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Turkish Press Review, 02-06-17
From: Turkish Directorate General of Press and Information <http://www.byegm.gov.tr>
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Press
& Information
Turkish
Press
Summary of the political and economic
news in the Turkish press this morning
17.06.2002
CONTENTS
[01] SEZER VISITS IGDIR ON HIS WAY TO IRAN
[02] CRITICAL WEEK FOR EU MEMBERSHIP
[03] YILMAZ VISITS KONYA, ADANA
[04] GUREL TO ATTEND TURKISH-EU JOINT PARLIAMENTARY COMMISSION MEETING
[05] CILLER URGES PARLIAMENT TO SKIP RECESS, DISCUSS CYPRUS
[06] BAYAR CALLS FOR EARLY ELECTIONS
[07] TURKEY RATIFIES UN CONVENTION AGAINST RACISM
[08] NEW PROJECTS FOR AFGHANISTAN
[09] 1.5 MILLION STUDENTS TAKE SELECTION EXAM
[10] DERVIS: “PUBLIC DEBTS ARE NO LONGER A PROBLEM”
[11] TRADE DELEGATION TO GO TO IRAQ
[12]
DTM TRIP TO IRAN POSTPONED
[13] TURKEY BOOSTS EXPORTS TO RUSSIA, EASTERN EUROPE
[14] “MINI-QUAKE” SEISMIC EXPERIMENT COMPLETED
[15] CORUMLUOGLU RECEIVES ICG AWARD
[16] FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE COLUMNS
[17] MOSUL AND KIRKUK BY SUKRU ELEKDAG (SABAH)
[18] WHAT WILL HAPPEN IN NORTHERN IRAQ? BY TUNCAY OZKAN (MILLIYET)
[01] SEZER VISITS IGDIR ON HIS WAY TO IRAN
President Ahmet Necdet Sezer is to visit Iran after completing his contacts
in Igdir, an eastern Anatolian province. Sezer is to attend a number of
meetings in Igdir to examine programs and projects which are aimed at
improving social and economic conditions in the region. Sezer is afterwards
scheduled to pay an official visit to Iran as an official guest of Iranian
President Mohammed Khatami. Mehmet Kececiler, co-chairman of the Turkish-
Iranian Joint Economic Commission (KEK), is expected to accompany Sezer.
Recent regional and international developments as well as bilateral
relations will be discussed during Sezer’s visit. /Cumhuriyet/
[02] CRITICAL WEEK FOR EU MEMBERSHIP
The week ahead looks to be a critical one for Turkey’s European Union
membership bid. Friday and Saturday will see the EU’s midyear summit held
in Seville, Spain. At this summit Turkey will be represented by President
Ahmet Necdet Sezer and Foreign Minister Ismail Cem. Sezer and Cem will tell
the EU leaders that it is both psychologically and socially important for
Turkey to be given a date for starting its membership negotiations.
/Hurriyet/
[03] YILMAZ VISITS KONYA, ADANA
Deputy Prime Minister and Motherland Party (ANAP) leader Mesut Yilmaz
yesterday said that Turkey’s EU membership would also help to develop its
tourism. Yilmaz made the remarks at the opening ceremony for Konya’s new
Hilton Hotel. Pointing out that Konya was both an agricultural and trade
center, Yilmaz commented that the new hotel would be an important first
step for Konya to become an important tourism center as well. Recalling
that Turkey’s initial breakthrough in tourism was made during the ANAP
government headed by late Prime Minister Turgut Ozal, Yilmaz said, “Now,
Turkey should accomplish its second breakthrough in tourism.” The deputy
prime minister then proceeded to the province of Adana and attended a
ceremony held for the opening of bridges constructed on the Catalan Dam.
Addressing the crowd, Yilmaz said that regional administrations should be
empowered more to enable better administration, as it was not possible to
do so through the central government. /Turkiye/
[04] GUREL TO ATTEND TURKISH-EU JOINT PARLIAMENTARY COMMISSION MEETING
A Turkish-European Union Joint Parliamentary Commission meeting is to be
held today in Brussels. A delegation co-chaired by State Ministers Sukru
Sina Gurel and Kursat Eser will represent Turkey at the gathering. Among
the major issues expected to be discussed at the meeting are the Cyprus
issue and Turkey’s bid for full EU membership. Gurel is to explain Turkey’s
views on the Cyprus issue to the European parliamentarians, who often makes
decisions against Turkey due to the Greek Cypriot and Greek lobbies in the
international community. /Cumhuriyet/
[05] CILLER URGES PARLIAMENT TO SKIP RECESS, DISCUSS CYPRUS
True Path Party (DYP) leader Tansu Ciller said yesterday that the
government’s primary problem in terms of its European Union membership bid
is the Cyprus issue. Ciller also urged all the parties in Parliament to
stay in Ankara to address a host of important matters, starting with the
Cyprus issue. “The Parliament should not go on recess this summer,” Ciller
added. /Hurriyet/
[06] BAYAR CALLS FOR EARLY ELECTIONS
Democratic Turkey Party (DTP) leader Mehmet Ali Bayar yesterday called for
early elections, saying that they would save Turkey from “poor
administration.” Bayar also said that European Union membership would
increase the standard of living in Turkey. “In order to be stronger and
richer, Turkey should join the EU,” Bayar added. /Milliyet/
[07] TURKEY RATIFIES UN CONVENTION AGAINST RACISM
Turkey ratified the United Nations International Convention on the
Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination this weekend. The parties
to this convention have pledged themselves to take joint and separate
action for the achievement of one of the purposes of the United Nations,
namely to promote and encourage universal respect for human rights and
basic freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language or
religion. Turkey did, however, note a reservation to the convention’s
Article 22, which reads as follows: “Any dispute between two or more States
Parties with respect to the interpretation or application of this
Convention, which is not settled by negotiation or by the procedures
expressly provided for in this Convention, shall, at the request of any of
the parties to the dispute, be referred to the International Court of
Justice for decision, unless the disputants agree to another mode of
settlement.” /Cumhuriyet/
[08] NEW PROJECTS FOR AFGHANISTAN
Olcay Unver, chairman of the Southeastern Anatolia Project (GAP) Regional
Development Administration, said yesterday that a package including eight
projects for Afghanistan had been prepared and that the projects had been
submitted by the Foreign Ministry to Brussels and Japan for approval. Unver
said, “We want to carry out investments in Afghanistan similar to GAP to
ensure social and economic development in that country.” He added that a
delegation had returned from Afghanistan after carrying out a series of
meetings with officials and now resources were being sought for its
financing. /Turkiye/
[09] 1.5 MILLION STUDENTS TAKE SELECTION EXAM
About 1.5 million students took the student selection exam held yesterday
in order to to be eligible to enroll in university. Student Selection and
Placement Center (OSYM) head Fethi Toker said that the exams had been
conducted without a hitch. The results will be announced in July, after
which the successful students will submit their preference forms for
placement. /All Papers/
[10] DERVIS: “PUBLIC DEBTS ARE NO LONGER A PROBLEM”
State Minister for the Economy Kemal Dervis said yesterday that Turkey’s
public debts no longer constituted a problem and that this development
would have a positive ripple effect into other areas of the economy.
Responding to a motion made by deputies of the True Path Party (DYP) and
Justice and Development Party (AKP), Dervis said that when debts can’t be
rolled over this pushes up interest rates, which in turn starves production
of capital needed for growth. But since we have implemented the
government’s economic program successfully, he added, public debt rollover
is not a problem and interest rates have fallen. He further remarked that
the economy’s structural problems had been years in the making and so could
not be solved in just a day. However, Dervis remarked, though Turkey isn’t
completely out of its crisis, there are real reasons for us to be hopeful.
/Hurriyet /
[11] TRADE DELEGATION TO GO TO IRAQ
Foreign Trade Undersecretariat (DTM) officials stated yesterday that more
than 300 people had applied to be part of a commercial delegation trip to
Iraq on the sidelines of the Turkey-Iraq Joint Economic Commission (KEK)
meetings to be held on June 29-July 4. Due to the large number of
applications received, it was decided that two planes rather than one would
be arranged for this journey. Additionally, applications will be accepted
for one more week in order to encourage maximum participation. During the
KEK meetings, Turkey’s delegation will be chaired by State Minister Edip
Safter Gaydali. The aim of the bilateral businessmen’s meetings is creating
new business opportunities. The transportation and meeting arrangements
will be handled by the Forum Fair Company. In addition, Iraqi Commerce
Minister Muhammed Mehdi Salih said that Iraq attached a great deal of
importance to its commercial relations with Turkey. Saih added that border
trade was continuing between the two countries. /Aksam/
[12]
DTM TRIP TO IRAN POSTPONED
A Foreign Trade Undersecretariat (DTM) commercial delegation visit to Iran
which had been scheduled to begin this Friday has been postponed. More than
200 applications were made for the trip as organized by the Central
Anatolian Exporters’ Union. The reason for the postponement is that
President Ahmet Necdet Sezer is scheduled to travel to Iran this week, and
it was felt that a meeting a month or two after Sezer’s visit might be more
beneficial. /Aksam/
[13] TURKEY BOOSTS EXPORTS TO RUSSIA, EASTERN EUROPE
Turkey’s exports to Russia and the countries of Eastern Europe increased in
the first five months of the year, while those to the Middle East decreased,
the Exporters’ Union announced yesterday. During the January-May period,
exports to European Union countries reached $6.9 billion, an increase of
only 2.7%. Turkey’s exports to Italy fell by 10.9% to hit $909 million.
Exports to France and the Netherlands also increased, by 2.2% and 3.7%
respectively. Finally, exports to Britain showed a sharp jump of 27.2%
during the period to reach $1.1 billion. /Milliyet/
[14] “MINI-QUAKE” SEISMIC EXPERIMENT COMPLETED
A seismic experiment carried out late last week by the Scientific and
Technical Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK) to get insights into the
possible time and magnitute of a possible earthquake in the Adapazari
region was successfully completed, TUBITAK officials announced yesterday.
The experiment involved triggering a “mini-earthquake” too mild to be felt.
Results of the experiment reportedly will be tabulated within one or two
months. /Turkiye/
[15] CORUMLUOGLU RECEIVES ICG AWARD
Orhan Corumluoglu from the Sisecam Research Center was yesterday awarded
the International Commission of Glass’ (ICG) Prof. William E. S. Turner
Prize. Corumluoglu was deemed worthy of this award for his successful
research into chemical resistance and analysis. /Aksam/
[16] FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE COLUMNS
[17] MOSUL AND KIRKUK BY SUKRU ELEKDAG (SABAH)
Retired Ambassador Sukru Elekdag writes on the bargaining over northern
Iraq in Washington. A summary of his column is as follows:
“Same interesting bargaining is now taking place in Washington. The Bush
administration is searching for a groundwork of cooperation with Kurdish
leaders in order to topple Saddam Hussein. The Kurdish side is trying to
get a definite promise from the US for the formation of a Kurdish federal
state including the Kirkuk and Mosul regions, which have rich oil resources
in return for their support. Both Barzani and Talabani have strived to seem
sincere in supporting the territorial integrity of Iraq, and furthermore
that they are not working for independence, and they are trying to give the
impression that they are not forming a front against Turkey. Both of them
know that a small Kurdish state lacking economic resources and no outlet to
the sea has no chance of survival. However, if they are able to snatch the
Mosul-Kirkuk region from Iraq and obtain rich oil resources in addition to
getting the support of the Western states, it is certain that these two
leaders will get together and establish the independent Kurdish state. It
is understood that the Kurdish leaders do not wish Turkish troops to
participate in the operation against Saddam. Their reason for this is that
if Turkey actively participates in the operation, this would provoke an
Iranian intervention which would lead to chaos in the region. This stance
of the Kurdish leaders clearly demonstrates their intentions. The reason
why they are defending such an argument is that, by taking the frontlines
in an operation to overthrow Saddam, they will be able to both achieve the
political status they want and obtain the oil reserves in Iraq during a
political restructuring process in the country ... In parallel to this
bargaining, the Kurdish lobby in Washington is continuing its efforts to
influence American public opinion. In fact, we learnt that the conference
held by the ‘Mustafa Barzani Global Kurdish Studies Center’ in Washington
has been a successful instrument in the propaganda waged for a federal
state for Kurds in the political future of Iraq and ensuring that a Kurdish
administration gets Kirkuk. All this shows that it is vitally important
that Turkey not leave the field to Barzani and Talabani if the US launches
an operation against Iraq. For, in such a case it won’t be able to have any
chance to prevent the arrangements it doesn’t like or defend the interest
of the Turkomans. These assessments demonstrate that the fate of Mosul and
Kirkuk are as crucial as that of Cyprus for Turkey. That is why Prime
Minister Ecevit has said that the establishment of a Kurdish state in
northern Iraq will be a cause for war. In addition, US Secretary of State
Colin Powell was told during his visit to Ankara that if Iraq is divided
and a Kurdish state is formed, Turkey would not accept the inclusion of the
Mosul and Kirkuk regions within the borders of this state. However, all
that is necessary for a state structure has been formed and a state is
already ‘de facto’ established. Isn’t it time for the Ankara government to
announce that the establishment of a Kurdish state will lead to the
proclamation of an autonomous Turkoman region in Iraq?”
[18] WHAT WILL HAPPEN IN NORTHERN IRAQ? BY TUNCAY OZKAN (MILLIYET)
Columnist Tuncay Ozkan writes on the situation in nothern ýraq. A summary
of his column is as follows:
“I am dead certain that someone wants to keep Turkey in a state of
continual political and economic instability. The US has come to understand
that it cannot conduct an operation in northern Iraq so long as Turkey is
determined and the political stance of the government doesn’t change.
Operations against our economic instability will be launched in order to
have elections held this coming November. I do not think State Minister
Responsible for the Economy Kemal Dervis will resist such a notion.
Therefore, Prime Minister Ecevit has to produce a formula to solve the
problems of the prime ministry. The US search for a leader among the
Kurdish groups to rule the country in the post-Saddam era is essentially
saying to both Arabs and Kurds that the economic resources of the region,
including Kirkuk are theirs. ‘We will solve the problem without taking the
Turkomans into consideration.’ However, this situation is unacceptable for
Turkey. It is clear what the Turkish Armed Forces’ (TSK) reaction will be
to such a fait accompli. There is no Turkish politician or officer who
could endure such a situation. If the administration is left into the hands
of the Shiites in Iraq, the whole gulf region will be composed of Shiite
states. What does the US plan to do in such a case? There is a strong lobby
in the US which would like an Iraq operation to begin in October. If
President Bush cannot do this, even the Republicans will not support him as
a candidate in the next elections. In other words, around October Turkey
will be faced with a crisis in Iraq. If we are not prepared for such a
development, if we do not show both care and boldness, if we fail to
produce a solution to or take the regional initiative in hand, we will be
faced with difficulties. In these circumstances a great responsibility
falls on Prime Minister Ecevit’s shoulders. He has to come to a decision
with his coalition partners in governing the country. If this decision is
late in coming, and Turkey faces another illness syndrome, my concern is
that historic mistakes may result.”
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