Europe – Dream and Reality

After overcoming the economic crisis, several questions remain regarding the current and future state of Europe. Where is Europe headed, how sustainable is the European dream in a global world? What advantages does the European understanding of the welfare state have - and can it serve as a model for other regions?

These and other questions will be the focus of a symposium hosted by the Alfred Herrhausen Society on May 9. Under the title 'Europe - Dream and Reality,' the event brings together speakers from around the world to share and exchange their ideas on Europe.

Speakers include among others the philosopher Ágnes Heller; the writers Sudhir Kakar, Mely Kiyak and Liao Yiwu; the researcher Zhou Hong; as well as political insiders such as Joschka Fischer, Pascal Lamy, Wu Jianmn, Janusz Reiter and Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

The non-profit Alfred Herrhausen Society is the international forum of the Deutsche Bank. It focuses on new forms of governance as a response to the challenges of the today. DW is cooperating with the society to bring the symposium to a wider audience. The event on May 9 will be streamed over the website dw.de/english, starting at 9:00 CET.

Siemens explains company’s complete overhaul

Following a decisive advisory board meeting, Siemens CEO Joe Kaeser (pictured) is explaining his new long-term strategy to the public and shareholders in particular.

Kaeser took the reins of Siemens last summer, and has since focused on his priority of closing a yawning profitability gap with rivals such as General Electric in the US.

A major streamlining of the Munich-based company is in the works. The present setup of the firm's four big divisions - industry, energy, health care and infrastructure – will belong to the past. Siemens' hearing aid equipment business will be spun off and listed on the stock exchange.

Net profit up

The company also confirmed its interest in the purchasing Rolls-Royce's energy business.

More emphasis will be put on industrial software and digital production processes. It remains unclear for the time being how many more jobs will be cut in the wake of the restructuring process.

Also on Tuesday, Siemens announced it upped its earnings by 12 percent to 1.15 billion euros ($1.6 billion) in its second quarter, running from January to March. Revenues dipped, though, by two percent compared with the same period a year earlier.

Astronomy app’s popularity skyrockets

An observatory in Chile has scored an unlikely hit with its Smartphone app Chile Mobile Observatory, which has now been downloaded more than 25,000 times.

It gives users around-the-world access to images of the sky, taken by telescopes at state-of-the-art facilities in northern Chile.

Images have been downloaded by people in Chile, Mexico, the US and Peru.

Sebastian Villela, web manager at Fundacion Imagen de Chile, is proud: 'Today, Chile accounts for 70 percent of astronomical observation in the world and for us this improves the country’s image.

'From Chile we are capturing the best images of the universe, from Chile we are answering the fundamental questions of humanity: where do we come from and what is our destination within this giant universe?'

The detailed colour pictures are produced from three images obtained with highly-advanced telescopes.

Sebastian Villela said: 'Each of the astronomical centres involved in the project, publishes their own images on their websites. What this application does is to take this information which is scattered, put it together in one application and you can carry it on your mobile device so that you can view it on your phone, on your tablet.'

The popularity of the app surprised researchers, but they are so pleased they have decided to add another 100 images to the downloads available, later this year, and to make a version available for iPhones.

The app also includes an astronomical calendar with dates for eclipses, meteor showers, comets and other phenomena.

Legality of Turkish prime minister’s call for Gulen’s extradition from US questioned

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s call for the extradition of Fetullah Gulen from the US has met with criticism.

According to a treaty signed in 1979 between the two countries Turkish authorities would first have to issue a warrant for Gulen’s arrest to start the process.

His lawyer confirmed there is no current criminal investigation into his client.

Erdogan had told a reporter on Tuesday authorities would start a formal process to extradite the Islamic scholar.

The one time ally of the Turkish PM who has lived in self-imposed exile since 1999 is now seen as Erdogan’s most powerful political enemy. It’s claimed he has millions of followers.

A corruption and bribery investigation last December led to some 50 people being detained including the sons of three government ministers. Erdogan accused Gulen of being behind the moves.

The government responded with a crackdown on the media including a two week ban on twitter. Gulen has denied mounting a campaign against Erdogan.

German President Joachim Gauk on a visit to Turkey has justified his comments about the style of Erdogan’s leadership.

'I allow myself to comment about the critical issues of a society,' he said adding it is a normal thing among friends.

Erdogan had told him he should not interfere in Turkey’s affairs.

Europe eyes Turkey as an energy supplier

Turkey's proximity to the Caucasus, Central Asia, the Middle East and Europe makes the country an ideal center for energy distribution. Since the outbreak of the current political crisis in Ukraine, the country has come to the top of the list of strategic partners for Europe when it comes to importing oil and natural gas.

'We're observing increasing interest from European and international companies, particularly for the Turkish energy market,' said Christian Grun of the Essen-based energy services company ConEnergy.

That interest stems from multiple factors. On the one hand, Turkey's economy grew by nearly 10 percent in 2010 and 2011. Furthermore, it has a young population - average age, 28 - which adds to the country's dynamism.

'And anyway, its geostrategic position is one of a kind,' Grun added, noting as well, however, that the liberalization of the Turkish market represents one of the biggest opportunities and challenges for the country.

Opening up the markets

'The state's monopolies are falling away now, and the market is open to both Turkish and international companies,' Grun says. Many providers in the energy sector see the move toward liberalization as an ideal chance to enter the market.

'Some of the heavy hitters in European energy want to get in on the market, including EON and RWE. Many other providers will follow them.'

Meanwhile, Grun says, the domestic political crisis involving corruption allegations against Prime Minister Erdogan and his use of Internet censorship is doing little to deter investors.

Turkey is currently working on multiple projects to diversify its regional energy supplies. For one, there is the southern gas corridor, intended to transport natural gas from the Caspian Sea and Middle East to Europe without crossing Russia. The southern gas corridor is to be served by the trans-Anatolian gas pipeline (TANAP), which aims to transport natural gas from Azerbaijan through Turkey and into Europe.

Dodging Russia to the south

The 'Hurriyet' daily reports construction of the 45-billion-dollar (32.5-billion-euro) project as set to begin in 2015 and conclude within four years. TANAP is expected to pull 16 billion cubic meters of gas from the Azerbaijani Shah Deniz II gas field. Ten billion cubic meters would flow to the European market, wtih six million remaining in Turkey.

Further, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in northern Iraq is set to play an important role as a partner to Turkey on energy issues. The government of the autonomous region of Kurdistan, with its seat in Erbil, has agreed to begin exporting around four billion cubic meters of gas per year to Turkey as of 2017, Turkish media have reported.

Beginning in 2020, that figure is supposed to jump to 20 billion cubic meters.

Natural gas from Cyprus to Israel

The eastern Mediterranean region has also attracted attention from the global natural gas industry in recent years, particularly thanks to the discovery of natural gas sources near the shores of Israel and Cyprus. Turkish media have speculated that the former could become a gas exporter, including to Turkey by way of a pipeline, but that unresolved issues with Cyprus would prove an impediment to trade.

For the moment, says Turkish energy expert Mehmet Ogutcu, TANAP is the only project worth mentioning. However, even if that pipeline comes about as planned, Ogutcu does not believe Turkey will become an energy powerhouse.

'To become one, you're not talking 16 billion cubic meters of gas - you'd need 50 to 60 billion, instead. The EU alone needs more than 250 billion cubic meters of natural gas, and Turkey can't deliver that by itself,' Ogutcu told DW.

No replacement for Russia

In spite of the many possibilities Turkey represents for Europe, no one can become completely independent from Russia, Ogutcu insists, saying Turkey could instead serve as a good additional provider to allow for added energy security.

'Turkey is a trustworthy partner because it belongs to NATO, the OECD, the Council of Europe and is striving for EU membership. As such, it can contribute to a diversification of Europe's approach to energy politics,' Ogutcu says.

The security of Turkey's energy supply is not at all affected by the current crisis involving Russia and will also not come into danger in the coming weeks, says Fatih Birol, head economist at the International Energy Agency.

'Turkey has a key role in global energy politics. Through its position, Turkey can serve as a reliable transit country for energy,' Birol told DW.

She also considers the Russian crisis a problem that can be overcome. 'Such problems can emerge at any time, in any country,' she said.

‘Trans X Istanbul’ = humour + hope

A new documentary ‘Trans X Istanbul’ documents the lives of transgender people in Turkey, where attitudes are very conservative.

Trans-gender people find it almost impossible to find a job in Turkey, and attacks on them, even fatal ones, are not generally investigated by police.

Maria Binder, who wrote and directed ‘Trans X Istanbul’, got a special mention from the Human Rights in Cinema jury, at the Istanbul Film festival.

Binder outlined the thinking behind the movie: 'We wanted to film a sort of study, a cinematic analysis of how hate speech can turn into criminal acts which can go as far as murder. Over nine months we followed events which led, in the end to a murder of a trans-gender woman. That was horrible for us. Theoretically we knew this type of thing happens, but it was beyond our imagination and we didn’t expect it to happen.'

In Turkey being LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender) is widely considered to be an illness, and the judicial system does not protect these people from attacks, let alone discrimination.

Maria Binder says she did not want to portray LGBT people as victims however. 'I wanted the film to be about people who take the reins of their own lives. The theme of my film is insane, tough and evil but I wanted to tell the story with humour, and I hope that you can see that all through the film. It was amazing, when the film was shown here at the Istanbul Film Festival, there was a lot of laughter, although the theme is so difficult.'

Maria Binder has already made documentaries about the issue of human rights, racism, and gender equality. For her, making a film is a way of giving people a voice: 'Making this film was a huge project involving Turkish LGBT organisations, and a whole programme of workshops. It’s about exploring how minority groups can work with the media so as to tell their own stories and give an inside view of the problem. We are also taking the movie on tour through 8 cities across Turkey. So in a way all this is human rights work. It’s not only about showing a film, is a very complex project.'

‘Trans X Istanbul’ was well as being shown at the Istanbul Film Festival is available to watch online as VOD.

Syrian rebels kidnap presidential hopeful

Syrian rebels say that have kidnapped a presidential hopeful whose attempt to register as a candidate was turned down by the constitutional court.

Unverified footage purports to show Mohammed Kanan claiming to have been forced by the Assad regime to run for the presidency.

Video of a massive blast has also been posted on the internet by opposition rebels.It is said to have taken place in northwestern Idlib province.

The rebels claim 30 government fighters died when insurgents from the Islamic Front set off explosives in a tunnel beneath a checkpoint.

More than 150.000 people have been killed in the three-year-old rebellion against the government.

Next month presidential elections are widely expected to return President Bashar al-Assad to power.