Hope both Turkish and Indian currencies recover: Turkey's Ambassador
New Delhi, Sep 12 : With Turkey's currency in a free fall amid a trade war with the US, the Ambassador of Turkey to India, Sakir Özkan Torunlar on Wednesday said he hopes the fall in the lira and the Indian rupee would soon be retrieved.
He was speaking at an informal meeting with the media at his residence here with a focus on current tourism statistics and trends between India and Turkey.
On the fall in Turkey's lira and India's rupee, the Ambassador said: "I hope the track will reverse for both the currencies. I think this is a temporary phase which our countries will gradually get over."
Since the start of the year, Turkey's currency has fallen over 45 per cent against the US dollars. As a result, all imported goods became more expensive practically overnight.
The catalyst for the current crisis was US sanctions, which the Trump administration imposed on August 1 after the Turkey government refused to hand over an American pastor it has detained for almost two years. Turkey responded by doubling tariffs on US cars, alcohol and other goods.
When asked about the conflict with the US, Ambassador Torunlar said the international community should follow the rules and regulations laid down by the WTO or "in (case of a)a conflict, raise their opinion with organizations in Geneva."
The Ambassador also talked about the warm relation between India and Turkey saying the number of Indian tourists has doubled in just a year.
"In 2017, Turkey hosted more than 32 million international tourists among them 87,000 were from India. This year, from January to July, we recorded a 25% increase in the number of overall tourists. That means we will be hosting 40 million international tourists by the end of 2018.
"When we look at figures from India, we see a 95% increase for the same period. If this trend continues we will be hosting almost 2 lakhs Indian tourists by the year-end," he said.
Deniz Ersöz, Culture and Tourism Counsellor, Turkish Embassy, talked about what all his country has to offer to Indian tourists.
"Istanbul, Antalya, Cappadocia, Troy and Izmir are extremely popular with Indian travellers. However, Bodrum and Marmaris have also emerged as major tourist attractions in recent past. In addition to that, Konya where Celaleddin Rumi spent his last 45 years, the sacred site where he was buried is also among the popular destinations for Indians, " he said.
He added that Istanbul will be getting a new airport by the end of October this year.
"It will be one of the largest airports in the world with a capacity of 200 million passengers per year," he said.
On the occasion, Arjun Kapoor, Sales Manager-North and East India, Turkish airlines, said that to promote tourism in the country, the airlines also offer a pre-city tour for all the transit passengers.
"The airlines will take the transit passengers to visit all the Istanbul's historical and cultural areas and then take the passengers back to airport to catch their flight," Kapoor said.
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17,969 acres Wakf property encroached in Karnataka, mostly by Muslims: Minister Khan
Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Minister for Wakf & Minority Welfare B Z Zameer Ahmed Khan told the Legislative Assembly on Monday that 17,969 acres of Wakf property have been encroached upon in the state, mostly by Muslims themselves.
The minister was responding to a question by Afzalpur Congress MLA M Y Patil during the Question Hour.
"Total Wakf property across the state is 1,12,860 acres, out of which only 20,054 acres is in our hands. As many as 17,969 acres have been encroached, 47,263 acres have gone under the Inam Abolition Act and 23,627 acres have gone under the Land Reforms Act," Khan said.
He said that after the Congress government came to power and he became the department's minister, Wakf Adalats were held across the state aimed at removing encroachments.
Noting that 1,12,860 acres of Wakf land were given not by the government, but by private individuals and organisations for the welfare of the community, the minister said encroachments on Wakf property are mostly by the Muslim community itself, not by temples or other communities.
"Encroachments on Wakf land are not by others, they are done by Muslims themselves. Wakf Adalats were held to remove those encroachments, but the BJP made it an issue," he said, adding that encroachment issues are being resolved.
Leader of Opposition R Ashoka intervened and said the BJP's objections were not about removing encroachments by Muslims on Wakf land, but about farmers' land, land belonging to schools such as the one studied by Bharat Ratna Sir M Visvesvaraya, and in some cases land belonging to temples, among others, being claimed as Wakf land.
The BJP is in fact in favour of an investigation into the encroachment of Wakf properties, he said.
Responding to this, the minister clarified that the government is not laying hands on any temples or educational institutions by claiming them as Wakf property.
"To identify encroachments by private people, mostly Muslims, Wakf Adalats were held," he added.
