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Turkish Press Review, 04-12-23Turkish 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 morning23.12.2004FROM THE COLUMNS… FROM THE COLUMNS… FROM THE COLUMNS…CONTENTS
[01] IN VISIT TO SYRIA, ERDOGAN MEETS WITH ASSAD AND AL-OTARIBeginning his two-day official visit to Damascus, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan yesterday met with Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad as well as his Syrian counterpart Muhammad Naji al-Otari. During his talks with Assad, Turkey’s EU bid and stability in the Middle East were discussed. “We want to further strengthen our relations with Turkey,” said Assad. “We place great importance on activities that bring our two peoples closer together. The positive political cooperation between our countries should continue.” He added, “If we can eliminate economic red tape, this will provide new openings.” Assad and his wife Esma hosted a luncheon in the honor of Erdogan and his wife Emine, with State Ministers Mehmet Aydin and Kursad Tuzmen, Energy and Natural Resources Minister Hilmi Guler, and Turkish Ambassador to Damascus Halit Cevik also in attendance. Erdogan and al-Otari signed a free trade agreement and discussed possible Turkish investments in Syria and joint agricultural projects. “The economic and trade ties between our two countries will henceforth be governed by the agreements we signed today,” Erdogan told a joint press conference. For his part al-Otari said, “We also discussed the issue of taking water from the Dicle [Tigris] River. Erdogan’s approach to the issue is positive, and he said necessary technical support could be provided.” Stating that they also discussed the Mideast peace process, Erdogan said, “We talked about finding just and permanent solutions to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and what we can do to ensure stability and peace in our region.” At a Turkish-Syrian Business Council meeting, Erdogan also said that businessmen of both countries played a key role in improving relations. /All papers/[02] ERDOGAN, ARINC ISSUE MESSAGES MARKING OBSERVANCE OF CHRISTMASPrime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Parliament Speaker Bulent Arinc yesterday issued messages marking Saturday’s observance of Christmas by Turkey’s non-Orthodox Christian citizens. In his message Arinc emphasized the significant of the holiday in Christianity, while Erdogan said that he shared the enthusiasm of Christian citizens. /Hurriyet/[03] ERDOGAN: “THE TURKISH SIDE WILL MAKE EVERY EFFORT FOR A SETTLEMENT ON CYPRUS”Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan signaled yesterday that the Turkish side would soon begin initiatives to reach a settlement on Cyprus, an issue recently put before Turkey as an obstacle to its European Union membership. Before leaving for Syria to pay an official visit, Erdogan told reporters at Esenboga Airport that the Turkish side would make every effort to bring peace to the island. Stressing that the coming days and months would see the start of new initiatives, Erdogan said Turkey had always sought peace and a settlement on Cyprus. The premier underlined that the fourth round of negotiations in line with the UN’s Cyprus plan also came about through the Turkish side’s initiative. Those talks ended in failure this spring with Greek Cyprus’ rejection of the plan. /Turkiye/[04] ARINC CRITICIZES OPPOSITION STANCE ON TURKEY’S EU ACCESSION TALKSAddressing the Ankara Chamber of Commerce (ATO) yesterday, Parliament Speaker Bulent Arinc criticized the opposition Republican People’s Party’s (CHP) stance on Turkey recently winning a date to begin its accession talks, calling it both insincere and jealous. “Everybody should see the government’s success,” he said. “Nobody has the right to minimize this success.” Arinc also criticized the European Union’s stance on the Cyprus issue, adding that it would do better by helping efforts to reach a resolution on the island. /Aksam/[05] FOREIGN MINISTRY: “WE WANT TO BEGIN OUR SCREENING PROCESS AS SOON AS POSSIBLE”Responding yesterday to European Commission head Jose Barrasso’s statement this week that Ankara’s legislative screening process could be completed by Oct. 3, 2005, Foreign Ministry Spokesman Namik Tan stressed that Ankara also wanted to begin the process as soon as possible. “Our efforts are directed towards this goal,” said Tan. “A definite date for beginning the screening process has yet to be set, but it will soon.” /Cumhuriyet/[06] DENKTAS BLASTS EU PUSH FOR RECOGNITION OF GREEK CYPRUSAddressing a panel discussion yesterday on “The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), Turkey, and the European Union after Dec. 17” held at Istanbul’s Yildiz Technical University, TRNC President Rauf Denktas blasted the EU’s stance on Cyprus in bargaining over Ankara’s membership bid. “What Turkey is being asked to do in advance in this bargaining is to recognize a terrorist administration which they call 'the government of the Cyprus republic’,” said Denktas. He warned that the Mediterranean would be closed to Turkey if it lost Cyprus, adding, “Where is the ‘partnership republic’ which was founded [in 1960] together with and guaranteed by Turkey, Greece, and Britain? There is no such republic today. It was ended for the sake of enosis [political union with Greece].” Denktas further asked, “As for those telling Turkey to come to the EU after settling the Cyprus issue, don’t they know that it wasn’t Turkey which started the problem, but the Greek Cypriots and Greece? Don’t they know they are violating international agreements by calling the Greek Cypriot administration the 'legitimate government of Cyprus'?” /Hurriyet/[07] TRNC HEADS TOWARD FEBRUARY EARLY ELECTIONSThe Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) is set to hold early general elections on Feb. 20, 2005. The official period of the elections will begin tomorrow after the decision to hold them is published in the Official Gazette. The coalition government formed by the Republican Turkish Party (CTP) and Democratic Party (DP) lost its majority in Parliament in April, and then resigned in October. /Turkiye/[08] TRNC’S TALAT SAYS GREEK SIDE STILL UNDECIDED ON ANNAN’S PLANTurkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) Prime Minister Mehmet Ali Talat said yesterday that the ball was in the Greek side now. “The game will begin if Greek Cypriot leader Tassos Papadopulos puts the ball into play,” said Talat. “He sat on the ball, but didn’t kick it.” Appearing on television, Talat said that Turkish side had accepted UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s plan, but the Greek side was as yet undecided yet on the matter. Stressing that Greek Cypriot politicians wanted Annan’s plan to be a basis for a resolution, Talat said, “However, they aren’t making any concrete proposals telling what they actually want.” Through active policies, we should urge Papadopulos to start the game, added the TRNC premier. /Turkiye/[09] FROM THE COLUMNS… FROM THE COLUMNS… FROM THE COLUMNS… [00] SAYING IT SIMPLY BY ASLI AYDINTASBAS (SABAH)Columnist Asli Aydintasbas writes on Turkey’s relations with the United States and the European Union. A summary of her column is as follows:“In his recent letter of congratulations to US National Security Advisor Condoleezaa Rice, soon to be secretary of state, Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul stressed an important point: “Turkey and the US share the same ideals of freedom and democracy.’ In the aftermath of the Dec. 17 European Union summit, we should remember Gul’s letter. What he underscored there was that Turkish-American relations must be seen as ‘supplementary’ to our country’s EU membership bid, rather than an alternative. Some believe that Europe is trying to form a power alternative to the US, and that the old continent is incapable of doing so without Turkey. However, neither the US nor the Europeans see each other as rivals. Let alone French populism and the Iraqi crisis, Europe has no intention of forming an alternative military power to America’s. As a matter of fact, Europe believes that Turkey’s 50-year friendship with the US is a blessing for our country. Recognizing this fact, Gul and his diplomats are making great efforts to keep our relations with the US on track. Two days ago, ministry spokesman Namik Tan issued a statement thanking American forces for helping to deal with last week’s deadly terrorist attack against Turkish security guards in Mosul, Iraq. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan also echoed Tan’s words when he spoke this week with President Bush on the phone. Therefore, we must leave behind our old, outmoded mentality, the one paralyzed by the fear of separatism and epitomized by the famous charge that ‘Everybody’s trying to divide our country.’ Turkey isn’t a lonely, isolated country which is constantly being exploited by foreign countries. Our country does have friends in Europe, and our government is capable of producing solutions to the world’s problems. Or at least, we must see ourselves like this. We can’t accuse the EU of being a ‘Christian club’ or ‘acting like Crusaders’ every time we hit a bump on our road to membership. We have to compromise at the negotiations table. ‘As you walk down this hall, are you aware of the importance of this moment?’ Luxembourg Foreign Minister asked Gul during the concluding minutes of the Brussels summit. Because Turkey isn’t a country alone fighting dragons… Because we have friends out there… The more Western you feel, the more you become a Westerner.” [10] CYPRUS, TURKS, AND GREEK CYPRIOTS BY TAHA AKYOL (MILLIYET)Columnist Taha Akyol comments on Turkey’s relations with the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), Greek Cypriots, the European Union and the US. A summary of his column is as follows:“The Cyprus issue is back in the spotlight. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that efforts towards a solution should restart under a framework similar to that of UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s plan. Dutch Prime Minister Jan-Peter Balkenende wants Annan to intervene in the issue again. US State Department spokesman Richard Boucher also referred to Annan’s plan and his arbitration. However, Greek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis and Greek Cypriot leader Tassos Papadopoulos are opposing this idea. Papadopoulos has three conditions to restart the Cyprus talks: * Annan shouldn’t be an arbiter to fill in the blanks during the talks * Not small revisions, but sweeping changes should be made to Annan’s plan * The Cyprus talks should be open-ended with no obligation to conclude them within a certain period of time. We should look at these in evaluating the Cyprus issue. Why should the talks be open-ended, without a deadline? The reason is clear. After our EU membership talks start on Oct. 3, the Greek Cypriots will carry out their talks in parallel. They will want concessions from Turkey on the Cyprus issue, which is why they stipulate that large changes should be made to Annan’s plan. In this case, Turkey can put pressure on the Greek Cypriots by being allied with the US and EU leanings towards Annan’s plan and his working as a mediator, and by getting them to put pressure on the Greek Cypriots. In addition, the Greek Cypriots think that the US supports Turkey for strategic reasons. That’s why they oppose Annan’s arbitration. Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) President Rauf Denktas also opposes Annan’s plan and his arbitration, of course due to entirely different reasons. However, his stance is weakening Turkey’s hand. If we follow Denktas, can we get the US and the EU to put pressure on the Greek Cypriots? If Denktas had signed onto Annan’s plan this March, both the Turkish side and Turkey would now have a stronger diplomatic hand. Now Denktas might be ignoring our foreign policy priorities and see us only as his supporter, but he should know that if Turkey is diplomatically weak this would weaken the Turkish Cypriots even more. Denktas should prove his fidelity towards Turkey not though rhetoric, but political action. Only then will both the TRNC and Turkey benefit.” 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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