Anadolu Agency
Transkript
Anadolu Agency
CHINA LAUNCHES NEW COMMUNICATIONS SATELLITE PALESTINIAN DEPICTS NEW ‘INTIFADA’ WITH FINGERS FOOTBALL: 10-MAN BENFICA BEAT GALATASARAY IN LISBON WEATHER BEIJING (AA) - China launched a new communica- RAFAH, Palestine (AA) – Tesnim al-Gamal, a ANKARA (AA) – Galatasaray lost to Portuguese side tions satellite Wednesday from the Xichang Satellite Palestinianfine arts student, is using her fingers to depict Benfica 2-1 in their UEFA Champions League Group Wednesday Launch Center in the country’s southwest. scenes of what some are calling a new Palestinian “inti- C clash at Estadio da Luz in Lisbon on Tuesday. SUNNY State news agency Xinhua reported that the ChinaSat fada” (“uprising”), triggered by Israel’s violations last Benfica broke the deadlock in 52nd minute as Brazilian 2C satellite was sent into orbit to provide radio, TV and month in East Jerusalem’s flashpoint Al-Aqsa Mosque forward Jonas scored in a scramble in the area. broadband transmission services for the country’s radio complex. According to al-Gamal, the “international Six minutes later Galatasaray scored the equalizer when Thursday and TV stations and cable networks. language” of painting represents an effective means of the Istanbul club’s German forward Lukas Podolski SUNNY ChinaSat 2C -- carried into orbit by a Long March-3B portraying the violence suffered by many Palestinians smashed the ball into the net. carrier rocket -- >WORLD at the hands of Israeli troops. >ECONOMICS >SPORTS 15 °C Wednesday - November 4, 2015 Turkey:Referendum may decide presidential system’s fate TURKEY’S PRESIDENTIAL SPOKESMAN IBRAHIM KALIN SAID A POSSIBLE CHANGE TO THE COUNTRY’S SYSTEM OF GOVERNANCE MAY COME BY THROUGH A REFERENDUM ANKARA (AA) – Turkey’s presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin has said that a possible change to the country’s system of governance may come by through a referendum. Kalin told repor ters in A nkara Wednesday that the discussion about bringing a presidential system in Turkey will not be held without including the people. “If its mechanism is a referendum, then a referendum will be held,” he said. Also, the spokesman said that some arrangements about the presidential system could also be done through the Turkish parliament, but he underlined that this issue would be “concluded in discussions and after consultations with our nation, by taking their views and convictions”. Turkish Prime Minister A hmet Davutoglu said in his post-election victory speech Sunday night that the Justice and Development (AK) Party will pursue constitutional changes to enhance the role of the president. “It is obvious that the current system does not meet Turkey’s needs. This shirt is too tight for this country,” Davutoglu said. The AK Party has sought to turn Turkey from a parliamentary democracy to a presidential system since the party co-founder and former Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, became president on August 10, 2014. Although it regained its parliamentary majority in Sunday’s election, AK Party appears to be 13 seats short of the number (330) needed to push through a referendum on constitutional reform. >MORE DETAILS Turkey: Positive market reaction to election result EXPERTS EXPECT DECISIVE VICTORY OF JUSTICE AND DEVELOPMENT (AK) PARTY TO FOCUS ON REFORMS AIMED AT FIGHTING MAJOR ECONOMIC PROBLEMS ANKARA (AA) – The victory of the Justice and Development (AK) Party in Turkey’s parliamentary elections on Sunday is expected to provide a window of opportunity for structural reforms intended to boost growth, economists said on Tuesday. The Justice and Development (AK) Party won a landslide victory, securing over 49 percent of the vote after the June election saw no party win a majority and almost five months of subsequent talks between parties failed to produce a coalition. Timothy Ash, emerging market economist from Nomura said, “It’s an incredible result, no one really expected this.” However, Ash pointed out that the new government will face long-term challenges to improve economic conditions. “The government faces issues like rebalancing the current account, inflation, and shape of the new policy team in the government,” Ash said. FX & Fixed Income Strategist Manik Narain from UBS said: ”The market had a very positive response to the election result, the market interprets this as a return to stability.” “The government now has time to focus on structural reforms which had been delayed due to poitical uncertainty over the last 5 months after June election which saw no single party winning a majority to form a government.” Referring to the next credit rating review by Moody’s scheduled for Dec. 4, Narain ruled out a downgrade. He said that many investors see Turkey as an investment target. “I think most investors expect Moody’s to keep Turkey’s investment-grade rating,” Narain said. For William Jackson, senior Emerging M a rket s econom i s t at C apit a l Economics, the key for investors to watch for is for the government to regain the political credibility it had during 2000’s, when it achieved an impressive track record.” “It’s possible that the government reinvigorate the reform agenda. The government doesn’t need to now worry about upcoming elections, it will be perhaps be able to concentrate on reforms.” >MORE DETAILS Russia plans to restore Assad regime’s economy RUSSIAN COMPANIES WOULD HAVE EXCLUSIVE OPPORTUNITIES TO WORK ON RECONSTRUCTION PROJECTS, MPS SAY ANKARA (AA) - A group of Russian MPs have put forward a plan to restore the economy of the Assad regime in Syria. The proposal is for the creation of a bilateral Russia-Syria reconstruction agency which would spearhead and fund projects to rebuild the area of Syria controlled by the regime headed by president Bashar al-Assad. Russian Duma member Alexander Yushchenko, who recently took part in a parliamentary delegation that visited Damascus, told the press in a conference at TASS headquarters on Oct. 28: “Assad supported our idea of creating a joint body responsible for coordinating Syria’s reconstruction. He speculated that such a body might be created at the government level.” The Russian delegation discussed the project with Assad, Syrian Prime Minister Wael Al-Halqi and with other government officials. Russian MP Sergey Gavrilov, who also was part of the delegation, said at the same press conference that he expected the two countries to create such an agency at the government level. Gavrilov has been working with a group of his fellow MPs on a plan for the agency. The first step would be to set up an intergovernmental commission which would set priorities for reconstruction. For Gavrilov, the first priority would be rebuilding the oil and gas industry. “A number of Russian companies have shown interest in such projects,” he said. Other sectors under discussion for the project included phosphates processing, energy, transportation, agriculture and perhaps the increase of exports toRussia, Gavrilov said. “Russian companies would have an exclusive opportunity to work on these projects,” Gavrilov said. According to Gavrilov, the Assad government is ready to discuss specific projects; all that is needed is to set up the framework for the agency. Gavrilov noted the potential of the region’s economy, which he said had been undermined by the long conflict. “Let me remind you, the economy of Syria has almost halved – to a GDP of $56 billion. Unemployment is at 40 percent, and inflation is at 400 percent,” Gavrilov said. He blamed “foreign aggression” for the collapse of the region’s economy. “At the same time, the main economic sectors in Syria continue to be under the control of the government, there is a highly qualified population, and there is the desire of many refugees to return home,” he added. The MPs proposed an “institutional approach” to be established for the project, which would include project financing, long-term fundraising and the issuing of bonds. >MORE DETAILS 14 °C US Muslim leaders say Turkish poll ‘victory of democracy’ WORLD, US MUSLIMS CELEBRATING ‘SUCCESS OF AK PARTY WHO STANDS AS A VOICE FOR THE OPPRESSED PEOPLE,” SAYS LEADER OF US MUSLIM CIVIL RIGHTS GROUP WA SH I NGTON (A A) American Muslim leaders are doling out high praise for Turkey’s citizens and its ruling party for the process of recently held parliamentary elections. “The Turkish elections also stand as a sample for Muslim countries, as how an election can be held successfully and democratically in the Muslim world,” Nihad Awad, executive director of the Council on American Muslim Relations told Anadolu Agency. “We, as Muslims, applaud the Turkish leadership for the role they play for the Muslims. Turkey is a shiny example and will continue to guide Muslims all around the World,” added Awad, who leads the largest Muslim civil rights organization. He said one of the most important aspects of the elections was the ability of Turkish citizens to freely and democratically elect the Justice and Development (AK) Party to one more term, with high voter turnout of 87 percent. After five months of political uncertainty following general elections in June, the AK Party secured victory Sunday by receiving more than 49 percent of the vote, according to preliminary results. The party polled at just 41 percent in the previous election and was unable to form a coalition government. “Muslims all around the world, including those in the U.S. are celebrating the success of AK Party, who stands as a voice for the oppressed people,” Awad noted. >MORE DETAILS EU’s plan to give Turkey funds for refugees ‘not enough’ EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT’S TURKEY RAPPORTEUR KATI PIRI SAYS EU’S OFFER TO PROVIDE FUNDS TO TURKEY SHOULD HAVE BEEN MADE A LONG TIME AGO BRUSSEL S (A A) – EU’s offer of funds to Turkey as part of its plan to deal with refugee crisis should have been made a long time ago, European Parliament’s Turkey Rapporteur Kati Piri told Anadolu Agency on Tuesday. “Turkey should have been given support much earlier when it comes to financially coping with providing for these 2.5 million refugees,” Piri said, adding “[it] is not enough”. Faced with the worst migrant crisis since World War II, the EU is in the process of negotiating with Turkey on a refugee action plan, under which the 28-nation-bloc has offered Turkey funds to reduce the flow of asylum seekers coming into Europe in exchange for easier visa travel rules for Turkish citizens seeking to visit Europe. Under the action plan, which was presented by the European Commission President JeanClaude Juncker to Turkey’s P re sident Recep Tay y ip Erdogan in Brussels on Oct. 5, the EU offered €1 billion ($1.13 billion) in humanitarian assistance for refugees hosted in Turkey. The Turkish government, according to official figures, has so far spent $7.6 billion on caring for the 2.5 million refugees it hosts inside the country. “It’s very much in the interest of the EU to find good agreements on how to deal with this refugee crisis,” Piri said. She said that the EU and Turkey must discuss ways to deal with resettlement of refugees, which she called “a sensitive topic in Europe” because of disagreements among member states on how to distribute refugees across the 28-nation bloc. “The solution cannot just be [that] we pay Turkey in order to keep the refugees in Turkey… that is of course not the solution and it wouldn’t be fair to Turkey either, “ she said. “We already have problems about how to among the 28 [member states] divide the refugees in solidarity with each other; that is already difficult, let alone to make an agreement on how we can provide safe and legal routes for refugees who want to come here [Europe] through Turkey.” EU border agency Frontex said Tuesday that 710,000 asylum seekers had entered EU within the first nine months of the year, with many travelling through Turkey. “If we [EU] really want to help refugees to stay close to their homes but also help Turkey and Turkish society which is on much more pressure because of a large number of Syrians in Turkey…it means we need to live up to what we say if we want to have better facilities for refugees in the region,” Piri said. “It simply means Europe will also have to pay for it,” she said. >MORE DETAILS UN says 123,000 people newly displaced in Syria WAVE OF DISPLACEMENT CONTINUES WITH 700,000 PEOPLE AT RISK IN HAMA AND ALEPPO, SAYS UN SPOKESMAN NEW YORK (AA) – More than 123,000 people have been displaced in three major Syrian governorates since last month, the UN has said. U N spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters in New York on Tuesday that at least 123,842 people had been forced to flee their homes in Aleppo, Hama and Idlib governorates between Oct. 5 and 30. “The road from Hama to Aleppo has been cut since 23 October, putting at risk an estimated 700,000 people living in government-controlled areas of the city,” Dujarric said, adding: “Aerial attacks on medical facilities and staff continued as two hospitals in Idlib were reportedly hit last week.” The Syrian civil war has claimed more than 250,000 lives since 2011 and made the country the world’s single-largest source of refugees and displaced people. Some 3.9 million Syrians have become refugees and at least 7.6 million have been internally displaced, according to UN figures. Neighboring Turkey is now the largest refugee-hosting country in the world with more than two million Syrian refugees on its soil. “Humanitarian partners have scaled up to meet assessed needs but gaps remain, particularly in provision of household goods and shelter kits, and provision of health, water and sanitation and education services in camps for displaced people, due to insufficient funding and access challenges,” said Dujarric. According to the UN’s aid agency, about 13.5 million people in Syria are now in need of humanitarian assistance and some sort of protection. The new figures mark an increase of 1.2 million in just 10 months, UN aid chief Stephen O’Brien said last week. >MORE DETAILS