The first agreement was signed in Zurich on Oct. 10 with Armenia, with which Turkey has had no diplomatic relations since 1993 after Armenia's occupation of a territory belonging to Azerbaijan, an ethnic and regional ally. The agreement signed by Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu and his Armenian counterpart, Edward Nalbandian, aims to reinstate formal ties and reopen the closed border. The second agreement was signed with Syria on Tuesday.Davutoğlu and his Syrian counterpart, Walid al-Moallem, officially signed an agreement in Gaziantep to end visa requirements between the two countries, a goal announced in mid-September by the two ministers during a visit to İstanbul by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Davutoğlu and al-Moallem signed an accord to end visa requirements and a bilateral cooperation agreement under which top ministers from the two countries will meet each year. The accord, titled the “High-Level Strategic Cooperation Council Agreement,” is similar to a strategic mechanism recently established between Turkey and Iraq. On Thursday, Turkey and Iraq took a giant step forward to boost ties, signing more than 40 agreements ranging from fighting Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) terrorism to energy cooperation and sharing water. The deals, which Davutoğlu said would have implications for the entire Middle East, were signed at a meeting of key government ministers of the two countries under the High-Level Strategic Cooperation Council. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, on a visit to Baghdad together with nine Cabinet ministers and several businessmen, and his Iraqi counterpart, Nouri al-Maliki, headed the joint meeting of the Turkish and Iraqi ministers.
Oct. 10Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) President Lluis Maria de Puig delivered this year's PACE Europe Prize to Ankara for its 40 sister-city agreements with cities around the world during an award ceremony held in Ankara. Ankara Mayor Melih Gökçek accepted the award on behalf of Ankara, which has developed a large network of international contacts and attaches great importance to the development of cultural relations by organizing cultural days every year.
Despite a three-hour delay due to last-minute disagreements, Turkey and Armenia signed two landmark protocols in Zurich outlining the restoration of bilateral ties and the opening of their shared border. The disagreement stemmed from the Armenian delegation's objection to an implicit reference to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan in a speech intended to be delivered by Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu at the end of the signing ceremony.
Oct. 11
Licensed taxicab drivers staged a rally at İstanbul's Çağlayan Square to protest the proliferation of illegal, or “pirate,” taxis in Turkey's largest city. Organized under the leadership of the Atatürk Airport Cabbies Cooperative, the “No to Pirate Cabs” rally saw the participation of taxi cab drivers and their families, workers at taxi call centers and public figures such as Republican People's Party (CHP) İstanbul deputy Mehmet Sevigen, Şişli Mayor Mustafa Sarıgül and actors from the television series “Akasya Durağı” (Acacia Cab Rank). Demonstrators carried signs with slogans including “No to Pirate Cabs,” “Protect Cabbies' Rights” and “Thief, Keep Your Hands Off My Bread.”
The Azerbaijani capital slammed its ally Ankara for agreeing to normalize ties with Yerevan, suggesting that the protocols signed by Armenia and Turkey have cast a shadow over the relationship between Ankara and Baku. “The normalization of relations between Turkey and Armenia before the withdrawal of Armenian forces from occupied Azerbaijani territory is in direct contradiction with the interests of Azerbaijan and casts a shadow over the spirit of brotherly relations between Azerbaijan and Turkey, built on deep historical roots,” the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry said in a written statement.
The Justice and Development Party (AK Party) made changes to its Central Executive Board (MYK), with Kürşat Tüzmen, Salih Kapusuz and Hüseyin Çelik, elected to the MYK, while Necati Çetinkaya, Edibe Sözen and Şükrü Ayalan were left out of the party administration this time.
Turkey canceled an annual joint air force drill that was to have taken place this week because it opposed Israeli participation, the Israeli military announced. The Israeli military said the drill was delayed indefinitely “because of Turkey's decision to change the composition of the participants and not allow the Israeli air force to take part.”
Oct. 12
Lawyers for the co-plaintiffs in the trial over the murder of Turkish Armenian journalist Hrant Dink requested documents found during the searches of homes and offices of suspects from the prosecutor investigating Ergenekon, a clandestine organization whose alleged members are currently standing trial in two separate court cases. Lawyers representing the co-plaintiffs in the Dink trial have long alleged that the Dink murder was the doing of Ergenekon. In Monday's hearing lawyer Fethiye Çetin demanded that the court request documents seized during the Ergenekon probe relating to the organization's Psychological Action Plan against minorities in Turkey.
Armenian President Serzh Sarksyan announced that he planned to accept an invitation from his Turkish counterpart, Abdullah Gül, to watch a 2010 World Cup qualifying second-leg match between the Turkish and Armenian national teams held at Bursa's Atatürk Stadium on Oct. 14. President Sarksyan's announcement followed the signing of two protocols between Armenia and Turkey to establish diplomatic ties and to open their common border.
The cause of death of a 14-year-old girl killed by an unidentified weapon fired from an unknown location overlooking the village of Şenlik was not a mortar shell, according to a report released by the Diyarbakır Police Department's criminal investigation laboratory. Officials announced that experts had thoroughly examined shrapnel found at the scene and concluded that it could not have been a mortar shell that killed Ceylan Önkol, who died on Sept. 28 while tending sheep in Diyarbakır's Lice district.
Oct. 13
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan thanked opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Deniz Baykal for his affirmative response to his request for a meeting. "This is a positive step. I will reply after assessing the matter," Erdoğan said at his ruling Justice and Development Party's (AK Party) group meeting.
Embattled businessman Cem Uzan, whose whereabouts have been a mystery in the lead-up to a trial in which he faces prison time, requested asylum in France, according to a family lawyer. Uzan, a businessman who in the past was active in various branches of business, from banking to media and later became chairman of the Young Party (GP), left the country in early October, fearing jail time over a fraud conviction.
Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu and his Syrian counterpart, Walid al-Moallem, signed an agreement in Gaziantep to end visa requirements between the two countries, a goal announced in mid-September by the two ministers during a visit to İstanbul by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Turkish Airlines (THY) passenger numbers showed an increase in the first nine months of 2009 over the same period of the previous year, the company announced. The company released its January to September figures in a written statement to the İstanbul Stock Exchange's (İMKB) Public Disclosure Platform (KAP) according to which the number of passengers increased by 10.1 percent, climbing from 16.9 million in the first nine months of 2008 to 18.6 million in the same period of this year.
Oct. 14
As the Turkish Health Ministry tries to prepare schools for a wave of swine flu outbreaks -- which is likely to hit countries across the world, including Turkey, with the advent of winter in the northern hemisphere -- a primary school in Ankara was closed for a week after three students and two members of students' families were diagnosed with the H1N1 flu, popularly known as swine flu.
The Turkish and Armenian national soccer teams played in a World Cup qualifying match, a historic encounter that came shortly after protocols were signed between the two countries to normalize relations that have been suspended since Armenia's occupation of Azerbaijani territory in the early '90s and also due to Armenia's allegations that genocide took place at the hands of the Ottoman Empire in 1915.
The European Commission, which only touched on the issue in last year's progress report on Turkey, this year chose to highlight its full support for the ongoing trial of Ergenekon -- a clandestine network accused of plotting to overthrow the government -- in its latest progress report. The European Union executive body also devoted a significant portion of the report to the government's democratization initiative, also called the Kurdish initiative, and encouraged Ankara to take bolder steps on the matter.
The government was listening to the public when it decided to exclude Israel from an international military exercise, Prime Minister Erdoğan was quoted as saying just days after the Foreign Ministry denied the decision was politically motivated. Erdoğan told al-Arabiya television that his government acted as a "spokesman for the conscience of the people" and that the Turkish people did not want Israel to participate in the exercise, the Anatolia news agency reported.
Professor İbrahim Canan, 69, a scholar at Marmara University's department of theology and a specialist on hadith, or the deeds of the Prophet Muhammad, died after a traffic accident in İstanbul's Sancaktepe district.
Oct. 15
Turkey and Iraq took a giant step forward in boosting ties, signing more than 40 agreements ranging from fighting Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) terrorism to energy cooperation and water sharing. The deals were signed at a meeting of the key government ministers of the two countries under the High-Level Strategic Cooperation Council.
Turkey's budget deficit in the January-September period soared to TL 40.81 billion, with September registering a slight increase compared to the same month last year, the latest data from the Finance Ministry showed.
In yet another telling sign that the worst of the global economic crisis has passed, Turkish unemployment figures for the month of July stood at 12.8 percent, a slight improvement from the previous month's unemployment rate of 13 percent. Despite the modest improvement, the figure is still 2.9 percentage points higher than last year's July numbers, which represents an increase of more than 842,000 unemployed people in Turkey.
Oct. 16
Approximately 300 artists, writers and musicians established a movement to support the government's democratic initiative involving granting expanded rights to the country's Kurdish population. The Arts Initiative for Peace movement is supported by such artists as Arif Sağ, Leman Sam, Derya Alabora, Bejan Matur, Cahit Berkay, Ezel Akay, Eşber Yağmurdereli, Haluk Bilginer, Mustafa Erdoğan, Gülten Kaya, Suavi, Tuncer Kurtiz, Vedat Türkali, Hasan Saltık, İclal Aydın, Servet Kocakaya and Zeynep Tanbay. The movement states that they will support all democratic openings, especially the Kurdish initiative, to solve the country's problems via a peaceful approach.
Turkey's consumer confidence increased by 0.77 percent in September over the preceding month, according to the latest data. The Turkish Statistics Institute (TurkStat) announced the findings of its monthly consumer tendency survey, which was carried out in cooperation with the central bank. Assessing consumer behavior and expectations in Turkey for the month of August, the TurkStat report said the consumer confidence index, which stood at 81.30 in August, increased by 0.77 percent to 81.92 in September.
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