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US President Barack Obama speaks in Turkish Parliament |
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Written by Hurriyet
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Tuesday, 07 April 2009 09:32 |
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’We will listen carefully and seek common ground’ In his historic speech at Parliament yesterday, the U.S. president hailed Turkey as a democratic-secular country and the entire Muslim world as a partner, conveying to them messages of dialogue and a common future.
"They see your country at the crossroads of continents and touched by the currents of history. They know that this has been a place where civilizations meet and different peoples mingle. And they wonder whether you will be pulled in one direction or another," U.S. President Barack Obama told Turkish lawmakers in his half-hour speech.
"Here is what they don’t understand: Turkey’s greatness lies in your ability to be at the center of things. This is not where East and West divide Ğ it is where they come together. In the beauty of your culture. In the richness of your history. In the strength of your democracy. In your hopes for tomorrow." Stressing the importance of the Turkey’s democratic identity and cooperation between the Turkey and United States, Obama said Turkey’s democracy was Turkey’s own achievement and that it was not forced upon the country by any outside power.
"This morning I had the privilege of visiting the tomb of the great founder of your Republic. I was deeply impressed by this beautiful memorial to a man who did so much to shape the course of history. But it is also clear that the greatest monument to Ataturk’s life is not something that can be cast in stone and marble. His greatest legacy is Turkey’s strong and secular democracy, and that is the work that this assembly carries on today," Obama said. |
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Turkey’s Governing Party Wins City Races |
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Written by New York Times
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Monday, 30 March 2009 08:45 |
The governing party, led by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, won a narrow victory in nationwide municipal elections on Sunday, preliminary results showed, but registered declines in a number of major cities.
By late evening, the CNN-Turk news channel was reporting that Mr. Erdogan’s party, Justice and Development, led with 39.13 percent of the vote, while the main opposition, the Republican People’s Party, had 22.83 percent, and the nationalist People’s Action Party had 16.22 percent.
The elections were seen as a referendum on the performance of Turkey’s politicians, in particular that of Mr. Erdogan, a former Islamist who has pressed for Turkey’s membership in the European Union.
Early results seemed to send a message: Mr. Erdogan’s party was winning by much narrower margins than in 2007, when it garnered 47 percent of the vote. Many attributed the decline to the economic downturn and to allegations of widespread corruption among members.
The Justice and Development Party also benefited in 2007 from political tensions that had led many Turks to vote for its candidates, said Mithat Sancar, a law professor at Ankara University.
“Today’s political atmosphere is much calmer,” Mr. Sancar said. The narrower margins for Mr. Erdogan’s party on Sunday, he said, “show that the political scene in Turkey is becoming real and normalized.”
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President Obama to Visit Turkey Within Weeks |
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Written by VOA
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Monday, 09 March 2009 09:14 |
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says President Barack Obama will travel to Turkey within the next month. The visit could be seen as a sign of improvement in a long friendship between the two NATO allies that was strained by the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
After meeting with the Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Foreign Minister Ali Babacan, U.S. Secretary of State Hilary Clinton was keen to stress the importance of Turkey to the United States. "President Obama asked me to send a personal message as a reflection of the value of we place on our friendship with Turkey. President Obama will be visiting Turkey within in the next month or so," she said.
Analysts see Obama's planned visit as a significant step in strengthening U.S.-Turkish relations, which were severely strained during the previous Bush administration.
The majority-Muslim country refused to allow the United States to use Turkey to launch attacks against Iraq, when the U.S.-led invasion began in 2003.
The invasion itself was deeply unpopular among the Turkish public. According to opinion polls, anti U.S. sentiment in Turkey is amongst the highest in the world. But Clinton's visit is being viewed as starting a new chapter in U.S.-Turkish relations.
The U.S. Secretary of State paid tribute to Turkey for its Middle East peace efforts. "I offered my appreciation to the prime minister and foreign minister for the leadership role that Turkey has played in bringing Syria and Israel together," she said.
Turkey for more than a year has mediated between Tel Aviv and Damascus. But efforts collapsed with the Israeli attack on Gaza.
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9 dead in Turkish plane crash in Amsterdam |
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Written by Agencies
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Wednesday, 25 February 2009 13:05 |
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A Turkish Airlines plane carrying 134 people has crashed on landing at Amsterdam's Schiphol international airport. At least 9 people died, 50 injured.
Officials said it was unclear why the plane, en route from Istanbul, crashed. Schiphol Airport spokesman Rudd Wecer told that the plane came down a couple of hundred metres short of a runway, in normal weather conditions.
Television pictures showed the aircraft, a Boeing 737-800, lying fractured into three parts after it slammed into the grass. The aircraft did not catch fire.
Images showed the crumpled plane in three parts, with the tail section of the fuselage broken off, and a wide crack in the fuselage just behind the cockpit about 3 miles from the runway. The airliner had not caught fire. Turkish Airlines flight TK1951 had left Istanbul at 8:22 a.m. on Wednesday. The crash took place in calm weather with a light drizzle.
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Turkish PM Erdogan storms out of Davos debate |
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Written by Agencies
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Friday, 30 January 2009 08:51 |
The Turkish prime minister has stormed out of a heated debate at the World Economic Forum in Davos over Israel's offensive in the Gaza Strip.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan walked out of the televised debate on Thursday, after the moderator refused to allow him to rebut the Israeli president's justification about the war that left about 1,300 Gazans dead.
Erdogan said: "I find it very sad that people applaud what you said. There have been many people killed. And I think that it is very wrong and it is not humanitarian."
Ignatius twice attempted to finish the debate, saying, "We really do need to get people to dinner."
Erdogan then said: "Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. I don't think I will come back to Davos after this."
Mr Erdogan, sitting beside Prof Schwab in a press conference, said that he had walked out because David Ignatius, a Washington Post columnist chairing the session, had not allowed him to reply to comments about the conflict in Gaza by Mr Peres.
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Zigana avalanche kills 10 mountain trekkers |
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Written by Agencies
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Monday, 26 January 2009 07:57 |
Ten hikers were killed and eight survived after they were caught in an avalanche in northeastern Turkey.
Two survived with injuries. Six others survived without injury. The group of 18 hikers was walking on Zigana Mountain, the site of a small ski resort in the Gümüşhane province, near the Black Sea Coast, when the avalanche struck.
Local governor Enver Salihoğlu told private news channel NTV that two injured hikers were in good condition. The surviving hikers said the group consisted of 18 people and the governor said all of them had been pulled out of the snow. The search continued, however, in case any other people remained trapped.
Some witnesses said the avalanche came after a gun shot, however, a member of the Search and Rescue Association, or AKUT, said a gunshot is a weak possibility as a cause of the avalanche.
"Sudden weather changes should be calculated. It is a weak possibility for a gunshot to cause an avalanche," said AKUT member Yılmaz Sevgül. Nasuh Mahruki, the head of AKUT said the accident was a walking group accident, not a mountain climbing accident. "It is apparent that they hit the road without an avalanche test. It is very difficult for 18 people to remain under an avalanche," he said.
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West Favors Dane for Top NATO Post, but Turkish Hurdles Remain |
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Written by Deutsche Welle
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Wednesday, 25 March 2009 10:27 |
Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen looks like the top contender for NATO's civilian head, but Turkey might exercise its veto against the Dane because of a cartoon controversy that had inflamed the Muslim world.
The United States gave its blessing to the appointment of Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen as the next NATO secretary general in Brussels over the weekend, paving the way for him to take over the trans-Atlantic alliance's top civilian job in August.
Washington also enjoys strong support for the choice of Rasmussen from its three biggest European allies in the alliance -- Germany, France and the UK.
Although Rasmussen, 56, declined to publicly comment on the possibility of succeeding Dutch diplomat Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, he never officially ruled himself out as a candidate for a post that has traditionally gone to a European.
Rasmussen is regarded as a loyal US ally and also appeals to Europeans for supporting closer ties between NATO and the European Union.
An analyst at the London-based European Council for Foreign Relations told the AFP news agency that the Danish prime minister has long enjoyed US support from politicians of all stripes.
"Rasmussen was at the head of the list for the former Bush administration, just as he is for the current Obama administration," analyst Daniel Korski said.
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Turkish Airlines plane fell 'vertically' to ground |
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Written by CNN
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Saturday, 28 February 2009 09:45 |
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 The Turkish Airlines plane that crashed this week in Amsterdam fell almost vertically to the ground, making only a short track in the muddy farmer's field where it went down, Dutch investigators said Friday.
That sudden drop indicates the aircraft did not have enough forward speed when it crashed, a spokesman for the Dutch Safety Board said, but the reasons for that are still unclear.
It is too early to speculate on the cause of the crash, spokesman Fred Sanders told CNN. Reports that it was caused by engine failure are premature, he said.
There must have been ... reasons why the plane did not get enough speed," Sanders said. "We don't know yet why this came about, and that's the main thing that will have to be investigated."
Wednesday's crash of Flight 1951 from Istanbul, Turkey, to Amsterdam killed nine and injured more than 60 of the 135 people on board.
The crash, less than 500 yards short of the runway, split the plane into three parts.
Weather conditions at the time were favorable.
Passengers described feeling the plane suddenly drop before impact, and at least one passenger said he heard the pilot trying to give more power to the engines before the plane went down. |
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Turkish PM given hero's welcome |
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Written by BBC
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Friday, 30 January 2009 08:54 |
Turkey's PM has received a hero's welcome on his return to Istanbul after he stormed out of a debate about Gaza at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan had reacted angrily when he was refused the chance to respond to Israeli President Shimon Peres' defence of the operation
Thousands of people turned out in the city to greet Mr Erdogan's plane.
He told them Mr Peres' language and tone had been unacceptable, so he acted to stand up for Turkish honour.
"I only know that I have to protect the honour of Turkey and Turkish people," said Mr Erdogan.
"I am not a chief of a tribe. I am the prime minister of Turkey. I have to do what I have to do."
The BBC's Sarah Rainsford in Istanbul said there had been huge anger in Turkey at Israel's operation in Gaza and there now appears to be widespread support for Mr Erdogan's actions in Davos.
Huge crowds were waiting at Istanbul airport in the early hours of the morning, with many people waving Turkish and Palestinian flags.
Correspondents said the crowds were shouting "Turkey is with you," and that some were holding signs greeting Mr Erdogan as "a new world leader".
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Turkish markets on tenterhooks over IMF suspension-analysts |
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Written by Reuters
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Thursday, 29 January 2009 07:57 |
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Turkey's financial markets face a new bout of volatility and the country's risk premium may rise after the government suspended talks with the IMF on a new deal for 10 days, analysts said on Wednesday.
Turkey has been locked in negotiations with the IMF over a major deal, which would boost investor confidence over the outlook for the lira and the country's 2009 financing shortfall, as it seeks to cope with the global financial crisis.
A new loan deal would help soothe investors as the country needs to roll over debt estimated at $100 billion and a current account deficit seen around $25 billion in 2009.
"Delaying the IMF deal means higher vulnerability for Turkey in the face of uncertainties in the current global markets and an overall higher risk premium in the currency, in equity prices, in yields, everything," said UBS bank economist Reinhard Cluse said.
Turkey's lira currency firmed 1.4 percent and the main stock exchange <.XU100> rose 2.8 percent after suspension of the talks were first announced on Monday on the hope that Turkey and the IMF would sort out disagreements and sign a deal.
Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan is scheduled to meet IMF First Deputy Managing Director John Lipsky on Wednesday night in Davos, IMF spokesman William Murray said. |
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Energy pushes Turkey and EU closer |
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Written by International Herald Tribune
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Tuesday, 20 January 2009 08:21 |
The European Union has to speed up membership talks with Turkey because it badly needs the nation as a reliable energy partner, José Manuel Barroso, the president of the European Commission, said Monday.
Barroso said he would push to get talks moving again on Turkey's EU membership bid as the bloc searches for alternative energy routes after an energy dispute between Ukraine and Russia left many EU nations short of natural gas.
One option is the Nabucco pipeline, which is being planned to bypass the feuding nations and carry Caspian natural gas through Turkey to Europe.
"Turkey can in fact be something that is in the interest of all European citizens," Barroso said after meeting Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey, who is visiting the EU for the first time in more than four years. "Good cooperation on energy matters."
Erdogan said his country was ready to play a key role to help EU energy security. "Turkey is not coming to the EU to become a burden; we are coming to relieve some burdens off the shoulders of the European Union," he said.
Erdogan said his country was acutely aware of its importance to the EU as a new energy partner because of the gas dispute. "We are aware of our responsibility," Erdogan said. "We don't want to use it as a weapon."
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