- Turkey is a fast-rising economic power, with a core of internationally competitive companies turning the youthful nation into an entrepreneurial hub, tapping cash-rich export markets in Russia and the Middle East while attracting billions of investment dollars in return.
- * Turkey’s economic renaissance — last week it reported a stunning 11.4 percent expansion for the first quarter, second only to China....
- * In June, Turkish exports grew by 13% compared with the previous year, with much of the demand coming from countries on Turkey’s border or close to it, like Iraq, Iran and Russia. With their immature manufacturing bases, they are eager buyers of Turkish cookies, automobiles and flat-screen televisions.
- * It is an astonishing transformation for an economy that just 10 years ago had a budget deficit of 16% of gross domestic product and inflation of 72%. So complete has this evolution been that Turkey is now closer to fulfilling the criteria for adopting the euro — if it ever does get into the European Union — than most of the troubled economies already in the euro zone. It is well under the 60% ceiling on government debt (49% of G.D.P.) and could well get its annual budget deficit below the 3% benchmark next year. That leaves the reduction of inflation, now running at 8 percent, as the only remaining major policy goal.
- 3) Seeking Alpha: Turkey's Economic Prospects - As Good as It Gets?
- * In the short term, the Euro area crisis, Turkey’s soaring current account deficit, and domestic politics pose the biggest risks. In the longer term, Turkey must address a low savings rate and weak education system if it hopes to catch up to the fastest-growing emerging markets.
- * The other major long term constraint on growth is education. To improve labor force participation—currently about 50 % overall and less than 25% for women, compared with 71 and 63 %, respectively, in the EU—reform of and greater investment in the education system is needed. Turkey has largely reached quantitative targets in schooling, especially among boys; girls are lagging behind but catching up. On the other hand, the average quality of education is miserably low. The Program for International Student Assessment places Turkey second-to-last among OECD countries.
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Turkey forex twitter
Sunday, March 14, 2010
No partnership deal with Sweden after 'genocide' vote
The vote, following the adoption of a similar measure by a U.S. House committee, drew a sharp response from Ankara, which swiftly recalled its ambassador to Stockholm in a show of protest.
The Swedish envoy to Ankara was summoned to the Foreign Ministry in response to the vote, which the Turkish government considers a setback in Turkish-Swedish relations. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan meanwhile declared that he has canceled a scheduled trip to Sweden.
Erdoğan and the prime minister of Sweden were scheduled to sign an agreement in Stockholm this week under which the two countries planned to hold annual meetings on every level in the fields of politics, business and culture.
“We did hope to welcome Prime Minister Erdoğan to Sweden in order to set up a strategic partnership similar to what Turkey has with Italy and Spain,” Swedish Ambassador to Turkey Christer Asp told the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review in an interview.
The top diplomat originally planned to go to Stockholm over the weekend in preparation for the Turkish prime minister’s visit but had to cancel the trip after the vote.
“We attach great importance to our relations with Turkey. But, of course, now see what happened, and Mr. Erdoğan canceled his trip. That is another negative fallout,” Asp said, adding that they would continue to work on establishing relations.
The Swedish parliament was not unanimous in its vote, Asp said.
“The opposition side, with the support of parliamentarians from the governing side, managed to carry the resolution. Every year it has been rejected,” he said. “This year, when the issue first came up in the parliament’s foreign-relations committee, it was also rejected, but the opposition side obviously managed to convince some parliamentarians to jump ship at the last moment. That’s why it happened.”
Swedish gov’t policy ‘unchanged’
Sweden’s center-right coalition government has distanced itself from the resolution, which passed by a 131-130 vote. Foreign Minister Carl Bildt said Friday that he deplored the vote and assured it would not have an immediate consequence on the government’s policy toward Turkey.
Asp, who explained his government’s position to Turkish Foreign Ministry officials, said: “I underlined that this is the decision by the Swedish parliament. It is not a legally binding decision on the government.”
“According to Swedish constitutional rules, it is up to the government whether to transform the decision into government policy or not,” he added.
According to the top diplomat, the Swedish government believes history should not be politicized and backs the historical commission that has been suggested and agreed upon in the Turkish-Armenian protocols. This position, he said, remains unchanged.
Threat is still there
The resolution is in the form of a recommendation to the government and cannot become a law, Asp explained.
“It cannot be a law because it is in the form of a non-binding, non-legal proposal. It does not have any legal implications,” he said. “According to our constitution, in a case like this, it is entirely up to the government to decide whether it wants to take this proposal up or not. It stays there as far as Sweden is concerned.”
However, the possibility of the resolution turning into a law in fact remains because a different government may legally adopt the measure after the September elections in Sweden. The three opposition parties have already announced they would make it government policy if they came to power.
Swedish gov’t, parliament ‘back EU bid’
Saying he regarded the resolution as a “clear setback to bilateral relations,” Asp made it clear the development would not change Swedish support for Turkey’s European Union process. Sweden is one of the strongest advocates of the country’s EU bid and even challenged France when it was holding the bloc’s term presidency.
“On the EU process, this will change nothing. Even representatives of parties voting for the resolution have said this has nothing to do with the continuous support in the parliament for Turkey’s EU accession,” said the ambassador.
“The vote should be separated from the EU question. There will still be a very strong support from the Swedish government and the majority in the parliament,” he added. “There is strong support from among all the political parties for Turkish membership in the EU. That will not be affected.”
Impact on Turkey-Armenia normalization
The resolution passed in the Swedish legislature follows similar ones in France, Russia, Greece, Germany, Belgium and Canada. But the votes in the U.S. and Sweden come at a time when Turkey and Armenia are making efforts to normalize their ties.
“I certainly think this is not helpful for the normalization process between Turkey and Armenia,” said Asp. “I believe that we should concentrate our efforts on supporting this process.”
Source:hurriyetdailynews.com/
Turkey's army chief denies mass resignations: report
There are several plots being investigated, but General Ilker Basbug told Milliyet newspaper the investigation into the 2003 "Operation Sledgehammer" was the most serious.
Scores of officers were detained, including the former heads of the navy and air force, in the sweep launched by prosecutors in late February. While the two former service heads were released without charge, more than 30 others were charged.
Prosecutors have still to file the formal indictment.
The alleged actions included provoking a near-conflict with neighboring Greece and planting bombs in an Istanbul mosque.
"The incident is serious and up until now has perhaps had the most important effect on the Turkish Armed Forces," Basbug told the newspaper without elaborating.
Basbug in the past has spoken of the damaging effect on morale in the military that has resulted from the probes into anti-government plots. But he did not directly criticize the government or investigators in the interview.
Asked about Turkish media reports that commanders had threatened to step down following the arrests, Basbug said: "No, there was definitely nothing like this. It was not discussed, debated or expressed."
The officers under suspicion attended what the military has characterized as a war-games scenario, in which plans that could destabilize the government were mapped out.
In another alleged plot, a military prosecutor is carrying out a "comprehensive and multi-dimensional" probe of a colonel whose signature may have appeared on a document outlining a conspiracy to undermine the government, Basbug also said.
He declined to say whether any other serving officers are under investigation.
A military court last month rejected the prosecutor's request to arrest the colonel. He can only be dismissed from his post by the Defense Ministry if he is charged, Basbug said.
Turkey's generals have ousted four civilian governments in the last 50 years, but few observers believe they would take such action again, as Turks' confidence in democracy has grown and the government introduces European Union-inspired reforms.
But there are worrying signs of polarization.
Erdogan has threatened to call a referendum unless parliament approves planned constitutional changes to reform the judiciary, which along with the military is a stronghold of the conservative, secular forces who represent Turkey's old guard.
The row between the government and the secularist establishment has weighed on financial markets as investors fret about political stability in the $650 billion economy.
Source:reuters.com/
EU enlargement commissioner to visit Turkey
“I am confident that at the end of the process, it will be a new, modern and reformed Turkey whose accession to the EU will be to the benefit of both the EU and Turkey,” Füle said in a statement released by his office prior to the visit.
The commissioner is scheduled to meet with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu, chief EU negotiator Egemen Bağış and several deputies.
Füle is also set to have talks with civil-society organizations and members of business circles as part of his trip to Ankara and Istanbul.
An association agreement between Turkey and the EU was signed in 1963. A number of decisions by the European Council, as well as resolutions by the European Parliament, confirmed that Turkey would become a full member once it meets all requirements.
Turkey was granted candidate status by the Helsinki European Council Summit in 1999 and accession negotiations began in October 2005.
Source:hurriyetdailynews.com/
Turkey bluffing about property
TURKEY IS bluffing about giving compensation to Greek Cypriot property owners, said top human rights lawyer Achilleas Demetriades yesterday.
He argued that one way of calling their bluff was for Famagusta refugees to apply en masse to the property commission in the north.
Demetriades called for some “lateral thinking” on how to call Turkey’s bluff following last week’s European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) decision which approved the Immoveable Property Commission (IPC) in the north as an effective remedy for Greek Cypriot property owners. The decision of the Strasbourg court effectively makes it mandatory for Greek Cypriot property owners who wish to take Turkey to the ECHR for occupying their lands, to pass through the IPC and the “High Administrative Court” in the north first.
As the dust begins to settle on the legal tornado caused by the ruling, a number of questions are surfacing. What happens to the 1,400-odd cases already at the ECHR? Do they now apply to the IPC for restitution of their property rights? Are they more likely to receive compensation than the return of their property, which in turn will reinforce the ethnic divide on the island? If they do a ‘land swap’ with Turkish Cypriot properties in the south, how can they get that registered at the Land Registry?
Following the decision, Constantis Candounas, the lawyer who represented Meletis Apostolides in the Orams case, called on every Greek Cypriot refugee to apply to the IPC to seek restitution of their property rights.
Demetriades, who won a breakthrough case at the ECHR for refugee Titina Loizidou, argues that people must decide what they want to do. “If people want to apply to the commission to reach Strasbourg then they should go to the IPC. It doesn’t mean they have to apply. A lot won’t want to for emotional, political or moral reasons.
“If yes, however, then there should be a methodology in how people apply. Before deciding on an individual level, there is a need for some lateral thinking because I think Turkey is bluffing and cannot afford to pay the compensation for loss of use or effect restitution. Is it serious about giving a really effective remedy?”
He argued that one way of calling that bluff is to plan a first wave of applications for refugees from Varosha, the fenced-off part of Famagusta.
“We flood the commission with 10,000 applications. They will have to award compensation for loss of use from 1974 to 2010 plus interest,” he said, noting that the rate of compensation has already been set by the ECHR judgement on the Arestis case. “The indicator is there in the Arestis judgement.”
However, applicants will ask for restitution first and compensation for loss of use later. “They want to go home. What is the public interest of Turkey in not allowing restitution to the legal inhabitants of Famagusta? None. They cannot justify it,” said Demetriades.
Former Attorney-general Alecos Markides disagreed, saying that Turkey could surprise everyone by allowing people to return to the fenced-off part of Famagusta which remains solely under the control of the Turkish occupation forces.
“I do not agree that the so-called committee has no discretion to order the reinstatement of the properties, especially in cases where the properties are not occupied, as happens with the enclosed part of Famagusta.
“Turkey has proved to be able to follow an elastic policy and one should wonder what would happen if the committee ordered the reinstatement of properties. Would owners be prepared to go and live under the control of the Turkish army?” asked Markides.
Asked to comment on the possibility of returning to Famagusta under the control of the Turkish army, Demetriades said: “Yes of course, what else can one expect?”
“The best case scenario of the ECHR is award for loss of use and restitution under Turkish occupation. Strasbourg cannot offer more than that. This is the fallacy people have been labouring under.
“People have been saying go to the ECHR and they will throw the Turkish army in the water. The system cannot deliver this. This is its maximum. If you are looking for legal answers, these are our options. Legally, there is no other solution,” he said.
Asked to comment on the decision, President Demetris Christofias yesterday said he planned to chair a meeting with experts early next week to have an in-depth discussion about the whole subject.
“We shouldn’t paint everything black…The issue will be dealt with thoroughly with the solution of the Cyprus problem and solving the property issue through that solution,” he said.
Source:cyprus-mail.com
Monday, March 8, 2010
Turkey earthquake kills 51; scientists say earthquake frequency not rising
In yet another deadly rumbling of Earth’s crust, an earthquake in Turkey killed at least 51 people early Monday morning. But scientists are warning against drawing conclusions about increasingly frequent earthquakes.
The magnitude-6.0 earthquake hit at 4:32 a.m. local time in Elazig Province in eastern Turkey, about 340 miles east of the capital, Ankara. It knocked down stone and mud-brick houses, according to reports. More than 50 aftershocks measuring up to 5.5 vibrated the region and slowed efforts to treat dozens of injured people.
“Everything has been knocked down, there is not a stone in place,” Yadin Apaydin, administrator for the village of Yukari Kanatli, where at least three people died, told the Associated Press.
The government initially put the death toll at 57 but lowered it to 51. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan told the press: “Teams from the state mass housing project have also been sent to the area to study how to rebuild the area in different methods."
The Turkish quake comes on the heels of quakes measuring 6.4 in Taiwan, 8.8 in Chile, and 7.0 in Haiti, raising speculation of a link.
IN PICTURES: Images from the Turkey earthquake
Richard Luckett, a seismologist from the British Geological Survey, told the Associated Press there has not been a spike in global seismic activity.
"If there was a big increase in the number of magnitude-6.0s in the past decade we would know it because we would see it in the statistics," Dr. Luckett said. "We haven't seen an increase in 7.0s either."
According to the US Geological Survey, the earth usually has one magnitude-8 or higher earthquake per year, some 17 quakes between 7 and 7.9, and roughly 132 earthquakes a year with a magnitude of between 6 and 6.9 – like the most recent quake in Turkey.
The recent earthquakes are not abnormal in frequency, scientists say, but have received more attention because of the loss of human life.
Earthquakes are frequent in Turkey, which sits atop two major fault lines.
In 2007, a magnitude-5.7 quake damaged buildings in Elazig. In 2003, a magnitude-6.4 quake killed 83 children when a school dormitory collapsed in Bingol. In 1999, two powerful earthquakes struck northwestern Turkey, killing about 18,000 people.
“The point is that earthquakes are common and always have been,” Luckett told the AP.
Source:csmonitor.com/
Strong quake in eastern Turkey kills 51
The number of dead has reached 51," an official from a crisis desk at the governor's office in Elazig province, told AFP by telephone.
The victims perished in several villages near Karakocan town which lies close to epicentre of the quake which had a magnitude of 6.0 on the Richter scale.
About 100 people were injured, according to the emergency situations agency in Ankara.
Source:bangkokpost.com/
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