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Turkish Press Review, 06-06-28
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
28.06.2006
SEZER TRAVELING TO MOSCOW
ERDOGAN LAYS TO REST HIS ELDER
BROTHER
GUL: “WE’RE WORKING FOR A
SETTLEMENT TO THE IRAN ISSUE”
RAHSAN ECEVIT CONTINUES TOUR
FOR UNITY AGAINST AKP
BAHCELI RULES OUT PARTICIPATION
IN COALITION AGAINST AKP
ISRAEL SEEKS TURKISH SUPPORT
FOR ABDUCTED SOLDIER
US AMBASSADOR WILSON: “I’M NOT
PERSUADED THAT THE US HAS DONE ITS BEST TO
COMBAT THE PKK”
TURKISH SOLDIERS TO GO TO CONGO
AS PART OF MULTINATIONAL FORCE
FINNISH PRESIDENT: “TURKEY’S
ROAD TO THE EU IS ROCKIER”
AL-QAEDA THREATENS TURKEY
WB’S VORKINK: “WE DON’T EXPECT
A CRISIS IN TURKEY IN THE SHORT OR MID TERM”
CB HEAD: “TURKEY DOESN’T
DESERVE THESE FLUCTUATIONS”
TBB REPORTEDLY TO CALL FOR
GOVT TO REVISE MACROECONOMIC TARGETS
FROM THE COLUMNS... FROM THE
COLUMNS... FROM THE COLUMNS...
CONGO OPERATION
BY ERDAL SAFAK (SABAH)
CONTENTS
[01] SEZER TRAVELING TO MOSCOW
[02] ERDOGAN LAYS TO REST HIS ELDER
BROTHER
[03] GUL: “WE’RE WORKING FOR A
SETTLEMENT TO THE IRAN ISSUE”
[04] RAHSAN ECEVIT CONTINUES TOUR FOR
UNITY AGAINST AKP
[05] BAHCELI RULES OUT PARTICIPATION IN
COALITION AGAINST AKP
[06] ISRAEL SEEKS TURKISH SUPPORT FOR
ABDUCTED SOLDIER
[07] US AMBASSADOR WILSON: “I’M NOT
PERSUADED THAT THE US HAS DONE ITS BEST TO
COMBAT THE PKK”
[08] TURKISH SOLDIERS TO GO TO CONGO AS
PART OF MULTINATIONAL FORCE
[09] FINNISH PRESIDENT: “TURKEY’S ROAD
TO THE EU IS ROCKIER”
[10] AL-QAEDA THREATENS TURKEY
[11] WB’S VORKINK: “WE DON’T EXPECT A
CRISIS IN TURKEY IN THE SHORT OR MID TERM”
[12] CB HEAD: “TURKEY DOESN’T DESERVE
THESE FLUCTUATIONS”
[13] TBB REPORTEDLY TO CALL FOR GOVT TO
REVISE MACROECONOMIC TARGETS
[14] FROM THE COLUMNS... FROM THE
COLUMNS... FROM THE COLUMNS...
[15] CONGO OPERATION
BY
ERDAL SAFAK (SABAH)
[01] SEZER TRAVELING TO MOSCOW
President Ahmet Necdet Sezer
will travel to Russia, Moscow today for Turkey’s
first presidential visit there since the
foundation of the Russian Federation. During his
stay in Moscow, Sezer is expected to meet with
his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin at the
Kremlin to discuss bilateral political relations
besides cooperation between the two countries in
the economy and energy, plus the Cyprus issue,
Iran, and the terrorist PKK. Sezer’s visit is
expected to further develop Turkish-Russian
relations, which have recently gained momentum.
Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul will accompany
Sezer. /Milliyet/
[02] ERDOGAN LAYS TO REST HIS ELDER
BROTHER
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan yesterday attended the funeral of his
elder brother Hasan Erdogan, who died on Monday.
Erdogan was laid to rest in the town of Guneysu
in Rize with the attendance of a number of
Cabinet ministers, businessmen and politicians,
including True Path Party (DYP) leader Mehmet
Agar, as well as a large crowd of people.
/Turkiye/
[03] GUL: “WE’RE WORKING FOR A
SETTLEMENT TO THE IRAN ISSUE”
Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul
yesterday traveled to Moscow, Russia to attend
the Paris Pact meeting. Before his departure,
Gul told reporters at Istanbul’s Ataturk Airport
that Ankara was making efforts for a peaceful
settlement to the international dispute over
Iran’s nuclear program. Stressing that Turkey
and Iran were two neighboring countries, Gul
said that Turkey’s interest in the matter was
normal. “Our efforts aim to ease finding a
resolution to the issue,” said the foreign
minister. Commenting on Rahsan Ecevit’s ongoing
tour to political party leaders to form a
coalition against the ruling Justice and
Development Party (AKP), Gul said that Turkey
was a democratic country which allows all
political activities. Stating that everybody was
following the developments with keen interest,
Gul underlined that the final decision would be
made by the citizens. In addition, Gul said that
he would share impressions from his recent visit
to Tehran with Russian officials. /Turkiye/
[04] RAHSAN ECEVIT CONTINUES TOUR FOR
UNITY AGAINST AKP
As part of her efforts to form
a coalition between political parties for next
year’s general elections against the ruling
Justice and Development Party (AKP), Rahsan
Ecevit, former deputy leader of the Democratic
Leftist Party (DSP) and wife of ailing former
Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit, yesterday visited
main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP)
headquarters in Ankara to meet with CHP leader
Deniz Baykal. During the one-and-a-half-hour
talk, Baykal reportedly offered to merge with
the DSP, while Ecevit asked for establishment of
a front defending the values of the republic
against the AKP. /Aksam/
[05] BAHCELI RULES OUT PARTICIPATION IN
COALITION AGAINST AKP
Nationalist Movement Party
(MHP) leader Devlet Bahceli, in a written
statement, said yesterday that efforts to bring
political parties together against the ruling
Justice and Development Party (AKP) would only
serve to strengthen it. Claiming that political
parties unsure of their strength had initiated a
movement to form a new establishment and
coalition, Bahceli said that the MHP would not
take part in those efforts. He declared that the
MHP was the sole alternative to the ruling
power. /Aksam/
[06] ISRAEL SEEKS TURKISH SUPPORT FOR
ABDUCTED SOLDIER
While the crisis caused by
Palestinian militants’ abducting an Israeli
soldier raises tensions, the US has called on
Israel to give a chance to diplomacy. Israeli
Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni called her Turkish
counterpart Abdullah Gul to ask for Ankara’s
assistance in finding and rescuing the Israeli
soldier. Following this request, Gul telephoned
Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh to
urge him to find a solution to the abduction
crisis and to prevent a further escalation.
During the conversation Haniyeh expressed his
government’s determination to secure stability
and peace in the region, adding that although
the Palestinian administration is trying to
solve its problems with Israel through
diplomacy, Israel’s threat to invade the Gaza
Strip is creating obstacles to the process.
/Star/
[07] US AMBASSADOR WILSON: “I’M NOT
PERSUADED THAT THE US HAS DONE ITS BEST TO
COMBAT THE PKK”
US Ambassador to Turkey Ross
Wilson, visiting Izmir yesterday to attend July
4 celebrations, spoke about Turkish-US
relations. “Turkish-US relations have improved
significantly since last year,” he said. “This
development was reflected in a series of
high-level visits, including one by Secretary of
State Condoleezza Rice.” “There are certainly
many issues that we should work on,” added
Wilson. “I’m not fully persuaded that the US has
done its best to help Turkey in combating the
PKK. We’ve made some progress, but still we’ve
got more to do.” /Star/
[08] TURKISH SOLDIERS TO GO TO CONGO AS
PART OF MULTINATIONAL FORCE
Turkish soldiers will to the
Democratic Republic of Congo next month to
support the multinational force which will be on
duty during the first democratic elections since
it gained independence. A motion on this sent by
the government on June 20 was approved by
Parliament, and so Turkish soldiers will be
deployed in Congo, following a string of
deployments since 1950 in Korea, Bosnia, Kosovo,
Hebron, Sierra Leone, Afghanistan and East
Timor. /Cumhuriyet/
[09] FINNISH PRESIDENT: “TURKEY’S ROAD
TO THE EU IS ROCKIER”
Incoming European Union Term
President Finland’s President Tarja Halonen
yesterday said, “Turkey’s road to the EU is
rockier in comparison with other candidate
countries.” Halonen, currently in Austria, told
a press conference alongside his Austrian
counterpart Heinz Fisher, “The Copenhagen
criteria apply to all countries who want to be
EU members, and these criteria should suffice
for membership. But Turkey has different
problems. So Turkey’s road to the EU is rockier
than others.” Finland will become EU president
for six months beginning Saturday. /Cumhuriyet/
[10] AL-QAEDA THREATENS TURKEY
Ayman el-Zawahiri, the number
two figure in terrorist group al-Qaeda, is
saying Turkey is a target for allegedly
“distorting Islam.” Zawahiri, in a new video
shown last week on Arab news channel Al Jazeera,
said that the US administration was distorting
Islam in order to form groups loyal to them. El
Zawahiri criticized the secular structure in
Turkey and said that Turkey constituted an
example of this. Zawahiri said that Turkey was
being governed by groups which couldn’t dare to
implement Sharia law. He also criticized Turkey
for recognizing Israel and permitting US bases
and called on Muslims to continue their
resistance. /Cumhuriyet/
[11] WB’S VORKINK: “WE DON’T EXPECT A
CRISIS IN TURKEY IN THE SHORT OR MID TERM”
Speaking to English-language
daily The New Anatolian on Monday, World Bank’s
Turkey Representative Andrew Vorkink evaluated
recent economic developments, saying that he
didn’t expect a crisis in Turkey in the short or
mid term. Vorkink praised the ability of the
Central Bank and the government to make
adjustments in light of global and domestic
developments, saying that as the CB was
determined to control inflation it could raise
interest rates. Saying that the CB’s interest
hike decision was the best answer to speculation
about the independence of the CB, Vorkink stated
that monetary policy and rate hikes were
important tools in controlling inflation. He
stressed that the economy had the Banking
Regulation and Supervision Agency (BDDK)
operating independently, adding that the foreign
exchange positions of the banks were sound.
Vorkink stated that he didn’t think that next
year’s general elections would create a radical
change in basic economic policies. Saying that
Ankara’s economic policy was in line with the
European Union’s, Vorkink added that investors
would be interested in the reform process of
Turkey during its negotiation process.
/Milliyet/
[12] CB HEAD: “TURKEY DOESN’T DESERVE
THESE FLUCTUATIONS”
Addressing a conference
organized by Morgan Stanley in New York
yesterday, Central Bank Governor Durmus Yilmaz
said that foreign investors could seek to pull
out of Turkish markets, adding that he had no
objection to this. “However, the Turkish economy
and markets don’t deserve the recent
fluctuations,” he said. “Fortunately, there
aren’t negative changes in economic indicators
due to these fluctuations. The nation isn’t
demanding the dollar.” Asked what could happen
if dollar demand rose, Yilmaz said that the CB
could then increase interest rates. /Hurriyet/
[13] TBB REPORTEDLY TO CALL FOR GOVT TO
REVISE MACROECONOMIC TARGETS
The Banks Association of Turkey
(TBB) is reportedly expected to call for the
government to revise macroeconomic targets such
as inflation and growth after discussing the
issue with officials from the International
Monetary Fund. The TBB believes that such an act
would reduce uncertainty in the economy. The TBB
administration especially wants to meet with
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to discuss
the issue. /Milliyet/
[14] FROM THE COLUMNS... FROM THE
COLUMNS... FROM THE COLUMNS...
[15] CONGO OPERATION
BY
ERDAL SAFAK (SABAH)
Columnist Erdal Safak comments
on Turkey’s decision to send soldiers to the
Democratic Republic of Congo. A summary of his
column is as follows:
“We
will be more interested in the African country
of Congo from now on, because Turkey has decided
to send soldiers to Congo from the Prime
Minister’s Office motion which was passed by
Parliament yesterday. This decision has an
interesting story. The Democratic Republic of
Congo – formerly known as Zaire, and not to be
mistaken with the Republic of Congo -- was
provided with partial stability through efforts
by the United Nations, US and European Union
following a five-year civil war. A UN
peacekeeping force of 17,000 was formed, a
consensus was reached among the armed groups,
foreign experts prepared a new constitution, and
a timetable was determined for a multiparty
democratic regime. After a transition period of
three years, presidential and parliamentary
elections are to be held on July 30. The
election costing $500 million was financed by
the UN and EU and as this date approached,
Europeans’ concerns started to rise, because the
east of the country wasn’t under control, there
were armed groups and the army was doing
whatever it wanted. Finally, it was decided to
send a force from EU countries to ensure the
security of elections, and Turkey’s support was
requested. Then the request was accepted.
As
part of this, we’ll support the EU’s Congo
operation, which includes nearly 2,000 soldiers
from 25 countries, with a C-130 transport
aircraft, 15 plane personnel and liaison
officers. After Somali and Darfur, this will be
the third African deployment of Turkish
soldiers. Some Turkish Armed Forces (TSK)
members criticized this decision in emails,
asking what we’re going to do in Congo. This is
a good question, because European capitals
aren’t discounting the possibility that the EU’s
duty won’t be limited to the security of
elections but it could be forced to use weapons
with the UN force in order to suppress the
rebellion of certain groups refusing accept the
election results. Meanwhile, 74 members of the
UN force have died up to now. Congo is a poor
country with a population of 62 million, where
an average of 1,000 people dies of hunger every
day, but its underground resources are amazing:
Gold, diamonds, cobalt, copper. This wealth
whets the appetite of great forces who consider
Africa the place to settle accounts in the 21st
century. The EU, in cooperation with the US, is
planning to ensure that certain politicians
supporting the West will get power in Congo,
that is, not to let such forces as China and
Russia win this treasure spanning an area of
one-fourth of the European continent. How will
Turkey gain in this business? It will add a new
entry to its contributions to international
peace and get a big thank-you from the EU.
There’s another point: It will help the
settlement of a constitutional order and enjoy
having completed its duty, because our Professor
Mumtaz Soysal’s signature is on the Constitution
of Congo.”
ARCHIVE
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