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Turkish Press Review, 04-09-29Turkish 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 morning29.09.2004FROM THE COLUMNS…FROM THE COLUMNS…FROM THE COLUMNS…CONTENTS
[01] GUL TELLS ANNAN OF ANKARA’S CONCERNS OVER KIRKUKForeign Minister Abdullah Gul, who is currently in New York to attend United Nations General Assembly sessions, yesterday met with UN Secretary- General Kofi Annan. During their meeting, Gul drew Annan’s attention to ethnic tensions in northern Iraq’s oil-rich city of Kirkuk, warning that the explosive situation in the city threatens the country’s stability. Reiterating that Turkey has no hidden agenda concerning Kirkuk, Gul said, “The security situation in Iraq is getting worse every day. We, as people of the region, feel the negative impact of all negative developments.” When Annan told Gul that the UN’s hands were tied in Iraq due to security problems, the foreign minister replied that Turkey was ready to do its best to improve conditions. In addition, during a meeting with his Iranian counterpart Kamal Kharrazi, Gul advised Iran to cooperate with the International Atomic Energy Agency to avoid charges of improprieties. Concerning Iranian President Mohammad Khatami’s recently postponed visit to Turkey, Kharrazi said that it would soon be rescheduled. /Turkiye/[02] TURKEY’S REPRESENTATIVE TO THE EU: “WE’LL ACCEPT NOTHING LESS THAN FULL MEMBERSHIP”Oguz Demiralp, Turkey’s permanent representative to the European Union, said yesterday that Turkey would accept no offer from the EU short of full membership, adding that Ankara’s membership would not be a significant financial burden. Demiralp pointed out that there were already several agreements between the EU and Ankara in fields such as defense, security policy and the environment, stressing further that a possible “special partnership” with the EU would fall short of what the nation deserves. /Aksam/[03] EU COMMISSION WELCOMES PARLIAMENT’S PASSAGE OF NEW TCKChristophe Filori, spokesman for the European Union Commission, said yesterday that the commission welcomed the recent passage of the new Turkish Penal Code (TCK) by Parliament. Filori added that EU Commissioner for Enlargement Guenter Verheugen would make a recommendation on Ankara’s EU membership under assurances given by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The new TCK has been cited by the EU as a requirement for Turkey’s bid to advance to accession talks. /Cumhuriyet/[04] EP PRESIDENT: “TURKEY’S MEMBERSHIP CAN’T BE REJECTED ON RELIGIOUS GROUNDS”Nobody should oppose Turkey’s European Union membership on the grounds of religious differences, said European Parliament President Josep Borrell yesterday. “We must above all avoid posing the problem in religious terms,” Borrell argued. “Europe must not see itself as a Christian club.” He added, however, that he had serious reservations about Turkey’s candidacy such as its large population, unsecured borders and a very high potential of creating refugees. /Star/[05] US ASKS GREECE TO GET BACK WEAPONS FROM GREEK CYPRUSCiting a lack of approval in violation of US law, Washington has called on Athens to re-assume ownership of weapons that it bought from the US and then illegally transferred to Greek Cyprus. US State Department spokesman Adam Ereli, speaking at a press conference yesterday in Washington, said that the US secretary of state last week informed the US Congress about the matter as required under the law. The procedure would be the same for any country that violated a weapon purchase agreement which it signed with the US, he stated. “That was the case with Greece,” said Ereli, adding, “Greece is using arms contrary to a license [with the US].” /Turkiye/[06] ANOTHER TURKISH TRUCK DRIVER KILLED IN IRAQA Turkish truck driver has been killed near the northern Iraqi city of Mosul. The body of Nizamettin Bilir, 46, was brought to Turkey yesterday, reports said. The attack on Bilir was the latest in a series of killings and kidnappings targeting Turkish workers doing business with US forces in Iraq. /Hurriyet/[07] BOMBS EXPLODE NEAR HSBC BANKS IN FOUR CITIES, NO INJURIESFour small bombs exploded last night in front of local branches of British- based bank HSBC in Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir and Adana. Reports said the explosions caused some damage to the buildings but no injuries. There were no immediate claims of responsibility for the attacks. Four al-Queda-linked suicide bombers exploded trucks outside the headquarters of HSBC in Istanbul last November, killing more than 60. /Sabah/[08] BABACAN TO ATTEND IMF-WORLD BANK MEETINGS IN WASHINGTONState Minister Ali Babacan is set to travel to Washington tomorrow to attend this weekend’s annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. Babacan is expected to meet with IMF Managing Director Rodrigo Rato, World Bank President James Wolfwensohn and US Treasury Secretary John Snow as well as well as representatives of foreign investment groups. He will discuss the details of Turkey’s new standby program with the IMF and World Bank representatives. /Star/[09] IMF DELEGATION TO LEAVE TURKEYAn International Monetary Fund delegation which has been in Ankara for nearly two weeks to discuss recent economic developments is expected to depart from Turkey today. During its visit, Turkish officials and the delegation, headed by IMF Turkey Desk Chief Riza Moghadam, discussed a number of issues, including a possible new standby agreement for 2005-07. The talks between the Fund and Ankara are due to continue next month following the annual meetings of the IMF and the World Bank. /Aksam/[10] SERDENGECTI URGES FURTHER EFFORTS TO REDUCE INFLATIONSpeaking at a conference yesterday organized by the Turkish Banks Union (TBB) and Deutsche Bank, Central Bank Governor Sureyya Serdengecti said that banks needed to cooperate further with the real sector in an atmosphere of reduced inflation. Serdengecti stressed, however, that inflation needed to be brought down more. “We haven’t yet reached our final inflation goal,” he said. “Turkey is one of a handful of countries in the world which has double-digit inflation.” Serdengecti added that exchange rates weren’t affecting inflation as was the case in the past. /Milliyet/[11] WORLD TURKISH BUSINESSMEN CONVENE IN ANKARAThe World Turkish Businessmen’s Fifth Convention is to be held in Ankara today. During the three-day meeting, around 1,000 Turkish businessmen from 40 countries are expected to discuss the nation’s economy in the runup to the European Union Commission progress report on Turkey due out next Wednesday. The gathering aims to strengthen solidarity between Turkish businessmen working worldwide. /Turkiye/[12] FROM THE COLUMNS…FROM THE COLUMNS…FROM THE COLUMNS…[13] THE NEW TCK BY CUNEYT ULSEVER (HURRIYET)Columnist Cuneyt Ulsever comments on the new Turkish Penal Code (TCK). A summary of his column is as follows:“With all the discussions of the adultery issue, the most radical change to Turkey’s law books almost got lost in the shuffle. One can find a great many deficiencies in the new Turkish Penal Code (TCK), and also we can talk about other complementary legal arrangements. However, nobody can deny its essence, which actually turns upside down the intellectual map in which Turks define themselves as citizens and directs their entire lives as humans. What does the current map look like? A single-minded ideology is inscribed upon Turks’ minds every moment of their lives. This ideology centers on the notion that citizens might wrong the state and ways to shape them so that they don’t do so. So what’s the essence of the new TCK? The state is an extremely powerful tool. If it isn’t reined in, it will restrict citizens’ exercise of freedom. Even if the TCK, just like any other penal code, promotes certain values to the citizens in order to promote peaceful co-existence, the real task is to prevent freedom from being violated by the state. Up to now the dominant ideology has aimed at restricting the citizens, but now the target is to limit the state. This initiative is truly a very radical one. Those who contributed to it have served their country well. However, laws have their essence, just as people and analysts and lawmakers create and change this essence. However, people will implement these laws as well! They have their intellectual map, and they implement laws through the ideologies shaping this intellectual map. If the laws’ essence and the ideology shaping the intellectual map aren’t in sync, the intellectual map will dominate its practice. At this point, I think there’s nothing we can do about it. We can adjust our laws to EU norms and become an EU member this way. However, if we don’t modernize our intellectual map, we’ll only be a headache for the EU. I thank all the people who prepared the TCK. However, a revolution of the intellectual map will require further efforts.” [14] RISING DEBATE ON TURKEY BY ERDAL SAFAK (SABAH)Columnist Erdal Safak comments on discussions in France on Turkey’s European Union membership bid. A summary of his column is as follows:“The fiercest debates on Turkey’s European Union membership bid are taking place in France, due to the split within both its left-wing and right-wing parties. French daily Le Figaro conducted a public opinion survey to see how this confusion is reflected in the public. It found that while 56% of the French people say they are against Turkey’s EU membership, 36% support it. I think that this isn’t a bad result, in three respects: Firstly, the percentage of those opposed to Turkey’s membership is falling. A survey this June found 61% of the French opposed to Turkey’s membership, with 31% supporting it. Furthermore, over the last three years opposition to Turkey’s membership has never fallen below 58%, until now. Secondly, the majority of those who are against Turkey’s membership have rightist tendencies. However, the last three elections in France showed the majority in France moving to the left wing. The leftist base is closer to supporting Turkey’s membership. Thirdly, 63% of those surveyed stated that they would support Turkey’s membership in the future. This shows that the ranks of our supporters will swell at the end of negotiation talks. This is an important detail. French Finance Minister Nicolas Sarkozy, who is set to take over the governing Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) next month, requested that Turkey’s membership should be subject to a referendum in France, which seems to be a development against Turkey, but actually is not. Sarkozy wants the referendum to be held after the end of the negotiation process – that is, in about 2015. In this way, he is trying to prevent a referendum on the EU constitution set for next year from turning into a vote on Turkey’s membership and therefore being rejected. There is a real risk that Turkey could become a central issue in the campaign over the constitutional referendum. The constitution’s rejection can’t be prevented if it isn’t made clear that Turkey won’t become a member ‘right away.’ This result would create a great crisis in the Union. To summarize, the EU public and politicians will be discussing Turkey not just until the December summit, but through next year and the years to come.” 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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