This week:
Foreign Policy
- Iraqi Kurds won’t declare state ‘without telling Turkey’
- After Opening Way to Rebels, Turkey Is Paying Heavy Price
- US adopts bill on Christian properties in Turkey
- Turkey again extends deadline for anti-missile defense proposals
Domestic Politics
- Erdogan, Survivor of Protests and Inquiries, to Seek Presidency in Turkey
- Incoming TÜSİAD boss warns of ‘rising polarization’ in Turkey
- President Gül announces he will not run for second term in August elections
- Recep Tayyip Erdogan seeks backing from all quarters for his presidential bid
- Turkey Could Double Its Arms Budget
Economy & Energy
- Turkey third in income inequality, says TÜSİAD
- Turkey’s glass half-full but remains insufficient: World Bank Turkey director
- Econ 101 Is Bunk to Turkey’s Erdogan in Debate on Interest Rates Role
Foreign Policy
Iraqi Kurds won’t declare state ‘without telling Turkey’
Kurds will not surprise Turkey with the establishment of a possible independent state, according to Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Natural Resources Minister Ashti Hawrami.
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Hurriyet Daily News, 30 June 2014, Iraqi Kurds won’t declare state ‘without telling Turkey’
After Opening Way to Rebels, Turkey Is Paying Heavy Price
Turkey allowed rebel groups of any stripe easy access to the battlefields in Syria in an effort to topple President Bashar al-Assad. But this created fertile ground in Syria for the development of the Sunni militant group that launched a blitzkrieg in Iraq this month, the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.
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New York Times, 24 June 2014, After Opening Way to Rebels, Turkey Is Paying Heavy Price
US adopts bill on Christian properties in Turkey
The U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs has adopted a bill on monitoring the return of property confiscated from Christians in Turkey and Northern Cyprus.
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Hurriyet Daily News, 27 June 2014, US adopts bill on Christian properties in Turkey
Turkey again extends deadline for anti-missile defense proposals
Turkey has again extended by two months the deadline for bids for a multi-billion dollar anti-missile defense system tender, despite having provisionally awarded the deal to China.
The new deadline for rival bidding companies to submit their proposals is Aug. 30, allowing U.S. company Raytheon Co and Lockheed Martin Corp and Italian-French team Eurosam SAMP/T to revise their offers and try to head off the Chinese company, with which Turkey is still in talks.
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Hurriyet Daily News, 30 June 2014, Turkey again extends deadline for anti-missile defense proposals
Domestic Politics
Erdogan, Survivor of Protests and Inquiries, to Seek Presidency in Turkey
Having withstood the challenges to his rule from angry street protests and a corruption inquiry, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday announced that he will run for Turkey’s presidency in elections next month, a move that is likely to position him as the country’s dominant political figure for years to come.
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New York Times, 1 July 2014, Erdogan, Survivor of Protests and Inquiries, to Seek Presidency in Turkey
Incoming TÜSİAD boss warns of ‘rising polarization’ in Turkey
The new head of Turkey’s top business organization has said Turkey’s largest problem is “severe social polarization,” while vowing to “avoid taking sides,” speaking at his first comprehensive meeting with the media after taking the post two weeks ago.
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Hurriyet Daily News, 25 June 2014, Incoming TÜSİAD boss warns of ‘rising polarization’ in Turkey
President Gül announces he will not run for second term in August elections
President Abdullah Gül has confirmed that he will not run for a second term in the upcoming presidential elections in August. Gül’s statement comes two days before the date set by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) for the announcement of its own candidate.
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Hurriyet Daily News, 29 June 2014, President Gül announces he will not run for second term in August elections
Recep Tayyip Erdogan seeks backing from all quarters for his presidential bid
Mr Erdogan’s courtship of the army (and of the Kurds) also furthers his hopes of becoming Turkey’s first popularly elected president in August.
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Economist, 28 June 2014, Recep Tayyip Erdogan seeks backing from all quarters for his presidential bid
Turkey Could Double Its Arms Budget
Turkey, which has been spending around US $4 billion a year on weapons and upgrades, may double that to meet procurement goals for 2023.
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Defense News, 28 June 2014, Turkey Could Double Its Arms Budget
Economy & Energy
Turkey third in income inequality, says TÜSİAD
Chairman Haluk Dinçer of the Turkish Industrialists and Businessmen’s Association (TÜSİAD) said on Friday that Turkey ranks third among the countries with the highest levels of income inequality.
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Daily Zaman, 27 June 2014, Turkey third in income inequality, says TÜSİAD
Turkey’s glass half-full but remains insufficient: World Bank Turkey director
Compared to the drive of the first half of the 2000s, Turkey is exhibiting a slower pace of reform, according to the World Bank’s Turkey director. ‘That is a concern because if Turkey wants to be part of the best, it needs to move at the pace of the best,’ says Martin Raiser.
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Hurriyet Daily News, 30 June 2014, Turkey’s glass half-full but remains insufficient: World Bank Turkey director
Econ 101 Is Bunk to Turkey’s Erdogan in Debate on Interest Rates Role
The Turkish leader, 60, is emerging as a global pioneer of putting an untested theory of economics into action. While central bankers around the world, including Turkey’s, have made interest rate decisions based on the textbook assumption that higher rates will work to slow inflation, Erdogan and his administration argue the opposite.
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Bloomberg, 30 June 2014, Econ 101 Is Bunk to Turkey’s Erdogan in Debate on Interest Rates Role
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