Turkish Press Review, 06-09-08

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From: Turkish Directorate General of Press and Information <http://www.byegm.gov.tr>

08.09.2006

CONTENTS

[01] GUL, GERMAN FM STEINMEIER CALL FOR INTERCULTURAL DIALOGUE

[01] GUL, GERMAN FM STEINMEIER CALL FOR INTERCULTURAL DIALOGUE

Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul is set to travel to Paris next week to attend a conference on the dialogue of nations and cultures, and to have talks with French officials. As part of his contacts, Gul is expected to meet with his French counterpart Philippe Douste-Blazy and to exchange views on bilateral relations, Turkey’s European Union membership process and regional issues. /Milliyet/[03] OFFICIALS DISCUSS LEBANON ISSUE

Following Parliament's approval of a motion to send troops to Lebanon, officials from the General Staff, Prime Ministry and Foreign Ministry convened yesterday afternoon in Ankara to discuss technical details of the matter. During the gathering, the Prime Ministry was represented by the Emergency Administration General Directorate, which will coordinate humanitarian aid to Lebanon. /Cumhuriyet/[04] EXPEDITION TO TRAVEL TO LEBANON

A seven-member expedition led by Brigadier Gen. Tahir Bekiroglu is set to travel to Lebanon tomorrow. The team will decide where Turkish troops will be deployed there. Last month, in the company of Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul, a military group visited the region and during their one-week stay in Lebanon did preliminary work for Turkish troop deployment. Turkish troops are expected to be deployed in the region between the Litani River and Israeli border, as well as near the Sur Harbor. In related news, Lebanese Premier Fuad Saniora telephoned his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan to express his pleasure at the Turkish Parliament’s approving sending troops to his country to ensure peace. Furthermore, US State Department spokesman Sean McCormack also said that Washington welcomed Turkey’s decision on the matter. /Cumhuriyet-Turkiye/[05] GOVT. DECIDES TO APPOINT RETIRED GEN. BASER AS ANTI-PKK COORDINATOR

The government has decided to appoint retired Gen. Edip Baser as its special anti-PKK coordinator after the US recently appointed former NATO Supreme Allied Commander Gen. Joseph Ralston as special envoy to bolster efforts against the PKK. Though the government and the General Staff reached consensus on the issue, the issue also needs the approval of President Ahmet Necdet Sezer. The decree will be sent to Sezer before Ralston’s official visit to Ankara next week. /Milliyet/ [06] BABACAN: “TURKEY HAS RED LINES ON CYPRUS”

Turkey’s chief European Union negotiator Ali Babacan yesterday stated that they were working to fulfill democratic reforms before the EU Commission’s progress report to be released next month and also conveyed a message on Turkey opening its harbors and ports to Greek Cypriots, saying, “Don’t ask us about things we can’t do.” Babacan yesterday held bilateral contacts with EU Commissioner for Enlargement Olli Rehn and Belgium’s Foreign Minister Karel De Gucht. Babacan also attended a screening meeting on the judiciary and basic rights and freedom chapter for Turkey’s EU talks. During the meeting with Rehn, the EU side urged Babacan to keep up with the reform process and also asked for action on the ports issue. Babacan replied that Turkey had made its red lines clear, adding, “We’re open to every kind of effort and alternative except for this. We won’t be the side fleeing negotiations; on the contrary, we’ll be the side seeking a solution.” /Hurriyet/[07] ISRAEL’S AMBASSADOR TO ANKARA: “TURKISH-ISRAELI RELATIONS HAVE NEVER BEEN SO GOOD”

Speaking at a meeting of the International Strategic Research Institution (USAK), Israel’s Ambassador to Ankara Pinhas Avivi said yesterday that relations between Israel and Turkey have never been so good as during the rule of the Justice and Development Party (AKP), adding that Israel didn’t expect Turkish troops in Lebanon to fight for the Israelis. Pinhas further stated that Turkey wasn’t sending soldiers to the UN peacekeeping force for Israel’s sake, and added, “It will send soldiers for its own national interests and regional responsibilities.” /Sabah/[08] IN NEW YORK, STATE MINISTER AYDIN MEETS WITH KHATAMI UNDER ALLIANCE OF CIVILIZATIONS INITIATIVE

State Minister Mehmet Aydin, the Turkish co-chairman of the alliance of civilizations initiative, yesterday met with former Iranian President Khatami in New York under the auspices of the Turkish and Spanish effort. Spanish Co-Chair Federico Mayor was also present at the meeting. Speaking at a joint press conference afterwards, Aydin and Mayor briefed the reporters on the content of a report set to be presented to UN Secretary- General Kofi Annan on Nov. 14. For his part, Aydin said that the initiative’s goal was to end prejudices against various cultures. /Milliyet/ [09] WB’S VORKINK: “TURKEY WILL JOIN THE LEAGUE OF GROWING ECONOMIES”

World Bank Turkey Director Andrew Vorkink said yesterday that Turkey, like China and India, would be included in the ranks of “growing economies.” Vorkink stated that Turkey’s role in the global economy had strengthened and in this context it deserved a trade quota hike. He further stressed that it was very positive that international institutions recognized the strengthening economic status of Turkey, adding that Turkey’s rising national income bettered its position in the WB. /Aksam/ [10] CB HEAD ADDRESSES CONFERENCE ON MONETARY POLICY

Speaking at a conference on monetary policy yesterday, Central Bank Governor Durmus Yilmaz said that meeting the inflation target of 5% for the end of this year was out of reach, but added, “Lower inflation in August is important for maintaining single-digit inflation.” Stressing that price stability was indispensable, but hadn’t been achieved yet, Yilmaz added that efforts to bring down inflation were continuing. He predicted that negative effects of the YTL’s depreciation could lessen, adding that the fluctuation between May and July is expected to reduce domestic demand. /Aksam/[11] RECONCILIATION BOARD MEETS WITH GOVT, CIVIL SERVANTS’ REPRESENTATIVES

The Reconciliation Board, established after the failure last week of collective bargaining meetings to provide a compromise between government and civil servants on their salary hike for next year, yesterday separately met with representatives from all sides. The board first met with a delegation from Memur-Sen and then Kamu-Sen. Furthermore, government representative Hasan Basri Aktan from the Finance Ministry told the board about their proposals to the unions. Aktan reportedly brought no new offer to the board, which will prepare a report after talks with all sides. The representatives are expected to resume negotiations on the basis of the report and try to reach a compromise. A final decision on the salary hike for next year will be made by the Cabinet. /Turkiye/[12] TOMRIS TURMEN UP FOR WHO TOP SPOT

Turkey’s Tomris Turmen is seeking the post of the World Health Organization (WHO) general-director. In addition to Turmen, 12 other candidates from 12 countries are seeking the post. A final decision will be made during a gathering of the organization’s executive board on Nov. 9. /Turkiye/[13] FROM THE COLUMNS…FROM THE COLUMNS…FROM THE COLUMNS[00] EP REPORT WITH 349 HOLES

Columnist Mustafa Balbay comments on the European Parliament’s recent report on Turkey. A summary of his column is as follows:

“The European Parliament’s Foreign Relations Commission report was passed by a vote of 52 to 6. The full EP will meet on Sept. 25-28, and the report will be discussed there. The report’s content is very harsh. If there is a government in Ankara, it will criticize this report, declare it unacceptable, and then the EP would have to respond. Outlines of the report are as follows: Recognizing the Armenian ‘genocide’ should be a precondition for Turkey’s full European Union membership. Turkey should accept the Pontic and Syriac ‘genocides’ as well.Necessary measures should be taken to protect Alawites. Problems in democratization, human rights, personal rights and the southeast should be solved.EU reforms have slowed down, and they should be accelerated again.Harbors should be opened to the Greek Cypriot administration. Progress should be made on reopening the Heybeliada Seminary School and making the Fener Greek Patriarchate ‘ecumenical.’

These are the main elements in the report, and it has 349 proposed amendments. Now if all of these had been accepted, Turkey would be responsible for the following as well:Killing Native AmericansThe hole in the ozone layerRapid melting of the ice capHunger in AfricaRising oil pricesIran’s insistence on continuing its nuclear program

Apart from this black humor, this report clearly shows that EU members want to pull Turkey’s strings. Maybe they dealt with this report just to relax. So what will we do? Won’t we take this report seriously? The government wants Turkey to believe that EP reports aren’t binding and they shouldn’t be taken seriously. Thinking this way serves the government’s interests, but it isn’t the truth. Firstly, the EP takes Turkey’s pulse with all of these reports and discusses how it would be welcomed. If Turkey doesn’t criticize them seriously, it starts to settle the report. After some time, when Turkey gets a demand, the EU says that we already stressed these issues in our official reports and your administrators know this as well. There’s no serious criticism about it, except certain remarks made by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul and State Minister Ali Babacan about the devious road to EU membership. This situation indicates that the report will be accepted by the full EP. For the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), the EU process has ended. We are entering an unpleasant period in terms of our EU membership process, but we don’t believe that the EU-AKP relations will spoil, because they can’t find a better government than the AKP government to drive Turkey into a corner.”

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