NEWS SCAN for Turkey – Aug 2nd, 2013

Down below you will find a summary of topics from major Turkish papers and internet sites.

Turkey confirms minorities in the country are given codes

Turkey’s Interior Ministry has confirmed that minorities in the country are given codes depending on which community they belong to and that such information is sent to the Education Ministry, less than a week after the categorization system was revealed by weekly Agos.

“Minority citizens’ race status is given to the Education Ministry depending on the nationality or race information taken from the state register of the Ottoman period,” the ministry said in a statement that was sent to the Armenian-Turkish weekly on Aug. 1. The statement also said contemporary state registers did not record any information about the race or sect of citizens. “There are no terms of race, breed, or sect in the state registers,” said the statement sent to Agos.

Turkish FM says Turkey wants to prevent a Kurd-Arab conflict in Syria

Davutoglu’s call comes a week after high-ranking officials from Turkey’s political and security circles met two visiting Kurdish politicians from neighboring countries, one from Syria and the other from Iraq.

Turkey is both “concerned” and “ready to contribute positively” to recent events in Iraq and Syria, Davutoglu said in a televised program on Friday.

“Turkey has never supported an ethnic group over another in any of its neighbors, especially during the current tumultuous events in Iraq and Syria,” he said.

Court rejects retrial of the case of the head of the terror organization PKK

The demands of the legal team of the head of the terror organization Kurdistan Worker’s Party (PKK), Abdullah Ocalan, who is currently at the island prison Imrali, for “retrial” and “suspension of execution of the penalty” was rejected by the 11th High Criminal Court in Ankara on Friday.

According to sources, the jury unanimously rejected the demands of Ocalan’s lawyers for the “retrial of Ocalan” and the “postponement or suspension of execution of penalty”.

Non-muslim groups expect government to act after coding scandal

An official response to a query accidentally revealed that the Turkish state has been numbering its non-Muslim citizens, but not a single government official has made a statement concerning the issue.

Earlier this week, it became evident from an official response from the Education Ministry to a query that non-Muslim minorities in Turkey were monitored and filed based on their ethnicity. They were also assigned numbers, in a practice that dates back to the establishment of the republic.

According to a report by the Agos daily, since 1923 Armenians, Greeks and Jews have been assigned code numbers in official correspondence between government institutions. A letter sent by the İstanbul Directorate of National Education to its Şişli branch indicates that Armenian citizens are given the code number two.

 Transportation, Maritime Affairs and Communications Ministry announces first test run has been delayed

The test runs for the long-awaited undersea Marmaray tube project, which had been announced earlier as scheduled to take place on Friday, have been delayed by the Transportation, Maritime Affairs and Communications Ministry.

The preparations for the driving tests for the Marmaray project, touted as the “project of the century” by the government, have been completed and the first such test was to place on Aug. 2, but the Transportation, Maritime Affairs and Communications Ministry announced on Friday that the first test run has been delayed. Ministry officials told Today’s Zaman that the ministry is planning to start test runs for the project within 20 days and will hold a ceremony with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan as well as Transportation, Maritime Affairs and Communications Minister Binali Yıldırım participating.

Automotive shipments top Turkey’s exports in July

One of the main export commodities of Turkey, automotive products, topped the country’s list of shipments abroad during July, accounting for 15.6 percent of the monthly total of USD 12.6 billion.

According to figures released by Turkish Exporters’ Assembly (TIM), Turkey’s exports rose by 17.3 percent in July compared to the same month in 2012, while the country’s auto industry posted a healthy increase of 35 percent in the same period.

The Turkish subsidiaries of global automakers, including Ford, Hyundai, Fiat, Renault, Toyota and Honda, shipped USD 1.96 billion of vehicles and parts last month.  The textile/ready-wear and chemicals industries came second and third in July export figures, with respective totals of USD 1.62 billion and USD 1.55 billion.

Turkey approves construction of its first satellite launching center

According to a report by the US defense magazine Defense News, Turkey is planning to construct its first satellite launching center. “The Undersecretariat for Defense Industries (SSM), in early July signed a contract with the country’s national missile manufacturer, Roketsan, to build the Turkish Satellite Launching System (UFS) for pre-conceptual design work. Roketsan will design the UFS to be capable of launching, initially, satellites into low earth orbit (500 to 700 kilometers) through a launching center the company will build and the Turkish Air Force will operate.” the report said.

A Roketsan official said they intended to end the country’s foreign dependency on launching military and [civilian] communications satellites. On the other hand, an SSM official stated that one reason for the UFS project was the aim towards a compact space program, including a national launcher.

02.08.2013
SOURCE: MEDIA

We do not verify above stories neither do we vouch for their accuracy.