EU-DIGEST

Bulgaria in talks to import Egyptian natural gas reducing dependence on Russian energy linking existing Turkey-Greece-Italy pipeline

Sameh Fahmy the Egyptian oil minister held talks today (Thursday) in Bulgaria about selling up to 1 billion cubic meters of natural gas a year to the EU country, which is trying to cut its dependence on Russian energy imports. Egypt's Oil Minister said deliveries could begin in 2011-2012, starting at half a billion cubic meters per year.Dimitrov said Egyptian gas could come to Bulgaria through the existing Turkey-Greece-Italy pipeline if Turkey and Egypt were to link their gas networks. Such a link, he said, would be 'crucial to guarantee Egyptian supplies for the Nabucco gas pipeline project. The Nabucco pipeline was built to ease Europe's reliance on Russian energy. The EU gets about one-third of its oil and about 40 percent of its natural gas from Russia.

Labels: Bulgaria, Egypt, EU, Gas Supplies, Greece, Italy, Turkey

Turkey not facing prospect of recession says minister - growth 3-4 %

Turkey is not facing the prospect of recession and expects growth of 3-4 percent this year, while a forecast of 4 percent growth for 2009 remains valid, Industry Minister Zafer Caglayan said on Wednesday.He was speaking after a Moody's analyst said on Tuesday Turkey would enter a recession next year unless it agreed to a program with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). "I do not attach value to what the credit rating agencies say. The crisis showed they are not subject to supervision," Caglayan told reporters when asked about the negative Moody's comments.

Labels: Economy, Turkey

Turkey, Cyprus tensions rise over oil spat

Tensions increased on Tuesday as Cyprus accused Turkey of adopting 19th century gunboat diplomacy in a spat over oil exploration off the divided Mediterranean island. Ankara hit back by accusing a Greek Cypriot oil search mission of violating its territorial rights and vowed to make its own protests to international bodies over the dispute. Turkey was adopting "politics of the 19th century," Cypriot Foreign Minister Marcos Kyprianou charged. "No modern state, especially one that wants to join the EU, sends out warships to impede the (legal) exercise of rights."

President Demetris Christofias, the Greek Cypriot leader, also condemned the latest incident off Cyprus's south coast during which Nicosia says a Turkish warship turned back a Norwegian-flagged exploration vessel on November 13. "We are determined to defend the sovereign rights of the Cyprus Republic," said the president. "We have lodged protests with the United Nations and European Union over these provocations by Ankara." He was speaking to reporters before a new round of UN-brokered talks with Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat aimed at reuniting Cyprus after decades of division.

Labels: Cyprus, EU, Turkey

Largest ever Dutch Trade delegation visits Turkey - The Netherlands one of Turkey's most important investors

The Largest ever Dutch trade delegation is in Turkey this week - A truly Dutch economic invasion of Turkey. The delegation includes a total of 134 company representatives ranging from Personnel Management to Environmental Companies, and every other category in between. One newspaper reported that even some buses in Turkey are carrying banners with the slogan "Holland Pioneers in International Business".

The Dutch delegation is headed by his Excellency Frank Heemskerk, the Dutch State Secretary of Economic Affairs. Turkish PM his Excellency Recep Erdogan was so impressed by the size of the delegation that he changed his agenda to be able to receive the delegation later this week in Ankara.Yesterday the Dutch delegation cruised the Bosporus.

The Netherlands is one of the most important investors in Turkey. Last year Dutch investments in Turkey amounted to approximately euro 8.45 billion (US$11b. Turkey is also the 4th most important non-EU member trading partner of the Netherlands after Russia, Switzerland and the US.

The Turkish-Dutch who are citizens of the Netherlands of Turkish ancestry numbered 357,900 people in 2006, according to the Dutch Census Bureau. They make up 2.2% of the total population. The majority of Dutch Turks live in the four major cities of the Netherlands (Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague and Utrecht). The first Turks arrived in the 1960s and 1970s as workers to fill up the labor shortage during that time in the Netherlands, as well as in other Western European countries. The majority of Dutch Turks adhere to Sunni Islam, although there is also a considerable Alevi fragment. A number of Turkish-Dutch writers have come to prominence. Halil Gür was one of the earliest, writing short stories about Turkish immigrants. Sadik Yemni is well known for his Turkish-Dutch detective stories. Sevtap Baycili is a more intellectual novelist, who's writing is not limited to migrant themes. Nebahat Albayrak (born April 10, 1968 in Şarkışla) is a Turkish-Dutch politician in the Netherlands. She is the current State Secretary of Justice in the Netherlands.

Labels: Commerce, EU, Netherlands, Trade, Turkey

Labels: EU, Turkey

Europe's Road Ahead - Europe needs to get over its crush on Obama - by Michael Elliott

"In the case of Turkey, the question for Europe is not, as with Russia, how to avoid a dangerous rivalry. It is, rather, how to institutionalize relations with Turkey so that it can be Europe's partner in a dangerous neighborhood. At a recent World Economic Forum conference in Istanbul, I was struck both by how creative Turkish diplomacy now is in the whole ring of instability to its east and south, from Armenia right round to Syria, and how much Turks wanted to work with Europeans to extend the area of peace and economic integration which has, since the Treaty of Rome 51 years ago, steadily moved from the North Sea eastwards.

It will take skillful diplomacy and sustained political and economic engagement for Europe to find new and better relations with Russia and Turkey. And here is the key thing: the U.S., however charismatic its new President may be, will be little or no help.

Russia and Turkey are Europe's neighbors, not America's. Washington will always see relations with its former superpower rival differently from the way Europe does — as, indeed, was demonstrated in its reaction to the Georgian war.And that, perhaps, is the best of all reasons why Europe needs to get over its crush on Obama. In the things that really matter to Europe, it doesn't help. Love is a fine thing; but as all who have loved know, it does not solve all the problems that life throws our way."

Labels: Atlantic Alliance, EU, Turkey, US

BP to focus on U.S. wind farms

Europe's second-largest oil company, will end its planned wind power projects in India, China and Turkey to focus on onshore generation in the U.S. BP plans to have 1 gigawatt of wind power generating capacity in the U.S. by the end of the year, which will rise to 3 gigawatts ``in the next couple of years,'' said the company spokesman Robert Wine. Together with Clipper Windpower Plc, it plans to invest as much as $15 billion to build the world's biggest wind farm in the U.S.

BP is following the same strategy as its European larger rival, Royal Dutch Shell Plc, by focusing on U.S. wind projects. Shell in May sold its 33 percent stake in the London Array project, a 1,000-megawatt wind park off the English coast, citing rising costs. The U.S. offers access to land such as the Texan plains, where developers can build plants with less objections from local communities than in Europe.

Labels: Alternative Energy, BP, EU, Shell Oil, Turkey, US

Turkey's prostitutes seek to establish a union

Activists and sex workers in Turkey are working on a project to establish Turkey’s first "sex workers" union. They are hopeful about finding a solution to their problems and changing society’s approach toward sex workers. They will organize an awareness walk to bring attention to their issues. Prostitution is mentioned in the Turkish Penal Code and sex workers have to be registered according to the law. However, statistics show that many sex workers are unregistered and have no health or social security. “Only 126 sex workers are registered in Istanbul, but the real number is much higher than this,” said Muhtar Çokar, a doctor who helps sex workers access free and easy medical support.

“The number of registered sex workers in Turkey is 3,500 according to police data,” said Çokar. “That is too small a number compared to Ankara Trade Chamber, which said there are around 100,000 unregistered sex workers in total in Turkey.”

Labels: Labor Unions, Prostitution, Turkey

Turkey-Iran trade exceeds euro 8.7b (US$ 11b)

Turkish Foreign Trade Minister Kursad Tuzmen announced on Friday that Tehran-Ankara trade exceeded 11 billion dollars in the current Iranian calendar year (to end on March 20, 2009). Such a trade volume is an indication to existence of close economic cooperation between the two nations, he added. He made his remarks in a meeting with Iran’s Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki, held on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Istanbul on ‘Europe and Central Asia’.

Labels: Iran, Turkey

Turkey - EU Commission hails Turkey's role in regionalstability - by Elitsa Vucheva

Turkey's role as promoter of regional stability has improved in the last year, Brussels says in a draft report on Turkey and the western Balkans' progress towards the EU, while stressing that Ankara still has a lot to do in a number of areas before being judged fit to join the EU club."Turkey has played a constructive role in its neighbourhood and the wider Middle East through active diplomacy," reads the draft of the annual report seen by EUobserver. "Following the crisis in Georgia, [Turkey] proposed a Caucasus Stability and Co-operation Platform to promote dialogue between the countries of that region. [Turkish] President Gul paid a visit to Yerevan, the first visit ever of a Turkish president since the independence of Armenia. Turkey undertook efforts as a mediator between Israel and Syria and conducted a dialogue with Iran on the nuclear issue," the draft report goes on.

Labels: EU, Turkey

Alternative Energy - Turkey encourages Renewable energy

A draft of a new law encouraging renewable energy usage in Turkey has been presented to Parliament as part of a move to decrease Turkey's energy dependence. According to the draft, prepared by Soner Aksoy, the head of Parliament's Energy and Industry Commission, the state will guarantee that it will purchase electricity generated from renewable energy plants established within the next eight years. The state will buy electricity from renewable energy plants at higher rates than the average wholesale price arranged by the Energy Market Regulatory Agency (EPDK). "The state will pay 5-18 cents per kilowatt hour for the electricity generated by the renewable energy plants until 2016," Aksoy noted, saying that this was a short-term incentive package and that such applications to encourage entrepreneurs would continue. For the first five years, the state will pay 5 cents per kilowatt hour for hydroelectric energy, 6 cents for wind, 7 for geothermal, 14 for biomass and 18 for solar energy.

As part of the incentives in the draft, state land will be made available for the establishment of renewable energy plants. The General Directorate of Electrical Power Resources Survey and Development Administration (EİE) will convey suitable construction plans to the state, which will allocate land to the project. New public buildings will be constructed in a form that will harness renewable energy as efficiently as possible.

Labels: Alternative Energy, Turkey

Netherlands Conference Held At Turkish Foreign Ministry

Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan has said that the Netherlands was a powerful partner of Turkey, and they aimed at further intensifying and deepening the bilateral relations with that country in all areas. Babacan attended the Second Turkey-Netherlands Conference at the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs together with his Dutch counterpart Maxime Verhagen who is currently in Ankara on a formal visit. Speaking at the conference, Babacan said that the Netherlands was one of the countries making the most investments in Turkey. Our bilateral trade has been rapidly growing, he said. "More than 400 thousand people of Turkish descent live in the Netherlands. We expect number of Dutch tourists spending their holidays in Turkey to exceed 1 million by the end of this year. Relations between Turkish and Dutch peoples constitute an important part of the relations between the two countries," Babacan said.

Dutch Foreign Minister Verhagen, in his part, expressed his profound sorrow over killing of Turkish police officers in Wednesday`s terrorist attack in Diyarbakir. Referring to the bilateral relations, Verhagen said that the 400th anniversary of establishment of diplomatic relations between Turkey and the Netherlands would be celebrated in 2012. Verhagen said that Turkey was the fourth biggest commercial partner of the Netherlands.

Labels: Economy, EU, Netherlands, Tourism, Turkey

Turkey:Wake Up to Rising Economic Risks - by Wolfango Piccoli

Despite its large parliamentary majority and past pragmatism, the government led by Turkey's Justice & Development (AKP) party has remained essentially idle as the country faces the dual challenges of a slowing domestic economy and a global credit crunch. A risky sense of overconfidence and lack of focus on economic issues seems to prevail among policymakers. The Turkish banking sector appears relatively shielded from global liquidity problems. This is mainly thanks to reforms introduced after a 2001 banking crisis, including the creation of a bank regulatory and supervision agency and strengthened requirements for risk management, internal control, and auditing. Regulators say the banking system at the end of July had a healthy capital adequacy ratio of about 17% overall, while the loans-to-deposit ratio was 86.8%.

However, there are still risks to watch for. Foreign exchange liabilities of Turkish corporations to local banks had reached $39.42 billion as of March 2008. Local banks' gross debt to banks abroad stood at about $45 billion at the end of the first quarter. Credit-card default risk is another worry. Individual consumer credit-card debt is $26.9 billion, and the default rate is around 6.3%.

Labels: Economy, Turkey

Turkish energy sector chasing windmills and profits

When it comes to the burgeoning Turkish wind energy sector, prospects are as varied as the weather. Turkey is a relative newcomer to the renewable energy market, a field that includes diverse applications and innovative technologies for utilizing wind, solar and geothermal energy. Despite the government support, in 2005 the current phase of the Turkish wind energy sector's development got off to a turbulent start. As regards the renewable energy sector with which Turkey has so little experience, Turkish government authorities appear to have fumbled regulations and procedures and exhibited poor interagency coordination, complicating the sector's development. Despite barriers and a slow start, interest in the sector has continued to rise in 2008. When Sunday's Zaman spoke with sector representatives from foreign and domestic firms last week, they indeed seemed largely positive with respect to the future of wind energy investment in Turkey.

Turkey is home to an ideal geography for wind and solar energy investments, with an average of over seven hours of sunshine a day and borders with the Aegean, Black and Mediterranean Seas. Turkish electricity demand is increasing steadily, and Turkish policymakers are eager to decrease its dependence on foreign nations for the gas and oil that, among other things, fuel Turkish electricity production plants.

Labels: Alternative Energy, Turkey

Turkey says 'control your borders' to U.S., Iraq

Turkey relayed a "control you borders" message both to Iraq and the United States, which is leading coalition forces in this country, on Sunday following Friday's attack by outlawed PKK separatists. Turkey gave a note to Iraq and urged this country to take all the necessary measures to find and punish the perpetrators and to prevent any similar incidents, according to diplomatic sources. The sources also said the Turkish Embassy in the United States was launching initiatives with U.S. officials, as this country leads the coalition forces.

Fifteen Turkish soldiers were killed, 20 others were wounded and two soldiers went missing, Friday in an assault staged by PKK terrorists from north of Iraq on Aktutun Gendarmerie Border outpost in Semdinli town of southeastern province of Hakkari. Twenty-three PKK separatists were also killed in the clashes.

Labels: Iraq, Kurdish PKK terrorists, Turkey, USA

Labels: EU, Georgia, Turkey

Russia and Turkey tango in the Black Sea

Amid the flurry of diplomatic activity in Moscow last week over the Caucasus, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov took time off for an exceptionally important mission to Turkey, which might prove a turning point in the security and stability of the vast region that the two powers historically shared. Indeed, Russian diplomacy is swiftly moving even as the troops have begun returning from Georgia to their barracks. Moscow is weaving a complicated new web of regional alliances, drawing deeply into Russia's collective historical memory as a power in the Caucasus and the Black Sea.Moscow signaled the highest importance to consultations with Turkey. Lavrov summarily dropped all business at home and hurried to Istanbul on Tuesday on a working visit, essentially aimed at catching a few hours' urgent confidential conversation with his counterpart, Ali Babacan. Lavrov's mission underscored Russia's acute sense of its priorities in the current regional crisis in the Caucasus and the Black Sea.

The timing of Lavrov's consultations in Turkey was noteworthy. US Vice President Dick Cheney happened to be in the region, visiting Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Georgia, drumming up anti-Russia animus. Turkey didn't figure in his itinerary. Moscow shrewdly estimated the need of political dynamism with regard to Turkey. Moscow has taken careful note that unlike the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the European Union, Turkey's reaction to the conflict in the Caucasus has been manifestly subdued. Ankara briefly expressed its anxiety over the developments, but almost in pro-forma terms without taking sides.

Labels: Russia, Turkey

Labels: EU, Russia, Turkey

EU hails Turkey's 'historic' Armenia visit - by Elitsa Vucheva

The EU has hailed the decision of Turkish president Abdullah Gul to go to Armenia on Saturday (6 September) as a "historic and highly symbolic visit," expressing hopes that it constitutes a first step in the normalisation of tense relations between the two countries. Mr Gul's office earlier this week confirmed he had accepted an invitation from his Armenian counterpart Serzh Sargsyan to attend a qualifying match for the 2010 World Cup finals between the two nations in Yerevan.

Labels: Armenia, EU, Turkey

Turkey Downplays Russian Trade Dispute; Medvedev Praises EU - by Mark Bentley

Turkey sought to play down a trade dispute with Russia, refusing to condemn its invasion of Georgia, as Russian President Dimitry Medvedev praised the European Union for declining to push for sanctions. Turkey, a NATO member, is determined to strengthen economic ties with Russia as it negotiates an end to Russian curbs on its exports, Foreign Minister Ali Babacan said at a news conference in Istanbul today with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov. Babacan's comments followed the European Union's decision yesterday to take the symbolic step of suspending talks over expanded trade ties with Russia over the invasion of Georgia. EU leaders balked at imposing sanctions on Russia, acknowledging the 27-nation bloc's dependence on Russian oil and gas.``Russia is not only a neighbor and friend, at the same time it is a leading partner in energy and trade,'' Babacan said. ``We are also observing with pride the success of Turkish businessmen in the Russian Federation.''

Turkey, like the EU, relies on Russian energy to power its homes and businesses. Russia is the main supplier of gas to Turkey and is the country's largest trading partner.

Labels: EU, Russia, Turkey

Turkey - US warship sails through straits, Russia suspicious

The guided missile destroyer USS McFaul passed through the Dardanelles and the Bosporus, and two other ships, the US Coast Guard cutter Dallas and the command ship USS Mount Whitney, will follow in the coming days. "The USS McFaul is under way now, having taken on humanitarian supplies for the people of Georgia," a spokes-man for the US Navy in Europe said.

Russia, which occupied part of Georgia in response to a Georgian military offensive in the pro-Russia breakaway region of South Ossetia early this month, expressed concern over the US Navy ships' trip to the Black Sea. "From the Russian point of view … the usefulness of this operation is extremely dubious," Anatoly Nogovitsyn, deputy chief of the Russian military's General Staff was quoted by Reuters as saying when asked about the US Navy mission to deliver aid to Georgia.The rising tensions have increased opposition pressure on the government at home. The main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), which views government efforts to create a Caucasus regional platform to resolve regional crises with suspicion, yesterday formally requested a statement on whether the US ships transiting the Turkish Straits met Montreux standards. The CHP's Onur Öymen issued a formal inquiry to Foreign Minister Ali Babacan over whether the United States complied with Montreux requirements that all warship transits have to be declared to Turkish authorities eight days in advance.

Labels: EU, Russia, Turkey, USA

Turkish military to toe EU line

The government’s new national program, in line with the requirements of EU accession, calls for significant changes in Turkey’s military-civilian relations, an area of Turkey’s state structure that is frequently criticized by the EU.The package, prepared by the Foreign Ministry and the Secretariat-General for EU Affairs, is the draft of the Third National Program of Turkey. It calls for changes in the laws regarding the Court of Accounts that will enable military spending to be audited.

Labels: EU, Military, Turkey

Turkish motorists pay the most for gasoline in Europe

Turkish drivers pay Europe’s highest prices for gasoline due to the loading of gasoline in Turkey with the highest taxes in Europe, a recent survey has shown.

Labels: Europe, Gas Prices, Turkey

Crude Oil Rises as Turkey Says Pipeline Repair May Take 2 Weeks

Crude Oil Rises as Turkey Says Pipeline Repair May Take 2 Weeks

Crude oil rose for the first time in four days after Turkey said a pipeline carrying crude to the Mediterranean from Azerbaijan may remain shut for two weeks following an explosion on Aug. 5. The pipeline is able to ship 1 million barrels a day, Ali Gungor, governor of the Erzincan province, where the blast occurred, said today. A Kurdish separatist group claimed responsibility for bombing the line, which is still burning.

Labels: Kurdish PKK terrorists, Oil Production, Turkey

‘Ice warrior’ poised to repel rise of Islamic rule in Turkey - by John Swain

The next chief of the armed forces is being chosen this weekend at the end of a tumultuous week. Two PKK terrorist bombs exploded last Sunday night in Istanbul, killing 17 people, including five children whose bodies were riddled with shrapnel. Sandhurst-trained Basbug, 65, will have the top job for the next two years. He is a formidable military figure and an ideological hardliner who will ensure that Erdogan’s government - which was elected last year with 47% of the vote but is mistrusted by the military, which sees itself as guardian of a secular society - walks a narrow political line. For these reasons Basbug is almost certainly not the general Erdogan would choose to promote. The outgoing chief of the general staff, General Mehmet Yasar Buyukanit, was also a hardliner but he was impulsive and could be outmanoeuvred by the prime minister. “Erdogan will find Basbug is a much more formidable opponent than his predecessor. He is a lot more subtle,” said a military source.

Labels: Ilker Basbug, Military, PKK, Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey

Turkey’s Governing Party Avoids Ban - Sebnem Arsu

Turkey’s governing party narrowly missed being banned in a court ruling on Wednesday that released months of pressure in the country and handed a victory to the party’s leader, a former Islamist.The party, Justice and Development, or AKP, as it is know in Turkish, was kept alive by just one vote — six members of Turkey’s Constitutional Court voted to close it, but seven were required. A ban would have brought down the government, forcing national elections for the second time in a year and pitching the country into chaos. “A great uncertainty blocking Turkey’s future has been lifted,” said Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the leader of the party, speaking in Ankara, Turkey’s capital.

And while the ruling was widely viewed as a win for Mr. Erdogan, and in turn for Turkish democracy, the court did not let the party off the hook, voting to cut its public funding in half, a strong but not fatal sanction, and issued a “serious warning,” that the party was steering the country in too Islamic a direction. “AKP is on probation,” said Soli Ozel, a professor at Bilgi University in Istanbul. “The court clearly said it sees the party as a focal institution for Islamizing the country.”

Labels: Secularism, Turkey

Iran, Turkey seek stronger energy cooperation

Iranian Foreign Minister Manuchehr Mottaki on Saturday held talks with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara on ways to expand comprehensive cooperation especially in energy sector. “Fortunately, the train of bilateral relations is moving in a good condition. Joint agreements on energy and building an electricity power plant are underway and the memoranda of understanding on cooperation in South Pars gas filed are in the final process,” Mottaki stated. He expressed hope that the implementation of Article 44 of the Constitution which calls for the privatization of state-run economy will provide the ground for further cooperation between the two neighbors’ private sectors.

Labels: Iran, Turkey

Labels: EU, Turkey

Labels: EU, Turkey

Turkey ranks world's 55th richest country on IMF list

Turkey has been ranked 55th in the world according to the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) list of countries having the highest income per capita for 2008. Luxembourg with a gross domestic product (GDP) per capita of $117,200 tops this year’s list. Turkey ranks world's 55th richest country in IMF list. Turkey is ranked the 55th in the world and 31st in Europe with an income per capita of $10,700.

According to the IMF's evaluations for the year 2008, there are 57 countries whose national income per capita is over $10,000, 31 of those are from the European continent.

Labels: Turkey

Arrests fuel Turkey coup rumblings

A senior Turkish general called for calm yesterday after two prominent retired generals were detained in a widening police investigation into a suspected coup plot against the Government. "Turkey is passing through difficult days. We all have to be acting with more common sense, more carefully and more responsibly," land forces commander General Ilker Basbug, who is the second-most powerful general in the Turkish military, said yesterday. Police detained 21 people on Tuesday as part of an investigation into Ergenekon, a shadowy, ultra-nationalist and hard-line secularist group suspected of planning bombings and assassinations calculated to trigger an army takeover.

Labels: Military, Secularism, Turkey

TURKEY - Court Challenge for Leaders

The deputy prime minister defended his party in court against charges that it was steering Turkey toward Islamic rule. Turkey’s chief prosecutor, Abdurrahman Yalcinkaya, wants to disband the governing Justice and Development Party and ban Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and 70 other party members from politics for five years. Deputy Prime Minister Cemil Cicek argued in the party’s defense. The party has been locked in a power struggle with secular groups supported by the military, the judiciary and other state institutions.

Labels: Military, Secularism, Turkey

Labels: EU, Turkey

Labels: EU, Turkey

Why do foreign tourists hate Russians on holidays?

A recent research published in the Netherlands revealed that many foreign tourists, particularly the Dutch, prefer to stay away from Russian holiday-makers in Turkey and Egypt. The research was conducted by Esme Visser, a specialist of Eastern Europe. She personally questioned hundreds of tourists and used several hundreds of comments which she gathered at hotels and online forums. She was interested in most popular destinations with Russian tourists – Turkey, Egypt and Arab Emirates. For example, over 1.5 million Russian vacationers visited Turkey in 2006 alone. The researcher said that she was shocked to hear so much criticism of Russians from Dutch tourists. About 40 percent of opinions included in the research touched upon Russian tourists, most of them contained complaints. There were positive comments, but they were in minority. To crown it all, there were hardly any complaints about tourists of other nationalities.

The phenomenon even led to the development of a new trend in tourism, known as “tours without Russians.”

Labels: EU, Russians, Tourism, Turkey

EURO 2008 - Turkey and Russia worthy of top billing - by Andrew Warshaw

While the semi-final line-up tomorrow and Thursday might not exactly set the pulses racing or fill the coffers of either the joint hosts or Uefa, especially now that an estimated 120,000 Dutch fans have left town, no-one can say that the four teams involved don't deserve to be there – and that includes 66-1 outsiders Turkey. With his trademark unbuttoned white crisp shirt and Mediterranean tan, Terim's emphasis on team play has paid off big-time. He has developed a squad with the mental resilience of a club side, a player's coach who treats them as soldiers going into battle. Whatever happens in Basel tomorrow night, his cult status can only be enhanced.

Five times Hiddink has taken teams to major tournaments, and five times he has successfully steered them out of the group stages. Russia may have started badly against Spain but the way they responded had the purists purring with delight. Hiddink may have already exceeded expectations but there is a train of thought that suggests Russia are the growing force in European football following Zenit St Petersburg's Uefa Cup win over Rangers. But good enough to beat Spain? No one , least of all themselves, expect Luis Aragones' team to have anywhere near as comfortable a ride as they did in the group phase when Russia were raw and nervous. But having broken their jinx against Italy in the quarters, the great under-achievers of European football believe their time has come.

Labels: EURO 2008, Russia, Soccer, Turkey

Labels: Croatia, EURO 2008, Turkey

Siemens eyes to invest in Turkish wind energy market

Europe's largest engineering conglomerate, Siemens, has taken steps to increase its position in the Turkish renewable energy market. Siemens Turkey CEO Hüseyin Gelis and Wolfgang Dehen, a board member and the company's energy division CEO, expressed their strong will to invest in the Turkish wind energy business in particular at a roundtable with members of the press in İstanbul on Tuesday. "We see a huge market of opportunities in Turkey's energy sector. And we strongly wish to invest in this market!" Dehen said. "Turkey is among the world's top five fastest growing countries and is currently the 17th most important economic power of the world, with the potential to move up to 15th place in 2008," Dehen said, explaining that these growth rates will naturally be reflected by a rapidly increasing demand for energy in the future.

Labels: Alternative Energy, EU, Siemens, Turkey, Windpower

EURO 2008 - Soccer: Turkey completes stunning rally - by John Doyle

A full hour after Turkey stunned the Czech Republic with a last-gasp 3-2 victory, most of the thousands of Turkish fans were still inside the stadium, celebrating. They could hardly believe it. Neither could anyone else. This was a game for the ages. An epic, come-from-behind victory for an unheralded team that had already dispatched co-host Switzerland from the tournament. For the Turks celebrating in the stands, it was another rebuke to their rude hosts.

Those fans, who had been prepping all day in Geneva outside Turkish coffee houses and kebab shops, knew that every game played in Switzerland, and every goal scored, transcends soccer. The Turks have a complicated, resentful relationship with the Swiss. There are scores to settle, on a sporting and sociological level. It matters that Turkey beat the Czech Republic, but it mattered even more that it happened in Switzerland.

Labels: EURO 2008, Soccer, Turkey

Divided Turkey sweats in a political heat wave - by Bernard Bouwman

Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan's AK Party is furious because the Constitutional Court has decided to reinstate the ban on headscarves at Turkish universities. Rarely have the Turkish government and judiciary been so much at loggerheads. Is there any way out of the crisis? MK Party MPs cheered as Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan attacked the Turkish Constitutional Court in a speech on Tuesday. In February, MPs voted to abolish the ban on headscarves at Turkish universities, but last week the Constitutional Court revoked the decision. The religious headscarf is again outlawed on campus. And like many others in his party, Mr Erdogan is furious. In his speech to parliament he asserted,
"The constitution clearly says that legislative power belongs solely to elected parliaments" - not, therefore, to the Constitutional Court. "No one can take away the power the constitution grants to the respected parliament." Mr Erdogan's speech is indicative of the degree of political tension in Turkey. The secular camp (the C