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Turkish Press Review, 04-06-11
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
11.06.2004
TURKEY TO CO-SPONSOR NEW
DEMOCRACY ASSISTANCE DIALOGUE
ERDOGAN SEEKS BUSH’S
SUPPORT FOR CYPRUS RESOLUTION
ANNAN BRIEFS ERDOGAN ON UN
CYPRUS REPORT
GUL SIGNALS SHIFT IN
TURKEY'S POLICY ON IRAQ
PARLIAMENT COMMISSION
APPROVES HEAVY SANCTION COURTS
CHIRAC: “AS A MAJOR POWER
IN ITS REGION, TURKEY WILL CONTRIBUTE TO THE
GME”
ISTANBUL STRAITS TO BE
CLOSED DURING NATO SUMMIT
CoE’S SCHWIMMER: “THERE’S
NO LONGER ANY NEED TO CLOSELY MONITOR TURKEY’S
HUMAN RIGHTS SITUATION”
IMF’S DEPPLER PRAISES
ANKARA’S IMPLEMENTATION OF ECONOMIC PROGRAM
FROM THE COLUMNS... FROM
THE COLUMNS... FROM THE COLUMNS...
IF THE EU DIDN’T EXIST…
BY SAMI KOHEN (MILLIYET)
CONTENTS
[01] TURKEY TO CO-SPONSOR NEW
DEMOCRACY ASSISTANCE DIALOGUE
[02] ERDOGAN SEEKS BUSH’S SUPPORT
FOR CYPRUS RESOLUTION
[03] ANNAN BRIEFS ERDOGAN ON UN
CYPRUS REPORT
[04] GUL SIGNALS SHIFT IN TURKEY'S
POLICY ON IRAQ
[05] PARLIAMENT COMMISSION APPROVES
HEAVY SANCTION COURTS
[06] CHIRAC: “AS A MAJOR POWER IN
ITS REGION, TURKEY WILL CONTRIBUTE TO THE GME”
[07] ISTANBUL STRAITS TO BE CLOSED
DURING NATO SUMMIT
[08] CoE’S SCHWIMMER: “THERE’S NO
LONGER ANY NEED TO CLOSELY MONITOR TURKEY’S
HUMAN RIGHTS SITUATION”
[09] IMF’S DEPPLER PRAISES ANKARA’S
IMPLEMENTATION OF ECONOMIC PROGRAM
[10] FROM THE COLUMNS... FROM THE
COLUMNS... FROM THE COLUMNS...
[11] IF THE EU DIDN’T EXIST…
BY SAMI KOHEN (MILLIYET)
[01] TURKEY TO CO-SPONSOR NEW
DEMOCRACY ASSISTANCE DIALOGUE
Together with Italy and Yemen, Turkey is set
to co-sponsor a new program called the
“Democracy Assistance Dialogue” formed within
the framework of the Broader Middle East and
North Africa Initiative (commonly known as the
Greater Middle East Initiative) during the
just-concluded G-8 summit in the US. The project
aims at supporting democratic organizations and
processes, increasing literacy, training some
100,000 teachers and taking steps to develop
free trade in Islamic countries. According to
the White House, Turkey will also co-host the
dialogue’s first meeting later this year.
/Turkiye/
[02] ERDOGAN SEEKS BUSH’S SUPPORT
FOR CYPRUS RESOLUTION
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan yesterday
met with US President George W. Bush during the
G-8 summit on Sea Island, Georgia to discuss a
number of issues, including Cyprus. During their
meeting, Erdogan said that Ankara wanted US
support for reaching a Cyprus resolution. The
premier stated that Ankara had done its best for
a resolution in recent months, adding that now
he hoped for US contributions. Erdogan and Bush
are expected to discuss the issue in detail at
the NATO summit in Istanbul on June 28-29.
Erdogan is also due today to attend the state
funeral of former US President Ronald Reagan.
Later, the premier is to fly to Chicago to
attend a symposium on the Middle East. /Turkiye/
[03] ANNAN BRIEFS ERDOGAN ON UN
CYPRUS REPORT
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan yesterday met with UN
Secretary-General Kofi Annan in New York to
discuss the Cyprus issue. Speaking afterwards,
Erdogan said that they had also exchanged views
on Iraq and that Annan had briefed him on the
Cyprus report he recently presented to the UN
Security Council. “I thanked him for his
positive remarks in the report about Ankara’s
efforts for a resolution,” he said. “I said that
Ankara wanted Annan to continue his efforts to
bring the international isolation of the Turkish
Republic of Northern Cyprus [TRNC] to an end.”
/Hurriyet/
[04] GUL SIGNALS SHIFT IN TURKEY'S
POLICY ON IRAQ
Speaking yesterday to Parliament's Foreign Affairs Commission, Foreign
Minister Abdullah Gul said that Ankara was
changing its policy on Iraq, mentioning in
particular its relations with the two major
Kurdish groups in the north. "In the past,
Turkey has helped these groups," said Gul,
referring to the Iraqi Kurdistan Democratic
Party (IKDP) and the Iraqi Patriotic Union of
Kurdistan (IPUK). "We have helped better their
situation, and they know this and have many
times expressed their gratitude to us." A
representative from Ankara recently met with
IKDP head Massoud Barzani, said Gul, and IPUK
head Jalal Talbani has been invited to Ankara.
Gul added that Turkey would not allow any change
in the demographic makeup of Kirkuk, a major
city in northern Iraq. Addressing the issue of
terrorism, Gul said that several thousand PKK
terrorists remained in northern Iraq and that
talks were continuing with US officials on how
to deal with this. "Sending troops to Iraq at
this stage is out of the question," said Gul.
"The US has certain proposals regarding Incirlik
Airbase [near Adana, Turkey]. We'll consider
these in line with our current agreements [with
the US]." /Milliyet/
[05] PARLIAMENT COMMISSION APPROVES
HEAVY SANCTION COURTS
Parliament’s Justice Commission yesterday approved a bill to establish
heavy sanction courts to replace the recently
abolished State Security Courts (DGMs). Speaking
to the commission, Justice Minister Cemil Cicek
said that the bill had been prepared by taking
into consideration rulings of international
human rights tribunals, practices in Europe and
Turkey’s own situation. The DGMs were abolished
through a reform package passed by Parliament
last month. /Turkiye/
[06] CHIRAC: “AS A MAJOR POWER IN
ITS REGION, TURKEY WILL CONTRIBUTE TO THE GME”
Speaking at a press conference yesterday on Sea Island, Georgia, at the
conclusion of the G-8 summit there, French
President Jacques Chirac said that as a major
power in its region, Turkey could contribute to
the US’ Greater Middle East Initiative (GME).
“Turkey is an important country,” added Chirac.
“It has recently made considerable progress in
modernization and liberalizing its economy.”
/Turkiye/
[07] ISTANBUL STRAITS TO BE CLOSED
DURING NATO SUMMIT
The Istanbul Straits will be closed under security measures for the
NATO summit on June 28-29 in
Istanbul. Concerning the decision, Foreign
Minister Abdullah Gül said that approval had
been obtained from all country signatories of
the 1936 Montreux Convention, which governs
traffic in the straits. /Milliyet-Turkiye/
[08] CoE’S SCHWIMMER: “THERE’S NO
LONGER ANY NEED TO CLOSELY MONITOR TURKEY’S
HUMAN RIGHTS SITUATION”
Following a number of recent strides and reforms, there is no longer
any need for close monitoring of Turkey's human
rights situation, said the head of Europe's
leading human rights watchdog yesterday. Council
of Europe (CoE) head Walter Schwimmer was in
Ankara for a one-day visit to meet with Foreign
Minister Abdullah Gul and discuss a joint
Justice Ministry-CoE project for penal reform
and judicial modernization. Speaking to
reporters, Schwimmer also hailed the recent
release of four former Democracy Party (DEP)
deputies and the beginning of broadcasts in
mother tongue languages, saying the moves had
brought Turkey closer to European Union
membership. The CoE is expected to make a
decision on lifting monitoring of Turkey on June
21. /Milliyet/
[09] IMF’S DEPPLER PRAISES ANKARA’S
IMPLEMENTATION OF ECONOMIC PROGRAM
International Monetary Fund Turkey Desk Chief Riza Moghadam and Europe
Desk Chief Michael yesterday met with State
Minister for the Economy Ali Babacan, Deputy
Prime Minister Mehmet Ali Sahin, and Industry
and Trade Minister Ali Coskun. Speaking
afterwards, Deppler praised Turkey’s determined
implementation of the nation’s IMF-supported
economic program, adding that it was bearing
fruit due to this successful implementation.
“There is no reason for Turkey not to succeed,”
he said. He also praised the government’s
banking and taxation reforms. Deppler praised
recent falls in interest rates, adding however
that they were still high. He also warned about
high public debt and said that the nation’s
production needed to be brought up further.
/Hurriyet/
[10] FROM THE COLUMNS... FROM THE
COLUMNS... FROM THE COLUMNS...
[11] IF THE EU DIDN’T EXIST…
BY SAMI KOHEN (MILLIYET)
Columnist Sami Kohen comments on what would happen if the EU had never
existed. A summary of his columns is as follows:
“If the European Union didn’t exist, would
these things have happened? In other words,
would Turkey be involved in such a comprehensive
reform program, amending so many of its laws and
making so much effort? We all know that if we
weren’t trying to get a date for EU membership
negotiations, we couldn’t have made these
changes so quickly. It’s a fact that our aim of
EU membership and reaching European standards
has been the main motivation for our reforms.
Those who want to maintain the status quo and
consider integration with the EU risky might
view the role played by the EU factor as an
imposition. For example, let’s consider the
recent decision to release four former Democracy
Party (DEP) deputies. There might not be a
direct link between the independent judiciary’s
ruling and the EU’s requests. However, it’s also
clear that the EU factor caused a radical change
of mentality in various public institutions as
well as society. Now Turkey is mature enough to
implement these decisions and policies by
itself.
Actually modernization through reforms is not
a new aim for Turkey. This trend dates back to
the Tanzimat Period [in the 1840s] and continued
with reforms in the republican era. In other
words, the process started long ago. While many
other countries in the region, particularly
those in the Islamic world, were just bystanders
to the spectacle of modernization, Turkey had
the chance to make openings in this direction
owing to its geography, history and culture. For
example, Turkey’s desire to be included in the
United Nations accelerated its transition to a
multiparty system. Being a member of such
international organizations as the Council of
Europe has helped Turkey to boost its political
and social standards. Finally, the meaning and
vision of being a European Union member has
become a strategic goal, and our EU motivation
became an opportunity for Turkey to advance
rapidly to modernization. Most other countries
in the region don’t have this privilege. It’s
well-known that countries in the broader region
extending from Morocco to Afghanistan don’t want
these modernization and democratization drives
imposed on them. In truth, democracy isn’t a
product to be ’exported’ to the region. First of
all, these nations and their leaders must be
determined to effect change.”
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