Turkey: US and Turkey agree on Iran

Hurriyet Daily News

Turkey, US see eye-to-eye on Iran, envoy says

Turkey and the United States share the same vision on Iran’s nuclear future, a source of much tension between Ankara and the West, the U.S. ambassador to Turkey said in remarks published Monday.

Neither country wants Iran to have nuclear weapons but both believe it has the right to develop nuclear power “as long as it fulfills its international responsibilities,” Ambassador Francis J. Ricciardone told the Anatolia news agency.

“We widely agree on how to convince Iran to adopt its international responsibilities. Our basic consensus is that diplomacy is the best instrument to cope with the problem, even if it is not the only one,” the envoy said.

Speaking to the news agency on the sidelines of American Business Forum in Turkey, or ABFT, event, Ricciardone largely addressed economic issues, saying investor interest in Turkey is on the rise in the United States and across the world.

“The challenge is transforming this interest into real trade and investments,” he told Anatolia.

Compared to when he first visited the country during a vacation in 1977 and a diplomatic mission in 1979, Turkey is now much more open to the world, Ricciardone said: “How well you compete on the global stage. Turkish goods and brands have a very new meaning in the world today.”

Commenting on the mutual trade relations, Ricciardone noted the establishment of the U.S.-Turkey Framework for Strategic Economic and Commercial Cooperation, an initiative by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and U.S. President Barack Obama. “The Turkish side has determined the names [of the companies to participate in the effort] and we hope to meet soon, maybe in June,” he said.

Turkey had postponed determining names for the initiative within the U.S.-Turkey Business Council until recently, a hesitation that was criticized by Michael Camunez, a U.S. deputy commerce secretary, and Jose Fernandez, a U.S. deputy secretary of state, during a visit to Ankara in January.

The Turkish media then claimed that the delay was the result of indecision on whether to send representatives from the Turkish Industry & Business Association, or TÜSİAD, the country’s leading employer’s organization; from the Turkish Union of Chambers and Commodities Exchanges, or TOBB; from the Independent Industrialists’ and Businessmen’s Association, or MÜSİAD, a group with a close relationship to the ruling Justice and Development Party, or AKP; or from the Confederation of Businessmen and Industrialists of Turkey, or TUSKON, a foreign trade organization.

The parties will work to lift obstacles hindering mutual trade and investments, Ricciardone said, naming the basic problems facing U.S. investments in Turkey as copyright disputes, a lack of transparency and failures in implementing agreements.

Surveys conducted by the ABFT since 2004 show that the basis of the Turkish business environment is sound, but problems in particular fields, such as copyrights, trade limitations and red tape, needed to be resolved, said Murat Aşık, a board member of the organization.

“We are competing with the prominent countries in the world in drawing investments and increasing the country’s potential. Being aware of this competition, we should take steps forward in moving the business environment into a better position and reducing bureaucracy,” Aşık said. “We also think that the level of predictability should improve in Turkey. We have the political and macro-economic stability, but we also need stability in changing laws and regulations. According to our annual surveys, companies are telling us that rules are changing overnight and this hampers investments.”

Dialogue is the best method to overcome these problems, according to Aşık, who said the Turkish government’s openness to such communication is appreciated, but that open dialogue needs to become a structural and sustainable part of doing business in Turkey.

According to data by the Turkish Statistical Institute, or TurkStat, Turkey’s exports to the United States reached $3.768 billion in 2010 while imports hit $12.31 billion.

Officials to discuss freezing Libyan assets

Freezing the assets of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi and his family and implementing U.N. sanctions on Libya and Iran will be discussed Tuesday in Ankara by Turkish and U.S. officials.

David Cohen, the acting U.S. undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, will pay a visit to the Turkish capital to discuss “international efforts on how to apply pressure on Libya,” the State Department said Friday. Cohen’s trip to Turkey follows his meetings in France, which allegedly balked at implementing sanctions on Libya.

The United Nations Security Council adopted Resolution 1973 in March to prevent the travel of Libyan authorities such as Gadhafi and freeze their foreign assets so as to halt the regime’s attacks against the opposition. The resolution has created a Security Council committee to monitor the enforcement of the sanctions, determine other individuals who could become subject to the ban and report on its implementation.

Following his meetings with officials from the Turkish Foreign Ministry and Treasury, Cohen will hold talks in Istanbul with banking associations and other business groups.

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