PARLIAMENT SPEAKER SAHIN WELCOMES VISITING GERMAN LAWMAKERS
Parliament Speaker Mehmet Ali Sahin yesterday hosted a luncheon for the visiting president of the German state Parliament of North Rhine-Westphalia, Eckhard Uhlenberg, and the delegation accompanying him in Parliament. Sahin called Turkish citizens in Germany an inseparable part of the country, adding that the Turkish presence there also has the potential to improve German-Turkish relations. He said some Turks in Germany he has spoken with expressed issues with integration, but that since then talks between German and Turkish officials led to steps to address these issues. Uhlenberg, for his part, said he hopes Turkish and German ties will further improve, adding that in addition to visits at the presidential or prime ministerial levels, visits between deputies are also very important for this. There are a great many Turks in North Rhine-Westphalia, he said, adding, "We consider them our own." Uhlenberg said successful integration can only happen with mastery of the German language, pointing to measures German authorities have taken to enable immigrants to learn German. /Today’s Zaman/
DAVUTOGLU CALLS FOR NEW PARADIGM IN TURKISH-GREEK TIES
Turkey and Greece need to develop a new paradigm to build their relations on, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said yesterday, complaining that the old East-West, Islam-Christianity dichotomy complicates efforts to resolve disputes between the two neighbors. "Tensions emerged between our countries as a result of the East-West confrontation," Davutoglu told reporters accompanying him on a visit to Greece. "This stems from a misinterpretation of history. Such misperceptions should be dispelled." Davutoglu visited cities in Western Thrace, home to Greece’s Turkish minority, after talks with Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou and his Greek counterpart Dimitris Droutsas in Athens on Tuesday. At a joint press conference, both Davutoglu and Droutsas touted Turkish-Greek ties and underlined their commitment to improve them further, sidestepping issues of disputes in the Aegean. /Today’s Zaman/
EC OFFICIAL: "THE EU IS KEEN TO DEVELOP HIGH-LEVEL DIALOGUE WITH TURKEY"
Turkey and the European Union share common interests and concerns in their neighborhood, so their cooperation is essential, said Michael Leigh, director-general of the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Enlargement, on Tuesday. Both Turkey and the EU have a great deal to offer on a range of issues, Leigh said, citing the recent example of efforts to deal with the crisis in Libya. "We saw in the case of Libya, the effort Turkey made to evacuate Turkish citizens and also some EU citizens," he told reporters following an off-the-record meeting organized by Bogazici University and the Turkish Industrialists and Businessmen’s Association (TUSIAD) Foreign Policy Forum. Asked whether Turkey’s rising profile in the region will help change some EU countries’ negative views of Turkey’s EU accession, Leigh said that the Union is well aware of Turkey’s role. "The EU is very aware of Turkey’s important role in its own neighborhood. We are very keen on developing a high-level political dialogue with Turkey so that we can share our evaluations of developments," he said. But when it comes to establishing official mechanisms to continue that dialogue in order to synchronize EU and Ankara foreign policy decisions, there are obstacles, said former Ambassador Ozdem Sanberk, also speaking to reporters at the meeting. Sanberk said though Turkey insists political cooperation with the EU on the neighborhood policy would be useful, this initiative has not borne fruit due to the asymmetric relationship between Turkey and the Union. /Today’s Zaman/
TURKISH AIRLINES ORDERS 13 NEW AIRCRAFT FROM AIRBUS
Turkish Airlines (THY) has signed an order for the purchase of 10 A321s and three A330-200F freighter aircraft, announced leading aircraft maker Airbus yesterday. According to an Airbus statement, THY has a further 27 aircraft on order with Airbus from contracts signed in 2009-2010 to meet THY’s growth plans in both the passenger and cargo markets. The new aircraft will join THY’s existing fleet of 75 Airbus aircraft, including four A310 freighters, 50 A320-family aircraft, 11 A330s, one A330-200Fs, and nine A340s. In related news, President Abdullah Gul on Tuesday praised THY’s performance over the past couple of years during a visit to the company’s headquarters in Istanbul. He said the airline has become "one of the best signs of Turkey’s growth." Speaking at a press conference, Gul said he is proud of THY’s flights across Turkey and around the world, which he described as "providing modern flight opportunities to all Turks." /Today’s Zaman/
AS WEST MULLS ACTION, GADDAFI DEFIANT
Libyans will fight back if Western nations impose a no-fly zone to prevent the regime from using its air force to bomb rebels, Moammar Gadhafi said in an interview with Turkish state-run TRT yesterday. The embattled leader said imposing such restrictions would prove the West’s real intention is to seize his country’s oil wealth. The late-night TRT interview took place when Gaddafi made a surprise appearance at a hotel where foreign journalists are staying in Tripoli. As pressure grows from inside Libya and elsewhere in the Arab world for a no-fly zone, the White House said US President Barack Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron had agreed to press forward with planning a range of possible responses. These include surveillance, humanitarian assistance, enforcement of the arms embargo, and a no-fly zone, the White House said. Cameron said the world can’t stand on the sidelines while Gadhafi does "terrible things" to the Libyan people. "We have got to prepare for what we might have to do if he goes on brutalizing his own people," he added. /Hurriyet Daily News/
ITALIANS OFFER TURKEY PARTNERSHIP ON NEW MILITARY AIRCRAFT PLAN
Italian defense giant Finmeccanica, a top international group operating in Turkey’s defense and aerospace industries, is proposing a partnership to meet Turkey’s future military aircraft requirements, a top official with the firm said this week. "In the short and medium term, for example, Turkey already has or will soon have requirements for passenger and military air transport and latest-generation trainer aircraft, for which the Finmeccanica Group companies offer themselves as partners for national companies," Finmeccanica’s Paolo Pozzessere said in an interview. Analysts say Turkey will spend tens of billions of dollars on various requirements for its military aircraft over the next 15 years. Pozzessere said Finmeccanica’s main objective is to maintain its leading position in the Turkish market and use this as a springboard to increase penetration into other countries in the region. He also said Finmeccanica’s strategic objective in the Turkish market is to reach a global agreement with the Turkish Armed Forces Foundation, a top Turkish defense group. Pozzessere said Finmeccanica and local Turkish companies could also jointly cooperate in international competitions. /Hurriyet Daily News/
SURVEY FINDS TURKISH PEOPLE ARE HOPEFUL, HAPPY
More than 60 percent of Turkish people feel happy, and nearly three-fourths look to the future with hope, according to a new survey by the state Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat). Unveiling the results of a 2010 poll on happiness, TurkStat said 61.2 percent of Turks feel happy and 72.8 percent look to the future with hope. The study was conducted with the participation of 7,027 individuals, nearly half of them family members. Aiming to measure individual perceptions of happiness and contentment with life, TurkStat asked people to describe their feelings using one of the following words: pain, grief, lack of pain, satisfaction, happiness and joy. On this scale, 61.2 percent of respondents selected happiness or joy, while 10.7 percent selected pain or grief. The poll overall also demonstrated that women are happier than men. Better-educated people were also found to be happier than less-educated ones, and married people happier than single ones. /Hurriyet Daily News/