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Turkish Press Review, 02-08-13Turkish 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> <map name="FPMap1"> </map> <map name="FPMap1"></map> Press & Information Turkish Press Summary of the political and economic news in the Turkish press this morning13.08.2002SEZER MOVES TO HEAD OFF POLITICAL APPOINTMENTS SEZER APPROVES SUPPLEMENTARY BUDGET LAW YILMAZ: “ANAP WILL NOT MAKE ALLIANCES WITH OTHER PARTIES” DERVIS BRIEFS BAYAR ON MEETING WITH ECEVIT CEM: “WE ARE ORGANIZING NEW TURKEY VOLUNTEERS” BAHCELI TO DISCUSS OCALAN WITH ECEVIT, YILMAZ TURKER BEGINS DUTIES AS ECONOMY MINISTER DEPUTY JOINS CHP, PARTY REPRESENTED IN PARLIAMENT ATAA WORKING FOR “TURKISH DAY” DECLARATION IN THE US TURKISH FOLK DANCE GROUP TAKES SECOND IN POLISH COMPETITION FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE COLUMNS TURKER, A HARD-WORKING AND RESOLUTE POLITICIAN BY FIKRET BILA (MILLIYET) A UNITY LACKING BASES BY CUNEYT ARCAYUREK (CUMHURIYET)CONTENTS
[01] SEZER MOVES TO HEAD OFF POLITICAL APPOINTMENTSPresident Ahmet Necdet Sezer yesterday reportedly sent a directive to the Prime Ministry in a bid to block political appointments by the coalition government parties in their remaining months in power. The directive moved that so-called “triple decrees” -- ones signed by Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit, Deputy Prime Minister Devlet Bahceli, and the relevant minister -- should not be sent to Sezer for approval. However, the directive added that appointments originating from the Cabinet could be forwarded for his signature. /Milliyet/[02] SEZER APPROVES SUPPLEMENTARY BUDGET LAWPresident Ahmet Necdet Sezer yesterday approved a supplementary budget law involving the transfer of TL 150 trillion to the Finance Ministry. Under this law, Finance Ministry resources will be available for the use of the Supreme Elections Board (YSK) for this November’s early elections and also for political parties participating in the elections. /Cumhuriyet/[03] YILMAZ: “ANAP WILL NOT MAKE ALLIANCES WITH OTHER PARTIES”Motherland Party (ANAP) leader and Deputy Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz yesterday announced that ANAP would not make alliances with any other political party. Last week Yilmaz had visited a number of parties’ leaders with an eye towards making alliances and changing the elections system. But some leaders rejected this offer, and others disagreed with him on how to best change the system. Addressing the evident lack of success in his efforts, Yilmaz said, “We did our best to cooperate in November’s early elections with other modern, democratic parties which support Turkey’s European Union membership bid, but they didn’t accept our offer. Thus we will start to draw up our own candidates’ lists.” /Sabah/[04] DERVIS BRIEFS BAYAR ON MEETING WITH ECEVITIn his meeting with Democratic Turkey Party (DTP) leader Mehmet Ali Bayar on Sunday, former Economy Minister Kemal Dervis reportedly briefed Bayar on his recent meeting with Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit and explained why he favored alliances for November’s elections. “My meeting with Ecevit was quite difficult,” he reportedly told Bayar. “Our relations go deep, so I couldn’t resign before or just after meeting him.” Dervis met with Ecevit last Friday and left the economy minister post the next day. Speaking to reporters after talking with Bayar, he stated, “I see the DTP as one of the most important formations in Turkish political life and I would like to work with it.” Dervis is also expected to meet with Ecevit and Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Deniz Baykal this week. /Sabah/[05] CEM: “WE ARE ORGANIZING NEW TURKEY VOLUNTEERS”Former Foreign Minister and New Turkey (YT) leader Ismail Cem stated yesterday that besides setting up the YT’s provincial and district organizations of women and young people, his party had started to organize volunteers for the YT. Cem also said that the YT’s volunteer ranks would be formed by thousands of people who had applied to the party personally or through letter or e-mail. “These volunteer groups will carry the YT’s messages back to their own circles,” added Cem. /Cumhuriyet/[06] BAHCELI TO DISCUSS OCALAN WITH ECEVIT, YILMAZNationalist Action Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahceli has reportedly called on his government coalition partners, Prime Minister and Democratic Left Party (DSP) leader Bulent Ecevit and Motherland Party (ANAP) leader Mesut Yilmaz, to meet with him to discuss the situation of terrorist organization PKK head Abdullah Ocalan. Sources say that Bahceli will, rather uncharacteristically, suggest that Ocalan be interred in an F-type prison rather than continue to be housed in isolation as the sole inmate on Imrali Island. During the debates over death penalty abolition, Bahceli had continually argued that Ocalan deserved execution for his crimes. Nevertheless, if Ecevit and Yilmaz reject Bahceli’s F-type prison proposal, he will reportedly try to use this issue against them in campaigns for elections this fall. /Aksam/[07] TURKER BEGINS DUTIES AS ECONOMY MINISTERTurkey’s new State Minister for the Economy Masum Turker yesterday officially took over the post from his predecessor Kemal Dervis. Speaking to reporters after meeting with Turker, Dervis said that Turkey was going through an election process, but that this should not affect the markets negatively. On the contrary, Turkey will navigate this transitional period through by democratic means, he added. Dervis also stated that Turkey was lucky to have Turker at the post. Dervis also thanked Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit for calling him to service in Turkey last year. For his part, Turker stated that Dervis and he shared common ground on a number of economic issues. /Hurriyet/[08] DEPUTY JOINS CHP, PARTY REPRESENTED IN PARLIAMENTMustafa Yilmaz, independent deputy from Gaziantep, yesterday joined the Republican People’s Party (CHP). With his action, the CHP became the 10th political party represented in Parliament, while the number of independent deputies fell to 16. /Turkiye/[09] TOBB TO LOBBY FOR EU MEMBERSHIPTurkish Union of Chambers and Commodities Exchange (TOBB) Chairman Rifat Hisarciklioglu said yesterday that Turkey should intensify its lobbying efforts to obtain a date for EU membership negotiations. Criticizing politicians for concentrating on election campaigns rather than Turkey’s EU bid, Hisarciklioglu said that the TOBB would initiate lobbying efforts on the matter both at home and abroad in September and October. Turkey’s businessmen want amendments to the Political Parties and Elections Law, said Hisarciklioglu, since unfortunately holding elections without any amendments might cause a complicated situation which could lead to new elections. He added that the TOBB was opposed to the idea of an operation in Iraq. /Turkiye/[10] ATAA WORKING FOR “TURKISH DAY” DECLARATION IN THE USThe Assembly of Turkish American Associations (ATAA) has begun initiatives to have Oct. 29 declared as “Day of the Republic of Turkey” in the United States by sending letters to all the governors in all 50 US states. Stressing that they had begun to get positive replies to their request, ATAA officials said that they were also planning to organize “Turkish Days” in Indianapolis in August in the honor of the Turkish Basketball Team, which will attend this year’s World Basketball Championship there. /Turkiye/[11] TURKISH FOLK DANCE GROUP TAKES SECOND IN POLISH COMPETITIONThe Ankara-based Authentic Folk Dance Youth Association took second prize in this week’s 39th Beskid Culture Week Folk Dance Contest held in Poland, the association announced yesterday. Other participating countries included Angola, Russia, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Italy and Denmark, and Slovakia placed first. In addition, the Turkish group was awarded the Special Jury Prize. /Aksam/[12] FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE COLUMNS[13] TURKER, A HARD-WORKING AND RESOLUTE POLITICIAN BY FIKRET BILA (MILLIYET)Columnist Fikret Bila writes on recent statements by newly appointed State Economy Minister Masum Turker. A summary of his column is as follows:“Former State Minister for the Economy Kemal Dervis yesterday handed over his duties to newly appointed State Economy Minister Masum Turker in a ceremony held at the Treasury. More than a ceremony, it was, in fact, a three-and-a-half-hour meeting between economy and treasury bureaucrats. A number of high-level officials discussed Turkey’s current economic conditions, economic program and plans for the future. ‘I do believe that the Turkish economy is in good hands,’ said Dervis. ‘Turker’s performance during the last 48 hours, his stance and statements have already displayed that he would greatly contribute to the development of the Turkish economy.’ Dervis also pledged to lend Turker his full support when and if needed. In talking to Turker at his office after the ceremony, I could see that he is a hard-working politician. He places great importance on doing away with the disparity in living conditions of the different social classes. That’s why his first act was to meet with the representatives of the workers’ and civil servants’ trade unions. ‘The economic program is proceeding well,’ said Turker. ‘We’ve already reached all the targets we had previously set out. However, there are two more issues to be focused on: 1) the transfer of resources to the manufacturing sector and, 2) the social aspects of the economic program. That’s why I decided to first meet with the representatives of workers and civil servants.’ Turker was satisfied with his recent meeting with Dervis. ‘I thanked him for his great contributions to the revival of the Turkish economy,’ said the minister. ‘I believe that we will always exchange views and hold consultations on economic matters.’ Speaking on the ‘social liberal synthesis,’ a theoretical concept recently put forward by Dervis in order to mark his new position in the political arena, Turker remarked that it referred to a different expression of the ‘social market economy’ concept. ‘In a free market economy, we always have to be careful about maintaining the social balances. There mustn’t be huge gaps between the various social classes. A market economy shouldn’t mean that the lower classes always live under difficult conditions and are deprived of their basic needs.’ Another significant point stressed by Turker is the possible negative affects of the chaotic early elections atmosphere on the economy. ‘I’d never let the atmosphere of elections upset the economic balances,’ said the new state minister. ‘I believe that neither the transfer of resources to the manufacturing sector nor eliminating the social deficiencies of the program necessitate additional loans. If we refrain from getting caught in the stream of populist election campaigns for the sake of more votes and if we also establish a sound and healthy platform of communication with all social classes, I believe that we can continue to implement all the policies set out in the economic program.’ Turker’s statements show that the Treasury will work hard during his term.” [14] A UNITY LACKING BASES BY CUNEYT ARCAYUREK (CUMHURIYET)Columnist Cuneyt Arcayurek writes on Former State Minister Kemal Dervis’s continuing quest for a broad-based political alliance. A summary of his column is as follows:“We are experiencing a syndrome, the ‘Dervis syndrome,’ so much so that it has become almost impossible to discuss or write about the elections and political parties. Dervis has resigned from his state minister post and prospects of his joining to the New Turkey (YT) have turned into a riddle. Husamettin Ozkan a former deputy prime minister and one of the YT’s top figures, reportedly warned Dervis when last they spoke that his hesitating to join the YT was doing it harm. Dervis is certainly aware of this, but he also wants to continue his search for an alliance on the center left. His quest for a broad-based political framework has taken many ambiguous forms. His last miraculous proposal is to unite the parties on the center left and to not let a single vote be wasted. Leaving aside his hesitation about joining the YT, he even gives the impression that he is looking for another party to become its member. Dervis’s only rationale for this is an analysis projecting that the half of the parties on both the center left and right won’t be able to reach the election threshold, thus multiplying the number of seats in Parliament held by the Justice and Development Party (AKP). In contrast, YT Chairman Ismail Cem along with Husamettin Ozkan hold exactly the opposite view. They think that the YT, without any doubt, will meet the 10% threshold and achieve even better than that. It seems that the Cem–Ozkan duo has been unable to persuade Dervis. His willingness to unite the center left under a single umbrella lacks, however, some very basic elements. First of all, no one has yet laid down the criteria around which this unity is going to be carried out. Without such a totality of basic aims and targets, this sincere wish of Dervis is doomed to stay a mere fiction. Let’s imagine that the Democratic Left Party (DSP), the YT, the Republican People’s Party (CHP) and the Democratic Turkey Party (DTP) prove successful in getting together and entering the elections. Will this alliance be able to form a coherent, harmonious government against the AKP? Moreover, what will be this government’s basic criteria and targets in economic and social policy? Hardly anyone knows the answers to these questions, not even Dervis himself. Let’s be realistic. The DSP has being declaring for quite a long time that it would not take part in such an alliance anyway. The CHP is pessimistic about Dervis. What is left? The YT and the DTP. What if these two unite? Nothing will come from this except for an empty and an imaginary world.” 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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