News Scan for Turkey, September 16th, 2017

Turkey, US urge Barzani to cancel planned independence referendum

Turkey and the United States have once again called on Masoud Barzani, leader of the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) in northern Iraq, to cancel a planned independence referendum scheduled to be held on Sept. 25.

“Mr. Barzani knows very well what we think about this issue,” President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan told private broadcaster A Haber late on Sept. 15, as he added that Turkey would announce its official position on the referendum after its National Security Council (MGK) and cabinet will be convened on Sept. 22.

“We were going to hold our MGK meeting on Sept. 27 and now we rescheduled the meeting that we will also discuss this referendum issue to Sept. 22. We will hold it at 3 p.m. Cabinet will be convened after the MGK meeting. The final decision will be given after these meetings. There are no different proposals. Our stance is clear, but the heightened sensitivity of ours on this issue will be clear after the MGK and cabinet meetings on Sept. 22,” he also said.

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkey-us-urge-barzani-to-cancel-planned-independence-referendum.aspx?pageID=238&nID=118033&NewsCatID=352

Turkey to hold critical security meeting and announce KRG referendum plan: Erdoğan

resident Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said in a live interview with Turkish broadcaster A Haber late Friday that Turkey would announce its plan regarding the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) independence referendum in the near future.

“We will announce our plan regarding the KRG referendum after the National Security Council and cabinet meetings on Sept. 22,” Erdoğan said, adding that KRG leader Masoud Barzani’s statement was “very, very wrong.” “He knows our sensitivity on Iraq’s territorial integrity, Kirkuk’s status,” Erdoğan said.

Barzani declared Friday that the referendum will be held on Sept. 25, despite strong objections from Ankara, Baghdad and Tehran, in addition to disapproval by the U.S. and Russia regarding the timing of the referendum.

https://www.dailysabah.com/diplomacy/2017/09/15/turkey-to-hold-critical-security-meeting-and-announce-krg-referendum-plan-erdogan

PM Yıldırım Makes Statement on Attack on Tuğluk’s Funeral

Stating that the attack on Tuğluk’s funeral was “in no way acceptable”, PM Yıldırım also commented on CHP Chair Kılıçdaroğlu’s attorney Çelik being taken into custody and said “it is the work of the judiciary”.

Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım answered the questions of the journalists after the friday prayer. Yıldırım commenting on the attack on the funeral of Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) Deputy Co-Chair Aysel Tuğluk’s mother Aysel Tuğluk and said that the attack was “in no way acceptable”.

PM Yıldırım also commented on Republican People’s Party (CHP) Chairperson Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu’s attorney Celal Çelik being taken into custody and said “it is the work of the judiciary”.

http://bianet.org/english/politics/189867-pm-yildirim-makes-statement-on-attack-on-tugluk-s-funeral

Merkel vows to restrict trade with Turkey over arrests

Germany will have no choice but to restrict its economic ties with Turkey to pressure its NATO partner into releasing German citizens it imprisoned on political grounds, Chancellor Angela Merkel said in remarks published on Sept. 16.

Ankara and Berlin have been at odds, particularly since the July 2016 coup attempt in Turkey. Relations became particularly tense after German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she would support the end of Ankara’s membership talks with the European Union in late August. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan previously urged Turkish citizens in Germany not to vote for Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union or other major parties in the country, calling them “enemies of Turkey.”

Turkey and Germany are also at odds over Berlin’s refusal to extradite asylum seekers Ankara accuses of involvement in the July 15, 2016, failed coup attempt, widely believed to have been masterminded by the followers of the U.S.-based Islamic preacher Fethullah Gülen. “We will have to further cut back our joint economic cooperation with Turkey and scrutinise projects,” Merkel told the Passauer Neuen Presse newspaper in an interview when asked how she wants to secure the release of Germans held in Turkey.

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/merkel-vows-to-restrict-trade-with-turkey-over-arrests.aspx?pageID=238&nID=118037&NewsCatID=351

UN needs to reform ‘current organizational structure’

The United Nations needs to reform its “current organizational structure” for the sake of resolving world issues, presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalın wrote on Saturday.

The UN “will not be able to deliver on any pressing issues as long as its current organizational structure remains the same,” Kalın, a top aide to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, wrote in his column titled “UN and Global Disorder” for Turkey’s Daily Sabah newspaper.

He said the UN’s lack of “common global agenda” is one of the challenges since its foundation, although there are some who strive for “real change for the good of our global village”. The problem is in the structure of current Security Council, Kalın said, recalling Erdoğan’s famous quote “World is bigger than five”.

http://www.yenisafak.com/en/news/un-needs-to-reform-current-organizational-structure-2793752

France asks Turkey for case of arrested French journalist to be resolved ‘swiftly’

ANKARA – France’s foreign minister called on Thursday for a rapid resolution in the case of a French journalist seized by Turkish security forces on the Iraqi border last month, so that he can return to his family.

Loup Bureau was held by Turkish border guards on the frontier with Iraq in early August after he was found to have photographs and interviews with Kurdish militia fighters among his possessions.

“We have asked for a swift trial so that our citizen can return to France and rejoin his family,” Jean-Yves Le Drian told a news conference with his Turkish counterpart Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu in the Turkish capital. “We have also asked for Loup Bureau’s family to be granted access to visit him and you (Çavuşoğlu) have confirmed this to me and we have asked for an improvement in his prison conditions,” Le Drian said.

https://www.birgun.net/haber-detay/france-asks-turkey-for-case-of-arrested-french-journalist-to-be-resolved-swiftly-179617.html

Turkey frees jailed French reporter

A French reporter who has been held on terror charges in Turkey for the last seven weeks was freed on Friday, his lawyers said. The news came a day after French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian had pressed Turkish leaders on  a visit to Ankara to free 27-year-old journalism student, Loup Bureau.

Bureau’s lawyers said “we have the satisfaction to announce that he is being freed” while Christophe Deloire, of Reporters Without Borders, said on Twitter that Bureau’s release was “imminent” and he would return to Paris on Saturday.

French President Emmanuel Macron had previously sought to secure the reporter’s release in a phone call with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who also met Le Drian on Thursday.

http://www.trtworld.com/turkey/turkey-frees-jailed-french-reporter-10553

16.09.2017
compiled by Editor BTT

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.