THIS WEEK:
FOREIGN POLICY
• U.S. concerned about Turkey’s choice of Chinese missile system
• U.S. and Turkey to create fund to stem extremism
• President Abdullah Gül addresses the 68th United Nations General Assembly at U.N.
• Davutoğlu: UN resolution on Syria important but insufficient
ECONOMY & ENERGY
• Turkish authority cancels Koç Holding’s national warship contract
• Turkey seeks Canada, US aid on shale gas reserves
• Slow growth to become Turkey’s new normal
DOMESTIC POLITICS
• Turkish Government reveals details of much anticipated democracy package
FOREIGN POLICY
U.S. concerned about Turkey’s choice of Chinese missile system
The United States said on Saturday it had expressed serious concerns to Turkey over its decision to co-produce a long-range air and missile defense system with a Chinese firm under U.S. sanctions.
Turkey, a member of the NATO military alliance, announced this week that it had chosen the FD-2000 missile defense system from China Precision Machinery Import and Export Corp, or CPMIEC, over rival systems from Russian, U.S. and European firms.
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Reuters, 28 September 2013, U.S. concerned about Turkey’s choice of Chinese missile system
U.S. and Turkey to create fund to stem extremism
The United States and Turkey announced the creation of a $200 million fund to combat violent extremism by undercutting the ideological and recruiting appeal of jihadists in places like Somalia, Yemen and Pakistan.
The new fund, formally called the Global Fund for Community Engagement and Resilience, will for the first time combine financing from both government and nongovernment entities to identify credible local organizations; develop, monitor and evaluate programs; and channel funds to local projects that target groups and individuals vulnerable to appeals from terrorist groups.
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New York Times, 27 September 2013, U.S. and Turkey to create fund to stem extremism
President Abdullah Gül addresses the 68th United Nations General Assembly at U.N.
Taking the floor after U.S. President Barack Obama urged the world to enforce a ban on Syria’s chemical weapons, Gül lamented the U.N.’s inertia.
“We all need a strong, efficient, and credible U.N. We need a U.N. fit for purpose in the face of current global realities. The U.N. of which I speak should be a body capable of taking action to maintain international peace and security. It should be able to safeguard security, justice, and people’s fundamental rights and freedom,” the president added.
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Hürriyet Daily News, 24 September 2013, UN’s failure on Syria a disgrace, says Turkish President Gül
Davutoğlu: UN resolution on Syria important but insufficient
Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu has welcomed a resolution on Syria unanimously adopted by the UN Security Council (UNSC), saying it is important as it shows a consensus on chemical weapons and is the first forceful decision on Syria.
However, he also stated that the resolution is not sufficient to stop the violence in Syria, reiterating that the threat against civilians continues in Syria as long as any weapons are used.
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Today’s Zaman, 30 September 2013, Davutoğlu: UN resolution on Syria important but insufficient
ECONOMY & ENERGY
Turkish authority cancels Koç Holding’s national warship contract
Turkey’s top defense procurement body has announced it canceled a contract which was won by Koç Holding earlier to build a number of corvettes as part of the national warship project, or MİLGEM in its Turkish acronym, for around $1.5 billion, in a written statement.
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Hürriyet Daily News, 27 September 2013, Turkish authority cancels Koç Holding’s national warship contract
Turkey seeks Canada, US aid on shale gas reserves
Turkey has begun to carry out hydraulic fracturing operations to extract shale gas from the wells in the Thracian and southeastern regions, where 4.6 trillion cubic meters of reserves have been detected.
A delegation from the Ministry of Energy went to the United States and Canada to examine the existing wells there and to meet the representatives of the companies in the sector.
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Hürriyet Daily News, 23 September 2013, Turkey seeks Canada, US aid on shale gas reserves
Slow growth to become Turkey’s new normal
Turkey’s policymakers are confident that the country’s $786 billion economy will remain an attractive destination for emerging market investors. But it’s going to cost a lot more than in recent years to keep fund managers coming, Fitch Ratings says.
At the root of Turkey’s conundrum is a structural imbalance, driven by the low domestic savings rate. That makes the country dependent on foreign capital, said Paul Rawkins, head of Emerging Europe at Fitch Ratings.
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Wall Street Journal, 26 September 2013, Slow growth to become Turkey’s new normal
DOMESTIC POLITICS
Turkish Government reveals details of much anticipated democracy package
The Turkish government will lift its much-debated ban on wearing headscarves in public offices, permit education in mother tongues in private schools and commence a debate on the country’s much-criticized election system with a long-anticipated democratization package.
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Hürriyet Daily News, 30 September 2013, Turkish Government reveals details of much anticipated democracy package
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