This Week
FOREIGN POLICY
- Turkish President Gül set to meet Biden, Rouhani in New York
- Deadly blast hits near Syria-Turkey border
ECONOMY & ENERGY
- Joint group to work on Turkey-US trade
- Turkey records 231 million lira budget surplus
- Turkey sees temporary relief from Fed, no budget overshoot
DOMESTIC POLITICS
- Turkey’s Government Forms 6,000-Member Social Media Team
| FOREIGN POLICY |
| Turkish President Gül set to meet Biden, Rouhani in New York
Gül, who will address the General Assembly on Sept. 24 after Brazilian President Dilma Roussef and U.S. President Barack Obama, will have two important meetings on Sept. 25 with Vice President Joe Biden and Iran’s newly elected president, Hassan Rouhani. The Gül-Rouhani meeting will be the highest-level encounter between Turkish and Iranian officials since Rouhani won June elections. Deadly blast hits near Syria-Turkey border A car bomb has exploded on the Syrian side of the main Bab al-Hawa crossing with Turkey killing at least seven and injuring many more. The explosion on September 17 occurred at a roadblock manned by brigades at the entrance of the rebel-held crossing, several hundred metres from the Turkish side, Syrian opposition activists on the border said. |
| Joint group to work on Turkey-US trade
Turkish Economy Minister Zafer Çağlayan has said Turkey and the United States have agreed on the creation of a High Level Business Committee that would work on a Turkey-U.S. free trade formula that wouldn’t exclude Turkey from the EU-U.S. alliance, during his visit to Washington. Turkey records 231 million lira budget surplus Turkey’s year-end budget deficit will come in below the 34 billion Turkish Liras ($16.8 billion) currently forecast by the government, the finance minister said September 16, after the announcement of bright budget data driven by higher tax and privatization revenues. Turkey sees temporary relief from Fed, no budget overshoot Turkey will get only brief relief from the surprise postponement of a reduction in U.S. economic stimulus and must press ahead with plans to rebalance its own economy, Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek said on September 19. |
| Turkey’s Government Forms 6,000-Member Social Media Team
Turkey’s ruling party, facing the threat of fresh antigovernment demonstrations, is boosting its presence in a sphere long dominated by the opposition: social media. The Justice and Development Party, led by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, is recruiting a 6,000-member social-media team to woo citizens and fight critics, party officials said. |