News Scan for Turkey, July 20th 2016

Gov’t obliged to seek free media’s support to avert coup: CHP leader

Those who imposed all sorts of pressure on the media had to reverse course and seek its support in order to quash the July 15 coup attempt, the main opposition party leader has said, adding all of Turkey owed a debt of gratitude to the free press.

“The free media has become the voice of democracy and freedoms. Thus, we all owe a debt of gratitude to the media,” Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, leader of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), told his parliamentary group on July 19.  “The history of the ‘July 15 coup’ will surely be written one day. Those who will write it will underline one thing: The media that has been trying to protect its freedom despite all pressure appeared as the most important institution in the people’s use of its right to resist,” he said.

Kılıçdaroğlu’s statement was an unveiled reference to the pressure imposed by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government on independent media outlets and individual journalists.

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/govt-obliged-to-seek-free-medias-support-to-avert-coup-chp-leader-.aspx?pageID=238&nID=101815&NewsCatID=338

Turkey’s FDI hunter: Failed coup attempt has not disrupted Turkish economy

Arda Ermut, president of the Prime Ministry Investment Support and Promotion Agency (ISPAT), said they have started holding meetings with international investors following the failed coup attempt by the Gülenist Terror Organization (FETÖ) on July 15. Ermut said they gave the message: “This failed attempt, with limited effects on the economy, does not pose a serious risk that can disrupt international investors,” to the international community.

Speaking to Anadolu Agency (AA), the foreign direct investment (FDI) hunter said they continued their talks with high-level representatives of international capital in Turkey after the failed coup attempt on Friday, July 15.

Indicating that they shared their message with about 10,000 international investors in the databases in accordance with statements from the Foreign Ministry, Ermut said they continued their operations in contact with all the related public institutions and nongovernmental organizations along with the international direct investment company representatives.

http://www.dailysabah.com/economy/2016/07/20/turkeys-fdi-hunter-failed-coup-attempt-has-not-disrupted-turkish-economy

Turkish Central Bank measures calmed markets, IMF chief Lagarde says

International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Christine Lagarde, interviewed by Bloomberg on Monday, said that swift action by Turkey’s central bank and other agencies had successfully calmed financial markets following the attempted coup on Friday.

Turkey witnessed a failed coup attempt on Friday by military officers loyal to the U.S.-based, fugitive imam, Fethullah Güle,n to unseat President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, which caused 208 deaths and left 1,491 injured.

“Over the weekend, all of us were on alert, monitoring the situation, wondering if they would take the right measures,” Lagarde said. She added that Turkish financial authorities including the nation’s central bank “all reacted very strongly, in a concerted way, in order to make sure that there would be liquidity available, that the banks would function.”

http://www.dailysabah.com/economy/2016/07/20/turkish-central-bank-measures-calmed-markets-imf-chief-lagarde-says

US jets resume strike missions against ISIS from key Turkey air base after power cut

Turkey reopened the airspace around Incirlik Air Base on Sunday, allowing the U.S. to restart strike missions targeting the Islamic State terror group, as the alliance between the two nations showed signs of serious strain.

Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook confirmed that power had been cut to the air base in southern Turkey, near the Syria border. “U.S. facilities at Incirlik are still operating on internal power sources, but we hope to restore commercial power soon. Base operations have not been affected,” Cook said in a statement.

Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry spoke to his Turkish counterpart, Mevlut Cavosoglu, for the second time in as many days following the failed coup, which left at least 265 people dead and 1,400 wounded.

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2016/07/17/tensions-rise-between-us-turkey-after-failed-coup-as-flights-from-key-airbase-are-grounded.html

Turkey Set for Market Turmoil as Coup Turns Investors ‘Ice-Cold’

Things were looking up for Turkey when investors went home on Friday afternoon.
Markets were rallying around the world on speculation global monetary policy was going to remain loose, there was a lull in the country’s fractious politics and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government was moving to normalize relations with Russia and Israel.

Now, after an attempted military coup that erupted at about 10 p.m. that evening in Ankara and Istanbul, sending the lira into its sharpest nosedive in about eight years, those investors are waking to a very different world, steeling themselves for tumultuous trading as local markets open on Monday. The currency rebounded 2.2 percent to 2.9510 per dollar at 8:47 a.m. in Istanbul Monday, after closing last week at 3.0157 per dollar, about 2 percent away from a record low in September.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-07-17/turkey-set-for-market-turmoil-as-coup-turns-investors-ice-cold

Turkey: Coup ‘silence’ and pointing fingers at the West

Ties between Turkey and its major allies could come under extreme strain after perceived lack of condemnation by the West as Friday’s bloody coup unfolded.

Turkish officials have admonished what they say was official silence from world powers as rogue soldiers took to the streets and aircraft bombed key institutions on Friday night through to the early hours of Saturday. The attempted coup left more than 260 dead.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Justice and Development Party (AKP) government are unlikely to forget any time soon. The United States and EU nations have increased their criticism of Turkey’s moves domestically and internationally in recent years.

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/07/turkey-coup-silence-pointing-fingers-west-160718103025321.html

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.

19.07.2016
compiled by Editor BTT