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Turkish Press Review, 06-05-03
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
03.05.2006
FROM THE COLUMNS… FROM THE COLUMNS… FROM THE COLUMNS…
CONTENTS
[01] ERDOGAN ADDRESSES AKP GROUP
[02] FM GUL: “IRAQ SHOULDN’T BE A HAVEN FOR TERRORISTS”
[03] PARLIAMENT'S JUSTICE COMMISSION DEBATES ANTI-TERROR BILL
[04] ERDOGAN TO TRAVEL TO GREECE TODAY
[05] EU PLANNING TO DE-LINK TURKISH, CROATIAN NEGOTIATIONS
[06] BAYKAL: “THE CHP WON'T SUPPORT ANTI-TERROR BILL”
[07] CORTOGLU ELECTED COUNCIL OF STATE HEAD
[08] GEN. KALYONCU: “TURKEY WILL PROTECT ITS BORDERS UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES”
[09] GREEK LEADER PAPADOPOULOS: “RECOGNITION OF TRNC WOULD BE AN EXAMPLE FOR KURDS IN TURKEY”
[10] FROM THE COLUMNS… FROM THE COLUMNS… FROM THE COLUMNS…
[11] DEEP IMPACT OF THE WEST BY TURKER AKLAN (RADIKAL)
[01] ERDOGAN ADDRESSES AKP GROUP
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said yesterday that no one could force
the children of this country to live somewhere else just because of their
religious and personal choices. Criticizing former President Suleyman
Demirel’s recent statement urging people with headscarves to go to Saudi
Arabia to get educated, Erdogan asked who gave Demirel the right to tell
them where to go. Addressing his Justice and Development Party (AKP)
parliamentary group meeting, the premier said that the government would not
allow a single step backwards on justice, democracy and development, adding
that their policies were based on protecting the rights of the 73 million
citizens of the country. In related news, speaking to reporters yesterday,
Demirel called on the government to lift the headscarf ban in schools,
saying, “If they have the power, why they don’t do it?” /Milliyet/
[02] FM GUL: “IRAQ SHOULDN’T BE A HAVEN FOR TERRORISTS”
Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul met yesterday with Bahraini Foreign Minister
Sheik Khalid bin Ahmad al-Khalifa. After the meeting, Gul told a press
conference that the unity of Iraq was very important and that this country
shouldn’t be a haven for terrorists. “Any country should have to give
permission for such activities,” he explained. "This is the responsibility
of all officials in that country." /Star/
[03] PARLIAMENT'S JUSTICE COMMISSION DEBATES ANTI-TERROR BILL
Meeting yesterday, Parliament’s Justice Commission debated the
controversial new anti-terrorism bill. Justice Minister Cemil Cicek said
that 36 institutions, including the Office of the Chief of General Staff,
the National Intelligence Agency (MIT), the Interior and Foreign Ministries
and universities had contributed to the preparation of the bill. He
recommended that the commission form a subcommission to assess the entire
bill in detail. Concerning recent claims that Article 6 of the bill would
allow jailed PKK head Abdullah Ocalan to be released, he added that no one
in Turkey could tolerate Ocalan being granted amnesty. The commission
decided to postpone deliberations until May 10. /Aksam/
[04] ERDOGAN TO TRAVEL TO GREECE TODAY
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is set to travel to Greece tonight to
attend the Southeastern Europe Cooperation Process (SEECP) Heads of States
and Governments Summit in Salonika to begin tomorrow. As part of the
gathering, Erdogan will hold bilateral talks with certain leaders,
including his Greek counterpart Costas Karamanlis. /Turkiye/
[05] EU PLANNING TO DE-LINK TURKISH, CROATIAN NEGOTIATIONS
While the European Union is making a decision on starting actual
negotiations with Ankara following its screening process, the Czech
Republic has submitted a proposal to de-link the negotiation processes of
Turkey and Croatia. The Union reportedly favors the proposal. The EU is
trying to put political criteria before Turkey for the education and
culture chapter, but as the situation is different for Croatia, the EU
can’t arrange a settlement and plans to de-link the negotiation processes
of these two countries. According to diplomatic sources, supporting the
proposal are EU Term President Austria along with France, the Netherlands
and Germany. /Cumhuriyet/
[06] BAYKAL: “THE CHP WON'T SUPPORT ANTI-TERROR BILL”
Opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Deniz Baykal said
yesterday that his group would not give its support to the controversial
new anti-terrorism bill. Speaking at his party's group gathering, Baykal
reiterated his claim that Article 6 of the bill could allow the release of
jailed PKK head Abdullah Ocalan. He stated that granting amnesty to the
founders and leaders of terrorist groups wouldn't serve such groups, adding
that the government could pass the bill as it is, but the CHP would not
support it. /Sabah/
[07] CORTOGLU ELECTED COUNCIL OF STATE HEAD
In the 68th round of voting, with the support of 48 members, Fourth Bureau
Chief Judge Sumru Cortoglu was elected the new chief justice of the Council
of State. The post fell vacant after former Chief Judge Ender Cetinkaya
retired. Acting Chief Justice Tansel Colasan received 28 votes. Cortoglu
stated that she would act responsibly to improve the secular and democratic
republic, in line with Mustafa Kemal Ataturk’s principles. She was born in
1943 in Tokat and graduated from Ankara University's Law School in 1966.
/Sabah/
[08] GEN. KALYONCU: “TURKEY WILL PROTECT ITS BORDERS UNDER ANY
CIRCUMSTANCES”
The General Staff held a briefing yesterday on recent security issues.
General Staff Chief of Operations Gen. Bekir Kalyoncu reiterated his
evaluation of cross-border operations, saying, “Should the (proper)
conditions be present, Turkey will exercise its sovereign rights.” Kalyoncu
said that the presence of the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) in northern Iraq
was no secret, and this would continue until the terrorist activities
ended. The briefing emphasized that Turkey will protect its border under
any conditions and circumstances and continue to determinedly fight
terrorism. Asked, right after the presentation, whether there had been "hot
pursuit" across the Iraqi border, Kalyoncu referred to the remarks made by
Chief of General Staff Gen. Hilmi Ozkok, who said, “If necessary, just like
all countries, Turkey exercised its rights, as stipulated in the United
Nations Charter.” /Cumhuriyet/
[09] GREEK LEADER PAPADOPOULOS: “RECOGNITION OF TRNC WOULD BE AN EXAMPLE
FOR KURDS IN TURKEY”
Greek Leader Tassos Papadopoulos said yesterday that the US or another
country had the right to recognize Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus
(TRNC), then added, “But people should think twice about creating a danger
in countries where a separatist tendency exists.” Clarifying his suggestion,
he said, “The existence of millions of Kurds in Turkey should be taken into
consideration within this.” In an interview with Greek daily Elefteros
Tipos, Papadopoulos touched on US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice’s
recent visit to Athens and Ankara, Turkish-European Union relations and the
Cyprus issue, and said, “Actually, the Cyprus issue is being discussed by
the US only in the context of facilitating Turkey’s European Union bid.”
/Hurriyet-Cumhuriyet/
[10] FROM THE COLUMNS… FROM THE COLUMNS… FROM THE COLUMNS…
[11] DEEP IMPACT OF THE WEST BY TURKER AKLAN (RADIKAL)
Columnist Turker Aklan comments on Turkey’s relations with the East and
West. A summary of his column is as follows:
“I sometimes get pessimistic messages from young readers. They write that
they're afraid of the future and that it seems like Islamic law will govern
the country. I can understand these young people afraid of the future. Of
course I also get depressed when I see men and women sitting in separate
places during the ruling party’s meetings and when Prime Minister Recep
Tayyip Erdogan lambastes newspapers for printing photos of this. However,
not all the news is bad and sometimes surprising things happen, such as
former President Suleyman Demirel’s recent remarks. He said that the
headscarf isn’t freedom, but reactionaryism, and that people supporting
this should go to Saudi Arabia, where people can attend school with a
covered head. What a surprise! It seems Demirel has found the right way at
age 80. He used to speak in squares with a Koran in hand and praise the
opening of religious schools. Now, look what he’s saying! Of course it’s
better to see him this way very late, rather than not at all. Even if he’s
a bit late, certain secular circles would be gladdened by these remarks.
But I find it difficult to understand how people opposed to secularism are
angry at the mention of Saudi Arabia. A Yeni Safak headline read, ‘The
answer is from Vienna. Women wearing headscarves go not to Arabia, but to
Europe.’ The daily also covered those who criticize Demirel. I believe that
if their wearing the headscarf is a matter of religious belief, then they
should go to Arabia. Don’t limit this to the headscarf issue alone. Almost
all the leftists who had to leave the country after the Sept. 12, 1980 coup
went to Western countries. They left for Paris, London, and Vienna… I don’t
remember if any of them went to Moscow, China or Yugoslavia. As they wanted
to change the order in Turkey and establish a socialist order, I've always
wondered why they didn't go to places where there was an established
socialist order, but instead chose to live in capitalist countries. Former
Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan, the former leader of the Islamist Welfare
Party (RP), had a similar preference. When the National Order Party was
established, he didn’t even think about going to Saudi Arabia. Instead, he
settled in Switzerland and lived there for a few years. I wrote before that
I’m not against university student girls’ covering their heads and entering
classes. Finally, I'm below Demirel's view on this issue! However, if a
university student wants to cover her head for religious reasons, she would
be expected to go to Jeddah instead of Vienna, just like a leftist should
prefer Moscow. In this respect, I don’t mean to say that leftists or
conservative and religious people are being superficial. It seems there are
certain other factors. Western civilization left deeper traces than many
political ideologies. These traces are so deep that we don’t recognize them
when we make our choices.”
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