The Turkish government has decided to put the national anthem in the public domain. The topic was taken up by the Cabinet and a bill was signed to nationalize the national anthem. Commenting on the attempt by a German organization to obtain the copyright to the anthem, government spokesman and Deputy Prime Minister Cemil Çiçek said, “Sometimes people think of things that not even the devil would think of.”
A German performance rights organization, the Society for Musical Performing and Mechanical Reproduction Rights (GEMA), attempted to secure the copyright for the Turkish national anthem in 2007 because it was being recited in Turkish schools in Germany, saying the anthem had not been nationalized.
In other news, during the Cabinet meeting yesterday the Turkish Industrial Strategy Document was also discussed. Industry and Commerce Minister Nihat Ergün provided detailed information about the strategy, which spans a period from 2011 to 2014. Çiçek gave more information about the meeting and said business and industry policy is among the chapters in Turkey’s EU membership process. The strategy includes a total of 72 action plans, including making Turkey the production base for medium high-tech products in Eurasia and developing a skilled workforce.
In response to a question about how Turkey’s decision to send fire fighting planes to Israel would affect relations between the two countries, Çiçek said: “The issue that we are against is wrong policies. We have no problems with the Israeli people or with the people of another country. Our criticisms are directed at the Israeli administration.”
