World View: Eurozone Unemployment Reaches Record High

This morning’s key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com:

• Turkey asks Germany for help with PKK terrorists
• Erdogan’s visit to Germany highlights some major differences
• Eurozone unemployment reaches new historic high
• Still no progress on Greece’s next bailout payment

Turkey asks Germany for help with PKK terrorists

In a visit to German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin, Turkey’sPrime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan asked for Germany’s help infighting the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), a terrorist group inSyria, Turkey, Iraq, and Iran seeking a separate state of Kurdistan.Erdogan is complaining that Germany permits PKK fundraising activitiesto occur in Germany. Erdogan also complains that many westerncountries refuse extradition requests for people wanted in Turkey onterrorism charges despite extradition agreements they have with Turkeyeven though his government frequently approves the extradition ofcriminals to these countries. Erdogan’s case is difficult for somepeople to accept because of Erdogan’s open support of Palestinians inGaza, some of whom have been conducting terrorist attacks againstIsrael. Zaman (Istanbul)

Erdogan’s visit to Germany highlights some major differences

Athough Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel and Turkey’s Prime MinisterRecep Tayyip Erdogan were all smiles for the press conferences andphoto ops during Erdogan’s visit to Berlin on Wednesday, the strainswere evident. The biggest faux pas occurred in their joint pressconference, when Erdogan said that it had been a mistake to allow”South Cyprus” into the European Union, and he added the Merkel sharedthat view — which is not true. Cyprus has been a sore point betweenTurkey and the Europeans ever since the Cyprus war of 1974, whichpartitioned the island into separate parts, controlled respectively byGreece and Turkey. The EU recognizes the Greek government as theofficial government of Cyprus, and has admitted that government to theEU. 

Turkey formally applied to join the European Union in 1987, butnegotiations have frequently broken down. Erdogan is unhappy aboutthe treatment of 3 million people of Turkish origin living in Germany.On the other side, the EU has complained breaches of freedom of speechand the right to free assembly in Turkey, and says that Turkey’sdemocratic reforms have come to a standstill. Erdogan says that theEU will “lose Turkey,” unless it’s admitted by 2023. Spiegel

Eurozone unemployment reaches new historic high

The unemployment level in the 17-country eurozone hit 11.6% inSeptember, a new historic high in a continuing series of historichighs, with youth unemployment at 23.3%. Spain’s unemployment rate is26%, and Greece’s is 25%. It’s over 50% for young people in bothcountries. At the same time, new figures indicate that the inflationrate is lower than expected. The eurozone continues its deflationaryspiral, while politicians pray for a miracle. Bloomberg

Still no progress on Greece’s next bailout payment

With Greece about to go bankrupt in mid-November unless it receivesthe next bailout payment, Greece revealed on Wednesday that it willovershoot its deficit and debt targets again next year because of adeeper than forecast recession. There was no progress on negotiationsover the bailout because the International Monetary Fund (IMF)remained at loggerheads with Germany on the need for Europeangovernment lenders to participate. (The new acronym to learn is OSI,which stands for “official sector involvement. Earlier this year, thebig issue was PSI, or “private sector involvement”.) A final decisionon the bailout will be made at the finance ministers’ face-to-facemeeting on November 12. Kathimerini

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