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Turkish Press Review, 06-06-15Turkish 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> <style type="text_css"> <!-- .baslik { margin-right:0cm; margin-left:0cm; margin-top:1cm; font-size:12.0pt; color:#000099; text-align: justify; } --> <_style> e-mail : newspot@byegm.gov.tr <caption> <_caption> Summary of the political and economic news in the Turkish press this morning15.06.2006ERDOGAN MEETS MACEDONIAN LEADERS GUL MEETS WITH US ASSISTANT SEC’Y OF STATE BOUCHER FM SPOKESPERSON TAN CALLS ON THE EU TO IMPLEMENT CYPRUS ACTION PLAN CICEK VISITS BAYKAL, DISCUSS ANTI-TERROR BILL BAHCELI: “TURKISH-EU RELATIONS ARE LIKE A SOAP OPERA, FULL OF LIES AND INSINCERITY” DYP LEADER AGAR: “WE CAN CLEAR EU HURDLES WITH THE HELP OF NGOS” UNAKITAN: “I BELIEVE THE MARKET FLUCTUATIONS ARE TEMPORARY” FITCH: “FLUCTUATIONS IN THE TURKISH MARKETS DON’T POSE THREAT TO ITS CREDIT OUTLOOK” FROM THE COLUMNS... FROM THE COLUMNS... FROM THE COLUMNS... GREEK CYPRIOTS’ ANTIDOTE BY SEMIH IDIZ (MILLIYET) ECONOMIC CRISES ARE NORMAL SERDAR TURGUT (AKSAM)CONTENTS
[01] ERDOGAN MEETS MACEDONIAN LEADERSOn the last day of his three-day official visit to Croatia and Macedonia, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan yesterday met with Macedonian Parliament Speaker Ljupco Jordanovski and members of the Turkish-Macedonian Inter-parliamentary Friendship Group. The premier, accompanied by a Turkish delegation and his wife, also took time to tour the Turkish bazaar in Skopje. After completing his contacts, Erdogan returned to Ankara last night. /Turkiye/[02] GUL MEETS WITH US ASSISTANT SEC’Y OF STATE BOUCHERThe US is searching for ways to further develop cooperation with Turkey in Central Asia. Richard Boucher, US assistant secretary of state for South and Central Asian affairs, yesterday visit Ankara to test the waters for more cooperation. Boucher, who was received by Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said, “We’re working on the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline project to bring more oil to Turkey.” For his part, Gul said, “These countries are struggling to make progress in democracy. It’s very important to support these countries,” and added, “Cooperation is beneficial from the standpoint of democracy, security and stability. Energy creates various opportunities. They are trying to move closer to European-Atlantic structures. We have to be helpful on this issue.” /Cumhuriyet/[03] FM SPOKESPERSON TAN CALLS ON THE EU TO IMPLEMENT CYPRUS ACTION PLANTurkey is reiterating its determination on its European Union bid. Speaking at a weekly press conference, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Namik Tan yesterday said, “We’re determined to proceed along the EU membership path.” Asked about EU actors saying in Luxembourg this week that Turkey must open its airports and harbors to Greek Cyprus by the end of the year or its negotiations might be suspended, Tan said that these problems were not solvable through Turkey’s efforts alone, and that Ankara had made serious sacrifices and initiatives up to now, including its Cyprus action plan. “Implementation of Turkey’s action plan would make a great contribution to an overall solution of this problem,” he said. Asked about reports the foreign minister would soon visit Iran, Tan said there were no plans for this, but added such a visit could happen if the need arises in the future. /Cumhuriyet/[04] CICEK VISITS BAYKAL, DISCUSS ANTI-TERROR BILLJustice Minister Cemil Cicek yesterday visited Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Deniz Baykal. During their meeting, Cicek said that the government wanted Parliament to pass the anti-terror bill before it goes on its summer recess next month. Speaking afterwards, Cicek stated that the anti-terror bill was at a subcommission now, adding that the subcommission could finish work on it next week. “We want this bill passed by Parliament before its summer recess,” he added. /Star/[05] BAHCELI: “TURKISH-EU RELATIONS ARE LIKE A SOAP OPERA, FULL OF LIES AND INSINCERITY”Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahceli yesterday criticized the government’s European Union policies, saying that Turkish-European relations were like a soap opera full of lies and insincerity. Saying that the government had accepted the impositions of the EU, Bahceli added that the government had told lies to the nation even though nothing had changed about the requirements on Cyprus. /Star/[06] DYP LEADER AGAR: “WE CAN CLEAR EU HURDLES WITH THE HELP OF NGOS”Speaking at a symposium entitled “The Importance of Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) in the European Union Process” held by his party’s Istanbul branch, opposition True Path Party (DYP) leader Mehmet Agar yesterday said that the path to the European Union is a trip the nation must travel together, arm in arm. “Countries can no longer be ruled only by elected political staffs,” he said. “We cannot ignore NGOs, which do the best job observing the problems of the country. The European Union membership process contains many difficulties. Transparency, keeping society informed and social participation are hugely important for overcoming these difficulties. We can overcome troubles with a strong political participation with the NGOs.” /Hurriyet/[07] UNAKITAN: “I BELIEVE THE MARKET FLUCTUATIONS ARE TEMPORARY”Speaking at a press conference yesterday, Finance Minister Kemal Unakitan said that he believed the recent fluctuations in the markets were temporary in nature, thanks to sound public finances, a sound Central Bank, and a strong banking structure. Saying that people who buy foreign currency at a high exchange rate later regretted it when the rates fall, Unakitan added that people should act with common sense and stay calm. Commenting on the budget, Unakitan stressed that so far this year Turkey’s budget has shown a surplus -- the first in 20 years -- and CB reserves had reached $60 billion. Unakitan further warned private sector actors, saying that they should strengthen their capital structures. He stated that there was no need for measures to reduce consumption due to recent economic developments, adding that measures would be taken if necessary. /Milliyet/[08] FITCH: “FLUCTUATIONS IN THE TURKISH MARKETS DON’T POSE THREAT TO ITS CREDIT OUTLOOK”International rating agency Fitch yesterday declared that fluctuations in the Turkish markets didn’t pose a threat to its credit note outlook. In a report, Fitch stated that there was need to act very carefully in order to ensure confidence in the markets again, adding that everything should be done to avoid political shocks. Fitch further stressed that there was no problem with Turkey’s credibility in the long term. /Sabah/[09] FROM THE COLUMNS... FROM THE COLUMNS... FROM THE COLUMNS...[10] GREEK CYPRIOTS’ ANTIDOTE BY SEMIH IDIZ (MILLIYET)Columnist Semih Idiz comments on Turkey’s European Union path. A summary of his column is as follows.“What happened in Luxembourg this week showed that the Greek Cypriots are determined to give a headache to Turkey over the European Union. Actually, expecting the opposite would be naive, because this was the real reason why Greek Cypriots wanted EU membership. UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s plan was accepted by the Turkish side more than two years ago. However, this week we can see that this was a great mistake. In short, the Greek Cypriots will obviously force Turkey and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) to go through the EU. Of course, Turkey will obviously resist these pressures, because the Turkish side has accepted Annan’s pan, even if the timetable isn’t ideal. Meanwhile, the Greek Cypriots firmly rejected the plan and they continue to maintain this position today. So, it’s right for the Turkish side to expect a fair stance from the EU now. The number of EU members who agree with this opinion isn’t small. This number will rise due to the spoilsport stance of the Greek Cypriots in Luxembourg. So the Justice and Development Party’s (AKP) policy on this issue is correct. However, we should first accept that the Greek Cypriots couldn’t have found the courage to do this if certain members hadn’t supported them silently in order to make Turkey’s EU path harder. In short, the Greek Cypriot administration is being used against Turkey, just like Greece was used in the past. Meanwhile, we shouldn’t be deceived by the argument that Austria, which tried to hinder our path last October, worked hard for us in Luxembourg. No EU term president wants a political failure under its watch. This is the real reason for the efforts made by Vienna in our favor in Luxembourg. However, this is where we see Turkey’s trump card, because not a single term president would accept cutting ties with Turkey. Therefore, we should stress the common position paper which was given to Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul and our chief EU talks negotiator Ali Babacan in Luxembourg, because it contains serious warnings with which many people in Turkey agree. If the majority of these complaints aren’t addressed before our EU progress report comes out in October, the hand of Turkey and those supporting us in terms of the EU will weaken against those who oppose Turkey as well as the Greek Cypriots. In other words, Ankara shouldn’t take refuge in the negative stance of the Greek Cypriots and continue its foot-dragging on EU reforms. This would show disrespect not only to the EU, but also the Turkish people, for don’t we always say that we want these reforms for ourselves?” [11] ECONOMIC CRISES ARE NORMAL SERDAR TURGUT (AKSAM)Columnist Serdar Turgut comments on recent economic unease. A summary of his column is as follows:“Capitalist production depends on capital accumulation. This is a simple truth, but not everybody remembers it. For that reason, why crises occur in the system from time to time and why they can’t be prevented can’t be fully understood. Most people can be surprised by crises, but one who has comprehended the logic of the process of capital accumulation accepts crises as normal. Crises are renovations of the capitalist production method needed for its health in the long-term. Periodic crises are also safeguards to prevent huge crises in the whole system. Currently we are experiencing periodic crisis conditions, and there is no way out. Because the old capital accumulation process has clogged up, and the world is working not to prevent a periodic crisis, but a huge crisis in the whole system. In line with that, Turkey’s Central Bank governor cannot do much whether he raises interest rates, or buys or sells dollars. The system has begun to experience the necessary conditions of periodic crisis, and the main engine of these dynamics isn’t local but global. Turkey’s emerging from this new crisis period without sustaining much injury is only possible by creating new investment avenues directed to production for global capital. Although this is hard, is not impossible. Turkey has the capacity to do this.” 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 |