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Turkish Press Review, 05-03-22Turkish 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 morning22.03.2005FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE COLUMNS...CONTENTS
[01] ERDOGAN, KARAMANLIS DISCUSS CYPRUS ISSUEPrime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, visiting Brussels, Belgium to attend the European People’s Parties’ Summit, last evening met with his Greek counterpart Costas Karamanlis at a working dinner. The two leaders reportedly exchanged views on the Cyprus issue. State Minister Mehmet Aydin and Justice and Development Party (AKP) Istanbul Deputy Egeman Bagis were also present at the meeting. Erdogan is set to attend a meeting of the Union of European Christian Democrats this morning, and to return to Turkey in the evening. /Turkiye/[02] KARAMANLIS, SCHROEDER URGE ANKARA TO EXTEND ANKARA PROTOCOL TO NEW EU MEMBERSGreek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis and his German counterpart Gerhard Schroeder yesterday met in Berlin. At a press conference, the two leaders said that Turkish-European Union relations had dominated their talks. Karamanlis said that he supported Turkey’s EU membership bid, adding, however, that Ankara should fulfill all the conditions and extend the Ankara Protocol to all 10 new EU members in due time. Schroeder, for his part, stated that he shared the same views as Karamanlis. Stressing that Turkey should fully implement reforms, the German chancellor stated that he believed it would extend the Ankara Protocol to all the new EU members. /Turkiye/[03] CICEK: “THERE IS NO PROVISION IN THE NEW TCK FOR A RETRIAL OF OCALAN”Speaking following yesterday’s Cabinet meeting, Justice Minister and government spokesman Cemil Cicek said that there was no article in the new Turkish Penal Code (TCK) which would entail a retrial of PKK_KADEK terrorist head Abdullah Ocalan. Asked whether the Justice Ministry was preparing for such a retrial, Cicek said that there was no possibility of that for now, adding that first the European Court of Human Rights should issue a ruling on the issue. In related news, Justice and Development Party deputy leader Faruk Celik said yesterday that Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan had told him that the government had made no legal changes which would pave the way for Ocalan’s retrial. /Star/[04] AKSU: “THE NUMBER OF MISSIONARIES IN TURKEY IS NOT KNOWN”Interior Minister Abdulkadir Aksu said yesterday that exact figures on the number of missionaries in Turkey were not available, adding that some were helping poor families and their children and aiding victims of natural disasters such as earthquakes and floods. In a written response to Justice and Development Party (AKP) Deputy Mahmut Goksu’s question concerning missionaries in Turkey, Aksu said that estimating the number of missionaries was not possible. “It’s also impossible to estimate the amount of money they spend, since they act in secrecy,” he added. /Cumhuriyet/[05] PAPADOPULOS: “WE WON’T ACCEPT A UN REFEREE”Tassos Papadopulos, leader of the Greek Cypriot administration, said yesterday that Greek Cyprus wanted the UN secretary-general’s initiatives to find a settlement to the Cyprus issue, but it wouldn’t accept his “referee.” Speaking at a gathering in Athens, he said that national issues could not be solved by a foreign arbitrator. Stressing that Greek Cypriots wanted a settlement to the Cyprus issue, he remarked however that they had rejected Kofi Annan’s Cyprus plan because it failed to meet their concerns on certain matters. Papadopulos added that Greek Cypriots continued to support forming a federation with two nations and two regions. /Turkiye/[06] EU TO PROVIDE TURKEY WITH €2 BILLION IN PRE-ACCESSION AID OVER THREE YEARSEuropean Union Investment Bank Vice President Wolfgang Roth and the bank’s Turkey Desk Chief Hakan Lucius yesterday briefed the Turkish Parliament on €2 billion in pre-accession economic assistance the EU will provide to Turkey over three years. Addressing the deputies, Lucius stated that the amount of the assistance could rise if circumstances warrant. /Cumhuriyet/[07] SCHOLAR OF “GENOCIDE” CLAIMS MEETS WITH BAYKALJustin McCarthy from Louisville University, an expert on the Armenian “genocide” claims, yesterday met with opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Deniz Baykal and Parliament Speaker Bulent Arinc. Baykal stressed the importance of rectifying a “great deception” on this issue, adding, “We want to make sure the debate will move away from a political framework to a scholarly one based on historical documents.” Arinc also said that Turkey is ready to make available every document in its possession on Armenians and that it has never committed a genocide. McCarthy added, “There was a war in eastern Anatolia during World War I, not a genocide campaign against the Armenians in the region.” Stressing that the Armenian accusations of genocide were illogical, McCarthy said Turkey was one of the most important countries in the world and a model country in its region. He also emphasized that resolutions taken by several countries’ parliaments concerning the Armenian genocide claims were politically motivated. /Huttiyet/[08] BRITISH BUSINESSMAN VISITS TRNC TO DISCUSS INVESTMENT CLIMATEMichael Bouttcher, the director of British firm Store International, which has tourism investments in many countries, yesterday visited the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) in order to discuss the investment climate in the country. He is being accompanied by a delegation during his short stay on the island. Speaking at a press conference yesterday, Bouttcher said that he was visiting Cyprus to discuss business, adding that he could invest in the TRNC. Bouttcher is expected to meet in Girne (Kyrenia) with Ahmet Arken, the owner of the Pinae Bay Club, to discuss a possible joint venture before leaving the island tomorrow. /Turkiye/[09] CHP DEPUTY PROPOSES BILL TO PROTECT HOMEOWNERS WHO ACT IN SELF-DEFENSEOpposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) deputy Canan Aritman yesterday proposed a bill to shield from prosecution people who assault robbers invading their homes. “In Turkey, a person can get prison time even if a he wants to protect himself from a robber entering his house,” said Aritman. /Star/[10] NORWEGIAN AMBASSADOR VOICES SUPPORT FOR TERRORIST HEAD ABDULLAH OCALANNorwegian Ambassador Hans Wilhelm Longva and a committee of Norwegian deputies and journalists yesterday attended celebrations marking Nevruz, and the group joined into slogans supporting terrorist group PKK head Abdullah Ocalan. Longva visited Diyarbakir Governor Efkan Ala and expressed his pleasure of seeing improvements in democracy. “There is a positive atmosphere,” added Longva. The Nevruz celebrations continued without interventions by the police. /Sabah/[11] SSK, PHARMACIES REACH PAYMENT SETTLEMENTSocial Security Authority (SSK) pharmacies yesterday reached a compromise on the issue of payment for medicines. The SSK will pay for the medicines of citizens retroactive to Feb. 10 into the accounts in three state-owned banks. The SSK also pledged to shortly pay back its accumulated debts to the pharmacies. /Turkiye/[12] FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE COLUMNS...[13] THE PROBLEM ISN’T EDELMAN BUT TURKISH-US RELATIONS BY MEHMET BARLAS (SABAH)Columnist Mehmet Barlas comments on Turkish-United States relations. A summary of his column is as follows:“Some people are saying that US Ambassador to Ankara Eric Edelman submitted his resignation because he’s not a good diplomat. Would he have resigned otherwise? they argue. We should always remember that the success or failure of ambassadors can usually be assessed by looking at relations between their home country and the one they work in, rather than their own personal performances. Except for a number of extreme cases, relations between countries are far beyond the scope of an ambassador’s personal problems and performance. As a matter of fact, Edelman’s recent statements on Turkish foreign policy, which were rebuffed by our diplomats, reflect the Bush administration’s bona fide views on the issue. Now, he is leaving our country. I guess there is a much more important job waiting for him in Washington than being ambassador to Ankara. According to sources, Edelman is expected to be appointed as a national security aide to Bush. Here, the problem is a lack of self-knowledge. The Republic of Turkey has extensive diplomatic experience dating back to Ottoman times. We’re the citizens of a country which was once a superpower. Therefore, we must recognize that channeling our anger about daily ups and downs upon other countries’ diplomats is a wrongheaded attitude, even if we believe these countries responsible for our anger and disappointment. We shouldn’t act as if we were living in a third world country which just gained its independence. We need to see that there is a covert tension between Washington and Ankara, one going beyond the personal capabilities of Edelman and our Ambassador to the US Faruk Logoglu. Our reactions to the US’ Iraq policy won’t change anything at all. By acting as if they could, all we can do is to make life more difficult for the new ambassador as well, as we did for Edelman. Foreign policy refers to a complex web of relations which need to be carefully protected and monitored. There’s no use either in taking to the streets or allowing these relations to deteriorate. If we approach Turkish- US relations from such a pragmatic perspective, this would no doubt yield us future benefits.” [14] THE WAR THAT HASN’T (YET) BEEN ABLE TO BRING PEACE BY SAMI KOHEN (MILLIYET)Columnist Sami Kohen comments on the war in Iraq. A summary of his column is as follows:“As the US-led operation on Iraq reaches its second anniversary, the causes and effects of the war on Iraq are once more under the microscope. The war began two years ago with the heavy bombardment of Iraq and was said to have ended with the occupation of Baghdad three weeks later. However, the war is still continuing in other ways. That is to say, this war hasn’t (at least to this point) been able to secure the intended peace and stability of Iraq. Objectively speaking, all of the US’ excuses for justifying the war have been proven wrong and none of its expectations for postwar Iraq have come true. The Bush administration accused Saddam of developing weapons of mass destruction and firmly emphasized that although they had no evidence, they had clear-cut intelligence. (It was revealed later that they were lying.) Another excuse the US put forward to justify the war was that Iraq had become a center for terrorism. They even claimed that al-Qaeda militants were taking shelter there. According to President Bush, Iraq was a threat to the world as well as the US. Therefore, Iraqis had to be ‘freed’ from Saddam’s dictatorship and Iraq had to be ‘liberated.’ It was later understood that the Bush administration had secret and selfish motives for the war. Under the influence of right-wing hawks, the US attacked Iraq to realize the ‘new order’ it had designed for the Middle East. The US was able to defeat the Iraqi Army and overthrow Saddam (and eventually capture him). It was even able to give the Iraqis hope for freedom and a prosperous future. But the US hadn’t planned for the era of peace as diligently as the era of war. When the ‘era of peace’ began, the Iraqis realized that their basic needs weren’t being met. Even their life and property weren’t safe. They began to see the US troops as invaders. The conditions in postwar Iraq helped the supporters of Saddam (members of the Baath Party) recover and build up resistance to the US forces. The result was a bloody war that to date has killed at least 100,000 Iraqis. Washington lost 1,500 troops, and the costs of war dealt the US economy a heavy blow. Most importantly, it lost the support and trust of its allies. As the war in Iraq passes its second anniversary, the question remains: Has the Bush administration learned its lesson and begun to make down-to-earth peace plans for Iraq?” 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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