Turkey is selling licenses to operate infrastructure to the Australia's second-largest investment company...

B&B plans $1b Turkey fund
May 28, 2008 - 7:47AM

Turkey is selling licenses to operate infrastructure, including ports and roads, as part of an International Monetary Fund-backed program of disposals to reduce budget deficits and debt, and curb the state's role in the economy.

Babcock & Brown, Australia's second-largest investment company, plans to raise more than $US1 billion ($A1.04 billion) for a fund to invest in Turkish infrastructure as the government steps up asset sales, two people with knowledge of the matter said.

Babcock is approaching investors and will target assets such as airports, roads, utilities and ports, said the people, who declined to be identified because the plans are private.

The Sydney-based firm expects to finish raising the money for the closely-held fund next year, they said.

Turkey is selling licenses to operate infrastructure, including ports and roads, as part of an International Monetary Fund-backed program of disposals to reduce budget deficits and debt, and curb the state's role in the economy.

Babcock earns about 36% of its revenue in Europe and in 2006 bought a 5.2% stake in TAV Havalimanlari Holding AS, which runs Istanbul's Ataturk Airport.`

`There is a bigger pipeline of infrastructure deals that may come to fruition in Turkey than anywhere else in Europe,'' said David Simpson, head of infrastructure mergers and acquisitions at KPMG International in London. With greater competition for assets, investors should expect lower fund returns than in the past few years, he said.Babcock oversaw $72 billion of assets at the end of 2007, including $41 billion in publicly traded funds and $15 billion in closely-held investment vehicles.

Sydney-based Macquarie Group Ltd., Babcock's larger competitor, has $232 billion under management.Anthony Kennaway, a London-based spokesman for Babcock, declined to comment on the new fund.Macquarie, CitigroupBabcock has declined 54% this year, compared with a 23% drop in the 50-member S&P/ASX 200 Finance Index.

The firm said last week it may help Babcock & Brown Power, Australia's biggest publicly traded electricity producer, with financing if the company fails to secure additional debt funding from banks. Babcock & Brown in the second-biggest shareholder in the power company after Deutsche Bank AG.Investment firms are targeting stable returns from infrastructure investments in Europe.

Macquarie is seeking to raise more than 5 billion euros ($8.2 billion) for its third European infrastructure fund, four people with knowledge of the matter said April 10. The firm will use the money to buy assets across the continent.New York-based Citigroup Inc., the largest US bank by assets, is seeking as much as $US5 billion for its first infrastructure fund as the company targets utility and airport assets, three people with knowledge of the plan said last month.

Pressing AheadCredit Suisse Group, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and UBS AG are among banks that started such funds in the past two years as the pace of infrastructure mergers almost doubled to $US340 billion between 2005 and 2007, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

The head of Turkey's state asset sales agency, Metin Kilci, expects to invite bids for the national lottery and a network of bridges and roads at the end of this month or early in June, he said on May 16. Turkey is pressing on with asset sales, even as global credit markets dry up, to lure foreign currency and narrow a widening trade deficit.Legal challenges have delayed some asset sales, adding to the ``risk factor'' for companies wanting to invest in Turkey, Kilci said.

The payment of $US1.28 billion from the sale of Izmir port to Hong Kong-based Hutchison Whampoa, the world's biggest port manager, and Global Yatirim Holding AS hinges on a court ruling and is likely to be made before the end of the year, Kilci said.The government sold 15% of Turk Telekomunikasyon AS, the main fixed-line telephone company, for $US1.9 billion this month in the nation's biggest initial public offering. Tenders to sell four electricity distributors have been started.Bloomberg

http://business.theage.com.au/bb-plans-1b-turkey-fund-20080528-2ita.html

Timing for the queen’s visit ...-1920'de olmadı, şimdi tam zamanı !!İngiliz Kraliyet Uluslararası İlişkiler Enstitüsü (Chatham House) raporu, 2007

Chatham Report

Report of the International Studies the United Kingdom December 2007

The Kurdish Policy Imperative
Gareth Stansfield, Chatham House and Exeter University,
Robert Lowe, Chatham House and
Hashem Ahmadzadeh, Exeter University
[ Full Details: Download Paper here ]
[Map reproduced with permission from David Romano The Kurdish Nationalist Movement, Cambridge University Press, 2006.Gareth Stansfield is Professor of Middle East Politics at Exeter University. Robert Lowe is Manager of the Middle Programme at Chatham House. Hashem Ahmadzadeh is Lecturer in Kurdish Studies at Exeter University. ]

Brief: ·
• Kurds have struggled for decades to mobilize and gain international attention. Now, for the first time, some Kurdish interests are converging with the regional designs of prominent members of the international community.
• The consolidation of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in Iraq is of huge importance. Kurds in Iraq now have an unprecedented opportunity to define their own future and influence other Kurds in the region.

• Another Turkish incursion into Iraq is likely to be futile but the threat has been raised because of the poor state of Turkish–US relations, the tension between the AK Party and the Turkish military, and Turkish opposition to a successful KRG.

• Kurdish political demands remain limited, but there has been a notable strengthening of Kurdish self-perception and aspirations at a mass level.

• The intricate web of relationships between Kurds and regional states means that the future of the Middle East is closely tied to Kurdish futures.

• Regional and Western policy-makers need to reappraise the role of the Kurds in Iraq and Turkey and how Kurds in Syria and Iran interact with their governments and are influenced by Kurdish developments in neighbouring states.
http://www.chathamhouse.org.uk/files/10685_bp1207kurds.pdf
http://www.chathamhouse.org.uk/publications/papers/view/-/id/584/

Kurds has been the continued existence of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. The legalization of this region in post-2003 Iraq has strengthened the commitment of many Kurds to what they see as their innate national rights.

For many, these equate to independence. Whatever happens in the short to medium term, some Kurds are now able to influence outcomes in a manner that the Kurdish negotiators of the 1920s failed to achieve. There is no imminent prospect of an independent Kurdish state but it is possible that one may in time emerge as a late addition to the post-1918 political map of the Middle East.
These trends mean that the Kurdish situation has to be reappraised and reconsidered with reference to new political dynamics in Turkey, Syria, Iran, and of course Iraq, and more importantly, the new political and economic outlook of the Kurds themselves.International policy-makers find it difficult to deal with non-state actors and minorities, but this should not prevent them engaging seriously on Kurdish issues.

The recent stand-off between Turkey, the PKK, and the Iraqi Kurds has opened a window onto the intricate web of relations that link different actors together, and has exposed the new interactions caused by domestic political complexities in Turkey and Iraq and the increasing effectiveness of political actors among the Kurds.

1920'de olmadı, şimdi tam zamanı !

İngiliz Kraliyet Uluslararası İlişkiler Enstitüsü (Chatham House) raporu, Aralık 2007.
Raporun başlığı: "Kürt Politikası Buyruğu"Rapora göre: "1920 lerde Kürtler bölünmüş ve kendi içlerinde çatışır durumda oldukları için, Kürt devleti kurulamadı.""Şimdi durum değişti. 1918 sonrası sınırların kalıcılığını tartışmalı hale getiren gelişmeler oldu.""Türkiye, İran, Irak ve Suriye'de eş zamanlı olarak yükselen Kürt ayrılıkçılığı, kendi içlerindeki çatışmalara son verdi.""Tarihte ilk kez Kürt çıkarları ile uluslararası topluluğun AB gibi, daha önemlisi ABD gibi önde gelen üyelerinin bölge düzenlemeleri ile çakıştı"
http://www.acikistihbarat.com/Haberler.asp?haber=7660

Cumhurbaskani Abdullah Gül29 Ekim 1950’de Kayseri’de doğdu. Orta öğrenimini Kayseri Lisesinde tamamladıktan sonra İstanbul Üniversitesi İktisat Fakültesi’ne girdi. Aynı fakültede mezuniyet sonrası doktorasını aldı. Lisan ve doktora çalışmalarını yürütmek için burslu olarak iki sene Londra ve Exeter’de kaldı. Türkiye dönüşünde Sakarya Üniversitesi Endüstri Mühendisliği Bölümü’nün kuruluşunda çalıştı ve İktisat dersleri verdi.

More:
http://www.chathamhouse.org.uk/publications/papers/view/-/id/584/ http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article3489107.ece

The queen’s visit and Turkey’s vicious circle
http://www.turkishweekly.net/news.php?id=55327

Washington Tribune " The sacrifices of the Turks will eternally remain in our minds."

Echoes of the Kunuri Battle

" The American public understands that the United Nations Forces in Korea were saved from encirclement and from falling in to the hands of the communists by the heroism shown by the Turks."


"4500 soldiers in the middle of the firing line have known how to create miracle. The sacrifices of the Turks will eternally remain in our minds." - Washington Tribune

"The courageous battles of the Turkish Brigade have created a favorable effect on the whole United Nations Forces." - Time

"The surprise of the Korean battles were not the Chinese but the Turks. It is impossible at this moment to find a word to describe the heroism which the Turks have shown in the battles." - Abent Post

"The Turks have shown in Kunuri a heroism worthy of their glorious history. The Turks have gained the admiration of the whole world through their glorious fighting in the battles."
- Figaro

"The Turks who have been known throughout history by their courage and decency, have proved that they have kept these characteristics, in the war which the United Nations undertook in Korea." - Burner - U.S. Congressman

"There is no one left who does not know that the Turks, our valuable allies, are hard warriors and that they have accomplished very great feats at the front." - Claude Pepper, U.S. Senator
"I now understand that the vote I gave in favor of assistance to Turkey was the most fitting vote I gave in my life. Courage, bravery and heroism are the greatest virtues which will sooner or later conquer. In this matter, I know no nation superior to the Turks."
- Rose - U.S. Senator

"While the Turks were for a long time fighting against the enemy and dying, the British and Americans were withdrawing. The Turks, who were out of ammunition, affixed their bayonets and attacked the enemy and there ensued a terrible hand to hand combat. The Turks succeeded in withdrawing by continuous combat and by carrying their injured comrades on their backs. They paraded at Pyongyang with their heads held high." - G.G. Martin - British Lieutenant General

"The Turkish forces have shown success above that expected in the battles they gave in Korea." - General Collings - Commander US Army

"We owe the escape of thousands of United Nations troops out of a certain encirclement to the heroism of the Turkish soldiers. The Turkish soldiers in Korea have added a new and unforgettable page of honor to the customs and legends of heroism of the Turkish nation." - Emanuel Shinwell - U.K. Minister of Defense

"The heroic soldiers of a heroic nation, you have saved the Eighth Army and the IX'th Army Crops from encirclement and the 2nd Division from destruction. I came here today to thank you on behalf of the United Nations Army." - General Walton H. Walker, Commander, Eighth Army

"The Turks are the hero of heroes. There is no impossibility for the Turkish Brigade." -
General Douglas MacArthur - United Nations Forces Commander in Chief

"The military situation in Korea is being followed with concern by the whole American public. But in these concerned days, the heroism shown by the Turks has given hope to the American nation. It has inculeated them with courage.

The American public fully appreciates the value of the services rendered by the Turkish Brigade and knows that because of them the Eighth American Army could withdraw without disarray.

The American public understands that the United Nations Forces in Korea were saved from encirclement and from falling in to the hands of the communists by the heroism shown by the Turks." - 2
...

THE TURKISH BRIGADE
The advance party of the Turkish Brigade or Turkish Armed Forces command, arrived in Pusan on 12 October 1950. The main body numbering 5190 troops arrived five days later, on 17 October. Brigadier General Tahzin Yazici commanded the brigade. Colonel Celal Dora was assistant Brigade Commander. When the main body arrived the brigade went into bivouac near Taegu where it underwent training and received U.S. equipment. The brigade was attached to the U.S. 25th infantry division so after limited training the brigade moved north to the Kaesong area to join the division.

Australian journalist Harry Gordon: The Turks were small and shy and gentle ...

Gordon recalled a particular meeting in Korea of Australian and Turkish soldiers:

“ If the seeds of this joint respect were planted at Gallipoli; it ripened in the dust and snow of Korea.

The Turks' relish for hand-to-hand fighting, their first-class leadership, their discipline under fire… these were attributes the Australians in Korea possessed themselves and admired in others.”


“I went, and found Norm O'Neill, whose pals in the Field Ambulance used to call him Peggy, entertaining a bunch of stocky, dark-jowled young men. They stood and listened as O'Neill (with the help of a young Lt. who could speak a few words of English) told them about his father, who had been a machine-gunner at Gallipoli. We gave them packets of chewing gum, and they handed in return hunks of something that looked like a pancake and tasted like rubber… Their ready acceptance of us, their eagerness to make us feel at home among them, weren't just standard behaviour for newfound allies. They, too, had had the Gallipoli story drummed into them during their childhood.

“For the Aust'ns, many illusions were shattered. Somehow the ANZAC Day speeches of their youth had built the Turks up in their imagination as massive, heavily moustached fighters who carried daggers in their belts and remained sullen and aloof. Nothing could have been further from the truth; the Turks were small and shy and gentle … sometimes even a little comical in their oversized greatcoats. There were moustaches, certainly, but they were soft, boyish, kitten-tailed affairs with the texture and quality of those that 19-year old Australian soldiers were managing to cultivate.”

The Turks proved tough soldiers. Gordon continues:
“The Turks continued to fight with a ferocity which made them something of a legend in Korea. In one action they are on record as having complained bitterly that the artillery barrage put in to soften up an enemy before their charge was too heavy … there weren't enough live Chinese left to make a decent fight. "

Harry Gordon, another Australian journalist who frequently worked alongside Alan Dower, was one of the youngest Australian reporters in Korea.
http://www.awm.gov.au/korea/faces/journalists/journalists.asp

see the pictures of Tirkish soldiers in Korea..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXX1Y_X9ZUs&feature=related

Armenians were belligerents

Letters Blog
( An answer from Turkish Prof. Atatov for Vicken Babkenian's below comment titled: 'Armenia's angels' - 25, 2008 )

May 03, 2008 7
by Prof.Dr. Turkkaya Ataov (Emeritus of international relations)
Comments

Armenians were belligerents

VICKEN Babkenian (Armenia’s angels’’, Opinion, 25/4) states that “at the time the Australian troops landed at Gallipoli another event of historical importance was taking place in Turkey’’.

It’s true that a tragedy occurred in Turkey then, but in a way much different than the one stressed by Babkenian.British authors Stephen Pope and Elizabeth-Anne Wheal, in their joint military classic Dictionary of the First World War, state that between 1 and 1.5 million Armenians were living in Turkey in 1914, that the Armenian nationalists ``slaughtered an estimated 120,000 non-Armenians while the Turkish Army was preoccupied with mobilisation’’, that ``2500 rebels took (the city of) Van in April 1915 and proclaimed a provisional government’’, and that armed Armenians ``resumed control in late 1917 killing perhaps another 50,000 non-Armenians’’.

The commanders of the Armenians, such as Armen Garo Pasdermadjian, confess in their published memoirs that they bore arms, organised large forces and fought against the Turks in several fronts. The title of Pasdermadjian’s book proudly asserts thatArmenian participation was ``A Leading Factor in the Winning of the War’’ by the Allies.Published documents prove, beyond reasonable doubt, that Armenians committed violent assaults, armed terrorism, destruction, rape, assassinations and wholesale murder of various Muslim groups.

Such misdeeds were condemned as contrary to the rules of war even by the Tsarist Russian and French officers who had provided them with uniforms,weapons and all kinds of support.Many Armenian, British, US, French, Russian and Turkish sources indicate that the Armenians were not as helpless,unprotected, un-armed and non-belligerent as mainstream opinion claims them to have been.Turkkaya AtaovProfessor emeritus of international relationsAnkara University, TurkeyCopyright 2007 News Limited. All times AEST (GMT

+10).http://blogs.theaustralian.news.com.au/letters/index.php/theaustralian/comments/armenians_were_belligerentsVicken


Armenia's angels
Babkenian
April 25, 2008

AT the same time as Australian troops landed at Gallipoli on April 25, 1915, another event of historical importance was taking place in Turkey: the Armenian genocide. The Gallipoli landing took place one day after the mass arrest of Armenian leaders in Istanbul, which is known as the beginning of the genocide. "Who, after all, remembers the annihilation of the Armenians?" were Adolf Hitler's famous words before he embarked on his heinous crime of the Holocaust. One group who remember the Armenians are a handful of Australians who were at the forefront of the relief effort, yet their stories have been largely hidden. Not one Australian historian has devoted any attention to these remarkable Australians, who have been forgotten along with the "forgotten genocide". For example, Edith Glanville from Haberfield, Sydney, lost her son Leigh, from the 1st Battalion, who died in battle at Gallipoli.

Thus began her extraordinary journey with the Armenian people.Glanville was the first woman justice of the peace in NSW and founded both the Quota and Soroptimist clubs in Australia. Most notably she was honorary secretary of the Armenian Relief Fund of NSW from 1922, and became a driving force in raising more than $100,000 worth of supplies (about $19 million in today's value) within months. Other members of the relief fund included Charles Lloyd Jones, the first chairman of the ABC; and Oscar Lines, the general manager of the Bank of NSW. Glanville was so concerned about the plight of the Armenians that she ended up adopting an Armenian orphan. Former Menzies cabinet minister and British high commissioner Thomas White was a prisoner of war during World War I in Turkey. As a witness to the Armenian genocide, he later returned home and joined the Armenian relief effort. Another prominent Australian, the Rev J.E.Cresswell from Adelaide's Congregational Church (now the Uniting Church), was national secretary of the Armenian Relief Fund of Australasia in the 1920s.

Witnessing the plight of Armenian refugees in Syria in 1923, Cresswell said: "Over 6000 are here. The sights within these caves are beyond words. No words seem adequate to describe the misery that must be the portion of these poor people." He oversaw relief programs from port to destination, including setting up an Australian-funded orphanage for 1700 children who survived the genocide in Antelias, Lebanon.

That site is now one of the holiest for Armenians, the Catholicosate of Cilicia. In 1918, Sydney mayor James Joynton Smith set up the Armenian Relief Fund, which included prominent philanthropists and business people such as the Griffith brothers, one of the largest suppliers of tea and coffee in Australia, and the Elliot brothers, one of the nation's biggest pharmaceutical groups. This fund, with the help of many Sydneysiders, raised hundreds of thousands of dollars to help the Armenians, all when Australians were already sacrificing so much during World War I. Even prime minister Billy Hughes promised that free freight would be provided by commonwealth steamers for any contribution to the fund.

These are just some of the hundreds of Australian stories of generosity, hope and moral decency that have been unearthed. In the words of Robert Manne: "In world history there is an intimate connection between the Dardanelles campaign and the Armenian genocide." So, as we reflect on the sacrifices of brave Australians who landed on those distant shores, let's also remember those Australians who lost loved ones and, through the kindness of their hearts, were able to save others.

Vicken Babkenian is director of the Australian Institute for Holocaust and Genocide Studies.' http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23594423-21147,00.html