Turkey is no longer a dependable strategic ally of Israel

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Israeli navy surrounds 2 Gaza protest boats

By IAN DEITCH - Associated Press | AP – 17 mins ago...

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli naval vessels intercepted two protest boats on their way to Gaza to try to break Israel's blockade Friday afternoon, the Israeli military and Palestinian activists said.

In Gaza, activist Amjad Shawwa told The Associated Press that activists aboard the boats said they were surrounded by Israeli naval vessels. Then contact with the activists was lost when their satellite phones stopped working. It was not clear if Israel was jamming them.

The Israeli military issued a short video clip showing a naval official calling on the ships to turn around. "The Gaza area and coastal region are closed to maritime traffic as part of a blockade imposed for security purposes," the unnamed officer said.

"Your attempt to enter the Gaza Strip by sea is a violation of international law. We remind you that humanitarian supplies can be delivered to the Gaza Strip by land, and you are welcome to enter (Israel's) Ashdod port and deliver supplies through land crossings."

It was not known if the ships were changing course.

Israel's navy has intercepted similar protest ships in the past, towing them to an Israeli port and detaining participants. Israel says its naval blockade of Gaza is necessary to prevent weapons from reaching militant groups like Hamas, the Iran-backed group that rules the territory. Critics call the blockade collective punishment of Gaza's residents.

Last year, nine Turkish pro-Palestinian activists were killed when they resisted an Israeli operation to halt a similar flotilla. Each side blamed the other for the violence.

The incident sparked an international outcry and forced Israel to ease its land blockade on Gaza, which was imposed in 2006 and tightened, with Egyptian cooperation, after Hamas seized control of the territory the following year.

Militants in Gaza have fired thousands of rockets into Israel in the past decade, and now have much of southern Israel in range.

Speaking after prayers at a Gaza City mosque, Ismail Haniyeh, the Hamas prime minister, addressed the passengers aboard the boats, saying, "Your message has been delivered whether you make it or not."

"The siege is unjust and must end," Haniyeh said.

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Siege? Its not a Siege unless ALL avenues of access are closed off. All the Israelis are doing it preventing them from delivering weapons systems I'm SURE....

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Report: Turkey may replace Iran as Hamas' financier

Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal speaks at a press conference in Damascus, Syria in this October, 2011 file photo. (Photo: AP)

29 January 2012 / TODAYSZAMAN.COM,

Turkey may reportedly replace Hamas' chief financier, Iran, to alleviate the Gaza ruling party's financial pain as it has faced difficulty in receiving aid from the Islamic republic.

Israeli daily Haaretz quoted Turkish sources on Saturday that stated Gazan Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh conveyed his party's financial difficulties to Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan during his first visit to Turkey and that Turkey is seriously considering funding Hamas, a party Israel and the US list as a terrorist organization. The report added that Haniyeh explained to Erdoğan in some detail the financial difficulties Hamas has faced after expected aid from Iran didn't arrive on time and was significantly decreased.

Foreign aid is essential to helping Palestinians survive, including in Gaza, which, though ruled by Hamas, receives almost half of the Palestinian Authority's budget in social services and salaries. It said Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal has left Syria for good and is considering moving the party's headquarters to Qatar or Jordan.

Mashaal, 55, has been based in Damascus since 2001, fearing for his safety and restriction of movement in Gaza. He has been the Iranian-back chief of Hamas since 1996, responsible for setting policy and planning attacks against Israel.

Hamas seized control of the Gaza Strip from forces loyal to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah movement, which holds sway in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, in a brief civil war in 2007. Hamas and Fatah agreed to bury the hatchet and end their hostility with a reconciliation deal last year, but their agreement has yet to be implemented in deed or in spirit.

Israel, the United States and the European Union consider Hamas a terrorist group opposed to peace and committed to violence in order to destroy what it calls the “Zionist entity.” Israel has said a Palestinian unity government that includes Hamas will end hopes of peace.

Earlier this month Haniyeh toured Egypt, Sudan, Turkey and Tunisia. It was the first time he has left Gaza since Hamas seized control of the territory from Fatah in 2007. He is also expected to visit Iran, Qatar and other Muslim countries at the end of this month. Hamas officials say the goal of Haniyeh's trip was to improve ties with Muslim countries swept up in the uprisings shaking the Arab world.

An aide to Haniyeh said earlier this month that he would meet leaders in Egypt, Sudan, Tunisia, Qatar, Bahrain and Turkey and discuss rebuilding the Gaza Strip, which suffered damage during a month-long Israeli offensive in 2008-09.

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Turkey Exports “Massive Quantities Of Gold” to Iran and Arab Spring Nations


Gold’s London AM fix this morning was USD 1,627.00, EUR 1,250.77, and GBP 1,008.99 per ounce. Friday's AM fix was USD 1,629.50, EUR 1,240.20 and GBP 1,007.54 per ounce.


Silver is trading at $29.74/oz, €22.91/oz and £18.47/oz. Platinum is trading at $1,525.50/oz, palladium at $635.40/oz and rhodium at $1,350/oz.
Gold fell $3.70 or 0.23% in New York yesterday and closed at $1,638.70/oz.



Gold started out sideways in Asia then gradually dropped lower and this weakness continued in early European trading.




Cross Currency Table – (Bloomberg)
Gold edged lower on Tuesday despite the weaker euro and stock markets after furious citizens in Greece and France voted against austerity measures. Gold prices are being supported by bargain hunters who continue to buy dips around the lower end of the metal's recent range between $1,620/oz and $1,680/oz.


The elections in France and Greece create added political uncertainty to an already extremely uncertain financial and political situation and this is likely to weigh on the euro.



Euro gold remains firm around the EUR 1,250/oz level where it has been consolidating since mid March – in a range between €1,228/oz and €1,276/oz.


Gold has been trading between $1,620 and $1,680 for about a month. It is supported by the very uncertain macroeconomic and monetary environment but recent price weakness has made some buyers – especially more speculative buyers in western markets hesitant.


Gold’s long term trend towards higher prices remains intact (see Sharelynx chart below).



Gold’s support is coming from store of wealth buyers including central banks and the increasingly important Middle East and Far East Asian and Chinese buyers.


Mainland China’s gold imports from Hong Kong surged a huge six fold in the first quarter when prices were between $1,550/oz and $1,800/oz and this demand is supportive of prices at these levels.



China is set to displace India as the world’s largest consumer of gold in the coming months.


Imports from Hong Kong were 135,529 kilograms (135.53 metric tons) between January and March, from 19,729 kilograms in the year-earlier period. Hong Kong's gold exports to China in March increased about 59% on the month to the 3rd highest level on record, and the gold flow from China surged to its highest in the last 2 years.



The lack of enthusiasm for bullion amongst western buyers in recent weeks may be beginning to change as there has been an increase in demand in recent days due to growing concerns about Spain and the risk of contagion in the Eurozone.






Gold 1 Year Chart – (Bloomberg)
Deepening political uncertainty in the eurozone is also leading to a slight uptick in demand.


U.S. mint gold coin sales show how demand for bullion is picking up. The U.S. Mint’s sales of American Eagle gold coins rose 12% to 22,500 ounces so far in May, compared with 20,000 for all of April.


Gold imports by India could rise again on a backlog of demand from jewellers after the federal government decided to scrap an excise duty on jewellery it imposed in March 2012.


Turkey Exports “Massive Quantities Of Gold” to Iran & Arab Spring Countries
Iranians and Arab Spring countries are buying “massive quantities of gold” in order to protect their wealth from political instability and depreciating currencies.


Iran boosted imports of gold, jewelry and precious metals from Turkey by 3,692% from $13 million in March a year ago to $480 million in March 2012, according to the statistics agency in Ankara April 30 - as reported by Bloomberg.


The gold market was the biggest contributor to a $4.3 billion improvement in Turkey’s trade balance this year. That has aided Turkey and sent Turkish yields on benchmark two year notes 155 basis points lower this year. This is the biggest drop among major developing nations.





Sharelynx.com
While Turkey has assured the U.S. government it will cut purchases of oil from Iran by 20% this year, its total trade with the Islamic Republic increased 47% to $4.8 billion in the first quarter from a year earlier.


Sanctions aimed at isolating Iran because of its nuclear program, combined with revolutions in the Middle East, have spurred a tripling in the region’s purchases of Turkish precious metals and jewels to $942 million in the first three months, from $282 million in the same period last year.


This 30% increase in demand is contributing to gold remaining above $1,600/oz in what has all the hallmarks of another period of consolidation prior to higher prices.


“Turkey is exporting massive quantities of gold to Iran and Arab Spring countries as citizens in those countries switch to portable wealth,” Mert Yildiz, chief economist for Turkey at Renaissance Capital, told Bloomberg on April 30.



The increase in trade with Iran comes as sanctions make it harder for trading partners such as Turkey, India and China to pay in dollars and euros.


Iran said in February it would accept payment in any local currency or gold.


Reuters report today that Iran is accepting payments in yuan for some of the crude oil it supplies to China, the Iranian ambassador to the United Arab Emirates said on Tuesday. "Yes, that is correct," Mohammed Reza Fayyaz told Reuters when asked to comment on an earlier report in The Financial Times.


The newspaper cited unidentified industry executives in Beijing as saying most of the oil that goes from Iran to China is handled by the Unipec trading arm of Sinopec China's second-largest oil company, and through another trading company called Zhuhai Zhenrong.


Fayyaz also confirmed that Iran was spending the currency on goods and services imported from China.


Currency wars recently escalated when Iran’s central bank and more than 20 other Iranian banks were expelled from the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication, known as Swift, in March.


It is now almost impossible for Iran to complete large international fund transfers and this was regarded as a form of economic warfare.


The Iranian currency has plunged by over 30% in just over 6 months - to 17,300 rials to the dollar from 13,200 on Nov. 2. The central bank said inflation was 21.5% in the Iranian year that ended March 19.


Representatives from the U.S., Russia, China, the U.K., France and Germany last month held their first international meeting with Iran on its nuclear program in 15 months. They agreed to resume the negotiations in Baghdad on May 23, following “constructive” talks in Istanbul, Catherine Ashton, the EU’s foreign policy chief, said April 14.


While Turkey has agreed to cut oil imports from Iran, its officials have said they aren’t bound to abide by broader sanctions imposed by the U.S. and European Union, which are stricter than those from the United Nations.


The economic cost of sanctions is “borne by Turkey,” not just by Iran, Economy Minister Zafer Caglayan recently said.


A spokeswoman for the U.S. Embassy in Ankara who declined to be identified, said discussions with Turkey were continuing.


Turkey imports almost all of its energy, and every $10 a barrel increase in the price of oil adds about $4 billion to Turkey’s import bill.


Iran supplies about 40% of Turkey’s oil, making it the largest single source for the fuel, according to the Energy Ministry. The country pays about $6 a barrel less for Iranian oil than Brent crude, according to a Goldman Sachs Group Inc. report in March.


The narrowing in Turkey’s current-account gap has helped buoy the lira, with the currency appreciating 7.3% against the dollar this year following an 18 percent slump in 2011, the biggest drop worldwide.


Turkey has been a net exporter of more than $1 billion of gold, jewelry and precious metals so far this year after importing a net $411 million in the same period last year, according to official statistics. Turks give gold as gifts for events from births to weddings, and have traditionally used the metal as a store of value against yearly inflation that was more than 70% as recently as a decade ago.


Turks are believed to have a massive 5,000 tons of gold “stashed under their pillows.” So estimated Ozcan Halac, head of the Istanbul Gold Exchange, in March. That’s about $265 billion, or a third of Turkey’s gross domestic product, based on a gold price today of $1,640.29 an ounce.


In March, The Wall Street Journal reported how this Turkish government, facing a bloated current account deficit is to attempt to persuade Turks to transfer their vast personal holdings of gold into the country's banking system.


For breaking news and commentary on financial markets and gold, follow us on Twitter.


OTHER NEWS
(Bloomberg) -- U.S. Mint Gold Coin Sales Rise in May, Surpass April Total
The U.S. Mint’s sales of American Eagle gold coins rose 12 percent to 22,500 ounces so far in May, compared with 20,000 for all of April, according to data on the Mint’s website.



(Bloomberg) -- India Withdraws Excise Tax on Gold Jewelry; Imports Set to Gain

India, the world’s largest bullion importer, has withdrawn the excise duty on precious metals jewelry, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said today.


Jewelers closed stores for three weeks in March in the longest-ever strike, after Mukherjee doubled import levies on gold and imposed a 1 percent excise duty on non-branded ornaments. The stoppage ended on April 6 after the government assured jewelers that their concerns would be considered. The strike cost the industry about 200 billion rupees ($3.9 billion) in lost revenue, according to the All India Gems & Jewellery Trade Federation.


The tax removal may boost demand in India, increasing imports and bolstering global gold prices after they climbed 4.9 percent this year. Bullion is advancing for a 12th year as Europe’s debt crisis and concern that global growth is slowing has fuelled demand for wealth protection.


“The Finance Minister has understood our problems and removed the tax on both branded and unbranded jewelry,” said Bachhraj Bamalwa, chairman of the All India Gems & Jewellery Trade Federation. “Demand should recover from now and imports will improve as jewelers who had not stocked up earlier will start buying.”


Shares of Titan Industries Ltd. jumped as much as 4.2 percent to 251.05 rupees, while Gitanjali Gems Ltd. rose as much as 3.3 percent to 318.10 rupees.


Gold imports plunged to 30 metric tons to 35 tons in April from 90 tons a year earlier after higher taxes cut demand, Prithviraj Kothari, president of the Bombay Bullion Association, said May 2. Imports in 2012 are expected to be 700 tons to 750 tons, he said. That compares with a record 969 tons last year, according to the World Gold Council.


Gold for immediate delivery was little changed at $1,641.18 an ounce at 3:59 p.m. Mumbai time today.





Sharelynx.com
(Bloomberg) -- Gold May ‘Push Higher’ as Global Economies Slow, Fcstone Says

Gold could “push higher” over the course of this month as global economies slow, increasing expectations that central banks will take steps to boost growth, according to INTL FCStone Inc.


“We view gold, alongside the dollar, as something of a safe haven, especially if the European debt crisis starts to flare again amid renewed doubts over future policy in light of the recent elections,” analyst Edward Meir wrote in a note dated yesterday.

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Israel not invited to NATO summit after Turkish veto


For the Turkish veto, see here. The fact that the increasingly belligerent Islamic supremacists of Turkey are still in NATO shows how outmoded that organization is: it is still fighting the last war. "NATO issues reserved guestlist," by Sevil Küçükkoşum for the Hürriyet Daily News, May 12 (thanks to Joshua):

NATO members have agreed on who will participate in the upcoming Chicago summit after objections were raised by some countries, including Turkey, to a French proposal to invite top European Union bureaucrats.... Citing the EU’s commitment to a NATO peace mission in Afghanistan, France had argued that the EU should be represented by Barroso and Rompuy at the summit, while other countries, including Turkey, said participation in the summit should be reserved for member states. Opponents to France’s proposal said that if the EU was allowed to attend then other international organizations, such as the United Nations, the Arab League and the Organization of the Islamic Conference should also be represented at the gathering.
Israel not attending to the summit
Turkey’s objection to EU participation in NATO activities involved a more long-standing dispute over the Greek Cyprus block of Turkey’s participation in European defense institutions, such as the European Defense Agency (EDA). Turkey, a NATO member, has responded by vetoing the EU’s integration in NATO activities. Meanwhile, NATO’s top official confirmed that Israel will not be invited to the Chicago summit, but denied news reports that Turkey had blocked Israel’s participation, the Associated Press reported.
“Israel has not been invited to attend the summit because Israel is neither a participant in ISAF nor in KFOR. No one has blocked an invitation because it’s not been an issue,” NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said. U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Philip Gordon official said on May 10 that Israel was not supposed to be invited to the Chicago summit in the first place, due to “logistics and time” matters, Anatolia news agency reported.

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Companion Threads:

• Netanyahu Prepared To Go It Alone On Iran

Turks say Israeli plane violated Northern Cyprus airspace

Thursday, 17 May 2012


“A plane belonging to Israel, the model of which could not be identified, violated KKTC (Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus) airspace (above its territorial waters) five times,” the military said. (Reuters)

By Al Arabiya with Agencies

Turkey scrambled military jets to intercept an Israeli plane that violated the airspace of northern Cyprus this week, the Turkish high command said on Thursday.

The Israeli aircraft violated the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus’s airspace five times in Monday’s incident which saw Turkish fighter jets chase out the intruder, the army command said in a statement.

It gave no other details about the incident nor the type of Israeli plane involved in the alleged incursion.

“A plane belonging to Israel, the model of which could not be identified, violated KKTC (Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus) airspace (above its territorial waters) five times,” the military said.

Monday’s incident coincided with tensions on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus over oil and gas exploration plans there, which could hinder U.N.-backed efforts to reunite the island.

“In response to this situation, our 2XF-16 plane based at Incirlik was scrambled and our planes carried out patrol flights in KKTC airspace, preventing the said plane from continuing to violate KKTC airspace,” said the statement, posted on the Turkish general staff’s website.

In Jerusalem, an Israeli military spokeswoman said she was checking the report.

Relations between former allies Turkey and Israel have fallen apart since Israeli commandos raided the Mavi Marmara aid vessel in May 2010 to enforce a naval blockade of the Gaza Strip and killed nine Turks in clashes with pro-Palestinian activists.

Israel and the internationally-recognized Republic of Cyprus have both discovered huge offshore natural gas deposits beneath the Mediterranean Sea between them, and have tentatively discussed cooperation on delivering gas to European and Asian markets.

The drilling for gas and oil in the seabed off Cyprus which began last year angered Turkey, which says it abuses northern Cypriots’ rights to the same resources.

In April, Turkey launched its own exploratory drilling in the seabed offshore the TRNC in the north, drawing a sharp response from the government of Cyprus, which labeled the action as illegal.

Turkey’s relations with Israel have soured since Israeli commandos in 2010 stormed a Turkish ship carrying activists trying to break the Israeli blockade of Gaza, killing nine Turks.

Cyprus has been divided since 1974 when Turkish troops occupied the northern third in response to a Greek-inspired coup in Nicosia aimed at union with Greece.

Turkey still keeps about 30,000 troops in the north and is the only nation that recognizes the self-declared Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.

Israel has worked to enhance ties with Cyprus and Greece as its relations with Turkey have frayed.

The eastern Mediterranean has recently seen joint Israeli military maneuvers with its partners, as well as long-distance training by Israel’s air force for a possible strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities.

The Israelis use warplanes and pilotless drones, as well as naval craft, to patrol their natural gas fields.