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Turkish Press Review, 02-10-21Turkish 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 morning21.10.2002US GENS. FRANKS, RALSTON IN ANKARA TO CONFER WITH TURKISH OFFICIALS IKDP REPRESENTATIVES TO VISIT ANKARA ECEVIT: “THE DSP STANDS OPPOSED TO THE ENEMIES OF SECULARISM” YILMAZ: “ANAP HAS WHAT IT TAKES TO SOLVE TURKEY’S PROBLEMS” BAHCELI: OUR COALITION GOVERNMENT HAS BEEN SUCCESSFUL” CILLER, KUTAN, ERDOGAN SEEK VOTER SUPPORT TURKMENS HOLD DEMONSTRATION IN ISTANBUL CLERIDES DECLARES “DIPLOMATIC WAR” AGAINST TURKEY ON CYPRUS ISSUE VURAL CALLS ON LEADERS TO PROMOTE TURKEY’S EU MEMBERSHIP BID TURKISH LEADERS MEET WITH EU AMBASSADORS BLUE STREAM PIPELINE PROJECT COMPLETED CRISIS MANAGEMENT MANEUVERS TO BE HELD IN DECEMBER AGRICULTURAL SUMMIT HELD IN KUSADASI FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE COLUMNS BUSH, SADDAM, AND THE US GENERALS BY DERYA SAZAK (MILLIYET) KURDS LOSE SWAY IN IRAQI OPPOSITION GROUPS BY FERAI TINC (HURRIYET)CONTENTS
[01] US GENS. FRANKS, RALSTON IN ANKARA TO CONFER WITH TURKISH OFFICIALSGen. Tommy Franks, the Us commander for the Persian Gulf region, and Joseph Ralston, who commands NATO’s forces in Europe, yesterday arrived in Ankara to meet with Turkish officials. The two military leaders, the likely commanders of a possible US operation in Iraq, are to leave Turkey this afternoon following their contacts at Turkish General Staff Headquarters. Plans for an Iraqi operation will reportedly be discussed during their meetings. /All Papers/[02] IKDP REPRESENTATIVES TO VISIT ANKARATwo Iraqi Kurdistan Democratic Party (IKDP) representatives will pay a visit to Ankara this week. Hosyar Zebari, the IKDP’s foreign policy chief, and Necirvan Barzani, prime minister of the IKDP’s so-called regional government, are expected to discuss recent developments in northern Iraq with Turkish officials. /Turkiye/[03] ECEVIT: “THE DSP STANDS OPPOSED TO THE ENEMIES OF SECULARISM”Prime Minister and Democratic Left Party (DSP) leader Bulent Ecevit yesterday characterized his party as a defender of secularism against those who both oppose it and exploit religion towards that end. Speaking at a campaign rally in Istanbul, Ecevit added that though his long tenure at the DSP helm was nearing its end, he would continue to serve the party in other capacities. /Milliyet/[04] YILMAZ: “ANAP HAS WHAT IT TAKES TO SOLVE TURKEY’S PROBLEMS”Deputy Prime Minister and Motherland Party (ANAP) leader Mesut Yilmaz said yesterday that his party’s staff and leadership were fully capable of tackling the nation’s most pressing issues. At a campaign stop in the central Anatolian city of Nevsehir, Yilmaz asserted that ANAP boasted an ability unparalleled among the other political parties of solving Turkey’s problems. He further pledged to establish two universities in the city. /Milliyet/[05] BAHCELI: OUR COALITION GOVERNMENT HAS BEEN SUCCESSFUL”Deputy Prime Minister and Nationalist Action Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahceli said yesterday that the current coalition government, of which the MHP is a partner, had been successful in its initiatives and policies over its three years in power. Speaking in the western Anatolian provinces of Bursa and Balikesir, Bahceli added that current conditions required holding early elections since they made it impossible for the government to continue its mission. /Milliyet/[06] CILLER, KUTAN, ERDOGAN SEEK VOTER SUPPORTOver the weekend, Turkey’s political parties continued their individual election campaigns in full force, with the clock ticking fast towards Nov. 3 polls scarcely two weeks away. True Path Party (DYP) leader Tansu Ciller visited the southern city of Hatay to seek voter support, and Felicity Party (SP) leader Recai Kutan did the same in Izmit, just east of Istanbul. Addressing a campaign rally in Izmir, Justice and Development Party (AKP) leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan also asked for the citizens’ votes, saying that the AKP would make no promises that it wouldn’t be able to keep. /Milliyet/[07] TURKMENS HOLD DEMONSTRATION IN ISTANBULA group of Iraqi Turkmens held a demonstration in Istanbul yesterday to protest initiatives to establish a Kurdish state in northern Iraq. Addressing the crowd, Parliament Deputy Speaker Murat Sokmenoglu said that Kirkuk was a Turkish province, adding that Ankara should set its sights on helping to establish an autonomous Turkmen region called Kirkuk in the region. /Turkiye/[08] CLERIDES DECLARES “DIPLOMATIC WAR” AGAINST TURKEY ON CYPRUS ISSUEGreek Cypriot administration leader Glafcos Clerides over the weekend declared a “diplomatic war” against Turkey on the Cyprus problem, claiming that now was the most critical period for the issue since 1974, referring to Turkey’s Peace Operation to save the lives of the island’s ethnic Turks. Stating that Greek Cypriot leaders were planning to do their utmost in their diplomatic war against their counterparts in Turkey, Clerides remarked that his nation would cooperate with Greece, the United Nations and other countries involved in the Cyprus issue. /Cumhuriyet/[09] VURAL CALLS ON LEADERS TO PROMOTE TURKEY’S EU MEMBERSHIP BIDAppearing on CNN Turk over the weekend, Secretary-General for European Union Affairs Volkan Vural called on Turkey’s political party leaders to visit European Union member state capitals after the Nov. 3 elections in order to promote Turkey’s EU membership bid. “If such unified action can be taken by all the political parties in Parliament as a sign of Turkey’s determination and political will, I believe this would greatly help our quest to get a specific date for the beginning of accession negotiations,” said Vural. Turkey is hoping to get such a date at December’s EU Copenhagen summit. /Cumhuriyet/[10] TURKISH LEADERS MEET WITH EU AMBASSADORSAs the Nov. 3 early elections loom on the horizon, Turkish leaders are holding a series of meetings with ambassadors from European Union member states in order to discuss Turkey’s future and its EU membership bid. New Turkey Party (YTP) Chairman Ismail Cem and Republican People’s Party (CHP) Chairman Deniz Baykal yesterday met with a group of the EU ambassadors in Brussels. Today, Motherland Party (ANAP) leader Must Yilmaz and tomorrow, True Path Party (DYP) leader Tansu Ciller are also to meet with the ambassadors. Justice and Development Party (AKP) Chairman Tayyip Erdogan is also due to visit Brussels on Wednesday to meet with Ireland’s ambassador to the EU. Yesterday, Irish voters approved an initiative giving the green light to the EU’s expansion, an expansion which Turkey hopes to be a part of. /Sabah/[11] BLUE STREAM PIPELINE PROJECT COMPLETEDThe construction of the Blue Stream, a natural gas pipeline project connecting the Russian Federation and Turkey, was completed over the weekend. The Russian-Samsun pipeline and Samsun-Ankara pipeline segments were yesterday linked to each other in Samsun, a Black Sea province, with a ceremony attended by Energy Minister Zeki Cakan. Under the project, a 501-kilometer long pipeline has been installed between Samsun and Ankara and a natural gas measuring station built in Samsun. Stating that Turkey’s natural gas needs would be largely met with Russian natural gas transported via the pipeline, Cakan said, “Thanks to the Blue Stream, Turkey will be able to transfer Russian natural gas directly without the help of any intermediary country. This natural gas will then be distributed throughout our country.” /Cumhuriyet/[12] CRISIS MANAGEMENT MANEUVERS TO BE HELD IN DECEMBERTurkey is planning to hold National Crisis Management Maneuvers in December as part of its preparations for a possible US military operation in Iraq. The maneuvers will be held with the participation of the Prime Ministry, Office of the Chief of the General Staff and all other related institutions. Their chief aim will be to find optimum ways to handle a national crisis, evaluate all possible measures that might be taken in times of crisis and ensure full cooperation and coordination between all state institutions. /Star/[13] AGRICULTURAL SUMMIT HELD IN KUSADASIThe Eighth International Agricultural Mechanization and Energy Congress ended in Kusadasi on Saturday. The four-day event was attended by a host of agricultural sector experts from both home and abroad. /Turkiye/[14] FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE COLUMNS[15] BUSH, SADDAM, AND THE US GENERALS BY DERYA SAZAK (MILLIYET)Columnist Derya Sazak comments on a possible operation by the US against Iraq. A summary of his column is as follows:“Two weeks before our parliamentary elections, Ankara will host two important US generals. Gen. Tommy Franks will come to Turkey in order to discuss Turkey’s role in plans for a ‘second Gulf War’ along with his colleague Gen. Joseph Ralston, commander of NATO’s forces in Europe. After this visit, the National Security Council (MGK) will convene to discuss the US’ ‘Iraq plan.’ Certainly Washington will request the use of a ‘headquarters’ in Turkey as it did during the ‘first Gulf War,’ because taking out Saddam depends on paralyzing Baghdad from the air. Prime Minister Ecevit’s recently stated concern about ‘losing our young people’ over Iraq is a fear that well might become real if Turkey is dragged into a war similar to Vietnam. The Pentagon worked hard to overcome the US ‘Vietnam syndrome’ during 1991’s Gulf War. Famous American journalist and historian David Halberstam provides striking military details about the Gulf War in his recent book ’War in a Time of Peace.’ For example, we can catch a possible glimpse into the strategic thinking of Pentagon generals by looking at the role of Col. John A. Warden in planning that era’s air attacks against Baghdad. Warden, who retired in 1996, was an officer who tirelessly lobbied for his own ideas and when he failed to win over one high-ranking general, he turned without hesitation to the next. After Warden left Vietnam in deep frustration, he studied the air campaigns of World War II. In that war, planes which hit their target would proceed to the next target. However, their possibility of actually hitting the mark would be low. In the Gulf War, Warden suggested to Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf and Joint Chiefs Chairman Colin Powell -- now secretary of state -- the method of ‘parallel attack,’ a method designed to paralyze Iraq’s ‘central military nervous system’ through simultaneous attack across all levels, including the strategic, operational and tactical. Instead of carrying out heavy bombardment against targets near Baghdad, he reasoned, it would be more effective if the US used its computer and satellite technology to launch intensive attacks against targets to be determined from far away through spy planes. The result was what Warden had expected: The US destroyed the Iraqi military force in six weeks and Saddam’s tanks were buried in the desert. In the decade plus since the Gulf War, technology has been vastly improved. However, this time Saddam himself will be the target, and he will try any method, including chemical weapons attacks, in order to survive. But it would be hard to take Baghdad without launching a ground military assault. Bush’s generals will request a headquarters in Turkey. What should Ankara do? My best advice is to remember Clemencau’s famous words: ‘War is too serious a business to be left to the generals’.” [16] KURDS LOSE SWAY IN IRAQI OPPOSITION GROUPS BY FERAI TINC (HURRIYET)Columnist Ferai Tinc writes on recent developments in northern Iraq. A summary of her column is as follows:“Kurds constitute a significant portion of Iraq’s population and a powerful group within its opposition. Yet, it’s clear that they are far from being capable of igniting a movement to overthrow the existing regime in Iraq unless they reach a compromise with Iraq’s Arabs, Turkmens and Assyrians, either those in the country or the expatriates, and their affiliated political institutions. Since the Arabs and Turkmens have been excluded from previous preliminary meetings of Iraqi opposition groups, attempts to convene a general opposition congress have come to naught. According to recent reports I’ve received from several opposition circles in Iraq, the Kurds have begun to lose sway among the overall groups opposed to Saddam Hussein. At a meeting held in London some 10 days ago, the Shiites announced that they didn’t want a federation in Iraq. They stressed that Baghdad was the capital of the country and that Kirkuk replacing it was nothing but a pipe dream. At an opposition meeting held in Canada last week with the participation of Turkmens, Kurds, Assyrians and Communists, Iraqi National Congress Chairman Ahmet Celebi said that a federation based on ethnic grounds in Iraq was unacceptable. When reminded of Massoud Barzani’s designs on oil-rich Kirkuk, Celebi said: ‘Kirkuk belongs to all the Iraqi people. Barzani’s views are his own and cannot be represented as those of the new Iraq to be formed.’ Moreover, a novel approach has newly being emerging among opposition groups. Accordingly, they say: ‘At the moment we aren’t fully authorized to discuss every detail of the new system in a future Iraq, since we don’t represent the political will of the Iraqi people in its fullest sense. The most appropriate platform to discuss these issues would be a constitutive assembly gathered once Saddam’s regime is overthrown.’ To this view, liberal and nationalist Arabs are giving the most support. One thing Celebi said deserves the utmost attention: ‘The new Iraq to be established should try to sustain good relations with its neighbors, especially Turkey and Iran.’ Turkey is leery of getting into contact with opposition groups besides the Turkmens and Kurds, so as not to damage its relations with Saddam’s regime. Isn’t it the time for Turkey to abandon this attitude? Having good relations with neighboring countries is important, but is Iraq taking into consideration Turkey’s efforts to avoid war?” 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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