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CONTENTS:
      • Erdoğan, Obama Hold ‘Candid' Discussions on Sidelines of G20 Summit
      • Turkish Airspace Closed to Israeli Military Flights
      • Turkey Expects to Open 12th Chapter before Spain’s EU Presidency Ends
      • Turkey to Continue Efforts to Promote Stability in the Balkans
      • EU Seeks Robust Foreign Policy Coordination with Turkey
      • Energy Plays Key Role in Turkey’s Integration with Europe

Erdoğan, Obama Hold 'Candid' Discussions on Sidelines of G20 Summit
 
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan held talks with US President Barack Obama amid a downturn in relations between the two NATO allies following a Turkish vote against UN sanctions on Iran and a Turkish-Israeli crisis over an Israeli raid on an aid ship. Both Turkish and US officials have described the meeting, which took place on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Canada on Saturday, as "a mutually clear and open conversation of two allies."

The White House released a brief statement after the one-hour, 15-minute meeting. "President Obama met in advance of the G-20 dinner with Prime Minister Erdoğan of Turkey on Saturday evening. The two leaders had a wide-ranging and candid discussion between allies that addressed Iran's nuclear program, Middle East peace, the flotilla incident, Afghanistan, the PKK [the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party] and terrorism," said the White House. The fact that the adjective "strategic" was not used before the word "allies" in the White House statement was noteworthy. Yet, the expression "model partnership," first introduced by Obama during an April 2009 visit to Turkey, was used during the discussions. Obama's meeting with Erdoğan was not among announced planned bilateral meetings at the international gathering.

Turkish officials confirmed that the discussions covered the items listed in the White House statement. The US reiterated its support for Turkey in its fight against terrorism as well as the activities of a trilateral mechanism between Iraq, Turkey and the US in order to combat the PKK, which has been in existence since November 2008, after the Turkish side brought up the issue of the recent rise in attacks by the PKK against Turkish security forces.

Underlining the importance it attaches to bilateral relations between Israel and Turkey, Obama expressed uneasiness over the recent course of affairs regarding these relations and said Washington would continue to lend support for the resolution of bilateral problems between the two countries. Erdoğan, meanwhile, thanked Obama for his administration's contribution to Israel's release of activists on board an aid flotilla following the deadly May 31 raid by Israeli naval forces that led to the deaths of nine people.

Turkish and US officials also discussed a plan brokered by Brazil and Turkey for Iran to send 1.2 tons of its low-enriched uranium (LEU) abroad. The US didn't offer "any new mission" to Ankara regarding the Iran issue and didn't encourage the Turkish side to continue its mediation efforts between Tehran and world powers, sources said. /Today's Zaman/

Turkish Airspace Closed to Israeli Military Flights
 
Turkey partially closed its airspace to Israeli military flights in reaction to the attack on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla that left nine civilians dead, the prime minister and other officials have said. Diplomatic sources stated Monday that Turkey has rejected two separate Israeli requests to use Turkish airspace since early June. "The ban is about military flights. Civilian flights are not affected. Each request will be analyzed case by case." Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan told reporters in Toronto, where he was attending a G20 summit, that Turkey imposed the ban after the May 31 raid on the Mavi Marmara vessel.

According to Israel's Yediot Ahronot newspaper, Turkey refused to allow a plane carrying Israeli military officers to pass through its airspace Sunday, forcing the transport plane, carrying more than 100 officers to memorial sites in Auschwitz, Poland, to make a detour. The Israeli military "refrained from responding officially to the event so as not to exacerbate the rift in relations," according to the paper.

This was the second time Turkey has rejected an Israeli request regarding its airspace since the beginning of the deterioration in ties between the two countries, according to diplomatic sources. Turkish authorities made it clear, however, that there is no blanket ban on the country's airspace to Israeli military flights. Even a partial closure of Turkish airspace is seen as important evidence of worsening relations including military ties. In the wake of the flotilla attack, the Turkish government threatened to cut off all military and defense-industry ties with Israel if certain conditions were not met. The Turkish military has remained cool to such calls on the grounds that severing cooperation would hurt its anti-terror fight.

After the Israeli flotilla raid, which killed eight Turks and one American of Turkish descent, Turkey withdrew its ambassador and canceled joint military drills. Ankara has said it will not return its ambassador and will reduce military and trade ties unless Israel apologizes for its actions. Turkey also wants Israel to agree to an international investigation and offer compensation for the victims on the Mavi Marmara, as well as lift the crippling blockade on the Gaza Strip. Israel has refused to apologize and has objected to the idea of an international inquiry into the operation, instead setting up its own investigative commission that includes two foreign observers. /Hurriyet/

Turkey Expects to Open 12th Chapter before Spain's EU Presidency Ends
 
A senior official from Turkey's Secretariat General for European Union Affairs has said that they expect to open the EU chapter on food safety and veterinary standards before Spain's EU term presidency concludes at the end of June. "We expect to open our 12th chapter, on food safety, veterinary safety and phytosanitation, at the June 30 intergovernmental conference in Brussels," said Ambassador Haluk Ilıcak, acting secretary-general for EU affairs. "Turkey has completed all technical criteria and Parliament has passed all necessary laws. We don't expect any opposition to the opening of this chapter," he declared following his address at the opening of the "Is It Possible to Live Together?" conference, organized by the Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation (TESEV) in İstanbul Wednesday.

Ilıcak also pointed out the difficulties related to the opening of new chapters between Turkey and the EU since Turkey started accession negotiations with the European bloc in 2005. In that regard, he said that out of 35 chapters, 33 of them are technical. Out of those, 17 are blocked. "So we are left with four chapters that can be opened as studies have been already carried out on the opening benchmarks," he said. Those chapters are food safety, veterinary and phytosanitary standards, public procurement, competition policy, and social policy and employment. There are nine chapters pending at the European Council, and eight chapters are suspended in negotiations. Ilıcak said five chapters have been blocked by France, and six more are blocked by Cyprus.

Spain is one of the strongest supporters of Turkey's membership in the EU, but no negotiating chapters have been opened thus far during the Spanish presidency, partially due to the fact that there are only a few chapters -- all of which require extensive work to be opened -- that are not blocked. Speaking at a parliamentary session reviewing the Spanish presidency, Spain's Prime Minister Jose Luiz Rodriguez Zapatero reiterated his government's support for Turkish accession and said talks could begin on one more chapter despite uncertainty surrounding the accession negotiations. /Today's Zaman/

Turkey to Continue Efforts to Promote Stability in the Balkans
 
Turkey will continue its cooperation efforts with Balkan countries to promote stability in the region, particularly Bosnia and Herzegovina, said Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu Tuesday after meeting with his Bosnian and Serbian counterparts, Sven Alkalaj and Vuk Jeremic, on the sidelines of the Southeast European Cooperation Process (SEECP) summit in Istanbul. Turkey currently holds the SEECP's annual chair.
 
Davutoglu explained that such trilateral meetings, which started last October, serve as a good catalyst for both bilateral relations and Turkey's relations with the Balkan region as a whole. "Our main objective was to discuss Bosnia's preparation for a future of internal peace and security," he stated, adding that stability in Bosnia is important for the stability of both the Balkans and Europe. He added that Turkey will keep supporting Bosnia's NATO membership efforts.
 
For his part, Serbia's Foreign Minister Jeremic expressed support for continuing the trilateral meetings, saying they help more than any other past action to move the Balkan reconciliation process forward. He also said July would be a solemn month for the Balkans as well as the world, as the Srebrenica massacre would be commemorated. He added how this March the Serbian Parliament for the first time officially apologized for the 1995 massacre of some 8,000 Muslims in Srebrenica. "I am proud to be part of the administration which decided to apologize," Jeremic declared, adding that this had shifted how the Balkan countries look to the past and move together towards the future. "I hope the Balkans will become a zero-problem neighborhood," he said. Alkalaj explained the trilateral meetings are important not only for exchanging ideas but also for expanding cooperation for the countries involved. "We thank Turkey for supporting Bosnia's application for NATO membership," he said, adding that stability in the Balkans depends on Bosnia joining the alliance.
 
The heads of state of 11 countries, as well as high-level representatives of the European Union, Council of Europe, UNESCO, NATO, United Nations, Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), and Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC), participated in the SEECP summit. /Turkish Press Review/

EU Seeks Robust Foreign Policy Coordination with Turkey
 
Turkey places great importance on synchronizing its foreign policy moves with those of the European Union, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said Wednesday. Meeting with EU Commissioner for Enlargement and Neighborhood Policy Stefan Fule in Istanbul on the sidelines of the South-Eastern European Cooperation Process (SEECP) summit, Davutoglu stated, "The EU seeks stronger coordination between Turkey's rising foreign policy activity and the Union's common foreign policy perspective, something highly valued by Turkey as well." He added that EU Foreign Policy Chief Catherine Ashton will soon visit Turkey. Stating that he and Fule had discussed recent developments in Turkey's EU accession process, Davutoglu expressed that there could be important developments later this year on visa exemptions for Turkish nationals traveling to EU countries.
 
On his side, Fule said so-called "privileged partnership" proposals for Turkey in lieu of full EU membership are out of the question. "We stand by our promise that we gave Turkey in 2005 [when it started accession talks]," he said, expressing his hope that the negotiation chapter on food security will be opened soon. Fule also stressed that the EU will continue to support Turkey's fight against terrorism. In related news, in the declaration released at the end of SEECP summit, participating countries strongly condemned the terrorist PKK and expressed their condolences to the Turkish government and people for their casualties in a series of PKK attacks since last weekend. /Turkish Press Review/

Energy Plays Key Role in Turkey's Integration with Europe
 
A one-day international conference Wednesday regarding Turkey's role in European energy security brought analysts and officials to the conclusion that energy plays a major role in Turkey's integration with Europe and helps lessen dependence on Russian supplies. "Turkey is like an island surrounded by energy-rich regions," Sedat Laçiner, president of the Turkish think tank USAK, said in opening remarks. "With Arab countries in the south, Iran in the east and Russia in the north, Turkey has a very strategic location, which makes it more important than those nations that have oil sources."

The three-session conference, which came as a joint initiative between USAK and the German Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, brought local and foreign energy experts as well as government officials together. Deputy Undersecretary of the Ministry of Energy Yusuf Yazar, representing Energy Minister Taner Yıldız, said Turkey was coming after China in terms of countries with increased demand for energy sources. He explained that local resources were not sufficient to meet the increasing energy demand, prompting the need for energy diversification. "The objective of our energy policy is diversification," Yazar declared. He added Turkey was importing oil from Russia, Iran, Iraq and Saudi Arabia, importing natural gas from Russia, Iran and Azerbaijan, importing LNG [liquefied natural gas] from Nigeria and Algeria and working on a long-term contract with Qatar to expand LNG imports. /Hurriyet/