'Oslo talks should be revived,' says Zana

Leyla Zana. AFP photo

Independent deputy Leyla Zana has outlined the contents of a much-anticipated meeting she held yesterday with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, declaring that it is “unrealistic” to end the Kurdish issue by asking Kurdish militants to lay down their arms.

The armed conflict remains an open wound, Zana said, adding that she told the prime minister that it could not be healed with demands such as calling on the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) to lay down arms or asking the Turkish army to stop military operations.

"I told [the prime minister] that the people who asked for an apology were not the people of a foreign state but were citizens of this country," Zana said.

She also said she told Erdoğan that it was quite possible to transfer the imprisoned leader of the PKK, Abdullah Öcalan, to house arrest, but Zana did not elaborate on the details of the conversation regarding the issue.

Zana also advised the prime minister to continue the Oslo process, in which members of Turkey’s intelligence agency began dialogue with the PKK in an effort to end the conflict.

The lawmaker also said she told Erdoğan that adding Kurdish as an elective course in Turkish education system was a positive step.

The rare meeting to try and resolve the decades-old conflict occurred after Zana surprised many, especially in the Kurdish movement in which she is a symbolic figure, by saying she believed Erdoğan could solve the problem.

The PKK is recognized as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union. (Hurriyet.com.tr)

Turkish PM Erdoğan, Zana to meet to discuss Kurdish issue

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and independent Kurdish lawmaker Leyla Zana (C) will meet on June 30 at 3:00 pm, to discuss the Kurdish issue. AA photo

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan will meet independent Kurdish lawmaker Leyla Zana on June 30 to discuss the Kurdish issue, two days after the National Security Council (MGK) said terrorism would not hold back commonsense efforts to solve the Kurdish question.

“Terror activities will not be able to sabotage commonsense steps that will be taken to establish social peace and resolve the [Kurdish] question,” the MGK said in a declaration issued after a June 28 meeting.

Zana, a symbolic figure in the Kurdish movement and an independent deputy from Diyarbakır, said in an interview with daily Hürriyet on June 14 that Erdoğan could solve the Kurdish issue and that she had never lost her hopes that he would do so. She requested a meeting with Erdoğan after her remarks were welcomed by high-ranking officials from the ruling party.

Zana was elected as a deputy in the 2012 elections from the bloc backed by the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP), but she cannot become a party member until 2014 because of a political ban against her. In 2009 the Constitutional Court banned the BDP’s predecessor, the Democratic Society Party (DTP), and the party’s founders, including Zana, from participating in politics for five years.

The BDP was cool to Zana’s remarks, with party co-chair Selahattin Demirtaş saying it was naïve to hope the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) would be able to solve the Kurdish issue. He later said it was pointless to expect an intraparty argument with the BDP, praising Zana as “invaluable.”

Zana’s meeting with Erdoğan has nevertheless raised eyebrows within the BDP. Demirtaş said the prospective meeting was not with party consent, while one anonymous party senior said, “She had said ‘Weapons are insurance for Kurds’ [in January], and now she sings Erdoğan’s praises, what has changed within a couple of months?”

Alluding to Zana’s remarks, Erdoğan speculated that there could be a breakup within the BDP, but the party played down Erdoğan’s speculation as “wishful thinking.” (ANKARA - Hürriyet Daily News)

Cutting electricity to Syria up to Erdoğan, says Turkish minister

AA Photo

Cutting the sale of electricity to Syria has become a political matter and thus requires a political decision, Turkey’s Energy Minister has said, adding that measures on energy were only a part of sanctions to be imposed on Damascus in reaction to the downing of a Turkish jet.

“The ball is with our prime minister. It is no longer a technical issue but a political one. It has to be considered altogether with [sanctions in other fields]. I have just introduced the ones in the energy [sector],” Minister Taner Yıldız told a group of reporters at the Parliament yesterday.

The Cabinet reviewed measures that could be taken against Syria in reaction to the downing of its F4-E jet in international waters by Syrian security forces. Yıldız said he submitted a report to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on the technical aspects of the sale of electricity to Syria. “After now, it’s up to our prime minister to decide. [The sale] is not that big in terms of its financial size; only around two billion kwh. That’s around seven percent of Syria’s total consumption. It’s even not one percent of our capacity. That’s why it requires political decision,” he said. (ANKARA - Hürriyet Daily News)

Turkish gov’t puts Syrian border troops on red alert

We urge the Syrian regime not to make a mistake and test Turkey’s determinacy and capacity,’ says PM Erdoğan as Kuwaiti lawmakers (inset) applaud. DAILY NEWS photo, Selahattin SÖNMEZ

Turkey gives its troops on the Syrian border license to kill in case of any vioaliton as PM Erdoğan vows to treat any Syrian threat to the frontier as a military target

The Turkish government has instructed its army to intercept any potential security risk posed by Syrian security forces along its land and sea border, in response to the downing of a Turkish jet by Syria in international airspace. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has also described the al-Assad regime as a “clear and present danger to Turkey’s security” in the wake of the incident.

“After this attack, we have entered into a new stage. The rules of engagement of the Turkish Armed Forces have changed. Any risk posed by Syria on the Turkish border, any military element that could pose a threat, will be considered a threat and treated as a military target,” Erdoğan said in his parliamentary group meeting yesterday. The comments are his first public statements on the issue after it was clarified that a Turkish RF4-E Phantom jet had been shot down by Syria.

‘Turkey’s wrath is as strong as its friendship’

“We urge the Syrian regime not to make a mistake and test Turkey’s determinacy and capacity. … Our rational response should not be perceived as weakness, our mild manners do not mean we are a tame lamb. … Everybody should know that Turkey’s wrath is as strong and devastating as its friendship is valuable.” A Turkish unarmed reconnaissance jet that was performing a training flight over the Mediterranean Sea was shot down by Syria 13 nautical miles off the Syrian coast in international airspace. Syria had claimed the incident took place in Syrian airspace.

Five Syrian helicopters recently violated Turkish airspace, but no action was taken against them other than issuing diplomatic notes. Some minor shooting incidents have even taken place without being made into an issue between the two countries, a Turkish diplomat told the Hürriyet Daily News. “After now, if they occur, they will surely become a matter,” the source said. Erdoğan underlined that Turkey would also use its rights stemming from international laws. “Turkey will use its rights born out of international law with determination and take the necessary steps by determining the time, place and method by itself in the face of this unfairness. This is what I want to stress.”

According to diplomatic sources, this refers to Article 51 of the 7th Chapter of the U.N. Charter, which gives countries the right to self-defense in the event of a foreign attack. The prime minister also challenged the Syrian administration’s argument that it shot down the jet in its own airspace. “Our plane was targeted on purpose and in a hostile way and not as a result of a mistake. The attitude of the Syrian officials following the incident is the most concrete evidence that our jet was attacked on purpose. The harassing fire on our Casa-type plane during the search and rescue operations is the most palpable evidence of this intent.”

‘Turkey’s support will continue’

Despite his strongly worded statements that also mentioned increasing military measures against Syria, Erdoğan said they would not fall into the traps of what he called “war provocateurs,” although “this does not mean we’ll stand idle with our hands tied.”

He also vowed that Turkey would continue to support the Syrian people until they get rid of the “blood-shedding dictator and his gang.”

Turkey has no eye on any neighbors’ soil and has no intention to intervene in their internal affairs, Erdoğan said, emphasizing that the security of Anatolia was very much dependent on the security of Damascus, once ruled by the Ottoman Empire until the early 20th century. “Today when we are talking about Damascus, Aleppo, Hama, and Homs, we are not talking about political gain, but in the name of the bloodshed of our brothers.”

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TURKEY BEGINS DEPLOYMENT
MARDIN - Doğan News Agency

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Turkey has deployed a large number of military vehicles to the Syrian border. The shipment included 15 armored tanks, in addition to long-distance guns and other military vehicles. The convoy was heavily guarded as it moved toward the border in the event of an attack by outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) members. Military sources couldn’t immediately confirm the report. Military units reportedly increased security measures on the border following recent events that have strained bilateral relations. In a related development in the region, 13 zones near Hakkari, Diyarbakır and Şırnak have been declared temporary militray security zones. Diyarbakır Governor’s Office said yesterday in a written satement that no civilians will be allowed in the mentioned regions between July 6 and Oct. 6 since shooting drills will be exercised in those areas. (Hurriyet Daily News)

CHP slams foreign policy of Erdoğan

‘Could you imagine that one of our countries would be able to down one of our jets? Nobody could think of that,’ Kılıçdaroğlu says at CHP group meeting. AA photo

CHP leader Kılıçdaroğlu accuses the government of weakening Turkey’s deterrence because of its ‘foreign policy that depends on bluff’ while reiterating his support to use diplomatic routes to resolve the crisis on Syria hit jet

Acknowledging that Syria’s shooting down of a Turkish jet in the eastern Mediterranean was an “unforgettable and unforgivable assault,” main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu has accused the government of weakening Turkey’s deterrence because of its “foreign policy that depends on bluff.”

“Let’s ask ourselves. Could you imagine that one of our countries would be able to down one of our jets? Nobody could think of that,” Kılıçdaroğlu said at his party’s group meeting, adding that foreign policy mistakes of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) had made Turkey’s deterrence questionable.

Courage of sending a diplomatic note

Kılıçdaroğlu recalled that that U.S. troops had raided the Turkish military’s liaison office in Suleimaniya on July 4, 2003, placing a “hood” on 11 Turkish special forces soldiers, but the government had not “shown the courage of sending a diplomatic note to the U.S.”

“The government claims that Turkey has become a major power. No major power turns a blind eye to the killing of nine of its citizens, it’s intolerable. They said that it was a cause of war at the beginning, and then ministers held secret talks in the hotel rooms of Brussels to make a new start. Such bluffs dealt a big blow to Turkey’s deterrence,” he said.

Mavi Marmara

Kılıçdaroğlu was referring to the Mavi Marmara flotilla incident in 2010, in which nine Turkish citizens were killed by Israeli commandos in international waters, after which Israel did not apologize.
“Foreign policy cannot depend on bluff. Let’s compare the two speeches of [Prime Minister Recep Tayyip] Erdoğan that he delivered after Israel’s killing of our nine citizens and Syria’s downing of our jet. They are nearly the same speeches, full of epic rhetoric. Erdoğan has become an object of derision in Middle Eastern newspapers. This is unacceptable for us,” Kılıçdaroğlu said.

The CHP leader once again said they would lend their support to the government to use diplomatic routes to resolve the crisis. (ANKARA - Hürriyet Daily News)

No negotiations, PKK has to lay down arms: Turkish PM

AA Photo

The government will not conduct any negotiations with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan told reporters today, adding that the PKK’s disarmament was the only way to end terror.

"Nobody can make terrorism an issue of negotiation," Erdoğan said. "We will end this, sooner or later. This is non-negotiable. There is only one thing to do: Terrorists need to lay down their arms."

"Security forces will halt operations when the PKK lays down ams," Erdoğan added. "Security forces are not fans of operations either. They only conduct these operations when problems occur."

Earlier in the day, pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) leader Selahattin Demirtaş called on the PKK to lay down its arms and for an end to military operations. (Hurriyet Daily News)

G-20 summit to press Russia on Syrian crisis

Two Russian navy ships sail to the Tartus base to protect Russian citizens there. AFP photo

World powers are planning to overcome Russia’s opposition to calls for taking action to end violence in Syria during a G-20 meeting taking place in Mexico

World leaders, led by the United States were expected to press Russia to change its support for the Syrian regime as they gathered for the G-20 meeting in Mexico’s Los Cabos city yesterday.

The G-20 summit, hosted by Mexico’s President Felipe Calderon, began yesterday and will last two days with several of the powers present also holding important bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the event.

Among those was U.S. President Barack Obama’s keenly anticipated meeting with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, the pair’s first meeting as presidents. Obama sees his “reset” of relations with Russia as a key achievement, despite Putin’s often strident anti-Western rhetoric, but the two leaders remain far apart on many issues, in particular the conflict in Syria. Their meeting is expected to focus on escalating violence in Syria and the near-collapse of a United Nations-brokered peace plan.
Russia and China has previously twice vetoed the U.N. Security Council resolutions against the Syrian regime. World powers could not persuade Moscow and Beijing to agree on a resolution to take action over the Syria crisis.

Yesterday’s meeting comes at a time when Russia calls for an international conference to discuss Syria violence, with a condition — including Iran, another ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime.

Turkish PM Erdoğan to meet Obama and Putin

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said any broad international talks on Syria must include Iran and must only address ways to create conditions for a political dialogue in Syria, not the content of that dialogue or preconditions such as al-Assad’s exit.

Turkey will also be present at the G-20 summit and has voiced its concerns over the escalation of conflict seen in its neighbor as it hosts over 28,000 Syrians fleeing from the clashes in their country.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was set to hold separate talks with Putin and Obama on the sidelines of the G-20 summit meeting in Los Cabos. The Erdoğan-Putin meeting was set to take place yesterday and the Turkish prime minister is scheduled to meet with Obama today. The meetings are expected to center around international developments including the Syria crisis.

Before the critical meeting between two world powers in Mexico, two Russian navy ships are completing preparations to sail to Syria with a unit of marines on a mission to protect Russian citizens and the nation’s base there, a news report said. The Interfax news agency quoted an unidentified Russian navy official as saying that the two amphibious landing vessels, Nikolai Filchenkov and Caesar Kunikov, will be heading shortly to the Syrian port of Tartus.

The official said the ships will carry an unspecified number of marines to protect Russians in Syria and evacuate some equipment from Tartus if necessary. Interfax said each of the ships is capable of carrying 150 marines and a dozen tanks.

It also quoted a deputy Russian air force chief as saying that Russia will give the necessary protection to its citizens in Syria.

“We must protect our citizens,” Maj.-Gen. Vladimir Gradusov was quoted by Interfax as saying. “We won’t abandon the Russians and evacuate them from the conflict zone if necessary.” Asked whether the air force would provide air support for the navy squadron, Gradusov said they will act on orders. (LOS CABOS, Mexico)

I will not return, says Gülen

Gulen's personal video showed him tearing up.

Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen has rejected Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s call for him to return to Turkey on the grounds that it could risk many of the achievements his movement has made.

"Destiny led me to a path away from surrendering, so I walked down that path and never thought of surrendering," Gülen said in a length response to Erdoğan. "I don't want to harm the cause by coming back.”

He also said previous leaders had also invited him to end his long, self-imposed exile in the United States. "President [Abdullah] Gül also said it before, in the open or through mediation. Other statesmen also called on me to return. They asked me if it wasn't time I came back," Gülen added.

"They do what suits them. The nation may look to them to call me back, and I assume the prime minister sensed a demand from the people when the applause at the Turkish Olympiad got too loud," Gülen added.

"I can't go unless they invite me first," Gülen said. "Turkey is not a safe, secure place; I will be getting myself in trouble."
Gülen also spoke of his previous convictions, saying he never complained of his jailings, other than his six years as a fugitive following the Sept. 12, 1980, coup.

Gülen said he would not want to risk the cause he committed himself to by coming back to Turkey.

"If there is a one in a hundred chance that there will be problems in Turkey, that unrest will arise, that some gains will be lost again, I wouldn't want to go back with these worries," Gülen said.

"If the positive course in Turkey will be hindered by my return, I prefer to live my remaining days here," Gülen added.

While speaking at the closing ceremony of the Turkish Olympiad on June 14, Erdoğan made a thinly disguised call for Gülen to return to Turkey without using the religious scholar’s name.
(Istanbul-Hürriyet Daily News)

Turkish PM faces call to end Davos meet boycott

PM Erdoğan (L) storms out of Davos after a spat with Israeli leader Peres. AP photo

Stephen Kinnock, the director of the Europe and Central Asia region for the World Economic Forum (WEF), has openly invited Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to the WEF, which he left after a Davos, Switzerland meeting where he argued with Israeli President Shimon Peres in 2009.

“Continuation of our relations with Turkey is of utmost importance for us. It would be nice to see Turkey represented at the highest level again,” said Kinnock during a press meeting in Istanbul yesterday. Kinnock was in Turkey to participate in the WEF meeting on the Middle East, North Africa and Eurasia, which opened with a reception yesterday evening.

Today Erdoğan is set to officially open the event, which will continue through tomorrow.

The WEF’s follow-up meeting, with the theme of “Bridging Regions in Transformation,” is set to bring together more than 1,000 leaders from business, governments, academia and civil society from over 70 nations. The meeting is being held with the support of the government of Turkey.

Turkey has passed through a major transformation with solid political stability and a strong and financially resilient economy, Anatolia news agency quoted Kinnock as saying, adding that the country’s inflation rate was nowhere near the “incredibly high figures” of a decade earlier.

Kinnock said Turkey’s economy-management team had taken “some very radical measures” to back up boosting political stability, but added that two issues remained critical for the country’s economic outlook: decreasing demand in Europe and Turkey’s current account deficit and the cost of energy imports.

“For me Davos is no more. I will not come to Davos ever again,” a very angry Erdoğan said back in 2009 when he was cut off by the moderator of the session, whom Erdoğan accused of giving him much less time to speak than he gave the Israeli president.

‘We need to move on’
“What happened has happened,” said Kinnock yesterday. “We need to leave that behind and move on. Turkey is very important for us, and we are happy to be here again. The meeting in Istanbul is a testimony that we have the correct dialogue with Turkey.”

Turkey’s experiences are playing an important role in the transformation that North Africa is going through, according to the WEF’s Middle East and North Africa director Miroslav Dusek. One year after the start of the Arab Spring, parliaments are being founded following elections in this region. Turkey at this point continues to be a big source of inspiration, said Dusek.

“Looking 20 years ahead, we want to make sure that in 2012 in Istanbul we helped decision-makers across all levels of society put together a foundation for the whole region to emerge as one of the most stable, secure and prosperous regions in the world,” Dusek said at the press meeting.

The presence of so many leaders from Central Asia demonstrates how important this dialogue is for countries in transition and how the determination to find solutions drives them to converge, Anastassia Aubakirova, the WEF’s director for Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States, said in a written statement yesterday. (ISTANBUL- Hürriyet Daily News)

PM Erdogan meets Barzani

Turkish PM Erdogan met with the Prime Minister of the regional administration in north of Iraq, Nechirvan Barzani, in Istanbul.

Turkish Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday met with the Prime Minister of the regional administration in north of Iraq, Nechirvan Barzani, in Istanbul.

Erdogan's meeting with Barzani took place at the Prime Ministry Office in Dolmabahce, Istanbul and lasted close to an hour.
Erdogan-Barzani meeting was closed to the press corps.

Earlier in the day, Erdogan separately met with Tunisian Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali and Georgian Prime Minister Nika Gilauri in Istanbul. (Anatolia News Agency)

Turkish PM denies WSJ Uludere report

AFP Photo

A recent Wall Street Journal report that said U.S. aerial vehicles provided the intelligence that precipitated the December 2011 Uludere massacre was "made up,” Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has said, according to private broadcaster NTV.

"The Armed Forces already made a statement [about the report]. Unmanned air vehicles work directly under the Turkish army's command,” Erdoğan was quoted as saying by NTV today. "We acted on our own devices.”

The legal process on the issue is continuing, Erdoğan added.

The botched air raid by the Turkish military that killed 34 civilians on Dec. 28, 2011, was conducted based on intelligence received from an unmanned U.S. aerial vehicle, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) had previously reported.

The 34 victims in Uludere, most of them teenagers, were bombed after allegedly being mistaken for militants of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), but were actually local villagers involved in the smuggling of small goods from Iraq. (hurriyetdailynews)

Turkey's PM threatens theatres after actor 'humiliates' daughter

Turkish actors protest outside the Devlet Tiyatrosu, Turkey's national theatre, in Ankara. Photograph: Roberto Giobbi/Demotix/Corbis

Recep Tayyip Erdogan condemns 'despotic arrogance' of intellectuals and says he will cut state funding

In a tale which could have come straight from the time of the sultans, when one wrong word could seal your fate, the Turkish prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, is threatening to withdraw state support from the country's theatres after his daughter said she was insulted by an actor during a play.

Erdogan, who dabbled in amateur dramatics as a student, has a reputation for wearing his heart on his sleeve. But his tirades against "arrogant, alcoholic actors" and an arts establishment he claims holds ordinary people in contempt have shocked Turkey.

Theatres cannot take government subsidies and then criticise the hand that feeds them, he said. "They have started to humiliate and look down on us and all conservatives."

Actors took to the streets in protest after civil servants were handed artistic control of Istanbul theatres overnight last month in a separate row over an "obscene" play.

"If support is needed, then we the government can support the plays we want," Erdogan said. "I am privatising the theatre. No theatres are being run by the state in almost any developed country. Here there is freedom. When we privatise the theatres you can play whatever you want. Sorry, but you cannot get your salary from the municipality and then criticise the management. There is no such absurdity."

He railed against the "despotic arrogance" of intellectuals who always think they know best: "For God's sake, who are you? From where do you get the authority to express opinions on every issue, to argue that you know everything? Are theatres your monopoly in this country? Are arts your monopoly? These days are gone."

What some are calling "Turkey's culture war" began in April last year when his youngest daughter, Sümeyye Erdogan, 30, walked out of a performance of Young Osman at the Ankara state theatre. Its story of a young, reforming sultan overthrown by a boorish military has a rich echo for the Erdogans and the AK party, who have broken the army's hold on Turkey. What exactly happened during an improvised sequence when the uncouth soldiers growl at the audience is still disputed, but she claims she was humiliated by an actor, Tolga Tuncer, who picked on her because she was wearing a headscarf, mimicking her chewing gum and making offensive "haka-style" gestures at her.

Sümeyye Erdogan went to university overseas – studying in the US and at the London School of Economics – because headscarves were banned at the time in Turkish academic institutions. In an impassioned letter to Tuncer on Facebook, she appealed for the kind of tolerance she was accorded in Britain and the US. "As an artist you should be first to treat people who are different with respect … you had better get used to people with headscarves. Half of the people of Turkey are women and many of them wear headscarves. I don't want to live my life fighting you. I will continue to love art and theatre and continue attending the theatre with my headscarf."

Suspended and summoned before the culture minister, who said actors had "no right to interact with their audiences", Tuncer refused to apologise for his actions, which he said were part of the play, but said he was sorry she had been offended. He claimed he did not know who she was and picked on her only because she was in the front row and was chewing gum.

Then last month's controversy over an allegedly obscene play was used by Istanbul's mayor, an Erdogan protege, to take artistic control of its municipal theatres after a religiously conservative playwright condemned Chilean playwright Marco Antonio de la Parra's Daily Obscene Secrets without seeing it as "vulgarity at the hands of the state". The play, an attack on the values of Chile's military dictatorship, which had much in common with the Turkish generals who once locked Erdogan up, had been performed more than 70 times without protest, but is now being removed from the repertoire.

Arts organisations described the attacks as a "pointless witchhunt", pointing out that the theatre is subsidised in almost every developed country and that Turkey's state theatres are the fullest in Europe, thanks to low prices and a mostly traditional repertoire that appeals to conservative and religious audiences in the governing AK party's Anatolian heartlands.

The crisis deepened this week as Istanbul's theatre festival opened. Its director, Dr Dikmen Gürün, appealed for calm and said that cuts would be a disaster for smalltown Anatolia, where most stages are subsidised. Others say it will hit the Turkish TV industry, which relies on theatres to train actors for its series, which have huge followings throughout the Balkans and the Middle East.

Nor has the spat done anything to improve Turkey's tattered reputation for free speech, with 100 mostly Kurdish journalists still in jail awaiting trial under anti-terror laws that date from the days of military rule. Despite Erdogan's reputation as reformer, human rights groups are worried by an atmosphere of self-censorship, while the opposition accuses his AK party of using authoritarian legal machinery left over from military rule to undermine the country's long secular tradition that it was meant to protect. (guardian)

Erdoğan officially visits Italy, signs 3 contracts

Italian PM Monti (R) shakes hands with his Turkish counterpart Erdogan in Rome. AFP photo

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was welcomed by his Italian counterpart Mario Monti with a formal ceremony in Rome yesterday.

Following the ceremony the two officials held a bilateral meeting followed by a joint press conference.

Turkish EU Minister Egemen Bağış, Economy Minister Zafer Cağlayan, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu, Environment Minister Erdoğan Bayraktar, Energy Minister Taner Yıldız, Interior Minister İdris Naim Şahin, Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek, Justice and Development Party (AKP) Vice Chairman Ömer Çelik and AKP Group Deputy Chairman Mustafa Elitaş accompanied Erdoğan on his official visit to Rome for the “Turkey-Italy Intergovernmental Summit.”

Easing Visa requirements

In a joint statement released after the meeting, Turkey expressed gratitude to Italy for easing visa requirements for Turkish businessmen. Italy said it will work with the EU on a mutual visa policy to ease visa requirements for Turkey. The two countries signed three contracts about the fight against the terrorism, environment and social security. They also signed two statements on economic and trade relations. Erdoğan also met with Italian President Giorgio Napolitano at the Quirinalle Palace early yesterday.

The prime minister also received “the Statesmen of the Decade Award” from the International Middle East and Balkans Studies Institute (IFIMES) in a ceremony held in the town of Bled in northwestern Slovenia on May 7. A statement by IFIMES said that Erdoğan received the award due to his vision of leadership, his sound policies in the Middle East and Balkans, his economic achievements, his contribution to alliance of civilizations.

Erdoğan: UN must bolster observer mission to Syria

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ROME – Agence France-Pressei

The U.N. should bolster its mission to Syria with up to 3,000 observers to give a full picture of the situation in the country, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said yesterday.

“We need 1,000, 2,000, maybe 3,000 observers, a major mission so they can visit the whole country and see what is happening,” Erdoğan told reporters at a joint press conference with Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti during a visit to Rome.

Erdoğan said it’s a matter of time for him to say he lost hope in Syria. He also said Turkey supports U.N. and Arab League envoy Kofi) Annan plan “We have not managed to reach the solution we want. The U.N. Security Council should maybe take different steps,” he added. Referring to elections in Syria on May 7, he said: “We don’t think these were real elections... These elections were managed.

(ISTANBUL - Anatolia News Agency)

PM’s bid to privatize theaters stirs uproar

PM Erdoğan says he will propose to the Cabinet a motion to to privatize state-run theaters in a move against critics who slam Ankara over a spat on City Theaters. AA Photo

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan promised yesterday to propose the privatization of state-funded theaters following a row over the administration of Istanbul’s playhouses, sparking fury from opponents who say the move could severely weaken the art.

“No theaters are being run by the state in almost any developed country. I congratulate Mr. Kadir Topbaş, [the Istanbul Mayor], and I will bring the same [suggestion] to the Cabinet,” Erdoğan said in an address to his party’s Youth Branches’ Congress.

Tension has grown between artists and the Justice and Development Party (AKP) after Topbaş recently amended the regulations of the City Theaters, which are run by the Metropolitan Municipality, to increase the influence of civil servants in selecting the repertoire and to better control the artistic content of the theater. Hundreds of actors and actresses held rallies in Ankara and in Istanbul to protest the move and accuse the government of using its authority for potential censorship.

“Today everything is being privatized by the [AKP] in Turkey, but there has to be limits. There are some areas that state must support and help. If the state theaters are being privatized, then only people who have money can exhibit their arts in Turkey,” Republican People’s Party (CHP) Deputy Chair Faruk Loğoğlu told the Hürriyet Daily News.

Privatizing the theaters will never benefit Turkey’s theater scene, City Theaters actor Eraslan Sağlam told the Hürriyet Daily News. “On the contrary, it would have a negative affect because theaters need state support.”

But Erdoğan slammed intellectuals opposed to the amendments, calling them despotic and arrogant. “They have started to insult us and all conservatives over a change in the City Theaters regulations. For God’s sake, I am asking: Who are you? From where do you get the authority to express opinions on every issue, to argue that you are not the only eligible person to know everything? Are theaters your monopoly in this country? Are arts your monopoly? These days are gone,” Erdoğan said.

The prime minister said he would take the issue to the agenda of the Cabinet, where he will propose the privatization of theaters run by the state. Though he did not name “State Theaters,” which were founded in 1949 and perform in 18 provinces on more than 30 stages, Erdoğan’s move could also include them.

“You can play on your theaters freely after privatization. If there is a need for support, then we as the government can sponsor plays that we want,” he said. “Here there is freedom. You can play whatever you want and wherever you want. No one will prevent you. Sorry, but you cannot get your salary from both the municipality and City Theaters and then criticize the management. There is no such absurdity.”
Loğoğlu said Erdoğan’s main aim was to put an end to the theater in Turkey as an art.

“Sometimes they insert the state into everything, but then they don’t give their support when it is needed. I don’t think theater would manage to survive in Turkey if the state removed its support,” Loğoğlu said.

Privatizing the theaters means making them dependent on an organization, Sağlam said. “This is what the state wants to do. They want to create a theater association which is not free.”

“Tayyip Erdoğan knows nothing about the theater world,” Theater Critics President Üstün Akmen was quoted as saying by daily Radikal. “I think he is trying to find an investment area via theaters.

Privatizing the theaters means cultural murder. Look at the world, are the English National Theatre and the French Comedie Française privatized associations? No, they are not.”

Theater actor Orhan Alkaya, meanwhile, said there were no other examples in the world of such behavior. (ANKARA - Hürriyet Daily News)

May 19 controversy continues

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan poses with the members of his Justice and Development Party’s (AKP) youth branch. Erdoğan slammed a recent court ruling on May 19 celebrations in his speech yesterday. AA photo

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan slams a recent Council of State ruling to annull a government decree to limit the scope of May 19 festivities. ‘Turkey no longer belongs to a group of elitists or certain groups,’ he says

A political debate over how to celebrate May 19, the day marking the beginning of the War of Independence in 1919, between the government and opposition parties has deepened after a court annulled a government decree to limit the scope of the celebrations.

“No one should dare to discipline or brandish us like a tutor over May 19 celebrations anymore,” Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said in his address to the Justice and Development Party’s (AKP) Youth Branches yesterdau. Erdoğan’s words came as a criticism of a Council of State verdict that annulled the Education Ministry’s decree restricting mass celebrations outside Ankara.

Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, leader of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), asked everyone to be respectful of the judicial decisions and to implement them. When asked about Education Minister Ömer Dinçer’s statement calling the decision “strange,” Kılıçdaroğlu said, “You should ask Mr. Ömer Dinçer. It seems his notion of legal culture has not been sufficiently developed.”

Erdoğan, without referring to the Council of State’s decision, harshly criticized those who stood against the government’s way of celebrating national events.

“No one can dare to give a lesson to us, to the (AKP’s) youth on April 23, May 19 and October 29. To the contrary those who want to understand the spirit of these days should come here and learn from this youth. Turkey no longer belongs to a group of elitists or certain groups,” he said.

A pious generation should not divide: PM

Erdoğan repeated his much-discussed policy of raising religious generations in his lengthy address to the party youth and said his focus on raising a youth loyal to Turkey’s national, religious and traditional norms was in fact a reaction to earlier policies which classified them as second-class citizens in their homeland.

“We have been treated as if we were foreigners, second-class citizens for decades. Years have passed but today I am openly saying that we are in rampancy,” he said. “I have voiced my desire for a religious generation but the status quo composed of elitists, some parts of the media and some intellectuals did not understand and did not want to understand. We have suffered from oppression and pains,” he said, adding generations in this country were not allowed to freely learn the Quran, and mosques were closed down by CHP rules.

In the name of modernization and Westernization, Turkish people’s links with their moral values had been weakened, Erdoğan said, adding that their purpose now was to raise generations strongly attached to this country’s national and moral values to stop the effects of culture imperialism. “Sorry about that! But elitists should know that we are in this country and are first-class citizens. This policy is not for dividing the country or formatting generations. To the contrary we want to provide more freedom,” he said. “But elitists and despotic intellectuals cannot understand this.”
(ANKARA - Hürriyet Daily News)

Turkey's Erdoğan strongly warns Syria against border violations

Turkey warned Syria today not to repeat border violations, implying that it could use force to protect its border and call on NATO to respond to a potential Syrian attack.

“We have strong armed forces. We will carefully continue to take steps to this end. But Syria must be aware of the fact that in the event of a repetition of these border violations, Turkey’s stance will not be the same,” Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said in an interview with Al-Jazeera, Anatolia news agency reported.

The border violation Erdoğan referred to took place two weeks ago when Syrian security forces opened fire on Syrians fleeing to Turkey. Turkey brought the case before the international community, which denounced Syrian forces’ attack.

“In the event of the continuation of border violations, we will take necessary steps as a NATO country.

When we take this step, Article 5 of NATO, which counts an attack on a member country as one made against all the alliance, will be activated. I hope things will not go to that point,” he said.

Although he expressed his support and optimism for the full implementation of the Annan plan, the Turkish prime minister said 2,000 to 3,000 observers were needed to monitor the cease-fire across the Arab republic. “If the plan fails, I am of the opinion that a very important duty awaits the U.N. Security Council.”

Al-Assad rule not humane, not Islamic

What Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has been doing against his own people for more a year does not comply with either humanitarian principles or Islam, he said.

“We have never been hostile against the Syrian people. We do not accept what Bashar al-Assad is doing. We are the enemy of what al-Assad is doing. … This is a product of an autocratic understanding. It’s impossible for us to accept such a regime,” he said.

Affirming that Turkey would continue to be on the side of the Syrian National Council, Erdoğan said Turkey would never close its doors to Syrians fleeing “brutal crackdowns” by the Syrian security forces. “We have to do whatever necessary to stop the bloodshed. This is an obligation in the name of both humanity and Islam.”

Criticizing the Syrian regime and press for calling Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar “hostile countries,” Erdoğan said the accusation contradicted Damascus’ efforts to build ties with the three countries in the past. “What changed that these three countries have now become enemies?” (hurriyetdailynews)

Chinese taste Turkish olives, oil up next

Turkey’s olive producer Marmarabirlik has begun exporting olives to China following Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s visit to the country. Marmarabirlik President Hidamet Asa, who was part of the prime minister’s entourage, said after visiting several Chinese food producers, they have begun exporting olives to China.

“The products we brought with us, especially those that are low in sodium like our ‘Gold’ product, received a lot of interest and we sent our first shipment,” said Asa in a written statement. “Maybe we can’t feed an olive to every one of China’s 1.5 billion population, but at least we opened the door,” he continued. Asa also said they were exploring the option of exporting olive oil as well to China.

Marmarabirlik already exports to markets such as Japan, Kuwait, Bosnia, Ukraine, Russia and Greece.
Asa said Marmarabirlik’s production cycle is from Nov. 1 to March 31 and that from Nov. 1 to March 31, 2012, the company increased its exports by 44 percent from the year before.

“On a lira basis, this amounts to 65 percent growth and on a dollar basis 40 percent growth,” said Asa.

Meanwhile, the president of the National Olive and Olive Oil Council (UZZK), Mustafa Tan, said yesterday at the second Olive and Olive Oil Fair in İzmir that Turkey was taking huge steps in olive production. He said per capita consumption of olives in Turkey had risen from 800 grams to two kilograms. (hurriyetdailynews)

Turkish PM Erdoğan set for landmark China visit

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is set to fly to China on April 7, for the first visit by a Turkish premier in 27 years, hoping to persuade China to take a tougher stance against Syria and forge closer business ties between Turkey and the world’s fastest-growing economy.

The two sides are expected to sign a deal on cooperation in the nuclear energy sector, a move that would pave the way for eventual talks on Chinese participation in Turkish nuclear power plant projects.

A joint credit fund for possible energy projects is also likely to be discussed.

Yunus İlkay, the secretary general of the Turkish-Chinese Industrialists Association, told the Hürriyet Daily News that accords on trade, visa-free travel for employees of large businesses and the export of Turkish foods to China could be signed, depending on the outcome of the talks.

Erdoğan will become the first Turkish premier to visit the autonomous Uighur region of Xinjiang, the first stop on his trip, where Turkey is planning to set up an industrial zone. The region’s Muslim-majority population, which shares ethnic bonds with Turkey, has long complained of oppression. Meanwhile, China has placed six men from the Uighur ethnic minority on a “terror” list, accusing them of involvement in terrorist training camps and of inciting attacks in the restive western Xinjiang region.

China’s Ministry of Public Security said the men, whose names identify them as Uighurs, were members of the outlawed East Turkistan Islamic Movement (ETIM), blaming one for orchestrating violent attacks in the city of Kashgar last July. In 2009, Erdoğan condemned unrest in the region as “almost genocide.”

In Beijing, Erdoğan will hold talks with his counterpart Wen Jiabao, President Hu Jintao, Vice President Xi Jinping and Parliament Speaker Wu Bangguo. The turmoil in Syria is expected to be high on the agenda. China, along with Russia, has resisted UN Security Council resolutions to increase pressure on the regime.

Erdoğan will then travel on to Shanghai, China’s economic hub, where he is scheduled to meet with the executives of major Chinese companies in a bid to lure investment to Turkey.
(hurriyetdailynews)

Turkey may take 'steps' after Syria deadline

Turkey's prime minister says the country will wait "patiently" to see if Syria abides by a cease-fire deadline, but may take certain "steps" if the violence does not stop after that.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan did not specify today what measures Turkey would take, but Ankara has in the past floated the idea of creating a buffer zone inside Syria if refugee flows become overwhelming.

Officials say nearly 700 Syrians have crossed into Turkey since Friday, raising the number of refugees to 24,324. Turkey has also said it would seek U.N. assistance if the influx continues.

Syrian President Bashar Assad has accepted a cease-fire deadline brokered by international envoy Kofi Annan, which calls for his forces to pull out of towns and cities by Tuesday. (hurriyetdailynews)