Turkish Press Review, 06-09-25

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

25.09.2006

CONTENTS

[01] TUZMEN: “EXPORTERS NEED A STABLE EXCHANGE RATE OF MORE THAN 1.5 YTL”

[01] TUZMEN: “EXPORTERS NEED A STABLE EXCHANGE RATE OF MORE THAN 1.5 YTL”

The International Monetary Fund released a report yesterday predicting that Turkey ’s per capita income according to purchasing power parity would rise to $8,839 next year. The IMF report predicted that Turkey ’s domestic income according to purchasing power parity, which was $7,950 in 2005, would increase to $8,385 by the end of this year. /Hurriyet/ [03] AGAR: “IF WE COME TO POWER, WE WOULD ELIMINATE PKK SPECIAL ENVOY POST”

Opposition True Path Party (DYP) leader Mehmet Agar yesterday criticized the government’s anti-terror policy, saying that if the DYP comes to power in next year’s elections, it would eliminate the PKK special envoy post. Stressing that the PKK problem could only be solved by Turkey , not by another country, he added, “Nowhere else in the world can you find a country trying to end terrorism through another country.” In addition to Turkey , the US and Iraq have also recently appointed special envoys to fight the PKK threat. /Cumhuriyet/ [04] CABINET TO DECIDE CIVIL SERVANTS' WAGE HIKE TODAY

The Cabinet is due to convene today to discuss the raise in salaries of civil servants since government officials and representatives of civil servants’ unions failed to reach an agreement on the issue last week. Last week, the government officials headed by Deputy Prime Minister Mehmet Ali Sahin revised their proposals, but the representatives of civil servants’ union rejected his offer. /Cumhuriyet/ [05] PARLIAMENTARIANS TO VISIT NORTHERN IRAQ

Ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) Balikesir Deputy Turhan Comez and opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) Tokat Deputy Orhan Ziya Diren are set to travel to Iraq today. During their three-day visit, the two deputies reportedly will observe the situation in the disputed northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk , as well as have talks with regional officials, including Turkmen representatives. Comez and Diren are expected to prepare a report outlining their impressions when they are back home and summit it to Parliament Speaker Bulent Arinc, Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul and CHP leader Deniz Baykal. /Turkiye/[06] SPRINGTIME FOR TURKISH-GREEK TIES

A recent rapprochement between the two Aegean states, Turkey and Greece , is now growing warmer. Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul is scheduled to travel to Athens at the beginning of next month. Gul and his Greek counterpart Dora Bakoyannis will discuss the Cyprus issue and Turkey ’s European Union membership process. Furthermore, following Greek Chief of General Staff Adm. Panayotis Hinofotis’ recent visit to Turkey , his Turkish counterpart Gen. Yasar Buyukanit is expected to pay an official visit to the neighboring country. The two top officials will discuss bilateral issues as part of confidence-boosting measures in the Aegean . In addition, in November, the two countries will hold a joint research and rescue exercise in Istanbul . In related news, the Greek Education Ministry has accepted Turkish as an elective in public schools in Gumulcine and Iskece, areas in Western Thrace with large Turkish minorities. /Turkiye/[07] NEW TRNC CABINET LIST TO BE PRESENTED TO TALAT TODAY

A Cabinet list formed by Republican Turkish Party (CTP) leader Ferdi Sabit Soyer, the designated premier of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), will be presented to TRNC President Mehmet Ali Talat today. Soyer planned a coalition government with the newly established Freedom and Reform Party (Ozgur Party). Ozgur Party leader Turgay Avci is set to be both deputy prime minister and foreign minister in the CTP-Ozgur Party coalition government. The distribution of Cabinet ministries is expected to be announced following Talat’s approval. /Star/[08] GOLDEN ORANGES GO TO YOUNG TURKS

The 43rd Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival was held over the weekend. Turkey ’s top cinema festival gave famous director Zeki Demirkubuz the best film award for his “Kader” (Fate), while Nuri Bilge Ceylan got the best director award for his “Iklimler” (Climates). Furthermore, Erkan Can’s performance in Ozer Kiziltan’s “Takva” gave him the best actor award, and Sibel Kekilli was also honored as the best actress in Omer Ugur’s “Eve Donus” (Back Home). /The New Anatolian/[09] FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE COLUMNS... FROM THE COLUMNS…[00] THE ROAD TO CANKAYABY ERDAL SAFAK ( SABAH )

Columnist Erdal Safak comments on next year’s presidential elections. A summary of his column is as follows:

“Next year's presidential elections in Turkey and France will be held at nearly the same time, but there is one important difference: The people will elect the president in France , but in Turkey the Parliament will. Campaigning has already begun in France . Although both countries’ presidents have a wide range of authority, the Turkish president won’t be elected by the people. The leader of the ruling party will decide on the candidates. Constitutional Court head Tulay Tugcu is one person considered a candidate. Opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) member Mustafa Ozyurek was the first to mention her name. I wondered how Tugcu reacted to Ozyurek’s words.

My colleague Berrin Delikci publishes a periodical of on women's rights and in a recent interview with it, Tugcu spoke about running for president: ‘I am neither a member of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) nor the Republican People’s Party (CHP). I also don’t want to be mentioned that way. This would destroy my neutrality.’ She's not saying that she's not a candidate, but she is complaining about being seen as a member of a political party. Delikci wrote that she believes Tugcu will be Turkey 's first female president. Of course a woman can be elected president in Turkey . I even think that this would be an improvement. The point is this: Is Tugcu being seen as a candidate because of her gender or her duty as Constitutional Court head? No doubt the answer is the latter. I'm concerned about this, though: It should be a rule that the president be elected from among Parliament members, and looking for candidates from outside Parliament should be an option for extraordinary cases.” [10] GREAT EUROPEAN ENERGY COMPETITIONBY FERAI TINC (HURRIYET)

Columnist Ferai Tinc comments on world energy competition. A summary of her column is as follows:

“One of the reasons for the exhaustion of Europe ’s new and old members is energy competition. The EU has been the scene of fierce energy competition between Russia and the US since last year. The competition’s center is southern and eastern Europe , in other words, new EU members. Turkey is part of this contest as well. Now, let’s go back to Sept. 18. Hungarian Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany was playing a critical role in the EU’s energy policies. After Moscow cut the natural gas that it sold to Ukraine last year, Brussels prioritized decreasing its dependence on Russia and a new project which excludes Gazprom completely. Under this project called Nabucco, natural gas extracted from the Asian and Caspian basin was to be transported to Europe through pipelines. The last stop of the line, which would pass from Turkey , Greece , Bulgaria and Hungary , was set as Austria . This project aiming to transport natural gas from Austria to the European market is also supported by the US . This development disturbed Moscow . Russia came up with Blue Stream 2 against Nabucco in order to strengthen its hold on the European market. As part of this, Russian gas will reach Turkey and then go through Greece , Bulgaria and Hungary to the southern and eastern European market.

The Hungarian prime minister hadn’t showed his stance on these two projects for a long time, but then started to lean towards the Russian offer, although Brussels has announced that it preferred Nabucco due to energy security concerns. In spite of Washington ’s warnings and advice to the contrary, the Hungarian prime minister gave Blue Stream 2 the green light. However, the result wasn’t good for him. When Gyurcsany was talking with Putin about these issues, he didn’t know that Hungarian state radio started to play that secret tape in which he confessed that he lied. The Hungarian people heard that the prime minister was distorting figures and lying and took to streets. The protests are still continuing. Extreme rightist and populist groups have been on the streets to overthrow the government for days. The old eastern bloc countries -- new EU members -- who realized that EU membership isn’t a magic wand aren’t strong enough to resist the fierce competition among the great powers. During her visit to Turkey and Greece in April, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said that the US was concerned that Russia would become an energy monopoly and warned that we should be careful about Gazprom. The Russian, French and German leaders who met in Paris over the weekend discussed the issue of energy again. The competition to control energy resources and routes between the US and Russia is now entering Europe thanks to its new members. The enlarged Europe isn’t at all ready to become the scene for such a competition.”

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