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Turkish Press Review, 03-04-03Turkish 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> e-mail : newspot@byegm.gov.tr <caption> <_caption> Summary of the political and economic news in the Turkish press this morning03.04.2003FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE COLUMNS...CONTENTS
[01] IN DEAL REACHED WITH POWELL, TURKEY TO PROVIDE HUMANITARIAN AID, PLUS FUEL TRANSIT FOR US MILITARY IN NORTHERN IRAQTurkey and the United States took a step yesterday to repair ties damaged by last month’s rejection of US troop deployment on Turkish soil, as they agreed to expand Ankara’s scope of cooperation with the US military campaign in Iraq. The deal was worked out during US Secretary of State Colin Powell’s visits to Turkish leaders yesterday. In addition to Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul, Powell met with President Ahmet Necdet Sezer and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan as well as Chief of General Staff Gen. Hilmi Ozkok. At a joint press conference with Gul, Powell said, “We have solved all the outstanding issues with respect to providing supplies through Turkey to those [US military] units that are doing such a wonderful job in northern Iraq to keep the situation stable there.” For his part, Gul said that shipments of food, fuel and humanitarian aid supplies would be allowed through Turkey, adding that there was no need for a new parliamentary resolution for these measures and that the government would take action on its own initiative. Powell also said that US would look to Turkey to take part in the rebuilding of Iraq after the conflict there ends, which he said was “just a matter of time,” and added that Turkey would play an important role in the creation of a democratic regime in its neighbor. “The example that Turkey will provide to Iraq of a democracy – a Muslim democracy – living in peace with its neighbors” would be a key part of that role, said Powell. Regarding Turkey’s concerns about northern Iraq, Powell stated, “We are monitoring the situation very closely, we have it under control, and therefore at the moment there is no need for any movement of Turkish troops across the border.” Meanwhile, there were a number of demonstrations in Ankara protesting Powell’s visit and calling for the US to end the war in Iraq. After completing his contacts in Turkey, the US secretary of state flew to Brussels, Belgium last night for a NATO Council meeting, one which Gul will also attend. /All Papers/[02] GUL TO PARTICIPATE IN NATO MEETING IN BRUSSELSForeign Minister Abdullah Gul is set to arrive in Brussels, Belgium today to attend a meeting of the NATO Council. Gul postponed a scheduled visit to the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) to make the trip, but is due to visit the TRNC afterwards. US Secretary of State Colin Powell, who paid an official visit to Turkey yesterday and then left, will also participate in the meeting. /Cumhuriyet/[03] GUL: “I SUPPORT DENKTAS’S EFFORTS FOR A SETTLEMENT OF THE CYPRUS ISSUE”Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said yesterday that he appreciated and supported the recent efforts of Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) President Rauf Denktas towards settling the Cyprus issue, including this week’s letter to his Greek Cypriot counterpart containing a new package of proposals. “I support all the proposals laid out in the letter,” said Gul. “I believe that the letter will help to overcome the crisis of confidence and also boost efforts to reach a resolution on the island.” Gul added that he hoped the proposals would also help to restart negotiations between the two sides, adding that they shouldn’t pass up this chance. /Milliyet/[04] DENKTAS SENDS LETTER TO PAPADOPULOS GIVING NEW PROPOSALS FOR CYPRUS DEALTurkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) President Rauf Denktas yesterday send a letter to Greek Cypriot leader Tassos Papadopoulos containing a new package of proposals intended to help reach a resolution on the island, including one offering to turn over the TRNC’s Maras restricted military zone to the Greek Cypriots. Speaking to reporters, Denktas said that he hoped the six-part package would restart negotiations between the two sides and predicted that an agreement could be reached before April 16, when Greek Cyprus is due to sign an accession treaty with the European Union. Denktas remarked that there was no need for United Nations involvement during the negotiations, but that if the Greek Cypriot leader would like to have UN representatives present at the talks he had no objection. Denktas added that he expected Papadopoulos to respond to his letter as soon as possible. /Milliyet/[05] US MILITARY VEHICLES SENT TO NORTHERN IRAQYesterday some 30 Turkish trucks carrying US military vehicles and equipment passed through Turkey’s Habur border gate into northern Iraq and later arrived in Arbil, some 100 miles (150 kilometers) past the border. Protected by US forces in the region, the vehicles were unloaded near the Ankawa Military Airbase. In related news, another convoy of 100 trucks left from Gaziantep Airport in southeastern Anatolia to travel to NATO’s Incirlik Airbase and Iskenderun Harbor. The US military transports out of Gaziantep will reportedly be completed by next Tuesday. /Turkiye/[06] BABACAN AND EIB PRESIDENT SIGN 350 MILLION-EURO LOAN DEALSState Minister for the Economy Ali Babacan and European Investment Bank President Philippe Maystadt yesterday signed two loan agreements in Istanbul totalling 350 million euros. The first 150-million euro loan is the final tranche of the EIB’s $600 million loan pledge following Turkey’s devastating 1999 Marmara earthquake. The second loan package of 200 million euros is to be used for financing small and medium-sized enterprises’ (SMEs) in Turkey. /Aksam/[07] WHITE HOUSE BUDGETS DIRECTOR: “US AID TO TURKEY IS MEANT TO BOOST ITS ECONOMY, WHOSE HEALTH IS IN BOTH OUR INTERESTS”Speaking yesterday on US financial news network CNBC, White House Budget Director Mitch Daniels pushed the cause of $1 billion in aid to Turkey proposed in President George W. Bush’s new wartime spending bill, which is currently being debated in the US Congress. The bill is intended to help support Turkey’s economy in a difficult period of war, explained Daniels. “We hope that Congress will be responsive here,” he added. “It is not in the interests of the United States that the Turkish economy collapse, particularly at this point in time. There are some obvious differences with the new government of Turkey, but that doesn't obviate the need for them to be a successful country going forward.” Both houses of Congress are expected to pass separate versions of the bill later today before resolving differences in a conference committee next week. /Hurriyet/ [08] FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE COLUMNS...[09] TURKEY’S IMPORTANCE BY FIKRET BILA (MILLIYET)Columnist Fikret Bila comments on US Secretary of State Colin Powell’s visit to Turkey yesterday. A summary of his column is as follows:“After meeting with US Secretary of State Colin Powell yesterday, during the top diplomat’s visit to Ankara, Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul gathered together his staff. ‘Powell’s visit was more positive and productive than we had expected,’ Gul told the Foreign Ministry officials. ‘This visit has demonstrated that Turkey and the US are two close friends and that bilateral relations are going well.’ Both Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Foreign Minister Gul were satisfied with Powell’s visit, which, they believe, proved that Turkey is indispensable for the Bush administration. Powell both mended bilateral ties and prepared a diplomatic ground on which the US might base its possible future requests from Turkey as the Iraq war continues. The US needed such a meeting to normalize its relations with Turkey, in a bid to obtain logistical support for its operations in northern Iraq and to mend bilateral ties, strained after Ankara refused to allow US troops to attack Iraq from its soil. The most important issue discussed during Powell’s meetings in Ankara was Turkey’s stance on northern Iraq. Powell reiterated that the Bush administration did not want the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) to enter the region. For his part, Gul said, ‘Turkey does not want to face a huge rush of refugees towards its territories. We also want to ensure the safety of Iraq’s ethnic Turkmen groups and oppose Kurdish groups occupying Mosul or Kirkuk. If it sees that the situation is growing out of control, Turkey will feel it necessary to intervene in the region,’ Responding to Turkey’s concerns, Powell said that US forces in the region have the situation under control and that there is no need for Turkish troops to move across the border. Turkey wants to act in coordination with the US so as to avoid any crisis situation. The two officials agreed upon a process to provide ‘early warning’ of potential problems along the Turkish-Iraqi border. ‘We will rapidly form a coordination committee so that we monitor this closely,’ Powell told a press conference, ‘and we will also develop ways in the next several days to ensure that we understand how we would respond to a problem that might arise in northern Iraq that might affect Turkish interests.’ Gul wants to sign a written agreement as soon as possible laying out the principles on which the two countries have reached agreement. There are rumors that Zalmay Khalilzad, President Bush’s envoy to the Iraqi opposition, is dragging his feet on the work he needs to do, but diplomatic sources believe that after Powell’s visit Khalilzad will pick up the pace. Powell’s visit has in fact succeeded in mending strained ties. The Bush administration has come to understand that it pursued a mistaken policy towards Ankara. If it holds its head high, Turkey will emerge a winner.” [10] TURKISH-US TIES ON THE MEND? BY OKTAY EKSI (HURRIYET)Columnist Oktay Eksi comments on Turkish-US relations and US Secretary of State Colin Powell’s visit to Ankara yesterday. A summary of his column is as follows:“We all know that Turkish-US relations took a nosedive last month after our Parliament rejected a proposal to allow US troop deployment here for a front into northern Iraq. Everybody knows that US Secretary of State Colin Powell’s visit wouldn’t by itself suffice to mend these badly damaged ties. However, it could serve to clear the atmosphere and then prepare a foundation to put our long-term relations back on track. What’s more, if it meets the expectations of Turkey and the US, our bilateral problems would be solved. For example, the US said to Turkey the following: 1. Rest assured, no Kurdish state will be established. 2. Mosul and Kirkuk won’t fall into Kurdish hands, and the US will keep the Kurds in the north under control. They won’t be given heavy weaponry. 3. A joint committee will be established for coordination in northern Iraq. 4. Resurgent PKK-KADEK terrorism won’t be tolerated. 5. Turkey will take an active part in Iraq’s reconstruction. 6. There won’t be any reduction in or conditions attached to $1 billion in aid proposed for Turkey. 7. A refugee flood in northern Iraq will be prevented. 8. Turkish contractors and the purchase of Turkish construction materials will be given priority in Iraq’s reconstruction. I wish the following article had been added to the above-mentioned conditions: ‘The Bush administration won’t allow passage of a proposal brought to the US Congress every April to recognize the so-called Armenian genocide.’ However, certainly that issue wasn’t taken up or it was discussed but Powell made no concrete promise. In turn, as part of our pledges to Powell, we have to do the following: 1. Turkey won’t send its forces into Iraq alone. 2. US planes in distress will be able to make landings on Turkish territory. 3. US planes in northern Iraq will be given transit permission in terms of fuel, food and humanitarian aid. 4. If US troops fighting in northern Iraq encounter difficulties, they will be able to use Turkish land for search and rescue operations. If this is the consensus reached during Powell’s visit, then we must congratulate the government.” 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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