Turkish Politics & Internal Affairs

[T-123456]

Turkey seeks $100 billion trade volume with Russia by 2020

22 November 2013 /TODAY'S ZAMAN, İSTANBUL
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has said Turkey is planning to increase its trade volume with Russia to $100 billion by 2020, an ambitious goal part that is part of Ankara's bid to be ranked among the world's 10 largest economies.

Erdoğan said ahead of a Turkey-Russia High-Level Cooperation Council (ÜDİK) meeting in the Russian city of St. Petersburg on Friday that relations between the two nations are at an excellent level and that officials from both have sought ways to further advance economic and political ties.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu, Energy Minister Taner Yıldız, Economy Minister Zafer Çağlayan, Transportation Minister Binali Yıldırım and Culture and Tourism Minister Ömer Çelik are participating in the summit. Noting that military, commercial and economic relations with Russia are improving, Erdoğan said they plan to reach a trade volume of $100 billion by 2020 from the current $35 billion. He added that thanks to efforts by politicians and the contributions of entrepreneurs, Turkey can achieve this goal.

Trade volume between Russia and Turkey was slightly more than $5 billion a decade ago, and it has seen exponential growth every year. In a joint news conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday, Erdoğan confirmed his earlier remarks on the 2020 trade volume goal and said there is no barrier to accomplishing that target despite a slight drop in trade volume in the first nine months of this year. During the news conference, Putin said the number of Russian tourists who visited Turkey last year was 3.6 million and that he discussed ways to increase this number to 4 million. Erdoğan said that the number of Russian tourists to visit Turkey annually will reach 4 million and that he thinks the number of Turkish tourists to visit Russia may also increase as a result of Russian cultural events in Turkey. He added that Ankara is ready to lend any type of support to Moscow's plan to build a cultural center in Ankara. He said Turkey also has plans to open a cultural center, to be called the Yunus Emre Institute, in Moscow.

According to Erdoğan, bilateral relations are advancing better than the year before, and the two leaders discussed ways to improve ties. He praised Turkish investors in Russia, which he said are currently undertaking work worth $50 billion, particularly in the construction sector. Erdoğan attached particular importance on the energy cooperation and hailed Russia for constructing Turkey's first nuclear plant. He said the commercial ties in the field of finance with mutual investments are also noteworthy. The sub-committees of ÜDİK -- the Joint Strategic Planning Group, co-chaired by Davutoğlu and his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, and the Russia-Turkey Intergovernmental Joint Economic Commission, co-chaired by Yıldız and Russian Minister of Energy Alexander Novak -- held preparation meetings before the summit.

Putin and Erdoğan also had a bilateral meeting before one they attended with their delegations. Putin said that Turkish-Russian relations are moving forward at a “nice pace” despite a lack of direct engagement. He noted that Friday's meeting will not halt this progress and added that their goal is to contribute to the already fast-moving progress in relations.

Turkey and Russia have been at odds over the Syrian crisis, with Ankara leading calls for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's departure and Moscow favoring an Assad-led transition.

Turkey seeks $100 billion trade volume with Russia by 2020 - Today's Zaman, your gateway to Turkish daily news[/quote]
Trade is allways good,we should have trade relations with ''all''our neighbors.

 

[xxxKULxxx]

@Bahoz

Actually the real plan was and still is to destroy İslam. From the begining this is their main mission. Even trying to make people racist, nationalist is something about destroying İslam. İslam forbids these things. And you missed a point in my reply to you. People who try to destroy İslam, Türks & Kürds are same people. Europe, usa, israel etc. I mean pkk, jailed so called Turkish generals and their bosses are same people. I said they played a game. Anyways, forget but not forget these kind of real enemies of us all. Be careful. Don't let them fool you. There were so many generals in TSK who were enemy of us all and still there are some of them in TSK. And sure there are lots of high level people in pkk who are again enemy of us all. These 2 kind have connections. Their connection points, their bosses are in uk, usa, israel, europe. Ok now we should focus future. İnsha Allah good days are so close.

 

[Kartal]

@xxxKULxxx

Actually I am not blaming Turkish people. Some of the other members were blaming Kurdish people for supporting PKK and I replied that supporting PKK was the only other option because Turkey did not give any alternative. We know that the Kurdish political way has been shut down time after time so of course people will think that PKK is the only way if democratic ways are shut off.

And yes, the Kemalist republic was racist towards many things. I have not denied that. But the denialist policies it led against Kurds was extensive. It had one purpose and that was to destroy the Kurdish identity ( banning everything Kurdish). They had no plan of destroying Turkishness or Islam so you can not compare Kurds and Turks under Kemalist rule.

This is why Im saying that if Turks had stood supportive towards Kurds during those denialist and racist years then there would be no need of the Kurdish- Turkish conflict that began in 1980. I am not blaming Turks I am just giving an idea of how we could have prevented all the deaths.




BDP gets majority of Kurdish votes so I am not sure what you mean.

What is the vote arte of BDP in Turkey?

I will give the answer 5 percent now Enlight us how it is became majority?

 

[madmusti]

What is the vote arte of BDP in Turkey?

I will give the answer 5 percent now Enlight us how it is became majority?

 

[Saithan]

Gov’t pattern of tactics aims to tame democratic opposition

A pattern in which the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government targets dissident groups to tame them through various sanctions has become more evident with the recent prep school row and is thought to be a result of unchecked government power in Turkey, leading to concerns about the prospects for a pluralist democracy.

The government's latest move was a draft law to ban private prep schools, which is a blow to education in Turkey, but also targets the Hizmet movement, which has pioneered these private educational institutions in the country. Perceiving the movement inspired by Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen as a threat to the government's power, analysts argue that the government is giving a warning to the movement. However, with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's unequivocal statement on Wednesday that he has made up his mind about the closures, it became evident that the move was more than a threat. He also criticized the advocates of prep schools for speaking up too loud.

In a similar move, following the Gezi protests, the government began an extensive financial investigation into the Koç Holding conglomerate for its open support of the Gezi protesters. In 2009, Doğan Holding, a conglomerate that owns the largest media group in Turkey, was issued a tax evasion fine of TL 826 million. Arguably, these moves were part of the government's efforts to control the opposition.

A leading Turkish commentator and columnist for Hürriyet, Taha Akyol, confirms this pattern and says that in its third term, the government's authoritarian tendencies have become more evident.

“I have been referring to various Western political scientists and writing about the tendency of governments in general to become less tolerant of dissent as their term in power lingers on, using the example of the AK Party since 2007-2008,” he explains.

According to Akyol, the only way out of such a worrying trend is democratization. Expressing his disapproval of violent demonstrations as a method of changing governments, Akyol says that he has lost hope in the drafting of a new constitution. “The leaders of the political parties in Parliament made it clear that this is not their priority,” he commented. In confirmation of this sentiment, the parliamentary commission that had been established to draft a new constitution was disbanded after failing to achieve its goal.

Ufuk Uras, a former member of Parliament and also cofounder and member of the Greens and the Left Party of the Future, states that as evidenced by the prep school debate in Turkey, the government uses certain tools as a “way of providing political obedience.” According to Uras, the debate about closing private prep schools has moved way beyond a matter of education and become a matter of “political hegemony.”

In reference to the heavy fine on Doğan Holding, which is the largest media conglomerate in Turkey, Uras says nobody should be exempt from inspection, but that certain tools are used as weapons to silence the opposition. “It is important for the state to become a democratic one, not turning from a militarist republic into an authoritarian republic,” Uras comments, in reaction to the government's increasing attempts to control dissent.

In recent years, accusations that Erdoğan is conducting a “Putinization” have been on the rise, especially in the foreign media, due to his attacks on dissidents.

“A monopoly on speech is the most dangerous one,” Uras adds, mentioning a case in which a journalist was fired from a pro-government media group for merely reposting a tweet on social media. Uras argues that the government aims to create a “rose garden without thorns” in the media.

In a pessimistic comment, Uras claims that it does not seem possible to overcome this predicament in Turkey, as there is no political alternative which can channel opposition to the government.

‘Erdoğan threatens the Hizmet movement'
Michael Thumann, a German journalist who worked as Turkey correspondent for the Die Zeit newspaper, says the AK Party takes selective measures to “exert pressure on political adversaries.” Referring to Koç Holding's punishment by the government, Thumann says Koç's aim was probably not to become a political opponent, as it wants to continue business in Turkey, but that it simply took a humanistic approach during the protests, when the Divan Hotel owned by the Koç group became a place of “refuge.”

As far as the prep school row is concerned, Thumann believes that the government is fully aware of its purpose. “The party knows that this is a strike against the Hizmet movement,” he says, adding that for the moment this is only a “threat” to the movement. According to Thumann, this move coming from the prime minister and his sycophantic advisors targets “the Gülen movement -- which is disloyal in their opinion -- to discourage them from speaking against the government.”

Almost confirming these comments, the Prime Minister on Wednesday accused the Zaman media group on a live televised interview of pursuing "black propoganda" for its coverage on the prep school row, strentgthening the criticism that he cannot stand any form of opposition.

Describing Education Minister Nabi Avcı as a “reasonable” man, Thumann believes that deep down Avcı does not think the decision to close prep schools is appropriate.

On the direction of this “taming the dissidents” pattern, Thumann says it is very difficult to guess where it will end, but he believes that it is going to “last for quite some time.”

Providing a different argument, political scientist Dr. Ersin Kalaycıoğlu of Sabancı University directs attention to a “dangerous trend,” as the government tends to consider all opposition not only “wrong” but also “illegitimate.” Kalaycıoğlu says that the government pursues a strategy to dismiss any form of opposition, including the elected parties within Parliament. For him, when Erdoğan was fighting against military tutelage, such a strategy might have been acceptable, but such rhetoric is not acceptable when applied to the rest of society.

In November, Erdoğan made headlines when he opposed male and female students sharing the same house, describing certain lifestyles as “legitimate” and others as “illegitimate” without any objective or acceptable criteria, in a value-laden statement.

According to Kalaycıoğlu, not only Erdoğan's understanding of majoritarian democracy but also his perception of “national will” are problematic. “It makes sense when you run for office, but not after you are elected to Parliament,” says the seasoned professor, who argues that Erdoğan tends to believe that the other parties in Parliament do not represent the “will of the nation.”

Claiming that such an approach gained strength during the 2007 presidential elections, Kalaycıoğlu says, “It is not only the governing party that represents the nation.”

Despite the support he received from international media in his early years in power, Erdoğan has been portrayed as a sultan in recent years, as on the cover of The Economist magazine in 2013.

Drawing parallels between former US President Ronald Reagan and his rhetoric of an “evil empire,” Kalaycıoğlu argues that democracy is not a game in which you ask people to pick sides.

‘There is a problem of unchecked and unbalanced power in Turkey'
“We are witnessing the corruption of power,” Kalaycıoğlu claims, saying there is a problem of “unchecked and unbalanced power” in Turkey.

“The prime minister considers checks and balances as obstacles in front of him, especially in bureaucracy,” Kalaycıoğlu points out, recalling Erdoğan's remarks of December 2012, which described the separation of powers as an obstacle. As a measure to prevent such unrestrained power, Kalaycıoğlu says that the judiciary could stop the government from making arbitrary decisions. Ruling out the possibility of a reaction from within his own party, Kalaycıoğlu projects a change if the third-term-limit rule is applied to the government.

Professor Özer Sencar, director of polling company MetroPOLL, confirms a pattern of the government trying to force opposing groups to “kneel down” before it. Sencar argues that all of Erdoğan's efforts are geared towards the presidential elections in 2014. Based on public opinion polls, Sencar says there is a 10 percent group within the AK Party's 50 percent who might consider voting for another presidential candidate if someone reasonable for conservative voters emerges.

On whether Erdoğan is strong enough to guarantee his presidency, Sencar says that 10 percent is a significant share and requires a further consolidation of the AK Party's support.

“Ahead of the elections, which we will witness three of in 2014, Erdoğan wants to have a consolidated mass behind him,” Sencar argues, as he says that the prime minister is trying to remove anything that could strengthen the opposition in the country. However, he states that this might not be able to suppress a social movement or economic group, as targeted by the prep school closure plan and in the aftermath of the Gezi protests.

According to Sencar, Erdoğan faces the risk of losing the support of the Hizmet movement, a voter base which overlaps with his party's base, since he believes that the majority of Hizmet sympathizers will vote for him anyway.

In the wake of the Gezi protests, Erdoğan appointed a former staunch critic, columnist Yiğit Bulut, as a chief advisor, which was a surprising move. Shortly after his appointment, Bulut said that he was prepared to die for the prime minister.

“There is no one around Erdoğan who would warn him about possible mistakes,” comments Sencar, claiming that the prime minister is surrounded by sycophants.
source:Gov’t pattern of tactics aims to tame democratic opposition - Today's Zaman, your gateway to Turkish daily news

Erdogan can't stop from interfering with everything, and if this is an indication of where Turkey is going, then I wouldn't be surprised if he passed a law saying all girls have to wear veils. Because I don't see him respecting other peoples opinions at all.

 

[xxxKULxxx]

@Bahoz

Also i wanna tell you something very short. We can call it the brief of the things i wanna tell you.

You should think about the result of thes clashes so you can easily see the game IMO. Tell me pls who had lost and who had won during 30-35 years ? Actually you and i know the answer already. We (Turks & Kürds) had lost and usa, uk, israel, germany, europe(i know some of them are in europe already but i wanted the point out them because they were effective so much) had won.

So that's enough. We should say 'STOP' to these devils. They will not be able to use all of us for their games for their wealth insha Allah. These bad days had come to an end insha Allah...

 

[Bahoz]

@Bahoz

Also i wanna tell you something very short. We can call it the brief of the things i wanna tell you.

You should think about the result of thes clashes so you can easily see the game IMO. Tell me pls who had lost and who had won during 30-35 years ? Actually you and i know the answer already. We (Turks & Kürds) had lost and usa, uk, israel, germany, europe(i know some of them are in europe already but i wanted the point out them because they were effective so much) had won.

So that's enough. We should say 'STOP' to these devils. They will not be able to use all of us for their games for their wealth insha Allah. These bad days had come to an end insha Allah...

All this is history. You are right. All I am saying is that we can turn this negative history into something positive tomorrow if we want to. For instance, why is Turkey not co operating with Kurds in Syria? They are co operating with KRG. They should co operate with Kurds in Syria too. We could create a strong Kurdish and Turkish co operation. Kurds in Syria are not your enemies just like Kurds in Turkey and KRG are not your enemies. Have they shot against you? Have they declared war against you? Have they done anything to damage you?

This is why I am saying that both civilian populations need to stand up and ask the government to create this co operation. This is truly what I hope to see. Whether it is called Turkey, Kurdistan or whatever is not the case. One thing that could elminate all the problems between Turks and Kurds is for instance if Turkey stops making difference between Kurds from KRG and Kurds from Turkey and Syria.

 

[xxxKULxxx]

@Bahoz

İnsha Allah we will see these days that you are talking about because things are going that way. Our goal is unification of all muslims. Elhamulillah we started to curl our devil enemies' wrists but we haven't got enough power to make things in our minds. We should be patient and step by step when we will get a few more power we will take another step. Think that. If you have power after then you can be able to take a step. If you haven't got enough power and if you try to take a step you just can't take that step plus that you feel to the ground. Erdoğan's aim is to unite muslims and he tries to make muslims powerful. There was Necmettin Erbakan if you know. He made a strategic mistake to reach united muslims aim. Just like my 'taking step' example. Before he got enough power, he established a kind of co-operation which is called D-8. I don't know if you know it. He established that before getting powerful and the devils i told about before, took Erbakan down from goverment. But now Erdoğan is doing the right thing. First he tries to reach power. And Erdoğan shares this power with other muslim countries. Look what did he do. He repaired economic ties with muslim world, he started to improve defence industry in Türkiye and started to enter this market in the ME as a real reliable brother country. Also defence industry factories started to be established all over the muslim lands with Türkiye and other muslim counries. These devils tried to pull down Erdoğan for 11 years(even more) but they couldn't do that so if they couldn't achieved this goal in 11 years it seems they(devils) missed the train.

Last thing.

We love all of our muslim brothers for the sake of Allah and we are making dua for a united muslim world, we want from Allah to live a beautful future with all of our brothers in İslam. If it's needed we will give our lives. That's because of Allah's orders.

Please don't worry, things are going good İnsha Allah.

İnsha Allah we will all together estabilsh 'STATE OF MUSLIMS' on all muslim lands in the world.

 

[Bahoz]

I am a Muslim myself. I am not a big fan of Erdogan but that is another discussion. We can discuss that some other day maybe. I know the history of Erbakan and the 1997 darbe. Many theories.

Regarding the Muslim alliance you talk about. I am not against such thing. But it must be the poeple that decides it. And Turkey can not make such move unless it fights its own demons. Turkey has fixed its economy. That is no longer a problem. If Turkey fixes its Kurdish question, it will automatically heal its ties with millions of Kurds to the south and millions of Kurds to the east. The doors to the rest of the Middle East would open. The single biggest obstacle is the Kurdish question, if you ask me. Before Turkey can expand it must solve out this demon of its own.

Hopefully we will see better days for all of us.

 

[atatwolf]

I am a Muslim myself. I am not a big fan of Erdogan but that is another discussion. We can discuss that some other day maybe. I know the history of Erbakan and the 1997 darbe. Many theories.

Regarding the Muslim alliance you talk about. I am not against such thing. But it must be the poeple that decides it. And Turkey can not make such move unless it fights its own demons. Turkey has fixed its economy. That is no longer a problem. If Turkey fixes its Kurdish question, it will automatically heal its ties with millions of Kurds to the south and millions of Kurds to the east. The doors to the rest of the Middle East would open. The single biggest obstacle is the Kurdish question, if you ask me. Before Turkey can expand it must solve out this demon of its own.

Hopefully we will see better days for all of us.

You think too high of yourself. Kurdish terrorist in Iraq and Syria don't lock the doors for Turkey. Turkey can go to connect with Azerbaijan through Georgia and whole of Turkic central-asia which is ancient silk road. Only interest in Mesopotamia is cheap oil for Turkey and we already getting that soon. After Assad is gone, Syria will be defacto Turkish bufferstate. After that only Iraq will remain and they will be locked. PKK in itself is not really a big threat if countries like Iran wouldn't support it. Turkey shouldn't have interest in Kurds. It is time for Turan.

 

[Bismarck]

You think too high of yourself. Kurdish terrorist in Iraq and Syria don't lock the doors for Turkey. Turkey can go to connect with Azerbaijan through Georgia and whole of Turkic central-asia which is ancient silk road. Only interest in Mesopotamia is cheap oil for Turkey and we already getting that soon. After Assad is gone, Syria will be defacto Turkish bufferstate. After that only Iraq will remain and they will be locked. PKK in itself is not really a big threat if countries like Iran wouldn't support it. Turkey shouldn't have interest in Kurds. It is time for Turan.

In your opinion. But they have much more interest as you want. It was a smart move from Erdogan to invite Barzani, an elected representatives of Kurds (not a terrorist chief like Öcalan). Now, Erdogan can continue peace process without PKK/Öcalan, if they blocked the peace process, who initiate the process with. With the time, North Irak will be apart of Turkey, including Kirkuk, Mosul, which where never give up. That could Erdogans master plan.

 

[atatwolf]

In your opinion. But they have much more interest as you want. It was a smart move from Erdogan to invite Barzani, an elected representatives of Kurds (not a terrorist chief like Öcalan). Now, Erdogan can continue peace process without PKK/Öcalan, if they blocked the peace process, who initiate the process with. With the time, North Irak will be apart of Turkey, including Kirkuk, Mosul, which where never give up. That could Erdogans master plan.

I wouldnot want that regions to be part of Turkey. There are already enough Kurds in Turkey who live on land conquered by Alp Arslan. Also when whole Kurdish region becomes part of Turkey, it is easier to brake off since it can spread seperatism. Turkic states can form union with Turkey but policy in mid-east should be divide and conquer. Iraq is already totally depended on Turkey for everything, even water and electricity. What added value would it give to annex it? If Barzani double crosses us they will be left with no water and electricity the next day.

 

[Bahoz]

In your opinion. But they have much more interest as you want. It was a smart move from Erdogan to invite Barzani, an elected representatives of Kurds (not a terrorist chief like Öcalan). Now, Erdogan can continue peace process without PKK/Öcalan, if they blocked the peace process, who initiate the process with. With the time, North Irak will be apart of Turkey, including Kirkuk, Mosul, which where never give up. That could Erdogans master plan.

Turkey can not make peace process a success without PKK. It is PKK that has armed elements inside Kurdish and Turkish cities. It is PKK that has members in parliament. It is PKK that controls 60% of the Kurdish areas to the east legally. What power does Barzani have in these areas? Barzani is the leader of Kurdistan in Iraq. You can make oil deals and trade deals with him. But you can not play with the future of Kurds in Turkey by using Barzani.

Majority of Kurdish people has elected PKK/BDP as their representative and Öcalan as their leader. There is no way around this. This is the truth and this is the reality all Turks will wake up to some day.

You think too high of yourself. Kurdish terrorist in Iraq and Syria don't lock the doors for Turkey. Turkey can go to connect with Azerbaijan through Georgia and whole of Turkic central-asia which is ancient silk road. Only interest in Mesopotamia is cheap oil for Turkey and we already getting that soon. After Assad is gone, Syria will be defacto Turkish bufferstate. After that only Iraq will remain and they will be locked. PKK in itself is not really a big threat if countries like Iran wouldn't support it. Turkey shouldn't have interest in Kurds. It is time for Turan.

Go ahead with your Turan plans. Nobody is holding you back, right?

 

[T-123456]

In your opinion. But they have much more interest as you want. It was a smart move from Erdogan to invite Barzani, an elected representatives of Kurds (not a terrorist chief like Öcalan). Now, Erdogan can continue peace process without PKK/Öcalan, if they blocked the peace process, who initiate the process with. With the time, North Irak will be apart of Turkey, including Kirkuk, Mosul, which where never give up. That could Erdogans master plan.

Well said,im impressed by your assessment/valuation of the situation.

 

[-SINAN-]

It is PKK that controls 60% of the Kurdish areas to the east legally.

Your words hold no weigh.

In your opinion. But they have much more interest as you want. It was a smart move from Erdogan to invite Barzani, an elected representatives of Kurds (not a terrorist chief like Öcalan). Now, Erdogan can continue peace process without PKK/Öcalan, if they blocked the peace process, who initiate the process with. With the time, North Irak will be apart of Turkey, including Kirkuk, Mosul, which where never give up. That could Erdogans master plan.

It is the first time, i have seen you commenting on political issues.

It's good to hear some opinions from a neutral point.

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@Bahoz did you read my sign..... that was 1400 years ago.