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Turkish Press Review, 02-09-16Turkish Press Review Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: Turkish Directorate General of Press and Information <http://www.byegm.gov.tr><LINK href="http://www.byegm.gov.tr_yayinlarimiz_chr_pics_css/tpr.css" rel=STYLESHEET type=text/css> <map name="FPMap1"> </map> <map name="FPMap1"></map> Press & Information Turkish Press Summary of the political and economic news in the Turkish press this morning16.09.2002CONTENTS
[01] ECEVIT SPEAKS AT ZONGULDAK CAMPAIGN RALLYPrime Minister and Democratic Left Party (DSP) leader Bulent Ecevit yesterday spoke to a crowd of citizens at a campaign rally in the Black Sea province of Zonguldak. Pointing to the importance of the province, Ecevit said, “Zonguldak’s coal has added blood to Turkey.” Ecevit stated that during its tenure the current government had solved many significant problems. Stressing that of late various games were being played in politics, Ecevit claimed that certain circles were working to bring down the DSP and exclude him from politcs. Criticizing former Economy Minister Kemal Dervis, who joined the rival Republican People’s Party (CHP) after stepping down from his post this summer, the prime minister said that Dervis was clearly a politician rather than an economist. “He divided the DSP group,” Ecevit added. /Turkiye/[02] CILLER SEEKS SUPPORT FOR DYP-DTP-ATP[03] ALLIANCE AT POLLSTrue Path Party (DYP) leader Tansu Ciller said yesterday that her party would go to polls with a great alliance on the center-right, formed by the DYP, the Democratic Turkey Party (DTP) and the Enlightened Turkey Party (ATP). “Now we are expecting citizens to stand together at the ballot box to support us,” Ciller said. At a meeting with the attendance of two former DTP and ATP leaders who are currently candidates from the DYP, Mehmet Ali Bayar and Tugrul Turkes respectively, Ciller stated that people had been looking for such cooperation on the center-right for a long time. Regarding proposals to decrease the 10% election threshold, Ciller reiterated that the DYP wanted to preserve the current threshold. “If the threshold is lowered, this will lead to four or more partners in coalition governments, which would make properly ruling the country impossible,” Ciller added. /Turkiye/[04] YTP AND SP DECLARE SUPPORT FOR[05] LOWERED ELECTION THRESHOLDNew Turkey Party (YTP) Deputy Secretary General Ercan Karakas yesterday said that many articles of the Elections and Political Parties Law were antidemocratic. “If Parliament convenes in order to change these laws, the YTP will support these efforts,” stated Karakas. “The YTP isn’t trying to change the threshold now, but it would support such attempts.” In related news, Felicity Party (SP) Deputy Chairman Lutfu Esengun said that the 10% election threshold should be lowered to 5%. Current opinion polls indicate that both parties would fail to make Parliament under the current threshold. /Milliyet/[06] CEM: “NO ONE CAN STOP THE YTP”Speaking to a gathering of his party in Istanbul yesterday, New Turkey Party Chairman Ismail Cem said that whether or not polls scheduled for November were postponed, no one could prevent the YTP from achieving electoral success. Cem argued that certain political parties were spreading misleading reports through the media in order to hinder the YTP’s victory. “The YTP wants the elections to be held on their scheduled date, Nov. 3,” added Cem. “No one can stop us now.” /Aksam/[07] ARSEVEN IN FINLAND FOR IMMIGRATION MEETINGLabor and Social Security Minister Nejat Arseven arrived in Finland yesterday to attend the Seventh European Conference on Immigration Affairs scheduled to begin today. Before departing from Istanbul’s Ataturk Airport, Arseven told reporters that during the two-day gathering he would underline Turkey’s perspectives on migration and hold meetings with several of his counterparts. /Cumhuriyet/[08] IRAN PUSHES TURKEY ON NATURAL GAS AGREEMENTIranian Oil Minister Bijen Namdar Zangene yesterday said that Turkey was in violation of a natural gas agreement with his country and threatened to seek financial penalties if things did not change. “If Turkey doesn’t do as we ask, we will demand compensation under the ‘take-or-pay’ clause of the agreement,” Zangene told an Iranian daily. He furthermore claimed that Turkey had halted its natural gas purchases due to its economic crisis, not low quality gas. Turkey stopped purchasing Iranian gas in June. /Cumhuriyet/[09] RAHMI KOC: “ELECTIONS COULD BRING A SURPRISE”Koc Group CEO Rahmi Koc yesterday said that he expected a “surprise result” from the forthcoming early elections. Speaking to reporters in Izmir, Koc stated that he didn’t fully trust public opinion polls. “The situation is not clear yet, there are a great many undecided people,” he said. Stressing that all people in Turkey wanted to hold early elections on their scheduled date, Nov. 3, Koc said, “We will be disappointed if they are postponed.” Regarding Turkey’s expectation of getting a date during the Eurpean Union’s December summit to begin EU membership negotiations, Koc said, “I think that even though Turkey has implemented all of the EU commitments, they will probably put forward the Cyprus issue before us as another precondition.” /Turkiye/[10] FORMER UN SECRETARY-GENERAL: “TURKEY BELONGS IN EUROPE”Culture ministers from more than 95 countries arrived in Istanbul yesterday for the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Culture Ministers Third Round Table Meeting. Speaking to reporters, former UN Secretary-General Javier Perez de Cuellar said that Turkey’s proper place was in Europe. “I can’t imagine a Europe without Turkey,” he added. President Ahmet Necdet Sezer is expected to attend the meeting’s opening ceremony today, along with Perez de Cuellar, Culture Minister Suat Caglayan and UNESCO head Koichiro Matsuura. /Milliyet/[11] GUREL ASKS BELGIUM ON ERDAL EXTRADITIONDeputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sukru Sina Gurel yesterday met with Belgium Foreign Minister Louis Michel in New York, where both men are attending the United Nations General Assembly meeting there. During their talks, Gurel reiterated his call for Belgium to extradite Fehriye Erdal, a fugitive from justice wanted for the 1996 murder of Turkish businessman Ozdemir Sabanci. Gurel stressed that since this summer Turkey abolished the death penalty, long cited by Belgium as an obstacle to extradition, there was no longer any reason to delay turning Erdal over to Turkish authorities. Gurel also called once again for KADEK, the terrorist PKK’s new label for itself, to be added to the European Union’s list of terrorist groups. “Turkey insists that KADEK be on the EU’S list,” said Gurel. /Hurriyet/[12] IFC: “TURKEY OFFERS AN ATTRACTIVE INVESTMENT CLIMATE”Sujata Lambe, Turkey director for the International Finance Cooperation, the World Bank’s private-sector investment arm, stated yesterday that the IFC sees Turkey as offering an attractive investment climate. Speaking at a seminar in Istanbul organized by the State Organization (DPT) in cooperation with the Islamic Progress Bank (IKB), Lamba also said that IFC was the leading source of credits to Turkey in the wake of the February 2001 economic crisis. /Star/[13] FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE COLUMNS...[14] FROM THE COLUMNS[15] US INTERVENTION LOOKS LIKELY[16] BY HURSIT GUNES (MILLIYET)Columnist Hursit Gunes writes about the possible effects of a likely US operation in Iraq on Turkey and how justified such an intervention would be. A summary of his column is as follows:“In recent weeks, we have seen a flurry of stories in the Western media concerning the possibility of US intervention in Iraq. The fact that the United States has once again stepped up its efforts on Iraq is important for Turkey, as Iraq is a neighboring country. However, Turkey is also an ally of the US, which means that Turkey has a key role to play in US relations with Iraq. The Iraqi issue is also important in terms of the International Monetary Fund-backed economic program that Turkey is trying to implement. Let’s not forget that the US Treasury has the largest say in the IMF, and it would be unthinkable for the US Treasury to act independently of the Pentagon. Hence, it looks unlikely that Turkey would be able to resist US pressure. President George W. Bush delivered a speech at the United Nations General Assembly last Thursday to ask for international support for US plans to oust Saddam Hussein. It’s clear that the US is getting impatient about Iraq. We all know that the UN wants Iraq to authorize the return of UN weapon inspectors there. However, as Iraqi Vice President Tariq Aziz recently refused to allow these inspectors to return, it seems that a US intervention has now become even more likely. Now the only thing left for the US to determine is the actual date and scope of the operation. The date will depend on the international alliance. So far, only Britain has pledged the kind of support the US is seeking. In fact, most European countries have openly declared their opposition to US plans, on the grounds that there is no Iraqi opposition to take over from Saddam Hussein. As for the operation itself, rumor has it that US forces will enter Iraq from its northern borders. This means that Turkey would play a key role. Whatever the scope of the operation, there’s no doubt that Turkish interests will be harmed tremendously. In addition Turkey has elections coming up in November. A weak government lacking sufficient knowledge on the issue will have great trouble negotiating with the US. Let’s not forget that this matter is of vital importance to Turkey’s security and its territorial integrity. The slightest mistake in policy formulation could lead to economic collapse and great risk to Turkish security. The US is trying to justify its plans to overthrow the Iraqi regime by claiming that Iraq has deliberately failed to comply with UN Security Council resolutions and provided support to international terrorism. It’s true that the Iraqi regime is a dictatorship, but we should ask ourselves, is Iraq really the only country to have an authoritarian regime? Of course not. So, we can see that the US justification lacks credibility. What is the real US motive? Is it to overthrow a dictator? Somehow, I don’t think so.” [17] A PIPELINE TO EUROPE[18] BY ZEYNEP GURCANLI (STAR)Columnist Zeynep Gurcanli writes on the Shahdeniz Natural Gas Pipeline Project and its expected repercussions on Turkey’s relations with Russia and Greece. A summary of her column is as follows:“The construction of the Turkey’s most important energy project, the Baku- Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline, which will run from the Caspian Sea, through Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey to the Mediterranean, is due to begin on Oct. 16 in Baku with a ceremony to be attended by President Ahmet Necdet Sezer. The pipeline is expected be completed in 2004, with oil transportation to begin the following year. But Turkey has recently become involved in another important project, namely the Shahdeniz project, which will transport Azerbaijani natural gas to European countries via a pipeline passing through Turkey and Georgia. Although negotiations on the project are still continuing, the four principal actors -- Turkey, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Greece -- recently reached an agreement. It’s well known that the Washington administration also had a hand in these negotiations. The construction of this pipeline is expected to begin in Shahdeniz, the region where Azerbaijan’s natural gas beds lie, and to end in Erzurum, an eastern Anatolian province in Turkey. The line will then be connected to Turkey’s domestic natural gas pipeline through Bursa, a province in our Marmara region. The rest of the pipeline will be constructed up to the Turkish-Greek national border, where it will be connected to Greek’s domestic pipeline. Turkey’s domestic pipelines will become connected to Europe through this project. In fact, all natural gas pipelines of the European Union countries are connected to each other. The details of this issue were discussed during a recent Washington meeting between Turkish Foreign Minister Sukru Sina Gurel and his Greek counterpart George Papandreou. Diplomatic circles believe that such joint economic projects would greatly contribute to the reinforcement of ties between the two neighboring countries, which have in fact continuing serious problems concerning the Aegean and Cyprus issues. However, such an attempt will very likely to cause a strong negative reaction in Russia, currently the only transit country for the transportation of Asian natural gas to European countries. However, Russia will lose this privileged status after the construction of the Shahdeniz project.” ARCHIVE <script type="text/javascript" language="JavaScript" src="http:/_www.byegm.gov.tr_statistic/countcode.js"> </script> Turkish Press Review Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |
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