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Turkey, Arab neighbors sign free-trade deal

11 June 2010 04:48 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Turkey signed a deal yesterday with Arab neighbors Syria, Jordan and Lebanon to establish a cooperation council to create a zone of free movement of goods and people, APA reports quoting haaretz.com website.
Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said the deal should not be seen as an alternative to the European Union and invited all other interested countries to join. Turkey is still eager to join the EU, Davutoglu said, but added that the bloc could not and should not restrict the Muslim country’s relations with its neighbors. The four countries signed the deal at the Turkish-Arab Economic Forum, where officials from Arab nations burst into applause as Turkey’s prime minister took the podium. Turkey’s popularity in the Middle East has risen amid disputes over Israel’s Gaza blockade and United Nations sanctions against Iran. (News Agencies )
Turkisk Airlines’ policy for Israelis canceling flights is unreasonable, says the Israel Tourist and Travel Agents Association in a letter to the airline. The ITTAA says it has been flooded with complaints that the airline is demanding full cancelation fees from Israelis who cancel their flights, and it hoped that the move was not "retribution" - which could have serious repercussions for the airline in the future. (TheMarker )
El Al employees asked the Histadrut labor federation yesterday to declare a formal labor dispute at the airline. If the Histadrut does approve the request, workers could take action against the company that could interfere with the airline’s schedules and flights. In any case, there will be a mandatory two-week cooling off period before employees can take any action - if and when the Histadrut approves the dispute. The union says El Al management has been violating the collective bargaining agreement. Most of the complaints focus on the hiring of retirees and young people for the peak of the summer season. El Al said it was sure the workers would act responsibly, as usual, and not harm customers at the height of the season. (Zohar Blumenkrantz )
The police have decided to not to give out traffic tickets for driving without compulsory insurance since the traffic courts are too overcrowded and hearings on such cases will come at the expense of trials for more serious offenses. In response, MK Zion Fanian (Likud ) has proposed a law that would fine the owners of cars without compulsory insurance NIS 1,500 for the offense, and give them six penalty points - without requiring a court hearing. Fanian said uninsured drivers cause huge damage, and many just renew their insurance to pass the annual inspection and then cancel it. (Zvi Zrahiya )
The European Union said yesterday it plans soon to grant duty-free access for Palestinian products. EU Trade Commissioner Karel de Gucht said such a deal would "improve the access of Palestinian exports to the EU [and] help revamp the private sector in the Palestinian Authority." De Gucht’s comments were released after he met with Palestinian Economy Minister Hasan Abu-Libdeh, who said the duty-free access would help the state-building process the Palestinians are undergoing with the assistance of partners such as the EU. No EU capitals have opposed such a move, likely to take effect within months. The issue carries mostly political significance. EU trade with the Palestinian Authority was only 71 million euros in 2008. (News Agencies )
There has been a recent escalation in attacks on Israeli Internet sites by pro-Palestinian Turkish hackers. Now they appear to be going after big companies and well-known names such as cocacola.co.il, msn.co.il, Hotmail Israel and others. Until now, they generally went after smaller sites. David Fridman of Domain The Net Technologies, an Israeli domain registry, said most of the hacks seems to be the takeover of domain name servers, which then direct users unknowingly to fake sites with images and slogans such as "Free Palestine." (Guy Grimland )