Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev opens the Alov plant, one of the country's new defense manufacturers
Turkey's relationship with Azerbaijan may be strained over the former's attempts at rapprochement with Armenia, but cooperation between the two countries' defense industries seems as strong as ever. Turkey's defense minister visited Baku last week, and the two countries signed a whole raft of agreements on setting up joint ventures in Azerbaijan to produce rockets, drones, grenade launchers, camouflage material and possibly helicopters.
Azerbaijan seems to be following the same strategy as Kazakhstan -- get foreign companies to come and bring their superior military technology so that local companies can eventually produce that equipment by themselves, in an attempt to diversify the economy beyond just oil and gas. In fact, Azerbaijan started this a while ago, setting up a Ministry of Defense Industry in 2005 and setting up its first big joint venture, to produce a South African mine-protected vehicle in late 2009. So it seems likely that Kazakhstan may be following Azerbaijan's example.
Whatever the case, assuming these agreements actually come to fruition, there are now two burgeoning defense industries on either side of the Caspian.
As more of the agenda emerges for NATO summit that will take place two weeks from now in Lisbon, it's highlighting how much, two decades after the end of the Cold War, NATO is still focused on its eastern flank.
NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen was in Moscow yesterday and met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. Few details of their talks have been released, but they did of course discuss the proposed NATO missile defense plan and what role Russia might play in it. Before the talks, Russia's ambassador to NATO, Dmitry Rogozin, was skeptical:
"If it is simply a US system built on European soil with European money and without any guarantees that will not be targeted against Russia, that is unacceptable to us," he said. "We hope that some cards will be opened before the document is officially made public."
But Lavrov, after the meeting, was somewhat more optimistic:
"We are willing to take part in such a joint system and a joint analysis... Of course, on an equal basis and aimed against joint threats," Lavrov said.
While in Moscow, Rasmussen told the BBC that Russian participation in counterdrug raids in Afghanistan would continue, despite protests by the Afghanistan government.
And the Wall Street Journal reports that coalition commanders in Afghanistan are hoping to use the NATO summit to firm up European support for, and participation in, the war in Afghanistan, in particular trying to keep countries like Italy and France from pulling out altogether:
Turkish web surfers heaved a big sigh of relief this past Sunday. After almost three-years, Turkish authorities lifted the ban a court had placed on the YouTube online video sharing service.
YouTube's original sin had been to allow users to post videos that a Turkish court ruled insulted the memory of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, modern Turkey's founder. Although Google, which owns YouTube, blocked access to the offending material in Turkey, the court asked for a global blackout on the videos, something Google refused to do and which led to the ban.
The ban was lifted on Sunday after a mysterious Germany-based, Turk-owned company claimed it owned the copyright to the material in the offending videos and was able to get YouTube to remove the material.
But now it appears that it may be too soon to celebrate YouTube's return. According to Google's representatives in Turkey, the company has reposted the Ataturk videos after it determined that there was no copyright infringement going on. Although access to the videos in question is still blocked in Turkey, there is concern that the courts will again issue a complete ban on YouTube.
"We're back to square one, basically," says Yaman Akdeniz, a professor of law at Istanbul's Bilgi University and a leading critic of the Turkish government's internet policy.
When news emerged that China had conducted air exercises with Turkey, it caused a lot of speculation in the U.S. that it was indicative of an eastward turn in Turkey's foreign policy. For example, Ariel Cohen of the Heritage Foundation (and a EurasiaNet contributor):
By including the PLAAF in these maneuvers (known as “Anatolian Eagle”) Ankara is signaling another shift in its geopolitical orientation, as well as the emergence of a new strategic partner besides Washington: Beijing. The U.S. policymakers should pay better attention to the ongoing tectonic shifts of the geopolitical plates.
And U.S. officials more or less damned the exercises ">with faint praise, saying that at least Turkey didn't expose any sensitive U.S. technology to China:
Deborah Guido, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Embassy here, said Oct. 15, "As we understood, the government of Turkey answered they would abide with utmost care our requirement related to their possession of U.S. and NATO technology. And we understand that F-16s were not involved in the exercises."
But inside Turkey, the analysis is a little different, and tends to play down the significance of the exercises. Defense News, reporting from Ankara:
A Turkish military official rejected claims that the military was seeking any eastern alliances.
"Each year, we are holding joint exercises with dozens of countries, and China is one of the nations with which we are developing cooperation," he said. "There is no need to seek hidden or deep motives behind this [joint exercise]."
The September 15-16 Turkic summit in Istanbul -- or, as Turkish President Abdullah Gül might put it, the family reunion -- saw the launching of a supranational club meant to help integrate and increase the global clout of Turkic-language-speaking countries. The “[s]iblings, who gathered following a long separation” can now further their interests and promote development and stability through the new Cooperation Council, Gül told his counterparts from Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan.
In Gül's words, this secular fraternity is all about values, influence, success and, of course, giving love. “The hearts of your siblings in Turkey will beat together during our bitter and sweet days,” declared Gül as he exchanged rhapsodic courtesies with fellow Turkic leaders. “We are from now on one nation, but we are also six states,” he declared in a takeoff on the old “one nation, two states” slogan describing the relationship between Turkey and its close ally, Azerbaijan.
Azerbaijan, a big Turkic integration enthusiast, suggested that the Council must be complemented with a common kitty to sponsor joint projects. The "fund will be established in the near future and Azerbaijan will ensure all the necessary financial support for the project,” Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said. Turkic nations already cooperate through a parliamentary assembly, TurkPa, that held its first plenary session last year.
NATO's disaster-preparation exercise in Armenia has begun, and the Turks taking part did not, in the end, cross the border:
More than half of the exercise participants are Armenian rescuers and firefighters employed by Yeritsian’s ministry. Ten others represent neighboring Turkey, with which Armenia has no diplomatic relations.
With the Turkish-Armenian border remaining closed, the Turks had to travel to Armenia via Georgia. Turkish officials indicated in July that Ankara might temporarily reopen the frontier for the exercise. Officials in Yerevan dismissed such possibility as public relations stunt.
On 11 September 2010 at 09:05 a.m., an earthquake of 7.2 Richter Scale (equal to the moment magnitude) occurred in the Kotayk region of the Republic of Armenia. The hypocenter was located in 10 km depth, and the epicentre was located 8 km north-east of the city of Abovyan.
A high number of casualties have been reported (first estimations amount to 12,000 dead and 17,000 wounded) and thousands of buildings have been destroyed. The cities of Charencavan and Abovyan, as well as the adjacent rural communities are amongst the most affected areas.
The water supply and drainage systems of the region are no longer functioning. Means of communication, gas and energy supply systems, as well as infrastructure and means of transport are heavily affected. Fires have spread, the hospitals of the region have been destroyed and humanitarian organisations cannot operate anymore. Thousands of citizens have lost their homes. The international airport of Yerevan was affected by the earthquake but is still usable...
Turkey's new national security strategy is formally removing Greece, Iran, Iraq and Russia from its official list of "threats" -- but that's not keeping Ankara from going on an unprecedented arms buying spree, including new fighter jets, attack helicopters, tanks and submarines, reports Hurriyet:
“You don’t buy weapons to use them in wars, you buy them for deterrence. As your deterrence increases, and you need to be really strong for that, your potential enemies refrain from attacking you,” one senior procurement official said Wednesday, explaining the logic behind the continued large-scale arms-purchasing programs.
Turkey currently spends more than $4 billion a year on defense procurement, a figure that is expected to rise by at least $1 billion not long after 2015 due to the new large-scale buys.
Today's Zaman has a little more on the changed thinking on Russia:
Russia, whose energy and Caucasus policies were seen as a threat to Turkey in the past, is now to be described as a potential partner which can cooperate with Turkey on trade and which shares with Ankara a common vision for stability in the Caucasus.
No word on whether Armenia is still a threat, and no mention of establishing a base in Azerbaijan.
Construction and machinery work starts on the final stages of the mainland tunnels that will connect with the current undersea Bosphorus tunnel. Engineers prepare the drilling machinery for the final stages. The tunnel is due to open in 2012.
Jonathan Lewis is a freelance photojournalist based in Istanbul.
That's what the Russian newspaper Nezavismaya Gaezta says, citing Azeri news reports alleging Azeri dissatisfaction with their relations with Russia (summary via RT):
Meanwhile, Azerbaijan and Turkey may have prepared their “symmetrical answer to Yerevan and Moscow,” Nezavisimaya Gazeta daily said. A Turkish military base may be deployed in Azerbaijan as a result of the talks between Baku and Ankara, the paper noted.
“The topic was allegedly discussed during the recent visit of Turkey's President Abdullah Gul to Baku and his meeting with Azerbaijan’s leader Ilkham Aliev," the daily said. According to Azerbaijan’s media, the military base may be deployed in Nakhichevan autonomous republic, an exclave between Armenia and Turkey.
The relations between Turkey and Azerbaijan are so close that the question arises why Ankara has not yet deployed its military base in the friendly country, the paper asked. Baku may have expected Russia’s more effective role in settling the conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia over Nagorno-Karabakh, the daily explained.
Hoping that Russia could “influence its strategic ally – Yerevan – and help to promote the restoration of Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity,” Baku "did not venture on strengthening a pro-Turkey vector or another one,” the daily stressed.
However, the authorities in Baku think that “expectations were overestimated” as the situation over Nagorno-Karabakh remains unchanged, the daily said.
“Baku, in fact, has determined the limitation of its expectations after which it will probably try to change the situation in its favor by other actions,” the daily said. “This limit is President Medvedev’s visit to Baku scheduled for September.”
Ramadan is the month-long festival considered to be the most important in the Islamic faith, during which many fast throughout the day in order to reflect and worship. Ramazan, as it is called in Turkish, is celebrated in Istanbul as a joyous festival with daily events held around the city peaking at Iftar, the meal at sundown that signals the end of the daily fast.
Many Istanbulites have been taking Iftar outside to beat the summer heat, making this a very difficult and long Ramadan. Due to the long summer days of August, those who fast are not supposed to eat, drink or smoke from roughly sunrise at 5 a.m. until sunset after 8:30 p.m.Though not all Turks fast, the trend seems to be growing.
Monique Jaques is a freelance photojournalist working in Turkey and Afghanistan.
