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TURKISH OFFICIAL VISITS NORTH TEXAS
By Barry Shlachter - Star-Telegram Staff Writer
Fort Worth Star Telegram, TX
May 4 2007
Murat Yalcintas, president of Istanbul's Chamber of Commerce, says
he separates politics from business. DALLAS -- Talk about difficult
timing.
Murat Yalcintas, president of Istanbul's Chamber of Commerce, arrived
in North Texas on a trade trip just after a million angry demonstrators
filled his city's streets to protest the candidacy of a presidential
hopeful who may or may not have an Islamic agenda.
The 42-year-old Yalcintas (pronounced YAL-chin-tash) visited Dallas
this week to meet with businesspeople who he hopes will either import
Turkish goods, ranging from furniture and marble tile to organic food,
or invest, particularly in the country's energy sector.
In an interview, he discounted the current political turbulence while
stressing the benefits of dealing with Turkey, including relatively
low labor costs and its strategic position bridging east and west.
Then there's the "carry trade," whereby wily businessmen borrow money
in Japan at extremely low rates, then deposit the funds in Turkey,
where banks pay far higher rates. It provides needed capital for
Turkish entrepreneurs but hurts their exports by strengthening the
Turkish lira, he said.
Q: Do the political protests -- and the army's veiled threat of
possible intervention -- make your mission more challenging?
A: No. That is politics, and I am here for business. This is very, very
normal. In Chicago, there was a big demonstration over immigration,
and business continued.
Q: Why should companies in the region do business with Turkey?
A: American businesses can form joint ventures and go via Turkish
companies to Central Asian, Middle Eastern and European markets.
Small and medium-sized enterprises, both American and Turkish, lack
the resources and the strategy to go beyond borders. My chamber can
form a bridge between them.
Q: Has Turkey's 2003 refusal to allow U.S. forces to invade Iraq from
its territory hurt bilateral ties?
A: There may be ups and downs, but the alliance has lasted since
[President] Truman, and it will last for many more years.
Q: Politics affected bu- siness when Turkey sus- pended talks with a
French firm over a pipeline in- vestment because France made denial of
the 1915 Ar- menian genocide a crime. What keeps Turkey from examining
what might have happened under the Ottoman Empire?
A: Why should we carry the burden of guilt for something we did not
do? Leave politics to politicians and history to historians. ... And
if the Armenians' claims are accepted, they will not sue Turkey for
indemnities but U.S. [insurance] companies who have done business
in Turkey.
TURKEY
Size: Slightly larger than Texas
Population: 71,158,647 (2007 estimate)
Religion: Muslim 99.8 percent (mostly Sunni)
Life expectancy: 72.9
Literacy: 86.5 percent
Government: Parliamentary democracy
Major exports: Apparel, foodstuffs, textiles, metal manufactures and
transport equipment
Major imports: Machinery, chemicals, semi-finished goods, fuels and
transport equipment
Source: CIA World Factbook
By Barry Shlachter - Star-Telegram Staff Writer
Fort Worth Star Telegram, TX
May 4 2007
Murat Yalcintas, president of Istanbul's Chamber of Commerce, says
he separates politics from business. DALLAS -- Talk about difficult
timing.
Murat Yalcintas, president of Istanbul's Chamber of Commerce, arrived
in North Texas on a trade trip just after a million angry demonstrators
filled his city's streets to protest the candidacy of a presidential
hopeful who may or may not have an Islamic agenda.
The 42-year-old Yalcintas (pronounced YAL-chin-tash) visited Dallas
this week to meet with businesspeople who he hopes will either import
Turkish goods, ranging from furniture and marble tile to organic food,
or invest, particularly in the country's energy sector.
In an interview, he discounted the current political turbulence while
stressing the benefits of dealing with Turkey, including relatively
low labor costs and its strategic position bridging east and west.
Then there's the "carry trade," whereby wily businessmen borrow money
in Japan at extremely low rates, then deposit the funds in Turkey,
where banks pay far higher rates. It provides needed capital for
Turkish entrepreneurs but hurts their exports by strengthening the
Turkish lira, he said.
Q: Do the political protests -- and the army's veiled threat of
possible intervention -- make your mission more challenging?
A: No. That is politics, and I am here for business. This is very, very
normal. In Chicago, there was a big demonstration over immigration,
and business continued.
Q: Why should companies in the region do business with Turkey?
A: American businesses can form joint ventures and go via Turkish
companies to Central Asian, Middle Eastern and European markets.
Small and medium-sized enterprises, both American and Turkish, lack
the resources and the strategy to go beyond borders. My chamber can
form a bridge between them.
Q: Has Turkey's 2003 refusal to allow U.S. forces to invade Iraq from
its territory hurt bilateral ties?
A: There may be ups and downs, but the alliance has lasted since
[President] Truman, and it will last for many more years.
Q: Politics affected bu- siness when Turkey sus- pended talks with a
French firm over a pipeline in- vestment because France made denial of
the 1915 Ar- menian genocide a crime. What keeps Turkey from examining
what might have happened under the Ottoman Empire?
A: Why should we carry the burden of guilt for something we did not
do? Leave politics to politicians and history to historians. ... And
if the Armenians' claims are accepted, they will not sue Turkey for
indemnities but U.S. [insurance] companies who have done business
in Turkey.
TURKEY
Size: Slightly larger than Texas
Population: 71,158,647 (2007 estimate)
Religion: Muslim 99.8 percent (mostly Sunni)
Life expectancy: 72.9
Literacy: 86.5 percent
Government: Parliamentary democracy
Major exports: Apparel, foodstuffs, textiles, metal manufactures and
transport equipment
Major imports: Machinery, chemicals, semi-finished goods, fuels and
transport equipment
Source: CIA World Factbook