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Turkish Press Review, 01-11-06
From: Turkish Directorate General of Press and Information <http://www.byegm.gov.tr>
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Press
& Information
Turkish
Press
Foreign
Press in Turkey
Turkish
Press Review >>
Press
Guide
Summary of the political and economic
news in the Turkish press this morning
06.11.2001
CONTENTS
[01] SEZER TO VISIT TAJIKISTAN AND GEORGIA
[02] RABBANI TO MEET WITH SEZER
[03] SEZER AND ECEVIT RECEIVE ICG DELEGATION
[04] PARLIAMENT TO DEBATE ARTICLE 86
[05] FORWARD UNIT TO PRECEDE SPECIAL FORCES IN AFGHANISTAN
[06] DENKTAS: ISMAIL CEM HAD RELIEVED TURKISH CYPRIOTS
[07] FOREIGN MINISTER CEM: ISRAEL IS NOT A "STRATEGIC
PARTNER"
[08] GUREL: "SOUTHERN CYPRUS IS A BASE FOR TERROR AND
CRIME"
[09] CONFLICT OVER CYPRUS GROWS
[10] HARRAZI IN TURKEY
[11] MINISTER TURK TRAVELS TO POLAND
[12] ENVIRONMENT MINISTER AYTEKIN IN MOROCCO
[13] CULTURE MINISTER PROMOTES 2002 ATATURK CALENDAR
[14] ERDOGAN: "THE GOVERNMENT SHOULD RESIGN"
[15] SP TO APPLY TO CONSTITUTIONAL COURT
[16] CUMHURIYET OWNER BERIN NADI DIES
[17] TOROS-2001 EXERCISES BEGIN
[18] IMF DELEGATION HOLDS CONTACTS
[19] TAI TO SIGN HEAVY LOAD AIRCRAFT CONTRACT
[20] IS BANK SIGNS DEAL FOR $350 MILLION IN LOANS
[21] FROM THE COLUMNS... FROM THE COLUMNS... FROM THE
COLUMNS...
[22] CYPRUS, OR POLITICS ON THE EDGE BY HASAN CEMAL
(MILLIYET)
[01] SEZER TO VISIT TAJIKISTAN AND GEORGIA
President Ahmet Necdet Sezer will pay an official
visit to Tajikistan and Georgia on Nov. 7-9. In other diplomatic news,
after receiving the Moldavian ambassador at Presidential Palace, Sezer
responded to a question concerning a recent statement by US Defense
Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, by saying, "The request to send troops
to Afghanistan came from the US, just as they also requested this from
some other countries. Upon this request, we decided to sent troops.
However, it was not compulsory, we did it of our own will."
/Turkiye/
[02] RABBANI TO MEET WITH SEZER
Afghanistan's former head of state Burhaneddin
Rabbani, who was overthrown by that country's current Taleban regime,
will meet with Turkish President Ahmet Necdet Sezer during the
latter's visit to Tajikistan. High-level Taleban opposition authority
Seyid Huseyin Enveri said yesterday that Rabbani would fly to Dusanbe
tomorrow to meet with Sezer to discuss the situation in Afghanistan.
Meanwhile, Rabbani said that they welcomed Turkey's political and
economic support, adding, "Turkey and Afghanistan have a historic
relationship. In past years the Afghan army was trained by Turkish
military personnel and this helped to establish our army.
Additionally, Turks built the first health centers in Afghanistan. On
the current stage, Turkey can also play an important role to help
re-establish Afghanistan." /Turkiye/
[03] SEZER AND ECEVIT RECEIVE ICG DELEGATION
Turkish President Ahmet Necdet Sezer and Prime
Minister Bulent Ecevit received a delegation from International Crisis
Group's (ICG) Board of Executives of the led by former Finnish
President Martti Ahtisari. Besides Athisari, former Austrian Foreign
Minister Gareth Evans, former US Congressman Stephan Solarz, and
former US Ambassador to Turkey Morton Abromowitz were also present
during the meetings. /Turkish Daily News/
[04] PARLIAMENT TO DEBATE ARTICLE 86
Parliament is expected today to hold the first
round of talks on a proposed amendment concerning the rights of
deputies. After reaching agreement over holding talks on article 86
among themselves, the coalition partners made a proposal to this end
to the opposition parties, which reportedly welcomed the proposal
warmly. Coalition leaders remarked that the controversy over amending
Article 86 was a matter of concern to the Parliament and not the
government, and said that it was up to the deputies to decide on the
matter. The proposed amendment suggests that a clause on the salaries
and allowances of deputies be changed to, "The salaries and
allowances of the members of the Turkish Parliament shall be regulated
by law."/Turkish News/
[05] FORWARD UNIT TO PRECEDE SPECIAL FORCES IN AFGHANISTAN
A Turkish unit of 90 special forces soldiers which
will be sent to Afghanistan will be dispatched to the region when the
participation of the European countries that support the US operation
becomes clear. As part of this, a forward group that is expected to go
to Uzbekistan the day before to coordinate the deployment of the
Turkish unit will be sent soon. The Turkish unit will go to the region
after evaluating the information to be received from the leading unit.
Military sources say the latter process might last for two weeks.
/Milliyet/
[06] DENKTAS: ISMAIL CEM HAD RELIEVED TURKISH CYPRIOTS
Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC)
President Rauf Denktas yesterday said that Ismail Cem's recent
statement concerning Cyprus had relieved Turkish Cypriots and that
this statement has resulted from the Greek Cypriots bringing the case
of the divided island to be solved by the European Union. On the other
hand Undersecretary of state Ugur Ziyal said that Cem's statement was
had by driven politics. Ziyal visited the TRNC with a committee and
said that Turkey would always support Turkish Cypriots./Hürriyet/
[07] FOREIGN MINISTER CEM: ISRAEL IS NOT A "STRATEGIC
PARTNER"
Foreign Minister Ismail Cem declared in a written
statement on Monday that Turkey's relations with Israel were not
"strategic," and that the two countries had no intention of
holding joint military maneuvers on land. The foreign minister went on
to say that Turkey had managed to improve its ties with both Israel
and the Arab states, even at the most difficult of times for the
Middle East./Turkish News/
[08] GUREL: "SOUTHERN CYPRUS IS A BASE FOR TERROR AND
CRIME"
In a speech at a symposium entitled
"Independent Administrative Authorities", State Minister
Sukru Sina Gurel accused the European Union, Greece and the Greek
Cypriot administration of pursuing "hypocritical policies"
regarding the fight against terrorism. Stating that this trio should
cease to apply double standards on such an important issue, Gurel
added that Greece should shut down its Lavrion Camp where he charged,
terrorists take shelter. He also argued that Greek Cyprus had become a
center for certain illegal activities such as terrorism and money
laundering. "These countries must no longer embrace
terrorists." Gurel said. /Cumhuriyet/
[09] CONFLICT OVER CYPRUS GROWS
Turkey is seeking possible solutions for the Cyprus
issue under new circumstances in which both international pressure and
diplomatic traffic concerning the issue have significantly increased.
President Ahmet Necdet Sezer commented yesterday that a common
platform should be established so as to resume proximity talks on the
issue. Meanwhile, the EU Commission has reacted to Prime Minister
Bulent Ecevit's recent remark stating that, were the Greek Cypriot
administration admitted to the EU without reaching a permanent
solution on the island, Turkey might then annex the Turkish Republic
of Northern Cyprus (TRNC). "We regretfully denounce Turkey's
attitude. We have been trying to reach a permanent solution before the
Greek Cypriots' admittance to the EU. This is also what we
desire.", said a member of EU Commission. Meanwhile, UN Secretary
General Kofi Annan's Special Envoy to Cyprus Alvaro de Soto held
meetings yesterday in Ankara. He met with Foreign Minister Ismail Cem
and Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Ambassador Ugur Ziyal. Ziyal then
traveled to the TRNC to meet with TRNC President Rauf Denktas.
President Sezer's statement read, "Turkey has always supported
the UN secretary general's mission based on good will, and we always
will do so. However we believe that a common platform should be
established to resume proximity talks. I hope Mr. De Soto will
contribute to these efforts." /All Papers/
[10] HARRAZI IN TURKEY
Iranian Foreign Minister Kemal Harrazi arrived in
Turkey yesterday as Foreign Minister Ismail Cem's official guest. The
two ministers are expected to discuss and evaluate recent developments
in Afghanistan and their repercussions on Turkish-Iranian bilateral
relations. /Cumhuriyet/
[11] MINISTER TURK TRAVELS TO POLAND
Justice Minister Hikmet Sami Turk has gone to
Warsaw representing President Ahmet Necdet Sezer at an international
conference on fighting terrorism, the Anatolia news agency reported
yesterday. The conference is to be attended by the heads of state of
various countries or their representatives. The aim of the conference
is to enable Central, Eastern and Southeastern European countries that
have switched from a socialist economic order to a free market economy
to help the coalition that is fighting terrorism. Turk said that
Turkey, as a country that had suffered much from terrorism placed a
great deal of importance to being invited to such a conference along
with the United States and the Russian Federation. He said that when
he addressed the conference he would brief it on Turkey's general
position vis-à-vis combating terrorism and stress the importance of
international cooperation. /Turkish Daily News/
[12] ENVIRONMENT MINISTER AYTEKIN IN MOROCCO
Environment Minister Fevzi Aytekin flew to Morocco
yesterday to attend the assembly meeting of the UN Climate Change
Agreement 7th Participants' Conference. Before his flight, Aytekin
told reporters that Turkey would attend the conference as an observer.
Aytekin will return to Turkey on Nov. 10. /Turkish Daily News/
[13] CULTURE MINISTER PROMOTES 2002 ATATURK CALENDAR
A new "The Cradle of Civilizations"
promotional kit, spotlighting a dozen different types of Turkish music
and a 2002 Ataturk calendar was unveiled during a press conference
yesterday. Culture Minister Istemihan Talay gave a speech at the
unveiling ceremony emphasizing that the ministry had been working to
foster the creation of cultural values and their transformation into
works of art. He added that the Culture Ministry had spearheaded an
important effort in league with numerous art institutions, resulting
in the "Cradle of Civilizations" kit, an effort to promote
various types of music, including Turkish music, pop music,
traditional dance and classic Western music. /Turkish News/
[14] ERDOGAN: "THE GOVERNMENT SHOULD RESIGN"
Justice and Development Party (AKP) leader Recep
Tayyip Erdogan asserted yesterday that the government, not only Prime
Minister Bulent Ecevit, should resign. He said that a real vote of
trust could only be realized by elections. During a visit with
Erdogan, Spanish Ambassador to Turkey Manuel De La Camara also
remarked that Turkey needed young politicians to gain dynamism.
/Turkiye/
[15] SP TO APPLY TO CONSTITUTIONAL COURT
The Felicity Party (SP) will apply to the
Constitutional Court tomorrow with a request to rescind a
parliamentary decision giving authority to the government to send
troops abroad. SP Group Deputy Chairman Omer Vehbi Hatipoglu told
reporters that his party had collected 110 parliamentarians'
signatures, which are needed to apply to the Court. He added that the
SP was also planning to propose a censure motion for State Minister
Kemal Dervis, who they charge is responsible for the Turkish economy's
current woes. /Turkiye/
[16] CUMHURIYET OWNER BERIN NADI DIES
Cumhuriyet Newspaper owner Berin Nadi has died in
the hospital where she had been undergoing treatment, the hospital
announced yesterday. Nadi was the daughter of Celal Sahir Erozan. She
was born in 1910 in Gedikpasa and was married to the Cumhuriyet
founder Yunus Nadi's son, Nadir Nadi. Berin Nadi was 91 years old.
/All Papers/
[17] TOROS-2001 EXERCISES BEGIN
The Turkish Armed Forces' planned
"Toros-2001" exercises began yesterday in the Turkish
Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC). The exercise will be held under
the Cyprus Turkish Peace Force's leadership and administration and
within TRNC territory, territorial waters and airspace and last
through Nov. 7. /Turkiye/
[18] IMF DELEGATION HOLDS CONTACTS
The 10th review of the International Monetary Fund
(IMF) delegation chaired by IMF Turkish Desk Chief Juha Kahkonen met
yesterday with bureaucrats from the Finance Ministry, the Treasury,
the Central Bank and the State Planning Organization (DTP). During
their meeting, participants concluded Turkey's increased inflation
resulted from increases in the foreign exchange rate. They also
discussed whether or not the high October inflation rate would
necessitate a revision of next year's program targets. However, it was
reported that the targets could be revised depending on the amount of
resources expected to be given by the G-7 countries. During the first
day of the meetings, the delegation had a surprise meeting with
Finance Minister Sumer Oral and State Minister Yilmaz Karakoyunlu.
Oral said that the 2002 targets and financial policies as well and the
2001 budget had been discussed. He added that the proposals to shrink
the state were on the agenda and that these proposals might be
announced this week. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit received
State Minister for the Economy Kemal Dervis and Treasury
Undersecretary Faik Oztrak. Reportedly, Dervis and Oztrak worked on
the savings precautions package. /Milliyet/
[19] TAI TO SIGN HEAVY LOAD AIRCRAFT CONTRACT
The Turkish Aerospace Industry (TAI), which became
a major player in the aviation industry with its production of F-16,
is among eight aviation giants slated to sign a contract for the
A400M, dubbed "the heavy lift transport aircraft of the
future," the Anatolia news agency reported yesterday. The
countdown for pre-production work on the A400M project has begun. The
contract is the most important part of the project and will be signed
on Nov. 16 by all participating companies together with the French
company OCCAR and the Airbus Military Company. Once the contract is
signed, the production will begin. /Turkish Daily News/
[20] IS BANK SIGNS DEAL FOR $350 MILLION IN LOANS
Turkey's largest private leader Is Bank signed a
deal for $350 million in syndicated loans in London on Monday. The
loan package was arranged by 43 banks from the US, Europe and Japan.
/Turkish News/
[21] FROM THE COLUMNS... FROM THE COLUMNS... FROM THE
COLUMNS...
[22] CYPRUS, OR POLITICS ON THE EDGE BY HASAN CEMAL
(MILLIYET)
Columnist Hasan Cemal writes on the Cyprus issue
and recent developments concerning it. A summary of his column is as
follows: "During the years after the World War II, Turkey paved
the way for its NATO membership by sending troops to Korea. The US
played a determining role in this decision. Now we are sending troops
to Afghanistan after the Sept. 11 attacks. Will the doors of the EU be
opened with the support of the US? Some may believe so. During the war
against communism which lasted almost 50 years, Turkey's strategic
importance increased in the West. Following the Sept.11 incidents a
war against terrorism was launched. It seems that Turkey has achieved
an important position as the only secular and democratic Muslim
country, especially in the eyes of the US. Can the EU be affected by
this? This brings the Cyprus issue to mind. Turkey does not favor the
membership of the Greek-Cypriot administration to the EU before a
solution is reached on the issue. If such membership is granted, not
only Greece but also the Greek Cypriot administration will oppose
Turkey's admittance to the EU. The European Union has made mistake on
the issue. At the Helsinki Summit, it was stated that a final solution
was not required for the membership of the Greek Cypriot
administration, thus putting the horse before the cart. Therefore, the
Greek administration, did not feel the need to budge in negotiations
with the Turkish Cypriots. As it took its EU membership for granted,
it showed a reluctance for any flexibility in its stance. This policy
has led to a hardened attitude on the part of TRNC President Rauf
Denktas. This was not the result the EU was looking for. However, it
hasn't yet changed its policy. It continues to say, 'I don't care what
you say, I will admit Southern Cyprus into the Union.' As if this
weren't enough, the EU is trying to put obstacles before Turkey on
another issue as well. It says, "If you do not change your
stances regarding Cyprus and the proposed European army, I will block
the additional economic aid you need to overcome your economic
crisis.' Ankara defiantly answers,' If the Greek Cypriot
administration is admitted into the Union before reaching a final
solution, the EU can forget stability in the Eastern Mediterranean.
Turkey may integrate with the TRNC and review its relations with the
Union.' The Greece's stance during these developments is interesting.
It is watching the clash of the EU and Turkey from the sidelines
smiling, as if it were not a party to the issue. This is a policy of
tension. It can also be called crisis diplomacy, or politics on the
edge. This may last until the EU summit when the final decision on the
Greek Cypriot administration's admittance to the European Union will
be given. The sides may occasionally repeat that their stances remain
unchanged or challenge each other. This is not a pleasing prospect for
either side. This process may help those who would like to exclude
Turkey from the EU both within the country and Europe. This may not be
a good solution for Europe as either. Therefore, it would be best for
both sides to search for reasonable solutions."
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