TUSIAD Turkey Letter: 28 October 2013

FOREIGN POLICY

  • Turkey open to other bids if China defense deal fails
  • US envoy concerned about Turkey’s China missile deal, praises intelligence chief
  • Turkey, Iraq eye closer cooperation on Syria as relations thaw

ECONOMY & ENERGY

  • Turkey to Overhaul Income Tax Structure in Bid to Boost Economy
  • International Oil Companies Gamble on Turkey’s Shale Gas

DOMESTIC POLITICS

  • Kurdish rebels threaten new fight in Turkey as Syria clashes intensify
  • Turkey’s controversial infrastructure
  • Turkey to spend $60 bln on R&D by 2013

 

FOREIGN POLICY
Turkey open to other bids if China defense deal fails
Turkey would be open to new offers for a missile defense system if a deal agreed with a Chinese firm under U.S. sanctions falls through, Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said.
The NATO member’s decision to co-produce the long-range air and missile defense system with China Precision Machinery Import and Export Corp (CPMIEC) over rival bids from Russian, U.S. and European firms has raised concern among Turkey’s Western allies.
~~~
Reuters, 25 October 2013, Turkey open to other bids if China defense deal fails

US envoy concerned about Turkey’s China missile deal, praises intelligence chief
As conveyed through remarks by Ricciardone, the White House’s position over Ankara’s prospective deal with China is quite clear-cut. Such deal will have an impact on decades-long bilateral defense cooperation between the two longstanding NATO allies, since Turkish companies involved will be subject to U.S. sanctions.
“We are very concerned about the prospective deal with the sanctioned Chinese firm. Yes this is a commercial decision, it is Turkey’s sovereign right, but we are concerned about what it means for the allied air defense,” Ricciardone told reporters, as he underlined that the issue is now “a strategic mutual defense question.”
~~~
Hurriyet Daily News, 24 October 2013, US envoy concerned about Turkey’s China missile deal, praises intelligence chief

Turkey, Iraq eye closer cooperation on Syria as relations thaw
Turkey and Iraq, both concerned by the rise of al Qaeda in Syria, said on Friday their strained relations were improving and they would cooperate more closely to limit the spillover from Syria’s civil war.
The two countries’ dealings have been tense in recent years, not least because of Turkey’s strengthening ties with northern Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan region, locked in a dispute with the federal government over oil and land rights.
~~~
Reuters, 25 October 2013, Turkey, Iraq eye closer cooperation on Syria as relations thaw

ECONOMY & ENERGY
Turkey to Overhaul Income Tax Structure in Bid to Boost Economy
A new income tax law being drafted in Turkey’s parliament would expand the tax base by encouraging investment and manufacturing and bringing more undeclared income out into the open, Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek said in an interview.
The bill strives to achieve those aims through measures including narrower exemptions, incentives for farmers and new taxes on income from real estate. It is also would tighten oversight on tax collection in manufacturing.
~~~
Bloomberg, 23 Octoboer 2013, Turkey to Overhaul Income Tax Structure in Bid to Boost Economy

International Oil Companies Gamble on Turkey’s Shale Gas
While information on Turkey’s hydrocarbon reserves remains elusive, some shale investors are willing to take the risk.
~~~
Al-monitor, 25 October 2013, International Oil Companies Gamble on Turkey’s Shale Gas

DOMESTIC POLITICS
Kurdish rebels threaten new fight in Turkey as Syria clashes intensify

Kurdish rebels are ready to re-enter Turkey from northern Iraq, the head of the group’s political wing said at his mountain hideout, threatening to rekindle an insurgency unless Ankara resuscitates their peace process soon.
~~~
Reuters, 22 October 2013, Kurdish rebels threaten new fight in Turkey as Syria clashes intensify

Turkey’s controversial infrastructure
The world’s first sea tunnel linking two continents will be inaugurated on October 29th, marking the 90th anniversary of the founding of Ataturk’s Republic. Stretching over 76km (47 miles), and with 1.4km of it laid at the bottom of the sea, the $3 billion “Marmaray” rail system will “eventually link London to Beijing, creating unimagined global connections” boasts Mustafa Kara, mayor of Istanbul’s Uskudar district, where the tunnel comes out.
Turkey’s prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, initiated the scheme in 2004 in his Justice and Development (AK) party’s first term in power. By 2025 over a million commuters are expected to use what even AK’s critics concede is an engineering marvel, thinning the nightmarish traffic that plagues this city of 14m people.
~~~
The Economist, 26 October 2013, The Sultans Dream

Turkey to spend $60 bln on R&D by 2013
The Turkish government aims to increase its federal budget allocation to research and development (R&D) to 3 percent, valuing at approximately $60 billion, by 2023, Technology Minister Nihat Ergun said.
~~~
Turkish Press Review, 23 October 2013, Turkey to spend $60 bln on R&D by 2013

These news items are compiled by TUSIAD Washington Representative Office (TUSIAD-US) from major news publications. They do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of TUSIAD. To subscribe or unsubscribe from this electronic publication, please send an e-mail to usoffice@tusiad.org. These materials may be reproduced and/or distributed, in whole or in part, provided that its source is properly indicated as “TUSIAD-US Web site: www.tusiad.us

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