The Consulate General of Turkey in New York City at the Turkish House on Wednesday organized the “Economy and Politics Talks,” the first event of its kind with the participation of economist Nouriel Roubini.

The discussions were moderated by the Turkish Ministry of Treasury and Finance Attaché Gozde Jezmegul, where topics such as global economic developments, geopolitical tensions, inflation, interest rate expectations, trade relations between the United States and China, emerging markets, and artificial intelligence were discussed.

In his speech, the Turkish Consul General in New York, Reyhan Ozgur, pointed out that Turkey hosts many meetings, events and discussion panels, and that they are happy to hold the first episode of a new series of events called “Economy and Politics Talks.”

Ozgur pointed out that the series of events was launched at a time of political and economic uncertainty, explaining: “We are witnessing unprecedented changes and challenges shaping our world through the emergence of new economic forces and new technologies.”

He stressed the importance of engaging in dialogue and exchanging knowledge and experience in times like these.

He stated that they aim to “develop dialogue on political and economic developments between financial institutions, the private sector, government officials and academia through this event,” and the consul expressed his belief that the discussions that will be held will be useful.

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Turkish diplomatic sources said that Ankara supports Palestine obtaining full membership in the United Nations.

The sources said on Wednesday that Palestine must obtain the approval of the UN Security Council and the support of two-thirds of the members of the UN General Assembly for its full membership.

It indicated that Algeria will submit a draft resolution for Palestine to gain full membership during the next UN Security Council meeting.

It pointed out that the issue has not been presented to the Council until today due to expectations that the United States of America will use its veto power against the draft law.

It stated that “Washington intends to use its veto against the draft resolution that Algeria will submit.”

The sources confirmed that “recent developments show that the issue of recognizing a Palestinian state is enjoying increasing support in the international community.”

It added: “Turkey has always been one of the strongest supporters of this issue and was a pioneer in Palestine obtaining the status of an observer member by the General Assembly’s decision in 2012, and during this stage we will also support the recognition of Palestine in all our meetings.”

The American administration had indicated its intention to use its veto power if Palestine’s full membership in the United Nations was proposed.

Earlier Wednesday, the US representative to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, said that she “does not believe that full membership of Palestine in the United Nations will help achieve a two-state solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.”

Palestine obtained the status of a non-member observer state at the United Nations after a resolution adopted by the General Assembly by a large majority on November 29, 2012.

Palestine applied for full membership in the United Nations in 2011, but this application did not receive the necessary support in the UN Security Council.

On April 2, the Permanent Representative of Palestine to the United Nations, Riyad Mansour, sent a letter to the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, requesting that the membership application be reconsidered.

The Security Council will vote on Thursday on a draft resolution regarding Palestine gaining full membership in the United Nations instead of “non-member observer” status.

Obtaining full membership requires the approval of 9 member states of the Security Council (15 countries), provided that none of the five veto countries, namely the United States, Russia, France, Britain, and China, object.

If the Council approves, the membership application will be referred to the General Assembly, and it must obtain two-thirds of the votes of the Assembly, which is composed of 193 countries, 139 of which recognize the State of Palestine.

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For the tenth year in a row, Turkey maintained first place in the world in wheat flour exports by the end of 2022.

According to information, global wheat production reached 773 million tons in the 2020-2021 season, an increase of 1.4 percent compared to the previous season.

The reason for this is the increased production of some countries such as Russia, Kazakhstan, Australia, and Canada.

Production reached 781 million tons in the 2021-2022 season thanks to an increase in China, the European Union, Australia, India and Ukraine.

Turkey is among the countries in the world that can meet its own consumption in wheat production.

While wheat production in the country reached 22 million tons last year, Turkey ranked first in the world by exporting approximately 3.7 million tons of flour in this period.

On the other hand, according to the latest World Bank data, Turkey continued to rank first in wheat flour exports in the period between 2013-2022.

Turkey exported 2.1 million tons of wheat flour in 2013, and exports continued to increase until 2016, when they reached 3.5 million tons.

Although exports declined between 2017 and 2021, this did not affect Turkey’s leading position in global exports.

Turkish flour exports recorded 3.1 million tons in 2022.

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Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said on Wednesday that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is a major player who is respected in the region and the entire world.

This came in a press conference held in Poland, in which he participated via video conference technology.

Kuleba added, “We do not reject the intervention of any country that wishes to contribute to ending the war between us and Russia.”

He expressed his country’s desire for everyone, including China, Turkey and other countries, to participate in the peace summit scheduled to be held to end the war.

Kuleba continued, saying: “So far, Turkey is the only country capable of talking to the Russian and Ukrainian sides.”

He added, “We are now focusing on holding a peace summit that will bring everyone together and discuss outstanding issues such as nuclear security, freedom of navigation, commercial navigation, and the exchange of prisoners, which no one can oppose.”

Kuleba refused to accuse his country of involvement in the terrorist attack that occurred in the Russian capital last Friday.

He explained that Russia is doing everything it can to distort Ukraine’s image.

Earlier on Wednesday, the Russian authorities announced that the death toll from the terrorist attack that took place in a concert hall in Crocus City in the capital, Moscow, had risen to 140 dead and 360 injured.

Russia witnessed a national mourning on Sunday for the victims of the terrorist attack, and flags were flown at half-mast, while Moscow residents placed flower bouquets in the Crocus Hall, where gunmen opened fire.

The Federal Security Service reported in a statement on Monday the arrest of 11 people, including 4 terrorists directly involved in the attack, and that efforts are continuing to identify their accomplices.​​​​​​

On Tuesday, the head of the Federal Security Service, Alexander Bortnikov, accused the United States, Britain, and Ukraine of being behind the attack, but the terrorist organization ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack on Friday.

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A Russian official said on Wednesday that his country is discussing with Turkey the possibility of building a second nuclear power plant in the northern state of Sinop.

This was reported by Kirill Komarov, Deputy Director General of the Russian Nuclear Energy Corporation “Rosatom” during a press conference in Sochi.

Komarov expressed Russia’s desire for the experience gained from the Akkuyu nuclear station project in the southern Turkish state of Mersin to be reflected in the construction of the next station in Sinop.

He stressed that the Akkuyu nuclear station is one of the very important projects for Russia in terms of responsibility and investment.

He added that all four units are scheduled to be completed by the end of 2028, noting the intensive work on the first unit.

Komarov pointed out that they are all looking forward to the moment when the Turkish electricity grid will be supplied with the first stream of nuclear energy.

He explained that the Turkish economy is developing at a good level and that the need for electricity increases every year, and accordingly, setting goals for the development of nuclear energy in Turkey is a very positive step.

Akkuyu is Turkey’s first nuclear power plant and one of the largest investments in the country.

In addition to Sinop, Ankara is also holding discussions with China regarding the establishment of a third nuclear power plant in the Thrace region, northwest of the country.

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Algeria called for an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council next Wednesday regarding the decision of the International Court of Justice regarding the ongoing Israeli war on the Gaza Strip since last October 7.

On January 26, the court and the highest judicial body in the United Nations ordered Israel to take measures to prevent acts of “genocide” against the Palestinians and improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza, but they did not order a ceasefire.

The official Algerian News Agency reported on Saturday evening that the Security Council meeting aims to “give compulsory action to the decision of the International Court of Justice regarding the temporary measures imposed on the Zionist occupation regarding its aggression against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip.”

She added that the Algerian mission to the United Nations “initiated extensive consultations to prepare for the Security Council meeting, where a small meeting was held at the mission’s (headquarters).

In addition to Algeria’s permanent representative to the United Nations, it included representatives of Palestine and South Africa (the applicant for the lawsuit against Israel in the court).”

Following this meeting, the representative of Algeria, Ammar Benjameh, participated in an emergency meeting of the Arab Group in New York to consider the practical steps needed to be taken following the court’s decision, according to the agency.

On the day the court’s decision was issued, based in The Hague, Netherlands, Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune directed his country’s mission in New York to request a Security Council meeting.

Since the beginning of this January, Algeria has been a non-permanent member of the Council for a period of two years among ten non-permanent members, while there are five permanent member states that have veto power, namely the United States, Britain, France, China and Russia.

Since the outbreak of the war in Gaza, the United States has prevented the issuance of resolutions in the Council that it considers to be biased against its ally, Israel.

Washington also supports Tel Aviv’s position of rejecting a permanent ceasefire, claiming that it will allow the Hamas movement to rearrange its ranks.

As of Saturday, the Israeli war in Gaza had left “26,257 martyrs and 64,797 injured, most of them children and women,” according to the Palestinian authorities.

It also caused massive destruction and scarcity of food, water, and medicine, with the displacement of about two million Palestinians, meaning more than 85 percent of the Gaza Strip’s population, according to the United Nations.

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Oil prices fell at the beginning of weekly trading on Monday by 2.6 percent compared to the close of the Friday session amid weak global demand for crude.

On Sunday, Saudi Aramco reduced the official selling price of its key Arab Light crude to a premium of $1.50 per barrel above the regional index for February.

This compares to a premium of $3.5 for the current month, which is the lowest level since November 2021.

Aramco’s decision comes after weak spot price differences for Middle Eastern crudes due to China’s weak appetite and increased global supplies, according to an analysis published by Bloomberg earlier today.

By 11:46 GMT, futures prices for Brent crude for March delivery fell by 2.6 percent, or $2.15, to $76.56 per barrel.

The significant reduction in official oil prices by Saudi Arabia reinforced signs of weakness in the global oil demand market in major markets, led by China.

Saudi Arabia is the largest exporter of crude oil in the world, with a daily average of 6.6 million barrels compared to 7.5 million barrels per day in normal circumstances, but the Kingdom participates in the OPEC+ alliance agreement to reduce production.

Last year, oil recorded its first annual loss since 2020 as production expanded from outside OPEC+, and traders looked forward to a slowdown in demand growth, including from the main importer, China.

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Turkish Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Alparslan Bayraktar said that his country plans to become self-sufficient in the field of energy during the next three decades, announcing that oil production in mountain Gabar (east) has exceeded 30 thousand barrels per day.

The Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources stated in a statement that Bayraktar held a meeting with a group of Turkish youth in the capital, Ankara, in which he answered their inquiries about topics related to the country’s work in the field of energy.

According to the statement, Bayraktar explained that one of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s goals for the “Century of Turkey” is energy independence.

He added: “Therefore, we have a definitive goal in energy, which is to make Turkey completely independent (self-sufficient) in the field of energy and save it from the import problem in the ‘Turkey Century,’ and we hope to achieve this within the next thirty years.”

The “Century of Turkey” is a vision announced by President Erdogan in late 2022, which includes the programs and goals of the Republic in its second centenary.

Bayraktar stressed that independence in the field of energy means Turkey’s independence, and that Turkey’s security in this field is an issue equivalent to Turkey’s national security.

He pointed to President Erdogan’s announcement of the discovery of a natural gas field off the coast of the Black Sea in August 2020, which is the largest in the country’s history, with a volume of gas that may meet between 25 to 30 percent of Turkey’s needs.

In late 2022, Turkey announced the discovery of an additional 170 billion cubic meters of natural gas in the Black Sea, bringing the total volume of discoveries to 710 billion cubic meters.

The Turkish Minister also referred in the context to the discovery of an oil reserve in the state of Şırnak (east) in May 2023.

He said: “We found crude oil in mountain Gabar and are extracting oil from the region. The daily production extracted from Gabar has exceeded 30 thousand barrels.”

Last May, President Erdogan announced the discovery of an oil discovery with a production capacity of 100,000 barrels per day in the state of Şırnak.

He added at the time: “I would like to announce new good news. We have discovered an oil field with a production capacity of up to 100,000 barrels per day in Gora Gabar.”

According to monitoring data from Turkey’s Mediterranean Program for the years 2024-2026, Turkey’s energy imports rose to a record level, recording $96.5 billion in 2022, accompanied by the impact of the sanctions imposed on Russia as a result of the Russian-Ukrainian war, which caused commodity prices to rise in the aforementioned year.

However, the decline in energy prices during the current year 2023, according to the same data in September of this year due to the increase in gas reserves in Europe and weak demand for it in China, Turkey’s energy imports decreased by 26.2 percent in the period from January to July. 2023 compared to the same period last year, declining to $41 billion.

In parallel, estimates based on data indicate that Turkey’s energy imports will decrease by 26.4 percent in 2023 compared to 2022 and decline to $71 billion.

It is expected that these imports will reach $77.3 billion in 2024 and $76.3 billion in 2025.

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Ankara announced on Wednesday that the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has included four Turkish cultural elements on its lists of intangible cultural heritage.

This came in a statement by the Turkish Minister of Culture and Tourism, Mehmet Nuri Ersoy, on social media, in which he explained that Turkey has become the second country to register the largest number of cultural elements on UNESCO lists after China.

Ersoy said that the meeting of the UNESCO Intergovernmental Committee for the Protection of the Intangible Cultural Heritage in the city of Kasane in the Republic of Botswana discussed 4 Turkish cultural elements today and decided to include them on its lists.

He congratulated the Minister on the decision to include four living heritage elements of Turkey, namely “the craftsmanship and performance of the mei/balaban musical instrument,” “the social and cultural traditions related to breakfast,” “the art of mother-of-pearl inlay,” and “the art of gilding,” to the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage List.

He stated that Turkey has become the second country to register the largest number of cultural elements on the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage List, as its listed cultural elements have reached 30, while China tops the list with 43 cultural elements.

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China said on Wednesday that the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip will be the “focus of its attention” during its term as president of the UN Security Council.

Earlier today, China assumed the presidency of the UN Security Council for the month of November.

China’s Ambassador to the United Nations, Zhang Jun, said in a press conference, “The conflict in Gaza will be a focal point during the Council’s upcoming work.”

Zhang added, “The Council has been focusing on this issue for a few weeks, and it will remain the focus of the Council’s work, especially during the Chinese presidency.”

The Chinese official explained, “The Council will strive to achieve a ceasefire, reduce civilian casualties, limit humanitarian disasters, promote the two-state solution, and achieve lasting peace between Israel and Palestine during China’s presidency.”

In addition to the conflict in Gaza, the Council’s agenda will cover discussions on the status of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), the situation in Sudan, developments related to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Libya, missile launches by North Korea, the war in Ukraine, and other relevant issues. Relevance according to the same source.

Since October 7, the Israeli army has launched air strikes on residential neighborhoods in the Gaza Strip, causing massive destruction, during which more than 8,796 Palestinians were killed, including 3,648 children, and 22,219 were injured. 126 Palestinians were also killed and about 2,000 were arrested in the West Bank, according to official Palestinian sources.

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