Erdogan calls for Islamic alliance against Israel

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday Islamic countries should form an alliance against what he called "the growing threat of expansionism" from Israel, drawing a rebuke from the Israeli foreign minister.

He made the comment after describing what Palestinian and Turkish officials said was the killing by Israeli troops of a Turkish-American woman taking part in a protest on Friday against settlement expansion in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

"The only step that will stop Israeli arrogance, Israeli banditry, and Israeli state terrorism is the alliance of Islamic countries," Erdogan said at an Islamic schools' association event near Istanbul.

He said recent steps that Turkey has taken to improve ties with Egypt and Syria are aimed at "forming a line of solidarity against the growing threat of expansionism," which he said also threatened Lebanon and Syria.

Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said in a statement that Erdogan's remark was "a dangerous lie and incitement," and that the Turkish leader has been working for years with Iran to undermine the region's moderate Arab regimes.

Erdogan hosted Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in Ankara this week and they discussed the Gaza war and ways to further repair their long-frozen ties during what was the first such presidential visit in 12 years.

Ties between them started thawing in 2020 when Turkey began diplomatic efforts to ease tensions with estranged regional rivals, including the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.

Erdogan said in July that Turkey would extend an invitation to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad "any time" for possible talks to restore relations between the two neighbours, who severed ties in 2011 after the outbreak of the Syrian civil war.

Israel's military said after Friday's incident that it was looking into reports that a female foreign national "was killed as a result of shots fired in the area. The details of the incident and the circumstances in which she was hit are under review."

 

Deteriorating Israel-Turkey Relations

Middle East Institute has scheduled an event titled Israel-Turkey Relations: How Can the Negative Momentum Be Reversed?

Our reply is simple, “There is pressure of Turkey to sever its diplomatic relations with Israel after the genocide of more than 40,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children in Gaza enclave”.

We also suggest our readers to register to listen and participate the live debate and make up their opinions. Please remember that at present the United States and European countries are working on “Abraham Accords II”, after Abraham Accords lost it value.

During the discussion the participants will make effort to find replies to various questions that include:

Can Turkey-Israel ties survive the current crisis?

What would it take to turn the trajectory of relations around?

Who could potentially drive positive change on both sides?

As the bargain hunter, the Middle East Institute has invited many to a virtual panel discussion featuring prominent Israeli, Turkish, and American experts who will seek to answer these and other questions related to the future of Turkey-Israel relations.

The harsh reality is that Turkey-Israel relations have gone through many ups and downs over the past 75 years but never touched the present low level. The current bilateral crisis may be the most serious yet. Following a period of positive momentum, which peaked in September 2023, relations have deteriorated since the beginning of the war in Gaza.

The institute believes that the harsh political rhetoric, limits on direct trade, and a halt to people-to-people exchanges have all taken a toll.

It has a strange rationale that despite these growing challenges, the two countries still share many strategic interests; while non-governmental players and key business sectors — which often do not share their national leaderships’ ideologies or value systems — continue to seek ways to bilaterally engage.

 

 

 

Turkey disapproves cooperating with Israel

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday it is not possible for NATO to continue its partnership with the Israeli administration.

"Until comprehensive, sustainable peace is established in Palestine, attempts at cooperation with Israel within NATO will not be approved by Turkey," Erdogan said at a news conference at the NATO summit.

Turkey also continues its diplomatic efforts to end the Russia-Ukraine war, he said.

Erdogan said as well that he has instructed Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan to meet Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to start to restore relations with Syria.

Turkey will extend an invitation to Assad "any time" for possible talks to restore relations between the two neighbours, Erdogan had said on Sunday.

Regarding F-16 sales to Turkey, Erdogan said, "I talked to Mr. Biden. I will solve this problem in 3-4 weeks”.

In March, the United States Senate defeated an effort to stop a US$23 billion sale of F-16 jets and modernization kits to Turkey allowed by President Joe Biden's administration after Turkey approved Sweden joining the NATO alliance.

He also said Turkey expects solidarity from NATO allies in its fight against terrorism.

"It is not possible for us to accept the crooked relationship that some of our allies have established especially with the PYD/YPG, the extension of the terrorist organization PKK in Syria," he said.

Turkey says the YPG militia is a terrorist organization, closely tied to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militant group. Turkey's Western allies list the PKK as terrorist group, but not the YPG.

Turkey's goal is to become a permanent member, not just an observer, of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), Erdogan also said.

The SCO is a security, political and economic club launched in 2001 by Russia and China and Central Asian states as a counterweight to Western alliances.

 

 

Iran Oil Show 2024 opens today

Despite all the propaganda against Iran oil industry's international successes and its energy diplomacy approach, the growing number of foreign oil companies’ presence at the 28th Oil Show is a clear sign of rising trust in Iran’s oil industry.

Director of the 28th Iran International Oil, Gas, Refining and Petrochemical Exhibition, known as Iran’s Oil Show 2024, Gholamreza Jamali, made the remarks during a press conference on May 06 in Tehran adding the exhibition opens its doors to the public on May 08.

Jamali said that 1750 oil industry related companies, including 250 foreign companies from 12 countries including Russia, China, Germany, France, Japan, Belarus, India, Canada, Italy, Turkey, Austria and Argentina shows that Iran’s oil show is not only one of the largest oil exhibitions at home but also in the West Asia region.

The great achievements of Iran’s oil industry over the last two years, is due to the support of the Minister of Petroleum, Jamali said at the press conference.

A number of companies failed to take part in this year’s oil exhibition mainly due to lack of appropriate infrastructures expressing hope improvement in the facilities to provide proper conditions for participation of all companies in the next rounds of oil exhibitions.

Elsewhere in his remarks he said, a number of world high-ranking officials have been invited to participate at the opening ceremony of the exhibition.

According to him, while during last year’s oil exhibition, just 2 thousand square meters had been allocated to accommodate foreign companies, this space has been expanded this year so that the foreign companies’ exclusive space reaches 5 thousand square meters.

 As far as it concerns allocating spaces, the organizers have decided to pay attention to the arrangement based on upstream, midstream and downstream activities and the halls and booths locations are somehow related to the subject of value chain in the oil industry

In order to support the technological innovations in the oil industry, an especial space has been allocated to the knowledge-based companies, technological companies, universities and start-ups, he also said.

Pointing out that numerous side events that will be held on the sidelines of the exhibition, the director of the Tehran Oil Show 2024 announced that many of these events would lead to the signing of contracts and memorandums of understanding in the oil industry, resulting in boosting production with economic results.

Jamali noted that providing appropriate conditions for direct connection between private and public sector activists is one of the main functions of the oil exhibition every year, which often faces some obstacles over the year due to the existence of administrative bureaucracy.

Announcing the slogan of this year's oil exhibition as "Oil industry, production leap, technological optimization", he said, "At this year’s exhibition we will reveal some equipment for the first time which is very important in view of meeting domestic needs and exporting to other countries."

The International Oil, Gas, Refining and Petrochemical Exhibition as the main and most important oil event in Iran is held annually by the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) with the support of the Petroleum Ministry.

The Petroleum Ministry’s subsidiaries including the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC), the National Iranian Gas Company (NIGC), the National Iranian Oil Refining and Distribution Company (NIORDC) and the National Petrochemical Company (NPC) have an active presence in the event.

Iran Oil Show 2024 is being held from May 08 to May 11 at Tehran International Permanent Fairground.

Genocide in Gaza by Israel would have not been possible without silence of Muslim rulers

Many analysts, including me, have not been able to comprehend the reasons of silence of Muslim rulers on the genocide going on in Gaza for more than 100 days. Today, I read a post at LinkedIn and sharing it with readers of my blog.

In November 2023 Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, "I say to the Arab leaders, if you want to preserve your interests, you must do one thing, Remain silent."

They have complied with this demand as if it were a command revealed by Allah (God). Abdullah of Jordan has mobilized his armed forces to protect the border for the IDF, Sisi of Egypt has ensured the Israeli terrorist genocide continues in all its forms including starvation and preventing aid from reaching Gaza. Even Erdogan from Turkey did not want to be left out in serving Netanyahu, he has increased trade with the Zionist entity ensuring they have essential resources such as steel for weaponry and munitions.

It will not be wrong to say that the Muslim rulers have played a pivotal role in this genocide and have worked tirelessly to silence their own populations and have threatened their own armed forces from even thinking of taking action to save the people of Gaza.

It is easy to infer that these rulers are truly loyal servants of Israel and without their help genocide in Gaza would not have been possible.

Israeli President Herzog should confer the most prestigious award, ‘The Israeli Presidential Medal of Honor’ to these rulers.

 

Bangladesh: Apparel export to EU falls 20%

Bangladesh’s apparel exports to the European Union (EU) in the 11 months, from January to November 2023, declined by 19.92% to 16.26 billion euro from 20.30 billion euro during the same period of 2022.

Exporters said that the shipment of readymade garments to the EU market decreased in recent months due to the economic slowdown caused by the Russia-Ukraine war.

Global brands and buyers also placed orders in lower quantity due to the election time in Bangladesh but the orders started to increase after the national election in the country.

They hoped that the export to EU would rebound in the next quarter as buyers started to increase their orders thanks to easing inflation.

According to data from Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union, the readymade garment imports of the EU from the world in January-November 2023 fell by nearly 10% cent to 82.71 billion euro from 91.89 billion euro during the same period of 2022.

Apparel imports of the EU from China in the first 11 months of 2023 declined by 21.42% to 21.15 billion euro from 26.92 billion euro during the same period of 2022.

Although China remained the top apparel exporter to the EU in value, the Eurostat data showed that, in terms of volume, Bangladesh emerged as the highest knitwear exporter to the market in January-November 2023.

Bangladesh’s woven garment exports to the EU in the first 11 months of 2023 were reported at 6.89 billion kilogram while those of China were 5.74 billion kilogram.

In value terms, Bangladesh’s knitwear exports to the EU in January-November of 2023 were reported at 9.94 billion euro against China’s exports of 10.48 billion euro during the period under review.

Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association President Faruque Hassan recently said that apparel exports to the EU would come back on a positive track in the second quarter of 2024 as the inflation was coming down in the western countries and retail sales were getting better.

He also said that not only Bangladesh but also all the major RMG suppliers witnessed negative growth in the EU and the United States as the global demand decreased due to the economic turmoil.

Apparel imports of the EU from Turkey in January-November of 2023 declined by 13.42% to 9.20 billion euro from 10.62 billion euro during the same period of 2022.

India’s RMG exports to the EU in the first 11 months of 2023 also fell by 11.87% to 3.81 billion euro from 4.33 billion euro during the same period of 2022.

As against this, apparel imports of the EU from Vietnam during January-November of 2023 grew by 2.48% to 3.49 billion euro from 3.40 billion euro during the same period of 2022.

Raisi visit to Turkey to focus on Gaza

According to Reuters, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi will visit Ankara on January 04, 2024 to meet his Turkish counterpart Tayyip Erdogan for talks likely to focus on the situation in Gaza and Syria as well as bilateral ties.

A visit by Raisi in late November was postponed due to the conflicting schedules of the two regional powers. At the time, Turkey's foreign minister was in New York as part of a contact group of Muslim countries on Gaza.

Turkey, which supports a two-state solution to the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict, has harshly criticized Israel for its attacks on Gaza, called for an immediate ceasefire, and said Israeli leaders should be tried in international courts for war crimes.

While it has ramped up its rhetoric against Israel since it launched its air and ground assault on Gaza in retaliation for Palestinian militant group Hamas' October 07 attack, Turkey has also maintained commercial ties with Israel, prompting criticism from some opposition parties and Iran.

Unlike its Western allies and some Arab nations, NATO member Turkey does not consider Hamas a terrorist group.

Its neighbor, Iran stands at the head of what it calls the Axis of Resistance, a loose coalition that includes Hamas as well as armed Shi'ite Muslim groups around the region that have militarily confronted Israel and its Western allies. It has voiced support for Hamas and warned of wider consequences if the fighting in Gaza continues.

Turkey and Iran have usually had complicated ties, standing at loggerheads on a host of issues, primarily the Syrian civil war. Ankara politically and militarily backs rebels looking to oust President Bashar al-Assad, while Tehran supports his government.

While several rounds of talks have been held between Syrian, Turkish, Iranian and Russian representatives to find a political solution to the war, Ankara has also moved to improve ties with Assad as part of a regional diplomatic push launched in 2020.

 

 

Iranian ship stuck in Turkey gets ready to sail

Stuck in a Turkish port for three years, an Iranian container ship is a rusty reality check on the reach of economic sanctions.

Blacklisted by the US since 2020, the 187-meter-long (614 feet) vessel Shamim has been moored at Istanbul’s state-run port of Haydarpasa since unloading there in January 2021. She suffered engine problems near Spain in late 2020 and was tugged some 2,200 miles — probably shunned by western shipyards it passed along the way.

During its Turkish hiatus, Shamim became part of the backdrop for commuters ferrying between the city’s European and Asian sides. It’s been there so long a dedicated page appeared on a local social media website where users shared theories about what kept it there.

A poem was penned in its honor. Others suspected it was a curse.

“The day this ship leaves Haydarpasa port, the dark clouds in my life will be lifted,” someone wrote.

But the bonding with the marooned ship may soon be over. Shamim performed tests throughout Monday and Tuesday ahead of an expected departure, Bloomberg News reported.

Washington sanctioned the Iran-flagged ship using measures designed to crimp the Iranian economy and hinder its development of nuclear technology. Iran says its atomic program is for peaceful purposes and not for nuclear weapons.

Shipping in the region has turned even dicier since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

US Treasury Under Secretary Brian Nelson last month asked Istanbul shipping companies for their cooperation in stopping what he described as an uptick in US-sanctioned Russian vessels using Turkish ports.

Despite the risks, Turkey remains an attractive place to do business for many Iranians thanks to its proximity, visa-free travel and connections to the global financial system.

After years of decline, trade between the countries has been rising since 2020, making Turkey the Islamic Republic’s second-biggest export market, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

 

Germany on wrong side of history again

For a state visit, Friday's visit by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to Germany is remarkably low key. He was scheduled to meet German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and then have dinner with the chancellor, Olaf Scholz.

Apart from the intense security in the centre of the capital — the same level as precautions taken for US presidential visits — the German government hopes Erdogan's visit will pass with little notice. That's because this event couldn't come at the worst time for Germany.

Relations between President Erdogan and successive German governments have been difficult for years, with spats between Berlin and Ankara regularly breaking out. When German government spokespeople mention the phrase difficult partner you know they're talking about President Erdogan.

The Hamas atrocities in Israel on October 07, and Israel's subsequent retaliation in Gaza, have left Germany and Turkey on opposite sides of the conflict. Over the past month the Turkish president has become increasingly strident in his criticism of Israel.

He has refused to condemn the killings and hostage-taking by Hamas, referring to the group as liberators. Hamas is classed as a terrorist organization by Western allies, including Germany.

He has also appeared to call into question the Jewish state's existence by saying that Israel's own fascism undermined its legitimacy.

Jewish leaders in Germany have accused Erdogan of fuelling antisemitism with such comments and there have been calls for the German government to cancel the Turkish president's visit.

For Germany, historical Nazi guilt for the Holocaust means that support for the state of Israel is non-negotiable and a key cornerstone of Berlin's foreign policy. When asked in a news conference earlier this week about President Erdogan's comments Chancellor Scholz called them absurd.

Both Olaf Scholz and former Chancellor Angela Merkel have repeatedly called Israel's security Germany's Staatsräson, or reason of state, a vague term German leaders use to express the idea of unwavering German support for Israel.

But as Israeli attacks on Gaza intensify, and the death toll rises, that principle is coming under strain.

After the initial shock of the Hamas attacks, German mainstream media is increasingly also portraying the humanitarian suffering in Gaza, leading to a growing unease about Israel's actions.

On German streets outrage at Israel's actions is growing and pro-Palestinian demonstrations have been held most weekends since October 07. Germany has large Arab diaspora communities with links to, or sympathy for, people in Gaza. Support for Palestinians is also traditionally a totemic issue for some German left-wing groups.

There are fears that any comments about the conflict by President Erdogan during his visit could inflame tensions. But Germany and Turkey need each other. Germany is an important trade partner for Turkey. It also is home to the world's largest Turkish diaspora community and is an electoral battleground for President Erdogan. He is popular with some German-Turks.

Around three million people of Turkish heritage live in Germany, with half of them still able to vote. In May a majority of Turkish voters in Germany who took part in the election put their cross by Erdogan.

Berlin, meanwhile, needs Turkish help to control migration from the Middle East. Chancellor Scholz is hoping to revive a refugee pact with Turkey to send back asylum seekers and wants more Turkish support for the West in Russia's war in Ukraine.

Behind closed doors on Friday those issues were to be discussed. But the German government would be more nervous about what President Erdogan might say in public.

It was in May, after Erdogan's re-election as Turkish president, that Chancellor Scholz issued the invitation to Berlin. He probably now wishes he hadn't.

 

Erdogan terms Israeli assaults in Gaza massacre

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday that Israel's blockade and bombing of Gaza in retaliation for Palestinian militant group Hamas' attack was a disproportionate response amounting to a massacre.

With Ankara offering to mediate, Erdogan and his foreign minister held calls with regional powers, the United States and others. However, Israel's envoy to Ankara has said it is too early to discuss mediation.

Speaking to his ruling AK Party in parliament, Erdogan said even war had a morality but the flare-up since the weekend had very severely violated that.

"Preventing people meeting their most fundamental needs and bombing housing where civilians live - in short, conducting a conflict using every sort of shameful method - is not a war, it's a massacre," he said, referring to Israel cutting off electricity and water to Gaza and destroying infrastructure.

Turkey, which has backed Palestinians in the past and hosted members of Hamas, has been working to mend ties with Israel after years of animosity. Unlike the European Union and US, Ankara does not consider Hamas a terrorist organization.

While not openly blaming Israel, Turkey has said the fighting is due to years of injustices against Palestinians and that the only path to peace is the formation of a sovereign Palestinian state in a two-state solution.

On Wednesday, Erdogan criticised Israel's disproportionate attacks on Gaza as devoid of any ethical foundation, and called on the world not to blindly take one side. Leaving the underlying issue unresolved would lead to new, more violent conflicts, he warned.

"We call on countries in the Americas, Europe, and other regions to take up a position between the parties that is fair, just, and based on humanitarian balances. Everyone should refrain from acts that will wholly punish the Palestinian people, like blocking humanitarian aid," he said.

Bank of China opens branch in Saudi Arabia

China’s most internationalized state bank on Tuesday opened its first branch in Saudi Arabia in a move to expand the use of yuan amid a growing number of economic deals between the two countries.

Bank of China (BOC), one of China’s four biggest state-owned banks, opened its branch in Riyadh, the capital city of the oil-rich Middle Eastern country, more than two years after being given approval by the Saudi Arabian government.

The branch has more than 20 staff, with a majority hired locally – a condition requested by local authorities.

It is the second Chinese bank to open a branch in Saudi Arabia after the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) opened its first branch in Riyadh in 2015. ICBC also opened a branch in Jeddah in May.

China’s ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Chen Weiqing, said the opening of the branch was a result of positive developments in the bilateral relations between the two countries, and new stage of financial cooperation.

“It also shows that China highly recognizes the financial regulations, investment environment, and geographical advantages of Saudi Arabia,” Chen said, as he attended the opening ceremony with Bank of China president Liu Jin.

Saudi Central Bank governor Ayman al-Sayari and Saudi Arabia’s deputy investment minister, Saleh Ali Khabti, also attended the opening ceremony along with 250 guests.

The Saudi-listed ACWA Power, Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Investment, Ajlan & Bros Holding Group and Zhejiang Rongsheng Holding Group signed memorandums of understanding involving internationalizing the yuan and green financing with BOC during the opening ceremony, the statement added.

The move came as part of a growing series of economic activities between China and Saudi Arabia, with their bilateral relations described as being at the best stage ever following President Xi Jinping’s state visit in December 2022, with both countries facing souring relations with the West.

During the trip at the end of last year, Xi pledged to work towards widening the use of yuan in oil and gas trade in the region, amid a push to establish the currency internationally and weaken the US dollar’s grip on world trade.

Saudi Arabia is China’s largest source of crude oil imports, with 87.5 million metric tons (641 million barrels) shipped in 2022.

Amid efforts by state banks to tap potential in the Middle East, BOC’s new branch has been licensed to provide basic commercial banking services to individual consumers and small- to medium-sized businesses, ranging from deposit accounts and loans to mortgages and yuan transactions.

At the weekend, BOC president Liu also met Khaled Mohamed Salem Balama Al Tameemi, the governor of the central bank of the United Arab Emirates, to court more support for its yuan clearing in the region and potential cooperation with the nation’s sovereign wealth funds.

In an interview with local media in June, BOC said the new branch aimed to offer the yuan to the wider Middle East region to assist commercial and financial trade between China, Saudi Arabia and beyond.

As there are many Chinese companies entering the market in the region, being able to trade and make financial transactions using the yuan would encourage Chinese companies to invest in the area.

The Saudi Arabian government first agreed to allow BOC to open its branch in January 2020. At the time, Saudi Arabia had only 14 foreign banks, including ICBC.

BOC also has existing branches in Abu Dhabi and Dubai in the UAE, as well as Bahrain, Turkey and Qatar.

Li Tong, president of the bank’s investment banking unit, Bank of China International, said in June during the Arab-China Business Conference in Riyadh that the new branch in Riyadh would push for financial cooperation, and further boost economic cooperation between the two countries.

The bank has also been in discussion with local counterparts to offer panda bonds – yuan-denominated bonds sold by overseas entities in China’s onshore bond market to raise investments in China.

A number of other banking sector collaborations have also been announced this year.

In March, the Export-Import Bank of China announced a first loan cooperation with Saudi National Bank, Saudi Arabia’s largest bank, in yuan.

Hong Kong has also been named as a major hub for financial cooperation between China and Saudi Arabia.

In July, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, the city’s de facto central bank, signed a memorandum of understanding with the Saudi Central Bank, pledging initiatives in financial infrastructure development, open market operations, market connectivity and sustainable development.

 

 

Iranian export to ECO members on the rise

Iran exported over US$3.6 billion worth of commodities to the members of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) in the first four months of the current Iranian calendar year. This reflected a 4.52%YoY increase, said an official with the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration (IRICA).

According to Omid Golzari, the head of the IRICA Office of International Affairs and Public Relations, Iran exported 8.161 tons of goods to the ECO members during the said period, Tasnim News Agency reported.

The volume of exports also increased by 31.24% as compared to the same period last year.

As previously announced by the IRICA head, Iran’s trade with the members of the Economic Cooperation Organization reached US$20.5 billion in the previous Iranian calendar year.

According to Mohammad Rezvani-Far, Iran exported US$13 billion worth of commodities to the said nations last year, while the imports were recorded at US$7.5 billion.

Referring to the trade potentials of ECO member countries in various fields, such as rail and land transport, common borders, as well as territorial and population size, Rezvani-Far said the volume of commercial exchanges with ECO members should be more than this figure.

“IRICA is fully prepared to take the necessary measures for increasing the volume of trade and transit exchanges with ECO members in order to achieve the organization’s goals set according to the ECO agreement,” he said.

The official underlined the development of transit ties with ECO members as a way of boosting trade exchanges with the mentioned countries.

“Iran has many customs agreements and memorandums with ECO member countries, and in order for these agreements to be operational in line with the provisions of the ECO agreement, it is suggested that the ECO secretariat announces the necessary measures needed to be taken with the cooperation of the members,” he noted.

Iran and ECO members traded more than 23.723 million tons of goods worth US$11.71 billion during the previous Iranian calendar year, of which the share of exports was 18.419 million tons of goods worth US$6.890 billion and the share of imports from these countries was 5.312 million tons worth US$4.819 billion.

Petroleum products, dairy products, foodstuff, fresh and dried fruits, juices and citrus fruits, carpets, saffron, fish, caviar, ornamental aquatic products, various stones, construction equipment, clothing, industrial equipment, bags and shoes, medicine, and health supplies, as well as plastic products, were Iran’s main exported items to ECO members last year, while basic goods, industrial machinery, raw materials for production, and medical supplies and medicine, were the top imported goods from ECO member states.

The Economic Cooperation Organization or ECO is an Asian political and economic intergovernmental organization that was founded in 1985 in Tehran by the leaders of Iran, Pakistan, and Turkey.

Turkey: Navigation affected due to wildfires

More than 150 vessels, including 23 tanker and 33 dry bulk vessels were halted at the northern and southern entrances of Turkey’s Dardanelles straits amidst raging wildfires in coastal regions, with northbound shipping resuming by late Thursday

Ship traffic resumed on Thursday in one direction in Turkey's Dardanelles Strait, its forestry minister said, as firefighters brought a major blaze in the northwest Canakkale region under control.

The strait, which links the Aegean Sea and Black Sea to the north, is a major shipping route for commodities such as oil and grains.

More than 150 ships had been halted at the north and south entrances to the Dardanelles on Wednesday evening to allow for helicopters and planes to scoop up water to douse the flames.

"We have brought the fire under control before 48 hours were up ... Our only consolation is that there has been no loss of life," Forestry Minister Ibrahim Yumakli told reporters.

Aerial vehicles will continue cooling efforts throughout the day on Thursday and ship traffic in the Dardanelles resumed in one direction, he said, without specifying which one.

Shipping agency Tribeca said northbound ships would be allowed to transit the Dardanelles after 0800 GMT on Thursday.

Helicopters and land vehicles battled after darkness fell on Wednesday to contain the fire and ship traffic resumed for several hours before being halted again just after midnight GMT.

More than 1,200 people from 11 villages have been evacuated from the path of the fire, which broke out in Cannakale province on Tuesday and was fanned by high temperatures, dry air and strong winds.

Some 90 people suffered injuries from the fire, which affected 4,080 hectares around 11861 acres, including forest and agricultural land, authorities said. No deaths were reported.

 

First commercial ship leaves Ukraine port since February 2022

According to Seatrade Maritime News, Joseph Schulte is the first commercial ship to leave Odessa port of Ukraine’s Black Sea ports on Wednesday, since the beginning of the war in February 2022.

The 9,400 teu Joseph Schulte, owned by German company Bernard Schulte and had been operated by MSC, which has been docked in the war-torn port of Odessa since the conflict in Ukraine began left for Turkey, ostensibly under ballast.

In July the Russians refused to renew the agreement that allowed bulk vessels to operate the grain corridor, exporting foodstuff to maintain populations in the Middle East and Africa.

In bringing that agreement to an end Russia effectively renewed its blockade of Ukraine’s Black Sea ports for commercial as well as military shipping. The departure of the Hong Kong flagged Joseph Schulte from Odessa will test Russia’s resolve to maintain that blockade.

On 13 August a Russian Navy vessel, fired warning shots across the bow of the Palau-flagged Sukru Okan, with troops boarding and searching the bulk carrier.

Nevertheless, Daniil Melnychenko, an analyst at transport consultancy Informall, based in Odessa, told Seatrade Maritime News, “The expectations are that Türkiye flagged ships that were stuck here in Ukraine since the beginning of the war will also leave the big Odessa regional ports.”

According to Melnychenko many of the bulk carriers that have been docked in southern Ukraine are Turkish flagged vessels, so the departure of the container ship has heightened expectations that others will follow.

VesselsValue reports suggest that the Joseph Schulte vessel, which MSC has confirmed is no longer in its fleet, will first call at the Luk Sintez Oil Terminal to load bunkers. It will then sail to the Turkish port of Ambarli on the north shore of the Marmara Sea, on the European side of Istanbul, to offload the few containers on board and for inspection.

Melnychenko added that the vessel will likely be crewed by a mixture of Turkish and older Ukrainian men, over 60-years-old.

Russia hits Ukrainian grain storage for 4th day

According to Reuters, Russia pounded Ukrainian food export facilities for the fourth day in a row on Friday and practiced seizing ships in the Black Sea in an escalation of what Western leaders say is an attempt to wriggle out of sanctions by threatening a global food crisis.

The direct attacks on Ukraine's grain, a key part of the global food chain, followed a vow by Kyiv to defy Russia's naval blockade on its grain export ports following Moscow's withdrawal this week from an UN-brokered safe sea corridor agreement.

"Unfortunately, the grain terminals of an agricultural enterprise in Odesa region were hit. The enemy destroyed 100 tons of peas and 20 tons of barley," regional governor Oleh Kiper said on the Telegram messaging app.

Photographs released by the emergencies ministry showed a fire burning among crumpled metal buildings that appeared to be storehouses, and a badly damaged fire-fighting vehicle. Two people were injured, he said, while officials reported seven people killed in Russian air strikes elsewhere in Ukraine.

Moscow has described the attacks as revenge for a Ukrainian strike on a Russian-built bridge to Crimea - the Ukrainian Black Sea peninsula seized by Moscow in 2014.

Russia has said it would deem all ships heading for Ukrainian waters to be potentially carrying weapons, in what Washington called a signal it might attack civilian shipping. Kyiv responded by issuing a similar warning about ships headed to Russia.

The attacks on grain export infrastructure and perceived threat to shipping drove up prices of benchmark Chicago wheat futures on Friday towards their biggest weekly gain since the February 2022 invasion, as traders worried about supply.

The UN Security Council was due to meet later over the "humanitarian consequences" of Russia's withdrawal from the safe corridor deal, which aid groups say is vital to fend off hunger in poor countries.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, the deal's sponsor alongside the UN, said he hoped planned talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin could lead to the restoration of the initiative.

The end of the deal could lead to rising global food prices, scarcity in some regions and potentially new waves of migration, Erdogan told reporters on a flight back from a trip to Gulf countries and northern Cyprus.

The West should listen to some of Russia's demands, he said. "We are aware that President Putin also has certain expectations from Western countries, and it is crucial for these countries to take action in this regard."

Moscow says it will not participate in the year-old grain deal without better terms for its own food and fertilizer sales.

Western leaders have accused Russia of seeking to loosen sanctions imposed over its invasion of Ukraine, which already exempt exports of Russian food. Russian grain has moved freely through the Black Sea to market throughout the conflict and traders say Russia is pouring wheat onto the market.

Putin's effort to stop grain exports from Ukraine termed disturbing by US lawmaker

Michael McCaul in a Thursday interview called Russian President Vladimir Putin’s effort to stop grain exports from flowing out of Ukraine disturbing, warning of possible implications for North Africa, Europe and the United States.

During an appearance on NewsNation, McCaul told Chief White House Correspondent Blake Burman he’s worried about a possible scenario where war escalation could happen between Russia and NATO member countries that border the Black Sea. 

The White House on Wednesday warned that Russia is preparing for possible attacks on civilian shipping vessels in the Black Sea, noting that Russian military forces have laid additional sea mines that border Ukrainian ports. 

“Oh, sure. We’ve been worried about that scenario, since the inception of the Russian invasion into Ukraine,” McCaul told Burman.  

“This is very, I think, disturbing on Putin’s part to shut off […] grain from the Black Sea into the White Sea, because this could cause a famine in Northern Africa and it could also raise prices not only in Europe, but the United States. I think it’s highly irresponsible what he’s doing, but he’s desperate now.”

McCaul also said Turkey has tried to negotiate with Putin on a solution, noting that Russia’s withdrawing from the Black Sea Grain Initiative will affect the global food market. 

“It affects the entire global food market. And again, I think the region that will get hit the hardest will be Northern Africa. It could set them off into a famine. I’ve met with the World Food Program,” McCaul added. “You know David Beasley was the head of that, he negotiated the deal with Putin. I hope we can make some progress, but the fact is, we will feel this here in the United States.”

McCaul’s remarks come days after Russia paused its participation in the Black Sea Grain Initiative, with Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov saying in a statement that it would suspend its part in the deal unless its demands are met to get its own food and fertilizer out to the world. 

“When the part of the Black Sea deal related to Russia is implemented, Russia will immediately return to the implementation of the deal,” Peskov said.

The deal, brokered last year by the United Nations and Turkey, became necessary after Russia invaded and blockaded Ukraine’s ports.

Wheat commodity futures have risen about 12% since Russia announced it would suspend the Black Sea Grain Initiative, which allowed Ukraine to export wheat from its southern ports via the Bosporus. Ukraine was one of the world’s largest wheat exporters before the Russian invasion.

Russia has also continued to attack Ukrainian port infrastructure and cities with missiles and drones, damaging the ability to export wheat if the deal were to resume. Those strikes have destroyed 60,000 tons of grain, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Wednesday.

“This attack proves that their target is not only Ukraine and not only the lives of our people. About a million tons of food is stored in the ports attacked today,” Zelensky argued. “This is the volume that should have been delivered to consumer countries in Africa and Asia long ago.”

Secretary of State Antony Blinken predicted the rising prices while criticizing the Russian move Monday.

“So the result of Russia’s action today — weaponizing food, using it as a tool, as a weapon in its war against Ukraine — will be to make food harder to come by in places that desperately need it, and have prices rise,” Blinken said. “We’re already seeing the market react to this as prices are going up.”

 

Erdogan demands Black Sea grain deal extension

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday that he was pressing Russia to extend a Black Sea grain deal by at least three months and announced a visit by President Vladimir Putin in August.

Turkey, a NATO member, has managed to retain cordial relations with both Russia and Ukraine over the past 16 months of the war and last year it helped to broker prisoner exchanges. Turkey has not joined its Western allies in imposing economic sanctions on Russia but has also supplied arms to Ukraine and called for its sovereignty to be respected.

He was speaking at a joint news conference with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy after the two parties met to discuss the fate of an arrangement, brokered last year by Turkey and the United Nations, to allow for the safe export of grain from Ukrainian ports via the Black Sea despite the war.

Zelenskiy's visit followed stops in Bulgaria and the Czech Republic, part of a tour of some NATO capitals aimed at encouraging them to take concrete steps at a summit next week towards granting Kyiv membership of the alliance, which Erdogan said Ukraine deserved.

Erdogan said work was under way on extending the Black Sea grain deal beyond its expiration date of July 17 and for longer periods beyond that. The deal would be one of the most important issues on the agenda for his meeting with Putin in Turkey next month, he said.

"Our hope is that it will be extended at least once every three months, not every two months. We will make an effort in this regard and try to increase the duration of it to two years," he said at the news conference with Zelenskiy.

Both men said they had also discussed another key question for Erdogan's talks with Putin ‑ the question of prisoner exchanges, which Zelenskiy said had been the first thing on their agenda. "I hope we will get a result from this soon," Erdogan said.

Zelenskiy said he would wait for a result to comment but made clear the discussion had gone into specifics on returning all captives including children deported to Russia and other groups.

"We are working on the return of our captives, political prisoners, Crimean Tatars," he said, referring to members of Ukraine's Muslim community in the peninsula annexed by Russia in 2014. "Our partners have all the lists. We are really working on this."

Erdogan said the issue could also come up in his contacts with the Russian leader before his visit. "If we make some phone calls before that, we will discuss it on the call as well," he said.

The Kremlin said it would be watching the talks closely, saying Putin has highly appreciated the mediation of Erdogan in attempting to resolve the conflict in Ukraine.

"As for forthcoming contacts between Putin and Erdogan, we do not rule them out in the foreseeable future," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters ahead of the Istanbul talks with Zelenskiy, which began on Friday.

Russia, angry about aspects of the grain deal's implementation, has threatened not to allow its further extension beyond July 17.

 

Iran natural gas export rises 9% in 2022

A report by the Energy Institute (EI) shows that Iran exported 18.9 billion cubic meters (bcm) of natural gas in 2022, registering 9%YoY growth.

As reported, in its 72nd edition of the Statistical Review of World Energy, the UK-based institute noted that Iranian gas export accounted for 2.5 percent of the world's total natural gas trade through the pipeline last year.

The Islamic Republic had exported 17.3 bcm of natural gas in 2021, according to the entity.

The total global trade of natural gas through pipelines in 2022 was 718 bcm, which indicates a growth of 2% as compared to the earlier year. In 2021, about 704 bcm of natural gas was exported through pipelines across the globe.

The increase in Iranian gas export during 2022 was more than four times the average growth of the global trade of the product, said the report.

Of Iran's total export of 18.9 bcm in the previous year, 9.4 bcm were exported to Iraq, 9.1 bcm to Turkey, and 0.4 bcm to the Republic of Azerbaijan.

The EI also noted that Iran’s natural gas production has increased 2.5 times more than the global average over the past 10 years.

According to the EI report, natural gas production in Iran has been on an upward trend since 2011, and the US sanctions have not been able to stop or reverse the growth of gas production in Iran.

Between 2012 and 2022, natural gas production in Iran has grown by an average of 5.2% annually, which is more than 2.5 times the global average growth. The world's natural gas production has grown by an average of two percent per year during this period.

Most of Iran’s natural gas comes from the country’s giant South Pars gas field which the Islamic Republic shares with Qatar in the Persian Gulf.

The huge offshore field covers an area of 9,700 square kilometers, 3,700 square kilometers of which are in Iran’s territorial waters in the Persian Gulf. The remaining 6,000 square kilometers, called North Dome, are situated in Qatar’s territorial waters.

South Pars is estimated to contain a significant amount of natural gas, accounting for about 8% of the world’s reserves, and approximately 18 billion barrels of condensate.

 

Turkish lira drops 7%

Turkish lira plunged 7% to a record low on Wednesday in its biggest daily selloff since a historic 2021 crash, a move traders said was a strong signal that Ankara was moving toward a freely traded currency, away from state controls.

The lira has come under increasing pressure since President Tayyip Erdogan was re-elected on May 28. It slipped to a record low of 23.17 against the US dollar at 1023 GMT on Wednesday, bringing its losses this year to more than 19%.

For much of this year, authorities have taken a hands-on role in foreign exchange markets, using up tens of billions of dollars of reserves to hold the lira steady. The bank's net foreign exchange reserves touched a record low of negative US$4.4 billion last month, after forex demand surged during the election process.

Four traders said the decline in the central bank's forex and gold reserves had stopped as of last week, and that they could enter an upward trend, along with signs of the change in forex policies.

"There are many regulations and changes that need to be made but the destination we are headed in is becoming clearer every day. We are going towards the lira's value being determined by market conditions," one trader said.

Erdogan announced his new cabinet at the weekend and named Mehmet Simsek, a former deputy prime minister who is well regarded by foreign investors, as finance minister. Simsek later said economic policy needed to return to rational ground.

Markets are also waiting for the appointment of a new central bank governor to replace Sahap Kavcioglu, who spearheaded rate cuts under Erdogan's unorthodox policies.

"We are seeing policy normalization play out," said Tim Ash at BlueBay Asset Management. "I think we are seeing the impact of Simsek pushing the Turkish central bank for rational policy."

Another trader said the lira was nearing expected levels with sharp intraday losses, adding these would continue for some time. The lira is getting closer every day to a level that will not need to be defended with reserves.

Some analysts expect the lira to weaken towards a range of 25-28 against the dollar.

Under pressure from Erdogan, a self-described enemy of interest rates, the central bank slashed its policy rate to 8.5% from 19% in 2021 to boost growth and investment. But it sparked a historic lira crisis in December of 2021 and sent inflation to a 24-year high above 85% last year.

The return of Simsek, who was finance minister and deputy prime minister in 2009-2018, signalled a move away from the unorthodox rate cuts despite high inflation that have sparked a more than 80% erosion in the lira's value in five years.

Erdogan is considering appointing Hafize Gaye Erkan, a senior finance executive in the United States, as central bank governor, Reuters reported on Monday. Erkan met with Simsek in Ankara on Monday.

Erkan would be the country's fifth central bank chief in four years, after Erdogan fired previous governors as part of frequent policy pivots.

Turkish authorities are now hoping foreign investors will return after a years-long exodus, but market watchers cautioned that Erdogan turned to conventional policies in the past only to change his mind shortly after.

Turkey's sovereign dollar-denominated bonds gave away early gains to trade slightly negative on the day. ,

The premium demanded by investors to hold the country's hard-currency bonds over safe-haven US Treasuries widened again to 472 bps after tightening nearly 200 bps in the second half of May, data from JPMorgan showed.

"Even without political interference, the process of getting Turkey onto a sustainable path is going to be turbulent, and likely involves substantial devaluation and higher yields," said Paul McNamara, director of emerging market debt at asset manager GAM.

"We think fair value for the lira is probably 15% or so lower, but containing a devaluation without substantial external support is going to be a desperately difficult task," he said before Wednesday's decline.

"Orthodoxy would involve (above all) allowing the lira to find a sustainable level without intervention and abandoning the de facto capital controls currently in place."

 

Challenges facing Tayyip Erdogan

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been sworn in as head of state after winning an historic run-off election to extend his two-decade rule for another five years.

The 69 year old leader has to select a Cabinet, which will be tasked with handling an economic crisis that has witnessed runaway inflation and the collapse of the lira.

“I, as president, swear upon my honor and integrity before the great Turkish nation and history to safeguard the existence and independence of the state,” Erdogan said in a ceremony at the parliament in Ankara, broadcast live on television.

Erdogan, took the oath of office on Saturday, ushering in his third presidential term that followed three stints as prime minister.

President Erdogan was sworn in during a session in parliament before an inauguration ceremony at his sprawling palace complex. Supporters waited outside parliament despite the heavy rain, covering his car with red carnations as he arrived.

Erdogan defeated opposition challenger Kemal Kilicdaroglu in a runoff vote held on May 28, after he narrowly failed to secure an outright victory in a first round of voting on May 14.

Kilicdaroglu had promised to put Turkey on a more democratic path and improve relations with the West. International observers deemed the elections to be free but not fair.

Saturday’s inauguration was followed by a lavish ceremony at the presidential palace in the capital attended by dozens of world leaders. Turkey’s longest-serving leader faces considerable diplomatic challenges amid tensions with the West.

78 members of the international community attended the oath-taking ceremony. Some of the guests include Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, according to the state-run Anadolu news agency.

Addressing the country’s economic troubles will be Erdogan’s priority with inflation running at 43.7%, partly because of his unorthodox policy of cutting interest rates to stimulate growth.

Analysts have warned if current policies continue, the economy is heading for greater turmoil given depleted foreign reserves, an expanding state-backed protected deposits scheme, and unchecked inflation expectations.

The lira has undergone a series of crashes in recent years and hit new all-time lows in the days after the vote.

Turkey’s new members of parliament started being sworn in on Friday in their first session after the May 14 election, also attended by Erdogan. His alliance holds a majority in the 600-seat parliament.

Meanwhile, NATO allies are anxiously waiting for Ankara to green light Sweden’s attempt to join the United States-led defense alliance before a summit in July.

Erdogan has been dragging his feet on approving the application, accusing Stockholm of sheltering terrorists of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which is listed as a terror group by Ankara and its Western allies.

NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg attended Erdogan’s inauguration and scheduled to hold talks with him.

Sweden’s Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom said on Twitter a clear message emerged at a NATO meeting in Oslo for Turkey and Hungary to start the ratification process.

His Turkish counterpart, Mevlut Cavusoglu, responded, “A crystal clear message to our Swedish Friends! Fulfill your commitments arising from Trilateral Memorandum and take concrete steps in the fight against terrorism.”

Erdogan was sworn in amid a host of domestic challenges ahead, including a battered economy, pressure for the repatriation of millions of Syrian refugees and the need to rebuild after a devastating earthquake in February that killed 50,000 and levelled entire cities in the south of the country.

Turkey is also grappling with a cost-of-living crisis fueled by inflation that peaked at a staggering 85% in October 2022 before easing to 44% last month. The Turkish currency has lost more than 10% of its value against the US dollar since the start of the year.

Unconfirmed media reports say Erdogan plans to reappoint Mehmet Simsek, a respected former finance minister and deputy prime minister, to the helm of the economy.

The move would signify a return by the country — which is the world’s 19th largest economy according to the World Bank — to more orthodox economic policies