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Turkish Press Review, 04-05-27Turkish 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> e-mail : newspot@byegm.gov.tr <caption> <_caption> Summary of the political and economic news in the Turkish press this morning27.05.2004FROM THE COLUMNS… FROM THE COLUMNS… FROM THE COLUMNS…CONTENTS
[01] ERDOGAN RECEIVES BULGARIAN FM, DUTCH PRINCE AND PRINCESSPrime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan yesterday received visiting Bulgarian Foreign Minister Solomon Passy to discuss a number of issues, including bilateral relations and various international issues. Speaking afterwards, Passy said that his visit would boost Bulgarian businessmen’s investments in Turkey, adding that they had decided to open the Rezve Border Gate to promote tourism between the two countries. The Bulgarian foreign minister further thanked Erdogan for his support for Bulgaria’s NATO membership and expressed his own country’s support for Turkey’s European Union membership bid. Later, Erdogan received visiting Dutch Prince Willem Alexander and Princes Maxima. In related news, Erdogan is due to travel to Britain today at the invitation of Oxford University, where he is due to deliver a speech on “Why the European Union Needs Turkey.” /Aksam/[02] ERDOGAN URGES EU HEAD IRELAND TO END TRNC’S ISOLATIONIn a telephone conversation yesterday, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan asked European Union Term President Ireland’s Premier Bertie Ahern to ease the embargo and isolation of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) in the runup to June’s mid-year EU summit. During their conversation, Erdogan reminded Ahern of the Turkish side’s hard work for a settlement on Cyprus, pointing out further that the TRNC could not be blamed for the failure of those efforts. Erdogan then said the TRNC should not be punished for this failure and urged concrete steps to ameliorate its situation. /Turkiye/[03] BUSH INVITES ERDOGAN TO G-8 MEETINGHailing Turkey as a “democratic ally,” a White House statement yesterday said that President George W. Bush had invited Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan to attend June’s G-8 summit in the US. Bush “looks forward to a discussion of how the G-8 can support political, economic and social freedom in the broader Middle East and North Africa, and to Turkey's contribution to this effort,'' White House spokesman Scott McClellan told reporters. The G-8 summit including seven developed countries and Russia will be held on Sea Island, Georgia on June 7. /Sabah/[04] GUL DISCUSSES RECENT CYPRUS DEVELOPMENTS WITH TALAT, DENKTASForeign Minister Abdullah Gul yesterday met with Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) Prime Minister Mehmet Ali Talat and Foreign Minister Serdar Denktas to evaluate recent developments on the Cyprus issue. In related news, Denktas is due to visit Pakistan today. /Cumhuriyet/ [05] GUL: “TURKEY MAY SENT AN AMBASSADOR TO PALESTINE”Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said yesterday that Ankara might upgrade its representation in Palestine from a consul-general to an ambassador. Speaking to reporters after meeting with his Bulgarian counterpart Solomon Passy, Gul responded affirmatively when asked whether a Turkish ambassador could be sent to Jerusalem, a city claimed by Palestine as its capital. Though Israel also calls Jerusalem its capital, this claim is not widely recognized, and most countries send their ambassadors to Tel Aviv. Gul added that Turkey's ambassador to Tel Aviv could be called back for consultations, a move he described as "quite normal." His remarks followed on Prime Minister Abdullah Gul's recent public criticism of Israeli incursions into Palestine and a pledge to upgrade Turkey's consulate in Palestine into an embassy. /Turkiye/ [06] DECISION ON DEPUTIES’ IMMUNITIES POSTPONEDParliament’s Joint Constitution-Justice Commission headed by Burhan Kuzu yesterday decided to postpone to the end of the legislative term a ruling on the immunity of nearly 140 deputies. The immunity issue concerns possible charges against True Path Party (DYP) leader Mehmet Agar, Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul, Defense Minister Vecdi Gonul, Finance Minister Kemal Unakitan and Industry and Trade Minister Ali Coskun. None can be charged under their current immunity. Gul and Agar have reportedly asked the commission to rescind their immunity. /Turkiye/[07] CHP PARLIAMENTARY GROUP HOLDS EXTRAORDINARY MEETINGAn extraordinary parliamentary group meeting of the opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) was held yesterday. During the gathering, dissident deputies voiced criticisms of party leaders and urged their resignation. In the wake of this March’s local elections, an opposition movement began in the party due to its poor showing at the ballot box. /Star/[08] VERHEUGEN: “EXCLUDING TURKEY FROM THE EU WOULD BE A GREAT MISTAKE”Speaking in the current issue of German magazine Vorwarts, Guenter Verheugen, the European Union commissioner for enlargement, warned that excluding Turkey from the EU would be a great mistake, adding however that in the short term deciding on Turkey’s membership was difficult. “The Turks will negotiate with the Union for at least a decade,” predicted Verheugen. He further praised Ankara’s reforms, adding that its reform process was in line with the EU perspective. In addition, he warned that if Turkey’s EU bid falters, this would create serious security problems for the Union. /Sabah/[09] TBB HEAD: “RECENT DEVELOPMENTS SHOW THAT OUR ECONOMY IS STILL FRAGILE”Speaking yesterday at the 47th general assembly of the Turkish Union of Banks (TBB), Ersin Ozince, head of the TBB board of directors, warned that recent economic developments proved that Turkey’s economy is still fragile. Ozince stressed that uncertainties and risks must be reduced in order to put the nation on a firmer economic footing. Also addressing the assembly, Deputy Prime Minister Abdullatif Sener said that in preparing the new Banking Law, the government was open to all suggestions from the banking sector. /Aksam/[10] TMSF CONFISCATES COMPANIES OF EROL AKSOYThe Savings Deposit Insurance Fund (TMSF) yesterday confiscated companies owned by Erol Aksoy, a former major shareholder in the seized Iktisat Bank. Citing his unpaid debts to the fund, fiscal police raided 38 of the group’s companies along with Aksoy’s Istanbul mansion. The Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency (BDDK) seized Iktisat Bank in 2001 on the grounds that its weak financial structure made it unable to meet its commitments as well as risked depositors’ rights and the stability of the banking system. In related news, Deputy Prime Minister Abdullatif Sener said that the TMSF had exercised its legal rights in the raids. /Hurriyet/[11] TRT VOTES TO BEGIN BROADCASTS IN MINORITY LANGUAGESThe Board of Directors of state broadcaster TRT voted unanimously yesterday to soon begin broadcasts in a number of minority languages. TRT head Senol Demiroz told reporters that just as in all other countries, there were sub- cultures in Turkey. “Although Turkish is our official language, we’ll broadcast in other languages,” said Demiroz. He stated that work on the matter would soon be announced to the public, adding that TRT would also prepare programs promoting regional Turkish cultures. /Milliyet/[12] FROM THE COLUMNS… FROM THE COLUMNS… FROM THE COLUMNS…[13] THE DAY AFTER THE SUMMIT BY NURAY BASARAN (AKSAM)Columnist Nuray Basaran comments on next month’s NATO summit in Istanbul. A summary of her column is as follows:“The world is now trying to read between the lines of US President George W. Bush’s address to the US Army War College on Monday. In the wake of Bush’s speech and the draft UN resolution on Iraq submitted by Washington and Britain, the international community has entered a critical phase which may culminate with next month’s NATO summit in Istanbul. The runup to the summit is seeing such significant gatherings as the NATO Chiefs of General Staff meeting, the Mediterranean dialogue meetings and technical meetings of high-level US diplomats, with more in the pipeline. In his speech, President Bush laid out the main points of his Iraq policy. In addition, the draft text presented to the UN Security Council proposes a gradual transfer of sovereignty to the new interim government and also seeks support to extend the mission of foreign troops serving there with the participation of the international community. The US and the EU are expected to hold meetings in June so as to smooth out their differences and discuss a number of critical issues, such as the role of NATO in the democratization of Afghanistan and Iraq as well as expanding NATO’s mission in the region of the US’ Greater Middle East Initiative. Moreover, next month’s G-8 summit in the US will try to draw up a budget for NATO’s new missions in general and the reconstruction of Afghanistan and Iraq in particular. In other words, the world leaders will begin to prepare an outline in their June meetings for the ‘Istanbul Initiative’ document to be released by NATO on June 29. An important question springs to mind: What will change the day after the NATO summit? I suppose the international force in Afghanistan will be reshaped in an attempt to establish stability there for its fall general elections. The Iraqi people will try to predict what the future will bring under the new interim government. The countries of the region will begin to discuss the Greater Middle East Initiative and its implications for them. But what kind of a period will begin for Turkey the day after the NATO summit? I think the answer to this question will come at the two-day meeting beginning today at the War Academies Command.” [14] TURKEY’S MISSION BY AHMET TASGETIREN (YENI SAFAK)Columnist Ahmet Tasgetiren comments on Turkey’s place in the international community. A summary of his column is as follows:“There is no doubt that Turkey is a very important country for many reasons. ‘The problems of the world cannot be resolved without the contribution of Turkey,’ former US President Bill Clinton once told the Turkish Parliament. Any responsible person can see how important Turkey’s mission is. Our prime minister spoke of the chaos in Iraq last week during his meeting with the British premier, who is the other major partner of the bloody coalition. Britain is expected to act as a go-between between Turkey and the European Union. So our prime minister voiced his criticisms and expectations at the same time. If a country has self-confidence, such as stance is not improper. Our prime minister is perhaps the only world leader to clearly condemn the torture scandal in Iraq, calling on his international counterparts to assume a humanitarian stance in the war-torn county. He is also one of the few statesmen to have branded the recent Israeli violence against the Palestinians as ‘acts of state terrorism.’ No matter how close are our relations with the US or how influential Jewish lobbies in the US are, adopting a peaceful and humanitarian stance must be a sine qua non for our foreign policy. Meanwhile, the Turkish Parliament criticized the recent violations of human rights in Iraq and the Palestinian territories. Our Parliament is also skeptical about the US’ Greater Middle East Initiative. Next month’s NATO summit in Istanbul will address all these issues in detail. Perhaps our prime minister will ask about the place of the Iraqi and Palestinian tragedies within NATO’s mission? He will bring up how the concerns of the Islamic world about NATO and the GME could be assuaged. Turkey is important to NATO, the US, Russia, the EU, Israel, the Palestinian territories and the Islamic world as well as Arabs, Kurds, Shiites, and Iranians... There is no doubt that Turkey also attaches the highest importance to its relations with these countries and groups. Turkey is a great country. I’m not exaggerating, nor is this a vulgar nationalism. I just want to draw attention to the great potential of our country. Getting rid of inferiority complexes... Turkey might play a major role in the region. The NATO summit will be a test and will probably face many protests due to the recent developments in Iraq and the Palestinian territories. Let’s wait and see if the government can manage to maintain a balance between public protests and Turkey’s foreign policy. I want to be optimistic.” 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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