GUL MEETS WITH VISITING IRAQI PRIME MINISTER ALLAWI
President Abdullah Gul yesterday met with Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi, who is currently visiting Turkey with a delegation. Gul and Allawi discussed relations between their countries in a closed-door meeting. Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Feridun Sinirlioglu was also present at the gathering.
PM ERDOGAN: "LIBYA SHOULD FORGE ITS OWN DESTINY"
Stressing that Turkey’s stance towards events in Libya is not emotional but based on principle, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said yesterday that the Libyan people deserve a dignified life and should decide their own future in unity. "We say of Libya without hesitation exactly what we said about Egypt, Tunisia, Palestine and Lebanon," Erdgoan told a parliamentary group meeting of his ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party). "We are shouting that brother should not strike brother. We want people to have lives with human dignity." He added, "Libya itself should resolve its issues at once. We want Libyans to embrace each other and find their own way." He also praised recent decisions by the Arab League and African Union as promoting "Libya’s future, peace and welfare." In an interview with Al-Arabiya television on Monday, Erdogan said that he had spoken to embattled Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi about ways to end Libya’s crisis, and urged him to appoint a new leader with popular support to help find a solution. "In all issues and disagreements in the region, as a country able to hold dialogue with all parties, Turkey is completely fulfilling its responsibilities," Erdogan said, brushing off criticisms that Ankara is hedging on the Libyan crisis. "Turkey is acting on principles and with consistency; it is acting with principles rather than emotions," he said. "On the Libya issue, too, we put forth our principles. We made the necessary warnings without hesitation and gave the necessary advice. We will continue standing upright, being principled, and producing policies through these principles."
ERDOGAN: "WE WANT TO LIFT VISA RESTRICTIONS WITH RUSSIA"
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, currently on a visit to Russia together with seven Cabinet ministers, yesterday met with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in a working dinner. Medvedev and Erdogan discussed key issues during the two-hour meeting. There are still minor issues on bilaterally lifting visa requirements, Erdogan later told the Itar Tass Press Agency. "We want to make a visa-free regime for our citizens," he said. Later addressing the closing of the Turkish-Russian Business Forum, Erdogan said, "Turkish-Russian relations will step firmly into the future while diversifying in every respect." Erdogan also praised Turkish firms which are enjoying success in Russia.
SIMSEK ANNOUNCES RECORD TWO-MONTH BUDGET SURPLUS
Turkey’s budget this January and February produced a surplus twice in a row, the first time this has happened in 28 years, State Minister Mehmet Simsek announced yesterday. The January and February budget produced a total surplus of 1.98 billion Turkish liras, he said.
ANKARA CONDEMNS WEST BANK ITAMAR ATTACK, ISRAELI SETTLEMENTS
Turkey has condemned Friday’s gruesome attack in the settlement town of Itamar in the West Bank in which an Israeli family was fatally stabbed as they slept, but also slammed the Israeli government’s decision to build new settlements in response to the attack as "unacceptable." Israeli settlements in the West Bank are a clear violation of international law, said a Foreign Ministry statement dated March 12 but sent to the press late Monday. The statement added that the enlargement of settlements on any pretext is "unacceptable." The statement said that no matter the justification, terror attacks on innocent children, violating their fundamental right to life, are "also unacceptable." Turkey’s statement added that it hopes the perpetrators will be swiftly brought to justice.
GORE SAYS TURKEY COULD BE A LEADER IN CLIMATE POLICY
Turkey could be a leader in its region in reversing the effects of global warming through the climate policies it chooses, former US Vice President Al Gore on Monday told the Leaders of Change Summit in Istanbul. Gore, a longtime champion on environmental issues and fighting global warming, said Turkey has the ability to provide leadership and support for the changes in policy that the world needs. As Turkey is at the nexus of North Africa, the Middle East and Europe, it could become a lynchpin in a potential wind and solar energy grid, he said. Gore also warned that Turkey could experience a severe drought starting in the 2030s, citing a scientific study, unless the international community takes steps to prevent this. Gore stressed that Turkey is seen as a moral leader in its region and is making progress. "Turkey is a huge, prosperous country," he said. "It is showing unprecedented leadership." Pointing to the Arab world, he said that when young people there are told that their countries aren’t ready for democracy, the first thing they say is, "Look at Turkey." He said this is just one example of Turkey’s potential for moral leadership.
US COMMERCE SEC’Y: "ISTANBUL CAN BECOME EUROPE’S FINANCIAL CENTER"
US President Barack Obama supports strengthening the already good relations between Turkey and the US, said US Commerce Secretary Gary Locke on Monday. "Trade develops swiftly. We can make Istanbul the financial center of Europe," Locke told participants at a Washington luncheon co-organized by the Turkish Confederation of Businessmen and Industrialists (TUSKON) and the Center for American Progress. Saying that the US has focused on strengthening ties between the countries’ business worlds and developing innovation, Locke added that they have encouraged sustainable energy, entrepreneurship, work to make Istanbul Europe’s business capital, and strengthening small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). For his part, TUSKON head Rizanur Meral said they want to boost investments between the two countries. "The US and Turkey together have led the horse to water, but we haven’t yet been able to make it drink." said Meral.
BUSINESSMEN PUSH TO PROVIDE CONSTRUCTION SERVICES TO RUSSIA IN EXCHANGE FOR NATURAL GAS
Turkish businessmen expect more trade to result from the current visit to Russia of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and State Minister for Foreign Trade Zafer Caglayan. At a preliminary meeting, Caglayan said he plans to discuss cooperation with Russia in third countries. Turkish Constructors Association (TMB) head Erdal Eren, who accompanied Caglayan, said that Russia is their number one market. "If we can provide construction services in exchange for natural gas, we can boost trade between our countries by an additional $5 billion," he added.
MEXICO’S FOX: "TURKEY IS BECOMING A WORLD LEADER"
Turkey is taking the role of leadership and preparing for the future, former Mexican President Vincente Fox told the Leaders of Change Summit in Istanbul yesterday. Speaking after Minister for European Union Affairs Egemen Bagis, Fox praised Turkey, saying, "Today we can see democratization movements in Middle East. While beginning democracy and their development, they will get rid of dictators and move to a better future… I see Turkey as one of the countries undertaking world leadership."
SURVEY FINDS PRO-TURKEY SENTIMENTS STRONGER IN THE US THAN IN EUROPE
US leaders and their public are more likely to have a favorable view of Turkey than Europeans, with 71 percent of US leaders supporting Turkey joining the EU, according to a new survey. A bare majority of European Union leaders also see this as positive, at 51 percent, but the European public is considerably less enthusiastic, with only 22 percent seeing Turkey’s membership as positive. Fully 71 percent of US leaders and 51 percent of EU leaders think Turkey joining the EU would be a "good" thing, according to the first Transatlantic Trends: Leaders survey of top officials in the EU and the United States. The survey found that EU member states’ political leaders and their electorates are the least favorable to both Turkey in general and Turkey’s membership in the EU, while top EU officials are by far the most supportive. Among EU officials of the Council, Commission, and the Committee of Permanent Representatives of the EU member states (COREPER), support for Turkey’s EU membership totals 64 percent, while among members of the European Parliament, considered the voice of the European public, support stands at 48 percent. The survey was conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates International in the United States and TNS Opinion in Europe. Findings are based on a total of 519 interviews of transatlantic opinion leaders, 286 in Washington, DC, and 233 in Brussels. The survey showed that the European public is less enthusiastic about the idea of Turkey joining the EU, with only 22 percent thinking it would be a good thing. Of the US public, however, 40 percent thought it would be a good thing, and close to 38 percent of the Turks themselves thought the same (down from 73 percent in 2004).
OXFORD SCHOLAR: "TURKEY IS A MODEL ONLY FOR TURKEY"
Turkey provides a good example of the evolutionary success of an Islam-oriented government but can’t be copied as a model by Mideast countries trying to transition to democracy, according to a prominent academic. "We must look at how much Islamists have evolved in Turkey," Oxford University’s Tariq Ramadan said yesterday at the Leaders of Change Summit in Istanbul. "The Turkish political model is [suitable] for Turkey, the Tunisian one is for Tunisia, and so on." In this, there is no real model, Ramadan said, adding that the models of Turkey and other countries could also improve in the name of better democracy. Instead, it is important to recognize that Turkey’s success over the last decade shows how Islam can coexist with democracy, he said.