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Turkish Press Review, 04-09-20Turkish 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 morning20.09.2004FROM THE COLUMNS…FROM THE COLUMNS…FROM THE COLUMNSCONTENTS
[01] VERHEUGEN. “PENAL CODE REFORM IS A MUST FOR TALKS”European Union Commissioner for Enlargement Guenter Verheugen said yesterday that reforms to the Turkish Penal Code (TCK) must be completed in order for Ankara’s EU accession talks to begin. Interviewed by Germany’s Bild am Sonntag, Verheugen said that EU Commission would not greenlight the start of Turkey’s membership talks unless Ankara reverses a delay in reforming the TCK before the release of a key commission report on Oct. 6. “Only with these reforms can we certify that Turkey is a just state in which human rights are taken into account,” said the top EU official. “The commission will make it clear that the membership negotiations cannot come so long as this central element is not fulfilled.” /Turkiye/[02] ERDOGAN TO TRAVEL TO STRASBOURG, BRUSSELS THIS WEEKPrime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is set to travel to Strasbourg and Brussels this week in a bid to ensure European Union support for the start of Ankara’s accession talks in the wake of a delay in passing a new penal code and plans to criminalize adultery. Erdogan is due to meet with EU Commissioner for Enlargement Guenter Verheugen and address the European Parliament on Thursday. EU officials have warned that a ban of adultery and the delay of parliamentary approval of the new penal code could harm Turkey’s EU bid. /Turkish Daily News/[03] IN MALATYA, ERDOGAN HELPS INAUGURATE NEW FACTORIESIn Malatya’s Second Organized Industry Region over the weekend, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan attended the opening ceremonies of 19 factories and ground-breakings of 38 more. Addressing one such ceremony, Erdogan said, “The completion of these factories will create new jobs.” The premier also urged businessmen to invest more in the city. Later, speaking after his visit to the Malatya municipality, Erdogan said that there were no problems in relations between Ankara and the European Union. /Aksam/[04] GUL ATTENDS TURKISH FESTIVAL IN CHICAGOForeign Minister Abdullah Gul who is currently paying a visit to the US, yesterday attended the annual Turkish Festival held in Chicago. During a meeting with local Turkish residents, Gul said that Parliament would make the final and best decision on the new Turkish Penal Code (TCK). Stressing that his government had carried out sweeping reforms, Gul stated that he believed Ankara would soon begin EU accession talks. Gul is expected to proceed to New York today to participate in UN general Assembly meetings. During the gathering, the foreign minister is scheduled to meet with US Secretary of State Colin Powell and to hold separate talks with a number of his counterparts, including those from the Netherlands, Belgium, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. /Turkiye/[05] BAYKAL: “THE CHP MADE NO PROMISE TO SUPPORT THE GOVT ON THE ADULTERY BAN”Appearing on television yesterday, opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Deniz Baykal criticized the government’s seeming determination to criminalize adultery in the new penal code, adding that the CHP had not made any promise to support it on the issue. “We did our best to head off a dispute,” said Baykal. /Aksam/[06] GREEK CYPRIOT FM: “TURKEY CAN’T JOIN THE EU BEFORE A CYPRUS RESOLUTION IS REACHED”Greek Cypriot Foreign Minister George Yakovu said yesterday that Turkey couldn’t join the European Union before a resolution is reached on Cyprus, adding that his country could veto Ankara’s membership bid and erect new criteria. Yakovu further predicted that the EU would give a “conditional” date this December to begin Ankara’s accession talks. /Milliyet/[07] 12 TURKS KIDNAPPED OR KILLED IN IRAQArab news channel Al-Jazeera reported over the weekend that an Iraqi insurgent group, the Abu Bakr Al-Siddiq Brigades, claimed to have seized 10 Turkish employees from a joint US-Turkish company operating in Iraq. Hours after the report, the Iraqi police stated that at least 12 Turkish truck drivers may have been kidnapped or killed near Baghdad. The Turkish Embassy in Baghdad and the Foreign Ministry are continuing efforts for the release of these hostages. /Sabah/[08] IMF TO MEET WITH BABACAN TO DISCUSS THREE-YEAR STANDBY AND UNEMPLOYMENTA visiting delegation from the International Monetary Fund is due to begin its contacts in Ankara today. The group headed by IMF Turkey Desk Chief Riza Moghadam is expected to meet with State Minister for the Economy Ali Babacan to discuss a number of issues, including a new three-year standby agreement, high unemployment, and growth. The delegation is due to leave Turkey next Wednesday. /Cumhuriyet/[09] ELVAN WINS WOMEN’S 5,000-METER RACETurkey’s world record holder Elvan Abeylegesse yesterday won the women’s 5, 000-meter race at the World Athletics Final in Monaco. Abeylegesse retained her title for Turkey with a winning time of 14:59.19. /Star/[10] FROM THE COLUMNS…FROM THE COLUMNS…FROM THE COLUMNS[11] THE BRUSSELS MEETING BY ASLI AYDINTASBAS (SABAH)Columnist Asli Aydintasbas comments on Turkey’s European Union membership bid. A summary of her column is as follows:“European Union Commissioner for Enlargement Guenter Verheugen, the Euro- bureaucrat both most loved and most hated by the Turkish nation, over the weekend told Germany’s Bild am Sonntag that the EU would not open membership talks with Turkey unless the country passes a human rights reform package. ‘Criminal reforms are an indispensable pre-requisite for the establishment of membership negotiations,’ said Verheugen. ‘Only with these reforms can we certify that Turkey is a just state in which human rights are taken into account. The commission will make it clear that the membership negotiations cannot come so long as this central element is not fulfilled.’ He also warned that Turkey’s membership talks would not survive if the reforms include a provision criminalizing adultery, something the EU harshly opposes. In a related development, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is planning to tell EU officials during his official visit to Brussels on Thursday that criminalizing adultery has to do with Turkish customs and traditions and should not affect his country’s relations with the EU. He is expected to cite in support varying norms and regulations within current EU countries such as Ireland’s abortion ban and the Netherlands’ relaxed drug laws. His arguments might be considered philosophically, but under the current circumstances even starting such a discussion seems unlikely. Due to the recent adultery debate, not just Ankara but also EU supporters of Turkey’s bid are in a corner. For example, German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder over the weekend sent Erdogan messages expressing how he feels troubled with anti-Turkish circles’ reaction to Ankara’s insistence about the adultery matter. But there’s no need for despair. It’s certain that Turkey and the EU will face hundreds of similar crises in the future. We must be ready for them. Ankara is still looking for a way to overcome the current one. These discussions will of course have an impact on the EU’S progress report. Our negotiations might begin next June during Britain’s term presidency, not in March, as Ankara currently expects. However, everything might still change if Erdogan uses his 24 hours in Brussels efficiently. Erdogan is a skilled rhetorician, and he might still change the views of EU officials on his government’s plans and aspirations.” [12] SITUATIONS PREGNANT WITH NEGATIVE CONSEQUENCES BY SEMIH IDIZ (AKSAM)Columnist Semih Idiz comments on Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Turkey’s relations with the EU. A summary of his column is as follows:“The other day I met with an ambassador from an EU member country. He was wondering what had happened to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, someone who Time magazine recently praised as a leader who will shape the 21st century, because a sharp contradiction has emerged in Erdogan’s reputation as a reformist. One day Erdogan was stressing the need for changes, then the next he began digging up all sorts of old prejudices about Turkey. The ambassador told me that Erdogan and he had done some brainstorming and that the conclusion that they had reached wasn’t very bright for a Turkey following in Ataturk’s footsteps. Stating that his whole embassy was trying hard to get Ankara a date for EU membership negotiations, the ambassador said, ‘We looked at legal reforms carried out by the Justice and Development Party [AKP]. We wondered who would be pleased with the implementation of these reforms. Then we saw that reforms were for extremely secular people who support Kemalism. So, have these reforms been carried out for the sake of the EU?’ Erdogan has been praising the EU as a ‘project of civilization,’ but now he says that it’s not a sine qua non. In other words, he put the issue of criminalizing adultery among the sine qua nons. If Erdogan can run the risk of derailing a 40-year project of improvement and meeting of civilizations, not only the ambassador, but also everybody who wants Turkey to move to modern standards thinks along these lines. He will be in Brussels and Strasbourg this week to answer questions at the European Parliament. This time he will no longer be considered ‘someone who can accomplish things which not even supporters of Ataturk can do’ or ‘one of the most influential persons of the 21st century.’ Instead, he will be seen as a Muslim fundamentalist with a hidden agenda. The most difficult questions will be posed by European Christians opposing Turkey’s EU membership, who feel emboldened by this trump card at a critical moment. We don’t know what sort of a ‘political adultery’ this is. However, it’s clear that the atmosphere is pregnant with negative consequences for Turkey.” 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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