NEWS SCAN for Turkey – Nov 7th, 2013

Down below you will find a summary of topics from major Turkish papers and internet sites

Turkish lira hits five-week lows, focus on US data

Turkey’s lira weakened and was expected to remain volatile today as investors nervously eyed upcoming U.S. economic data for clues to when the Federal Reserve will roll back its bond buying program.

Global sentiment deteriorated as investors looked to the first reading of US third-quarter GDP data later today, which is expected to show that growth slowed a little in the third quarter.

The lira weakened to 2.0355 to the dollar from 2.0315 late on Wednesday, having touched 2.04, its weakest level since September 30. The main Istanbul share index rose 0.1 percent to 75,846 points, outperforming the broader emerging markets index, which fell 0.18 percent. Turkish bonds and the lira have been volatile in recent months on speculation about when the Federal Reserve would start scaling back its stimulus, with Turkey’s large current account deficit making it more vulnerable to expected capital outflows.

HURRIYET DAILY NEWS

Erdoğan dismisses allegations of Turkey’s support for al-Qaeda in Syria

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has slammed claims alleging that Turkey has been used as a transit country by terrorist organizations to enter Syria and smuggle in weapons, reiterating that it is not possible for organizations like al-Nusra and al-Qaeda to seek shelter in Turkey.

Speaking at a joint press conference with his Swedish counterpart in Stockholm on Thursday, Erdoğan responded to the growing allegations of Turkey providing support to terrorist organizations in Syria and closing its eyes to those groups’ activities on the Turkish-Syrian border. “In the event of these organizations coming into existence, they will be subjected to the same fight that we carry out against separatist terrorist organizations in that area, Turkey’s Southeast. It doesn’t matter if terrorist organizations are affiliated with al-Qaeda or not, Turkey has no relations with these groups.

TODAYS ZAMAN

Turkey, Saudi Arabia sign economy protocol to boost trade and investment

Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdag and Saudi Arabian Minister of Transportation Jubarah bin Eid Al-Suraiseri signed the Mixed Economy Commission Protocol on Wednesday to enhance economic relations. “We want to increase trade and economic relations to the highest level between Turkey and Saudi Arabia, which share the same cultural and religious values. We have established good relations in every area with Saudi Arabia, the most populous country in the Gulf region,” said Bozdag during his speech at the signing ceremony, held at the Ministry of Economy in Ankara.

Stressing that Turkey and Saudi Arabia are the leading countries in the region having a combined gross domestic product (GDP) of almost $1.4 trillion, export volume of $540 billion and population of 105 million, Bozdag said: “We [(Turkey and Saudi Arabia) have the capacity to contribute to the peace and stability of the region. Turkey sees its friend Saudi Arabia as one of the most important countries in the region.”

Bozdag also made the case for increasing trade volume between Turkey and Saudi Arabia. “Turkey’s share of imports to Saudi Arabia constitutes only 3 percent; this number falls behind the potential. Our target should be to increase the trade volume between the two countries to $20 billion in the next five years,” said Bozdag.

DUNYA.COM

Erdogan criticizes EU for not taking further steps towards visa liberalization

Speaking at the Turkey-Finland Business Forum in Helsinki on Wednesday, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan criticized the European Union for not taking further steps towards Turkish-EU visa liberalization, noting that the EU does not require citizens of several countries to have visas but does require this of Turkish citizens.

Erdogan also said that Turkey’s foreign exchange reserves have climbed from $27.5 billion to $134 in the last 11 years, adding that this situation helped the country to take easier steps in economy. Stating that 196 business people in the Turkish delegation represent a turnover totaling $100 billion, Erdogan said that it was a quite strong potential which could allow a great many joint work. For his part, Finnish Prime Minister Jyrki Katainen said that Finland has been supporting Turkey’s EU membership from the very beginning.

DUNYA.COM

Rise in bank loans reaffirms confidence, yet rapid growth a concern

Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan expressed on Thursday that the expansion of loans in Turkey shows that the public and private sectors have confidence in the economy, adding however that the rapid growth in the number of loans since 2012 is a concern and has pushed the government to take measures to lower its growth.

Babacan underlined that the total size of bank assets in Turkey exceeds the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) and that these banks are one of the main sources of dynamism in the economy. Also pointing out the importance of the banking policies that were implemented by the government, Babacan remarked that none of the banks in Turkey needed to be saved in times of global crises.

“The increase in the number of loans is a good thing because it means that banks, companies and citizens of the country are willing to take out loans and have confidence in the future. But the high loan figures since 2012 are concerning and measures taken have lowered the rate of increase. With the measures, our current account deficit [CAD] also went down from 10 percent to 6 percent. If we had not taken these measures, we could have experienced serious problems in the economy,” Babacan explained.

TODAYS ZAMAN

Court releases 15 more suspects in Turkey’s ‘post-modern’ Feb 28 coup case

A Turkish court has released 15 more arrested suspects in the ongoing Feb. 28 trial. The case is looking into the infamous military intervention of Feb. 28, 1997, often described as a “post-modern coup,” which forced late ex-Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan to resign after a meeting of the National Security Council (MGK). The suspects have been released on probation pending the verdict of the trial, as well as having an international travel ban placed on them.

The released suspects include top figures such as the then-Land Forces Commander Şükrü Sarıışık and retired General Köksal Karabay. Other key suspects, such as former Gendarmerie Commander General Fevzi Türkeri, former Naval Forces Commander and former Air Force Commander General Ahmet Çörekçi were released during previous hearings in September and early October.

HURRIYET DAILY NEWS

017112013
compiled by Editor BTT,

We do not verify above stories neither do we vouch for their accuracy.