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Turkish Press Review, 06-01-04Turkish 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 morning04.01.2006ERDOGAN TO CHAIR TERRORISM SUMMIT TODAY ERDOGAN: “THE NATURAL GAS CRISIS DOESN’T AFFECT TURKEY” TZOB HEAD SPEAKS WITH ERDOGAN ABOUT AGRICULTURAL PROBLEMS GUL: “THE US ISN’T DOING ENOUGH AGAINST THE PKK” ENERGY MINISTER GULER: “WE HAVE NO DIFFICULTY WITH NATURAL GAS” BAGIS HOSTS BANQUET IN HONOR OF US AMBASSADOR WILSON VIENNA SETS UP GREEK DESK TO MONITOR TURKEY’S EU NEGOTIATING PROCESS JUSTICE MINISTRY ISSUES NEW DIRECTIVES CONSTITUTIONAL COURT HEAD TO TAKE PART IN ECHR OPENING CEREMONY DECEMBER CONSUMER INFLATION AT RECORD LOW FROM THE COLUMNS…FROM THE COLUMNS…FROM THE COLUMNS… THIS IS GLOBALIZATION BY TAHA AKYOL (MILLIYET)CONTENTS
[01] ERDOGAN TO CHAIR TERRORISM SUMMIT TODAYAsummit on terrorism chaired by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is due to be held today in the wake of last week’s National Security Council (NSC) meeting. Deputy prime ministers, Interior Minister Abdulkadir Aksu, Justice Minister Cemil Cicek, and the National Intelligence Organization (MIT) undersecretary are also expected to attend the summit. Necessary steps to develop Turkey’s southeastern region as well as security and the purse-snatching problem in cities are expected to be discussed at the summit. /Sabah/ [02] ERDOGAN: “THE NATURAL GAS CRISIS DOESN’T AFFECT TURKEY”Stressing that Turkey and Russia have good relations, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said yesterday that Turkey would not be affected by the recent natural gas crisis between Russia and Ukraine, adding that the Blue Stream project was an opportunity for Turkey. At his Justice and Development Party’s (AKP) Central Executive Board meeting, Erdogan was briefed on AKP activities in the new year. Signaling that he will attend most of the weekend provincial congresses, the premier called 2006 the AKP’s congress year. /Turkiye/[03] KARZAI TO VISIT ANKARAAfghan President Hamid Karzai is set to arrive in Ankara today to pay an official visit at the invitation of President Ahmet Necdet Sezer. During his three-day stay, Karzai and Turkish officials are expected to exchange views on bilateral political, security, economic and trade relations as well as Turkey’s contributions to Afghanistan’s reconstruction. /Turkiye/[04] TZOB HEAD SPEAKS WITH ERDOGAN ABOUT AGRICULTURAL PROBLEMSTurkish Union of Agricultural Chambers (TZOB) Chairman Semsi Bayraktar yesterday visited Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Bayraktar said that he had invited the premier to the World Farmers’ Day gathering in Istanbul on May 14-15. Stressing that they had discussed the country’s agricultural problems, Bayraktar conveyed the union’s desire to contribute to Turkey’s European Union accession process. /Star/[05] GUL: “THE US ISN’T DOING ENOUGH AGAINST THE PKK”Speaking to CNN Turk, Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul yesterday said that the US isn’t responding to Turkey’s requests concerning the terrorist PKK. He said that there is cooperation between Turkey and the US on the PKK, but not enough for Ankara, adding, “We expect advanced cooperation. But they say, ‘We can only do this. We can’t even provide for the security of our soldiers. We aren’t able to intercede there’.” Gul also responded to the European Union’s criticisms of Article 301 of the new Turkish Penal Code (TCK), saying that law can’t be changed just because the EU wants it, but only if problems are found. Touching on the recent visits of the FBI and CIA directors and NATO’s secretary-general, Gul said that these routine visits weren’t related to the issues of Iran and Syria. /Cumhuriyet/[06] ENERGY MINISTER GULER: “WE HAVE NO DIFFICULTY WITH NATURAL GAS”Energy and Natural Resources Minister Hilmi Guler yesterday said that as there are various natural gas sources in the face of gas reductions, Turkey won’t have problems, as it isn’t dependent on any one country. “There is the Blue Stream as well as the lines coming from the West, and also another line coming from Iran,” said Guler. “Moreover, we buy gas from Nigeria and Algeria through LNG oil tankers. At the end of this year, we will put into service a line coming from Azerbaijan, and that will be another important source. Considering this, calculations of daily difficulties don’t mean much.” In related news, Ankara is watching closely Russia’s shutoff of natural gas lines reaching Europe. Foreign Ministry officials yesterday said that they had taken necessary steps and would prevent the Blue Stream Project from having any difficulties in Turkey. The line’s capacity reportedly might be raised to 16.5 billion cubic meters if necessary. International energy strategist Necdet Pamir said that Russia’s stance isn’t different from its foreign policies up to now. He said that gas and natural gas are Russia’s most important trump cards, and added that there cannot be a direct effect from Russia to Turkey. /Aksam-Cumhuriyet/[07] BAGIS HOSTS BANQUET IN HONOR OF US AMBASSADOR WILSONTurkey-US Interparliamentary Friendship Group Chairman Egemen Bagis yesterday hosted a banquet in Parliament in honor of US Ambassador to Turkey Ross Wilson. Addressing the gathering, Bagis said that Ankara placed importance on relations with the US, adding that the US was one of the first countries to declare the PKK a terrorist group. Bagis further praised the US stance to partially support Ankara on the Roj-TV issue. For his part, Wilson said that he had met with officials from the FBI and CIA and discussed ways the countries could cooperate in the fight against terrorism. /Aksam/[08] VIENNA SETS UP GREEK DESK TO MONITOR TURKEY’S EU NEGOTIATING PROCESSNew European Union term President Austria has established a Greek desk so Greek diplomats will be able to monitor Turkey’s EU negotiating process. This development will enable Athens to learn the priorities of Austria’s EU agenda firsthand. Greek Foreign Minister George Iocovu, who is pleased with the development, yesterday sent one of his diplomats to Vienna. /Sabah/[09] JUSTICE MINISTRY ISSUES NEW DIRECTIVESThe Justice Ministry has annulled all its directives issued before Dec. 31, 2005 in an effort to update them. In a directive issued yesterday, Justice Minister Cemil Cicek said the ministry’s efforts linked to harmonization with European Union norms were almost complete and that many of the directives issued in the past were no longer applicable. Cicek said some directives had become a burden for judges and prosecutors, noting that new directives would be released to replace the old ones. /Turkish Daily News/[10] CONSTITUTIONAL COURT HEAD TO TAKE PART IN ECHR OPENING CEREMONYNew Turkish Constitutional Court Chief Justice Tulay Tugcu will participate in the opening ceremony of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) to be held on Jan. 20. Tugcu, going to Strasbourg as the guest of ECHR President Luzius Wildhaber, will make a speech at the ceremony and will also attend a seminar on “The Influences and Operative Effects of ECHR Rulings.” /Star/[11] DECEMBER CONSUMER INFLATION AT RECORD LOWThe Turkish Statistics Institute (TUIK) yesterday released inflation figures for December. Last month’s increase in the consumer price index (CPI) was 4.2 per thousand, while the producer price index (PPI) fell 0.4 per thousand, pushing the yearly CPI to 7.72%, which broke a record since it’s below the 8% target, and PPI to 2.66%. In related news, in a written statement, State Minister for the Economy Ali Babacan said that 2005 inflation figures were a result of Turkey’s successful economic policies. /All papers/[12] FROM THE COLUMNS…FROM THE COLUMNS…FROM THE COLUMNS…[13] THIS IS GLOBALIZATION BY TAHA AKYOL (MILLIYET)Columnist Taha Akyol comments on the natural gas crisis between Russia and Ukraine and Turkey’s place in this. A summary of his column is as follows:“Russia cut off its natural gas lines to Ukraine, and Europe feared freezing without Russian gas during the winter. Ukraine said that it was being punished by Russia for its pro-European stance and wanted Europe to put pressure on Russia. Russian company Gazprom counterattacked yesterday by saying that Russia will pump more gas to pipes which bypass Ukraine and a sufficient amount of gas will reach Europe, because Europe needs the Russian gas and Russia needs to sell gas and get money. If tension between Russia and Europe breaks out, not only natural gas, but also commercial relations and capital movements would be hurt and none of the parties want this. Therefore, nobody threatened the other and the amount of gas pumped to Europe was raised yesterday. Thus, the tension was managed and it was stated that Russia and Ukraine would sit at the bargaining table. As for Turkey, Russia is bound to us by a commercial contract and if it doesn’t deliver the oil or natural gas that it promised, all of its commercial ties would be threatened and it would lose its credibility. If we face natural gas difficulties, Russia will pump more gas to Turkey, just like it did for Europe, both from the Thracian and Blue Stream line. It’s expected that Turkey’s annual natural gas consumption will total 32 billion cubic meters during this period. The number of provinces using natural gas will reach 70 in the coming years and our natural gas consumption will reach 83 billion cubic meters in 2020. When Azerbaijani, Turkmen, Iranian and Arab natural gas are added, Turkey will still get the lion’s share of its natural gas needs from Russia. Turkey depends on Russia in terms of natural gas. This is true. Energy Minister Hilmi Guler yesterday said that Russia is also dependent on Turkey and that we were the customer and it’s the seller. He added that we had other relations with Russia and that this dependence was mutual. Russia said that it couldn’t pay its debt in 1998, declared default and thus went bankrupt. The price of oil was $10 at that time. Today it’s climbed to $60 and Russia earns $300 million per day from oil exports. There’s a link between natural gas prices and oil prices through a complicated formula. Russia currently has a foreign trade deficit worth $85 million annually, and we’re trying to find ways to do more work in Russia. The one which takes has to take, and the one which sells has to sell. Interests depend on each other. Russia can’t easily say that it won’t sell. The Ukrainian issue is a temporary bump. Russian President Vladimir Putin wants to influence this year’s Ukrainian elections, but a tremor shouldn’t be created in the world energy markets for this purpose. There’s no need for agitation, but Turkey should diversify its energy resources, including the use of nuclear power stations. Globalization makes countries dependent on each other with mutual purchases and sales, but everybody should be careful, as it’s a volatile process.” 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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