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Turkish Press Review, 04-08-20Turkish 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 morning20.08.2004FROM THE COLUMNS … FROM THE COLUMNS … FROM THE COLUMNSCONTENTS
[01] CB: “THE NEW THREE-YEAR IMF STANDBY WILL HELP OUR ECONOMY COUNTER RISKS”The Central Bank yesterday announced that the Turkish economy was facing certain risks and that the CB needed to brief the public on them. In a written statement, the CB stated that Ankara’s planned new three-year standby with the International Monetary Fund could help blunt some of those risks. It added, however, that the recent rise in oil prices still posed a threat to the economy. It also stated that this year’s 12% inflation target was achievable, predicting that inflation would continue to fall next year if the government continues its reforms and tight monetary policy. /Aksam/[02] EU ACCESSION AID SLATEDProjects for using 300 million euros in accession aid from the European Union to Turkey for 2005 will be intensified next month. Within the framework of fiscal cooperation, the EU is planning to grant Ankara a total of 1 billion euros through 2006. /Cumhuriyet/[03] RICE: “TURKS KNOW THAT WE’RE DOING WHAT WE CAN WITH NON-MILITARY MEANS TO DEAL WITH THE PKK”Asked yesterday about the continued presence of the PKK_KONGRA-GEL terrorist group in northern Iraq, US National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice said, “We’re in discussion with the Turkish government about what can be done on both sides of the border to deal with the threat of those irregular forces to Turkey. We’ve declared those as terrorist organizations. They continue to be terrorist organizations.” Rice added, “It’s obviously a complicated situation in Iraq right now, where resources are an issue. I think Turks know that we’re doing what we can with non- military means to try and make less active and less capable those forces. We’re working with the Turks and the Iraqis … to see if we can deal more forcefully and more effectively with those forces.” She further stressed that the US had no desire to have Turkey attacked by those forces, which Washington long ago declared to be terrorists, and added that the US would continue to work with its ally Ankara. /Milliyet/[04] IRAQI MILITANTS THREATEN TO KILL TURKISH HOSTAGEIraqi militants are threatening to kill a Turkish hostage if the companies he has worked for do not withdraw from Iraq within three days. Translator Aytullah Gezmen, 23, went missing in Iraq last month together with Murat Yuce, the first Turkish hostage killed by Iraqi militants. Turkish news channel NTV aired a video showing Gezmen speaking Arabic and Turkish and pleading for help from Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. One of Gezmen’s employers, Bilintur Catering, said that it had already withdrawn from Iraq to avoid putting his life at risk, and another, the Tepe Group, declared that it would do the same. /Sabah/[05] MOODY’S WARNS OF POSSIBLE DEVALUATION DUE TO HIGH CURRENT ACCOUNTS DEFICITIn a written statement, international rating agency Moody’s Deputy Chairmen Kristin Lindow yesterday warned that Turkey’s high current accounts deficit could lead to a devaluation, which could also raise the rate of public debt to the gross national product (GNP) from 70% to 100%. Lindow said that unemployment was one of Turkey’s most pressing problems in the long-term and added that the government should take concrete steps to overcome it. She further criticized the nation’s education system, adding that the Turkish government should provide adequate resources to improve it. Touching on Turkey’s European Union membership bid, Lindow predicted that Ankara could get a date from the Union this December to begin its accession talks, but that the negotiations could take a long time. /Aksam/[06] SAGIR WINS GOLD, BREAKS RECORDS IN WEIGHTLIFTINGAt the 28th Summer Olympics in Athens yesterday, Taner Sagir broke two Olympic records in weightlifting and took the gold medal in the Men’s 77 kg class. Sagir lifted 172.5 kg in the snatch and 202.5 in the clean and jerk for a total of 375 kg. /All papers/[07] FROM THE COLUMNS … FROM THE COLUMNS … FROM THE COLUMNS[08] ‘TURKISH ISLAM’ REPORT FOR EUROPE BY FERAI TINC (HURRIYET)Columnist Ferai Tinc comments on a report on ‘Turkish Islam’ prepared for the Dutch government. A summary of her column is as follows:“‘Is the fact that the majority of its population is Muslim an impediment to Turkey’s accession to the European Union?’ The Netherlands Scientific Council for Government Policy (WRR) has prepared a report on Turkey for the Dutch government, whose country is currently holding the rotating EU Term Presidency. The report seeks an answer to the above question, exploring the role of religion in the EU and the place of Islam in Turkey. The WRR is an independent think tank that carries great influence in Dutch policymaking circles. The fact that Turkey is a country in which Muslims form the majority of the population does not pose a hindrance to its EU accession, the WRR report argues. According to the report, the principle of a secular, law-based democratic state is firmly rooted in Turkey. ‘The Turkish state is constitutionally protected against religious influences,’ says the report. ‘In this respect, Turkey’s separation of religion and state is no less rigorous than that of France, whose so-called laicism [secularism] provided a model for the Constitution of the Republic of Turkey. Unlike France, however, Turkey has [a] system of strong state control and influence on the contents of religion.’ The report also added that the WRR did not believe that gradually reducing the Turkish army’s influence over civilian politics, which was demanded by the EU itself as a precondition for further democratization, would mean that Turkish Islam would lose its generally moderate character or endanger the secular democratic state. Seeking to ease the concerns of the Dutch nation over Turkey’s possible EU membership, the report stressed that even the ruling Islam-oriented Justice and Development Party (AKP) accepts the separation between Turkish Islam and politics. ‘An overwhelming majority of the population firmly rejects fundamentalism and religious intolerance, preferring moderate parties instead,’ the report states. ‘The majority of the Turkish people also supports the secular character of the state and reject the introduction of Islamic law. Moreover, violent Islamic fundamentalism does not attract many followers in Turkey.’ The report is soon to be published in Dutch, and its English version is expected be officially released in September. If you’d like to learn more about it, visit the WRR website at http://www.wrr.nl .” 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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