Foreign Policy
- Brussels is Turkey’s second capital city, says top boss
- Washington dubs Syria no-fly zone plans as ‘pre-mature’
- Take Turkey into EU’s family photo: Turkish minister
- Britain’s Cameron to travel to Turkey to discuss ISIL foreign fighter problem
- PYD ‘promised’ US to not give arms to PKK
- US embassy warns of potential attack in southeast Turkey against Syrian opposition group
Economy and Energy
- Turkey must reform to avoid middle income trap, IMF says
- Foreign investors coming back to Turkey, says minister
- In Diplomatic Defeat, Putin Diverts Pipeline to Turkey
Domestic Politics
- Turkish Police to Get More Search Powers
- Turkish gov’t to announce new transparency reforms: Deputy PM Babacan
- Legal steps on Kurdish peace bid ‘a must’ to disarm, PKK tells Turkish gov’t
Foreign Policy
Brussels is Turkey’s second capital city, says top boss
Brussels is Turkey’s second capital, but the country suffers a “perception problem” there, the chairman of the Turkish Industrial and Business Association (TÜSİAD) has said, after his two-day visit with other TÜSİAD representatives to the European capital.
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Hurriyet Daily News, December 5, 2014, Brussels is Turkey’s second capital city, says top boss
Washington dubs Syria no-fly zone plans as ‘pre-mature’
Washington has asserted it is “premature” to say they are close to making a decision on the no-fly zone idea pushed by Ankara, contradicting the top Turkish diplomat’s words that signaled progress in narrowing the differences of views on the matter.
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Hurriyet Daily News, December 4, 2014, Washington dubs Syria no-fly zone plans as ‘pre-mature’
Take Turkey into EU’s family photo: Turkish minister
Ankara has called on the EU to “make visible” the dialogue between Ankara and Brussels, by inviting Turkish leaders to EU meetings. The call came at a joint press conference with visiting Federica Mogherini, the High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy.
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Hurriyet Daily News, December 8, 2014, Take Turkey into EU’s family photo: Turkish minister
Britain’s Cameron to travel to Turkey to discuss ISIL foreign fighter problem
British Prime Minister David Cameron will travel to Turkey on Dec. 9 to meet President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to discuss how to stop Britons crossing into Syria and Iraq to join Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) fighters via the Turkish border, his spokesman said.
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Hurriyet Daily News, December 8, 2014, Britain’s Cameron to travel to Turkey to discuss ISIL foreign fighter problem
PYD ‘promised’ US to not give arms to PKK
The Democratic Union Party (PYD) has promised that arms sent by the United States to fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) will definitely not be transferred to the outlawed Kurdish Workers’ Party (PKK), PYD co-leader Salih Muslim has told the Hürriyet Daily News.
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Hurriyet Daily News, December 8, 2014, PYD ‘promised’ US to not give arms to PKK
US embassy warns of potential attack in southeast Turkey against Syrian opposition group
The U.S. Embassy in Ankara said on Dec. 3 it had received reports that “extremist groups” may be planning an attack against a Syrian opposition group in the southeastern Turkish city of Gaziantep.
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Hurriyet Daily News, December 4, 2014, US embassy warns of potential attack in southeast Turkey against Syrian opposition group
Economy and Energy
Turkey must reform to avoid middle income trap, IMF says
Without deeper reforms to its savings rate and competitiveness, Turkey risks lower medium-term growth that would leave it stuck in a “middle-income trap,” the International Monetary Fund warned in a report.
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Reuters, December 5, 2014, Turkey must reform to avoid middle income trap, IMF says
Foreign investors coming back to Turkey, says minister
Investment perceptions about Turkey have started to become positive again and funds are flowing back into the country, Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek has said after a series of meetings with foreign investors.
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Hurriyet Daily News, December 5, 2014, Foreign investors coming back to Turkey, says minister
In Diplomatic Defeat, Putin Diverts Pipeline to Turkey
President Vladimir V. Putin said Monday that he would scrap Russia’s South Stream gas pipeline, a grandiose project that was once intended to establish the country’s dominance in southeastern Europe but instead fell victim to Russia’s increasingly toxic relationship with the West.
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New York Times, December 1, 2014, In Diplomatic Defeat, Putin Diverts Pipeline to Turkey
Domestic Politics
Turkish Police to Get More Search Powers
The Turkish police will have wider latitude to conduct searches, and the government will have greater control over the judiciary, under a bill passed late Tuesday by Parliament.
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New York Times, December 3, 2014, Turkish Police to Get More Search Powers
Turkish gov’t to announce new transparency reforms: Deputy PM Babacan
The government is set to complete a detailed reform package to increase economic transparency in Turkey, Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan has told a group of economy reporters ahead of his visit to the United States.
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Hurriyet Daily News, December 4, 2014, Turkish gov’t to announce new transparency reforms: Deputy PM Babacan
Legal steps on Kurdish peace bid ‘a must’ to disarm, PKK tells Turkish gov’t
Eyes are now on the Turkish government’s moves in the Kurdish issue, after a Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) team revealed remarks by the jailed leader of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in which he said further steps in the peace process “must be subject to a legal framework.”
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Hurriyet Daily News, December 2, 2014, Legal steps on Kurdish peace bid ‘a must’ to disarm, PKK tells Turkish gov’t