News Scan for Turkey, Sep 30th 2016

Britain’s Boris Johnson visits Syrian refugee camp in Turkey

Turkey’s state-run news agency says British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has arrived near Turkey’s border with Syria where he is scheduled to visit a camp for Syrian refugees.

Anadolu Agency says Johnson arrived in the Turkish city of Gaziantep Monday and will continue to the nearby town of Nizip where he will inspect the camp.

Johnson is on a three-day visit to Turkey and is later expected to travel to Ankara for talks with Turkish officials, including Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The visit is Johnson’s first to Turkey as foreign secretary.

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2016/09/26/britain-boris-johnson-visits-syrian-refugee-camp-in-turkey.html

Turkey-US collaboration can end ISIL: President Erdoğan

Turkey and the U.S. could end the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) if they collaborate against the group together, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has stated. Turkish military officials were in contact with their American counterparts and shared Ankara’s conditions regarding the fight against ISIL, daily Hürriyet quoted Erdoğan as saying on Sept. 25 during an interview conducted en route from the U.S. to Turkey.

The total number of ISIL members in Syria was nearly 10,000, while similar figures applied to Iraq, he said.  “If Turkey and the U.S. cannot cope with this number [ISIL militants], what a shame,” he stated, stressing that if both countries used their full capabilities, they could end the jihadist group.  “The arms of the coalition countries should target Daesh [ISIL], the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party [PYD], and the Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units [YPG] instead of our tanks. But instead German ‘Milan’ arms in the hands of terrorists hit our tanks,” Erdoğan said.

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkey-us-collaboration-can-end-isil-turkish-president.aspx?pageID=238&nID=104243&NewsCatID=338

US investors impressed with Turkey’s post-coup progress, says official

American investors and businessmen were “impressed” with Turkey’s rapid recovery despite recent setbacks in its political and security spheres, a Turkish official told Anadolu Agency on Sept. 23.

Arda Ermut, the president of the Investment Support and Promotion Agency of Turkey (ISPAT), pointed to reconciliation with Russia, terror attacks and the July 15 coup attempt, saying the Turkish government did everything on its agenda to improve the investment climate in the country.

“American investors told us they are very impressed [with] how fast the Turkish economy has picked up after the coup attempt, financial sectors not being negatively affected, the strong resilience of the Turkish people against this insidious attack and how fast they gathered around their elected leader,” he said.  Regarding the terrorist bombing at Istanbul Atatürk Airport in late June, Ermut said Turkish Airlines continued operating just six hours after the attack, adding foreign investors were also pleased with that development.

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/us-investors-impressed-with-turkeys-post-coup-progress-says-official.aspx?pageID=517&nID=104230&NewsCatID=345

Lira slides after Turkey downgrade to junk

Turkey’s lira dropped sharply, stocks slid and the country’s bonds sold off as markets gave their verdict on rating agency Moody’s downgrading the country’s debt to junk.

Moody’s concerns about foreign outflows, declining foreign exchange reserves and a low growth outlook were delivered on Friday evening, by which time the lira was already weakening in anticipation of a negative rating. The sell-off continued on Monday. The lira has slumped 1.9 per cent since Friday against both the dollar and the euro, pushing the dollar’s value close to TL3 and the euro to TL3.36.

Turkey’s Bist 100 index was down 4 per cent while a drop in 10-year government bonds pushed their yield 40 basis points higher. Market sentiment against Turkey helped to deflate emerging markets, pushing the MSCI EM index 1.2 per cent lower. Turkey’s downgrade was “a good reminder about political risk” for EM, said Brown Brothers Harriman.

https://www.ft.com/content/ea8dc4a0-83d4-11e6-a29c-6e7d9515ad15

This is a news-scan from major Turkish papers and internet sites. However, we do not verify above stories neither do we vouch for their accuracy.

30.09.2016
compiled by Editor BTT