Turkey, Syria To Cooperate

After decades of enmity, Syria and Turkey have launched a strategic cooperation agreement. This month, the two neighbors signed an agreement meant that included cooperation in the defense and military sectors. The accord also saw the removal of restrictions along the border between Syria and Turkey.

“The brotherhood that exists between our people has been lifted to the political level with joint Cabinet meetings to be held between our two governments,” Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said. Officials said the government of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Erdogan regarded Syria as part of Ankara’s “zero problems with neighbors” policy.

They said Ankara and Damascus have decided to establish what was termed a high-level strategic cooperation panel.“Turkey is your second country and the people of Turkey have opened their arms to welcome you without the need for a visa,” Davutoglu said.

At a joint news conference on Sept. 17, Davutoglu and his Syrian counterpart, Walid Mualem, agreed to lift customs on trade between the two countries. They said trucks that shuttle between Syrian and Turkey would be exempt from taxes. “This is the biggest demonstration of cooperation, solidarity and mutual trust,” Mualem said.

However, Bulent Alireza, a senior researcher at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies commented that “the increasingly close relationship with Damascus, combined with the recent strains in the relationship with Tel Aviv, seems certain to raise additional questions about a possible change of direction in Turkish foreign policy in the Middle East.”

In 2009, Syria and Turkey launched its first military exercise. The exercise took place along the border.The analysts said the Turkish military has not been enthusiastic over cooperation with Syria. Syria has long been seen by the Turkish military as a haven for the Kurdish Workers Party, which has been conducting a long time insurgency operation against the Turkish government.

Some senior Turkish officials said Syria has drafted plans to offer asylum to Kurdish Workers Party operatives. They said the Syrian offer, praised by neighboring Turkey, would demand that the PKK agents renounce violence and surrender their weapons. “Our fight against the terrorist organization would be affected a great deal if some of these Syrians quit the organization and climb down the mountain,” Turkish Chief of Staff Gen. Ilker Basbug said.

In a briefing on Sept. 22, Basbug said the PKK contained an estimated 1,500 Syrian fighters, or more than one-third of the total insurgency force. He said Syrian members of the PKK were based in Iraq’s Kandil mountains.

The Syrian offer was announced by President Bashar Assad in mid-September. Assad said Syrian members of PKK could be allowed to return home if they renounce membership in the insurgency group.

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Two Mediterranean Olive Oil Families Unite

Two of the largest olive oil producing families in the Mediterranean --Devico of Morocco and Moreno of Spain-- have joined together to bring more quality olive oils to the United States by giving Pompeian Inc. of Baltimore, Maryland exclusive distribution rights in the USA.

Over 90% of all the olive oil in the world comes from groves in the Mediterranean region. Now two of the most prominent families from the region, Devico of Morocco and Moreno of Spain, have formed an alliance to bring more high quality olive oil to the United States and the world. Among the key beneficiaries of the alliance is Pompeian, Inc. of Baltimore which began importing the product in 1906 and has been owned by the Moreno family since 1975.

The Devico family also has been involved in olive oil for decades through the Aïcha brand. Based in the city of Meknes, Aïcha is the third best-known brand in Morocco, after Coca-Cola and Tide. Chairman Mardochée Devico, who launched the Aïcha making fruit jam, has grown the business into one that now refines more than 120 tons of edible oils per day. His vision has helped make Morocco become one of the top seven olive oil producing countries.

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Turkey's export fall

Turkey's exports fell by 25.7 percent to $7.89 billion in January 2009 when compared to the same month of 2008. Turkish imports also showed a decline, dropping by 43.3 percent to $9.2 billion in the same term.

Turkey's economy began slowing sharply in the second half of 2008 in response to the global economic crisis, having grown around 7 percent annually since a 2001 domestic financial crisis. The country’s third quarter growth stood at 0.5 percent year-on-year, a six-year low.

Growing trade in services and investment between EU - MPCs

The EU has been a driving force in trade in services with the Mediterranean Partner Countries (MPCs), which grew between 2000 and 2005 faster than trade in goods - 45% compared to 23% for exports and 77% compared to 37% for imports – according to a new publication from the MEDSTAT II project titled “European Union – Mediterranean countries: growing trade in services and investment”.

Regarding services, Europe is a dominant trading partner of Turkey, Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia. However, its importance as a trading partner is clearly lower in the case of Israel and Lebanon.

Foreign direct investment (FDI) flows from Europe have also accounted for a significant share of total FDI in this region for several years now, with Turkey in particular having attracted considerable investment in 2005 and 2006.

The publication, available in English, French and Arabic, is part of the Eurostat collection "Statistics in Focus" (SiF), presenting key data and limited analysis on a specific theme.

MEDSTAT II, funded by EuropeAid's Regional Programme, aims at strengthening the capacity of the Partner Countries' National Statistics Institutes and each country's own National Statistical System in order to provide updated, timely, reliable and relevant high-quality statistical data necessary for political decision-making and to ensure good governance.

Sarkozy in Tunisia to sign business deals

French President Nicolas Sarkozy arrived Monday in the Tunisian capital Tunis to begin a three- day state visit during which he will push French business interests and try to shore up support for his plan for a Union for the Mediterranean. Sarkozy will be accompanied by his wife, Carla, seven ministers and the heads of some 120 companies, underscoring the economic importance of relations between the two countries.

France is by far Tunisia's most important trading partner, with bilateral commerce reaching some 7 billion euros (10.94 billion dollars) in 2007.

A number of deals, worth about 2 billion euros, are expected to be finalized Monday evening, between Sarkozy's meeting with Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and a scheduled state dinner.

The contracts to be signed include the sale of Airbus aircraft to Tunisian carrier Tunisair and for the construction of a conventional power station by the French firm Alstom at Ghannouch, in southern Tunisia.

EADS unit Airbus has signed a firm order for the sale of 13 aircraft and an option for two others to Tunisian carrier Tunisair, the French presidency said in a statement.

Egypt-Russia trade grows 50% in 2007 to $2.1 bln

Egyptian-Russian trade grew 50% year on year in 2007 to $2.1 billion, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said on Sunday. The Egyptian president made this statement on the eve of his visit to Russia, which will take place on March 24-25.

"Visits at the highest level gave a strong impetus to bilateral cooperation," Mubarak said in an interview with RIA Novosti. According to the Egyptian president, 1.5 million Russians visited Egypt last year, allowing Russia to take the first place in terms of the number of tourists visiting the North African country.

"There are big opportunities for expanding cooperation in the sphere of trade, investment, energy and tourism between our countries," Mubarak said. During his visit to Russia, the Egyptian president is expected to sign a framework agreement on bilateral cooperation in the civilian nuclear energy sector. According to Egyptian officials, the U.S. is pressurizing Egypt to place its nuclear program under U.S. control to protect the security of Israel.

Ria Novosti

ENP Assistance priorities

Activities aiming towards the reform of the social sector in the Mediterranean Partner countries will be financed from the 1,4 billion euro 2007 budget committed by the European Commission, to assist the 17 countries along the EU’s Southern and Eastern border.

Under the new European Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument (ENPI), the other priority objectives in which concrete actions will be financed are

• economic reforms and governance,
• employment,
• competitiveness and trade

6th Euromed Trade Ministerial Conference

Ministers agreed further that their overall objective remains the establishment of Euromed Free Trade Area by 2010 but they acknowledged that they are still far from achieving their final objective. They said that the aim should be to establish a free trade agreement which provides for significant and progressive liberalisation of trade in goods and services, contributes effectively to the sustainable development of the region, particularly in rural areas, and includes strong legally binding provisions on trade and economic regulatory areas.

They also agreed to start the drafting of a single regional convention on preferential rules of origin for the Pan-Euro-Mediterranean area in order to replace the current network of protocols. They agreed that this work will be undertaken by the Pan-Euro-Med working group.

EU calls for quick start to talks with Libya

The European Union called on Monday for a quick start to talks with Libya, once shunned by the West as a pariah state, on a cooperation agreement covering a wide area from trade to migration.

EU Commissioner for External Relations Benita Ferrero-Waldner said after a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg that the EU executive planned to send an exploratory mission to the energy-rich North African state "very soon".

"The EU and Libya should as soon as possible open discussions on an EU-Libya framework agreement which will include areas of mutual interest such as human rights, migration, among others," the ministers said in a statement.

EU Justice and Security Commissioner Franco Frattini told Reuters on Wednesday cooperation on energy, promoting tourism and archaeological sites would be part of the talks. He said the EU hoped Libya would participate in EU sea patrols aimed at stopping migrants from reaching the bloc and said it could help Libyans patrol their southern borders by providing equipment like providing cars and binoculars.

MEDSTAT II meeting

General Directors of the Mediterranean Partner Countries' National Statistics Institutes were in Brussels on September 6-7, 2007 at the invitation of EuropeAid and Eurostat for the first Partnership Group Meeting organised within the framework of the MEDSTAT II regional programme.

The aim of the meeting was to bring together all those involved in the project for a frank discussion about the results achieved so far and future challenges, as well as to start a dialogue on future statistical cooperation in the Euro-Mediterranean region.

Euro-Mediterranean statistical cooperation began in 1996 through the regional programme MEDSTAT. Ten years later (January 2006), MEDSTAT II, a three-year, €30 million programme, was launched with ten partner countries (Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, the Palestinian Authority, Syria, Tunisia and Turkey). It deals with statistics in nine thematic sectors (Trade, National Accounts, Social Statistics, Energy, Agriculture, Environment, Tourism, transport and Migration) and three horizontal sectors (Training, Information System and Dissemination). The programme’s main objective is to strengthen the capacity of the partner countries’ National Statistics Institutes and each country’s own National Statistical System.

The EU's policy toward Syria: a costly wait and see approach

Comment By Ruth Hanau-SantiniEUOBSERVER / COMMENT
Given the lack of a coherent and comprehensive EU approach to Syria and its role in the Middle East, it would be useful to look the costs and benefits of developing a proper policy towards Damascus.

In 2004, the EU total assistance aid allocated to Syria reached €55 million. It was mainly for technical assistance, institution-building and democracy promotion. In the same year, after eight years of negotiations, the EU and Syria finalised an Association Agreement.

The sanctions imposed by the US against Damascus in May 2004, however, influenced some member states' willingness to sign the agreement. The UK, Germany and the Netherlands' insistence on inserting an additional clause dealing specifically with chemical weapons blocked the overall process. The deal was called off and economic relations continue to be ruled by a 1977 Co-operation Agreement. So despite Syria being a partner in the Barcelona process, it does not benefit from the European Neighbourhood instruments.

While the EU remains Syria's first trading partner, the relationship's intensity has significantly decreased in the aftermath of the US embargo. Far from being passive, Syria has diversified its economic and political relations with third countries. Ankara, already Damascus' second trade partner, has been particularly privileged, as symbolized by the opening of a Free Trade Area at the beginning of 2007.

In the coming years, Turkey could become Damascus' largest trading partner: its exports to Syria have already nearly tripled in the past 10 years, rising from roughly USD 270m in 1997 to over USD 600m in 2006. In addition to that, Turkey has become a political and military ally, the two having signed a military agreement in 2004 aimed at countering the danger of potential spill-overs from Iraq's Kurdish areas.

By acting in an un-coordinated manner, the EU has diminished its overall capacity for influence. Acknowledging this risk, in the spring of 2007, national capitals informally agreed to be represented by the EU High Representative, Javier Solana, towards Damascus. In reality, this has never materialized and foreign ministers have kept visiting Assad without offering either an EU- coordinated long-term strategic vision or real carrots.

The consequences of the US ban have been far-reaching: on the one hand Syria has reinforced political and economic ties with third countries, thereby limiting the potential leverage of the EU. On the other, the sanctions have caused an internal split within the Union with some member states afraid to alienate the US Middle Eastern project. This has had its downside, namely the indefinite postponing of the establishment of an EU comprehensive vision of the region.

To conclude, the costs of envisaging a common approach to Syria's potentially beneficial role in the region would cause irritation in Washington, as well as in Israel, with whom the EU is struggling to improve the tone of the relationship.

A shift from a wait-and-see approach to a pro-active one, on the other hand, would entail significant benefits, both politically and economically.

Economically, Syria is an important gateway for European trade in the Arab world. Politically, reaching an association agreement with Syria remains the main channel through which the EU can hope to influence democratic forces and modernization impulses within the country, by setting clear benchmarks associated to further economic involvement.

Secondly, the same card should be used to forge a common strategic vision over the means the Union is ready to deploy in order to increase Damascus' stakes in developing an autonomous foreign policy in the area, resisting Teheran's influence.

Brussels should not wait to have fully-fledged economic relations before adopting an overall strategic policy towards Syria, but should strive to develop both simultaneously.