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A UN committee on Wednesday delayed a decision on who will represent Afghanistan and Myanmar at the 193-member world body.

Sweden’s UN Ambassador Anna Enestrom told reporters after a closed meeting of the General Assembly Credentials Committee which she chaired that the committee has decided to defer its decision on the credentials in these two situations.

The announcement means that the representatives of the Afghan Taliban and Myanmar military junta will not be allowed into the world body for now.

The Credentials Committee, which consists of nine members, is mandated to examine the credentials of representatives of member states and to report to the General Assembly thereon.

The Taliban, which seized power in mid-August from the internationally recognized government, has nominated its Doha-based spokesman Suhail Shaheen as Afghanistan’s UN ambassador.

Source: Anadolu Agency

Nureddin Nebati was sworn in as Turkey’s new treasury and finance minister on Thursday.

Nebati, 57, replaces Lutfi Elvan, who held the portfolio for a little over a year.

He stepped down after requesting an exemption from the post, according to a government announcement.

Nebati was previously working as the deputy treasury and finance minister.

He has a bachelor’s degree in public administration and a master’s in social sciences from Istanbul University, along with a doctorate in political science and public administration from Kocaeli University.

Source: Anadolu Agency

Unemployment in the EU stood at 6.7% in October, stable compared with this September and down from 7.5% in October 2020, the bloc’s statistical office announced on Thursday.

The number of unemployed people dropped by 77,000 month-on-month and by 1.65 million compared to October 2020, according to the latest Eurostat data.

The unemployment rate for women was 7% in October, down from 7.1% in September, while the figure for men slipped from 6.5% in September to 6.4% in October.

Over 2.9 million people under the age of 25 years were jobless in the EU, bringing the youth unemployment rate in October to 15.9%.

Source: Anadolu Agency

Turkey will observe the cumulative effects of its current monetary policy stance in the first half of 2022, the Central Bank governor said on Thursday.

Turkish Central Bank officials met with local investors at a virtual meeting after the bank’s recent foreign exchange intervention for the first time since 2014.

Since September the monetary authority has lowered the key rate by 400 basis points, with current benchmark one-week repo rate standing at 15%.

The current account balance gave a surplus in August and September, and the improvement in the annual current account balance continued, Sahap Kavcioglu said during his presentation for local investors.

He emphasized that the bank has been considering practices and policies crucial to support investments, increase exports and limit imports for a permanent improvement in the current account balance.

“Turkish companies’ investment appetite and employment expectations have reached high levels compared to previous years,” he said.

Reserves to increase, inflation to decline

The opportunities provided by rediscount credits will also support these areas, Kavcioglu said, adding that the bank’s reserves have been on a steady increasing trend recently.

“We will continue to increase our reserves decisively,” he pledged.

Kavcioglu also pointed out the increase in Turkish lira savings deposits since Sept. 23, and said there has been a limited decrease in foreign currency savings deposits.

Real deposit returns, meanwhile, will remain high with lower inflation, Kavcioglu said.

“The Central Bank’s intervention in the foreign exchange market is aimed at supporting the liquidity conditions in the market and eliminating volatility,” he said.

Turkey’s relative superiority in global supply, logistics and demand chains will create necessary conditions for permanent price stability, he underlined.

The current price increases are temporary and will not turn into inflation, Kavcioglu stressed: “A much lower level of inflation will be observed in a short time.”

Kavcioglu added that they attach importance to the developments in commercial loans in order to support the financing of companies with a high investment appetite.

“When the rising commodity prices and the factors originating from the supply chain disappear, inflation will decrease,” he said, adding the growth rate of commercial loans is 8% annually, well below the averages of the previous years.

FX intervention

After seeing “unhealthy” price formations in fluctuating foreign exchange rates, the bank on Wednesday said it had intervened in the market through selling transactions.

The bank also said it had started to conduct transactions at the Borsa Istanbul Derivatives Market (VIOP).

The Turkish Central Bank’s previous direct foreign exchange intervention came in January 2014, with a sale of $3.15 billion. The bank will hold an online meeting with foreign investors later Thursday.

Source: Anadolu Agency

Consumer prices in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) area climbed by 5.2% year-on-year in October to reach 24-year high, the international group revealed Thursday.

Average annual inflation for 38 member countries was 4.6% in September and 1.2% in October 2020, the OECD said in a statement.

October figures posted the highest consumer price increase since February 1997.

Energy prices in the OECD area jumped by 24.2% – highest rate since July 1980 – in October on a yearly basis, more than five percentage points over the September figure of 18.9%.

“Food price inflation in the OECD area was stable at 4.5%,” the organization said “Excluding food and energy, OECD year-on-year inflation rose more moderately, to 3.5%, compared with 3.2% in September.”

All G7 countries posted inflation rate increases except Japan, where the rate fell by 0.1 percentage point to 0.1%.

Annual inflation increased sharply in the UK to 3.8% from 2.9% and the rate in the US rose to 6.2% from 5.4%.

“All items excluding food and energy contributed most to overall inflation in these two countries,” the OECD said.

The rate increased in other G7 countries: to 4.7% in Canada (from 4.4% in September), to 4.5% in Germany (from 4.1%), to 3.0% in Italy (from 2.5%), and to 2.6% in France (from 2.2%).

“Energy price inflation rose sharply in these four countries and energy was the main contributor to overall inflation in Italy and France,” it added.

In the euro area, annual inflation rose to 4.1% in October 2021, compared with 3.4% in September and minus 0.3% in October 2020, the organization said.

“However, it remained lower than in the OECD area as a whole, particularly compared with the United States where year-on-year inflation climbed from 5.4% in September to 6.2% in October, the highest rate since November 1990.”

The average annual inflation rate was 5.3% in the G20 area, up from 4.6% in September.

Source: Anadolu Agency

US stock market indexes surrendered their gains from an earlier rally to close in negative territory Wednesday after comments by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average plummeted 461 points, or 1.34%, to 34,022, despite the blue chip index gaining over 520 points during the session.

The SandP 500 decreased 54 points, or 1.18%, to close at 4,513.

The Nasdaq dove 283 points, or 1.83%, to end the day 15,254, as the tech-heavy index closed below its 50-day moving average.

Powell said earlier that the Fed is ready to use all of its tools against high inflation during testimony before the House of Representatives Financial Services Committee.

The risks of high inflation have “clearly risen” and the Fed’s monetary policy would adapt accordingly, he said, adding inflation “has spread more broadly in the economy.”

Powell’s comments came a day after his remarks before the Senate Banking Committee that the Fed would discuss winding up its asset purchases at a faster rate at its next meeting on Dec. 14-15.

Despite its earlier retreat, the VIX volatility index, known as the fear index, climbed above the level of 30 for the first time since March 5 by gaining 18.8% to 32.30.

The dollar index climbed above 96 again by gaining 0.12% to 96.11, while the yield on 10-year US Treasury notes, on the other hand, fell 1.4% to 1.421%.

Precious metals were mixed, with gold adding 0.3% to $1,779 an ounce but silver losing 2.6% to $22.24.

Oil prices were down, with Brent crude falling 1.2% to $68.40 per barrel and US benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude losing 1.6% to $65.11.

Source: Anadolu Agency

Turkey has replaced Treasury and Finance Minister Lutfi Elvan with Nureddin Nebati, according to a decision published Thursday in the Official Gazette.

The 57-year-old Nebati has been serving as the deputy treasury and finance minister.

He has a bachelor’s degree in public administration and a master’s degree in social sciences from Istanbul University as well as a doctoral degree in political science and public administration from Turkey’s Kocaeli University.

Source: Anadolu Agency

Two KCK/PKK terrorists were brought to Turkey after they were arrested in an operation led by Turkish National Intelligence Organization, said a security source on Thursday.

The terror group members, Emrah Adiguzel, codenamed Mazlum Jir Agiri, and Pervin Arslan, codenamed Sarina/Diljin, were brought to Turkey, said the source who asked not to be named due to restrictions on speaking to the media.

Adiguzel joined the terror group in 2012 and started to operate in rural areas of northern Iraq, including the Gara, Sincar, and Hakurk regions. He acted as the bodyguard of a so-called senior figure of the terror group, Duran Kalkan, code-named Abbas, for two years. Last year, he was sent to Iran by the terror group to act as one of the so-called regional coordinators of the organization.

Pervin Arslan, who joined the rural members of the terror group in 2014, operated in the Metina region of northern Iraq, as well as in northern Syria, took part in the organization’s sabotage, assassination, and attack units. She was sent to Iran in 2019 to participate in the terror activities there, the source added.

In its more than 35-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK – listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the US, and the EU – has been responsible for the deaths of at least 40,000 people, including women, children, and infants.

Source: Anadolu Agency

The Federation of United Caucasus Associations, which represents Circassians and other communities, has rejected allegations that Circassians were assimilated in Turkey.

Speaking to Anadolu Agency about a documentary shown by German broadcaster Deutsche Welle (DW), Cemil Gorucu, the deputy head of the federation, said Circassians have always been treated as equal citizens.

“Circassians were essential elements in both the Ottoman Empire period and in the founding of the Republic. When Mustafa Kemal Ataturk founded the Turkish Republic, most of his comrades were Circassians,” Gorucu noted.

He said that is why Circassians gave their lives in the Battle of Kut al-Amara, Canakkale, Sarikamis, in the War of Independence and became citizens of the Republic of Turkey.

“Germany should look in the mirror and make an assessment like that. It may have taken on a role of confusion in political developments. We have no problems in terms of non-governmental organizations established to keep our traditions, customs and culture alive,” he said.

“[The] Adyghe [language] can be chosen as an elective course in secondary schools. At the same time, there are Circassian language and language studies at Düzce University and Erciyes University. They have cultural departments. No other country gave us this. If the Republic of Turkey has provided us with this opportunity, Germany should take a look at itself first. We have all the rights of first-class citizens in Turkey.”

The Circassians, a predominantly Muslim people, suffered greatly under Czarist Russia and were subjected to ethnic cleansing.

A war in 1864 near the Black Sea port city of Sochi resulted in defeat for the Circassians and saw the Russian Empire invade all of Caucasia, a region extending from the eastern Black Sea to the Caspian Sea.

In a plight similar to that of the Crimean Tatars, nearly 1.5 million Circassians were expelled from the region to east of the Black Sea when it was overrun by Russia in 1864. Up to half a million are believed to have died.

Most of the Circassian exiles were absorbed into the Ottoman Empire, settling as far away as present-day Jordan.

Source: Anadolu Agency