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Turkish Press Review, 04-04-15
From: Turkish Directorate General of Press and Information <http://www.byegm.gov.tr>
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Summary of the political and economic
news in the Turkish press this morning
15.04.2004
FROM THE COLUMNS... FROM THE COLUMNS... FROM THE COLUMNS...
CONTENTS
[01] SEZER: “DISCUSSION OF CYPRUS PLAN IS USEFUL, BUT PEOPLE SHOULD NOT BE HURTFUL”
[02] GUL: “WE’RE AGAINST POSTPONING THE CYPRUS REFERENDUMS”
[03] GREECE JOINS ANKARA IN OPPOSING REFERENDUM POSTPONEMENT
[04] TALAT: “POSTPONEMENT IS POSSIBLE ONLY IF THE EU SUSPENDS GREEK CYPRUS’ ACCESSION”
[05] TURKISH CYPRIOTS RALLY IN FAVOR OF UN PLAN
[06] EP COMMISSION VOTES IN FAVOR OF CYPRUS PLAN
[07] VERHEUGEN SUCCESSOR JANEZ POTOCNIK: “THERE’S NO REASON TO OPPOSE TURKEY’S EU MEMBERSHIP BID”
[08] ALIYEV ADDRESSES TURKISH PARLIAMENT
[09] ERDOGAN RETURNS FROM JAPAN
[10] FROM THE COLUMNS... FROM THE COLUMNS... FROM THE COLUMNS...
[11] LISTENING TO DENKTAS BY TAHA AKYOL (MILLIYET)
[01] SEZER: “DISCUSSION OF CYPRUS PLAN IS USEFUL, BUT PEOPLE SHOULD NOT BE
HURTFUL”
Speaking at the Military Academy in Istanbul yesterday, President Ahmet
Necdet Sezer said that public discussion of the Cyprus plan was useful but
that he was sorry to see the deepening of differences and hurtful
statements in such forums. Pointing to the importance of including
derogations for Turkish Cyprus in the European Union’s primary law, Sezer
called this a test of the EU’s sincerity. Stressing that the United
Nations’ Cyprus plan still contained certain unsatisfactory points for the
Turkish side, the president said, “We should seriously examine whether in
the future its pluses for the Turkish side could be eroded or lost
completely.” In addition, Sezer said that Turkey could not be included in
the countries of the US’ Greater Middle East Project. “Turkey is a secular
country and remarks that we’re an ‘Islamic Republic’ or ‘Moderate Islam’
are both inappropriate and unacceptable,” said the president, alluding to
recent comments by US Secretary of State Colin Powell, later hastily
withdrawn. /Milliyet/
[02] GUL: “WE’RE AGAINST POSTPONING THE CYPRUS REFERENDUMS”
Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul yesterday firmly rebuffed efforts to put off
the April 24-scheduled referendums on the Cyprus plan. Commenting on UN
Secretary-General Kofi Annan recent statement that if all sides request it,
the referendums could be held after May 1 (when Greek Cyprus is set to join
the European Union), Gul said that the votes should be carried out as
scheduled. “Holding referendums after May 1 would mean starting again from
square one,” he warned. “We won’t accept this.” In related news, Turkish
Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) President Rauf Denktas is set to address
the Parliament in Ankara today. While Parliament Speaker Bulent Arinc and
Gul are expected to attend the session to hear Denktas’s speech, Prime
Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and some other Cabinet ministers will be
absent due to prior engagements. In related news, Deputy Prime Minister
Abdullatif Sener and State Minister Ali Babacan are set today to attend a
European Union’s donors meeting in Brussels where financial aid for a
United Cyprus will be discussed. /Turkiye/
[03] GREECE JOINS ANKARA IN OPPOSING REFERENDUM POSTPONEMENT
Greece Foreign Ministry spokesman George Kumucakos said yesterday that
Athens had no intention of seeking postponement of referendums set for
April 24 on Cyprus. Prime Minister Costas Simitis also said that the
government would publicly announce its stance on the matter today. On the
other hand, Greek Cyprus’ Communist AKEL party, the government’s senior
coalition partner, yesterday voted internally in favor of a postponement,
and then conveyed this message to US Secretary of State Colin Powell.
/Turkiye/
[04] TALAT: “POSTPONEMENT IS POSSIBLE ONLY IF THE EU SUSPENDS GREEK CYPRUS’
ACCESSION”
Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) Prime Minister Mehmet Ali Talat,
who is currently in Brussels to attend a session of the European Parliament,
yesterday urged the European Union to pressure Greek Cypriots to accept the
UN Cyprus plan at referendums set for April 24. Addressing the EP, Talat
said that the EU could work in league with Ankara in order to persuade both
Turkish and Greek Cypriots to accept the UN Cyprus plan in the island-wide
referendums. Talat further reiterated his rejection of calls to postpone
the referendums, adding that doing so would be possible only if the
European Union decides to suspend Greek Cyprus’s membership, currently
scheduled to begin officially on May 1. The premier also criticized TRNC
President Rauf Denktas’s opposition to the UN plan, adding that most
Turkish Cypriots didn’t share his views and that his post was purely
symbolic. /Aksam/
[05] TURKISH CYPRIOTS RALLY IN FAVOR OF UN PLAN
Tens of thousands of Turkish Cypriots yesterday gathered in Inonu Square in
Nicosia, capital of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), in
support of the UN plan for the island. The demonstration, organized by a
host of political parties, trade unions and non-governmental organizations
(NGOs) also urged that referendums on the plan be held on April 24 as
scheduled. Some 40,000, or one-fifth of the TRNC's population, are
estimated to have attended the rally. /Milliyet/
[06] EP COMMISSION VOTES IN FAVOR OF CYPRUS PLAN
The European Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Commission yesterday passed an 11-
article bill expressing support for the United Nations Cyprus plan. The
bill, which hails the plan as “a historic compromise,” was prepared by
European Parliamentarian Jacques Poos and is expected to be discussed by
the full EP on Monday. In related news, Special UN Cyprus Envoy Alvaro de
Soto said that Secretary-General Kofi Annan was disappointed with Greek
Cypriot leader Tassos Papadopoulos’s opposition to the plan. /Turkiye/
[07] VERHEUGEN SUCCESSOR JANEZ POTOCNIK: “THERE’S NO REASON TO OPPOSE
TURKEY’S EU MEMBERSHIP BID”
Janez Potocnik, who next month is set to succeed European Union
Commissioner for Enlargement Guenter Verheugen, said yesterday that he saw
no reason to oppose Ankara’s EU membership bid. “I’m sure that Muslims will
embrace the EU’s norms and democratic principles,” he said, adding that
Turkey could also play a key role in bridging the EU and the Islamic world.
/Aksam/
[08] ALIYEV ADDRESSES TURKISH PARLIAMENT
The good health of friendly relations between Turkey and Azerbaijan is
strengthening with each passing day, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev
told the Turkish Parliament yesterday. Aliyev, who is currently on an
official visit to Turkey, also stressed that the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil
pipeline project would bolster ties between Baku and Ankara. “The project
will usher in stability, confidence and power in our region,” Aliyev said.
The Azerbaijani leader later met with Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul and
former President Suleyman Demirel. /Hurriyet/
[09] ERDOGAN RETURNS FROM JAPAN
On the last day of his visit to Japan, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan
yesterday toured a Toyota factory in Aichi. Afterwards, Erdogan proceeded
to Osaka via a special high-speed train and meet with the city’s mayor,
Junichi Seki. Before returning to Turkey, Erdogan had dinner on a boat and
drank tea in a traditional Japanese ceremony. /Sabah/
[10] FROM THE COLUMNS... FROM THE COLUMNS... FROM THE COLUMNS...
[11] LISTENING TO DENKTAS BY TAHA AKYOL (MILLIYET)
Columnist Taha Akyol comments on Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC)
President Rauf Denkas’ forthcoming address to Parliament. A summary of his
column is as follows:
“Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) President Rauf Denkas is due to
address our Parliament today. It would have been an unforgivable error to
reject his request to speak there. Actually I consider Denktas’s stance
mistaken but I also know that he’s a hero. Denktas has devoted his entire
life to the Turkish Cypriots. He didn’t lose his morale when facing
disasters and now he can’t be pleased with the prospect of making peace
with ‘the enemy.’ This is understandable. Of course Denktas speaks with
imperial generosity but when generosity and reason clash, thereason should
win out. In a statement dated April 1, he said, ‘The system of
guarantorship concerns our security. The United Nations altered a point
which it put in a document that it had previously accepted. Six thousand
Turkish soldiers were supposed to stay here, but now they say they will
review this once every three years. After a couple of years of review, the
soldiers will surely be made to leave and all Turkey’s ties with our island
will end.’ Concerning the positive aspects of UN Secretary-General Kofi
Annan’s plan, Chief of General Staff Gen. Hilmi Ozkok said this week, ‘We
can see that Turkey’s guarantorship has been strengthened in the latest
plan. If we want to stay on the island, we would have the right to keep our
soldiers on Cyprus. Under the plan, the Turkish Cypriot nation will live in
an atmosphere of peace maintained by the police, the UN peacekeeping force
and the Turkish Armed Forces [TSK].’
Of course the plan carries negative sides and risks as well, which Ozkok
also enumerated. Painting everything as dark in order to smear the plan
before the referendum makes Denktas appear desperate. We can understand
Denktas. His psychology comes from his heroic struggle of past years. When
Denktas speaks to the Parliament today, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan
won’t be in the audience. This is no surprise because this week Denktas
charged that Erdogan had been ‘deceived’ on Cyprus. However, Justice and
Development Party (AKP) deputies should go to the Parliament and listen to
him with respect, and Denktas should speak fluently and carefully, without
dispelling people’s respect for him. For history now wants a solution.”
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