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Sunday, 22 December 2024
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Turkish Press Review, 08-09-04Turkish Press Review Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: Turkish Directorate General of Press and Information <http://www.byegm.gov.tr>Summary of the political and economic news in the Turkish press this morning04.09.2008FROM THE COLUMNS…FROM THE COLUMNS…FROM THE COLUMNSCONTENTS
[01] GUL WELCOMES BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA'S SILADJDZICPresident Abdullah Gul yesterday hosted a dinner in honor of Haris Siladjdzic, the chairman of Bosnia and Herzegovina's rotating state presidency, at the Cankaya Presidential Palace. Other distinguished guests at the dinner included Parliament Speaker Koksal Toptan, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Chief of General Staff Gen. Ilker Basbug, Constitutional Court Chief Justice Hasim Kilic, State Minister Said Yazicioglu, Defense Minister Vecdi Gonul and Interior Minister Besir Atalay. /Milliyet/[02] PRESIDENT GUL ACCEPTS INVITATION TO SEE FOOTBALL MATCH IN YEREVANPresident Abdullah Gul has accepted Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian's invitation to watch a 2010 World Cup qualifying match between Turkey and Armenia this weekend in Yerevan, the Presidential Press Center announced yesterday. Special Envoy Unal Cevikoz yesterday went to Yerevan to convey Gul's acceptance and a message to Sarkisian. "This match between the Turkish and Armenian national football teams provides an important opportunity to establish a new atmosphere of friendship in the region," said Gul's message. "This opportunity, coming at a time of developments in the Caucasus which have worried our peoples, should not be passed up." Gul added, "The match will also be an important tool for eliminating hurdles hindering the rapprochement of our two peoples, who for centuries have shared a common history, and to pave the way for better relations between our two countries." In response, Sarkisian expressed his pleasure at Gul's decision and characterized the match as an important opportunity to improve bilateral relations and exchange views, adding that he was very happy that this opportunity hadn't been passed up. He also expressed support for Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's proposal for a Caucasus cooperation and stability platform, saying that Armenia has always supported the improvement of stability, security and cooperation in the region. /Sabah/[03] CHIEF OF GENERAL STAFF BASBUG VISITS ERDOGANNewly appointed Chief of General Staff Gen. Ilker Basbug yesterday visited Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the Prime Ministry. The meeting lasted about one hour. Afterwards, speaking about Kocaeli Garrison Commander Lt. Gen. Galip Mendi's visit yesterday to retired Gens. Şener Eruygur and Hursit Tolon, who have been under arrest since July for alleged involvement in a right-wing terrorist gang, Erdogan characterized the visit on behalf of the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) as being completely humanitarian in nature. "This was a special visit made with special permission from the public prosecutor," he explained. "I think looking for something in this visit other than a humanitarian goal would be wrong, and the (generals') legal procedures are continuing." /Aksam/[04] PM ERDOGAN DUE IN DAMASCUS TODAYPrime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan will visit Damascus, Syria, today to discuss issues of the Middle East at the invitation of Syrian President Bashar al-Asad. Also attending the summit will be EU Term President France's President Nicolas Sarkozy and Qatari Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani, who chairs the presidency of the Gulf Cooperation Council. Erdogan reportedly will speak about Turkey's role mediating peace negotiations between Israel and Syria, and will urge the French and Qatari leaders to support this initiative. Conflict between Palestine and Israel, stability in Iraq, and domestic issues in Lebanon will also be taken up at the one-day summit. /Star/[05] NEW PEACE TALKS BEGIN ON CYPRUSFollowing six months of preparations, official negotiations between the Turkish and Greek Cypriot sides on Cyprus for a comprehensive settlement on the long-divided island began yesterday. Turkish Republic of Northern Cypriot (TRNC) President Mehmet Ali Talat and Greek Cypriot leader Dimitris Hristofyas met at the residence of Taye-Brook Zerihoun, the UN secretary- general's Cyprus mission chief, in the buffer zone in Lefkosha. Also present at the gathering was UN Special Envoy to Cyprus Alexander Downer. Following the three-hour talks, Downer told reporters that the leaders would meet again next Thursday to discuss power-sharing and administrative issues. /Hurriyet/FROM THE COLUMNS…FROM THE COLUMNS…FROM THE COLUMNS [06] THE CAUCASUS ISSUEBY CUNEYT ULSEVER (HURRIYET)Columnist Cuneyt Ulsever comments on the Caucasus issue. A summary of his column is as follows: "Russia's attack on Georgia and subsequent recognition of the independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia is the beginning of a new era for the world. Russia is sending two messages at once: 1. The West's attempt to besiege Russia should end. 2. The whole world should recognize Russian as a major country and an equal to the US. Now we should ask this: Will the most influential countries in the world accept these messages, or will they balk? Will Russia attack former Eastern bloc countries to extend its sway thorough its former sphere of influence, or have they already gotten the message? How will major powers the European Union, China, and especially the US react to this new status quo? Turkey is now under fire for something it's not responsible for! What would happen if Russia attacked former Soviet satellites? Would the US, EU or NATO fold in the face of this? Two months ago we might have found such questions absurd, but now we just hope things won't go that far. Heaven forbid, but we might suffer the greatest harm if the balances in the region are upset. What can Turkey do? There's not much it can do. It can only keep dialogue open in order to contain the issues in the region. It should do this not only with Russia, Georgia and Azerbaijan, but also with Armenia. It would be the greatest mistake to exclude Armenia and push it into Russia's corner. The US tried to get control over Russia and China following the 9-11 attacks, but this effort was unsuccessful. It made a mess in Iraq. It couldn't protect late Pakistani Premier Benazir Butto and also lost Pervez Musharraf, who just resigned his post as Pakistan's president. It's in trouble in Georgia and also is about to lose that country's president, Mikhail Saakashvili. We don't know what it can do in Ukraine. In short, the Bush era has seen the US make a mess in its foreign policy as an imperialist country. The unipolar world died before it was even born, and history started to be rewritten. I guess world history is written with zigzags in which new status quos are continually created and then destroyed. At the end of 1980s, the bipolar world was replaced by a unipolar one. Now the bipolar world is about to collapse. The world will feel quakes for some time and then get a new status quo. We can't return to the bipolar period, because now the EU, China, India and even Brazil are here. It's more realistic to expect a multipolar world. I wonder if the US and EU will again leave the Caucasus to Russia and try to take the Middle East completely, or will there be tricky bargaining over this new balance?" Turkish Press Review Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |
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