by admin | May 25, 2021 | World
Washington : The White House rejected Turkey’s offer to release an American pastor in exchange for forgiveness of billions of dollars in US fines on a Turkish bank, a senior administration official told The Wall Street Journal.
The rejection could lead to the US imposing additional sanctions against Turkey sometime this week, the Journal reported on Sunday.
Last week, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said that the US was willing to do so if the pastor Andrew Brunson was not released.
“A real NATO ally wouldn’t have arrested Brunson in the first place,” the senior White House official told the Journal. Turkey is a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO).
Brunson’s incarceration in a Turkish prison has soured the two countries’ relationship, sparking a crisis that has contributed to a sharp decline in Turkey’s currency, reports CNN.
On Friday, a Turkish high criminal court rejected Brunson’s appeal to be released from house arrest and allowed to travel abroad after his appeal was rejected by a lower court.
The North Carolina pastor has been held in Turkey since 2016 after being accused of helping plot a coup attempt against Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Muslim World
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan
Ankara : Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday announced that his country will boycott American electronic products.
The announcement came in his address to a symposium organized by the Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research (SETA) on the 17th foundation anniversary of the ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party.
“We will boycott American electronic products,” Erdogan said, adding that Turkey would produce a better version of every product previously bought with foreign currencies and export them.
“They do not hesitate to use the economy as a weapon against us, as they [also] tried in the diplomatic or military field, and efforts to sow social and political instability,” he added.
Turkey and the United States are currently experiencing rocky relations following Washington’s imposition of sanctions on Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu and Justice Minister Abdulhamit Gul for not releasing US Pastor Andrew Brunson, who faces terrorism charges in Turkey.
President Donald Trump on Friday ramped up his attack on Turkey by doubling US tariffs on Turkish aluminum and steel imports to 20 percent and 50 percent, respectively.
—AB/UNA-OIC
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Muslim World
Ankara : Turkey’s currency nosedived again Monday with a fresh 11 per cent plunge as fears deepened about the country’s ability to deal with a crisis that has rattled markets around the world.
The Turkish lira dropped 11 per cent against the dollar in morning trading in Asia, reports CNN.
It had plummeted more than 20 per cent last week as a political clash with the US intensified and investors fretted about the Turkish government’s lack of action to tackle the problems plaguing its economy.
The lira’s drop has unsettled global markets, with shares of European banks coming under particular pressure because of concerns over the lenders’ exposure to Turkey.
On Monday, benchmark stock indexes in Tokyo, Hong Kong and Shanghai were all down more than 1.5 per cent in late morning trading.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has dismissed calls for the country to raise interest rates to try to ease the crisis and has lashed out at the US.
“We will not give in,” Erdogan said on Sunday. “If you come at us with your dollars then we will find other ways to do business.”
The lira is now down around 45 per cent against the dollar since the start of the year, making it far harder for Turkish companies to pay back loans they have taken out in the US currency.
Meanwhile, Finance Minister Berat Albayrak said in an interview with Turkish newspaper Hurriyet on Sunday that the government has drafted an economic action plan that it will start implementing on Monday morning, CNN reported.
Albayrak, who is Erdogan’s son-in-law, didn’t specify what the plan would involve.
He said the country’s banks and banking regulator “will take the necessary measures quickly”.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | World
By Abdulselam Durdak,
Frankfurt: German bookings for Turkey holidays in summer 2018 has almost doubled compared to last year’s figures, German tour operators have told Anadolu Agency.
“In 2018, we see Turkey’s comeback,” German Travel Association’s (DRV) spokeswoman Kerstin Heinen said, and added that bookings and sales revenues for summer 2018 have almost doubled.
A record 5.5 million German tourists visited Turkey in 2015, but their members dropped to 3.9 million in 2016, and 3.5 million in 2017, largely due to political tensions between Ankara and Berlin, and conflicts in countries neighboring Turkey.
Heinen stressed that this year Turkey has again become one of the most popular holiday destinations for German travelers.
But despite the impressive figures, the peak values of 2015 has not yet been reached, she noted.
Europe’s largest holiday operator TUI Group also recorded significant increase in summer 2018 bookings to Turkey.
“Turkey has again become one of the most popular holiday destinations for German tourists and it is currently in the 3rd place,” TUI’s spokesperson Susanne Stunckel has said.
Germany’s tour operators have welcomed Turkey’s move to lift a two-year-old state of emergency, but noted that it would not make an immediate impact on the figures, as the main season is running already.
European Turkish Travel Agents Association’s (ATURSAB) President Guner Kizil said the end of state of emergency would likely have a positive impact on the numbers in the coming months.
“I believe that we will welcome more tourists from Germany this year, close to the figures of 2015,” he told Anadolu Agency.
Last week, Germany’s Foreign Ministry has relaxed its travel advice for Turkey, and noted that the state of emergency was lifted.
The Turkish government declared a state of emergency for the first time on July 20, 2016, following a foiled coup attempt.
Political relations between Ankara and Berlin suffered several setbacks in the past two years, but both sides took steps in the recent months towards normalization of ties.
EU heavyweight Germany remains Turkey’s main economic and trade partner, despite political disagreements between governments on a number of issues. In 2017, the bilateral trade volume reached €37.6 billion ($44.04 billion).
—AA
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Business Summit, Events, Muslim World
Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan
Ankara : The BRICS summit presents an important opportunity for its member countries and Turkey to develop closer cooperation, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said.
Erdogan made the remarks during a press conference on Wednesday at Ankara airport, adding that the BRICS member countries have contributed in the last decade to 50 per cent of the global economic growth, Xinhua news agency reported.
The five BRICS countries, Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, seen by analysts as rising challengers to established Western economies, will hold the group’s latest summit in Johannesburg, the largest city of South Africa.
Turkey is not a member of the BRICS, but Erdogan will attend a special session of the event in his capacity as the current chair of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, the Turkish presidency said in a statement.
This visit came after Erdogan’s election victory last month, which granted him extra executive power and another five-year presidential term after Turkey’s political system shifted to a presidential one.
The Turkish president will be accompanied by a delegation of economic and political high-ranking officials as he will discuss means and ways to further maximise economic and political ties with the BRICS.
As part of his visit, the Turkish leader is also due to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the summit, according to the statement.
The Turkish presidency described Erdogan’s participation in the summit as Turkey’s “first high-level contact” with the BRICS members.
In this context, South African Ambassador to Turkey Pule Malefane stressed the significance of Erdogan’s visit to Johannesburg in enhancing bilateral ties.
“It is not by accident that President Erdogan was invited to the BRICS summit,” Malefane told Daily Sabah.
“Turkey is regarded as a strategic ally in strengthening South-to-South relations and Agenda 2063, which is a strategic vision of the African Union,” he said.
BRICS countries account for 26 per cent of the world’s land mass and are home to 46 pe rcent of the world’s population and approximately 23 per cent of the global GDP.
—IANS
