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Turkish Press Review, 05-08-05Turkish 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 morning05.08.2005FROM THE COLUMNS…FROM THE COLUMNS…FROM THE COLUMNS…CONTENTS
[01] ERDOGAN: “ANKARA WON’T ACCEPT ANY OTHER CRITERIA TO BEGIN ITS EU ACCESSION TALKS”Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan yesterday criticized French President Jacques Chirac for agreeing with French Premier Dominique de Villepin’s recent remarks that Turkey couldn’t start its European Union membership talks without recognizing Greek Cyprus. “I’m disappointed with Chirac’s statement,” said Erdogan. The premier stressed that Ankara accepting other criteria to begin its EU talks on Oct. 3 was out of the question, adding that the Union had decided at last December’s summit to begin Ankara’s talks on Oct. 3. “Additional conditions or criteria are unacceptable,” said Erdogan, adding that Ankara was preparing for the date of its talks. /Milliyet/[02] GUL: “WE’RE WORKING TO REVEAL THE REALITY ABOUT THE SO-CALLED ARMENIAN GENOCIDE”Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said yesterday that the government was working to reveal the reality about the so-called Armenian genocide. Replying to an official question of a deputy, Gul said that a number of documents reflecting the truth about the issue had been prepared and sent to scholars, libraries, parliaments and journalists abroad. /Turkiye/[03] EU COMMISSION: “TURKEY HASN’T MET ALL THE CRITERIA TO JOIN THE UNION”European Union Commission spokesman Amadeu Altafaj Tardio yesterday sent a letter to the Turkish government, saying that Ankara hadn’t yet met all the criteria to join the EU. “Religious freedom is very important for us and it will constitute an important subject in Ankara’s negotiations,” said Altafaj in his letter, adding that Turkish officials knew the importance of this issue. /Aksam/[04] SCHROEDER: “TURKEY’S EU MEMBERSHIP IS IMPORTANT FOR THE UNION’S SECURITY”Speaking yesterday in Hamburg at a campaign rally for next month’s general elections, German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder said that Turkey’s European Union membership was important for the Union’s security, even though some circles are trying to paint Turkey as a threat to the Union. “The EU will benefit Turkey, a country which is adopting Western values,” said Schroeder. He stressed that the European Union vision should continue, adding that if the EU wants to take control of its boundaries, then Turkey’s membership would be an historic opportunity. “If we lose this opportunity, in the future we’ll regret it,” said Schroeder, adding that the EU couldn’t go any further without Turkey. /Sabah/[05] GREEK CYPRIOT SPOKESMAN: “TURKEY SHOULD RECOGNIZE GREEK CYPRUS WITHOUT DELAY”Greek Cypriot administration spokesman Kipros Hrisostomidis said yesterday that Ankara should recognize Greek Cyprus without any “further delay,” adding that a European Union candidate country not recognizing an EU member state was inconceivable. /Cumhuriyet/[06] DENKTAS URGES PARLIAMENT NOT TO APPROVE ADDITIONAL PROTOCOLFormer Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) President Rauf Denktas yesterday urged the Turkish Parliament not to approve the additional Customs Union protocol, denouncing the protocol as “part of a traitorous game.” Denktas further stated that the European Union wanted Turkey to recognize Greek Cyprus. The protocol extends the Customs Union to the European Union’s 10 new members, including Greek Cyprus, though Ankara has also issued a declaration saying that the extension did not amount to recognition. /Aksam/[07] FROM THE COLUMNS…FROM THE COLUMNS…FROM THE COLUMNS…[08] EUROPE, CYPRUS AND TURKEY BY TAHA AKYOL (MILLIYET)Columnist Taha Akyol comments on relations between Europe, Cyprus and Turkey. A summary of his column is as follows:“Did our signing the additional Customs Union protocol mean recognizing the Greek Cypriot administration? According to both the domestic opposition and former President Suleyman Demirel, yes it did. But if we were to ask them what they would do if they were in the government’s shoes, they wouldn’t be able to answer. Although France knows that signing doesn’t equal recognition, it says Turkey is obliged to recognize the Greek Cypriot administration so its EU membership talks can begin on Oct. 3. Will Turkey do this in order to start the talks as scheduled? Absolutely no! Perhaps some will ask, ‘Turkey doesn’t recognize the Greek Cypriot administration, but won’t it have to open Turkish harbors and airports to the Greek Cypriots?’ And here is Ankara’s answer: ‘Never! Absolutely no! Neither we, nor any government in Europe, including Paris, should dream of such a thing.’ Ankara is suffering from a pathological period of retreating into itself, and the French flag-waving has played the leading role in this by both rejecting the EU constitution and taking a hostile stance against Turkey. Both French President Jacques Chirac and Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin make shocking remarks against Turkey. They’re doing this not because they are enemies of Turkey, but to make policy through flag-waving. According to Ankara, being involved in tense discussions and having to fight different fronts in Europe would not be to our benefit. For this reason, we should keep our cool. Can France prevent the start of our membership talks on Oct. 3 by citing Cyprus as a pretext? No, because the decision was made with the EU Commission’s agreement last Dec. 17. If France wants to block this, the EU Commission must make another decision, saying, ‘No, we aren’t starting membership talks with Turkey.’ In addition, it’s a positive factor that Britain, a friendly country, is now EU term president. However, our talks will obviously be hard. Now I’d like to point out the following: 1. Turkey can never recognize the Greek Cypriot administration or open its harbors and airports to Greek Cypriots. This is as important as the Treaty of Lausanne and the National Pact. 2. Even if in the end we’re unable join the EU, we are benefiting from the negotiating process. There are positive developments in the economy, deriving not only from economic policies, but also from our EU membership bid. We know the positive impact of this strengthening of the rule of law. In sum, we can never make concessions for Greek Cypriots, and we should continue our EU bid.” 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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