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Turkish Press Review, 05-10-18Turkish 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 morning18.10.2005FROM THE COLUMNS... FROM THE COLUMNS... FROM THE COLUMNS...CONTENTS
[01] ERDOGAN SET TO VISIT GERMANY, MEET WITH SCHROEDER AND MERKELPrime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is expected to pay an official visit to Germany within the next month and meet with former Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder to discuss Turkey’s European Union membership bid and bilateral relations. During his visit, Erdogan is also expected to meet with Angela Merkel, Schroeder’s successor. In related news, Merkel said that Turkey’s EU talks would take a long time, but they would be friendly. /Milliyet/[02] GUL HOLDS TALKS IN FINLANDForeign Minister Abdullah Gul yesterday left for Finland to pay a two-day official visit at the invitation of his Finnish counterpart Erkki Tuomioja. It is his first visit abroad since the beginning of Turkey’s European Union accession talks on Oct. 3. Speaking to reporters before his departure, Gul pointed out that Finland would assume the EU term presidency in the second half of next year, adding that his visit aimed at boosting solidarity and cooperation with Finland during Turkey’s EU accession process. Regarding the recent South Asian earthquake disaster, Gul said that Incirlik Airbase would be used to dispatch United Nations humanitarian aid to Pakistan. After his arrival, Gul was received by Finnish President Tarja Halonen at the Presidential Palace in Helsinki and then met with Finnish parliamentarians. /Turkiye/[03] ERDOGAN TO TRAVEL TO QUAKE-STRICKEN PAKISTANPrime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is scheduled to travel to quake- stricken areas of Pakistan on Thursday to lend support to the country. A plane with food relief on board will precede him, and, in addition, the premier will present a $20 million donation check to Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf. Erdogan, accompanied by a number of Cabinet ministers, is set to return to Ankara on Saturday. Meanwhile, Turkish Airlines (THY) has volunteered its services to deliver aid from Turkey to Pakistan. /Turkiye/[04] US STATE DEPT INVITES TALAT TO WASHINGTONThe US’ embrace of Northern Cyprus is continuing. In the wake of a US Senate delegation visiting Northern Cyprus, yesterday Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus President (TRNC) Mehmet Ali Talat was invited to visit Washington on Oct. 28. The invitation was delivered by Douglas Silliman, deputy director of the US State Department’s Office of Southeastern European Affairs, during his meeting with Talat. After the meeting, Talat and Silliman held a joint press conference. Silliman said that the invitation was part of efforts towards seeking a settlement on Cyprus. Talat praised the invitation, noting that every measure taken to understand and listen to the Turkish Cypriots is a very positive step. In related news, former Greek Cypriot administration leader George Vassiliou called on current leader Tassos Papadopoulos to begin an initiative to prevent the partition of the island. /Star/[05] TRNC PARLIAMENT URGES UN TO RESTART CYPRUS TALKSThe Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) Parliament yesterday passed a resolution calling for the United Nations to resume Cyprus talks towards a resolution on the island. The resolution further stated that certain provisions in Turkey’s European Union negotiating framework document made reaching an agreement with the Greek Cypriots more difficult. It also emphasized that Turkey wouldn’t recognize Greek Cyprus before a resolution is found. The resolution is expected to be sent to the UN, EU member states, the US Congress, and to the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) Secretariat General. /Milliyet/[06] EARTHQUAKES HIT AEGEAN REGIONIn the Aegean Sea region an earthquake struck yesterday at 8:45 a.m. with a magnitude of 5.7 on the Richter scale. Magnitude 5.9 and 5.6 tremors later struck at 12:46 p.m. and 12:55 p.m. All were centered some 60-70 kilometers from the Seferihisar area of Izmir. The quakes were also felt by residents in the provinces of Aydin, Manisa and Canakkale. The three strong undersea quakes caused terrified residents of Izmir to run from their homes, damaged some buildings and smashed windows. Around 30 people who jumped off balconies in a panic were being treated in hospitals. /Aksam/[07] EU EXPERTS ARRIVE TO PROBE BIRD FLUAn expert team sent to Turkey by the European Union yesterday started their investigation of the local bird flu outbreak. An EU Commission spokesman stated that they would conduct an analysis and investigation of the affected area with Turkish officials. Similar teams have been dispatched to Bulgaria and Croatia, he added. In related news, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barosso stated that the outbreak should not affect either Turkey or Romania’s membership talks. Barosso added that he cannot see any connection between the membership talks and the disease. He also cautioned people against panic. /Star/[08] CHINESE MILITARY DELEGATION VISITS TURKEYAnkara yesterday hosted a Chinese military delegation led by Gen. Xu Caihou, vice chairperson of the Central Military Commission of the People’s Republic of China. After meeting with Chief of General Staff Gen. Hilmi Ozkok, the delegation was received by President Ahmet Necdet Sezer at the Cankaya Presidential Palace. During their talks, ways to boost military cooperation were sought. /Hurriyet/[09] AKP DEPUTY OZYEGER QUITS PARTY, EXPECTED TO JOIN ANAVATANJustice and Development Party (AKP) Mugla Deputy Hasan Ozyer yesterday resigned from the party. Before the 2002 general elections, Ozyeger resigned from the Motherland Party (ANAP) to join the soon-to-win AKP. Ozyer is expected to rejoin ANAP, now called ANAVATAN. With Ozyer’s resignation, the number of AKP deputies in Parliament fell to 355. In related news, AKP Bursa Deputy Zafer Hidiroglu yesterday prepared a bill meant to prevent deputies from transferring between parties. /Hurriyet/[10] BRITISH AMBASSADOR WESTMACOTT SPEAKS AT EU CONFERENCE AT TRAKYA UNIVERSITYBritish Ambassador to Ankara Peter Westmacott yesterday spoke at a conference on “The European Union and Turkey” held at Trakya University. Westmacott stated that the European Union’s status will be enhanced by Turkey’s participation. He also stated that the European Union should act together with Turkey as a partner instead of like a headmaster at a school. /Star/[11] TURKEY DECRIES NEW MONUMENT IN FRANCETurkey yesterday sharply condemned the opening of a monument in Paris dedicated to an alleged genocide committed against Assyrians and Chaldeans in 1915 by the Ottoman Empire. A statement from the Foreign Ministry said: “Those who baselessly accuse a state of the gravest crime to be committed against humanity, genocide, are only humiliating themselves.” /Cumhuriyet/[12] IMF DELEGATION TO LEAVE ANKARA ON THURSDAYA delegation from the International Monetary Fund headed by IMF Turkey Desk Chief Lorenzo Giorgianni, currently in Turkey for the first and second review of the nation’s economic program, is expected to leave Ankara on Thursday. The delegation decided not to wait for the passage of social security and tax reforms in order to complete the first review and move on to the second. /Star/[13] FROM THE COLUMNS... FROM THE COLUMNS... FROM THE COLUMNS...[14] TALAT PLEASED BY MURAT YETKIN (RADIKAL)Columnist Murat Yetkin comments on US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice’s invitation to Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) President Mehmet Ali Talat to visit her in Washington. A summary of his column is as follows:“The US administration used an interesting diplomatic maneuver to invite Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) President Mehmet Ali Talat to visit Washington and meet with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. Actually, this visit was leaked to the press in Washington. At that time, Douglas Silliman, the US State Department’s deputy director of southern European affairs, was holding contacts in Ankara. During a press conference last Friday, US State Department spokesman Adam Ereli was asked about the step being seen by the Greek Cypriot administration as a move towards recognizing two separate political groupings on the island. Ereli said that it shouldn’t be seen that way, but as part of efforts to find a solution to the problem. The invitation was announced by Silliman yesterday, after two days, that is, after providing the Greek Cypriot-Greek lobby in Washington and Greek Cypriot-Greek governments sufficient time for an initiative. When Ereli said that Rice had previously met with Talat, he was hiding the fact that at that earlier meeting Talat was not yet TRNC president. The truth is Talat is the first TRNC president to be invited to Washington specifically to meet with the administration. When I spoke with Talat on the phone yesterday, he said, “Of course the Cyprus issue won’t be solved with this visit, but this invitation is important for several reasons. This is a step taken to end the isolation of the TRNC. This is also an indication that the great change in Turkish society has started to be recognized and understood and that the US wants the Cyprus issue to be solved. This is an important development confirming that Turkish Cypriots can be represented only by Turkish Cypriots. It showed that Greek Cypriots’ insistence as being seen as the sole representatives on the island will be in vain. This is a very good development which pleases me. This provided us with a very important opportunity. We’ll have the opportunity to tell Mrs. Rice of Turkish Cypriots’ needs in the US capital. Consequently, a foundation for finding a solution to the Cyprus issue on the basis of United Nations is being laid under the influence of Turkey’s European Union membership process. We expect that a solution will be reached on the UN basis which can be accepted by Turkish Cypriots as well.’ Of course this invitation doesn’t mean the US recognizing the TRNC. However, US sources say the aim of the invitation is ‘another step to end the Turkish Cypriots’ isolation.’ The timing of the invitation was also interesting. Today, that is, when news of this invitation was published in newspapers, Washington hosted an important guest. EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso will be at the White House to meet with US President George Bush. US presidents have met with EU commission heads before. However, for the first time there is a format of a bilateral meeting as if he is welcoming a head of state. Issues of cooperation in the Greater Middle East Initiative (GME), world trade quotas and transatlantic cooperation are on the official agenda of the meeting. I wonder if Barosso will tell of the difficult situation suffered by EU member Greek Cyprus due to Talat being invited.” 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 |