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FRENCH BUSINESSMEN WANT MEDITERRANEAN UNION
Today's Zaman, Turkey
March 13 2007
During a visit to Turkey, Assembly of French Chambers of Commerce
and Industry (ACFCI) President Jean Francois Bernardin said Turkey
and France should make initiatives to establish a Mediterranean
Union, saying that cultivating a stronger Mediterranean identity,
in coordination with the EU would expand the region economically
and culturally.
ACFCI members and a press delegation attended workshops with the
Turkish Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges' (TOBB) Foreign
Economic Affairs Council (DEÝK) and press members in Ýstanbul. TOBB
President Rifat Hisarcýklýoðlu said during the meeting's dinner
that their concerns are not only domestic problems but also the
developments in World Chambers Federation, Union of Islamic Country
Chambers and the relations with neighbor countries. He said they signed
a forum with Israel and Palestine that would provide jobs for 10,000
Palestinians. Hisarcýklýoðlu emphasized that Turkey has an orderly
market economy and expects support from the ACFCI to familiarize
Turkey in France. He also said they were ready to cooperate in
training projects.
DEÝK President Rona Yýrcalý said France was Turkey's fifth-biggest
trading partner. He added that relations would develop by private
sector investments and underlined the 75 percent decrease in French
foreign direct investments to Turkey. He also invited the French
businesmen to the Istanbul summit of the World Chambers Federation,
which will be held July 2 to 6.
Bernardin said during his address to the gathering that the Marseilles
Chamber of Commerce had been established in order to learn about the
eastern Mediterranean and Ottomans in history, pointing out that the
region had still kept its importance. Bernardin said that problems
stemmed from mutual misunderstanding.
He said Turkey was improving very rapidly and that trade made nations
come together because commercial firms always act more quickly
than official bodies. Bernardin reiterated that 2009 was declared
France's Year of Turkey and that special projects should be prepared
for the event.
He said in response to a question about his recent book "J'aime
la France... mais je suis en colère" (I love you France but I am
offended), which was published last week and suggested that France
had been deteriorating for the last 30 years, that politician had
made incorrect decisions.
He pointed out in his book that the 1973 oil crisis was a breaking
point for France and it could not adapt to the change, which caused
unemployment. He pointed out that a parliament can not write history
-- in reference to France's lower house passing a bill that would
criminalzie denial of an Armenian genocide -- and they should look
to the future, not the past. "If those in power judge history, it
might turn out as rigid as this," he said.
--Boundary_(ID_pydPGat4N7NEHf/1dJ8ufw)--
Today's Zaman, Turkey
March 13 2007
During a visit to Turkey, Assembly of French Chambers of Commerce
and Industry (ACFCI) President Jean Francois Bernardin said Turkey
and France should make initiatives to establish a Mediterranean
Union, saying that cultivating a stronger Mediterranean identity,
in coordination with the EU would expand the region economically
and culturally.
ACFCI members and a press delegation attended workshops with the
Turkish Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges' (TOBB) Foreign
Economic Affairs Council (DEÝK) and press members in Ýstanbul. TOBB
President Rifat Hisarcýklýoðlu said during the meeting's dinner
that their concerns are not only domestic problems but also the
developments in World Chambers Federation, Union of Islamic Country
Chambers and the relations with neighbor countries. He said they signed
a forum with Israel and Palestine that would provide jobs for 10,000
Palestinians. Hisarcýklýoðlu emphasized that Turkey has an orderly
market economy and expects support from the ACFCI to familiarize
Turkey in France. He also said they were ready to cooperate in
training projects.
DEÝK President Rona Yýrcalý said France was Turkey's fifth-biggest
trading partner. He added that relations would develop by private
sector investments and underlined the 75 percent decrease in French
foreign direct investments to Turkey. He also invited the French
businesmen to the Istanbul summit of the World Chambers Federation,
which will be held July 2 to 6.
Bernardin said during his address to the gathering that the Marseilles
Chamber of Commerce had been established in order to learn about the
eastern Mediterranean and Ottomans in history, pointing out that the
region had still kept its importance. Bernardin said that problems
stemmed from mutual misunderstanding.
He said Turkey was improving very rapidly and that trade made nations
come together because commercial firms always act more quickly
than official bodies. Bernardin reiterated that 2009 was declared
France's Year of Turkey and that special projects should be prepared
for the event.
He said in response to a question about his recent book "J'aime
la France... mais je suis en colère" (I love you France but I am
offended), which was published last week and suggested that France
had been deteriorating for the last 30 years, that politician had
made incorrect decisions.
He pointed out in his book that the 1973 oil crisis was a breaking
point for France and it could not adapt to the change, which caused
unemployment. He pointed out that a parliament can not write history
-- in reference to France's lower house passing a bill that would
criminalzie denial of an Armenian genocide -- and they should look
to the future, not the past. "If those in power judge history, it
might turn out as rigid as this," he said.
--Boundary_(ID_pydPGat4N7NEHf/1dJ8ufw)--