GUL TOUTS TURKISH MINING DEALS IN AFRICA
Several Turkish companies have signed deals for cooperation with mining firms in Ghana and Gabon, President Abdullah Gul said on Saturday. Returning from his fourth African tour, the president called his visit fruitful for promoting Turkey’s strategies. "We signed political, economic and military agreements," he told a press conference at Istanbul’s Ataturk Airport. Infrastructure and housing investments in Ghana and Gabon are key, and these countries are rich in minerals, he said. "I’m glad to learn that our companies interested in mining signed significant booking notes during this visit," he added. During his trip, Gul attended business meetings held by the Turkish Confederation of Businessmen and Industrialists (TUSKON) in Ghana and Gabon. Gul was the first ever Turkish president to officially visit those countries.
ERDOGAN SPEAKS WITH SYRIA’S ASSAD ABOUT DOMESTIC UNREST
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan had a telephone conversation with Syrian President Bashar Assad on Friday to express support but also warn him of the negative image of security officers using force against the Syrian people. Assad reportedly reassured Erdogan that he would enact reforms, but also complained of people seeking to stir up trouble rather than genuinely push for change. The telephone call, a gesture to anti-government protesters in Syria, came after a Foreign Ministry statement on Friday urging Damascus to enact reforms as soon as possible in the face of growing unrest. After protests began earlier this month largely confined to Damascus, last week they spread to other cities.
BAGIS: "TURKEY IS NOT BEING TREATED AS IT DESERVES"
Turkey, a bridge between the East and West for centuries, is not turning its back on the West, but recent developments grow out of Turkey’s role, State Minister and European Union Talks Negotiator Egemen Bagis told the weekend Brussels Forum in the EU capital. "On one hand, during recent events, you urged North African and Middle Eastern countries to be democratic, and transparent, and live under the rule of law," he said in a speech. "On the other hand, you fail to treat Turkey as it deserves, though it has developed itself in that way and has been a model for the region."
AUSTRIA HONORS CULTURE AND TOURISM MINISTER GUNAY
The Austrian Embassy in Ankara over the weekend decorated Culture and Tourism Minister Ertugrul Gunay with the Medal of Honor for his contributions to cultural cooperation between Turkey and Austria. In a speech, Ambassador Heidemaria Gurer hailed Gunay’s promotion of Turkey. Gunay, saying he was proud to receive the medal, touted cooperation between Turkey and Austria in several areas, archeology in particular.
TURKEY SET TO ATTEND TOMORROW’S LONDON CONFERENCE ON LIBYA
Turkey is set to attend tomorrow’s conference in London examining the current military campaign against Libya. Speaking at the meeting to his counterparts from over 35 countries, State Minister Ahmet Davutoglu reportedly plans to make five points: 1. Libya’s territorial integrity must be preserved. 2. The safety of civilians must be protected. 3. The military operation should not become an occupation. 4. The operation’s sole command should be at NATO, but countries in the region should support it. 5. The international community should support humanitarian aid.
ANKARA URGES STEPS BASED ON UN REPORT ON ISRAELI AID FLOTILLA ATTACK
Steps must be taken based on the UN Human Rights Council’s investigation of last May’s deadly Israeli raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla, the Foreign Ministry said on Friday. The statement came after the council adopted a resolution endorsing the conclusions of a report on the incident and called on all concerned parties to ensure their immediate implementation. The resolution also requested that the UN high commissioner for human rights prepare a report on the implementation of relevant articles of that resolution. The Foreign Ministry statement cited the report’s conclusion that in attacking the flotilla, Israel committed serious violations of both international law and human rights law.
FRANCE’S LELLOUCHE PRAISES TURKEY’S HELP IN LIBYA
France hopes Turkey will help the international community implement the UN Security Council resolution imposing a no-fly zone on Libya and "all necessary measures" towards that end, said French Secretary of State for Foreign Trade Pierre Lellouche on Friday. "Turkey has an impressive leadership, a great deal of economic growth and very active diplomacy," he said in an interview following a speech at Istanbul’s Galatasaray University. "I’d like them to use the weight Turkey has as a force to help the [Paris] resolution, which is in line with the UN resolution protecting the population, stop the bloodshed first and then help some kind of a political settlement toward democratic change in Libya." He added, "I hope the Turkish government will help us and the rest of the international community because they have a very strong influence in Libya: They have a strong presence; they have done a lot in Libya; and they will do a lot in the future when the country will be reconstructed. But before we get to peacetime, we must stop the bloodshed, [and] make sure the population is not punished."
TURKEY PROPOSES HOSTING NEXT YEAR’S NEVRUZ FESTIVAL
Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc yesterday said he had conveyed to the Iranian president a proposal that Turkey host next year’s Nevruz Festival. Arinc said he had met with officials from Iraq, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Pakistan and Azerbaijan while attending the Second International Nevruz Festival at Sadabad Palace in Tehran. Arinc said they would later hold diplomatic talks with other countries on hosting the festival in Turkey.
BRUSSELS FORUM SHOWS PROBLEMS, OPPORTUNITIES IN TURKISH-EU TIES
Judging from last weekend’s Brussels Forum, a three-day conference of senior European Union EU political, diplomatic and academic leaders in the EU capital sponsored by the German Marshall Fund, the problems in Turkish-EU relations will not disappear easily. State Minister and EU Talks Negotiator Egemen Bagis attended the forum. EU Director General for Enlargement Michael Leigh and others voiced familiar criticisms of Turkey, including its resistance to opening its ports to Greek Cyprus, slowing commitment to EU reforms, and continuing assaults on press freedom and arrests of journalists. Bagis said the arrests are a function of an independent judiciary over which neither the government nor the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) has authority. But those issues faded behind Turkey’s growing profile and potential to help resolve the region’s increasing turmoil, which most recently spread to Syria. Bagis said Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke to Syrian President Bashar Assad on Saturday night and stands ready to play a greater role. Bagis also made it clear that Turkey is more than willing to be helpful, but expects more consultation and respect. He decried Turkey’s early exclusion from NATO planning on Libya, the lack of leadership from Brussels on breaking the Cyprus deadlock, and Turkey’s exclusion in recent years from meetings of the EU Council of Ministers. "If Europe wants to have influence in this part of the world, Turkey wants to be heard," Bagis said.