Turkey to ease dependence on gas

Turkey opened a bid Monday for the construction of the country's first nuclear power plant, part of a plan to reduce the country's dependence on gas supplies from Iran and Russia. Turkey's electricity agency said in a written announcement that bids will be accepted until Sept. 24 for the planned plant in the Mediterranean port city of Mersin. The government assured potential investors that it would buy all the electricity produced by the plant for its first 15 years.

The plant is the first of three that the government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan plans to build by 2015 to meet the country's growing energy needs. Turkey has limited energy resources, relying on natural gas supplies from neighbors Iran and Russia.

Energy Minister Hilmi Guler has said that nuclear power is one of the best options Turkey has for increasing its energy security, and that nuclear power should supply 20 percent of the nation's needs within two decades.

Environmentalists have criticized the plan, raising security concerns and warning that the site is in an earthquake-prone area. Guler has said concerns over both issues would be taken into consideration in the plant's construction.

The Associated Press

Dozens die in Turkey border clash

At least 12 Turkish soldiers have been killed following an ambush by Kurdish rebels near the Iraqi border - with 32 rebels also killed, officials say.

The PKK guerrilla group claimed it had also taken "several" soldiers hostage. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has recalled security officials to Ankara for a crisis meeting. Correspondents say the attacks will increase the pressure on the government to launch raids into Iraq, after it was given clearance to do so by parliament.

On Wednesday, MPs voted overwhelmingly in support of a motion to allow the military to launch offensives across the border, against rebels based in the remote, mountainous north of Iraq.

It followed an escalation of raids by the PKK - the Kurdistan Workers' Party - as part of its armed campaign for Kurdish autonomy. Recent attacks blamed on the group have left more than 30 Turkish soldiers and civilians dead.

About 3,000 PKK fighters are believed to be based in northern Iraq near the Turkish border, says the BBC's Sarah Rainsford in Istanbul. There have been regular clashes in the area since earlier in the year, but the latest attack was one of the deadliest for some time. The clashes will increase pressure on the government from the public and the military for a tough response, our correspondent says.

The United States, Turkey's Nato ally, has called for restraint, fearing that any incursions would destabilise Iraq's most peaceful area - the autonomous Kurdish region in the north.

Turkey Ponders Iraq Campaign

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Friday that Turkey would not be deterred by the possible consequences of invading Iraq if it decides to stage a cross-border offensive against Kurdish rebels. "If such an option is chosen, whatever its price, it will be paid," Erdogan told reporters in response to a question about international repercussions of such a decision, which would strain ties with the United States and Iraq. "There could be pros and cons of such a decision, but what is important is our country's interests."

A Turkish soldier was killed by a mine Thursday night on Mt. Gabar in southeastern Sirnak province, where 13 soldiers have been ambushed and killed over the past week, local authorities said. "We are making necessary preparations to be ready in case we decide on a cross-border operations since we don't have patience to lose more time," Erdogan said, adding that Turkey lost 30 people in rebel attacks over the past two weeks.

Erdogan said Turkey has long been seeking the cooperation of Iraq and the United States but there has been no crackdown on the rebel group of the Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, in Iraq. "If there are terrorists sheltering and attacking Turkey from Iraqi soil and if they don't do anything then we should do something," Erdogan said.

The Turkish parliament was expected to approve a government request to authorize an Iraq campaign as early as next week, after a holiday ending the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. But that does not mean a risky incursion will follow at once. Turkey might give diplomacy, and perhaps economic pressure, more time to work even as public enthusiasm for a military mission mounts.

AFP

Turkey elects Gul president despite army anger

Foreign minister Abdullah Gul has been elected as president of Turkey, making him the first person with a background in islamist politics to take on the post since the secular Turkish Republic was established in 1923. Mr Gul beat off two opponents on Tuesday afternoon (28 August) in a third round of voting gaining 339 votes, 63 more than the simple majority needed.

His election campaign has been fraught with tension between the islamist-rooted ruling AK party and the army, which jealously guards the separation of church and state in the mainly-muslim country.

The AK party previously attempted to have him elected as president in April. Mr Gul missed getting the post by a narrow margin but the army flexed its muscles at the time saying it was the "defender" of secularism. The standoff between the army and the government prompted the AK to call snap elections which in July returned the party to power with a stronger majority.

On Monday, the army made similar warning noises, once again reviving memories of the four military coups it has staged in the past fifty years. "Our nation has been watching the behaviour of those separatists who can't embrace Turkey's unitary nature, and centres of evil that systematically try to corrode the secular nature of the Turkish Republic," said Turkish military chief Yasar Buyukanit, in a statement on the military's website on Monday.

It fears that Mr Gul will undermine Turkey's secular roots. He comes from a background of more radical Islamic politics. Much has also been made of the fact that Mr Gul's wife wears a headscarf – Islamic headgear that is banned in official buildings.

However, Mr Gul has since established himself as a moderate politician. In 2001, he founded the AK party (Justice and Development Party) along with current president Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

He has also promised to uphold the country's secular tradition. The presidential post – it is a seven-year term - is largely ceremonial but it does giver the holder the right to veto legislation.

Critics of Mr Gul's election are wondering whether he will use this power if any future legislation undermines the separation of religion and state.

On the European stage, meanwhile, Mr Gul has gained a reputation as a skilled politician and is a strong proponent of Turkey's bid for membership of the European Union. The European Commission, which in the past has warned the military on its sabre-rattling, was quick to congratulate Mr Gul. "This represents a considerable achievement for Turkey and the Turkish people," said commission president Jose Manuel Barroso.

Euobserver