Turkish PM Backs Egypt Protesters
Turkey has finally broken its silence over the Egyptian crisis after major newspapers criticised the government for its inexplicable silence on the issue.Addressing members of his AKP party in parliament, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Turkish Prime Minister, has thrown his weight completely behind the protesters in Egypt.
Erdogan appealed to Hosni Mubarak, the Egyptian president: "You have to listen to the wishes of the people in order to create security and stability. First you must take steps that are good for Egypt. You must take steps that satisfy the people."
- Published in Turkey
The head of Turkey's Housing Development Administration (TOKI) said on Saturday that his organization could build nearly 100,000 new houses in Venezuela. Commenting on Venezuela's calling on Turkey to extend support for housing projects after a recent flood disaster that left nearly 140,000 Venezuelans homeless, TOKI President Erdogan Bayraktar said his organization could take 10 to 100 contractors to Venezuela as a first step.
A growth of 17.2 percent is envisaged in public investments in 2011, an election year. Out of the TL47.9bn worth of public investments planned for 2011, TL16.7bn is to be carried out by local administrations.
While many tourism authorities agree that the financial crisis, still prevailing especially in Europe, continues to badly affect Turkish tourism, an 11 percent increase in the number of tourists visiting the southern city of Antalya in 2010 is a positive sign for sector representatives.
