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Turkish Press Review, 05-11-11
From: Turkish Directorate General of Press and Information <http://www.byegm.gov.tr>
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Summary of the political and economic
news in the Turkish press this morning
11.11.2005
FROM THE COLUMNS…FROM THE COLUMNS…FROM THE COLUMNS…
CONTENTS
[01] ATATURK COMMEMORATED AROUND TURKEY ON 67TH ANNIVERSARY OF HIS DEATH
[02] ERDOGAN TO VISIT QATAR AND BAHRAIN
[03] GUL: “THERE ARE SOME NEGATIVE FACTORS IN THE EU PROGRESS REPORT ON TURKEY”
[04] EUROPEAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS: “BAN OF WEARING HEADSCARVES IN UNIVERSITIES DOESN’T VIOLATE FREEDOM OF RELIGION AND CONSCIENCE”
[05] NEW US AMBASSADOR TO ANKARA: “IT IS IMPORTANT NOT TO CREATE PROBLEMS IN RELATIONS BETWEEN ANKARA AND WASHINGTON”
[06] 22ND ANNIVERSARY OF THE FOUNDING OF THE TRNC TO BE CELEBRATED TOMORROW
[07] KRETSCHMER: “EU PROGRESS REPORT ON TURKEY AND ACCESSION PARTNERSHIP DOCUMENT ARE POSITIVE”
[08] FROM THE COLUMNS…FROM THE COLUMNS…FROM THE COLUMNS…
[09] MULTIDIMENSIONAL CONFUSION BY TURKER ALKAN (RADIKAL)
[01] ATATURK COMMEMORATED AROUND TURKEY ON 67TH ANNIVERSARY OF HIS DEATH
Yesterday marked the 67th anniversary of the death of the founder of the
modern Turkish Republic Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. The anniversary was
officially commemorated with a ceremony at Anitkabir, Ataturk’s mausoleum,
in the morning. President Ahmet Necdet Sezer laid a wreath after which one
minute of silence was observed. Parliament Speaker Bulent Arinc, Prime
Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Chief of General Staff Gen. Hilmi Ozkok,
Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul, State Minister Abdullatif Sener, several
government Cabinet ministers, Land Forces Commander Gen. Yasar Buyukanit,
Air Forces Commander Gen. Faruk Comert, Gendarmerie Commander Gen. Fevzi
Turkeri, Deputy Chief of Gen. Staff Isýk Kosaner and other high-ranking
officials took part in the ceremony. Ataturk was also commemorated at
Istanbul’s Dolmabahce Palace, where he passed away at 57 years old 67 years
ago. /All papers/
[02] ERDOGAN TO VISIT QATAR AND BAHRAIN
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan will visit Qatar and Bahrain between
Nov. 12-14 and will call these two Arab countries which have strong
economies to invest in Turkey. Turkish businessmen accompanying the Premier
will look into the opportunities in these countries. 200 businessmen are
expected to participate in the visit organized by the Union of Chambers and
Commodity Exchanges of Turkey (TOBB). /Aksam/
[03] GUL: “THERE ARE SOME NEGATIVE FACTORS IN THE EU PROGRESS REPORT ON
TURKEY”
Speaking at a press conference yesterday at the Foreign Ministry, Foreign
Minister Abdullah Gul said that there were some negative factors in the
European Union progress report on Turkey and the Accession Partnership
Document, both issued earlier this week, calling some points in the
document on the Cyprus issue “unacceptable,” adding that Ankara would
evaluate reasonable views about the issue. Gul stated that the progress
report and the Accession Partnership document wouldn’t prevent Turkey’s
accession process to the EU, which was continuing. “There are both positive
and negative things in the documents,” added Gul. Later, Gul met with
visiting Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) President
Rene Van Der Linden to discuss Turkey’s EU membership bid. /Cumhuriyet/
[04] EUROPEAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS: “BAN OF WEARING HEADSCARVES IN
UNIVERSITIES DOESN’T VIOLATE FREEDOM OF RELIGION AND CONSCIENCE”
The European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg yesterday said the ban of
wearing headscarves in universities didn’t violate freedom of religion and
conscience. In a final verdict on an application from Leyla Sahin, who had
to leave university in 1998 because the university declined to admit her
after she refused to stop wearing a headscarf, a panel of 17 European
judges ruled that the ban did not violate the right to freedom of thought,
conscience and religion guaranteed by an international human rights treaty.
“This is an issue for Turkey, and I believe we will resolve our own issues,
” Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said when asked to comment on the decision
the European Court of Human Rights released in Strasbourg yesterday. In
related news, “If the government carries on with their current policy, they
will have to make a choice between the headscarf and the EU,” said the main
opposition Republican People’s Party’s (CHP) deputy parliamentary group
chairman Ali Topuz at a press conference. Meanwhile, the Board of Higher
Education (YOK) Chairman Erdogan Tezic said, “The ruling has a binding
effect on our domestic laws as well. Debates on the issue will most likely
end from now on.” /Hurriyet-Cumhuriyet/
[05] NEW US AMBASSADOR TO ANKARA: “IT IS IMPORTANT NOT TO CREATE PROBLEMS
IN RELATIONS BETWEEN ANKARA AND WASHINGTON”
“It was important not to create problems in relations between Ankara and
Washington,” Ross Wilson, the US diplomat nominated to be the next American
ambassador to Turkey said on Wednesday. Speaking at a hearing of the US
Senate Foreign Relations Committee to ratify his appointment to the Ankara
posting, Wilson said that facilitating smooth relations between Turkey and
the US was vital. On the issue of the ecumenical status of the Greek
Orthodox Patriarchy Wilson said that US recognizes this title and fully
backs the patriarchy. He added that he would do his best for the re-opening
of the Greek Orthodox seminary on the Heybeliada island in the Sea of
Marmara. /Star/
[06] 22ND ANNIVERSARY OF THE FOUNDING OF THE TRNC TO BE CELEBRATED TOMORROW
The 22nd anniversary of the founding of the Turkish Republic of Northern
Cyprus (TRNC) will be celebrated tomorrow. Turkish officials from the
Presidential Palace, the Parliament, the government, and General Staff are
expected to attend ceremonies to be held in the TRNC. About 30 journalists,
academics, and deputies from 16 countries are also expected to be present
at the ceremonies. /Turkiye/
[07] KRETSCHMER: “EU PROGRESS REPORT ON TURKEY AND ACCESSION PARTNERSHIP
DOCUMENT ARE POSITIVE”
Speaking at a press conference yesterday, European Commission
Representative in Turkey Hansjoerg Kretschmer said that European Union
progress report on Turkey and the Accession Partnership Document, both
released earlier this week, were positive documents for Turkey. Kretschmer
stated that Turkey had made important reforms, adding that it should
efficiently continue its political transformation. Kretschmer stressed that
one of the important points in the EU progress report was that Turkey
should be evaluated as an operating market economy and added that there
were positive developments in the economy owing to structural reforms and
macroeconomic policies. However, Kretschmer complained that there were
problems in some fields concerning the implementation of the legislation
and that the pace of reforms fell. /Cumhuriyet/
[08] FROM THE COLUMNS…FROM THE COLUMNS…FROM THE COLUMNS…
[09] MULTIDIMENSIONAL CONFUSION BY TURKER ALKAN (RADIKAL)
Columnist Turker Alkan comments on the confusion about terrorist attacks
and religion. A summary of his column is as follows:
“There have been terrorist attacks in Germany, Iraq, Turkey, the US,
Britain, Spain, etc. Who knows what will happen next. In this confusion,
we’re trying to take our share. We say to our friends in the European Union,
‘If you let us become an European Union member, we would serve as a bridge
between you and the Islam world and thus save you from the religious
violence.’ However, there are two serious problems about this thesis.
Firstly, Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan have been saying for years, ‘The political violence has nothing to
do with Islam. Muslim people don’t use violence and the Muslim who use
violence isn’t considered a Muslim.’ However, they make different remarks
to the EU, that is, ‘If you don’t let us join the EU, get ready for the
incidents similar to those in France.’ Even they tried to attract
attentions to their Islamic character by saying that latest incidents in
France derived from the ban on wearing headscarf at schools. The second
problem is that the latest terrorist attacks in Jordan show that the
religious violence happens not only in the Western world. Fanatically
religious people can simply attack such countries as Turkey and Jordan,
which they don’t consider ‘religious enough.’ There were even certain
incidents of religious violence between Iran and Saudi Arabia! As the
countries which adopt secularism like Turkey are considered lacking
religious beliefs, thus, fanatics might think that they deserve the
violence.
Wouldn’t certain Europeans say to us, ‘If you’re going to save us from the
religious violence, then use the remedy and save yourself?’ If you ask me
whether Turkey’s EU membership would decrease the clash of civilizations or
not, then I would say, of course, it would. Our full EU membership can
create such an impact in the long term. Actually what we call the
‘civilization’ doesn’t change in a short period of time and easily. However,
maybe just the opposite will happen soon. Even such terrorist organizations
which consider Turkey’s EU membership as a Muslim country’s becoming an
ungodly one might attack us more. One reason for the complicatedness of the
problem is that everybody sees the religion in the way he believes and
rejects other interpretations. However, the religion is not only scholastic
and theological, but also a sociological and historic concept. When it
gains different pictures and characteristics, politicizing the religion
makes things terrible and we start to experience a multidimensional and
multi-layer confusion.”
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