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Turkish Press Review, 03-12-08
From: Turkish Directorate General of Press and Information <http://www.byegm.gov.tr>
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Summary of the political and economic
news in the Turkish press this morning
08.12.2003
FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE COLUMNS
CONTENTS
[01] GUL: “IF WE DON’T GET A DATE FOR NEGOTIATIONS NEXT DECEMBER, TURKEY MAY QUIT WORKING FOR EU MEMBERSHIP”
[02] GERMAN PRESIDENT RAU: “WHEN TURKEY IMPLEMENTS ACCESSION REFORMS, THE EU SHOULD BEGIN ITS MEMBERSHIP TALKS”
[03] GROSSMAN DUE IN ANKARA TO DISCUSS CYPRUS
[04] SENER VISITS TRNC IN RUNUP TO ELECTIONS
[05] BAHCELI CRITICIZES AKP GOVERNMENT
[06] ANAP DELEGATES ANNOUNCE SUPPORT FOR NAS TO TAKE HELM
[07] GREEK DEFENSE MINISTER: “AS LONG AS CYPRUS AND AEGEAN ISSUES REMAIN UNSOLVED, WE WILL STILL FEEL THREATENED”
[08] CICEK: “INTERPOL HAS LOCATED UZAN FUGITIVES IN AMERICA”
[09] FINANCE MINISTER: “WE’RE IN NO HURRY ON PRIVATIZATION”
[10] MEVLANA RUMI WEEK TO BEGIN
[11] FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE COLUMNS
[12] ANKARA’S TRNC POLICIES
[13] BY CUNEYT ULSEVER (HURRIYET)
[01] GUL: “IF WE DON’T GET A DATE FOR NEGOTIATIONS NEXT DECEMBER, TURKEY
MAY QUIT WORKING FOR EU MEMBERSHIP”
Appearing on television yesterday, Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul warned
that Turkey might quit working for its European Union membership if the EU
doesn’t give it a date next December to begin its accession talks.
Evaluating Gul’s remarks, Foreign Ministry sources said he meant that
Turkey didn’t want any favors, only its just due, adding that an EU failure
to give a date for talks would lead to a backlash from Ankara. /Cumhuriyet/
[02] GERMAN PRESIDENT RAU: “WHEN TURKEY IMPLEMENTS ACCESSION REFORMS, THE
EU SHOULD BEGIN ITS MEMBERSHIP TALKS”
Speaking to German daily Bild am Sonntag yesterday, German President
Johannes Rau said that the European Union should begin membership
negotiations with Turkey after Ankara implements a host of accession
reforms passed in recent months. Asked if Germany was tolerant of Islam,
Rau replied that yes it was, but not of radical Islam. “Neither radical
Islam nor radical Christianity is tolerated in Europe,” added Rau.
/Cumhuriyet/
[03] GROSSMAN DUE IN ANKARA TO DISCUSS CYPRUS
US Undersecretary of State Marc Grossman is set to arrive in Ankara
tomorrow to discuss the Cyprus issue and upcoming general elections in the
Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. Grossman, a former US ambassador to
Turkey, will reportedly reiterate the US administration’s desire for a
Cyprus resolution within the framework of the United Nations’ plan.
/Cumhuriyet/
[04] SENER VISITS TRNC IN RUNUP TO ELECTIONS
State Minister Abdullatif Sener left yesterday for the Turkish Republic of
Northern Cyprus (TRNC) to meet officials there to discuss economic
cooperation. Speaking to reporters, Sener said that Turkey would extend a
$160 million loan to the TRNC. Regarding next Sunday’s elections in the
country, Sener stated that Turkey would never interfere in the polls of
another nation. /Aksam/
[05] BAHCELI CRITICIZES AKP GOVERNMENT
Speaking to a gathering of his party’s provincial and town chairmen in
Ankara yesterday, Nationalist Action Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahceli
lashed out at the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) government.
Criticizing the government’s policies on a number of fronts, Bahceli
charged that citizens were being saddled with additional taxes,
privatization was off track, and unemployment and government debt were both
on the rise. /Turkiye/
[06] ANAP DELEGATES ANNOUNCE SUPPORT FOR NAS TO TAKE HELM
In the runup to the Motherland Party’s (ANAP) Eighth Ordinary Congress next
week, 57 provincial chairmen have declared their support for Nesrin Nas, a
candidate to take over the party’s leadership. Yesterday after a meeting in
Ankara, ANAP delegates thanked outgoing leader Ali Tayyip Ozdemir for his
service to the party and stated that they had decided to support Nas’
candidacy. Ozdemir announced last week that he would not run for reelection
at the upcoming congress. /Turkiye/
[07] GREEK DEFENSE MINISTER: “AS LONG AS CYPRUS AND AEGEAN ISSUES REMAIN
UNSOLVED, WE WILL STILL FEEL THREATENED”
It is too early to speak of ending Greece’s Cyprus defense doctrine even if
an agreement is reached there, said Greek Defense Minister Yiannos
Papantoniou in an interview with Turkish daily Hurriyet yesterday. Asked
why Greece was shifting its troops to the Aegean islands and Thrace,
Papantoniou said that Athens still perceived a threat, adding, “We feel
threatened as long as the Cyprus and Aegean issues remain unresolved.”
Asked whether making Turkey a European Union member would solve these
problems, Papantoniou said actually they should be addressed before Turkey
joins the EU ranks. Commenting on Turkish Chief of General Staff Gen. Hilmi
Ozkok’s remarks that the Turkish Army’s goodwill gestures had not been
reciprocated by Greece, Papantoniou said, “Our two armies have a
relationship, and we want to improve this.” /Hurriyet/
[08] CICEK: “INTERPOL HAS LOCATED UZAN FUGITIVES IN AMERICA”
Fugitives from justice Kemal and Yavuz Uzan, who have been on the run from
Turkish authorities for several months, have both been found in the United
States by Interpol, said Justice Minister Cemil Cicek yesterday. Their
extradition process has already begun, stated Cicek, adding that US
Attorney General John Ashcroft assured him personally last week that US
authorities would cooperate fully on the matter. /Sabah/
[09] FINANCE MINISTER: “WE’RE IN NO HURRY ON PRIVATIZATION”
Finance Minister Kemal Unakitan said yesterday that the government was not
in any hurry concerning its privatization slate, adding that the
privatization process of state landline operator Turk Telekom was still
continuing. “We are determined to sell Telekom at an appropriate price,” he
said. /Milliyet/
[10] MEVLANA RUMI WEEK TO BEGIN
Legendary Sufi mystic Mevlana Jelaleddin Rumi is set to be honored on the
730th anniversary of his death with a series of activities in Turkey
starting Wednesday and lasting through Dec. 17. /Turkiye/
[11] FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE COLUMNS
[12] ANKARA’S TRNC POLICIES
[13] BY CUNEYT ULSEVER (HURRIYET)
Columnist Cuneyt Ulsever comments on Ankara’s policy on the Turkish
Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC). A summary of his column is as follows:
“Probably the best definition of the Turkish government’s Turkish Republic
of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) policy is the famous Janissaries’ ‘two steps
forward, one step back.’ During last weekend’s Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly
meeting in Cyprus with other columnists and non-governmental organizations
(NGOs), the question I heard the most was this: ‘Why did the government
send ministers to the island one week before the general elections?’ I
tried to tell them that probably the visit had been previously planned, but
then they asked, ‘What will they discuss with a government which has only a
week left in office?’
The reasons for this visit include various issues, including the payment of
a first tranche of a loan totaling $160 million and laying an undersea
electricity cable between Turkey and the TRNC. Ankara recently paid 1.12
million euros in compensation to Titina Loizidou, a Greek Cypriot citizen,
and this action demonstrated its stance on the TRNC. This way it sent an
open message to the world and to TRNC voters. First of all, it could have
paid the compensation (which has been due since 1996) after the elections.
As the payment means its acceptance of grounds for compensation, the
government broke with 30 years of Cyprus policies and accepted the European
thesis in spite of its burdensome conditions. In addition, it not only paid
the compensation, but also promised the entire world that it would solve
the Cyprus problem next year. The government knows very well that this
payment is a precedent for similar cases in the future. It made the payment
despite knowing this. The TRNC should understand this message the right
way.”
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