NEWS SCAN for Turkey – Nov 25th, 2013

Turkish government defiant as battle over prep schools rises

The government’s plan to close down private prep schools have a created an uproar at the Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen’s movement. The plans have created a deep rift between the government and the movement.
The tension recently peaked, with Erdoğan describing the group’s objection to his government’s plans as a “smear campaign.”

“You can hear very bad things, but you should not retaliate. Nowadays, there’s something called Twitter. It is Allah’s mercy if it is used as a means of good things. But it is Allah’s damned thing if it sets people at odds,” Gülen told his followers in video footage released Nov. 25. “We should not hurt anyone even if we are hurt. We should always act in a conciliatory way,” Gülen said in the video titled “Hiç durmadan yürüyeceksiniz” (You will never stop walking).

“Hiç durmadan yürüyeceksiniz” was one of the hash-tags that became a trending topic on Twitter last week due to Gülen’s followers’ efforts in a recent social media battle between the ruling Justice and Development Party’s (AKP) supporters and Gülen’s followers over the prep school row.

Since the beginning of the public debate, both parties have launched an intense social media campaign to justify their support or objection to the move.

Ekrem Dumanlı, editor-in-chief of daily Zaman, which is known for its close ties with the Gülen movement, wrote an open letter to Erdoğan and urged him to review his decision.

“So if all these people are saying this is wrong, listening to them is not a weakness but a virtue. This is what the nation expects from you. Otherwise, it will take forever to heal the wounds that have been inflicted in their hearts. So is it worth it?” Dumanlı wrote in his letter published Nov. 25.

HURRIYET DAILY NEWS

Turkey welcomes Iran nuclear agreement

Turkey has welcomed an interim agreement reached between Iran and Western powers on curbing Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for easing sanctions on Iran after five-day-long marathon negotiations in Geneva.
“I welcome today’s agreement on Iran’s nuclear program,” Turkish President Abdullah Gül said on Sunday via his Twitter account.

Gül stated in a second tweet that he has been advocating a “solution through diplomacy” and that Turkey had been the host country for many diplomatic efforts to this end in the past.

“This is a major step forward. I hope it will be sealed with a final agreement soon. I congratulate all the parties for their constructive engagement,” Gül said.

“Turkey welcomes the positive result of the P5+1 negotiations process in Geneva over Iran’s nuclear program at the end of the third tour. In this regard, we congratulate Iran and the P5+1 countries for their constructive efforts towards the process,” the Turkish Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Sunday.

The P5+1 is a group comprising five permanent members of the UN Security Council — namely, the US, Russia, China, the UK and France — plus Germany. The six countries joined diplomatic efforts in 2006 to curb Iran’s nuclear program.

TODAYS ZAMAN

Saudi ACWA group to invest in Turkish coal 

Sabah – Saudi energy company ACWA Power International has signed a memorandum of understanding with Turkey’s Electricity Generation Company (EUAS) to develop coal reserves in the country’s Central Anatolian province of Konya.

The preliminary agreement covers the technical feasibility studies for developing the Karapinar coal fields, estimated to hold 1.8 billion tons of coal, the country’s second largest after Afsin-Elbistan in Southeastern Anatolia.

The cost of developing and generating power from the Karapinar coal fields necessitates an investment of USD 7-8 billion. The site could power coal-fired plants with an output of up to 5,000 MW.

The Saudi company is also a partner in an 800-MW gas-fired power plant project in Kirikkale in Central Anatolia.

By turning to its domestic sources, both fossil and renewable, Turkey aims to lower its dependency on costly imported fuels.

The country plans for 120,000 MW of installed capacity in 2023, double that of today’s 60,000 MW.

SABAH

We cannot ignore Iran: Turkish Energy minister

“We cannot ignore Iran, which has one of the three biggest oil reserves in the world,” Turkish Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Taner Yildiz said on Monday.  “We have always believed that the sanctions on Iran are temporary,” Yildiz noted, while responding questions on the CNBC-E TV channel regarding recent developments in energy.

Regarding whether the recent nuclear deal with Iran will have an effect on oil prices, Yildiz said, “it is important to be patient and cautious on this issue.”

Referring to the TANAP (Trans Anatolian Gas Pipeline Project) which will carry Azerbaijani gas to Europe through Turkey, the minister stated, “two million tons of pipe will be produced to build the pipeline passing through 19-20 provinces.”

TANAP was announced on November 17, 2011 at the Third Black Sea Energy and Economic Forum in Istanbul, after which Turkey and Azerbaijan signed a memorandum of understanding on December 26, 2011, establishing a consortium to build and operate the pipeline.

TANAP intends to transport natural gas produced in fields in Azerbaijan and other possible neighboring countries through Turkey to Europe.

The Project is planned to begin from the Georgia-Turkey border and cross numerous provincial borders within Turkey.

AA

Turkey has ‘long way’ to go for Islamic finance system

Ashar Nazım (inset), partner at E&Y says the participation banks’ volume in Turkey needs to be increased five times to acvieving the Turkish government’s 2023 targets for Islamic finance sector.

Turkey has made good progress in the Islamic finance system in the participation banking field, but there is a long way to go for Islamic insurance system (takaful) and Islamic capital markets, says Ashar Nazım, partner at Global Islamic Banking at Ernst&Young.

There is a financial cycle to be completed in Islamic finance: a banking system (participation banks), which was already founded and growing in Turkey, Islamic insurance system (which they hoped would soon come to Turkey) and capital markets, Nazım said in an interview with the Hürriyet Daily News.
“The participation banks’ volume was under $40 billion in 2012 but the Turkish government is aspiring to a 15 percent market share by 2023. [That means] an increase of five times in terms of participation bank assets, to more than $200 billion by 2023. It is an ambitious target that is achievable as well if certain steps are put in place,” Nazım said.

HURRIYET DAILY NEWS

 Erdoğan insists on Egypt stance amid diplomatic crisis

Determined to keep his tough stance on Egypt, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has said that he will never respect the coup administration in the midst of the diplomatic crisis between Ankara and Cairo, reiterating on Sunday that he will never respect those who come to power through coups.
“We are on the side of the oppressed, of the Egyptian people. We are on the side of those who were in Rabaa al-Adawiya,” he said in a speech in the Black Sea province of Trabzon, referring to one of the sites of protests against Egypt’s military rule until a deadly military crackdown three months ago. We have never respected those who carried out coups and we never will. We will respect the will of the people, both in our country and in the world. This is why we will be sensitive on this issue.”

On Saturday, Egypt expelled the Turkish ambassador and scaled back its diplomatic relations with Turkey to the level of charge d’affaires in a sharp escalation of tension that has been simmering between the two countries since the July 3 ouster of former Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi by the military. Ankara responded in the same way, declaring Egypt’s ambassador to Turkey, who already left Turkey months ago amid tensions, a persona non grata.

TODAYS ZAMAN

Turkey’s tourism continues to rise

Culture and Tourism Minister Ömer Çelik has announced that the number of foreign visitors that came to Turkey between the months of January to October rose by 10.24 percent compared to figures from the year prior.

Minister Çelik shared a series of figures regarding Turkey’s increasing tourism industry over his Twitter account, by writing that the number of foreign visitors that came to Turkey during the first ten months of the year totaled 31,757,624, which was a 10.24 rise compared to figures from the year prior.

The number of foreign tourists that visited Turkey during October alone reached 3,402,460, which is an 11.52 percent rise over the same period the year prior. Çelik also announced that Germany came in first for having the highest number of visitors at 19.94 percent (678,292 visitors), Russia came in second at 9.29 percent (316,187 visitors), while England came in third at 8.53 percent (290,072 visitors). Bulgaria and Holland were the nations to send the fourth and fifth highest number of foreign tourists to Turkey during the month of October.

As for the entire Jan.- Oct. period of 2013, Çelik writes, “Germany came in first for highest number of tourists with 14.60 percent (4,635,191 visitors), Russia followed in second with 13.01 percent (4,131,087 visitors) and England was in third at 7.60 percent (2,412,786 visitors), while Georgia and Bulgaria followed in fourth and fifth place, respectively.”

SABAH

18.11.2013
compiled by Editor BTT,

On these pages we do a news-scan major Turkish papers and internet sites. However, we do not verify above stories neither do we vouch for their accuracy.