democrats. "We’re learning from the experience of Turkey, especially the peace that has been reached in the country between Islam and modernity; it’s a true example," Ghannouchi said. His press conference took place at the Istanbul headquarters of the Humanitarian Relief Foundation (IHH), a Turkish Islamic charity that led the Gaza-bound aid flotilla raided by Israeli commandos last May, an operation that resulted in the deaths of nine activists. /Hurriyet Daily News/
FRENCH CREDIT FIRM LOW-BALLS TURKEY’S RATING
Turkey is still as risky to investors as Egypt and Libya, both recently rocked by massive internal turmoil, claims the Euler Hermes Group, a French credit insurance company that has recently started to use its independent name in Turkey. Tunisia, Morocco, Bahrain and Oman, other countries in the region facing political turmoil, are less risky than Turkey, according to the group’s current ratings, which have been kept unchanged since last month. Turkey must take steps forward including increasing the transparency of enterprises and challenging the current account deficit, Hermes executives told reporters yesterday at a meeting in Istanbul. Hermes announced it would continue its Turkey operations under the name Euler Hermes after a five-year period when it acted under the Allianz brand. "There are emotional effects of the county ratings," Wilfried Verstraete, the group’s CEO, said after the meeting. On the Hermes scale, Turkey ranks a C, which signifies "high external transfer and convertibility risk and well-below-average business environment." /Hurriyet Daily News/
GUL: "EGYPT’S MILITARY RULERS SHOULD SPEEDILY MEET THE PEOPLE’S DEMANDS"
Egypt’s military rulers appreciate the Egyptian people’s yearnings for democracy and have vowed to quickly do their part for this, President Abdullah Gul said in Cairo yesterday. "I saw that they want to and will enjoy the pride of realizing democracy together with the people of Egypt," Gul said after talks with Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, head of the military council that took control in Egypt after the ousting of longtime President Hosni Mubarak. Gul’s visit to Egypt is his first since a popular uprising against Mubarak forced him out of power on Feb. 11. Gul said the military rulers should allow a quick and transparent transition to meet the Egyptian people’s demands for democracy. "A transition process is the best way to meet the people’s expectations," Gul told reporters aboard his plane before arriving in Cairo, where he was due to hold talks not only with military leaders but also with political groups. "The transition must be transparent and open and must be satisfactory. If the transition period doesn’t meet the expectations of the people, it won’t be successful. This shouldn’t take too long." /Today’s Zaman/
TURKEY WARNS NATO ACTION IN LIBYA COULD BE COUNTERPRODUCTIVE
A possible NATO operation in Libya could be counterproductive, as it could undermine the Libyan people’s support for a revolt against their longtime leader, Muammar Gaddafi, warned Deputy Foreign Undersecretary Selim Yenel on Wednesday. "We need to be extra cautious on this," Yenel told a panel in Washington, according to the Anatolia news agency. "The people of Egypt and Tunisia can take pride in the fact that the change in their countries was thanks to them. Any outside intervention in Libya, on the other hand, could prevent the Libyan people from taking the same pride." Yenel’s remarks came after Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu made clear that Turkey is opposed to foreign military action in Libya, where Gaddafi’s brutal response to the revolt against his rule has led to fears of bloodshed and a humanitarian crisis. Yenel said there are many opposition groups in Libya which are united in opposing Gaddafi but called for caution as it is unclear how things could develop after Gaddafi’s departure. He also said Turkey and the US are in close coordination over developments in Libya. In a statement yesterday, the Foreign Ministry said a UN decision this week to impose sanctions is binding on all countries, adding that Turkey hopes this move will help resolve Libya’s troubling situation. "We believe that all measures should be taken to ensure that the people of Libya do not suffer during the implementation of these sanctions," the statement said. The international community should also show "the same constructive, consistent and principled stance" that it took during the recent revolts in Tunisia and Egypt, it said, adding. "Encouraging a political solution that meets the legitimate expectations of the Libyan people is essential." /Today’s Zaman/
BRITISH DEPUTY PM CALLS TURKEY "VALUABLE EXAMPLE" FOR MIDEAST
Addressing recent democratic movements in the Arab Middle East, British Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg on Wednesday hailed Turkey as "a valuable example for other societies." Delivering a speech in Brussels titled "Building Open Societies: Transforming Europe’s Partnership with North Africa," Clegg praised the "Turkish way," strongly supporting the idea that Turkey could be a model for emerging Arab democracies. Clegg, whose country has consistently supported Turkey’s aspirations for European Union membership, said recent events had highlighted Turkey’s importance. "As a majority-Muslim country, a NATO member and a country firmly committed to the path to EU membership, and a state with a vibrant multiparty democracy, it provides a valuable example for other societies," said Clegg. The number two British statesman said Turkey’s warm relations with the region could offer opportunities for openness and respect for human rights that the EU has strongly supported. Clegg also thanked Turkey for its help in Libya, stressing that Ankara had also evacuated many non-Turkish citizens from the embattled Arab nation. "Another tangible recent example of the help Turkey can offer is their readiness to represent the UK’s interests in Libya when our embassy was forced to suspend its operations, and I wish to warmly thank Turkey for that assistance," he added. "Turkey has not just been helping us. In total Turkey has evacuated over 3,300 foreigners from at least 52 different countries, many of them European." Clegg also underlined that Turkey is now sending significant aid to relieve the growing humanitarian crisis in Libya. /Today’s Zaman/