Turkey: Property for foreigners than Greeks - Israel

Turkish draft brings ‘axis shift’ in property sales

A draft prepared by Turkey’s Ministry of Public Works and Housing would ease rules for property sales to foreign nationals, but some will not be able to enjoy the relaxed conditions. According to the draft, citizens of Israel and Greece will not be able to purchase land in Turkey, while such sales to citizens of Iran, Syria, Saudi Arabia and Gulf Arab nations will be relaxed considerably
The Turkish government has pressed the button on a new policy to ease regulations regarding foreign nationals’ purchasing land in Turkey, but a clause restricting Israeli and Greek nationals from buying Turkish land is causing controversy.
Daily Milliyet’s real estate expert Tebernüş Kireççi wrote Wednesday that if approved by Parliament, a draft prepared by the Ministry of Public Works and Housing may render Turkey “one of the top countries for foreigners in real estate ease-of-purchase.”
“All foreign nationals will be able to buy real estate, provided they have a passport and mug shots,” Milliyet reported. “While selling property and land, there will be no need to check if the foreign national’s country has a reciprocity agreement with Turkey.” The term refers to two countries that recognize their respective citizens as having the same rights.
However, a controversial restriction in the draft involves the sale of construction parcels and farmland to citizens of Israel and Greece, Milliyet reported. While all other foreign nationals may be able to buy as much as 99,000 square meters of land, Israeli and Greek citizens will not be able to purchase parcels and land in Turkey. Another controversial clause in the draft says citizens of Iran, Syria, Saudi Arabia and Arab Gulf states will be able to purchase land even without any restriction on size.
A previous proposal to limit the usage rights of foreigners regarding property they purchased in Turkey to 99 years has been shelved, Milliyet said. According to the new policy, foreign nationals owning property in Turkey would have usage rights without any time limitation.

Military zone problems
One frequent complaint by foreign nationals involving the sale of parcels and farmland adjacent to military zones has been solved by the draft, which says the General Staff has to prepare a map showing which parcels cannot be sold due to national security concerns. Until such a map is prepared, military authorities will have to respond to requests to buy property adjacent to military zones in one month at most.
The draft was prepared by the Ministry of Public Works upon orders from the Prime Ministry, Milliyet reported. The draft was sent to various public and private institutions for advice. After possible revisions, it will be sent to the Prime Ministry, which, in turn, will submit it to Parliament.
The draft may become law as soon as the end of next year, the newspaper said, adding that the government is planning to “close the current account deficit” from the revenue that will enter Turkey once the law is enacted.
Turkey’s annual current account deficit, which occurs when a country's total import of goods, services and transfers is greater than its total amount of exports, is expected to surpass $45 billion by the end of the year.

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=turkish-draft-brings-8216axis-shift8217-in-property-sales-2010-11-23

Greece, Israel to resume military exercise

 

 

Aegean impasse-Turkish PM rebuffs reports of a breakthrough in talks

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan yesterday denied reports that progress has been made between Greek and Turkish diplomats on the thorny issue of the delineation of the continental shelf. “There has been no agreement on the issue of the 12 miles,” Erdogan said, referring to Ankara’s longstanding objections to Greece extending its territorial waters in the Aegean to 12 nautical miles. “The talks are continuing,” Erdogan said. “When an agreement is reached, both sides will make a joint statement, but there is nothing yet,” the Turkish PM added. Meanwhile Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said that “notable progress” had been made in exploratory talks between Greek and Turkish officials.

VISIT GREECE - Samos Island

Israel-beautiful Israel!!!

Israel Looks Beyond Turkey To Strategic Partnership With Greece

ISRAEL'S COMPETITIVE EDGE

1st in R&D Investments

Israel invests 4.7% of its GDP in R&D, which is the highest ratio of any country in the world (IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook 2009).

Globally Open Economy

Israel is a preferred choice among leading global players. After the United States, Israel has the largest number of companies listed on the NASDAQ of any country and more than 60 Israeli companies are traded on various European exchanges. The long list of multinationals that run core activities in Israel includes: Microsoft, Berkshire-Hathaway, Motorola, Intel, HP, Siemens, Samsung, GE, Philips, Lucent, AOL, Cisco, Applied Materials, Winbond, IBM and J&J.

A Highly Educated Available Workforce

Israel is ranked 2nd in the world for availability of qualified scientists and engineers and 1^st in terms of total public expenditure on education as a percentage of GDP (IMD Global Competitiveness Yearbook 2009) and providing multinationals with an exceedingly professional and skilled labor market. Four Israelis have won Nobel Prizes within the last 5 years in the fields of Chemistry and Economics.

Strong Managerial Entrepreneurship 

As a testimony to the country's vibrant start-up culture, Israeli managers were ranked 1^st in the world for their business entrepreneurship (IMD Global Competitiveness Yearbook 2009). 

Flourishing Start-up and VC Industries

Ranked 1^st in the world for number of start-ups per capita and  3rd in the world for Venture Capital availability, Israel provides its entrepreneurs with the necessary backing to turn their innovative ideas into profitable businesses (IMD Global Competitiveness Yearbook 2009).

Ideal Conditions for Innovation

Israel provides the ideal environment to help stimulate innovation. It is ranked 3^rd in terms of its quality of scientific research institutions and 5^th in terms of utility patents and government procurement of advanced tech products by the World Economic Forum's Global Competitiveness Report 2008-2009. Profit driven Israeli innovations include a long list of market firsts such as disk-on-key technology, IP telephony, ZIP compression, the ingestible pill-size camera, modern drip-irrigation technology, ICQ instant messenger, and many more.

ISRAEL, GREECE: ALIGNING AGAINST TURKEY?

...Under this strategy, Greece is a perfect alliance for Israel. Turkey has long been Greece's main rival, and the two have long maintained a balance of power in the Aegean Sea, their main point of contention. Controlling the Aegean is crucial for Greece to exert sovereignty over its mainland and thousands of islands. But maintaining this control means Greece has had to build up one of the most advance air forces on the Continent, a costly affair for a country with a population of just 10 million even when not facing a massive sovereign debt crisis. This, plus Turkey's new push in the Middle East, have made Athens much less of a threat to Ankara. Greece has attempted to reduce tensions with Turkey, offering a controlled drawdown of forces in the Aegean, but Ankara largely rebuffed this gesture both because it considers Greece less of a threat and because Turkey, looking to expand its influence in the Caucasus, Balkans and Middle East, needs to maintain its military deterrence and cannot afford a drawdown.
Israel and Greece see benefits in increasing ties as a means of throwing Turkey off balance -- Israel is hoping Turkey will be concerned about an assertive Greece on its western border, while Greece wants to show Turkey it has options to maintain the balance in the Aegean. This is a change in political reality; Greece was a vociferously pro-Arab state throughout the Cold War, with many Palestine Liberation Organization members finding refuge in Athens. Greece opposed Israel because it was suspicious of the Turkish-Israeli alliance and because it did not want to find itself isolated from Arab energy exports during the Cold War. But with the weakening Turkish-Israeli alliance -- for decades a key to the Middle Eastern balance of power -- Athens sees a chance to send a message to Ankara. Reports alleging that Greece will allow Israeli jet fighters to use its airspace for training -- something Turkey previously had provided -- could be just such a message..."

"Published with permission of STRATFOR, a global intelligence company"