NEWS SCAN for Turkey – Nov 28th, 2013

Iraqi PM Maliki meets with Turkish ambassador

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki met with Turkish Ambassador in Baghdad Faruk Kaymakci for the first time in two years, in an attempt to advance Iraqi-Turkish relations.

The meeting was fruitful and focused on bilateral and regional developments.

Maliki will soon attend the second meeting of Turkey-Iraq High-Level Strategic Cooperation Council in Ankara.

AA

Row between Turkish government and Gülen heats up with new document

The row between followers of the Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen’s movement of and the Turkish government took another dimension after a daily revealed on Nov. 28 that a decision from the National Security Council (MGK) recommending an action plan against the Gülen movement had been signed by the government in 2004. Government officials, however, wasted no time in making statements about the MGK decision and said it has never been enforced.

The decision made during the August 2004 National Security Council meeting includes a two-page section titled, “Measures that should be taken against Fetullah Gülen’s operations,” the daily Taraf reported Nov. 28. “Legal regulations that introduce harsh sanctions should be adopted and an action plan [against the Gülen Movement] should be prepared,” says the decision, signed by the former President Ahmet Necdet Sezer, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, former Chief of General Staff Hilmi Özkök and current President Abdullah Gül, who was then foreign minister.

Tension between the government and the Gülen Movement, known in Turkish as “Cemaat” (community) or “Hizmet” (service), escalated recently after Erdoğan announced plans to abolish private examination prep schools (dershane), many of which are financed and run by Gülen’s followers. Erdoğan describes the group’s loud objections to his government’s plans as “a smear campaign.” Although the Gülen Movement is thought to have had close relations with the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) until recently, the daily Taraf claimed the MGK document proved that a decision to “finish” the movement had already been made in 2004.

HURRIYET DAILY NEWS

Insistence of gov’t on prep school shutdown to cost taxpayers billions

The government’s offensive to shut down the prep schools will put its finances in trouble, with losses in tax revenues and extra spending to pay for the costs of transforming the prep schools into private schools.

Although it is hard to gauge the exact amount of losses and added strain on the budget, even the most optimistic scenarios indicate that it will take billions of liras to fund the process.

The budget will lose around TL 350 million in tax revenues from the prep schools alone. Total lost revenue will likely hit a staggering TL 1 billion, including revenue lost from the companies operating in sectors that rely on the prep schools.

Additionally, the incentives to be distributed to the prep schools to support their integration into the national education system, like free land, tax exemptions, interest-free loans, etc., will mean additional costs. Experts say there is no certain assessment on the total burden these incentives will put on the budget. For instance, the price of land varies from one place to another, and the sizes of the schools will determine other costs to be incurred.

TODAYS ZAMAN

Turkey and Iran call for ceasefire in Syria

Foreign Minister Davutoğlu arrived in Iran on Tuesday to take part in the 21st Foreign Ministerial Economic Cooperation Organization meeting. On Wednesday, he was first received by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and later by his Iranian counterpart Zarif after which the two foreign ministers took part in a joint press conference.

Davutoğlu began his delivery by congratulating his Iranian counterpart Zarif on the interim nuclear accord reached in Geneva and expressing that while Turkey is against the proliferation of weapons in the region and the world, pacifist technology should not be prevented. He also added that removing sanctions imposed on Iran will have a positive impact on bilateral relations as well as on Iran’s economic influence in the region. “Turkey and Iran’s economies are economies that complement one another and are not rival economies. Therefore, a significant synergy may surface through mutual integration. I believe that our bilateral relations, especially in regards to trade, energy and culture will progress with a great impetus in the upcoming period,” stated Davutoğlu.

Davutoğlu shared that he and Zarif had the opportunity to discuss the situation in Syria at length and stated, “We discussed how we could contribute to the Syria issue. Syria holds high importance for the stability of Lebanon and other regional nations as well as for Turkey and Iran. Amongst the main issues we handled were securing the region’s borders, establishing a stable and secure region and working together against terrorism and provocation in the region.”

SABAH

 Turkish banks to be able to make Iran transactions, says Economy Minister

All Turkish banks will be able to make Iranian transactions as sanctions on Iran are eased in the wake of a deal between Tehran and six world powers to curb Tehran’s nuclear programme, Turkey’s economy minister said on Thursday.

The agreement eased some sanctions on trade with Iran that have slashed the OPEC member’s exports by more than half and cost it as much as $80 billion in lost oil sales since the beginning of 2012, according to White House estimates.

State-owned Halkbank, one of Turkey’s biggest banks, had continued to process transactions, remaining one of the few to do so in the face of U.S. sanctions targeting financial institutions that dealt with Iran’s central bank.

“Because of the pressure exerted by the United States, private banks were unable to process (Iranian) transactions. Now that obstacle has been removed, not only Halkbank but other banks will be able to process payments,” Economy Minister Zafer Çağlayan told reporters in Istanbul. His comments are the first confirmation from Turkey about how it sees the deal affecting its banks.

HURRIYET DAILY NEWS

‘Gas Corridor to render Turkey key energy player’

Turkey is destined to be the hub for natural gas transportation with the Southern Gas Corridor, an ambitious European initiative to bring natural gas to Europe from the Caspian, Middle Eastern and even eastern Mediterranean regions, Michael Hoffmann, the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) external affairs director, told Today’s Zaman in an interview last week.

Thanks to its geopolitical position in the middle of major natural-gas-producing countries, Turkey will noticeably start playing a major role the energy politics, Hoffmann said. The Southern Gas Corridor, which could potentially consist of resources from Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, northern Iraq, Israel and “maybe even Iran in 15 to 20 years down the line,” will solidify Turkey’s integral position in the energy game, he added. With a myriad of suppliers all having to rely on Turkey being a conduit, Turkey will not only ensure an incessant flow of gas to fuel its rapidly rising energy demand, but at the same time it will have a key role and ability to transport this gas further into European markets, Hoffmann said. “So I think Turkey is entering a very exciting time. I think the next sort of 10 years can be very interesting from that point of view,” he noted.

TAP, which will essentially connect to the Shah Deniz natural gas supplies in Azerbaijan by connecting to the Trans Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP), will initially have a capacity of 10 billion cubic meters (bcm) per year; this will double along with an increase in Shah Deniz production capabilities. The amount of natural gas flowing through TANAP will be 16 bcm per year and will rise twofold. Turkey will be tapping 6 bcm of this natural gas annually, letting the remaining amount flow to European customers.

TODAYS ZAMAN

28.11.2013
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.