www.todayszaman.com - September 4, 2008

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Famed musician Özhan says celebrations of Ramadan in Turkey have improved over previous years

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 2008 WWW.TODAYSZAMAN.COM YTL 1.50

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Baseball Academy brings little league to kids in Ýstanbul

For a Turkish woman, a henna night is much more than a ‘girl’s’ party the night before her wedding

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Yo u r Way o f U n d e r s t a n d ý n g Tu r k e y

page07 Treasury saves YTL 600 mln on lower interest rates PRESIDENT GÜL'S PERFORMANCE DURING FIRST YEAR IN OFFICE APPRECIATED BY MAJORITY

Public support shrinks for opposition a closure case against the governing AK Party -and the popularity of President Abdullah Gül, who recently completed his first year in office. According to the survey, a clear majority of Turkish society supports Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoðan's AK Party, while the opposition parties, namely the Republican People's Party (CHP) and the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), continue to suffer from declining popularity with the public. Asked who they would vote for if there was an election today, 50.9 percent of respondents said they would vote for the AK Party. The figure demonstrat-

ed the ruling party's considerable increase in popularity in less than a month, as around 42 percent of those polled had said in early August they would vote for the AK Party if parliamentary elections were to be held the day of the poll. The survey revealed the CHP and the MHP would remain below the election threshold should general elections be held on the poll date. Only 9.5 percent of respondents said they would vote for the CHP; 6.6 percent said they would favor the MHP (6.6) and 2.6 percent said they would vote for the Democratic Society Party (DTP). However 13.9 percent of those polled had said in the

previous survey that they would vote for the CHP and 8.4 percent for the MHP. Of the remaining respondents, 11.3 percent said they were undecided, while 7.0 percent said they would simply vote a blank ballot; 2.0 said they would not go to the ballot box at all, while 5.3 percent said they had no opinion. Another major topic of the survey was the president's popularity among the people. In response to a question on whether Gül had succeeded in being everyone's president during his first year in office, 55.7 percent of those polled said yes, whereas 19.7 percent said no. CONTINUED ON PAGE 17

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Public support for opposition parties in Turkey has considerably decreased, in contrast to a sharp increase in support for the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party), a new opinion poll has found. The Social and Political Situation in Turkey survey, conducted by the Ankara-based MetroPOLL Strategic & Social Research Center from Aug. 29-31, polled 1,251 people in several Turkish cities to find their views on the current political situation in the country -- which recently heaved a sigh of relief following the rejection of

Cheney rallies US allies in backyard of Russia, irks Moscow US Vice President Dick Cheney said during a visit to Azerbaijan on Wednesday that the United States had a deep interest in the wellbeing of its allies in the region. "We've met this evening in the shadow of the recent Russian invasion of Georgia," Cheney told reporters as he sat next to Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev. "President Bush has sent me here with a clear and simple message for the people of Azerbaijan and the entire region: the United States has a deep and abiding interest in your well-being and security," he said. He also said the US believes it must work with Azerbaijan on additional energy export routes. Earlier Russia accused the United States of stirring up instability in Georgia on Wednesday, hours after Cheney had landed in the region to show support for Washington's ex-Soviet allies. CONTINUED ON PAGE 10

Leaders optimistic on swift Cyprus reunification deal The Turkish and Greek Cypriot leaders yesterday launched talks for reunification of the divided island, saying they were hopeful that it would not take too long to reach a settlement. "We are confident we will succeed in concluding a comprehensive agreement as soon as possible, and hopefully this year," Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat told reporters after meeting with Greek Cypriot leader Dimitris Christofias for nearly two hours in the UN buffer zone dividing Nicosia. He said he was confident because the talks did not start from scratch. "I don't think the negotiations will last long," he said. CONTINUED ON PAGE 04

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TÜSÝAD: ECONOMY SUFFERING FROM REGIONAL DISPARITIES

In a report on "Regional Differences and Policies in Turkey," TÜSÝAD stressed there are large gaps between Turkey's different regions in terms of wealth.

A third US Navy ship carrying humanitarian aid crossed the Dardanelles Straits on its way to Georgia. The USS Mount Whitney steamed through the Dardanelles early Wednesday and was expected to pass through the Bosporus later in the day. The ship would take supplies such as blankets, hygiene kits and baby food to Georgians. SEE STORY ON PAGE 04

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‘IF ÝZMÝR MAYOR CANNOT SOLVE WATER PROBLEM, WE CAN’

Environment Minister Veysel Eroðlu spoke about Ýzmir's water problems, offering the Ýzmir mayor help: “If Ýzmir's mayor says he cannot solve this problem, we can.”

Gül's Yerevan visit welcomed by all but extremists, opposition

A considerable number of columnists in the mainstream Turkish media have welcomed a probable visit on Saturday by President Abdullah Gül to Yerevan at the invitation of his Armenian counterpart, Serzh Sarksyan, to watch the World Cup qualifying game between the two countries' national soccer teams, while extremist newspapers and opposition parties openly criticized the visit, saying it would harm Turkey's image. Yet, without any direct references to it, the visit has also gained backing from Turkey's NATO ally, the United States. CONTINUED ON PAGE 04

Army pays výsýt to Ergenekon suspects AYÞE KARABAT, ANKARA The Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) yesterday sent an envoy to meet with two suspects in the Ergenekon terrorist organization case, retired Gen. Þener Eruygur and retired Gen. Hurþit Tolon, a statement on the General Staff Web site has said. According to the statement, Kocaeli Garrison Commander Lt. Gen. Galip Mendi paid a visit yesterday to Kandýra prison inmates Eruygur and

Tolon, who have been under arrest since July for alleged involvement in the Ergenekon terrorist organization, which is accused of orchestrating various murders and attacks with the intention of creating chaos that would trigger a coup. The Ergenekon case will start in October and its indictment was presented to the court, although Tolon and Eruygur were not mentioned in it since they were arrested months after the first arrests. It is expected that an additional indictment will be present-

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ed for Tolon and Eruygur as well as other suspects. "This visit, paid to two retired generals who had served in the TSK for a long time, was made on behalf of the TSK," said the statement, issued just minutes after Gen. Mendi's meeting with the two terror suspects. "As is known, today, as in the past, the TSK fully respects and trusts the judiciary," the statement claimed. PM Erdoðan said yesterday, upon a question from reporters, that the visit was a humane one. CONTINUED ON PAGE 05

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NATIONAL

TODAY’S ZAMAN 03

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ÝSTANBUL ANKARA ÝZMÝR ANTALYA ADANA ERZURUM EDÝRNE TRABZON KAYSERÝ

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PHOTOS

CÝHAN

I don’t have full trust ýn the judýcýary

Veysel Eroðlu

Environment Minister Veysel Eroðlu offered to help the mayor of Ýzmir in alleviating water shortages.

Eroðlu: If Ýzmir mayor cannot solve water problem, we can Environment and Forestry Minister Veysel Eroðlu on Wednesday offered to help the mayor of Ýzmir alleviate a water shortage in the province. "Ýzmir is very important to us. If Ýzmir's mayor [Aziz Kocaoðlu] says he cannot solve this problem, we can," Eroðlu said on Wednesday. He said he told Kocaoðlu to call him whenever he needed help from the ministry and added that he has tried to help him whenever necessary. "The Gördes reservoir was projected to be completed in 2011, but we began to store water in that reservoir in 2008 to help Ýzmir out," he said. Eroðlu also noted that there is a need for a 35-kilometer-long pipeline to transport water in Ýzmir and added: "If Ýzmir's mayor cannot do this, he should let us do it. We have completed an extensive pipeline in Ýstanbul, so this is very easy to accomplish." The Ministry of Health filed a warning with the Ýzmir Municipality, saying the tap water in Ýzmir constituted a public health risk. The warning had advised the municipality to find alternative water sources as soon as possible and purify its current water before releasing it into the city's water system. After controversies erupted over the arsenic level in Ýzmir's tap water, Kocaoðlu said Ýzmir's tap water was undrinkable.

Meanwhile the water level of Ýzmir's reservoirs has dropped dramatically this summer compared to the summer of 2007. Following a dispute over the amount of arsenic in water coming from the Sarýkýz and Göksu reservoirs, the Ýzmir Waterworks Authority (ÝZSU) decided to not use water from these reservoirs. This, in turn, led to water stored in the Tahtalý, Ürkmez and Balçova reservoirs to be depleted faster than expected. According to ÝZSU, the Tahtalý reservoir has decreased to 7.3 percent of capacity (306,500,000 cubic meters) and its pumps broke due to contamination of the equipment. ÝZSU officials noted that last year they managed to pump 2,750 liters of water per second from the reservoir, but that this has dropped to 1,500 liters per second this summer. The Balçova reservoir was at 6.87 percent of capacity on Wednesday, compared to 24 percent full at this time in 2007. The water level of the Ürkmez reservoir has also decreased dramatically in the course of this year. Last year's 16 percent capacity has dropped to this year's 1.85 percent. The only reservoir that did not see a decrease is Alaçatý. Last year it held 2.4 million cubic meters of water, and this year it is storing 2.5 million cubic meters. Ýstanbul Today's Zaman with wires

The Turkish General Staff declared yesterday that a visit by Lt. Gen. Galip Mendi to two former army personnel, retired Gen. Þener Eruygur and retired Gen. Hurþit Tolon, under arrest for alleged involvement with the Ergenekon terrorist organization, was made in the name of the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK). The declaration noted that the TSK had full respect and trust in the judiciary, today as much as in the past. This declaration is more problematic than the visit itself, and this last sentence is even more problematic. A sentence gains its meaning according to its wording, its timing, its speaker and its interlocutors. Let me repeat that sentence in full: "As is known, today, as in the past, the Turkish Armed Forces' respect for and trust in the judiciary is complete." As is known… The only examples regarding TSK respect for and trust in the judiciary that come to mind are the case of the poor prosecutor of the Þemdinli case, who lost his entire career just because he thought the unthinkable, that the two "good boys" of the chief of general staff were in fact conspirators in acts of public unrest and terrorist attacks; the fact that the perpetrators of the 1980 military coup are still immune and are practically untouchable; the fact that the decisions of the Supreme Military Council (YAÞ) are not subject to any form of civilian review; and the fact that on several occasions the General Staff has blocked the course of a healthy investigation, claiming that there was nothing to investigate. And the problematic declaration says the TSK has full respect for and trust in the judiciary, as is known. Today, as in the past… This is a reminder of the fact that the General Staff has a new chief. The Turkish Armed Forces' respect for and trust in the judiciary… Respect is okay, but why remind people of the trust? Providing a reminder of the trust is a threat when it is made from a position of absolute power. "I trust you, my son!" contains an: "I will see you if you don't make me happy in the end." Put yourself in place of a re-assignable judge and keep in mind that the TSK trusts you, and add to this that the TSK had sent an envoy to the men you are judging while they were under arrest. What will the effect of this "trust" be on you? Will

Nature Foundation publishes guide to Turkey’s butterflies Two scientists have authored a guide to the 390 species of butterflies found in Turkey. The book, titled "Guide to Turkey's Butterflies," was developed by butterfly specialist Ahmet Baytaþ and ecologist Evim Karçetin and provides an introduction describing Turkey as a haven for 390 different species of butterfly. The book has over 300 butterfly photos and offers detailed information about each species of butterfly found in Turkey, also noting which species are endangered. The "Guide to Turkey's Butterflies," which is the most extensive book on the subject ever published in Turkey, notes that 22 butterfly species are endemic to Turkey. As Turkey has several climate transition zones, many kinds of butterflies can survive here; however, many of the endemic butterflies are in danger of extinction, according to the guide. The Polyommatus

dama, which is found only in the eastern Anatolian province of Malatya, is noted in the book as one of the endangered endemic butterflies. Other endemic species include the Plebeius hyacinthus, which is found in Konya, Adana, Bilecik and Eskiþehir; the Polyommatus fatima in the eastern Anatolia provinces of Van and Hakkari; Hyponephele kocaki in Artvin, Van and Hakkari; and the Polyommatus menalcas. Nature Foundation Chairman Güven Eken commented on the guide, saying: "This book, which is published by the Nature Foundation, invites us to the pure and free world of the butterfly. The book contains pictures of more than 300 different butterfly species. The butterflies of Turkey are brought together in this book, with detailed information and beautiful photos." Mükremin Albayrak Ýstanbul

Buildings damaged in Adýyaman quake A moderate earthquake rumbled through eastern Turkey on Wednesday, causing damage to buildings in the southeastern province of Adýyaman, the Anatolia news agency reported. The agency said the quake registered a 5.1 on the Richter scale and occurred at 5:22 a.m. (0222 GMT) with its epicenter in the Samsat district. There were no immediate reports of casualties,

Anatolia said. Residents ran out of their houses and stayed in the streets after the quake. The tremor was also felt in neighboring provinces, the news agency reported. Turkey is prone to earthquakes and sits on major fault lines, one of which runs near the country's largest city, Ýstanbul. Northwest Turkey was hit by a major earthquake in 1999, which killed 18,000. Ýstanbul Today's Zaman with wires

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KERÝM BALCI k.balci@todayszaman.com

you even be able to remain "respectable" after that? Who said all this, and when? The declaration is on the TSK Web site next to the photograph of our new chief of general staff, Gen. Ýlker Baþbuð, whom, today as in the past, I have full respect for and trust in. The visit and the declaration came only a few days after he took over the office and only a few hours before he was to pay a "visit of trust" to the prime minister. There are extra bits of interesting information about the visit and the declaration: The TSK says the visit was done in its name, but Lt. Gen. Galip Mendi left the prison where the members of the alleged terrorist organization Ergenekon are kept in a civilian car. Why does a garrison commander travel with a civilian car while performing a duty given to him by the top officers of the TSK? The visit and declaration came on the same day as comments by new Air Forces Commander Gen. Aydoðan Babaoðlu on the Ergenekon organization were published in national media. Babaoðlu said the content of the Ergenekon case was not clear yet and nobody knew what Ergenekon was about. The declaration describes the two arrestees as "two retired commanders who had served the Turkish Armed Forces for a long time." This sentence alone reveals the mentality of the new generation that took office. We thought the commanders in the TSK served the nation within the TSK, not the TSK itself. Officers that do not regard the TSK as an organism to serve the interests of the nation will certainly develop a sense of loyalty to retired generals who have served the organism even though they have betrayed the nation.

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04 TODAY’S ZAMAN

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ALÝ ÜNAL

President Abdullah Gül (R) had talks with Haris Silajdzic, chairman of Bosnia and Herzegovina's presidency, in Ankara on Wednesday.

VISIT

Ankara to back efforts for unity in Bosnia and Herzegovina President Abdullah Gül yesterday reassured visiting members of Bosnia and Herzegovina's three-member rotating presidency on the continuation of Ankara's support for the preservation of the unity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Haris Silajdzic, chairman of Bosnia and Herzegovina's tripartite presidency as well as two other of its members, arrived in Ankara yesterday for an official two-day visit at the invitation of Gül. "Bosnia and Herzegovina has a special place in the heart of Turkey and the Turkish people. Turkey attaches great importance to Bosnia and Herzegovina's unity in order to maintain the consciousness of 'the being of Bosnia and Herzegovina' and also to having close contacts with all ethnic groups in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and [Turkey] is taking pains to remain at an equal distance from [all ethnic groups]," Gül said at a joint press conference with Silajdzic following a meeting with the members of Bosnia and Herzegovina's three-member presidency. Bosnia and Herzegovina has a three-member (Bosniak, Croat, Serb) presidency elected by direct popular vote to a four-year term. The chairmanship of the tripartite presidency rotates every eight months. The chairman is the head of state, and the functions of the presidency are primarily in the area of foreign policy, the appointment of ambassadors, international treaties, and coordination with international and nongovernmental organizations. Silajdzic is a Muslim Bosniak, while the two others who accompanied him during the visit represent Croats and Serbs, as Zeljko Komsic is a Croat and Nebojsa Radmanovic a Serb. The visiting delegation will today attend a Turkey-Bosnia and Herzegovina Business Council meeting which will be held in Ýstanbul. Ankara Today’s Zaman

contýnued from page 1 The White House, commenting on a telephone conversation between US President George W. Bush and Gül, touched upon the recent thaw in relations between the two estranged neighbors. The main focus of the conversation between Gül and Bush was Georgia and the Caucasus in general. The two underlined the importance of full compliance with a six-point European Unionbrokered cease-fire agreement, Gordon Johndroe, a spokesman for the US's National Security Council, said on Tuesday. "The two leaders also talked about their support for efforts to improve Turkish-Armenian relations and the growing Turkish-Iraqi relationship," Johndroe said. In Ankara, the Çankaya presidential palace said Gül had informed Bush about Ankara's initiative for establishing a Caucasus Stability and Cooperation Platform. Proposed as a mechanism to develop con-

flict resolution methods among the Caucasus countries, the platform is planned to be made up of Turkey, Russia, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia. In Yerevan, Ambassador Ünal Çeviköz, the deputy undersecretary of the Foreign Ministry, met Sarksyan and Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian to discuss arrangements for Gül's

visit, according to the Armenian Foreign Ministry. Almost all Turkish dailies yesterday covered the issue -- some with news articles and some in columns. The Sabah daily quoted Turkish national team coach Fatih Terim as saying, "This is just a football match, not a war," while the ultra-secularist Cumhuriyet daily preferred to quote a retired ambassador as saying it is the "wrong timing for a visit." Pro-business Hürriyet on its front page covered a call by the Turkish Industrialists and Businessmen's Association (TÜSÝAD) encouraging Gül to pay the expected visit, while Star daily quoted Samson Ozararat, who in the 1990s arranged a meeting between the late Alpaslan Türkeþ and former Armenian President Levon Ter-Petrosian. "It will be a big step even if they just sit and watch the match," Ozararat was quoted as saying by Star. Mustafa Karaalioðlu, editor-in-chief of Star daily, wrote in his column yesterday that Gül's

apparent decision to go to Yerevan is "an appropriate and delayed decision." Turkey should get rid of its taboos, both inside and outside of the country, Karaalioðlu wrote in his column, the title of which said "Gül must go … just as Sezer, Demirel and Özal should have gone," listing names of former presidents and saying such a move should have come much earlier than now. In Yerevan, Ter-Petrosian, now top leader of the Armenian National Congress (HAK), which is the country's main opposition force, said he would welcome Gül's visit. Ter-Petrosian, who has long championed a Turkey-Armenia rapprochement, said the match offered a good reason for thawing bilateral relations. Meanwhile, the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutyun) rallied several thousand supporters in Yerevan on Tuesday to oppose the visit and pledged to hold more such demonstrations during Gül's expected visit. Ankara Today's Zaman

Leaders optýmýstýc on swýft Cyprus reunýfýcatýon deal AA

contýnued from page 1 The Turkish and Greek Cypriot sides had previously negotiated for a settlement in UN-brokered talks, but a reunification plan offered by then UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan collapsed after the Greek Cypriots rejected it in a referendum in 2004. The Turkish Cypriots approved the plan in a simultaneous referendum. Soon after being elected Greek Cypriot leader early this year, replacing the hard-liner Tassos Papadopoulos, Christofias met with Talat in March to restart the stalled reunification process. "It is time to end the long-standing Cyprus problem and to give the Cypriot people the better future they deserve," Christofias said after yesterday's talks, which took place at a compound that was once the island's main commercial airport. "We have a common will and a common desire." He warned, however, that "there are no guarantees." The two leaders, who met in the presence of former Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer, appointed UN special envoy for Cyprus in July, did not discuss issues relating to the substance of the decades-old Cyprus dispute and determined instead the procedure for the next round of talks, the first of which will take place on Sept. 11. Talat and Christofias agreed to discuss administrative and power sharing issues in their next meeting. But although the meeting was primarily aimed at planning the procedural aspects, Talat and Christofias revealed what kind of a solution they wanted on the island. Rejecting Greek Cypriot calls for removal of Turkey's security guarantor status in Cyprus, Talat said any settlement must ensure that guarantorship rights will continue. Christofias underlined that the principle of territorial integrity must be respected in a settlement. The Turkish Cypriots have had their own state since the early 1980s, but it is recognized only by Turkey. Faced with insistent questions on whether Turkey will pose obstacles to the process, Talat denied that Turkey was poised to block any concessions in the negotiations. "We are in favor of a solution, and Ankara supports us," Talat said. The government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoðan supported the UN plan in 2004 despite domestic criticism. Opponents now say the government is trying to "sell out" Cyprus for the sake of keeping its EU membership hopes alive. In an address to the Turkish Cypriots later in the day, Talat said the Turkish Cypriot administra-

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The Armenian national soccer team, poised to play against Turkey in a World Cup qualifying game on Saturday, will be using a new emblem featuring the figures of a tiger and a lion instead of a silhouette of Mount Aðrý, also known as Mount Ararat, in eastern Turkey. Turkey and Armenia have had no formal ties since 1993. One of the conditions Ankara expects Yerevan to fulfill for normalization of relations is formal recognition of the current border with Turkey. Turkish decision-makers are concerned that the Armenian administration has claims on Turkish territory, and the depiction of Mount Aðrý on the Armenian national team emblem is seen as a sign of Armenia's desire to claim a piece of eastern Turkey. The Armenian Constitution describes Mount Aðrý as a "state symbol," and Armenia's declaration of independence mentions eastern Turkey as "Western Armenia." The new emblem of the Armenian national team was introduced to the public at a press conference in Yerevan on Wednesday. Speaking at the briefing Armenian Football Federation Chairman Ruben Hayrapetyan said the change of emblem was due to a demand to that effect from football fan associations, noting that the previous emblem was not popular among national team fans. An Armenian official in Yerevan told Today's Zaman that the emblem had been changed a month ago and that the new emblem will be used for the first time in the World Cup qualifying match against Turkey. He denied, however, any link between the change and the game against Turkey. Although officials dismiss a connection between the new emblem and the upcoming match, the change is likely to be considered a good will gesture by the Armenian side. Armenian President Serzh Sarksyan invited his Turkish counterpart, Abdullah Gül, to watch the game in Yerevan. Gül has not said yet whether he would attend, but he is widely expected to accept the invitation. Süleyman Kurt Ankara

NATIONAL

Gül’s Yerevan visit welcomed by all but opposition MEHMET KAMAN

Armenian team changes emblem before Turkey match

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Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat (L), Greek Cypriot leader Dimitris Christofias (C) and UN envoy Alexander Downer are seen at the press conference. tion had worked in full cooperation in preparing for the new reunification talks and reiterated that continuation of Turkey's guarantorship was a main principle of any settlement in Cyprus. "Turkey is our biggest supporter in our efforts to find a just and lasting solution to Cyprus problem," he said.

Best chance ever Analysts see the new talks as the best chance in decades to reunite the island and to end the Cyprus dispute, which threatens Turkey's EU membership hopes. The partitioned status of Cyprus is a headache for the EU. Effectively represented in the bloc by its Greek Cypriots, the

island has veto rights over the membership bid of Turkey, a key Western ally in the Middle East. Analysts agree this is the best chance for a solution, not the least because the two leaders come from leftist parties and, unlike previous negotiators, have little to do with the roots of the island's violent conflict. "It is widely believed that if these two moderates can't solve it, nobody can," Hubert Faustmann, a Cyprus-based analyst, told Reuters. The two sides have agreed to reunite as two ethnic communities largely living in separate areas and running their own affairs but with a strong central government to mainly represent them abroad. But they have not agreed on how

this will be achieved. "This is without any doubt a historic day for Cyprus," Downer, flanked by the two leaders, told reporters. "A settlement will be an inspiration for a troubled world." But despite the optimism, analysts say the solution may not come as soon as Talat hopes. They also say a deal will hinge on how it is promoted in the communities, which must approve it in simultaneous referendums. "The atmosphere on the ground is polarized. They will have to work hard to transfer the positive climate to the people," said Mete Hatay, an analyst at the International Peace Research Institute (PRIO). Ýstanbul Today's Zaman with wires

3rd US aid ship heads for Georgia following Putin’s challenge A third US Navy ship carrying humanitarian aid transited the Dardanelles early Wednesday on its way to Georgia and was expected to pass through the Bosporus later in the day, the Anatolia news agency reported. The USS Mount Whitney is the third US Navy vessel to take supplies such as blankets, hygiene kits and baby food to Georgia following its war with Russia over South Ossetia. A Turkish Coast Guard boat escorted the US Blue Ridge class command ship as she passed through the Dardanelles, Anatolia noted. One of the three US ships, the USS McFaul, sailed back through the straits toward the Mediterranean late Monday. The passage of the USS Mount Whitney came hours after Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said Russia would react to NATO's increased naval presence in the Black Sea, but calmly and without hysteria.

As of Tuesday, hours after the USS McFaul steamed back, a non-combatant US ship, the USNS Pathfinder, entered the Turkish Straits. The passage of the USNS Pathfinder attracted the attention of international news agencies, which reported the incident in articles on Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov's arrival in Ýstanbul for talks with his Turkish counterpart, Ali Babacan. The news wires noted that the USNS Pathfinder passed through the straits only hours before Lavrov's arrival. "The USNS Pathfinder is a non-combatant ship used for oceanographic surveys. It is in the Black Sea upon a request from the Department of Underwater Heritage of the National Academy of Science of Ukraine for a joint demonstration of this ship's survey capability," US Embassy Press Attaché Kathryn Schalow told Today's Zaman on Tuesday. As for the USS Mount Whitney, she has been the

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6th Fleet flagship since early 2005. In the past, the Mount Whitney served as temporary 6th Fleet flagship in 1999, for NATO command headquarters in Kosovo, and supported Operation Enduring Freedom on a seven-month deployment to the Horn of Africa region. The Mount Whitney is 190 meters long, 32 meters wide and can reach speeds of up to 23 knots. Stars and Stripes, a daily newspaper published for the US military, reported yesterday that the USS Mount Whitney was carrying 17 tons of humanitarian aid including blankets, juice, powdered milk and hygiene products. Citing security reasons, the Navy won't disclose whether the Mount Whitney will use the port of Batumi, well south of the zone of fighting, the daily's Web site reported. "At this point, we are considering all options as we head to Georgia. What port is ultimately chosen, that determination will be made by the

Navy, the government of Georgia and the international team there supporting this humanitarian aid mission," Cmdr. Scott Miller, a spokesman for Naval Forces Europe/6th Fleet, was quoted as saying. Moscow has repeatedly voiced concern that NATO has too many ships in the Black Sea. Foreign Ministry official Andrei Nesterenko said on Tuesday that currently there are two US, one Polish, one Spanish and one German ship there. US officials said US Navy and Coast Guard ships brought humanitarian aid to Georgia after last month's short war that saw Russian forces enter Georgia and rout Georgian troops. Putin, speaking in televised remarks during a trip to Uzbekistan, said "the reaction will be calm, without any hysteria. ... But of course, there will be an answer." When asked by reporters what measures Russia might take, Putin reportedly said, "You'll see." Ankara Today's Zaman with wires

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‘Gas shortages likely if crisis persists’ ERCAN YAVUZ ANKARA

Lieut. Gen. Galip Mendi Kocaeli Garrison Commander Lt. Gen. Galip Mendi paid a visit yesterday to retired generals Þener Eruygur and Hurþit Tolon, both terror suspects in the Ergenekon case.

Army pays ‘institutional visit’ to terror suspects in Ergenekon case contýnued from page 1 The TSK’s visit to the two terrorism suspects took place just a few hours before the meeting between Prime Minister Erdoðan and newly appointed Chief of General Staff Gen. Ýlker Baþbuð. The Ergenekon terrorist organization was allegedly planning to instigate a coup in 2009, during which Gen. Baþbuð would be the chief of general staff. Ergenekon suspects, according to various documents seized during the operation, thought that former Chief of General Staff Gen. Yaþar Büyükanýt was not warm to the idea of a coup. Some circles were critical of Büyükanýt because he was not taking sides in connection with the Ergenekon operation, although some former members of the army were under arrest. Main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Deniz Baykal indirectly accused the

General Staff of not lending support to the Ergenekon suspects during Büyükanýt’s term. The CHP’s general accountant, Mustafa Özyürek, after the TSK’s visit to the terrorism suspects, noted that until now the TSK had not supported its former members and this situation created disappointment within the TSK and the public. “It is now clear that Baþbuð’s order has reversed this mistake,” Özyürek claimed. Professor Ali Nihat Özcan, familiar with how the TSK works, also said the visit indicates the difference in attitude between former and present TSK administrations. “This statement is trying to say two things; first, this is not the personal initiative of the Kocaeli garrison commander but an institutional decision. Secondly, we cannot leave someone outside the system just because they have retired. This is not an intervention in the judiciary but a show of institu-

tional adherence and we have to do it,” Özcan says. However, many experts, including public law professor Mithat Sancar, term this visit interference with the judiciary and a move that leads to the suspicion that the new command of the TSK is conducting a psychological operation, especially when the recent statement of the new commander of the air force is taken into consideration. The day before, while answering a question from reporters regarding the arrest of an air force officer by a military court for alleged involvement in Ergenekon, the new commander of the air force, Gen. Aydoðan Babaoðlu, said it is not clear what the Ergenekon case is. The officer is accused of leaking a top-secret document that was found during the investigation into Ergenekon. The document was prepared three years ago by the National Intelligence Organization (MÝT) for a select few top air forces officers and de-

tailed an illegal organization within the air force. According to Sancar, this visit is “tragicomic” and cannot have any reasonable explanation. “The TSK is not a community but an institution. This visit is like the Health Ministry sending an envoy to a doctor in prison who was arrested for corruption. Obviously, there is an intention of sending a message,” Sancar said. Like Sancar, Yusuf Alataþ, a lawyer and the former chairman of the Human Rights Association (ÝHD), underlined the “institutional” aspect of the TSK’s visit. “The directives of the Ministry of Justice clearly define the rules about visits to inmates and it is impossible to visit an inmate on behalf of an official institution. This is the first time in Turkish history such a thing has happened and it is impossible to say that this visit was paid purely for humanitarian reasons. This is a message to the judiciary and this is pressure on the judiciary,” he said.

Video reveals link between Ergenekon and Sabancý murder

Display of muscle between Russia and US

was shot dead in his high-security office on Jan. 9, 1996. The Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party/Front (DHKP/C) claimed responsibility for the murder. Duyar, a suspect in the murder, surrendered himself a year later and was put in Afyon prison. He was killed in prison in 1999. The Ergenekon indictment, however, said the assassination was not solely perpetrated by the organization. It stated that Duyar, Fehriye Erdal and Ýsmail Akkol (the perpetrators of the assassination) were noted in a document that was prepared eight days before the shooting and later seized during a police raid at the ultranationalist and antiEuropean Union weekly Aydýnlýk. The indictment said it would be impossible to turn a blind eye to the link between the document, the Sabancý assassination and Ergenekon. The indictment also noted that Küçük, believed to be one of the masterminds of the network, had threatened Dink, the TurkishArmenian journalist slain by a teenager in 2007, before his murder, a sign that Ergenekon could be behind his death as well. Ýstanbul Today's Zaman with wires

Your Way of Understanding Turkey

Mustafa Duyar

Nuri Ergin

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A video recording has revealed that Gen. Veli Küçük, the suspected leader of the political crime gang known as Ergenekon, might be behind the murder of businessman Özdemir Sabancý. The chief prosecutor in the Ergenekon investigation, Zekeriya Öz, received a CD containing a video of an October 2000 prison rebellion in Uþak, instigated by brothers Nuri and Vedat Ergin. In the video, apparently taken by somebody inside the prison, Nuri Ergin shouts: “The state had me murder Mustafa Duyar [suspected of assassinating Sabancý]. I killed him.” Then Vedat Ergin appears in another window with a gun in one hand, shouting: “Call brother Veli. Tell him about me. I am not saying anything else. God be with you.” Apparently both Nuri and Vedat Ergin spoke to the camera, but who took the video is not known since no television cameras could approach the building during the rebellion. Öz took testimonies of the Ergin brothers, both of whom are still serving time in prison. Top Turkish businessman Sabancý

Vahit Erdem, the head of the Turkish delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, has said that unless tensions in the Caucasus subside Russia will use its power as the main energy supplier to the European Union and Turkey to threaten them with gas shortages. According to Erdem, Georgia’s attack at the beginning of last month against the pro-Russian breakaway region of South Ossetia, which sparked a Russian invasion, was an unwise move that has left Turkey and the EU in a difficult situation. Ankara cooperates with Georgia in the field of energy. Turkey hopes to use gas and oil pipelines that pass through Georgia and end in Turkey to establish itself as an energy hub for Europe. It also provides Georgia with critical military assistance and training. But it has important ties with Russia, too. Russia is Turkey’s biggest trading partner, with an estimated trade volume of $38 billion this year. Turkey is a key buyer of Russian natural gas, relying on Russia for as much as 65 percent of its supply. On the other hand the EU receives a third of its oil and 40 percent of its natural gas from Russia, and the European Commission says that dependence will rise significantly in the future. The central European post-communist countries are almost entirely dependent on Russia for gas. “Remember last winter when Russia used its energy card against Ukraine. As a result, Austria had gas shortages. Under the circumstances, nobody could expect severe sanctions against Russia. Therefore, the crisis should be immediately ended so that Russia, the EU and Turkey can breathe a sigh of relief,” Erdem said. Russian state-owned gas supplier Gazprom had a dispute with Ukraine in 2005 over the price of natural gas and passage to Europe. When they were unable to reach an agreement, Russia briefly cut the gas flow to Ukraine, triggering energy shortages in parts of Europe. The supply was restored three days later when a preliminary agreement was reached. A new gas dispute arose in October 2007 and culminated with the gas reduction in March this year when Gazprom cut supplies to Ukraine by a quarter, citing unpaid debts. Later they reached an agreement and the gas supply was restored, but analysts at the time pointed out that it gave the Kremlin an opportunity to highlight Europe’s dependence on Russia following the election of Dmitry Medvedev as the new Russian president. The EU had an emergency meeting on Monday to discuss sanctions against Russian aggression but decided against sanctions and limited its response to calling the Russian invasion “unacceptable.” The EU leaders said they were ready to increase ties with Georgia through a free-trade pact, visa-free travel and reconstruction efforts in Georgia together with South Ossetia and Abkhazia. The draft statement also said Russia had put its relationship with the European Union “at a crossroads” and faced the “fundamental choice” of whether or not to engage with the EU. Indeed, as much as the EU depends on Russia for its natural gas imports, Russia’s budget, meanwhile, depends on revenues from European energy sales.

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Erdem said a power play between the United States and Russia was behind the current conflict. After the demise of the Soviet Union, NATO started to include former countries of the Eastern European bloc and Russia began to grow tired of US dominance. “Former countries of the Soviet Union started to become NATO members in Russia’s backyard. Following that the US started a missile defense project in Poland and the Czech Republic. So the tension has increased. There was no doubt that there would be a crisis as a result,” Erdem said, adding, “Russia has finally said, ‘enough.’” Erdem also predicted that Ukraine and Georgia would both become NATO members, especially after these recent developments. When it comes to the question of whether or not the United States wants to put an end to the crisis, Erdem said the US does not have as much at stake as the EU and Turkey do. The US had been planning to build up a military presence in the Black Sea, Erdem said, but it shelved the idea following Russian complaints. The recent crisis might prompt the US to rethink the idea. Russia has denounced the US and NATO naval presence in the Black Sea, the only entrance to which is through the Turkish-controlled Bosporus and Dardanelles straits. After the conflict between Russia and Georgia over South Ossetia, a group of Western countries requested permission to send naval ships trough the Turkish Straits to carry humanitarian aid to Georgia. Turkey, which governs international transit through the Turkish Straits under the 1936 Montreux Convention, allowed US ships USS McFaul and USCGC Dallas to transit the Turkish Straits. Also, four military ships from the Spanish, German, Polish and US navies sailed through the straits as part of a NATO exercise. “Turkey remained within the limits of the Montreux Convention. A US ship has returned home after 21 days. Tonnage rules have been followed. But we don’t know much about the United States’ future plans in the area. It had better watch our interests as an ally,” he said.

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HÜSEYÝN SARI

About Ramadan

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Not quite prepared for Ramadan

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Terawih prayer Special evening prayer performed during Ramadan. It is performed after the isha (night) prayer. It can be performed at home, alone or in congregation, or at a mosque. Terawih is usually prayed in pairs of two and can be prayed in any amount of pairs, although eight or 20 pairs is the general practice among Muslims. Prophet Muhammad regarded the terawih prayer as a means of forgiveness of sins. He said, “The one who observes the terawih prayer at night during Ramadan with complete faith and devotion only for the sake of the recompense of the hereafter will have all of his previous sins forgiven by God.” Sunni Muslims believe terawih is a sunnah (a practice of the Prophet) and may be performed at home if one is unable to attend a mosque. According to this tradition, the Prophet Muhammad initially prayed the terawih in congregation during Ramadan but later discontinued this practice out of fear that Muslims would start to believe the prayers were mandatory. Shiite Muslims do not perform terawih because its practice was institutionalized by Umar, the second caliph -- whose rule Shiites view as illegitimate.

Ramadan more prominent in Turkey today, says famous singer

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Famed classical Turkish music singer Ahmet Özhan has said celebrations of the holy month of Ramadan in Turkey have improved over previous years. Özhan, in an interview with daily Zaman, said he felt that the Islamic month of fasting had lately been celebrated amidst an unprecedented atmosphere in Turkey. “I’ve never experienced such nice Ramadans before. Did you witness in the past such charitable activities, and iftar tents where thousands of people break their fast?” he Ahmet Özhan asked. Charitable donors and district municipalities provide the poor and the needy with fast-breaking dinners offered every day in iftar tents set up across Turkey. Millions break their fasts at these tents each year. Underlining that Ramadan increases charitable giving and strengthening the ties of brotherhood in society, Özhan said television and radio programs related to Ramadan have become a part of daily life during the holy month. “Ramadan has recently occupied a greater place in television and radio programs and in the music sector. Had you before witnessed activities similar to the Ramadan celebrations in Sultanahmet, Sarýyer, Üsküdar and other districts of Ýstanbul? It is great to see that the holy month has gradually taken a bigger part in daily life,” he stated. Ali Koca Ýstanbul

Iftar tent in New Jersey draws hundreds Hundreds of American Muslims broke their fast at an iftar tent set up in New Jersey by the Milky Way Education Center. The tent hosted over 300 people on its first day, Tuesday.

RAMADAN

A family vacationing recently in Ýstanbul asked their hotel receptionist, “When is Ramazan coming?” Well, the receptionist knew several fellows named Ramazan and so asked, “Which man is that?” The father looked quite confused at first and then laughed. He was referring to the upcoming month of Ramadan (Ramazan in Turkish), the Islamic time of fasting; he just wasn’t sure of the exact date and wanted to be prepared if his family were to be here during the time of fasting. It is good to be prepared for a new cultural experience. I didn’t expect to be much surprised by my first Ramadan in Turkey, as I had already spent several years living in Saudi Arabia. My initial introduction to Ramadan and the nightly iftar in Riyadh was sweetly simple. My 6-year-old Kuwaiti neighbor, a girl named Fatma, shyly presented me with a tray of oat soup and dates. My understanding of Arab culture had by then increased to the point that I could clasp my hands to my heart, declaim dramatically, “Alhamdullilah! Shukran, Shukran! Ah, Fatma!” Young Fatma could safely report to her mother that “Wejeen” (as close as any of them could get to my name) would not faint from hunger while waiting for “Meester Boob” to return from work at his all-too-late appointed hour. I was knocked over by their neighborly concern for a stranger in a strange land. I never once mentioned over the following years that I thought oat soup was truly gruesome (I took to sneaking it down to the Bedouin widow who tended the goats.) I always loved the dates, the accompanying sprig of fresh mint and Fatma’s beautiful smile. I considered myself fully prepared for the culi-

nary excesses of a first night iftar. Previously, my very best and most fulfilling filling iftar took place in Alexandria, Egypt, with my Egyptian friend, Wafaa, her American husband, my husband and Wafaa’s sister and brother-in-law. We were seated at a small restaurant on the Corniche overlooking the Mediterranean Sea as plate after plate of fish and rice and vegetables and breads piled up in a pyramid in front of us. We sat and waited with the other anxious diners-to-be until the beginning of iftar was announced. My goodness, we stuffed ourselves! For my first Ramadan in Turkey, I thought I was prepared. I was prepared to not eat or drink or smoke in public. Out of respect for my fasting friends, I would not accept their offers of tea or even water. I was prepared for a generally increasing crankiness of folks around me. I didn’t think I would blink when I

walked into a shop and found the workers napping. I was prepared for the fact that most meaningful business deals are put off until the end of the month. I was, however, not as prepared as I had so confidently thought. I was not prepared for restaurants being open all day long. That wouldn’t have been the case in Riyadh, where nothing, but nothing, opened until four in the afternoon. I imagined how hard it would be for the workers to watch while the foreign tourists ate. I felt so uncomfortable watching their weary attempt at smiles that I stopped eating out. Looking back, I realize that a customer staying away out of so-called “respect” only made these young men’s lives harder by taking away the price of a dinner and a possible tip. I was not at all prepared for the first massive morning shock of the traditional Turkish wake-up call for the pre-dawn breakfast. Long before the first ezan, my dreams were invaded by a beating, beating drumming. A seeming nightmare became reality as the sound grew louder. Stumbling to my bedroom window to find the source, I saw a young man striding down the street; he was beating, beating, beating the ever-so-resounding drum. Waiting until what I thought a reasonable hour, I called a Turkish friend to ask what on earth was happening. When informed about the purpose of the drumming, I foolishly asked, “But don’t we all have alarm clocks now?” The answer to that isn’t worth repeating, but I did learn that a bit of bribery was still in fashion. Three early mornings of tossing out a small envelope of coins worked wonders. As a sort of “Thanks, but no thanks,” my offerings resulted in a cessation of the thrumming drum as the boy passed by my home. I was very much not prepared for being asked to eat my first iftar dinner at a casual acquaintance’s

home. The offer delighted me, but I hadn’t realized the effort the man’s wife would put in simply to please a woman whom the couple saw as far from home and without her family. I was definitely not prepared for the elaborate spread they presented me. Alright, I had expected dates and olives and lentil soup, maybe followed with a simple meat and rice dish. Yet what I was confronted with could have contended with that fine restaurant back in Egypt. Mustafa had apparently kept track of every food I mentioned I liked. The kitchen sideboard was stacked with dishes of homemade yaprak sarma (stuffed grape leaves), cacýk (yogurt with cucumber and garlic), potato gözleme (a thin pancake), yunan salatasý (a lettuce salad with goat cheese and olives) and my hostess’ special flat bread. I gobbled it up, praising the food. Unfortunately, and much to my surprise, that was just the first course. Used plates were whisked away to be replaced by some sort of fish, bowls of karides (shrimp) on rice and a lamb chop each. Taking my breath and drinking some tea for a few minutes’ relief, I managed to consume everything put on my plate. That iftar dinner was way too much for me. After all, I had eaten breakfast and lunch at normal hours. I managed to choke down a few bits of second-helpings, fearful of appearing rude to these kind folk. Needless to say, I drew the line at a serving of the baklava I had brought as a guest gift. I said my goodbyes and blessings and waddled home. With luck, they had other friends to feed! Oddly enough, the current Ramadan is the first one during which I will be in Turkey for the entire month. As a co-owner of a restaurant in Sultanahmet, I will no longer be surprised by our guests’ reluctance to eat in public. I will be prepared for any friends who stop by at sunset, having a supply of dates and olives and a light rice and chicken soup. I do wonder if I will discover something else for which I am not quite prepared. At least I will have a small packet on my windowsill, ready and waiting for the drummer boy.

Spice Bazaar welcomes Ramadan for 348th time ÝLYAS DAL ÝSTANBUL

Ýstanbul’s historical Spice Bazaar (Mýsýr Çarþýsý), where herbs and spices from around the globe have been sold for centuries, welcomes Ramadan for the 348th time this year since it was constructed in 1660. Marking the advent of Ramadan, the Islamic month of fasting, historical bazaars in Ýstanbul are revived with excitement and zeal that both shopkeepers and customers carry in their hearts on the occasion of having embraced another holy month, which is supposed to improve the physical and emotional conditions of Muslims during the 30-day fasting period. Each Ýstanbul bazaar has its own distinctive flavor that attracts hundreds of visitors every day. They are a great place for visitors to sample traditional Turkish tastes. Among these bazaars is the Spice Bazaar (also known as the Egyptian Bazaar), which is currently witnessing another Ramadan full of excitement, the 348th in its history. Home to hundreds of kinds of herbs and spices from around the world, the Spice Bazaar is one of the most oft-visited places in Ýstanbul during Ramadan. Both domestic and foreign tourists, drawn to exotic dried fruits and vegetables hanging on strings and barrels of colorful spices, flock to the historical Spice Bazaar every day. Though spices were previously used for preserving food and making medicine, they are currently used more for adding flavor and seasoning to dishes. Dates, dried apricots, olives and cheeses are undoubtedly among the most sought-after foods at the bazaar during the holy month. Shop owners at the bazaar enjoy the commercial liveliness Ramadan brings with it. Mehmet Ekinci, one of the shop owners, said his revenues have increased significantly with the arrival of Ramadan. “What we sell most during Ramadan is dates, dried apricots and prunes. I’ve been working at the Spice Bazaar since my childhood. It has been 55 years now. This bazaar has a different atmosphere -it becomes even more different when Ramadan arrives. Our earnings increase and more and more people visit our

shops during the holy month,” he noted. Ekinci also expressed confidence that the Spice Bazaar would be around for many more Ramadans to come. “Our bazaar has stood for hundreds of years now. I am sure it will embrace many more Ramadans,” he said. Another shop owner at the Spice Bazaar, Ali Battal, said the holy month brought abundance to the bazaar: “We as shopkeepers at the bazaar are pleased with the existing commercial liveliness. People flock to the bazaar for Ramadan shopping. The holy month has brought with it economic vitality.” Customers are also pleased with the unique atmosphere Ramadan has brought to the Spice Bazaar. “The emotional excitement of this holy month is felt by every member of the family. The sultan of 11 months has finally arrived. It has added a different beauty and excitement to our lives. We can see that the shop owners are also happy to welcome Ramadan. There must be an increase in business during this month,” he remarked. One may find dates priced between YTL 8 and 45 per kilogram at the bazaar. Pastýrma (a special kind of dried spicy beef) can be found for YTL 32/kilogram, sucuk (sausage) at YTL 9/kilogram, kaþar (a yellow, firm cheese) for YTL 10/kilogram, feta cheese at YTL 9/kilogram, olives priced at YTL 4/kilogram, dried figs at YTL 18/kilogram and walnuts for as low as YTL 6/kilogram at the bazaar.

A quick glance at the Spice Bazaar One of the oldest bazaars in the city, the Spice Bazaar is located in the Eminönü district and is the second-largest covered shopping complex, after the Grand Bazaar. Spices, dried fruits, lokum (Turkish delight) and other edibles fill most of the shops, along with stores that sell jewelry and other high-margin goods. As to where its name originates, there is different speculation. Many spices sold at the bazaar used to be imported from Egypt. One the other hand, in the Byzantine period the site of the Spice Bazaar was the center of the corn trade. The word “mýsýr” has a double meaning in Turkish: Egypt and corn.

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Treasury saves YTL 600 million on lower interest rates ERCAN BAYSAL ANKARA

the domestic market in September and YTL 8.6 billion in October. It is planning to borrow YTL 3.2 billion from the domestic markets in September and another YTL 6.4 billion in October for these payments. The closure case against the AK Party had resulted in $2.5 billion in direct losses for the Treasury. A one point increase in interest rates brings about an extra YTL 4 billion cost. Mehmet Þimþek, the minister of state for the Treasury, has estimated that the total cost of the case to the Treasury, taking into consideration indirect losses, amounted to YTL 20 billion in extra payments. He had said before the verdict that investment inflow and consumer spending would drop due to internal political instability.

Compounded interest rates

The Turkish Treasury saved YTL 600 million as interest rates dropped by 3 percentage points in August amidst more positive markets following a Constitutional Court decision to refrain from banning the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party). The Treasury borrowed less in August as compound interest rates fell from an average of 21.6 percent to 18.8 percent as a result of a significant drop in economic risks from domestic political disruptions. This decline in risk is expected to ease the burden on the domestic market further. According to the national borrowing strategy formulated and

Month Rate(%) January 2007.........0.4 February................18.9 March...................19.8 April......................19.1 May......................18.8 June.....................18.5

July.......................17.6 August...................18.6 September.............18.3 October..................16.4 November..............16.2 December..............16.5 January 2008.........16.2

continually updated by the Treasury, YTL 15.9 billion of debt payment, including domestic and external debt, will be made in September and October. In a recent report the Treasury said it had

February................16.7 March....................17.5 April.......................18.3 June.......................20.7 July........................21.6 August...................18.8

planned for a total of YTL 149.7 billion in debt service for 2008 and that YTL 82.2 billion had already been paid by the end of July. The Treasury will pay off YTL 5.1 billion to

TÜSÝAD: Turkish economy suffering from regional disparities PHOTO

The Turkish Industrialists and Businessmen’s Association (TÜSÝAD) has announced that regional economic development disparities are still a significant problem in Turkey. In a report on “Regional Differences and Policies in Turkey” released yesterday, TÜSÝAD stressed that there are large gaps between Turkey’s different regions in terms of wealth. The report said the government’s projects to address these disparities were inefficient and that the government should focus on using European Union funds more effectively. It recommended the development of creative projects to draw the attention of foreign investors to Turkey’s impoverished regions. Briefing the press on the report, TÜSÝAD Chairman Arzuhan Yalçýndað said Turkey must hurry to make fundamental changes to solve the problems resulting from regional disparities. She explained that there are serious differences in the level of development between Turkey’s regions and that these differences are barriers to economic growth in Turkey. She added that these disparities were hindering Turkey’s EU harmonization process. Pointing out that the EU takes regional needs into consideration when making investments and that the bloc is known for implementing innovative projects, Yalçýndað said Turkey should take such policies as models. She stressed that TÜSÝAD had initiated a new series of projects to address this issue and that they are trying to establish regional innovation centers. She added that if suitable projects are initiated, Turkey’s poorer regions will prosper more quickly and that this will boost the Turkish economy. Yalçýndað noted that transferring money to impoverished regions was only a temporary solution. “In the long run, we can compensate for this gap between the regions only by making permanent investments in

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Turkey’s elite business group has prepared a report on impoverished regions and called on the government to focus on using EU funds more effectively. It also recommended the development of creative projects to draw the attention of foreign investors

TÜSÝAD Chairperson Arzuhan Yalçýndað (C), TÜRKONFED Chairman Celal Beysel (L) and DPT Undersecretary Ahmet Týktýk sit together in yesterday’s conference. the poorer regions, taking their real demands into consideration,” she said. She underlined that the government should invest in transportation, health care, education, energy and communications in these areas. She also said small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) should be supported to create new employment opportunities in Turkey’s poorer regions. Yalçýndað emphasized that the state should first focus on infrastructural improvements when investing in a region. Pointing out that the lack of educated labor

is one of the most important reasons for regional inequality, Yalçýndað noted that education should be promoted to boost economic development. Meanwhile, State Planning Organization (DPT) Undersecretary Ahmet Týktýk said yesterday that regional growth and development projects should be planned and arranged by local actors. He stressed that the central government cannot act in accordance with developments as effectively as local actors. Underlining that Turkey’s governments have always tried to keep the

whole country under control from Ankara, Týktýk said, such methods have not proven successful. “When deciding and implementing a regional policy, the human factors of that region, the leading businessmen, definitely must be included in the process. This will help identify the needs and problems and develop effective solutions,” he explained. Stressing the importance of local development agencies, he said, “In this respect newly established agencies should be well organized and should know the demands of their regions.” Ýstanbul Today’s Zaman with wires

‘EU visa process requires overhaul’

874,000 sign u for early retirement

GÖKÇEN YÜKSEL ÝSTANBUL

Some 874,000 people that had registered with the social security system during a temporary period before a new system came into effect just to retain the option to retire early have stopped paying their premiums. In May 2008 many joined long lines in front of social security offices to register themselves and even their infants with the social security system, believing their move would minimize the effects of the new retirement law. However, as of July 2008, most of those who registered ceased to pay their social security premiums, this after acquiring the right to retire earlier and receive a higher pension. Parliament, after much debate, accepted the new retirement law on May 17, 2008, as one step of a social security reform program. The new law aimed to fix deficient aspects of the social security system, including early retirement, unpaid social security premiums, etc. These deficiencies had led many to consider the social security system a “black hole” in the government’s budget. The law, which came into effect on June 1, will decrease pensions and gradually increase the retirement age to 65 by 2048. In the previous system,

Turkish businessmen have experienced increasing difficulty in obtaining visas to travel abroad, particularly to EU countries, for business purposes, a top textile industry representative has stated, noting that the visa process needs to be streamlined without delay. Ankara Clothing Manufacturers’ Association (AGSD) Chairman Canip Karakuþ said businessman are faced with an exhaustive amount of paperwork and increasing demands from EU country consular offices in applying for visas. In a written statement released Wednesday, Karakuþ emphasized the urgency of overhauling visa procedures in order to develop EU-Turkey trade relations. The AGSD chairman pointed out that the cost associated with getting a visa is also having a negative impact on businesses, especially those with limited capital. “This places further strain on already stretched company budgets,” he noted, adding, “The Turkish economy is losing $5 billion every

year because of visa and quota restrictions.” Karakuþ also criticized the fact that Turkish merchants have been asked to disclose sensitive and private information such as titles and deeds, bank accounts and tax information, all of which are guaranteed privacy under Turkish law. He said the amount of paperwork for visa applications is simply unreasonable. “In some cases, up to 25 documents are required,” he noted, adding, “This is practically saying ‘Please do not come to our country to conduct business’.” Karakuþ noted that at times Turkish textile firms had been prevented from participating in international fairs because of visa restrictions. “In some cases, the employees of Turkish businesses were selectively denied visas, with some getting approved and others not,” he stated. Some businessmen who had previously been approved for visas are being denied in the renewal process, Karakuþ noted, adding that this is creating unfair competition as EU businessman can easily obtain Turkish visas at border points.

people were able to retire as early as 40, provided they fulfilled the minimum number of workdays to be eligible for retirement. According to the Social Security Institution (SGK), 14.95 million employees were covered by the social security system in March 2008. This number increased by 226,000 and reached 15.2 million in April, and grew by 1.38 million to total 16.55 million in May. The numbers were very high, considering that the average yearly increase of the number of covered employees was 383,000 between 2002 and 2005. This increased the asset/liability rates, which peg the number of employees to one retiree. In May 2008, this figure was 2.13. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) standard ratio is 4:1. But in two months 874,000 people ceased to pay the social security premium, and the rate deteriorated to 2.01 immediately in July 2008. Labor and Social Security Minister Faruk Çelik said Turkey should make its social security projections for 50-60 years from now. The new adjustments are expected to minimize the burden on the budget. Ýstanbul Today’s Zaman

Kuwaiti firm mulls refinery construction in Ceyhan A leading Kuwaiti oil company has started feasibility studies on the establishment of an oil refinery in Adana’s Ceyhan district, the end point of the BakuTbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline, which transports Azerbaijani oil to international markets. A four-member delegation led by Kuwait Petroleum International (KPI) Vice President Mohammed Rashed Jasem recently visited Ceyhan and met with local officials, the Anatolia news agency reported yesterday. The delegation was briefed at the Ceyhan Chamber of Commerce and Industry after visiting the regional headquarters of the Turkish Pipeline Corporation (BOTAÞ) and the Yumurtalýk Free Trade Zone. Ceyhan Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Ali Duru said he had briefed the Kuwaiti delegation on the opportunities for energy investment in the region. “The Kuwaitis left our city with many ideas [for investment],” he said. Four companies have so far submitted applications to construct refineries in Ceyhan, including Çalýk Holding and Petrol Ofisi. If all of the applicants are allowed to establish refineries in the region, there will be a processing capacity of up to 40 million tons of oil annually. The amount of oil delivered to Ceyhan from Baku is 190 million tons per year. “It is claimed that just two refineries would be enough to handle 25 percent of total annual delivery, which is the estimated amount to be allocated to the refineries. But we believe the region may have up to five refineries since this city has enough land and energy resources to satisfy the needs of all of these refineries,” he added. Ýstanbul Today’s Zaman with wires

Former Uzan bank leads list of tax delinquency The confiscated Ýmarbank, formerly owned by the Uzan family, has once again topped the list of companies and individuals with tax liabilities exceeding YTL 850,000. According to information released by the Revenue Administration, 4,212 individuals and companies owed the state back taxes as of the end of June. Topping the list was the Ankara branch of the Uzan Group’s confiscated Ýmarbank, with tax debt of YTL 387.9 million, while Ýmarbank’s Ýzmir branch came second with YTL 264.5 million and the Antalya branch third with YTL 256 million. Companies and individuals connected to Ýmarbank made up eight of the top 10 and 40 of the top 100 on the list. Other familiar names on the list are the failed Jetpa Holding, YÝMPAÞ Holding, former Þiþli Mayor Gülay Aslýtürk’s husband, Orhan Aslýtürk, his partner Muhammet Ciðer, Asya Tur, Veziroðlu Engineering, Bölünmez Petroleum, Yapý ve Ticaret A.Þ., Satel Sabah Television Production A.Þ., Mobelle Holding, Korkmaz Yiðit, EGS, Karteks, Kula Mensucat, Ferhat Triko, ATV, Yahya Murat Demirel, Klas Radyo and Klas TV, Medya Holding, Kemal Uzan, Raymond James Yatýrým Menkul Kýymetler, Tuta Petrol, the Sabah news agency, Altýnay Jewelry and Tourism and the Adanaspor and Göztepe soccer clubs. Municipalities that failed to transfer taxes collected to the central government also feature on the list of delinquent taxpayers. Among them, Ýstanbul’s Þiþli and Sarýyer municipalities and the metropolitan municipalities of Kocaeli and Adana have the most debt. Ýstanbul Transportation Authority (ÝETT), a subsidiary of the Ýstanbul Metropolitan Municipality, also made the list with YTL 57 million in debt. Ankara Today’s Zaman with wires

Türk Telekom eliminated from Kyrgyz tender Türk Telekom has been dismissed from a tender for the privatization of Kyrgyztelecom, Kyrgyz officials announced yesterday. According to a statement released by the state committee overseeing the tender, two other companies from Germany and Russia were eliminated along with Turkey for failing to comply with conditions for the tender. Türk Telekom was rejected from the tender because they did not provide the security deposit requested by the tender commission in time. Kyrgyz officials have not yet announced the start date of the next stage of the tender, in which four companies from Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan and one from southern Cyprus are expected to participate. The tender was announced by the Kyrgyz government in June. Kyrgyz Telecom holds 95 percent of the market share in Kyrgyzstan. Ýstanbul Today’s Zaman with wires

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08 TODAY’S ZAMAN

T H U R S D AY, S E P T E M B E R 4 , 2 0 0 8

The future of the Nano -- the world's cheapest car -- remains in doubt as protestors besiege the partly built factory where production of Tata's pounds 1,250 vehicle is supposed to begin within a month. Work at the Singur plant, in West Bengal, stopped on Friday when Tata said that it was too dangerous to send its workers to the site. More than a week ago, Ratan Tata, its chief executive, gave warning that he was ready to abandon Singur if the protests continued. Such a move would involve Tata writing off as much as $350 million (194 million pounds). Several of India's most prominent businessmen have said that the shutdown risks ruining the country's credibility as an emerging industrial superpower. Tens of thousands of demonstrators at Singur claim that 400 acres were taken illegally from smallholders by the state's communist-led government and are demanding the land back. On Thursday more than 3,600 workers were prevented from leaving the plant by angry mobs. After

browser than you do in your car," said Brian Rakowski, group product manager for Google's browser project. Chrome was seen by analysts as partly a defensive move due to Google's fear that the recently upgraded Internet Explorer 8 (IE 8) could be used to lock out Google. Google's core business of Web search and related advertising depends on browsers. A Microsoft executive said IE 8 gives users control over how and where they navigate, improves their day-to-day browsing experience, and keeps people safe from new security threats. "Microsoft understands that Web browsing is crucially important for hundreds of millions of people, which is why we invest in Internet Explorer so heavily," Dean Hachamovitch, general manager of Internet Explorer, said in a statement. Google co-founder Sergey Brin said Chrome was designed to address the shift to using software from within a Web browser rather than as locally installed computer applications running inside Microsoft Windows or some other operating system. California Reuters

Google Inc is challenging Microsoft Corp with its own Web browser that lets users run many applications that once worked only when installed on local PCs, executives said on Tuesday. Google introduced a public trial version of its new browser software, Chrome, which is designed to handle not just text and graphics, but more complex computer programs. Chrome, available in 43 languages in 100 countries at http://www.google.com/chrome, has been designed to download software and Web pages faster than existing browsers. It even allows users to keep working when one of its windows crashes. This represents Google's long-anticipated head-on attack on Microsoft and its Internet Explorer, which has three-quarters of the Web-browsing market. Google has backed Mozilla Corp's Firefox browser, which holds about 18 percent of the market. Google engineers and executives call Chrome a fresh take on the browser, a 15-year-old technology that is supplanting 25-year-old desktop software as the basic way users interact with computers. "You actually spend more time in your

STATS

Factory riots put Tata’s cheap car in jeopardy

Google sees new browser displacing desktop software

August inflation dips on gasoline, clothing

receiving threats of further violence, the company told its staff to stay at home. The decision is a severe blow for the Indian conglomerate, which had wanted the Nano to reach showrooms in time for a Hindu festival in October. The car was unveiled in January, when its engineering was hailed as a breakthrough, but the Singur crisis and the soaring cost of raw materials threaten to scupper its viability. The Nano's significance was underscored on Wednesday when Mukesh Ambani, a rival industrialist, gave a rare show of support for Tata. "A fear-psychosis is being created to slow projects of national importance," he said. Sunil Bharti Mittal, chairman of Bharti Airtel, India's largest private-sector mobile phones group, said: "The Tatas pulling out would be unfortunate for India. The wave of industrialisation in the country could suffer." Several companies, including Vedanta, the FTSE 100 miner, have encountered problems in establishing large projects in India, where property rights are often disputed. The Times London

Eurostat: Euro economy shrýnks on fallýng exports

CALENDAR

AT A GLAN

CE

4 September of England st Decision BOE Ýntere of Euro 0,05 ion cis st De ECB Ýntere 0,0425

PHOTO

quarterly growth freeze -- as did non-euro nations Britain and Sweden. No euro country is yet officially in recession -- the commonly accepted definition is two consecutive quarters of negative growth -- although Ireland may be when it publishes a secondquarter figure. The once-booming Celtic tiger economy contracted in the first three months of the year. High inflation is currently the euro economy's biggest problem as it reduces household spending -- the main engine of growth -- and hikes costs for companies and exporters. Workers, facing higher prices at the gas pump and grocery store, are demanding more pay in the face of European Central Bank concerns that this would fuel an inflation spiral.

Yearly Change (%)

YTD Change (%)

MCAP (million YTL)

1-Y Av.Volum

2,2%

-12,6%

-28,8%

209.705

1.239

Hang Seng

-0,6%

2,6%

-13,4%

-30,6%

155.947

969

-0,2%

-0,7%

-7,7%

-16,8%

67.659

313

-0,8%

3,6%

-15,8%

-35,7%

88.242

685

DAX

-1,9%

-10,6%

-11,8%

-14,8%

101

0,55

FTSE 100

Daily Monthly Change (%) Change (%)

Close

REUTERS

Falling exports and lower household spending caused the euro economy to shrink by 0.2 percent in the second quarter, EU statistics showed Wednesday. High fuel and food prices have held consumers back from making more purchases, hitting one of the main drivers of economic growth as a strong euro, a slower world economy and increased transport costs brake exports to other nations. Worse may lie ahead for the third quarter -- despite some relief as oil prices fall back from record highs -- as euro-zone business and consumer confidence tumbled over the summer. The EU statistical agency Eurostat confirmed an earlier estimate for the three months ending June 30, saying the 15 nations that share the euro saw growth decline 0.2 percent from the previous quarter. It revised downward its figure for yearly growth to 1.4 percent from 1.5 percent. Giving more details for the reasons behind slipping growth, it showed that exports were down 0.4 percent and investment down 1.2 percent -- both coming down from strong first quarters. But the fall in household spending is more serious. It was down 0.2 percent from the first three months of the year, when it did not grow at all. UniCredit economist Aurelio Maccario said the figures show the start of "a phase of prolonged weakness bound to last a few quarters." Although the euro zone should escape an official recession, the economy is not likely to grow more than 1 percent next year, he said -- making it likely that the European Central Bank's next move would be to cut borrowing costs to boost growth. Eurostat made no changes to quarterly figures showing Germany, France and Italy braking sharply, which have raised recession fears. Germany, the EU's largest economy, contracted by 0.5 percent in the three months ending June 30, dropping for the first time in nearly four years. This came after a bumper first quarter. The world's biggest exporter had so far weathered the economic storm brewing in Europe despite high inflation hitting spending at home and foreign sales being hurt by a slowing world economy and the strong euro. France and Italy both declined 0.3 percent from the previous quarter. The two sluggish economies failed to lift with the recent rising tide that saw Europe speed ahead in the last two years after a long period of stagnant growth. The Netherlands, another major euro-zone exporter, saw

İMKB-100

39.570

-0,6%

İMKB-30

48.884

İMKB-IND

33.762

İMKB-BANK

77.091

DJIMT

10,10

TurkDEX US$/JP¥ EU€/JP¥

Ticker

51.650 1,238

Change (%)

Level

H.Kong

-2,17

20.585,1

Nikkei 225

Japan

0,64

12.689,6

Cac 40

France

-1,20

4.484,5

Germany

-0,06 -1,24

5.550,9

USA

-0,13

11.495,0

NASDAQ

USA

-0,26

1.845,3

USA

0,23

1.280,6

Brasil

0,78

54.826,2

BOVESPA

Price (YTL) Daily Change (%)

Ticker

Price

Daily Change (%)

Ticker

Volumes

70.73

11.2

Native

M.cap

Daily Close Change (%)

Price (YTL) Yearly Change (%)

Native

Foreign

Number of Shares

Foreign

Number of Shares

Monthly Change (%)

M.cap

Yearly Change (%)

US$/JP¥

108,51

4,69%

ASYAB

2,40

-5,51%

GARAN

259,6

3,8

-37,91

YTL / €

1,735

1,1%

-6,7%

-4,5%

EU/JP¥

156,86

9,40

4,44%

KOZAD

1,96

-5,16%

VAKBN

126,7

2,4

-40,88

YTL / $

1,204

1,7%

0,2%

-13,0%

EU/US$

1,4453

2,49

4,18%

CLEBI

8,75

-3,85%

ISCTR

92,2

5,9

-16,08

TAVHL

7,80

4,00%

ENKAI

10,60

-3,64%

YKBNK

49,9

2,7

-24,71

GARAN

3,84

3,23%

EREGL

7,55

-3,21%

TCELL

39,2

8,0

-35,52

ÝMKB 100

ÝMKB 30

ÝMKB IND

P.CHEM.

TUPRS

PTOFS

PETKM

AYGAZ

--

--

12.440,6

6.875,5

2.901,2

947,3

757,5

13,0x

13,4x

11,1x

8,0x

9,7x

14,6x

18,9x

2,5x

P/E 2007/06t

9,1x

12,1x

10,3x

5,6x

7,2x

10,7x

9,9x

1,3x

P/E 2007/09t EV/EBITDA 2006/12

8,5x 7,8x

9,1x 8,5x

8,2x 7,3x

6,0x 6,6x

7,2x 7,6x

10,1x 6,1x

9,9x 4,9x

1,3x 4,5x

EV/EBITDA 2007/03t

7,3x

7,7x

6,5x

6,1x

6,4x

5,8x

3,7x

4,9x

EV/EBITDA 2007/06t

8,2x

7,2x

6,6x

6,3x

6,6x

5,9x

3,9x

5,3x

Mcap YTL

--

P/E 2006/12

CM Y K

Abu Dhabi to put $1 bln into film venture The government of Gulf Arab oil state Abu Dhabi will invest $1 billion in a media firm that will produce eight feature films a year in ventures with Hollywood, Bollywood and local producers, media reported on Wednesday. Government-owned Abu Dhabi Media Company (ADMC), which owns a number of print and broadcast firms, has launched a company called imagenation abu dhabi with plans to make movies in the rich, desert state, according to reports in the United Arab Emirates paper The National and in the Financial Times. The film venture is part of Abu Dhabi's extensive efforts to broaden its economic base away from oil and gas extraction and into services, tourism and manufacturing. Dubai Reuters

FUND

IMF backs Georgia loan as growth to slow The International Monetary Fund has approved a $750 million stand-by loan for Georgia following its brief war with Russia, which is likely to have hit economic growth, Georgian Economic Development Minister Eka Sharashidze said on Wednesday. An IMF mission to the south Caucasus country was due to issue a report later on Wednesday. Georgia has requested $1-2 billion in international aid to repair and develop infrastructure in the wake of the conflict in August, according to the US government aid agency, USAID. Russian tanks, troops and aircraft crushed a Georgian offensive to retake its South Ossetia region from pro-Moscow separatists. Russian bombing raids hit mainly military targets, but Georgia also reported considerable damage to civilian infrastructure. "The IMF is going to give Georgia $750 million in stand-by loan," Sharashidze told reporters. She said Georgia had reined in its economic growth forecast for 2008 in light of the conflict. Tbilisi Reuters

ENERGY

Brazil targets independent nuclear agency Brazil is studying the creation of an independent nuclear watchdog agency as it expands uranium enrichment, builds more reactors and develops a nuclearpropelled submarine. Renato Hoffmann, a spokesman for the presidential chief of staff, said on Tuesday the new agency is under consideration by the Nuclear Program Development Committee. He would not provide further details. Creating the new agency would help bring Brazil's expanding nuclear program in line with international standards for safety and security inspections, said Francisco Rondinelli, president of the Brazilian Nuclear Energy Association -- an independent think tank of nuclear scientists and technicians. Safety and security are currently handled by the National Nuclear Energy Commission, the government's regulatory body in charge of the country's entire nuclear energy sector. "Independent watchdog agencies are the norm," Rondinelli said. Sao Paulo AP

DISPUTE

29.27

22.8 7.8

SKBNK

2,68

INVESTMENT

40.91

TIRE

ECZYT

Turkey's consumer price index (CPI) and producer price index (PPI) decreased by 0.24 percent and 2.3 percent, respectively, in August over the same month last year as a result of drops in gasoline and clothing prices. The Turkish Statistics Institute (TurkStat) released the latest inflation figures yesterday according to which the annual inflation rate as of August was 11.7 percent for the CPI and 14.6 percent for the PPI. Moreover, the CPI increased by 6.35 percent and PPI increased by 12.49 percent in the first eight months of this year. Among the 454 items used in the calculation of the CPI, 235 saw price increases, while the price of 136 items decreased. In the meantime 269 of the 756 items used for the calculation of PPI saw price increases in August. The price of 313 items fell and 174 remained steady. Ankara Today's Zaman

59.09

46.8

6.514,5

UK

Dow S&P

0,00% 1,60%

Sagging growth complicates the ECB's efforts to fight inflation, which is well above the bank's recommended guideline of just under 2 percent. Inflation was at 3.8 percent in August, according to a Eurostat estimate. The ECB in June hiked interest rates from 4 percent to 4.25 percent to try to cool inflation -- even though this risks slowing growth by increasing the cost of borrowing money in a tight credit market still suffering from the subprime banking crisis. The ECB is expected to keep rates on hold when it meets again on Thursday. Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet pointed to weak growth after the bank's August meeting, suggesting further increases were less likely until inflation calms down next year. Brussels AP

Country

BUSINESS

Price ($) Light C. Oil Gold Copper

108,63 805,30 3,33

Way

Change (%) 108,63 805,30 3,33

High 108,63 805,30 3,33

Low 108,63 805,30 3,33

P/E: Share price divided by earnings per share is a measure of the price paid for a share relative to the income or profit earned by the firm per share. EV/EBITDA: Enterprise value divided by earnings before interest, tax and amortization; “t” stands for trailer and means the data over the last four quarters. (*) Yesterday's closing (**) Updated at 6 p.m. by GMT+2 Disclaimer: The information in this report has been prepared by BMD, Bizim Securities from sources believed to be reliable. All the information, interpretations and recommendations covered herein relating to investment actions are not within the scope of investment consultancy. Therefore investment decisions based only on the information covered herein may not bring expected results.

Kerviel, aide in court on SocGen rogue trade case Jerome Kerviel, blamed by French bank Societe Generale for the trading scandal that cost it billions of euros, appeared for a court hearing on Wednesday along with his former aide Thomas Mougard. Kerviel, wearing a dark suit, declined to comment to reporters as he entered the Paris financial court. Mougard arrived separately earlier. SocGen unveiled 4.9 billion euros ($7.08 billion) of losses on Jan. 24, which it said were caused by unauthorised deals carried out by Kerviel, who at the time was a junior trader at the bank. Kerviel was freed from prison in March after an appeal against his detention, but he remains under formal investigation for breach of trust, computer abuse and falsification. He has admitted building up non-authorized trading positions but says his supervisors must have been aware of what he was doing. Paris Reuters

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16:03

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03.09.2008

18:55

Page 1

10 TODAY’S ZAMAN

EU: Candidate status for Serbia possible in 2009 European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said on Wednesday Serbia could be granted the status of EU candidate member in 2009, later than the target initially set by Belgrade of the end of this year. "It would be possible to give candidate status to Serbia in 2009 ... But this is not a commitment, it depends on Serbia, it depends on the conditions on the European Union side," he told reporters after talks in Brussels with Serbian President Boris Tadic. Serbia had hoped the arrest of former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic on July 21 would unfreeze trade and other benefits of a Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA) signed in April as the first step toward EU membership. However, Karadzic's wartime Gen. Ratko Mladic remains at large and the EU has said it would wait for UN war crimes prosecutor Serge Brammertz to report on whether Serbia was fully cooperating with the UN war crimes tribunal in The Hague before taking any further steps on Serbia's aspirations. Brussels Reuters

ing abroad and crippled the local economy. Most of the protesters left Gaza on the same boats last Thursday and sailed to Greek Cyprus, but Booth and several other activists chose to remain behind to do human rights work. Booth said she has turned to British diplomats in the region to get her out of Gaza. "Highlevel diplomatic maneuvering is going on when none should be needed," she said. She said she has not spoken to Blair, who now serves as the international community's Mideast peace envoy. Neither Blair's office nor the British Embassy in Tel Aviv returned calls seeking comment.

AP

John McCain's Republican convention re-lit the political fires under his White House bid with a brief but ringing endorsement from George W. Bush -- a speech beamed in from Washington as the Arizona senator looked to detach his candidacy from the unpopular sitting US president. The absence of the two-term Republican president from his own party's convention hall on Tuesday was highly unusual, as was the presence and advocacy of independent Sen. Joe Lieberman, the vice presidential candidate on the Democratic ticket that lost to Bush by a razor-thin margin eight years ago. And hanging threateningly over the fragile convention were jarring and multiplying questions about McCain's vice presidential running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin. Palin, who has been in St. Paul since Sunday but out of sight, was due to stepped to center stage to deliver her acceptance speech before a nationwide television audi-

ence later on Wednesday night after the delegates officially voted her and McCain onto the party's presidential ticket. The convention returned, mostly, to normal on Tuesday after its opening session was cut short as Hurricane Gustav bore down on the Gulf Coast. With damage from Gustav relatively light, the political speeches began extolling McCain as a war hero and political maverick, with President Bush calling the veteran Arizona senator "ready to lead this nation." Bush's eight-minute address marked a significantly diminished role from earlier plans to have the president address the convention Monday night in the prestigious final slot. With polls making it clear the nation is ready for a change, the McCain campaign indicated there was no reason for Bush to make the trip to St. Paul. By contrast, Lieberman closed out the convention's second day and was granted far more time than Bush, blending praise for McCain's advocacy of the 2007 troop in-

crease in Iraq with criticism of Democratic nominee Barack Obama's opposition to it. "When others wanted to retreat in defeat from the field of battle, when Barack Obama was voting to cut off funding for our troops on the ground, John McCain had the courage to stand against the tide of public opinion," Lieberman said. A larger-thanlife image of Bush speaking from the White House was seen on the convention floor, projected in a way that made it appear as if Bush actually were on the stage. The president was introduced for his remote address by first lady Laura Bush, who told cheering delegates that her husband had kept the country safe in the nearly seven years since the Sept. 11 terror attacks. Bush told delegates he could not be there in person because he was needed in Washington to oversee relief efforts in the aftermath of Hurricane Gustav. In his remarks, Bush reprised the national security themes that propelled him to re-election in 2004. St. Paul, Minnesota AP

NUCLEAR

N. Korea reassembling nuke facility, report says

French Justice Minister Rachida Dati, one of the stars of President Nicolas Sarkozy's cabinet, announced on Wednesday that she was pregnant but declined to say who the father was. The divorced daughter of North African immigrants, 42-year-old Dati has become the public face of Sarkozy's drive to add some much-needed diversity to French politics. Since taking office last year, she has appeared almost as often in the glossy magazines as the serious political press, prompting criticism that she is seeking celebrity status rather than concentrating on her job. On Wednesday, she confirmed rumors that she was pregnant after the weekly magazine VSD splashed her on the front page saying she was expecting a child. Being a single mother carries no social stigma in modern France and a census released earlier this year showed that for the first time in 2006 more children were born out of wedlock here than to married couples. "I want to remain prudent, because it isn't yet safe. I'm still in the danger zone," the website of Le Monde daily quoted Dati as saying, referring to the risk of a possible miscarriage. "I am 42 years old and have always said that (having a child) was fundamental for me," she said. "If it goes ahead, I will be happy and have the feeling I've looped the loop. Dati is photographed alone when she goes out for evening parties. "My private life is complicated and I'm keeping it off-limits to the press. I won't say anything about it," she told reporters when asked about the father. Dati has raised eyebrows since becoming justice minister, appearing in designer evening wear at official events and posing for the front cover of Paris Match magazine. She regularly travels with Sarkozy on his trips abroad and was known to be very close to his former wife, Cecilia. As minister she has overseen a contested reform of France's judicial set up, closing a number of courthouses and drawing the wrath of the legal profession. Many of her close advisers have quit, complaining of her authoritarian ways. Dati said on Wednesday that she planned to stay at her desk throughout the pregnancy. "It isn't an illness," she said. A number of French ministers have had children while in office, including Segolene Royal, who was beaten by Sarkozy in last year's presidential election. Paris Reuters

Texas delegates cheer as President Bush speaks via satellite at the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minnesota, on Tuesday.

PHOTO

North Korea has begun to reassemble its main nuclear facility, citing a delayed removal from a US list of terror sponsors, Japanese media reported on Wednesday. Japan's public broadcaster NHK and Kyodo News agency said North Korea started putting its Yongbyon facility back together on Tuesday, days after it halted disablement work. The reports cited unidentified officials related to the disarmament talks. North Korea last week said it had stopped disabling its nuclear reactor and threatened to restore the plutoniumproducing facility, citing Washington's failure to remove it from the list of terror sponsors. In response, Washington repeated its demand that North Korea must first agree to a plan to verify an accounting of nuclear programs it submitted in June, if it wants to be taken off the list. Kyodo said the reassembling started at the Yongbyon facility on Tuesday. Despite the move, NHK said, North Korea was till allowing access to experts from US and International Atomic Energy Agency. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters Tuesday that the US was talking to North Korean officials to "look for solutions" to move forward international nuclear disarmament negotiations. Tokyo AP

Israel and Egypt sealed Gaza's borders after Hamas seized power in June 2007. The sanctions have halted the movement of virtually all goods and people across Gaza's border. Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor said his government was still weighing whether to let her into Israel, but noted that Israel, like any country, has the right to decide who enters its territory. "This is something she should have thought about before entering Gaza," he said. "Nothing was coordinated with Israel." Egyptian officials were not immediately available for comment. Jerusalem AP

French Justice Minister Dati pregnant, won’t name father

Bush endorses John McCain but from afar

AP

MEMBERSHIP

Lauren Booth, Blair’s sister-in-law

The sister-in-law of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair said on Wednesday that Israel and Egypt have prevented her from leaving the Gaza Strip, more than a week after she entered the territory in defiance of an Israel-led blockade. Lauren Booth said she has been trying to leave Gaza since last Friday, but was turned away at Israeli and Egyptian border crossings. Booth was among 46 pro-Palestinian international activists with the Free Gaza Movement who sailed into Gaza waters on Aug. 23 to draw attention to Israel's blockade, which has prevented the area's 1.4 million Palestinians from travel-

PHOTO

The European Court of Justice annulled on Wednesday the European Union's decision to freeze the funds of a Saudi businessman on its terrorism blacklist, saying the bloc had failed to respect his rights of defencs. In a new blow to the EU's sanctions policy against those it suspects of supporting terrorism, the European Court of Justice said the bloc had failed to respect Saudi businessman Yassin Kadi's rights of defense. For the same reason it also annulled the freezing of the funds of the Al Barakaat International Foundation, established in Sweden. But the court said the EU did not need to unfreeze the funds immediately, giving the bloc three months to put right its failure to respect the parties' rights of defense. "The rights of the defense, in particular the right to be heard, and the right to effective judicial review of those rights, were patently not respected," the EU's top court said in a statement. But it added: "It is conceivable that, on the merits of the case, the imposition of those measures on Mr. Kadi and Al Barakaat may all the same prove to be justified." Luxembourg Reuters

WORLD

Blair’s sister-in-law, Lauren Booth, stranded in Gaza

PHOTO

RULING

EU infringed on rights of blacklisted Saudi

T H U R S D AY, SEPTEMBER 4 , 2 0 0 8

REUTERS

T10-04-09-08.qxd

AFTERMATH

Castro says Gustav like an atomic bomb

Cheney rallies US allies in Russia’s backyard

Fidel Castro likened Hurricane Gustav's destruction in Cuba to an atomic explosion, saying Wednesday it could mean billions of dollars in losses for the communist government. Video images of the devastation on Cuba's Isla de la Juventud reminded Castro of "the desolation I saw when I visited Hiroshima, which was the victim of an attack of the first atomic bomb in August 1945," the ailing former president wrote in a column carried in government news media. Gustav reached Category 4 strength with winds of 140 mph (220 kph) when it slammed into the outlying island on Saturday, then crossed a tobacco-rich swath of the western province of Pinar del Rio on mainland Cuba before re-entering the Gulf of Mexico and continuing to the US Gustav's winds were down to about 110 mph (175 kph) by the time its center hit Louisiana two days later. Cuban authorities evacuated 467,000 people ahead of the storm and reported only 19 injuries and no deaths. Havana AP

The United States has condemned Russia for sending troops and tanks into Georgia last month but Moscow has countered by alleging that Washington helped spark the conflict by failing to rein in its ally Georgia. Cheney flew into Azerbaijan, Georgia's oil-producing neighbor which has close ties to the United States, on the first leg of a tour that will also include Georgia and Ukraine. "We need to wait until Mr Cheney is actually in Georgia to see how he assesses the situation," Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Andrei Nesterenko told a news briefing. "But all these calls on Tbilisi (by the United States) about the need to restore all of its destroyed military capability and so on do not in any way promote the stabilization of the situation in the region," he said. Underlining Washington's backing for Georgia, the USS Mount Whitney, the so-

contýnued from page 1

phisticated command warship of the US Sixth Fleet, was "en route to Georgia" loaded with more than 17 tons of humanitarian aid, a navy spokesman said. Bush's administration was due to announce later on Wednesday a package of roughly $1 billion dollars in aid to help rebuild Georgia, an administration official said.

Energy corridor Azerbaijan and Georgia are links in the chain of a Western-backed energy corridor bypassing Russia which the West fears could be in jeopardy after the Kremlin sent its troops deep into Georgia. Cheney met representatives of BP and Chevron, two oil majors involved in a pipeline that pumps up to one million barrels of crude a day -- or about one percent of world output -- to world markets from Azerbaijan, through Georgia. "The oil

company executives gave their assessments of the energy situation in Azerbaijan and the broader Caspian region -- especially in light of Russia's recent military actions in Georgia," said Megan Mitchell, a spokeswoman for Cheney. Cheney's visit is aimed at "sending a regional signal that American hasn't walked away from the region," said Janusz Bugajski, director of the New European Democracies Project at Washington's Center for Strategic and International Studies. Russia drew Western condemnation by sending its forces deep into Georgia and later recognizing the breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent states. Russia said it was morally obliged to attack Georgia to prevent what it called genocide after Tbilisi tried to retake South Ossetia by force. Moscow says it is in full compliance with a French-brokered cease-fire. Baku/Moscow Reuters

French Justice Minister Rachida Dati leaves the Elysee Palace following the weekly cabinet meeting in Paris in August.

18:21

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18:53

Page 1

12 TODAY’S ZAMAN

T H U R S D AY, S E P T E M B E R 4 , 2 0 0 8

The night before transition time

ILUSTRATION

My new British woman friend, my new Turkish woman friend and I trudged up the hill to an immense cave home carved out of a rock formation in Göreme. To my great relief, as we walked, both of them tried to explain why we were going there and what was going to happen. It seemed that I was about to have a major lesson in Turkish culture. We were going to a henna night. For a Turkish woman, the kýna gecesi (henna night) is much more than a “girl’s” party the night before her wedding. It is a traditional rite of passage, a clear and visible marker of her transition from one social and cultural status to another. She is leaving the bosom of the family in which she was raised and moving on to join her soon-to-be husband’s family with the intent of starting a family of their own. The core of a henna night lies in the ceremony of anointing the bride with a henna mixture. Usually the bride’s family play host for the party, although either side can elect to hold it. The bride’s closest friends, her female family members and the women of her family-to-be gather to eat and dance. While they sing songs about the bride’s sadness at the end of her childhood, they also welcome in a new era of her life. Henna is a green powder that turns bright red after water is added and the mix dries into a strong dye. The henna itself may be brought by the bridegroom’s family to be ground in a silver or copper vessel by the “baþý bütün,” a woman of good reputation and good marriage. A red-toned chiffon or silk veil is often placed on the bride’s head before the henna is applied to her hands and shared with the guests. Traditions vary according to regional custom, but quite often a young girl of the bride’s family applies the moistened mix to one of the young woman’s hands. Also, “good luck” gold coins are given to her to hold in her reddened palms. At times henna is also applied to the bride’s feet and hair, further distinct symbols of her change in social status. Although mournful tunes and tears begin the evening, the women then dance and eat and dance some more in celebration. Somewhere the groom, his male family members and his friends are also having a party of their own. Having grasped these concepts, I still wondered at my place in the upcoming festivities. It turned out that I was part of the bride’s support system. Maggie was Chinese and had none of her actual family with her. While some of the groom’s family had taken on the role of her “sisters,” several English-speaking women had been recruited to make Maggie feel more comfortable in her newly chosen home. Maggie spoke little Turkish and so couldn’t tell me what was happening during our whispered conversations, but we dutifully tromped up and down the cave-house stairs with an entourage of her giggling new family. Eventually what seemed like the entire female population of the village straggled in, loading the courtyard tables with massive amounts of homemade food. Maggie was seated like a queen, beautiful in her long red dress, attended at all times by her 6-year-old sister-in-law-to-be. An older woman applied the henna and gave several of us baskets of ribbon-wrapped packets to pass out to the guests. Maggie clutched her coins and wept a bit as the truly melancholic strains of “Yuksek Tepelere” played. Despite a misting rain, plates were filled, tea glasses materialized from nowhere, headscarved and smiling women hugged me and dragged me from my seat to dance. It was late night before I went back down the hill to my hotel. It was a great, grand henna night. The last I saw of Maggie, she was smiling profusely. When I awoke the next day, I found my hands lightly stained with red. Even though I had not unwrapped my henna packet, the

CEM KIZILTUÐ

VIRGINIA LOWE ÝSTANBUL

weather conditions had made sure that some of the dye soaked in. At Maggie’s wedding that next day, I had undeniable proof of my friendship and support for the new bride. In contrast to that slice of village life was my attendance at the wedding-eve party of a Turkish girlfriend in Ýstanbul. Both she and her husband were born and raised in the big city, both were university-educated, both worked at a local bank and both wanted a thoroughly modern wedding. Even so, tradition continued to play a part in their lives. For his last night of bachelorhood, the groom and his friends were going out to do whatever it is that men might find to occupy themselves in Taksim -- singing, dancing and toasting the groom-to-be. Özlem’s mother and 10 of Özlem’s girlfriends had organized a women-only party for the night before the wedding. What all of us “accidentally” failed to tell the blushing bride was that we were giving her a henna night. We met at exactly 6 p.m. at the Karýköy apartment Özlem and Olcay had rented for their life together. While a caterer had set up an elaborate spread of tempting Turkish “finger-foods,” several of “us gals” who like to cook brought contributions of our own. The three “yabancý” women contributed egg rolls, chocolate chip cookies and deviled eggs (the last being mine). Like sensible women, we exchanged greetings and stuffed our faces. Then the games began. We played 10 guessing games and short card games, all of which were rigged so that Özlem would win the prize. Each prize was a small gift from each of us.

The eleventh game was also rigged, but this time Özlem lost. Her penalty was that she had to close her eyes and accept what the ladies decreed. What we presented her with was a lovely henna mixture and paper patterns for elegant Indian henna designs. Just imagine the hilarity as we broke into pairs to apply the henna to each other’s hands and feet! There’s no telling if the songs we listened to were sad. They were all in Turkish. But, like the village women, we giggled and danced and ate and wished our friend the best. On the wedding day Özlem could not deny that she had had a henna night! Her hands, and those of her friends, told the story. Thoroughly modern Özlem now says that she will be sure to give her own daughter a traditional henna night, even though maybe with another modern twist. Soon another henna night will be taking place. An American friend is marrying her Turkish love. While the majority of the wedding plans lie with his family, it will be the bride’s expatriate women friends who will give her a henna night. I don’t know what music will be played. The food might be an interesting mix of cultural cuisines. But I can promise you all this: You will know us by our hands.

NOTE: Today's Zaman intends to provide a lively forum for expatriates living in Turkey. We encourage you to contact us at voice@todayszaman.com and share your experiences, questions and problems in all walks of life for publication in Today's Zaman.

CM Y K

EXPAT ZONE

CAVE LIFE PAT YALE

Gold stars all around Not long ago I was flicking through a “Rough Guide to Turkey” when my eyes alighted on a sentence that brought me up with a start. According to the rough guide, Nevþehir was “said to be home to Turkey’s richest community.” To say that you could have knocked me over with a feather would have been to understate my surprise at this assertion. While it’s true that Nevþehir has cleaned up its act a bit recently and now looks considerably chirpier than hitherto, it’s still an extremely conservative town which does nothing to show off this purported wealth. I wondered briefly whether the writer had confused Nevþehir the province (which includes much of Cappadocia) with Nevþehir the town, but then I remembered that this community of 85,000 people is able to sustain not one but three private schools, so perhaps there were more individuals stashing large sums of money under their mattresses than I would have guessed. Anyway, regardless of whether it’s one of Turkey’s richest communities or not, Nevþehir is certainly shaping up to be one of its best educated. This year the longest lived of the three private schools, Altýn Yýldýz (Gold Star) Koleji, won two of the six slots in the finals of the European Language Awards competition, while a third place went, perhaps even more surprisingly, to a state school, 20 Temmuz Ýlköðretim Okulu, for a language lab created to help gifted students improve their fluency. The first of Altýn Yýldýz’s two projects was a theatrical performance carried out in collaboration with a school in Colorado in the US. The students acted out the ancient Greek myth of Persephone with each role played by a Turk and an American on stage at the same time and speaking each other’s language. In the evenings the Americans stayed with Turkish families, enabling them to practice whatever Turkish they’d managed to learn during the day. The project that eventually won a prize for Altýn Yýldýz was a Danish-Turkish endeavor that had taken place under the umbrella of the EU’s Socrates scheme and involved groups of year 10 pupils working together to create bi-national “companies” with unique products to sell; one group designed ecological birdhouses, another created a travel magazine aimed at teenagers, while a third came up with a scheme for recycling unwanted gifts. In the process the students learned a little of each other’s languages, while using English as a common medium; each company was encouraged to produce promotional materials in all three languages. Their efforts culminated in a “trade fair” in Copenhagen at which awards were given for categories such as the best salesmanship, the most original idea, etc. During the course of the project students from Copenhagen came to stay in Göreme while students from the Nevþehir area went to stay in Copenhagen (unfortunately budgetary constraints meant that more Danes came to Turkey than Turks went to Denmark). The project took place in the tense period following the upset over the publication of insulting cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad in a Danish newspaper and was a shining example of how transnational educational projects can be used to help improve understanding between different cultures. Pat Yale lives in a restored cave-house in Göreme in Cappadocia.

‘Pharmacy TV’ coming to a pharmacy near you AHMET YEÞÝL ALANYA

A TV station dedicated to pharmaceutical news and information will soon be available to pharmacies throughout Turkey, providing pharmacists with the opportunity to get the latest reports about the pharmaceutical industry and the latest in medicine. Alanya Chamber of Pharmacists President Serdar Noyan said the station, called Pharmacy TV, would ensure that pharmacies get the latest news on their profession. This exclusive TV station will allow pharmacists in Alanya to quickly communicate and disseminate the latest information on medicine and matters important to the pharmaceutical industry. Noyan also added that Pharmacy TV will advertise medicine and provide information on the topic throughout the day. Pharmacies with the station will no longer be faced with delays when receiving information, Noyan said, stressing that pharmacies will now be able to offer higher quality service. Noting that the station is almost ready for broadcast, Noyan said it should be adopted nationwide. The station will feature broadcasts in Turkish, German, English and Russian in Alanya, which hosts a large population of foreign residents and tourists. “Our pharmacists will follow the latest developments on their TV. We will make our announcements through this system. We will reach our colleagues faster and ensure that they get the information they need swiftly. We will converse with our colleagues more often and find solutions to their problems. I believe Pharmacy TV will be of great help,” Noyan said.

03.09.2008

15:47

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14 TODAY’S ZAMAN

T H U R S D AY, S E P T E M B E R 4 , 2 0 0 8

OPINION

The PKK wants to agitate Turkish masses EMRE USLU & ÖNDER AYTAÇ*

Caspýan energy securýty

COLLAGE

H.ÝBRAHÝM ZENGÝN

MARIA BEAT*

Bitter rhetoric and military build-up on the Black Sea -this is the outcome of diplomatic efforts to cool down a three-week-old crisis in the Caucasus. As the polemics and heated debate go on, Caspian oil and natural gas seem to be forgotten, as well as the fact that Georgia is a middle point on the path these resources take to the Western consumer. The economic side of the ongoing confrontation in the Caucasus looks set to become an issue of secondary importance. In the meantime, it is likely to deliver a crushing blow to the longcherished US and EU plans to establish a secure southern oil and gas export corridor as an alternative to Russia’s energy deliveries from the Caspian region to the international markets. The ongoing confrontation greatly damages Georgia’s image as a safe transit channel for commodities and energy resources. For a decade, having set itself up as a staunch US ally on the Black Sea, Georgia enjoyed an international reputation as an emerging regional democracy capable of ensuring stable development and security for foreign investments. As such, it has received billions of dollars in foreign investment and today hosts modern infrastructure facilities, including oil and cargo sea terminals, although these facilities were put on standby after the military hostilities began on Aug. 8. The crown asset of Georgia’s achievements was its success in convincing the US administration that it could provide safe passage through the Georgian territory for pet US energy projects: the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) and Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum (BTE) pipelines. In this way, impoverished Georgia, possessing no oil or gas deposits, has turned into a principal player in the regional energy market. Today two export oil and gas pipelines, planned as the backbone of a newly created southern energy corridor, go through Georgian territory carrying oil and gas produced in Azerbaijan to Turkey and further on to the West. Nevertheless, their much-appreciated potential could be grossly diminished if the ongoing Caucasus crisis continues. It is enough to recall that the BTC pipeline was damaged by an explosion along its Turkish section days before the military hostilities began in Georgia and that it was only put back into operation in the last days of August. It could be shut down again if military hostilities resume or the security of its operation becomes questionable. In the meantime, the BTE line remains closed due to security concerns, while gas production at the Shah Deniz off-shore deposit in Azerbaijan is suspended. Needless to say, these unfortunate developments deprive international consumers of badly needed oil and gas deliveries from the Caspian and undermine their trust in the southern export corridor’s safety. It’s interesting that the safety of oil and gas transit through Georgia has never been questioned before, though security measures were specifically discussed during the BTC line’s construction. Still, it was the Azeri and Turkish sections of the mega pipeline that generated certain security concerns, not the Georgian one. Military hostilities in Georgia were not on anybody’s agenda at that time. Regarded as the main success of US energy policy in the Caspian, the BTC alone -- when operational -- pumps up to 1 million barrels of oil per day, accounting for a meaningful share of the world’s daily production. With a construction cost nearing $4 billion, this 1,770-kilometer pipeline -- said to be

the second longest in the world after Russia’s Drujba pipeline -- runs through Georgia from Baku to the Ceyhan oil terminal on the eastern Mediterranean coast of Turkey. Developed by an international consortium of 11 partners and inaugurated in July 2006, the BTC has ended the long-existing Russian monopoly over Caspian crude transportation to the world markets and was considered an absolute success story until Aug. 8. The BTE pipeline, another US pet project, was commissioned in 2007 to challenge Russia’s gas exports to European clients by bringing gas from Shah Deniz to Erzurum in northern Turkey through Georgia. This $900 million, 690-kilometer-long pipeline came into being as a major channel for natural gas deliveries from Azerbaijan to Georgia, Turkey and, later on, Europe. Its construction and commissioning were expected to change the balance of forces in the global gas markets. Correct as it may have been initially, this assumption is now in limbo, with the BTE line closed and gas production at Shah Deniz on stand-by. The Baku-Supsa pipeline, a modest precursor to the BTC and BTE lines that was strongly supported by the EU and the US, became the first Azeri export pipeline to bypass Russia’s oil transportation system in delivering its crude. With a capacity of 100,000 barrels per day, it could deliver oil from Baku to Supsa on the Black Sea cost of Georgia to be collected by tankers. Put on standby for maintenance some time ago, it is unlikely to resume operations due to the mounting military tension in the Black Sea. The Georgian Black Sea ports of Batumi, Poti and Kulevi, which have cost the EU and the US around $5 billion in modernization and construction efforts during the past decade, are also likely to stay closed for as long as the Russian and NATO Black Sea military presence continues. The situation is worsened by disruption in rail transportation from Azerbaijan to Georgia caused by a bridge blast to the west of Tbilisi, making delivery of Azeri crude and refined products to Batumi and Poti impossible. As such, Georgia’s export security potential has suffered a crushing blow, not to mention its image as a safe energy route for oil and gas deliveries from the Caspian. The suspensions of all these operations have not only left Georgia’s national budget short of its handsome transit fee, but also resulted in a loss of 1.5 million barrels in daily oil deliveries for the world market. In turn, the BTE’s continuing closure has halted badly needed natural gas deliveries from Azerbaijan to Georgia and Turkey. Commissioned one year ago, the pipeline had brought Turkey alone, as of June this year, 2.5 billion cubic meters of gas to counterbalance 12.3 billion cubic meters of Russian gas. As such, the situation is triggering the redirection of energy flows from the southern export corridor back to the Russian transportation system. Ironically, it reaffirms Russia’s controlled northern export route as a safer corridor in comparison to the newly established southern alternative designed and built to ensure the security of energy transportation through delivery diversification and provide a remedy to Russia’s gas monopoly. Since the mid-1990s the US has been promoting the construction of oil and gas pipelines bypassing Russia, calling them “an insurance policy for the entire world” in terms of energy security. Today certain analysts sadly assume, in reference to the ongoing Caucasian crisis, that “the biggest casualty of the showdown has been the West’s naive belief that Georgia provides a secure alternative energy corridor that avoids either Russia or charter ‘axis of evil’ member Iran.” CONTINUED ON PAGE 17

The recent attacks by the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) on civilians and security personnel alike indicate that the PKK has adopted a new strategy. With actionable intelligence sharing by the US, the PKK’s ability to maneuver and organize complicated attacks in isolated mountains has been severely restricted. In addition, with the Turkish military using preventive technologies and advanced motorized units, it is in a much better position to be able to avoid the remotely controlled improvised explosive device (IED) attacks in the deep valleys of the region. Thus, perhaps for these reasons the PKK militants have penetrated the city centers to carry out deadly attacks in and around the cities. In the city centers, the PKK particularly concentrates on standing targets, i.e., police stations, army barracks and the service buses that transport security personnel from their homes to work. It seems that in the short run the PKK could carry out successful attacks on these targets; however, the PKK’s attacks could easily be prevented by taking proactive measures. For instance, if the service buses were to use different routes between the two points it would be very difficult for the PKK to target them. The security measures around the standing targets should also be tightened to protect against such attacks. However, the implementation of the additional security measures will take time. Thus, the PKK could carry out a few more attacks in city centers in the coming days. Yet, in the long run it would be very difficult for the PKK to organize such attacks as it wishes. If the PKK in the long run cannot win this war in city centers, then why does it take such risky steps that could jeopardize its legitimacy in the eyes of its supporters? Some analysts suggest that the PKK is losing its operational ability. Therefore, it concentrates its attacks on the city centers as a last resort. Indeed, it is true that the PKK has been losing its operational ability since the United States started sharing intelligence with the Turkish military. Nevertheless, this approach still falls short of explaining why the PKK moved its attacks to city centers. An alternative explanation would lie in the PKK’s strategy to bring the Kurdish and Turkish masses into a confrontation. Given that the PKK has chosen the ethnically diverse cities to carry out such attacks in order to ignite such confrontation, the real aim of the attacks is to agitate the Turkish masses against the Kurds. The basic premise behind this strategy to agitate the Turkish masses is closely associated with why the PKK could not achieve its goal over the last three decades. The PKK’s initial plan to establish an independent state was developed based on the idea that the Kurdish masses eventually will join the PKK when its strategy begins to work. However, despite the fact that the PKK successfully established a mental distinction between the Turks and the Kurds, the organization could not use its strategy to create a successful secessionist movement supported by the vast majority of Kurds. One of the reasons the PKK was not successful with its strategy is the state’s effort to foment the idea that the Kurds and Turks are Muslim brothers and that the enemies of both peoples want them separated. Although the Kurds did not buy into the brotherhood argument, the Turks did. The majority of the Turks sincerely believe that the Kurds are their brothers and that the PKK is a proxy organization to those who want to harm Turkey. Such acknowledgement allows Turks to separate the PKK from the ordinary Kurds. The development of the Turkish-Kurdish brotherhood idea helped Turks to accept even the large volume of Kurdish migrants in the 1990s without any major problems or confrontations. Thus, the PKK could not mobilize the Kurdish masses to enter into confrontation with the Turkish population. However, in recent years, the neonationalists deconstructed the idea of Turkish-Kurdish brotherhood. Even worse, the neonationalist circles replaced it with the new idea of the Kurds being a threat to Turkey, with the Kurdish population eventually taking over Turkish cities. The deconstruction efforts of the neonationalist circles opened a new possibility for the PKK to shift its concentration from convincing the Kurdish majority to join the PKK to agitating the Turks to exclude the Kurds from their neighborhoods. In the event of such, Kurds in major cities would have no other option but to join the PKK. Given that Turks, when faced with such circumstances, usually act based on their emotions rather than by making reasoned calculations, the PKK’s premeditated attacks in urban centers would seriously endanger Turkey’s stability. *Emre Uslu is a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Utah Middle East Center. Önder Aytaç is an associate professor at Gazi University department of communications and works with the Security Studies Institute in Ankara.

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TODAY’S ZAMAN 17

T H U R S D AY, S E P T E M B E R 4 , 2 0 0 8

GRAPHICS

TODAY’S ZAMAN

CONTINUATION

Public support shrinks for opposition, snowballs for AK Party contýnued from page 1 The remaining either said they had no idea or that Gül reached his goal partially. Asked which president -Gül, or former President Ahmet Necdet Sezer -- they trusted, 56.4 percent of the respondents said they trusted Gül and 21.7 percent said they trusted Sezer. Participants were also surveyed about concerns over secularism and the regime in Turkey. In response to a question over whether they shared the concerns for secularism and the regime raised during the process of Gül's election as president, 52 percent responded negatively and 26.6 percent positively. When asked whether Gül's behavior and decisions during his first year in office endangered secularism in Turkey, 78.4 percent said no and 17.7 percent said yes. Respondents were also asked about their view regarding the fact that Gül's wife, Hayrünnisa, wears the Islamic headscarf. In response to a question on whether they perceived her headscarf as a problem, an overwhelming majority of those polled -- 85.8 percent -- said no, with 13.7 percent responding positively. When asked whether Gül had acted with impartiality during his first year in office, 60.4 percent responded that he was completely impartial while 34.4 said he had displayed partisanship. Over 76 percent of respondents said Gül was sensitive toward society's social problems, while around 20 percent said he was insensitive. In response to a question over whether they were satisfied with Gül's performance in the presidency so far, 77.9 percent of those surveyed said yes and 20.8 percent said no. Those polled were also asked for theirs opinion regarding Gül's recent appointments of university rectors. Asked whether they were satisfied with Gül's choices, 62.5 percent of respondents said they found them to be positive, and 25.5 percent said they found them negative. Gül appointed new rectors for 21 Turkish universities on Aug. 5. The appointments drew the ire of some circles, who leveled harsh criticism at Gül, claiming he nominated rectors with no experience in the field but

who were known for their closeness to the AK Party. A number of professors from various universities even resigned from their posts in protest, saying they were dissatisfied with the rector appointments at their respective universities. When asked if they approved of CHP officials' refusal to attend any official or private meetings with Gül held at the Çankaya presidential palace, an overwhelming majority of respondents said they believed the CHP officials were pursuing a wrong strategy, and only 12.7 said they supported the CHP's stance in that regard. Another question directed at respondents was about Gül's pardoning of former Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan. In response to a question over whether Gül was right to use his presidential pardon to lift Erbakan's sentence, 54.6 percent said he was right in doing so; 33.7 percent said he was wrong, and 11.8 percent said they had no idea. To justify his pardon, Gül cited a report prepared by the forensic medicine administration showing that Erbakan's health was deteriorating. Erbakan, the former leader of the now-defunct Welfare Party (RP), was sentenced to two years and four months behind bars in a lawsuit known as the "lost trillion" case, but was able to postpone serving his sentence by submitting medical reports to the court. The lost trillion case concerns the disappearance of more than 1 trillion Turkish lira in Treasury grants to the RP. Asked whether Gül should go to Yerevan to attend a soccer match between the Turkish and Armenian national teams upon an invitation from his Armenian counterpart, Serzh Sarksyan, 67.4 percent of those polled said he should go and 22.9 percent said he should not accept the invitation. Sarksyan had previously invited Gül to watch the Sept. 6 World Cup qualifying match between the Turkish and Armenian national teams in Yerevan, with which Ankara does not have any official relations. Officials from the CHP and the MHP have been extremely critical of the prospect of a possible visit to Armenia by Gül. They say a visit to Yerevan would mean alienating Azerbaijan, which is of vital importance to

Turkey on many fronts. Turkey was among the first countries to recognize Armenia's independence, but closed its border with the latter and severed formal ties with Yerevan after Armenia occupied Nagorno-Karabakh. A considerable majority of poll respondents also said Gül was honest and trustworthy, a strong and decisive leader, a good statesman, attached importance to the country's problems and expectations of the people, represented Turkey with success, was democratic and pro-freedom and had the characteristics of a leader.

Support for EU membership on the rise The survey also has found a clear majority of Turkish society supports Turkey's bid to join the European Union. Public support for Turkish EU membership has shown a considerable increase since the survey conducted in August. In response to a question on whether they would vote for or against Turkey's EU membership if there were a referendum to-

day, 69.1 percent said they would vote "yes," while 23.7 percent said they would vote against it. In the previous survey, 28 percent of those polled were against EU membership while 66.2 percent supported it. When asked what they thought about political party closures in Turkey, 40.9 percent of those polled said political parties should only be shut down if they resort to violence or call for violence in the country; 37.4 percent said parties should not be disbanded under any condition, and 16.9 percent said existing legal provisions about political party closures in Turkey should remain untouched. In response to a question over whether the pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP) should be shut down, 57.6 percent said it should remain open; 31.2 percent said it should be closed, and 11.3 percent said they had no idea. A closure case was filed against the DTP last year by a state prosecutor on the grounds that it had become a focal point for separatist activities. Another question directed at respondents was about the government's plan to launch Kurdish broadcasts through the state-owned Turkish Radio and Television Corporation (TRT). Asked what they thought of the plan, 43.7 percent said: "I see the plan positively. Having a Kurdish TV station will improve Turkish democracy." But 51.8 percent said: "I see it negatively. Having a Kurdish TV station will increase separatist activities." In response to a question over whom the respondents admired most among living statesmen and politicians, 33.3 percent said they admire Prime Minister Erdoðan, followed by President Gül (14.7) and former President Sezer (5.1). Asked which of the existing political party leaders they trusted most, 51.9 percent of the respondents said they trusted Erdoðan the most, followed by CHP leader Deniz Baykal (4.2) and MHP leader Devlet Bahçeli (4.2). The telephone poll was conducted Aug. 29-31 among a random national sampling of 1,251 adults residing in cities, towns and villages. The margin of error for the full poll is 2.8 percentage points, at a 95 percent confidence level.

Three Turkish soldiers killed by PKK, two terrorists captured Two Turkish troops were killed and at least two were injured on Tuesday when Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) terrorists attacked a gendarmerie outpost in the eastern province of Bingöl's Kiðý district with long-range weapons. The injured troops were evacuated to a hospital by helicopter. Two PKK terrorists were captured in the ensuing operation to ferret out the perpetrators of the attack. News reports estimated the number of wounded to be as high as nine, but the General Staff's Web site stated that two troops were injured as a result of the first attack and that additional injuries were sustained as a S-70 helicopter, sent to the area in an effort to locate the terrorists, made an emergency landing due to technical difficulties and was attacked by PKK terrorists. The two soldiers killed in the attack are identified as Eyüp Gürsoy and Ramazan Demirci. The wounded soldiers are receiving treatment at the Elazýð Military Hospital. In a separate PKK attack in the Dereli district of the northern province of Giresun, a Turkish soldier died as a terrorist attacked security forces patrolling the region. Meanwhile, a person who allegedly helped the terrorists when they raided a security post in Bingöl on Aug. 31 has been captured. The Anatolia news agency reported that C.Ü. was first detained in Bingöl and was subsequently remanded to a provincial prison following his confession of the crime. PKK terrorists had attacked the Yedisu gendarmerie post last week, killing four soldiers and wounding four others. Two terrorists were killed in the crossfire. Security forces yesterday intensified operations against the PKK in the country's Southeast. As operations increased in rural areas of Bingöl, Tunceli, Þýrnak and Giresun, new operations started in Diyarbakýr's Kulp, Lice and Genç triangle. Several warplanes are reported to have departed the Diyarbakýr military airport. Ýstanbul Today's Zaman with wires

Turkey, GCC sign deal for strategic cooperation Turkey and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) on Tuesday evening in Jeddah signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) that will provide for cooperation in the economic, political and security spheres. The signing of the MoU took place at the first foreign ministerial-level meeting during which a "senior level strategic dialogue" mechanism between Turkey and the GCC was put into force. "Gulf countries have been establishing economic and political relations for the past 30 years. Turkey has positive relations with those countries. This structure is not an alternative to any other relation," Foreign Minister Ali Babacan, who represented Turkey at the meeting, was quoted as saying by the Anatolia news agency. Babacan also expressed the desire to sign a free trade agreement with the council as soon as possible. Earlier this week GCC Secretary-General Abdulrahman al-Attiyah told the Cihan news agency that the signing of the MoU would pave the way for a free trade agreement between Turkey and the GCC countries. The free trade agreement between Turkey and the GCC has actually been under negotiation since 2005. In May 2005 then-Foreign Minister and current President Abdullah Gül and al-Attiyah signed a framework agreement in Manama to begin negotiations on a free trade agreement. The ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) has attached importance to bilateral relations with Gulf countries since coming to power for the first time in November 2002 and strengthening institutional ties with the GCC. The government has also aimed to attract the Gulf business sector to invest in Turkey. Ankara Today's Zaman with wires

Caspian energy security contýnued from page 14

Alevi leader praises president on rector appointments ÖMER ÞAHÝN ANKARA

Ýlhami Binici, the head of the Ankara branch of the Alevi Cem Foundation, has said eight of the university rectors recently appointed by President Abdullah Gül are of Alevi origin. "This is a promising development. We did not have any Alevis in high-ranking positions among public officials [prior to these appointments]," he said. Binici said the Alevi community is expecting a solution to the problems faced by Alevis. "The problems can be solved by both Alevis and Sunnis. Sunni religious leaders could play a key role. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoðan could call Cem Foundation head Ýzzettin Doðan, as a first step," he said, adding that there is now more integration between Alevis and Sunnis than in the past. Alevis demand that cemevis, Alevi houses of worship, be recognized by the state,

that Alevis be represented in the Religious Affairs Directorate and that state-run religion classes be modified to include information about Alevism. The Cem Foundation is building Turkey's biggest cemevi in Ankara. Binici said President Gül is expected to open it. Binici, who was once a deputy with the Social Democratic People's Party (SHP), said Alevis cannot be labeled as "leftists" because they vote for the parties who serve the public best. "I don't describe myself as a leftist. We are secular, democratic and respectful of the republic. We close our doors to atheists and to the people who see Alevism as outside of Islam," he added. Criticizing the recent funeral ceremony for Dursun Karataþ, the late leader of the Revolutionary People's Liberation Party/Front (DHKP/C) far-left terror organization, held at a cemevi in Ýstanbul, Binici said, "Cemevis should not be a propaganda tool for illegal organizations."

PM Erdoðan says Diþli resigned for sake of party Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoðan said yesterday that a senior Justice and Development Party (AK Party) official who announced his resignation from his post in the party on Tuesday following corruption charges had sacrificed his personal interests for the sake of the party. Ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) Deputy Chairman Þaban Diþli announced his resignation following charges that he was involved in an illegal land deal with a printing house. Erdoðan, speaking to reporters after accepting a Bosnian official at the Prime Ministry yesterday, said Diþli decided to resign to prevent the AK Party and its leader from having to face trouble because of him. "Diþli even said he was ready to resign from the AK Party Central Decision and

CM Y K

Administration Board [MKYK] and from his post as a member of Parliament. We welcomed his resignations from the Central Registry Agency [MKK] and the MKYK so that the legal process can run smoothly; however, we did not support his resignation from Parliament," said Erdoðan. Corruption allegations concerning Diþli were first brought forward by main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) deputy Kemal Kýlýçdaroðlu last month. Kýlýçdaroðlu claimed that Diþli made an illegal deal with the Akademi Ofset printing house, demanding $1 million in exchange for helping the company buy a piece of land. Diþli dismissed the claims as unfounded and said the document was part of a normal procedure to ensure that he did not lose his savings. Ankara Today's Zaman

Nevertheless, hypothetically Azeri export crude deliveries still have the potential to be redirected through the Russiacontrolled Baku-Novorossiysk pipeline system and to be dispatched by barges up the Volga -- if worse comes worse. Another case is the BTE: Its closure doesn't have an alternative solution. With winter approaching, Turkey may start experiencing gas shortages due to the lack of its deliveries from Azerbaijan if tension doesn't ease. Georgia will be hurt the worst: Though partially dependent on Russian gas deliveries until very recently, it largely receives its badly needed gas from Azerbaijan and, with production at Shah Deniz suspended, could find itself in a dire situation during the coming winter. Azerbaijan could be hurt badly as well, if the ongoing crisis deteriorates. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has voiced his concern by admitting that "Azerbaijan's export potential was damaged." Having stopped using Russia's oil transportation system in the spring of 2007, the country may now find itself short of means for oil and gas deliveries to international consumers. If the tension continues, Azerbaijan is likely to resume oil deliveries through the Russia-controlled pipelines and accept Russia's offer to buy out Azerbaijani gas. Turkey won't be left unaffected, either. It's cherished plans of making Ceyhan, along with Yumurtalýk, a mega oilrefining center in the eastern Mediterranean that will exceed by capacity Rotterdam, the world's largest such center, could experience a setback as well. Plans for the construction of sophisticated refinery complexes tied up with Azeri crude deliveries through the BTC line may require modification. *Maria Beat is an international journalist and writer who specializes in CIS countries.

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