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Turkish Press Review, 04-06-24Turkish 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 morning24.06.2004CONTENTS
[01] NSC TO CONVENE TODAYThe National Security Council chaired by President Ahmet Necdet Sezer is set to convene this afternoon at the Cankaya Presidential Palace. The meeting is to focus on recent foreign and domestic developments, including the release of the former Democracy Party (DEP) deputies, the Iraq issue and the terrorist group PKK/Kongra-gel’s activities in northern Iraq. /Turkiye_[02] ERDOGAN MEETS WITH IRAQI TURKMEN, KURDISH LEADERSPrime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan yesterday met with Iraqi Turkmen Front (ITF) leader Faruk Abdullah. After their meeting, Abdullah told reporters that he had told Erdogan about issues facing the Turkmen and recent developments in Iraq. Asked about Iraqi Patriotic Union (IPUK) leader Jalal Talabani’s recent assurances about the Turkmen, Abdullah stated that the facts on the ground were more important than any pledges. In addition, the premier met with Talabani, who is currently holding a series of contacts in Ankara. During their one-hour meeting, Erdogan reportedly complained about the Turkmen’s lack of representation in the Iraqi administration. Talabani stated that he too was distressed by this but that responsibility for it belonged to the United States and Arabs. Stressing that his group favored representation of the Turkmen on all platforms, Talabani said that the IPUK wanted the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk to have a special status with a joint Turkmen, Arab and Kurdish administration. Meanwhile, Erdogan underlined that Turkey would not welcome any formulas giving one group domination over others. “We don’t want division of the region,” said the premier. /Turkiye/[03] BUSH TO DISCUSS IRAQ, CYPRUS, PKK AND GME WITH TURKISH OFFICIALSUS President George W. Bush is expected to arrive in Ankara this weekend before proceeding to Istanbul’s NATO summit beginning on Monday. During his stay in Turkey, he is expected to discuss with Turkish officials a number of issues, including Iraq, the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk, the terrorist PKK, Cyprus, and Turkey’s role in the Greater Middle East Initiative (GME). During the meetings, Turkish officials are due to be briefed in detail on Iraq’s new administration and will likely seek US support in ending the PKK’s terrorist attacks. Ankara is also expected to seek US support on the Cyprus issue. /Turkiye/[04] SCHROEDER: “I BELIEVE THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION’S FALL REPORT WILL BE POSITIVE”Appearing on television yesterday, German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder praised Ankara’s steps for its European Union membership bid, adding that the government was on the right track. He expressed optimism that the EU could give a date to Turkey this December to begin its accession talks. “The EU should be honest about Ankara’s bid,” he said, adding that he believed the European Commission’s fall report on Turkey would be positive. Schroeder stressed that Ankara’s accession talks should begin as soon as possible if the commission releases a positive report. He added that the September 11 attacks against the US had boosted Turkey’s strategic importance. /Aksam/[05] DUTCH FM: “EU DECISIONS ON TURKEY WILL BE INDEPENDENT, TRANSPARENT, AND JUST”Speaking at a press conference yesterday, Netherlands Foreign Minister Bernard Bot said that upcoming pivotal European Union decisions on Turkey would be independent, transparent, and just. The Netherlands is to take over the EU rotating term presidency from Ireland next month and will hold it through the December summit, when a decision on starting Ankara’s accession talks is due. Asked about the objections of Austria and France to Turkey’s EU bid, Bot said that the Union would evaluate Turkey’s situation in six months. “We’ll see if Ankara is ready for the EU or not,” he said. “Recently Turkey has made important strides in its membership bid, and I believe that it will make further progress in the six months leading to the December EU summit.” /Cumhuriyet/[06] PAPADOPOULOS: “WE WON’T BLOCK TURKEY’S EU ACCESSION TALKS”Speaking to Spanish daily El Pais yesterday, Greek Cypriot leader Tassos Papadopoulossaid that provided Ankara fulfills the Copenhagen criteria, Greek Cyprus wouldn’t hinder Turkey’s accession talks with the European Union. Touching on the Cyprus issue, Papadopoulos stressed his view that reunification wasn’t possible under UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s plan, which he lobbied against earlier this year. /Milliyet/ [07] DYP CELEBRATES 21ST ANNIVERSARYThe True Path Party (DYP) yesterday celebrated the 21st anniversary of its founding. The party’s members visited Ataturk’s mausoleum at Anitkabir and later held a reception at the Akay International Hotel. Speaking at the reception, Agar said that his party supported Turkey’s European Union membership bid but went on to criticize the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), charging that its focus on getting a date to begin EU accession talks was leading it to neglect the nation. Also present at the reception was Germany’s Ambassador to Turkey Wolf Ruthart Born. /Milliyet/[08] MINIMUM WAGE GETS 5% HIKEAfter meeting yesterday, the Minimum Wage Establishment Commission announced that the minimum wage is set to rise by 5% beginning next month. Accordingly, the current figure, a net 303,079,000 TL, is supposed to rise to 318 million. However, Turk-Is labor union officials representing workers at the gathering walked out on it, charging that the increase was inadequate. /Star/[09] THY PLANE STRUCK BY LIGHTNINGA Turkish Airlines (THY) A-310 airplane carrying 181 passengers and six crew members was struck by lightning last night on the Antalya-Istanbul run. Though the plane’s radar system suffered damage, its pilots were able to make an emergency landing at Dalaman Airport. Panicked passengers were then flown to Istanbul in another plane. /Sabah/[10] FROM THE COLUMNS... FROM THE COLUMNS... FROM THE COLUMNS...[11] THE NATO SUMMITBY DAVUT DURSUN (YENI SAFAK)Columnist Davut Dursun comments on next week’s NATO summit in Istanbul and preparations for it. A summary of his column is as follows:“Turkey has been preparing for next week’s NATO summit in Istanbul for a long time now. The Istanbul city government has been busy overhauling the region called the ‘NATO Valley’ where the summit will be held. When leaders provide a service, they generally don’t consider the reaction and expectations of those who will eventually benefit from it. Instead, they take pains over the satisfaction of high-ranking officials. During the 1996Habitat II summit in Istanbul, the city took on a completely different appearance. Similarly, now certain neighborhoods and streets in Istanbul are being revamped and improved for the NATO summit. Please don’t think that I’m complaining. Sometimes I want to say it’s fortunate these events are held because they make the city more beautiful. However, I’d like such work to be done not necessarily for special occasions but as a normal service. If certain streets in Istanbul had to be renovated, why are we waiting for the NATO summit to do so? Perhaps we put more importance on show and do such things in order to win the favor of bigwigs. I think we’re overemphasizing the summit a bit. The security measures for it are extraordinary. Certain streets will be closed to traffic, and there will be land and sea restrictions for three days. As we see now, we’re good at making an event extraordinary by acting with agitation and excitement. The world’s top leaders will be in Istanbul. Of course that’s important, but we shouldn’t exaggerate the situation. There are also gradually increasing protests and demonstrations in many cities across Turkey. They are anti-Western signs saying ‘Stay Away Bush,’ and ‘No NATO.’ I wonder if those opposing NATO know anything about it. This slogan was very meaningful during the Cold War years. Particularly those who favored the Soviet Union voiced this slogan, but nobody said ‘No Warsaw Pact.’ When NATO was the defense alliance of Western countries, the Warsaw Pact was the same thing for the Soviet Bloc. When the Soviet Union collapsed, the Warsaw Pact also ended. However, NATO still exists but since 1990 it’s been facing questions about its continued relevance. It’s wrong to think of NATO as being only the US and ignoring its 25 other members. Now there is a solidarity, cooperation and common action movement in the world in the areas of the economy, politics, social issues, sports, culture, defense and security. The NATO summit is important and meaningful for Turkey. Neither the Islamic world nor NATO can exist without Turkey.” 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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