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Turkish Press Review, 08-05-21Turkish Press Review Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: Turkish Directorate General of Press and Information <http://www.byegm.gov.tr>Summary of the political and economic news in the Turkish press this morning21.05.2008FROM THE COLUMNS… FROM THE COLUMNS… FROM THE COLUMNSCONTENTS
[01] AUSTRIAN PRESIDENT VISITS TURKEYAustrian President Heinz Fischer yesterday arrived in Ankara as the official guest of his Turkish counterpart Abdullah Gul. Fischer and his spouse Margit Fischer were welcomed with an official ceremony by Gul and his spouse Hayrunnisa Gul at Cankaya Presidential Palace. Gul hosted a dinner to honor of his Austrian counterpart. Fischer said, "Turkey's European Union membership will be reviewed taking into consideration whether Turkey fulfilled that last term conditions, when it comes to membership stage. We call this process 'open ended negotiations'." For his part, Gul said that Turkey which completed its EU negotiation process would be more different than today. Fischer also met with Parliament Speaker Koksal Toptan. /Milliyet/[02] IN BULGARIA, BABACAN ATTENDS SOUTHEAST EUROPEAN COUNTRIES' FOREIGN MINISTERS MEETINGForeign Minister Ali Babacan yesterday went to Bulgaria to attend Southeast European Countries' Foreign Ministers meeting, held within the framework of the Southeast European Cooperation Process (SEECP). Speaking to reporters before departure, Babacan said the Southeast European Countries Cooperation process was an important Balkan cooperation platform that reflected the region's common will. Saying that the Southeast European Countries Cooperation process aims to find solutions in the region through political dialogue and the common will within the region itself, Babacan added, "The process that began with Turkey's initiatives is the only platform that brings Balkan countries together around the same table." "We expect a decision at the meeting that would make Turkey the term president of the Southeast European Countries Cooperation process between 2009 and 2010," Babacan said. Asked about a question on Turkey's mediation efforts between Syria and Israel, Babacan stated that initial talks between these two countries would take place through Turkey's assistance. "If we reach a point in these indirect talks, the two sides will then convene around the same discussion table," Babacan also said. /Turkiye/[03] BAYKAL REBUFFS ERDOGAN'S CLAIMS OVER FOSTERING HATREDSpeaking to his Republican People’s Party's (CHP) group meeting, main opposition leader Deniz Baykal yesterday criticized Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s recent remarks about not attending the reception given by President Abdullah Gul at the Cankaya Palace for Britain's Queen Elizabeth's honor. Saying that Erdogan accused himself of fostering antagonism and hatred, Baykal added he hadn't attended the meeting because of his principles, not hatred. /Star/[04] BAHCELI: "THE AKP IS TRYING TO ESTABLISH A DICTATORSHIP OF FEAR"Opposition Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahceli said yesterday that the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) government attempted to bring constitutional and democratic rights under control through a dictatorship fed by fears". Referring to claims that Osman Paksut, deputy chief justice of the Constitutional Court, has been phone tapped, Bahceli said AKP was pushing the country towards a totalitarian system, in which private lives of citizens are controlled and people's private conversations are tapped. Speaking at his party's parliamentary group meeting, Bahceli said, "The AKP, which talks about improving democracy in the country, is trying to seize constitutional and democratic rights, placing citizens under the control of their dictatorship of fear." Our democracy is no longer able to protect its people. Turkish democracy is about to become a system that closely scrutinizes its citizens and feels suspicions about them, he added. "An administration that looks at its citizens as potential threat can no longer continue to serve the nation." /Hurriyet/[05] MUMCU TO RUN FOR ANAVATAN LEADERSHIPMotherland Party (ANAVATAN) leader Erkan Mumcu said yesterday that his party would hold an extraordinary congress at the end of June and he will again run for the leadership. Following a meeting with ANAVATAN's top administrators to mark the party's 25th foundation anniversary, Mumcu said that they agreed to hold an extraordinary congress on 28-29 June and their talks with the Democrat Party (DP) for cooperation in central right were continuing. /Hurriyet/[06] OPPOSITION'S CENSURE OF PM REJECTEDParliament rejected yesterday the request by opposition parties for a no- confidence vote against Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan for using his political power to the benefit of Calik Group in the Sabah-atv sale. During his address to Parliament, main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Deniz Baykal accused Erdogan of intervening in the sale process for the benefit of Calik Group. "The prime minister discouraged some businessmen who wanted to enter the sale process," said Baykal. Calik Group, with the partnership of Qatar-based Al Wasaeel International Media Company, bought mass circulation daily Sabah and one of the leading prime-time television channels, atv, for $1.1 billion. /Turkish Daily News/[07] TURKISH-GERMAN MEDIA REPRESENTATIVES DISCUSS DIALOGUE ISSUEOrganized by Directorate General of Press and Information, The Turkish Research Center Foundation and Friedrich Naumann Foundation, the 8th Turkish-German Media Dialogue Symposium Meeting was held in Antalya on May 15-18. Press members from Turkey, Germany and Switzerland attended the meeting. Four separate sessions entitled "Turkey's image in the German media," "Europe's image in the Turkish media," "Ways to improve news contents," "Turkey's EU membership process in media," "Turkey's EU membership in terms of media" were held as part of the three-day gathering. The Turkish Research Center Foundation Director Faruk Sen and Friedrich Naumann Foundation Director Jörg Dehner and Directorate General of Press and Information General Director Salih Melek delivered welcome speeches at the opening of the symposium. At the closing session, Cumhuriyet daily's assistant editor Guray Oz and German Focus Magazine Foreign News Redactor Andrea Claudia Hoffman talked about the topic of "How well do we know each other?" /Cumhuriyet/FROM THE COLUMNS… FROM THE COLUMNS… FROM THE COLUMNS [08] DIFFERENCES BETWEEN EU AND USBY SAMI KOHEN (MILLIYET)Columnist Sami Kohen comments on differences between the European Union and the US in their stances on the closure case against the Justice and Development Party (AKP). A summary of his column is as follows: "When it was announced that the closure case would be opened against the Justice and Development Party (AKP) in March, firstly the European Union criticized it harshly. Officials from the EU Commission said that if the AKP is closed, the process of membership talks with Turkey might be suspended. On the contrary, the US criticized it more cautiously and later than the EU. American officials said that such issues are resolved not in courts, but at the Parliament in democracies. While discussions on the closure case escalated, clear differences between the stance of the EU and the US emerged. These differences stemmed from the EU's commitment to democratic criteria and principles and the US' pragmatic approach in its foreign relations. Then certain changes emerged in their criticisms. Besides democracy, the EU started to note the importance of secularism in Turkey and the US administration also emphasized the principle of secularism as well. Recent approaches of both the EU and the US show that differences between the styles of both parties got gradually smaller. Let's start with the US. Final statements made by officials from the US administration, mostly Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, show that Washington has made a fine tuning on political developments in Turkey. For example, Rice said that she hoped the closure case would be resolved as part of principles of democracy and secularism. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Asian Affairs Matt Bryza expressed a similar hope by emphasizing Turkey's values of secularism and democracy. Actually, even if American officials don't say this openly in their official statements, they don't approve such an initiative to close a party and consider such a thing as dangerous and inconvenient. Some people also express this opinion and concern clearly, for example an article published on the Washington Post recently and another article written by former US Ambassador to Ankara Mark Parris on Wall Street Journal last week. Parris, who follows Turkey closely, indicated possible negative aspects to derive from closing the AKP and blamed the Bush administration for being indifferent to the issue. But Parris also reiterated the AKP administration's mistakes in bringing the crisis to this point. As for the EU, high-ranking officials from the Commission and member countries state their concerns over initiatives to close a party and also express Turkey's sensitivities as well. In this respect, Turkey-EU Joint Parliamentary Committee Co-Chairman Joose Lagendjik said to the Milliyet daily that they should be more sensitive to Turkey's concerns over secularism, which is very meaningful. Actually, Lagendjik’s words don't reflect the EU's official policy, but even this might be considered the sign of a more realistic approach within the EU. On the other hand, the EU's basic approach is against closing a party. Both the EU and the US favor the protection of secularism within the democratic order and they're both afraid that closing a party would cause serious political complications in Turkey. Now they both seem to be on the same side on the issue." Turkish Press Review Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |
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