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Turkish Press Review, 05-07-07
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
07.07.2005
ERDOGAN ADDRESSES US
BUSINESSMEN IN SUN VALLEY
GUL: “TURKEY’S STATUS WILL
RISE ON OCT. 3”
EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT
APPROVES REPORT ON WOMEN IN TURKEY
DENKTAS RECEIVES STATE
HONORARY MEDAL
ERDOGAN TO MEET WITH PUTIN
DEHAP MEMBERS MEET WITH EU
ENLARGEMENT COMMISSIONER
AGAR: “THE LAW ON THE HIGH
BOARD OF JUDGES AND PROSECUTORS SHOULD BE
AMENDED”
RUSSIAN AGRICULTURE
MINISTER SPEAKS ON IMPORTS FROM TURKEY
EURASIAN ECONOMY SUMMIT
DISCUSSES SMEs
PAMUK: “THE EU SHOULDN’T
BETRAY TURKEY”
FROM THE COLUMNS... FROM
THE COLUMNS... FROM THE COLUMNS...
NEGOTIATIONS FRAMEWORK
BY GUNDUZ AKTAN (RADIKAL)
CONTENTS
[01] ERDOGAN ADDRESSES US
BUSINESSMEN IN SUN VALLEY
[02] GUL: “TURKEY’S STATUS WILL RISE
ON OCT. 3”
[03] EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT APPROVES
REPORT ON WOMEN IN TURKEY
[04] DENKTAS RECEIVES STATE HONORARY
MEDAL
[05] ERDOGAN TO MEET WITH PUTIN
[06] DEHAP MEMBERS MEET WITH EU
ENLARGEMENT COMMISSIONER
[07] AGAR: “THE LAW ON THE HIGH
BOARD OF JUDGES AND PROSECUTORS SHOULD BE
AMENDED”
[08] RUSSIAN AGRICULTURE MINISTER
SPEAKS ON IMPORTS FROM TURKEY
[09] EURASIAN ECONOMY SUMMIT
DISCUSSES SMEs
[10] PAMUK: “THE EU SHOULDN’T BETRAY
TURKEY”
[11] FROM THE COLUMNS... FROM THE
COLUMNS... FROM THE COLUMNS...
[12] NEGOTIATIONS FRAMEWORK
BY GUNDUZ AKTAN (RADIKAL)
[01] ERDOGAN ADDRESSES US
BUSINESSMEN IN SUN VALLEY
As an honorary guest, Prime Minister Recep
Tayyip Erdogan yesterday addressed a conference
in Sun Valley, Idaho attended by the CEOs of
internationally famous businesses. Erdogan told
US businessmen about Turkey’s democratic
experience and his views on the relationship
between religion and democratic values. “Turkey
is a key actor and should play an active role in
efforts to head off a clash of civilizations,”
Erdogan said in his speech, which focused on
Turkey’s democratic model as a synthesis of
Islamic values and secularism. “If Turkey joins
the European Union, it will prove to the world
that the West and the East, in other words,
Islam and other religions, can coexist
peacefully. Turkey is aware that the Islamic
world needs reforms to improve itself and often
calls on Muslim countries to change so as to
catch up with modern standards.” Erdogan also
stressed that secularism should be considered a
principle of social peace. “My country displays
the best example of harmony between religion and
democracy,” he said. “A Muslim nation can adopt
and sustain democratic principles, because Islam
embraces human rights, justice and equality.”
Erdogan’s accompanying delegation included chief
EU talks negotiator Ali Babacan and AKP Istanbul
Deputy Egemen Bagis as translator. Bill Gates,
News Corp.'s Rupert Murdoch, Disney’s Michael
Eisner and Ron Meyer of NBC were among business
leaders at the meeting. /Hurriyet/
[02] GUL: “TURKEY’S STATUS WILL RISE
ON OCT. 3”
Appearing on news channel NTV, Foreign
Minister Abdullah Gul yesterday said that
starting negotiations with the European Union
would give Turkey an enhanced status in the eyes
of the international community. “After Oct. 3, I
believe that Turkey will make great progress on
economy and other issues,” he said. “In
addition, we will have to get used to the
existence of different and contradictory views
after our membership talks begin.” Speaking also
to Turkish Agency-Cyprus (TAK), Gul gave an
upbeat assessment of last week’s Organization of
the Islamic Conference (OIC) meeting in Yemen.
“The OIC made important decisions on the Turkish
Cypriots,” he said. “We convinced the OIC
leaders that we are right in our Cyprus case. We
met individually with each and every leader, and
then we were able to initiate a process of
recognition of Turkish Cyprus by the OIC
members.” /Turkiye/
[03] EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT APPROVES
REPORT ON WOMEN IN TURKEY
A report entitled “The Role of Women in
Turkey in Social, Economic and Political Life”
prepared by Social Democrat Emine Bozkurt, a
Dutch citizen of Turkish descent, was approved
yesterday in the European Parliament. The report
states that women should play a more active role
in Turkish politics and in order to achieve
this, electoral quotas should be established for
women. According to the report, all marriages
and births should be recorded and all citizens
of both genders should be able to benefit from
educational and health services equally. Turkey
providing financial support to organizations
that protect women’s rights, assuring
educational opportunities for all women,
building more women’s shelters for victims of
domestic violence, and conducting women’s rights
educational campaigns were other measures urged
by Bozkurt’s report. In related news, the EP
rejected a bill on the wearing of headscarves in
public areas due to a lack of consensus on the
issue. /Cumhuriyet/
[04] DENKTAS RECEIVES STATE HONORARY
MEDAL
Former Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus
(TRNC) President Rauf Denktas yesterday received
a State Honorary Medal at a ceremony at the
Cankaya Presidential Palace. In attendance at
the ceremony were President Ahmet Necdet Sezer,
Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul, Chief of General
Staff Gen. Hilmi Ozkok, former Prime Minister
Bulent Ecevit, True Path Party (DYP) leader
Mehmet Agar and a number of deputies. Speaking
at the ceremony, Sezer told Denktas, “The
Turkish people will never forget your invaluable
services.” /Sabah/
[05] ERDOGAN TO MEET WITH PUTIN
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan will meet
with Russian President Vladimir Putin for the
fourth time this year in Sochi, the Black Sea at
Putin’s residence. Erdogan had recently
telephoned Putin to discuss the problems between
Turkey and Russia concerning fruit and vegetable
exports. Following this phone call, Putin
invited Erdogan to his country. Therefore,
Erdogan is expected to travel to Sochi in
mid-July to discuss bilateral relations and
regional developments with the Russian leader.
/Star/
[06] DEHAP MEMBERS MEET WITH EU
ENLARGEMENT COMMISSIONER
European Union Commissioner for Enlargement
Olli Rehn yesterday met with Diyarbakir Mayor
Osman Baydemir and Democratic People’s Party
(DEHAP) leader Tuncer Bakirhan at the European
Parliament. During the meeting, Turkey’s EU
membership process was discussed. Speaking to
reporters afterwards, Baydemir said that he had
held contacts at the EP in order to support
Turkey’s EU membership and the process of
democratization. “Clashes and deaths in Turkey’s
southeastern region should end so that the
nation’s democratization process is not
interrupted,” he said. “During our contacts, we
said that clashes should stop unconditionally.
We consider such clashes the chief obstacle to
democratization as well as economic and social
development.” /Milliyet/
[07] AGAR: “THE LAW ON THE HIGH
BOARD OF JUDGES AND PROSECUTORS SHOULD BE
AMENDED”
True Path Party (DYP) head Mehmet Agar
yesterday criticized the government for what he
called “politicization” of the judicial organs.
Agar argued that the Parliament should reconvene
as soon as possible to debate the issue. He also
proposed that the justice minister and
undersecretary should no longer be members of
the High Board of Judges and Prosecutors. “The
law should be amended to prevent the
politicization of the judiciary,” he added. Agar
also claimed that if Turkey signs the Ankara
Agreement’s additional protocol, its 30-year
struggle for Turkish Cypriots would lose all
meaning. Yesterday, Agar also met with former
President Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus
(TRNC) President Dervis Eroglu. /Star/
[08] RUSSIAN AGRICULTURE MINISTER
SPEAKS ON IMPORTS FROM TURKEY
Russian Agriculture Minister Aleksey Gordeev
yesterday met with State Minister Kursad Tuzmen
to discuss a recent ban on the import of fruit
and vegetables from Turkey to Russia. Following
the meeting, Gordeev said, “The ban imposed by
Russia was actually beneficial for both our
countries. When we gave the order to establish
close cooperation in agriculture, we supposed
that the mechanism was working among current
institutions. However, in practice, we realized
that there are many gaps in commercial relations
between Turkey and Russia, particularly
concerning agricultural products. For this
reason, the one-month ban helped to lay out the
parties’ mutual expectations. Following the ban,
the Turkish side has been doing a good job and
addressing our concerns.”
[09] EURASIAN ECONOMY SUMMIT
DISCUSSES SMEs
Industry and Commerce Minister Ali Coskun
yesterday said that small- and medium-sized
enterprises (SMEs) are very important for the
Turkish economy. On the second day of the
Eurasian Economy Summit, SMEs were discussed.
“We will solve the funding problems of SMEs by
establishing SME stock markets in the organized
industrial regions,” Coskun said. “People and
institutions in Turkey who are authorized to
found banks will also be allowed to establish
these stock markets.” /Turkiye/
[10] PAMUK: “THE EU SHOULDN’T BETRAY
TURKEY”
Speaking to German daily Frankfurter
Allgemaine Zeitung, novelist Orhan Pamuk, who
was recently chosen recipient of a peace prize
by the German Publishers’ and Booksellers’
Association, said that he, like all Turks would
feel betrayed if “special partnership” were
offered Ankara instead of full European Union
membership. “Limited Turkish democracy would be
reformed by EU measures,” added Pamuk. “Just the
belief of membership has changed many things,
but if Europe starts to have doubts about
Turkey’s membership, then anti-European forces
would destroy Turkish democracy.” He also said
that the speech that he will deliver when
receiving his price is very important to him and
that he would choose his words with care. Pamuk
will receive his price on Oct. 23. /Milliyet/
[11] FROM THE COLUMNS... FROM THE
COLUMNS... FROM THE COLUMNS...
[12] NEGOTIATIONS FRAMEWORK
BY GUNDUZ AKTAN (RADIKAL)
Columnist Gunduz Aktan comments on the
negotiations framework recently finalized by the
European Union Commission. A summary of his
column is as follows:
“The European Union Commission prepared the
negotiations framework document and stated that
our membership talks would start on Oct. 3. The
document consists of quotations from the results
of summits, progress reports and Partnership
Council decisions. Therefore, its contents are
no surprise. However, this document works
against us due to the choice of quotations, the
way they were organized and the things which
were put in and left out. Likewise, the Western
press agrees that it’s too harsh and that it
can’t be compared to the process for other
candidate countries. The document doesn’t
actually say that negotiations will start on
Oct. 3. According to Articles 17 and 18, the
process of official scanning will start on that
date. The commission will probably spread this
process out to one year, and real membership
talks will only start at the end of 2006 or
2007. From the first line of the document, it
states that our membership depends on our
success and the speed of meeting membership
conditions. However, those who are against our
EU membership might hinder our bid. Listing the
Copenhagen criteria, Article 2 of the document
added a sentence including “minority rights,” in
other words, collective rights. However, the
Copenhagen criteria on this issue consist only
of respecting and protecting minorities. Article
12 states that we will participate in the
economic and monetary union, but that our
conditions would be separately evaluated for our
adopting the euro. Similarly, it says that
‘detailed technical harmonization’ can’t be
determined during the negotiations and that this
work would be carried out on a date close to
membership. These additions give the impression
that it aims to impose a burden on Turkey.
The document states that ‘negotiations aiming
at membership are open ended,’ but the Croatian
document containing the same sentence makes the
open endedness contingent on the ‘nature of
negotiations.’ Omitting this expression in our
document means that we might not join the EU due
to reasons outside the nature of negotiations.
As if Croatia is completely meeting the
Copenhagen criteria, there is no reference to
the ‘implementation’ of reforms in the Croatian
document. This stance is evidence of the
European prejudice against us. Our document
includes the famous paragraph of last December’s
summit document, which limits our membership or
envisages the privileged partnership indirectly,
concerning permanent derogation. The Croatian
document doesn’t include this. The document
envisages possibly restarting negotiations in
the light of shortcomings in reforms or new
developments in the acquis commaunitaire, at the
end of each chapter of negotiations. This
situation gives the commission the opportunity
to stretch out our membership talks and shows
that it acted from the assumption that the
membership talks will last a long time.
Suspending negotiations in the case of violation
of human rights is included in the Croatian
document, but the authority was left to the
commission en masse. However, in our situation,
negotiations can be stopped by the request of
only one-third of the commission. In its current
situation, the document can easily stretch out
our membership talks, move to privileged
partnership, or even deny us EU membership. In
brief, the basic aim of giving the Oct. 3 date
was to ensure our dependence on European
structures, even if we can’t join the EU.”
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