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Turkish Press Review, 04-12-03Turkish 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 morning03.12.2004GUL: “BEFORE ANY RECOGNITION OF GREEK CYPRUS, FIRST THE ISLAND’S ISSUES MUST BE RESOLVED” PARLIAMENT TO DEBATE PENAL BILL; CHP PLEDGES SUPPORT EP PRESIDENT, BELGIAN FM VISIT TURKEY DUTCH FM: “ADDITIONAL CONDITIONS FOR TURKEY’S EU TALKS REFLECT POLITICAL REALITY” IRAQ’S NEIGHBORS MEET IN IRAN BABACAN PLEDGES FAITHFUL EXECUTION OF PRE-ACCESSION ECONOMIC PROGRAM ARSLAN BECOMES APPEALS COURT CHIEF CHIRAC, SCHROEDER REITERATE SUPPORT FOR TURKEY’S EU BID FRENCH MEP DEFENDS SUPPORTS FOR TURKEY BELGIAN PRESS WARNS OF TURKISH-EU CRISIS OF CONFIDENCE FROM THE COLUMNS … FROM THE COLUMNS … FROM THE COLUMNS DEFINING RECOGNITION BY SAMI KOHEN (MILIIYET) EUROPE PURSUING A DREAM BY FERAI TINC (HURRIYET)CONTENTS
[01] GUL: “BEFORE ANY RECOGNITION OF GREEK CYPRUS, FIRST THE ISLAND’S ISSUES MUST BE RESOLVED”In a press conference yesterday after returning from Slovenia, Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said that the Cyprus issue was a part of Turkey’s European Union membership process and that the government had a strategy on the issue. Gul stressed that it would be beneficial to evaluate the issue before this month’s EU summit in a meeting in Ankara next Tuesday, with Turkish Cypriot leaders in attendance, chaired by President Ahmet Necdet Sezer. Gul further stated that first the Cyprus issue must be resolved before any recognition of Greek Cyprus could be considered. /Aksam/[02] PARLIAMENT TO DEBATE PENAL BILL; CHP PLEDGES SUPPORTFollowing its passage by the Justice Commission, the full Parliament is set today and tomorrow to debate a crucial Penal Procedural Law (CMUK) bill with an eye to passing it prior to the Dec. 17 European Union summit. The government is citing the CMUK bill as a major improvement for Turkish law and a crucial step in Ankara’s process of harmonization with EU norms. In related news, Justice Minister Cemil Cicek yesterday visited opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Deniz Baykal to seek his support for the bill. After the meeting, Baykal told reporters that his party would cooperate with the government to pass the measure. /Turkiye/[03] EP PRESIDENT, BELGIAN FM VISIT TURKEYEuropean Parliament President Josep Borrell and Belgian Foreign Minister Karel De Gucht yesterday arrived in Ankara to discuss Turkey’s European Union membership bid in the runup to the Dec. 17 EU summit, when the Union will decide whether or not to begin Turkey’s accession talks. Borrell is expected to meet with President Ahmet Necdet Sezer, Parliament Speaker Bulent Arinc, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul. For his part, De Gucht is also expected to meet with Gul to discuss a number of issues, including bilateral relations, regional and international issues, and this month’s EU summit. /Cumhuriyet/[04] DUTCH FM: “ADDITIONAL CONDITIONS FOR TURKEY’S EU TALKS REFLECT POLITICAL REALITY”Bernard Bot, the foreign minister of European Union Term President the Netherlands, said yesterday that he sees additional conditions for Turkey’s EU talks to go forward as “reflecting Europe’s political realities.” Speaking to daily Dutch NRC Handelsblad, Bot stated that even if the Union decides at its summit this month to begin Ankara’s accession talks, this wouldn’t mean that Turkey will join EU the anytime soon, adding that prudence should be the watchword on Ankara’s EU bid. /Milliyet/[05] IRAQ’S NEIGHBORS MEET IN IRANDuring a two-day meeting in Tehran, Iran earlier this week, the interior ministers of Iraq’s neighbors – Turkey, Iran, Kuwait, Syria, Jordan and Egypt – agreed to cooperate to help end the chaos and violence in Iraq. The gathering’s final declaration underlined the importance of Iraq’s territorial integrity, political freedom and national unity. Regarding border security, the ministers vowed to combat channels of financial support for terrorists, including the smuggling of weapons and drug. Representing Turkey at the gathering, Interior Minister Abdulkadir Aksu told reporters that Turkey was set to host the ministers’ next meeting. He added that that during the talks, he had conveyed Ankara’s concern over deadly attacks on Turkish truck drivers in Iraq and the continued presence of anti-Turkish terrorist groups on Iraqi soil. /Turkiye/[06] BABACAN PLEDGES FAITHFUL EXECUTION OF PRE-ACCESSION ECONOMIC PROGRAMAddressing a finance conference yesterday, State Minister for the Economy Ali Babacan said that the government would faithfully fulfill its just-unveiled pre-European Union accession economic program. Touching on Turkey’s EU aspirations, Babacan stressed that the government was determined to see its membership bid through to fruition, adding that the EU’s decision at its Dec. 17 summit would be a political one. Turkey’s recent positive reform steps were confirmed by the EU’s fall progress report, he added. Also addressing the gathering, World Bank Turkey Director Andrew Vorkink criticized Turkey’s banks as failing to extend sufficient credit to the private sector. “If Turkey wants to bring its economy to EU standards, it must tackle this problem,” he added. /Aksam/[07] ARSLAN BECOMES APPEALS COURT CHIEFOsman Arslan, director of the 16th Law Department, yesterday was elected to head the High Court of Appeals. Arslan, replacing the retiring Eraslan Ozkaya, is expected to serve for three years at the post. /Hurriyet/[08] CHIRAC, SCHROEDER REITERATE SUPPORT FOR TURKEY’S EU BIDAfter meeting in Lubeck, Germany, German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and visiting French President Jacques Chirac said that they wanted Turkey to be a European Union member. Chirac told reporters that Ankara’s EU membership would serve the interests of all sides. Stressing that Ankara’s implementation of the Copenhagen criteria would be monitored carefully, Chirac stated that the process of accession talks would be long and difficult, adding that a referendum would be held in France after 10-15 years to decide on Turkey’s full membership. He also remarked that the talks might be suspended if conditions were not fulfilled. Schroeder, for his part, said that he and Chirac shared the same view that the talks would be aimed at full membership. /Turkiye/[09] FRENCH MEP DEFENDS SUPPORTS FOR TURKEYAri Vatanen, a Finnish racecar driver elected to the European Parliament from France, yesterday defended his support for Turkey’s European Union membership bid. Critics from his party, France’s ruling Union for a Popular Movement (UMP), will soon “fade away,” he predicted. “Turkey’s EU membership is needed in the fight against fundamentalism and terrorism,” added Vatanen. /Hurriyet/[10] BELGIAN PRESS WARNS OF TURKISH-EU CRISIS OF CONFIDENCEA number of Belgian dailies yesterday warned of a possible “crisis of confidence” fracturing Turkish-European Union relations. Asking whether Ankara is preparing for such a prospect, Belgian daily Le Soir reported that the EU’s messages to Turkey were confusing, adding that permanently limiting the movement of Turkish workers would be a first in EU history. /Star/[11] FROM THE COLUMNS … FROM THE COLUMNS … FROM THE COLUMNS[12] DEFINING RECOGNITION BY SAMI KOHEN (MILIIYET)Columnist Sami Kohen writes on Turkey’s European Union membership bid and the Cyprus issue. A summary of his column is as follows:“‘There’s no need for concern, because this is a first draft which will be discussed and modified many times,’ said one European diplomat on the day when EU Term President the Netherlands announced its draft resolution on Turkey’s status. Dutch officials are now preparing a second draft, as they had to withdraw the first one after intense discussions. Negotiations on the new one will probably also last for days on end. I don’t expect the new text to differ substantially from the old one. I think the wording will change but the content will remain nearly the same. The critical point is that it must underline once again that the ultimate goal of Turkey’s membership negotiations will be full membership. In other words, the new text must cease implying that alternate options such as ‘privileged partnership’ exist. Another important issue for Turkey is Cyprus. The first text included a brief paragraph implying that Turkey should recognize the Greek Cypriot administration. Even as Ankara tries to persuade EU leaders to take this out of the new text, the Greek Cypriots, dissatisfied with the implicit wording of the paragraph, are putting pressure on the EU to make a clearer statement on the issue. Let’s wait and see what kind of verbal legerdemain EU diplomats will resort to so as to finesse the controversial issue. According to EU diplomats, Ankara should not see such a Cyprus statement as a precondition. During the course of our negotiations process, unavoidably we will have to face the Greek Cypriots. Inevitably we must establish relations with them. There are certain formulas for defining just how this will happen. In other words, the word ‘recognition’ might be defined in different ways. For example, ‘functional recognition in the context of the EU’ could be one. In the meantime, the EU is expected to keep its promises on the Cyprus issue. Therefore, the ‘recognition crisis’ has handed a trump card to Ankara, enabling it to put pressure on the EU to fulfill its commitments regarding the island.” [13] EUROPE PURSUING A DREAM BY FERAI TINC (HURRIYET)Columnist Ferai Tinc comments on Turkey and Europe. A summary of her column is as follows:“The recent murder of Dutch film director Theo Van Gogh marked a turning point for Europe. Racism in the Netherlands is growing everyday, hiding behind the mask of the ‘integration.’ Everybody is talking about everything, including Muslims’ difficulties adapting to Europe and educational problems, but xenophobia is never openly expressed. Amsterdam official Bulent Okyay said that 36,000 Turks live in the city. Some 60% of the population are Dutch citizens, but only 10% of them ‘feel Dutch’ because there is a relationship of host and guest. What I saw at a recent symposium organized by the METU Center for European Studies showed that Europe is in the midst a very critical process. Paul Scheffer of Amsterdam University said that he considered Turkey’s European Union membership very important from this point of view. If Turkey is shut out, this would mean telling Muslims living in Europe, ‘You can’t become European.’ Scheffer also thinks that there are problems within the Islamic world, believing that it should accept responsibility for violence committed in its name as well as fulfill its duties against discrimination, and that Turkey can help with this. When I visited the Netherlands a decade ago, I visited a Turkish school in Rotterdam. The government was teaching Turkish children in our language. This was fine but I asked myself, ‘Why are there only Turkish children? Where are the Dutch children?’ Those children grew up very disconnected from each other. They learn, and their culture is strengthened, but they lack the status of being Dutch. Amsterdam University’s Jos de Beus warned, ‘Multiculturalism has collapsed in the Netherlands. It’s in a panic crisis. The situation is the same in Germany. To ensure a strong democracy, subcultures should be weak. The stronger they are, the weaker democracy is. Can we talk about a European dream equal to the American one? No, we should establish a new European dream.’ There’s a difference between Europe’s words and its experiences. The European dream is being re-evaluated due to Turkey’s membership aspirations. Each day more incidents show even more clearly that this dream can’t be fulfilled without Turkey at the table.” 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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