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Turkish Press Review, 06-10-26
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
26.10.2006
FROM THE COLUMNS... FROM THE COLUMNS... FROM THE COLUMNS...TIME TO GIVE IT
A NAME
CONTENTS
[01]
ERDOGAN TO HOST SPANISH PM, OTHER FOREIGN LEADERS
[02]
AL-HAYAT INTERVIEWS ERDOGAN
[03]
PACE PRESIDENT VISITS TURKEY TO BOOST TIES
[04]
FINNISH PM OPTIMISTIC ON TURKEY’S MEMBERSHIP BID
[05]
PARIS RULING ON ARMENIAN CASE AGAIN DELAYED
[06]
NATO COMMANDER JONES: “TURKISH TROOPS IN AFGHANISTAN SHOULD TAKE ON AN EXPANDED ROLE”
[07]
AFTER TWO-YEAR DELAY, EU AID ON THE WAY TO TRNC
[08]
FROM THE COLUMNS... FROM THE COLUMNS... FROM THE COLUMNS...
[09]
TIME TO GIVE IT A NAME
BY SEMIH IDIZ (MILLIYET)
[01]
ERDOGAN TO HOST SPANISH PM, OTHER FOREIGN LEADERS
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan will have a busy schedule in the wake
of the Seker Bayram holiday. Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who
earlier this month had to cancel his visit to Ankara due to a sandstorm, is
expected to visit Ankara after the holiday. Then Belgian Foreign Minister
Karel de Gucht will pay a visit to Ankara on Monday and Tuesday. Ilan
Mizrahi, the head of Israeli’s National Security Council, will visit Ankara
on next Wednesday and Thursday. Erdogan will also host Spanish Prime
Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero on Nov. 11-12, with whom he co-chairs
the Alliance of Civilizations project. Pope Benedict XVI is also due in
Turkey on Nov. 28-30. /Turkiye/
[02]
AL-HAYAT INTERVIEWS ERDOGAN
In an interview last week with London-based Arabic daily Al-Hayat, Prime
Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke about Turkish troops in Lebanon, Iran’s
nuclear program, the fight against terror and the future of Iraq. The
interview was published on Oct. 18. “It is also true that terrorist
activities continue unabated in Iraq, despite the intervention of US and
coalition forces,” said Erdogan, answering a question on Iraq. “For
instance, the PKK terrorist organization takes shelter in northern Iraq and
infiltrates our country to conduct terrorist acts. For this reason, it is
difficult to say that the fight against terrorism in Iraq has been
successful.” /Sabah/
[03]
PACE PRESIDENT VISITS TURKEY TO BOOST TIES
Parliamentary Assembly of Council of Europe (PACE) President Rene van der
Linden began yesterday a four-day working visit to Turkey to strengthen
ties. In Ankara today, in meetings with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan
and Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul, while the PACE president is expected to
discuss Turkey-Council of Europe (CoE) relations and raise the issue of
Turkey’s European Union accession negotiations, he will also attend a
roundtable discussion with legal and human rights experts at Istanbul’s
Bilgi University tomorrow. /The New Anatolian/
[04]
FINNISH PM OPTIMISTIC ON TURKEY’S MEMBERSHIP BID
Finnish Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen, whose country holds the EU term
presidency, said yesterday that Turkey’s accession talks are proving to be
a difficult issue during his presidency, but that he was also optimistic
about the talks. “We’re working very hard to find a solution so we can
continue negotiations with Turkey,” he added. “I hope that a reasonable
solution will be found, and I hope it will be found this fall.” /Milliyet/
[05]
PARIS RULING ON ARMENIAN CASE AGAIN DELAYED
The Paris Court of Appeals, which was expected on Wednesday to announce its
decision whether a complaint filed by an Armenian group against Turkish
Consul General Aydin Sezgin is admissible, instead postponed the verdict
once more. The Armenian group, the Comite de Defense de la Cause Armenienne,
is accusing the consul general in Paris of spreading “denial propaganda”
concerning an alleged Armenian genocide during World War I in the final
days of the Ottoman Empire, and is demanding the removal of part of the
Turkish Consulate’s website. /Turkish Daily News/
[06]
NATO COMMANDER JONES: “TURKISH TROOPS IN AFGHANISTAN SHOULD TAKE ON AN
EXPANDED ROLE”
NATO’s supreme commander, US Gen. James Jones, has urged Turkey to allow
its forces in Afghanistan to operate outside the capital Kabul in hot spots
where the Western alliance-led forces are being confronted by a growing
Taliban insurgency. Stating that Ankara and other capitals were informed
about the issue through official correspondence, Jones said that Turkish
Chief of General Staff Gen. Yasar Buyukanit and other Turkish officials
were told about this request. Speaking to CNN-Turk, Jones said that Turkey
was an important country for the future of Afghanistan. /Turkiye/
[07]
AFTER TWO-YEAR DELAY, EU AID ON THE WAY TO TRNC
The European Union, blocked up to now by Greek Cypriot objections from
providing aid it planned for the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC),
will tomorrow send a part of this aid to the TRNC. The 38 million euros in
aid was accepted two weeks ago and will be available to use after the
approval of the EU Commission. /Milliyet/
[08]
FROM THE COLUMNS... FROM THE COLUMNS... FROM THE COLUMNS...
[09]
TIME TO GIVE IT A NAME
BY SEMIH IDIZ (MILLIYET)
Columnist Semih Idiz comments on the fear that a Kurdish state will be
established. A summary of his column is as follows:
“Peter Galbraith was a successful diplomat in the US, and then he decided
to pursue a life of public service. Normally, people who pursue their
ideals are appreciated. However, Galbraith doesn’t appreciate Turkey, but
hates it, because his ideal is the establishment of Kurdistan by seizing a
historical opportunity. Galbraith is trying hard to convince influential
circles in his country on this issue, and the winds are in his favor.
Richard Holbrooke, an ex-diplomat known as a friend of the Turks, joined
him as well. In an op-ed in Sunday’s Washington Post, Holbrooke proposed a
solution concerning the worsenng conflict in Iraq. In brief, Galbraith and
Holbrooke think that the Iraqi Kurds trust the US and believe that if the
US stays in Iraq, it would be vital for their future. They also think that
Iraqi Kurds don’t reject secular democratic development or a liberal
economy and that their region is stable. In his piece, Holbrooke advises US
forces to withdraw to northern Iraq, adding that it’s a must that the
terrorist PKK be taken out of the region. Obviously, these words stems from
the thinking that so long as the PKK leaves the region, any Turkish
intervention in northern Iraq can be prevented.
All these developments show that Turkey should consider the Iraq issue
multidimensionally, flexibly and without any bias. How much we can do on
this is a controversial issue. Let’s assume that the US withdrew to
northern Iraq and expelled the terrorist PKK from there. Would that satisfy
the hawks in Turkey? I don’t think so, because it would be inevitable that
northern Iraq, which has rapidly developed with US aid, would be a center
of attraction for southeastern Turkey, which is suffering from poverty.
This is the greatest fear in Turkey. I’m writing it, as I heard it myself.
Some people believe that the terrorist PKK’s presence on Mt. Kandil
provides a trump card for Turkey against the Iraqi Kurds and their friends.
They think that if it wasn’t there, Ankara would lose its right to have a
say concerning northern Iraq. These people don’t want to see that this
stance is alienating Turkey in the region. However, Turkey, which is the
center of attraction, can be the guardian of Kurds from northern Iraq.
However, others seized this role as a protector due to our groundless fears,
and there’s not much we can do about it. When Turkey was making many
mistakes due to these groundless fears, now it’s time for the ‘real world’
to give a name to the ‘independent Kurdish state.’ At that time, Turkey’s
helplessness will be able to be seen. However, if we had built those
bridges by today, the ‘big brother’ Turkey would have been the winner.”
ARCHIVE
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