The U.S. President Joe Biden used the word ‘genocide’ in his statement on April 24, the remembrance of 1915 Armenian incident . While Biden has become the first U.S. president formally recognized the 1915 events as ‘genocide’, Turkey has denounced Biden’s statement in the strongest terms. The U.S. Ambassador to Turkey David Satterfield has been summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The issue will be discussed at the Cabinet meeting to be held today.
Today’s cabinet meeting has a busy agenda. Minister of Foreign Affairs Mevlut Cavusoglu will make a presentation about foreign policy developments and the 5+1 informal conference on Cyprus issue to be held on April 27-29 under the leadership of the United Nations, with the attendance of two parties of the island and three guarantor countries, Turkey, Greece and the UK.
Recommendations of the Scientific Advisory Board on the pandemic will also be discussed at the Cabinet today. Transition from partial lockdown to full lockdown and possible closure decision during the Eid will be clarified at the meeting. Health Minister Fahrettin Koca will make a presentation in this respect.
The operation launched in Northern Iraq will be another agenda item of the meeting. Alongside of ongoing domestic and cross border counterterrorism operations, Minister of National Defense Hulusi Akar is expected to inform the Cabinet about the Pence-Simsek and Pence-Yildirim operations launched by Turkish Armed Forces against terrorist targets in Metina and Avasin-Basyan regions in Northern Iraq.
How much of these agenda items will be shared with the public as concrete decisions is something that we will not be able have a clue until the end of the day. For the time being, let’s focus on what is at hand.
TRY, for instance, continues to depreciate this week after foreign exchange rates increased above 4% last week. USD/TRY rose to 8.36 today, while EUR/TRY reached 10.12.
Gold prices, meanwhile, also rose with the impact of increase in the number of coronavirus cases and the weak course of USD. Spot gold increased by 0.01% to USD 1,777 per ounce.
Oil prices slightly decreased due to concerns over possible decline in fuel demand in Asia stemming from the increase in the number of coronavirus cases in India and Japan, the third and fourth largest importers of the world, respectively. Brent crude fell to USD 65.41 per barrel, while U.S. crude oil saw USD 62.10.
DAILY AGENDA
The Cabinet meeting will be held at 3.30 p.m. under the presidency of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Turkish Statistical Institute released Sectoral Confidence Indices. Accordingly, the seasonally adjusted confidence index decreased by 2% to 103.3 in the services industry, while it fell by 5.6% to 103.1 in the retail trade sector and dropped by 3.1% to 77.3 in the construction sector in April, compared to March.
The Central Bank also released Real Sector Confidence Index. Accordingly, the real sector confidence index (RSCI) increased by 0.2 points to 111 in April, compared to March. The seasonally adjusted RSCI dropped by 2.8 points to 107.4 in this period.
The Central Bank released Capacity Utilization Rate (CUR) of the Manufacturing Industry. CUR increased by 1.2 points to 75.9 in April, compared to March. The seasonally adjusted CUR rose by 0.6 points to 76.2 in this period.
IN OUR MAGAZINE THIS WEEK:
On the cover: This week you can read the details of how the pandemic coupled with digitalization is changing the course of logistics. An interview with the chairman of Dincer Logistic outlies the transition in the industry. You can read the details of the interview with Mustafa Dincer in pages 14 and 15.
>> Professor Ilter Turan: American caprice. P. 10
>> Q&A: Adnan Dalgakiran, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Turkish Machinery Federation (MAKFED), Chairman of the Board of Directors of Dalgakiran. P.11
>> TURAB to focus on high-quality products in trade with the Arabic countries. You can read the details in our ‘Diplomacy’ section on page 12.
>> Report: Exporters develop ‘Foreign team’ to promote Turkish exports. P. 18
>> Tourism: Russia’s decision harms both countries, travelers and the sector. P. 19
>> Energy: Renewable energy develops ‘antibodies’ against COVID-19. P. 23
>> The GRECO report: Turkey fails in fight against corruption. P. 24
>> Do not miss Time Out’s alternatives for the week.
