|
|
|
Turkish Press Review, 07-01-25
From: Turkish Directorate General of Press and Information <http://www.byegm.gov.tr>
Summary of the political and economic
news in the Turkish press this morning
25.01.2007
CONTENTS
[01] FORMER FOREIGN MINISTER CEM PASSES AWAY
[02] ERDOGAN ADDRESSES ISTANBUL INDUSTRIALISTS
[03] GUL GOES TO PARIS FOR CONFERENCE ON LEBANON RECONSTRUCTION
[04] NECHIRVAN BARZANI: "THREATS OVER NORTHERN IRAQ WILL ONLY HARM TURKEY"
[05] GREEK PM: "THE PRESENCE OF TURKISH TROOPS ON CYPRUS IS UNACCEPTABLE"
[06] ARMENIAN DEPUTY FM: "YEREVAN IS READY FOR UNCONDITIONAL DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS WITH ANKARA"
[07] BABACAN ATTENDS WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM IN DAVOS
[08] WB'S NEW TURKEY DIRECTOR PRAISES STATE OF THE ECONOMY
[09] ISMAIL CEM AND THE LEFT
[01] FORMER FOREIGN MINISTER CEM PASSES AWAY
Former Foreign Minister and veteran politician Ismail Cem passed away
yesterday at Istanbul's Cerrahi Hospital, losing his long battle against
cancer. Cem, 67, who had been thought to defeat the disease, was
hospitalized for the last time with a lung infection on Dec. 26. His
daughter Ipek Cem said his body would be laid to rest on Friday at
Istanbul's Zincirlikuyu Cemetery. /All Papers/
[02] ERDOGAN ADDRESSES ISTANBUL INDUSTRIALISTS
Speaking yesterday at a meeting of Istanbul Chamber of Industry (ISO),
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that Turkey has reached stability
and economic confidence, adding that under his government the nation had
forgotten talk of crises. Saying that the work of industrialists had
contributed to the economic successes over the last four years, Erdogan
stressed that Istanbul's industrialists were leaders towards this end.
"Stability and confidence are very important for the future of our country,
" he said. Commenting on this year's general and presidential elections,
Erdogan stated that no one should expect him to declare whether he would
run before April, one month before the presidential election. "This is not
today's issue," added Erdogan. Later, Erdogan visited the family of
murdered journalist Hrant Dink to express his condolences. Asked following
his visit what the government would do about controversial Article 301,
which gave Dink great legal trouble last year, Erdogan said that work on
the issue was continuing. "We're looking for ways to solve this," added
Erdogan. /Turkiye-Star/
[03] GUL GOES TO PARIS FOR CONFERENCE ON LEBANON RECONSTRUCTION
Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul yesterday flew to Paris to attend a
conference to lend support to the reconstruction of Lebanon. Speaking at a
press conference before his departure, Gul commented on last week's murder
of Armenian-origin Turkish journalist Hrant Dink, saying that security
forces had caught the trigger man in a short time. "We'll also find any
organizations or circles behind this murder," said Gul. Asked about the
slaying's possible effect on Turkish-Armenian relations, Gul said that
Turkey had no hatred of its neighbors. "We're developing our relations with
all our neighbors within respect and confidence," added Gul. "But this
isn't only up to us. The neighboring country should also revise its views
and feelings towards us." Asked if Article 301 would be changed this year,
Gul replied that this was up to Parliament. /Turkiye/
[04] NECHIRVAN BARZANI: "THREATS OVER NORTHERN IRAQ WILL ONLY HARM TURKEY"
The Kurdistan regional parliament in northern Iraq yesterday debated
Ankara's recent statements on northern Iraq and Kirkuk. Taking the floor at
the meeting, held in the wake of the Turkish Parliament's closed session on
Iraq, Iraqi Kurdish region Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani said, "If
Turkey wants to solve its problems by threats, it will do nothing but
damage its stature." He added: "Turkey was one of the parties which
protected the Kurdish region in 1991 [after the Gulf War]. We never let our
territory be used for any action threatening our neighbors. There was much
unfairness against the Turkmens under [Saddam Hussein's] Baath rule. Where
was Turkey then? Nobody suffered from the PKK as much as we did. The PKK
isn't a military question. Turkey should solve this problem through
political means. The era of solving problems through threats is over now.
Cyprus is being cited as an example for intervention on Kirkuk. There are
some states supporting Turkey on the Cyprus issue, but nobody wants them
here." /Cumhuriyet/
[05] GREEK PM: "THE PRESENCE OF TURKISH TROOPS ON CYPRUS IS UNACCEPTABLE"
Greek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis yesterday claimed that the presence
of Turkish troops on Cyprus in the 21st century was morally, politically
and logically unacceptable. Delivering a speech to the Parliamentary
Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), Karamanlis answered
parliamentarians' questions concerning Cyprus. Stating that the isolation
of the Turkish Cypriots was a consequence of what he called the "Turkish
occupation," he said that despite this, a decision for financial aid for
the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) was taken in order to
facilitate unification. /Hurriyet/
[06] ARMENIAN DEPUTY FM: "YEREVAN IS READY FOR UNCONDITIONAL DIPLOMATIC
RELATIONS WITH ANKARA"
In Istanbul for the funeral of slain Armenian-origin journalist Hrant Dink,
Armenian Deputy Foreign Minister Arman Kirakosian yesterday said that
Yerevan was ready for unconditional diplomatic relations with Ankara. "The
pain of those who attended the funeral made a huge impression on me," he
said. Speaking to reporters about the situation between Turkey and Armenia,
Kirakosian said, "I attended Dink's funeral to represent the Armenian
Republic, not upon the invitation of the Turkish Foreign Ministry. But
Armenia is ready for unconditional diplomatic relations with Turkey."
/Hurriyet/
[07] BABACAN ATTENDS WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM IN DAVOS
State Minister for the Economy Ali Babacan yesterday travelled to Davos to
attend the World Economic Forum, which began yesterday. Foreign Minister
Abdullah Gul is also expected to attend the forum, whose main theme
tomorrow is "Shaping the Global Agenda-Changing the Balance of Power."
During the summit, a number of issues, including the share of rising
markets such as Turkey in the changing balance of power, will be discussed.
Global warming will be one of the most important topics of the forum.
/Milliyet/
[08] WB'S NEW TURKEY DIRECTOR PRAISES STATE OF THE ECONOMY
The World Bank's newly appointed Turkey Director Ulrich Zachau said
yesterday that the Turkish economy has been recovering since 2001, adding
that in the years ahead high growth is expected to be accompanied by
structural transformations. "Last year's growth rate was 7.8%," he said.
Stressing that the progress Turkey has made is amazing, Zachau added,
however, that there was still much to do modernize economic institutions
and improve structural transformations. "The Turkish economy is continuing
to grow in a healthy way," he added. "It's among the fastest-growing
countries. I expect sound growth this year." /Aksam/
FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE COLUMNS... FROM THE COLUMNS...
[09] ISMAIL CEM AND THE LEFT
Columnist Erdal Safak comments on former Foreign Minister Ismail Cem, who
died yesterday. A summary of his column is as follows:
"Messages marking the passing of former Foreign Minister Cem, one of the
most valuable minds of the social democrat movement, were full of words of
praise: respectable, intellectual, distinguished, sophisticated,
gentlemanly, exceptional, altruistic, confidential, versatile,
extraordinary, humble, kind, civilized, thoughtful, honest, etc. I got the
opportunity to know him better when we were working together at Sabah daily,
and he deserves all of this praise, just like Aydin Guven Gurkan, another
valuable figure of the left. Gurkan died about this time last year, and
similar words were used after his death: fair, responsible, constructive,
statesmanlike, stable, virtuous, intellectual, and so on. The remarks of a
politician close to Cem were forgotten among all this praise. He said that
some people had worked hard to keep him out of politics, and that they
succeeded. In other words, he meant that Gurkan got ill due to his deep
sorrow. Nobody said that Cem had grieved deeply for being stabbed in the
back. Probably no one will. However, this silence won't change the truth
uttered by Cem, who continued his efforts to the last for Turkish politics
and social democracy. He said that the left hadn't tended to its social
grassroots and thus lost, and so now the left is no longer the movement of
its own people. He added that you can't create a future by staying in the
past or go forward by looking behind. He also thought that if a political
party isn't democratic within itself, then the social democracy carried out
by that party won't look like democracy. Cem also said that social
democracy should prove its identity on the track of freedom, equality and
improvement and in the direction of its own leftist, democratic essence.
Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Deniz Baykal said mush the same
thing. In books that he wrote both by himself and with Cem in the 1990s, he
wrote that the left was losing its essence and found it sufficient to
defend past accomplishments. Baykal also wrote that the left was unable to
bring new solutions, develop new ideas, or show new goals to society and
that it had abandoned its ideology, idealism and claims. According to
Baykal, even more importantly, while the left was being dragged to the
colorlessness of this backwards attitude, the right was using claims of
innovation for itself. Baykal thinks that it was as if the right was the
leader of innovation and the left was representing conservatism. When I
hear a Justice and Development Party (AKP) spokesmen favoring changes to
Turkish Penal Code (TCK) Article 301 and a CHP spokesmen saying the
opposite, I wonder if I should feel pity for Cem or the CHP. Turkey has
lost its son, one who was worthy of being our president. May his soul rest
in peace."
|
