Down below you will find a summary of topics from major Turkish papers and internet sites
Democracy more than just holding elections: Papandreou
Democracy means much more than just holding elections and it does not allow concentration of powers, Socialist International (SI) President Georgios Papandreou has said, stressing that grassroots movements such as the Gezi Park protests constitute a great part of democracy.
“Democracy is an innovation to ensure a distribution of power… because a concentration of power would only deprive society from a collective imagination, that is, somebody would be deciding for you. The deep meaning of democracy is not to give up power to somebody – it is the participation of all,” Papandreou told a group of journalists on Nov. 12 in İstanbul. “Youth movements are here, the Gezi Park movement is here. We need more participative voices heard. That’s just as much a part of democracy.”
Papandreou, who spoke to a small group of Turkish journalists ahead of his visit to Gezi Park, was responding to a question over the turmoil in Egypt.
“On the one hand there were elections in Egypt. Mr. [ousted President Mohamed] Morsi was elected. But on the other hand, democracy is much more than just electing a president. I think democracy has to go much deeper,” Papandreou said, raising a Socratic question, “Can you elect a dictator? Can you elect someone, who is remaining forever?” that he replied to himself: “This was a debate about democracy. That’s not democracy. Democracy means that politics is not electing only politicians.”
HURRIYET DAILY NEWS
Current deficit increases as tourism income decreases
Turkey’s September current account deficit finished $3.3 billion higher than expectations due to a downward revision in tourism income, especially because citizens of war-hit Syrians are no longer classified as tourists.
Gold imports, meanwhile, have also been cited as a factor that has raised the current account deficit. Turkey’s current account deficit in the first nine months of the years totaled $49 billion, according to figures revealed by the Central Bank today.
The number of people coming from Syria because of the country’s civil war has demonstrably increased, the state-run statistics body TÜİK said, adding that a majority of them do not come for tourism.
TÜİK said the number of Syrian was calculated in the third quarter of 2013 by regarding circulation at the borders and that all figures since the third quarter of 2012 had been revised. Tourism income below forecasts and income balance under expectations played a significant role in the monthly rise in current account deficit, said Erste Chief Economist Nilüfer Sezgin.
HURRIYET DAILY NEWS
Turkey never abandoned zero problems policy, says Davutoğlu
Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu has dismissed claims that Turkey is trying to revive its “zero problems with neighbors” policy, saying that it is a dynamic policy and an expression of Turkey’s will to establish good relations with its neighbors.
Speaking on a TV program on Tuesday following his two-day visit to Iraq, Davutoğlu stated that Turkey’s efforts to establish good relations with Baghdad are not a sign of Ankara returning to its zero problems policy, underlining that Turkey never had a problem stemming from bilateral relations with its neighbors.
“We never abandoned the zero problems policy. The criticisms targeting this policy originate from static comments. This is a dynamic policy. ‘Zero problems’ is an expression of will,” he said.
Davutoğlu said that Turkey wants to establish close relations with its neighbors and wants to minimize problems to create a foundation of peace. “While consulting with our immediate neighbors, of course problems may emerge,” he noted. Stating that while some allege that Turkey had strained ties with Iraq and Iran because of Turkey’s differing stance on Syria, the foreign minister stressed that Syria is a problem for all and maintained, “If you don’t have a problem with Syria, you have a problem with humanity.”
TODAYS ZAMAN
Current account gap widens by $10.6 bln in 9 months
Turkey’s current account deficit (CAD) widened by $10.63 billion in the first nine months of this year compared to the same period a year ago, Wednesday’s official data found, exposing the country’s vulnerability to external shocks.
Turkey registered $49 billion in CAD between January and September of this year, data from the central bank showed on Wednesday. This represents around a 28 percent jump in the CAD in the first nine months of 2013 from a year ago.
The figures reveal a sharp deterioration in the current account balance this year from the preceding one. In 2012 Turkey managed to reduce its CAD to $48.9 billion from $77.3 billion in 2011. The CAD increased to $3.28 billion in September from $2.43 billion in August; estimates were $2.73 billion of CAD for September.
This gap remains the major structural problem for the Turkish economy. Turkey’s current account gap is estimated to widen to 6.9 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) this year from 6 percent in 2012. The government estimates it at 7.1 percent. The same number is 3.5 percent for Brazil and 3 percent for Indonesia, two leading figures in the league of emerging markets of which Turkey is a part. Turkey earlier revised down its prediction for GDP growth to 3.6 percent from 4 percent for this year.
TODAYS ZAMAN
Turkish, Polish companies sign EUR 250 million energy deals
Huge coal deposits in Turkey’s Black Sea province of Bartin will be developed with Turkish -Polish cooperation, according to two deals that cover consulting, engineering and supply of machinery, signed during a visit to Poland by the Turkish Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
The two agreements, worth EUR 250 million, involves Turkey’s Hattat Enerji, holder of the license to extract coal in Amasra, and Polish energy companies Kopex and Famur, leading names in Poland’s coal mining sector.
“The Bartin Amasra Hard Coal Mining and Coal-Fired Plant Project comprises the extraction of hard coal and building of ultra-supercritical coal-fired power plants in the region. The projected plants will account for 12 percent of Turkey’s power generation capacity and will cut down coal imports by 25 percent”, Hattat Holding Board Member, Ipek Hattat, said upon signing the deals under the auspices of Turkey’s Minister of Economy, Zafer Caglayan. “The use of an advanced ultra-supercritical coal-fired plant to generate energy will be a first for Turkey” Hattat said, adding that the technology to be utilized is cutting edge in terms of emissions and efficiency. The total investment cost in the region is expected to reach USD 3.5 billion over the years.
Hattat Enerji, a subsidiary of Hattat Holding, is also cooperating with China-based Harbin Electric International to build another coal-fired plant in the same region. Amasra has about 268 million tons of proven reserves of hard coal with estimations reaching as high as 573 million tons.
INVEST.GOV.TR
455,000 visit TUYAP Istanbul Book Fair in nine days
This year’s TUYAP International Istanbul Book Fair attracted 455,000 bibliophiles before wrapping up on Sunday evening at the TUYAP Fair and Convention Center in Istanbul’s Buyukcekmece district, the fair’s organizers said on Monday. The 32nd edition of the fair, which opened on Nov. 2 with “Tarih: Gecmicteki Gelecek” (History: The Future in the Past) as its main theme, hosted 690 publishers and nongovernmental organizations from 28 countries, according to a press release issued Monday by TUYAP Fairs and Exhibitions Organization, Inc.
The fair ran concurrently with the 23rd Istanbul Art Fair — ARTIST 2013, which was also held at the TUYAP Fair Center and presented numerous exhibitions by over 100 local and international art galleries and institutions. The nine-day fair featured 300 events from book signing events to panel discussions on the publishing industry. The fair’s guest country was China, and the writer of honor was historian-academic Taner Timur.
Representatives from the Istanbul-based Pegasus publishing house, one of the publishers featured in the fair, said there was more interest in the fair compared to previous years, adding that the number of book lovers between the ages of 10 and 35 were the highest, with attendance dominated by female readers, the Cihan news agency reported.
DUNYA.COM
Erdogan to meet Barzani in Diyarbakir
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is set to meet Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) President Masoud Barzani this weekend in the southeastern province of Diyarbakir. According to sources from the Office of the Prime Minister, Erdogan will head to Diyarbakir on November 16 to attend several ceremonies and meet Barzani, and then continue talks the next day as well.
The visit comes amidst Turkey’s recent efforts to address the Kurdish conflict in the Southeast. Erdogan and Barzani are expected to discuss the settlement process, the role of the PKK in settlement talks and the situation of Syrian Kurds.
DUNYA.COM
13.11.2013
compiled by Editor BTT,
We do not verify above stories neither do we vouch for their accuracy.
