News Scan for Turkey – Dec 4th, 2013
Credit card issue in Turkey
The total debt on Turkey’s 57 million credit cards stands at around $45 billion, and the volume of nonperforming consumer loans is at $14 billion, a 20% increase since the end of last year. According to the Dunya daily, around 1.7 million credit card holders were unable to pay their debt in the first nine months this year, compared with 277,000 in the whole of 2009.
Authorities are reacting by tightening rules for credit card use and consumer loans. But critics say more than 2 million Turks have already defaulted.
In a sign of the government’s concern about the problem, Erdogan used a speech in Fethiye in southwestern Turkey last weekend to warn Turks of high interest rates on credit card debt. “My citizens should be careful when they get a credit card,” Erdogan said, adding that credit card holders should not spend more than they earn. The prime minister said debtors risk losing everything they own if they default. “They will take away everything you own,” he said.
AL-MONITOR
Malaysia Airports, Turkey’s TAV in talks to buy 40 pct stake in Sabiha Gökçen airport
Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd and Turkey’s TAV Havalimanları Holding are in talks with India’s GMR Infrastructure Ltd about buying its 40 percent stake in Turkey’s Sabiha Gökçen Airport, sources close to the negotiations said on Tuesday.
Sabiha Gökçen is one of İstanbul’s two airports, located on the Asian side of the city, and handled 15.7 million passengers in the first ten months of 2013.
Malaysia Airports, Turkish firm Limak and GMR Infrastructure acquired the operating rights of the airport in 2007 for 20 years for 1.93 billion euros ($2.62 billion).
TAV, GMR and Limak declined to comment, while officials from Malaysia Airports could not immediately be reached.
TODAYS ZAMAN
NATO Ministers of Foreign Affairs gather in Brussels
Foreign ministers of 29 NATO member countries are meeting in Brussels on Tuesday and Wednesday to exchange views on Afghanistan and Syria, improving military capabilities and strengthening partnerships with countries around the world.
Ahmet Davutoglu will represent Turkey at the two-day NATO Foreign Ministerial meeting which starts off with the North Atlantic Council meeting on the objectives and agenda for next year’s Summit in the United Kingdom to take place on September 4-5, 2014. The meeting will be continued with a discussion on ways to strengthen partnerships with countries around the world.
Wednesday’s meetings will start with a session of the NATO-Russia Council (NRC) with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in attendance. The meeting will focus on Syria, Afghanistan, missile defence and transparency.
The NRC will be followed by a meeting of foreign ministers from NATO and partner countries which contribute to the ISAF (International Security Assistance Force) mission in Afghanistan. The foreign ministers will discuss progress in the ISAF mission. The European Union’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton has also been invited to the session.
AA
Caspian Region’s Davos to bring world leaders together
The Caspian Forum offers an opportunity to develop better neighborhood relations and to establish a mechanism that would pave the way for regional integration. Istanbul-based think tank Caspian Strategy Institute (HASEN) will be hosting key personalities in energy and international relations at the Caspian Forum on Dec. 4-5 at Istanbul’s Çırağan Palace.
Providing the political and business worlds strategic offers on energy, international relations, security, economy, education, culture and environmental issues with its exclusive studies and data on the Caspian Sea region and its surrounds, Caspian Strategy Institute (HASEN) will be organizing the third Caspian Forum in Istanbul’s Çırağan Palace after the opening of the event last year in Istanbul and the second edition in New York in September.
Caspian Forum will be discussing Turkey as an “energy hub” and its aim of becoming a country that reserves the right to fix energy prices amid recent developments in regional energy issues, including the latest situation in the Southern Energy Corridor, the steps taken for TANAP Project, the recently unveiled Marmaray Project and efforts to revive the Silk Road.
HURRIYET DAILY NEWS
Turkey lags behind in education among OECD countries, PISA report reveals
Despite huge amounts of money allocated to the education system in recent years in Turkey, the country still lags behind among the member countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), a report has revealed.
According to the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) report for the year 2012, Turkey ranks 42nd out of 65 countries.
Although it was also noted in the report made public on Monday that Turkey is among the OECD countries that have achieved the fastest progress in the category of physical sciences and reading, the country’s average score remained below the average of OECD countries in education.
TODAYS ZAMAN
Turkey losing positive perception in Middle East
Positive perceptions about Turkey in the Middle East have decreased of late, with the sharpest drops registered in Egypt and Syria, according to a poll released yesterday by the Turkey Economic and Social Studies Foundation (TESEV). Despite this loss of popularity, Turkey is still seen as an important power in the region, with 60 percent of those polled supporting a greater regional role for Turkey, according to the study.
Conducted for the fifth time, the TESEV poll shows a considerable drop in Turkey’s popularity over the course of the last three years. While 78 percent of respondents had a positive view of Turkey in 2011, this ratio dropped to 69 percent in 2012, and to 59 percent in 2013.
The most recent poll was conducted in 16 regional countries between August and September via telephone interviews.
HURRIYET DAILY NEWS
04.12.2013
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.
