News Scan, Jan 3rd, 2014 – Turkey to attract investors in next decade too: Babacan

Turkey to attract investors in next decade too: Babacan

Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan said developing countries would be the attraction points for investors in the next 10 years as they were expected to grow more than developed nations through next decade, in a meeting held by a business association on Thursday.

Babacan cited the estimated world growth rate for 2014 as lower than the last year’s with a figure of 2.9% while it was 3.6% for last year, and the developing countries were expected to grow with 4.5% despite the 5.6% growth estimation in 2013.

Babacan said Turkey’s influence on world’s economy has been growing since it became 16th biggest economy in the world while taking 7th place based on agriculture production and 6th in visiting tourist numbers.

Deputy PM Babacan, responsible for economics, also said Turkey would be 48% bigger in 2018 comparing to 2007’s figures according to IMF’s predictions while USA would grow by 23%, Japan by 9% and European Union countries “only with 5%”.

In his remarks over the effects of anti-graft probe lately on economy, Babacan said he did not believe that the negative influence over the markets and upward moves in interest rates would not be permanent after “everything is settled when judiciary, security bodies act like real ones”. Babacan said $427 million of $764 million, which left the Turkish markets after the anti-graft operation, got back into markets on Monday and Tuesday as the negative effects of the probe was fading.

Babacan also urged that the government would never cover up any corruption attempts and it would not be possible to reach $800 billion domestic income from $230 billion otherwise.

AA

AK Party gov’t violates rule of law with mass profiling of civil servants

Profiling by the government — which a senior member of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) admitted to over Twitter — of some 2,000 senior public officials including police chiefs, prosecutors and judges as well as academics, journalists and business people is a violation of the constitution, analysts have said.
“This is like a government which, having lost its legitimacy, is moving toward its own coup d’état,” said Mehmet Altan, a respected liberal opinion leader and a professor of economics at İstanbul University.

In Dec. 31 posts on his Twitter account based on the pro-government Akşam daily’s previous news report about the government’s alleged profiling, AK Party deputy and Parliament’s constitutional commission head Burhan Kuzu said, “an intelligence report that was submitted to the prime minister detailed a parallel structure within the state,” and added that some 2,000 names are listed in that report.

In an article that appeared on Dec. 3, Akşam said that an intelligence report presented to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan demonstrated the existence of a parallel state structure in state institutions. “If the [second] operation had not been blocked, a smear campaign would have been launched [against the government],” the daily claimed.

Kuzu’s acknowledgement was the first admission indicating that Prime Minister Erdoğan’s government replaced hundreds of police officers and other government employees in rushed decisions and without clear justification against a backdrop of a massive corruption investigation launched by prosecutors in İstanbul that has implicated some senior members of the government and their close relatives.

TODAYS ZAMAN

 Police officers removed after stopping truck allegedly carrying weapons to Syria

The police officers, who followed and stopped a truck that was allegedly carrying weapons to Syria, were removed from their positions.

Officers who stopped the truck near the Reyhanlı district of the southern Hatay province, which lies near the border with Syria, were removed from their positions when they were still on the scene upon the prosecutor’s demands.

The truck was followed by a team of police from Hatay’s Terror and Organized Crime Department on a tipoff that it was carrying weapons and ammunition to Syria. It was stopped twice by the police, first, near a gendarmerie outpost on the Reyhanlı-Kırıkhan road and second on Muratpaşa road. The police were prevented from searching the truck’s cargo with an official statement from the governor, allegedly saying the cargo was a state secret.

The police officers who stopped the truck on Kırıkhan road and the separate police officers who stopped the truck near Muratpaşa road were removed from their duties.

Also, several chiefs and deputy chiefs from Hatay’s Terror and Organized Crime Department were relocated after the incident.

In the only official statement with regard to the truck, the Interior Minister Efkan Ala said Jan. 2 the truck was carrying aid to Turkmens in Syria, but did not give details about its cargo.

HURRIYET DAILY NEWS

Corruption probe targets Turkish markets: Deputy PM

Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan has said the ongoing corruption probe aimed to disrupt Turkish markets, echoing the prime minister’s suggestions that foreign interests were involved in the crisis.

However, the minister in charge of the economy also argued that the impact of the political crisis on the economy would be temporary.

“Hopefully, everything will pull together quickly in a few days or few weeks, after the dust settles, when the judiciary acts like a real judiciary, the security forces really perform their duties, all of us work as part of the chain of command and in line with the separation of powers,” Babacan said addressing the Independent Industrialists’ and Businessmen’s Association (MÜSİAD) members yesterday.

“Unfortunately we see a political engineering attempt when we looked at its [graft probe’s] timing, method and content. Especially, when we look to the names in the second wave [of the probe] we see the real target was the markets and the whole nation, even though it looked as if it was the government that was aimed at,” he said during the business conference.

“We never cover up the corruption. Anybody that made mistake gives account in front of the judiciary, but on the other hand we should not permit the games to be played upon Turkey,” the minister added.

The Turkish economy, however, was strong enough to compensate for these challenges, he continued.

HURRIYET DAILY NEWS

Japanese-led NPP project to pass Turkish parliament by June – Energy Minister

 Turkey’s second nuclear power plant (NPP) project to be built by a Japanese-led consortium will get parliamentary approval by June, according to Turkey’s Minister of Energy, Taner Yildiz. Turkey and Japan signed a deal last year for the construction of a nuclear power plant in Turkey’s Black Sea province of Sinop by Mitsubushi Heavy Industries and the French energy company, Areva. Russia is building the country’s first NPP in Akkuyu, Mersin with construction set to start in 2016.

In an interview given to the Japanese daily Nikkei, Yildiz said that the final contract of the USD 22 billion project signed between Turkey and Japan was expected to pass through the Turkish parliament by June. “The involved parties plan to establish the project company by then”, he noted adding that the Turkish side will have a share of between 35 and 49 percent in the company.

Recalling that the two countries had also agreed to establish a Turkish-Japanese Technical University in Turkey, Yildiz said that a memorandum of understanding will soon be signed with the Japanese side. “The transfer of know-how especially in nuclear-related fields is of utmost importance to us”, the Minister remarked.

Yildiz called on to the Japanese companies to invest in Turkey’s energy sector, saying; “Studies are ongoing to build thermal power plants on Elbistan coal fields which hold 40 percent of Turkey’s lignite reserves. Power plants with a total output capacity of 6,000 – 7,000 MWs are being planned with an investment cost of USD 10 billion. Japanese Mitsubishi Corp and Mitsui have expressed their interest in the project”.

Thanks to excellent bilateral relations, Turkey has seen increased investments in recent years from Japanese companies in sectors such as automotive, energy, infrastructure and finance. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan will pay an official visit to Japan next week with his agenda including strengthening business and trade ties.

INVEST.GOV.TR

Turkish Airlines to expand fleet and add new routes in 2014

Turkey’s flag carrier is set to continue flying high next year. Turkish Airlines (THY) will be adding new aircraft to its fleet and new routes to its flight network during 2014, according to a statement made by the company to the Public Disclosure Platform of Borsa Istanbul.

The award-winning operator will increase the fleet-strength to 267 aircraft and begin flying on 16 new routes, taking the total destinations to 259 by the end of 2014. THY aims to carry a total of 59.5 million passengers next year, the statement read.

One of the world’s fastest growing airlines with new routes each month, THY currently flies to 240 destinations in over 100 countries. Matching its success in the number of flight destinations with high standards and quality, the company was voted Europe’s Best Airline at Airline at the 2013 Skytrax Passengers Choice Awards for the third consecutive year.

INVEST.GOV.TR

03.01.2014

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.