*** Audio archives of our broadcasts are at: http://www.TurkRadio.us/ar/archives.html Also available for your MP3 players at: http://turkradio.podomatic.com/ {20090606trh.txt} x0x Turkish news for week ending 06 June 2009 [Best when viewed with the courier font.] **************************************************************** A service of the TURKISH RADIO HOUR, producer of: TURKISH CULTURAL PROGRAM Saturdays at 6:00 P.M. KUSF FM 90.3, San Francisco Also tune to ORIENT EXPRESS Tuesdays at 10:00 P.M. KKUP FM 91.5, CUPERTINO **************************************************************** Ahmet Toprak edited today's news. Your host is Ahmet Toprak. For a subscription to the Internet edition of this news, send a blank email to: TurkC-L-subscribe@yahoogroups.com *************************************************************** NEWS * The 28th Annual Conference on US-Turkish Relations, jointly organized by the American-Turkish Council and Turkish Foreign Economic Relations Board's Turkish-US Business Council was held in Washington this week. According to the Turkish daily Star, Turkey's Foreign Affairs Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, Defense Minister Vecdi Gonul, Transportation Minister Binali Yildirim, Chief of General Staff Gen. Ilker Basbug and Turkish Ambassador to Washington Nabi Sensoy were among the attendees. The organizer of the conference, American-Turkish Council is a group that seeks to boost the two nations' political, defense and trade ties. The Council's members include major U.S. and Turkish companies doing business in each other's countries. Chief of General Staff Gen. Ilker Basbug and Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen addressed the conference's opening dinner Monday night. Turkeys Foreign Affairs Minister Ahmet Davutoglu was the keynote speaker at the conference's closing dinner Tuesday. The council's chairman of the board of directors is retired Gen. Brent Scowcroft, national security adviser to former presidents Gerald Ford and George W. H. Bush. The group's president is James Holmes, a former U.S. ambassador. * As we said in our previous news, Turkey's chief of staff of the Armed Forces general Ilker Basbug was in the U.S. this week. He visited Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen in Pentagon. While visiting the Pentagon general Basbug was decorated with a medal. The Turkish daily Milliyet reports that Turkey's national defense minister Vecdi Gonul met with the top boss of the Pentagon, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates. * From time to time we bring you the views of the Turkish government and politicians on the attitudes of the European Union countries towards Turkey. Turks complain that the European countries are not treating them fairly on Turkey's road to become a European Union member. They complain about bias and additional hurdles thrown their way. Basically, Turkey as a candidate for membership is required to undertake certain reforms to become a European Union member. Some European politicians are saying that Turkey is not carrying out these reforms fast enough. And some are saying that even if Turkey undertakes all the reforms, Turkey should not be a member because fundamentally it is not "European". Reuters interviewed on Thursday on this topic European Union enlargement commissioner Mr. Olli Rehn in Washington. Mr. Rehn was in Washington to meet with the U.S. State Department and World Bank officials to discuss various issues including Turkey's membership. In his interview Mr. Rehn implied that Turkey was not undertaking the reforms fast enough. He said there is plenty of work on issues such as freedom of expression and the media and trade union rights. He said that for the past three years the European Union demanded Turkey to adopt a law on trade unions. However despite several promises by the Turkish authorities no such law is there yet, Mr. Rehn added. * Speaking of the European Union, according to Agence France-Presse, Turkey on Friday slammed European parties campaigning against its European Union membership bid in the European Parliament elections, accusing them of "fanning xenophobia." Without giving names, Turkey's foreign affairs ministry said Turkish government was "following with regret the negative statements and rhetoric about Turkey's European Union membership process in some countries." The leaders of European Union heavyweights France and Germany have been particularly vocal in their opposition to Turkey's accession. Far-right parties in other member countries have also campaigned against the mainly Muslim country's membership aspirations as part of a broader agenda against the "Islamisation" of Europe. In the Dutch vote, the far-right Party for Freedom -- whose leader Geert Wilders has gained international notoriety with attacks on Islam -- was the big winner, coming second in its first-ever campaign, according to exit polls. * Turkey's president Mr. Abdullah Gul received President Obama's speech in Cairo this week favorably, according to the Turkish daily Hurriyet. "With his expressions and commitments in the speech, Obama proved once more that he is a constructive leader with whom Islamic countries can establish partnership to ensure peace and stability in the region and the world," the Turkish president said. The rest of the daily Hurriyet's report is as follows: Calling Obama's remarks sincere, honest and realistic, Gul said, "I think that the messages given by President Obama were quite clear. He sincerely shared feelings and thoughts of people in Islam countries and expressed them. This is very hopeful. Also, consistency of his today's remarks with his statements during pre-election campaigns revealed his coherence." The daily Hurriyet also reported on the comments of the Turkish foreign affairs minister Mr. Ahmet Davutoglu. Speaking to reporters in New York on Thursday, Mr. Ahmet Davutoglu characterized Obama's recent remarks as timely and accurate. "It is not possible to disagree with him on the matters he mentioned; but these issues on the agenda require active intervention," he said. "I found Obamas speech positive, especially the emphasis on democracy, education and science and womens rights, but I havent seen a deep-rooted change in his address," said retired diplomat Faruk Logoglu, Turkeys former ambassador to Washington. Mr. Logoglu said, as a concept, he had been against an address to the Muslim world since the very beginning because it implied a division between Islam and the rest of the world. "The Islamic world is not united, not a single entity, and there are differing political, sectarian movements in Islam," he said. "One of the controversial elements in the address was that it seemed as if it were the Muslim world that takes a stance against the other. Is this particular to the Islamic world only? I think [Obama] made a conceptual mistake." "There is no doubt that it was a positive, historic speech," said religious cleric from Istanbul Mustafa CagrIcI. But he similarly made clear that shortcomings were not particular to Islam. "I hope Obama addresses the Israeli parliament too and expresses the shortcomings of the Jewish religion." Mr. Obama's address was a continuation of his messages in the Turkish Ankara, according to Yasemin Congar of daily Taraf. "With such a president in the White House delivering such messages, the job of radical Islamists, opponents of the headscarf and Islam and any kind of groups fed by the tension in the post-September 11 era is really hard," she said. * Agence France-Presse reports that Turkey's Kurdish separatists announced a six-week extension of a truce in that campaigned against Turkey on Monday. The rebels said that the extension was due to "positive conditions which have appeared." The announcement comes after recent comments from President Abdullah Gul who said "an historic opportunity" was opening up to resolve the conflict, without giving further details. The rebels' organization Kurdistan Workers Party is regarded as a terrorist group by Turkey, the European Union and the United States. * Addressing the opening ceremony of the Turkey-World Trade Bridge 2009 meeting, held by the Turkish Confederation of Businessmen and Industrialists in Istanbul, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday that foreign investors engaging in trade with Turkey during this period would surely secure more profit, and called on them to invest in Turkey. The Turkish daily Star reports that a total of four deputy prime ministers, 20 state ministers and 9 deputy ministers from 33 countries came together to discuss business opportunities. With the addition of six ambassadors, the number of countries represented at the summit reached 39. * According to the Turkish daily Sabah Turkey's Transportation Minister Binali Yildirim said on Wednesday that the US could use Turkey as a center for air supply and cargo transportation to the Middle East, the South Asia and other regions. Meeting with his US counterpart Ray LaHood on the sidelines of the 28th Annual Conference jointly held by the American-Turkish Council and the Turkish-American Business Council in Washington with a focus on the review of relations between the two countries under the theme of US-Turkey: Overcoming Challenges in an Era of Change, Mr. Yildirim told reporters afterwards that the US was currently carrying out its transportation to the region via Germany which was having difficulties due to heavy traffic. He added that opportunities for cooperation in the aviation sector and high-speed train projects were on the agenda of their meeting as well. Mr. Yildirim also said that the Turkish State Railways and General Electric would soon start joint production of locomotives in the Central Anatolian province of Eskisehir. "In addition to Turkey's strategic partnership with the US in fields of defense and security, we would like to improve ties in transportation, trade, tourism and information technology as well. We believe there is a great potential towards this end," Mr. Yildirim added. * The Hurriyet Daily News reports that Fair and Congress Center in Istanbul is hosting the International Textile Machinery 2009 exhibition set to begin on Saturday. Some 1,500 companies from 37 countries are expected to participate in this year's event. The event is held every three years. The International Textile Machinery exhibition in 2006 has hosted 1,200 companies from 35 countries and more than 70,000 visitors. * Turkish Prime Minister announced a new $4 billion stimulus plan on the Thursday. As part of the plan 500,000 people will be given employment. 120,000 of these will work for six months in public works projects at the current minimum wage. Among the projects are maintenance work at schools, hospitals; reforestation and preventing soil erosion; maintenance and remodeling of public parks. Also 100,000 youths will be admitted to employee- in- training programs for six months for new jobs. While in training government will pay these youth about $10 a day in local currency. One of the program will teach 10,000 people how to become an entrepreneur. 200,000 people to will be trained for new jobs and paid $10 a day. * In related news, the Anatolia News Agency reports that Ibrahim Halil Canakci of the Turkish treasury thinks that the contraction of Turkey's economy has slowed down. Mr. Calci says that it is too early to determine whether this slowdown indicates a permanent and robust recovery. The Anatolia News agency also reported that Turkish exports dropped 40 percent in May compared to the same period in 2008. * According to the Turkish Daily Turkiye, a key intergovernmental agreement is expected to be signed late this month to launch the construction of the long-planned Nabucco natural gas pipeline project that will transfer gas from the Caspian basin to European via Turkey. After bridging their differences on the project in the last month's South Corridor summit in Prague, Czech Republic, which holds the European Union's rotating term presidency, Turkish and European Union officials, and other partner countries of the project agreed to sign the intergovernmental agreement on June 25 to start the construction of the pipeline on which the European Union places great importance to reduce its dependence to the Russian gas by diversifying the bloc's energy supply resources. A dispute earlier this year between Russia and the gas transit country Ukraine, which left European customers without supply for two weeks in the coldest days of winter, gave added urgency to the project. The US supports the project as well. The construction is expected to start in 2011 and the first delivery of natural gas with the in 2006. Turkey also has a project for carrying the Iraqi and Egyptian natural gas to European. When all these projects are completed, Turkey will be the fourth biggest natural gas supplier of European, after Norway, Russia and Algeria. ARTS AND CULTURE Edited by Carol Dean * A European Union-financed art project called "My City," was launched at a high-profile reception last week in Ankara. This project, which will be implemented by the British Council, will fund European artists to produce pieces of public art for five Turkish cities, Visiting British Foreign Secretary David Miliband attended the reception for the project along with governors and mayors from the five participating cities. "I am a city person. Cities are places where people and ideas and money and art and culture mix and develop and transform," Miliband said in his opening remarks. "Cities are sometimes in newspapers or on television for bad reasons, such as crime, drugs or other problems, but today we are celebrating the magnificent elevation and excellent imagination of great cities in Turkey, some of which are not well known by Europeans." Five prominent European artists will be selected in September to carry out public-art projects in Canakkale, Istanbul, Konya, Mardin and Trabzon. The artists will work with local young people to reflect the cultural richness and diversity of each city and introduce it to the world. In exchange, five Turkish artists will go to Europe and share their experiences as part of a "guest artist" program. Miliband emphasized that the process of Turkish accession to the European Union as a full member is one that "depends on governments and businesses, but also depends on changing the minds and perspectives of people." "There is no better way of bringing people together than through art and culture," he added. "That is why I am so excited about this project, which aims to present a modern Turkey the best of the old and the best of the new, the best of its history and also the best of its imagination to a wide European public." It is impossible to succeed in politics without cultural contact, Miliband said, adding: "I believe this project is an important signal of the growing links between Turkey and the European Union. I believe that its success will be a harbinger, a signal of success of the integration of Turkey into the European Union." * The 23rd International Izmir Festival will be held from June 13 to Oct. 18 and will host an array of world-class performers. For the first time the Adnan Saygun Art Center and Ephesus Odeon will be used as event venues. Also, the world-renowned Ephesus Celsius Library, the Bergama Asklepion and Ce$me Castle will host concerts for the festival. The festival is organized by the Izmir Foundation for Culture and Arts with the contributions from the Prime Ministry, the Culture and Tourism Ministry, the Izmir Metropolitan Municipality, the EczacIba$I Group and Izmir's Konak Municipality. The festival will start June 13 at 9:30 p.m. with an unforgettable performance from Kodo, regarded as one of the biggest and most important bands of the traditional Japanese art of drum. Nearly 30 years after its first appearance on stage in the Berlin Art Festival, Kodo will come to Izmir as part of its "One Earth: Trans-border" tournament that will continue until July. Kodo members worked for the tournament for two years on Sado Island. * The recently published book "Turks in Europe: Culture, Identity, Integration" takes perhaps the most thorough look to date at Turks living in Europe. The book, published in English by the Netherlands-based Turk House Research Center features 23 original articles by 28 world-renowned social scientists. Prof. Talip Kucukcan, a member of the faculty at Marmara University and senior advisor to the president of the Board of Higher Education and Turk House Research Center Director Veyis Gungor said they expect universities to assign the book to their students. According to the authors in the book, Turks abroad, especially those in the second and third generations, "develop new identities that could establish a bridge between Turkey and the European Union, and have great potential for better promotion of Turkey in Europe," Kucukcan said. "The book suggests Turkey establish closer relations with Turks living in Europe and supports public-diplomacy projects that Turkey will maintain in the European Union countries." * Starting this week, Istanbul is the scene of a musical feast. The 37th edition of the International Istanbul Music Festival welcomes the summer with an exclusive and impressive program of more than 500 national and international artists. The opening concert of the festival was performed by the Borusan Chamber Orchestra. 2009 Honor Award will be presented to Turkish opera bass soloist Ayhan Baran. This year's program, compiled by festival director Ye$im Gurer Oymak, presents a total of 18 events, including performances of world renowned chamber, symphony, and philharmonic orchestras, outstanding ensembles and distinguished soloists. The festival venues are Hagia Eirene Museum, TopkapI Palace, Sureyya Opera House, Istanbul Archaeological Museum and Lutfi KIrdar Convention and Exhibition Center. The festival's 2009 Honor Award will be presented to Turkish opera bass soloist Ayhan Baran for his contributions to the art of opera and classical music in Turkey and abroad. Another event not to be missed at this year's festival is a concert by superstar of the opera world Rolando Villazon, whose magnificent voice and passionate interpretations have made him one of the most outstanding tenors of our time. Among other particularly important performances in this year's festival program will be from Turkey's internationally renowned virtuoso Suna Kan, and one of the most important voices Turkey has contributed to the opera stage Yelda KodallI. * According to the Turkish daily Referans, Turkey is becoming a hot new destination for weddings, with many people from Arab countries, Greece and Iran choosing to come to Istanbul to get married. People from Arab countries such as Jordan and Lebanon, as well as Iranian citizens, choose Turkey largely because of their exposure to Turkish soap operas filmed at Istanbul mansions alongside the Bosphorus. Daughters of wealthy Middle Easterners wait in line to get married at the mansion where "Gumus," a popular soap opera, is shot. Greeks, in contrast, are often drawn to Istanbul because they consider it a holy place. EXCHANGE RATE EXCHANGE RATE for the U.S. dollar in New Turkish Liras: 1.53 WEATHER High and Low Temperatures in Degrees F, Weather Ankara, in central Turkey----------: 82/50 Mostly Sunny Antalya, on the Mediterranean------: 91/72 Mostly Sunny Istanbul, in northwestern Turkey---: 82/64 Mostly Sunny Izmir, on the Aegean---------------: 91/66 Mostly Sunny Trabzon, on the Black Sea----------: 73/63 Partly Cloudy Seawater temperatures Black Sea measured at Trabzon 66 Marmara Sea measured at Tekirdag 64 Aegean Sea measured at Izmir 68 Mediterranean Sea measured at Antalya 72 SPORTS Takim O P 1.BESIKTAS A.S. 34 71 2.SIVASSPOR 34 66 3.TRABZONSPOR A.S. 34 65 4.FENERBAHCE 34 61 5.GALATASARAY A.S. 34 61 6.BURSASPOR 34 58 7.KAYSERISPOR 34 50 8.GAZIANTEPSPOR 34 47 9.BUYUKSEHIR BLD.SPOR 34 42 10.ANKARASPOR A.S. 34 41 11.ESKISEHIRSPOR 34 40 12.ANTALYASPOR A.S. 34 40 13.MKE ANKARAGUCU 34 39 14.GENCLERBIRLIGI 34 38 15.DENIZLISPOR 34 38 16.KONYASPOR 34 38 17.KOCAELISPOR 34 29 18.HACETTEPE SPOR 34 22 ANNOUNCEMENTS *** One of our underwriters is the European Turkish Market of Burlingame. European Turkish Market is a family-owned-and-operated market in Burlingame, California, offering a large variety of international food and gift items for your needs. From succulent deli meats to enticing Turkish, and mediterranean foods, the market offers you a large selection of your favorite European items under one roof.Visit the European Turkish Market to find the perfect International food and gift item that you have been searching for. 1138 Chula Vista Avenue Burlingame, CA 94010-3502 Phone (650) 548-5386 On the www at : http://www.europeanturkishmarket.com Bugunki programimizin sizlere getirilmesinde European Turkish Market'in katkilari olmu$tur. Turkiye ve Akdenizden her tur bakkaliye ve hediyuelik e$yanin bulundugu market Burlingame'de, hemen broadwat chiki$indadir. Telefonlari ve adresleri: 1138 Chula Vista Avenue Burlingame, CA 94010-3502 (650) 548-5386 *** Turkish American Association of California is a non-profit charitable organization established to promote better understanding between Americans and Turks. If you have any questions about Turks and Turkey, e-mail them at taac@taaca.org *** Planning to go to Turkey? Take a look at our Web pages that are full of articles and information furnished by travelers like yourselves: http://travel.to/sunholiday *** For more music from Turkey and the Middle East tune to International Cultural Program. San Francisco World TV Channel 29 Sundays at 9-10 A.M. *** Yore dance invites you to: Free Turkish Folkdance Classes. Sundays at 11:00 AM - 1:30 PM Shawl-Anderson Dance Center 2704 Alcatraz Ave., Berkeley CA 94705 Corner of College & Alcatraz Tuesdays at 8:00 PM - 10:30 PM *** Yore is inviting you to an Akdeniz nights, mediterranean style party June 6th Saturday 10 PM to 1:30 PM, Bodrum Cafe 383 Castro Street Mountain View For more information go to http://www.yoredance.org {20090606trh.txt}