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Turkish Press Review, 08-11-18Turkish 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 morning18.11.2008CONTENTS
[01] GUL, ERDOGAN CONGRATULATE NEW GERMAN GREENS CO-CHAIR OZDEMIRAt a joint press conference yesterday, Claudia Roth, the co-chair of the German Alliance 90_ Green Party, congratulated fellow co-chair Cem Ozdemir, saying the election to the position of someone from a Turkish immigrant family was unprecedented. "Positive feedback is coming in from Germany and abroad," she added. Asked whether politicians from Turkey had congratulated him on his historic achievement, Ozdemir said he had heard from several top officials, including President Abdullah Gul, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and Foreign Minister and chief negotiator for Turkey's European Union talks Ali Babacan. /Aksam/[02] ERDOGAN VISITS CERN IN SWITZERLANDFollowing a G-20 meeting on the global economic crisis in Washington, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan yesterday proceeded to Switzerland. As co- chair of the Alliance of Civilizations Project, Erdogan first attended the opening ceremony of the new Chamber for Human Rights and the Alliance of Civilizations in the local UN office. Adorned by prominent Spanish painter Miguel Barcelo, the hall was dedicated by Spain's King Juan Carlos and Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, the alliance's co-chair. The premier later visited the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), which this September carried out an important experiment trying to create conditions similar to just after the Big Bang. During the visit, CERN Director Robert Aymar briefed Erdogan about work at the facility, saying that over 2,300 scientists work at CERN, which last year had a budget of €610 million. Aymar added that Turkey, the US , Russia , Japan , India , Israel and European Union member states are among leading observer countries in the organization. Nearly 100 Turkish researchers are contributing to CERN's work, he said. Writing in CERN's guestbook, Erdogan said that Turkey would continue to work with the organization in the belief that its experiments, including the recent landmark Big Bang research, would open up new horizons for science and serve humanity. Erdogan also wrote that Turkish scientists taking part in CERN projects constitute an important opportunity for both Turkey and the organization. The premier also visited the main accelerator tunnel used in the experiment, and met with Turkish scientists and students there. State Minister Mehmet Aydin accompanied Erdogan during the visit. /Turkiye/[03] CHIEF OF GENERAL STAFF BASBUG IN BRUSSELSChief of General Staff Gen. Ilker Basbug yesterday left for Brussels. While there, Basbug is set to attend a meeting of NATO's military committee. /Cumhuriyet/[04] RUSSIAN DEFENSE MINISTER DUE IN TURKEY TODAYRussian Defense Minister Anatoliy Serdyukov is set to visit to Turkey today at the invitation of his Turkish counterpart Vecdi Gonul. Serdyukov and his delegation are scheduled to meet with Gonul, according to the Defense Ministry. /Star/[05] UKRAINIAN AMBASSADOR: "THE EU FEARS IT CAN'T HANDLE BIG, STRONG COUNTRIES LIKE TURKEY AND MY OWN"Sergiy Korsunsky, Ukraine's new ambassador to Ankara, said yesterday that key international actors should take part in Turkey's proposed Caucasus stability and cooperation platform. "Besides Turkey, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Armenia and Russia, big actors like the European Union and the US should join the proposed platform, as without them it will be difficult for it to be successful," he said. Touching on Turkey's European Union membership bid, he charged that after delaying the start of Turkey's accession talks for years, the EU had continued to act unreasonably. The bloc is afraid of Turkey and Ukraine, because both are big, strong countries, he added. "The EU isn't sure if it can digest countries like ours," he said. Stating that Turkey was ready to become an EU member earlier than many other countries, he added, "When Turkey becomes a member, it will enrich the EU politically, economically and culturally. The same is true of Ukraine." Korsunsky presented his credentials to President Abdullah Gul late last month to officially begin his mission in Turkey. /Star/[06] TEHRAN GIVES GREEN LIGHT TO TURKISH MEDIATION WITH WASHINGTONAt a press conference yesterday, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hasan Qashqavi spoke about Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's proposal that Turkey could mediate between the US and Iran. The proposal stems "from Turkish goodwill and good and growing neighborly ties between Iran and Turkey, so we will certainly not raise any obstacles," he said. Qashqavi added, however, that the problems between Iran and the US "go beyond the usual political problems between two countries," and that Washington has had a negative attitude towards Tehran since the Iranian revolution 30 years ago. US President-elect Barack Obama "has come forward with slogans and now we will have to see whether the change in orientation is serious or not," he said. /Milliyet/[07] IRAQI OFFICIAL SET TO TELL TURKEY ABOUT US WITHDRAWAL PLANIraqi Premier Nouri Al-Maliki will send a representative to tell Turkish officials about a new agreement with the US proposing a timetable for the withdrawal of its soldiers from Iraq. Iraqi National Dialogue Minister Akrem Al-Hakim is expected to arrive in Ankara tomorrow and meet with Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Under the plan, control of Iraq's airspace will be fully transferred to the Iraqi central administration in Baghdad by the beginning of next year. /Hurriyet/[08] ANKARA, IMF WORKING ON PRELIMINARY STANDBYState Minister Mehmet Simsek said yesterday that work is continuing on a preliminary standby agreement with the International Monetary Fund. Speaking to reporters at Ankara's Esenboga Airport upon returning from Washington , Simsek said that he had had very fruitful meetings in the US . Simsek added that the groundwork for a standby with the IMF could soon be completed, but offered no further details. /Hurriyet/[09] EUROPEAN INDUSTRIALISTS MEET IN ISTANBULThe European Round Table of Industrialists (ERT), chaired by Bulent Eczacibasi, met in Istanbul yesterday. Discussing the global economic crisis, 47 CEOs and chairmen of major multinational companies of European parentage active in a wide range of industrial and technological sectors said that the world was facing its deepest recession in a quarter-century, adding that the crisis would lead to great suffering. The top businessmen also met with President Abdullah Gul. /Hurriyet/[10] TURKEY, IRAN TO STRENGTHEN ENERGY COOPERATIONA memorandum of understanding for further cooperation and completing current ventures between Turkey and Iran on natural gas was signed yesterday in Tehran by Energy and Natural Resources Minister Hilmi Guler and Iran's Petroleum Minister Gulam Huseyin Nozeri. Guler told reporters that this cooperation would help bilateral and regional relations and have positive effects worldwide. /Hurriyet/FROM THE COLUMNS… FROM THE COLUMNS… FROM THE COLUMNS… [11] WHILE THE CRISIS GROWS DEEPERBY HASAN CEMAL (MILLIYET)Columnist Hasan Cemal comments on how Turkey should address the international financial crisis. A summary of her column is as follows: "As the economic crisis is growing deeper, unemployment is spreading like the plague. Unfortunately, it's unclear how deep the crisis will go both in Turkey and elsewhere. Nobody can avoid this crisis by retreating behind closed doors. This is the reality. In fact, trying to do so would only make the situation worse. In other words, everybody's in the same boat! During the Great Depression, everybody thought they could save themselves, but instead everything got worse. The disasters of World War II, the Holocaust, and Nazism all came out of the period of the depression. Can we say that we learned anything from it? Yes, maybe. In this respect, last week's G-20 meeting in Washington, which Turkey attended, was a positive development. The meaning of the meeting, which was attended by leaders of 20 countries representing the world's richest economies, can be summed up as follows. We're all in the same boat. A solution will be found together. We have to cooperate. Free trade will continue. We should avoid protectionism and watch the market, but reform the system. We should leave wild, unregulated capitalism behind us. A follow-up G-20 meeting will convene in Washington next April under the leadership of US President Barrack Obama. As Britain's Financial Times said yesterday, 'Nothing is harder than to determine the historic significance of events when they are happening. Yet the meeting of the heads of governments of the Group of 20 in Washington at the weekend looks as historic as the crisis it responds to. It might even prove the one bright light in the gathering darkness.' Why did the Financial Times find it necessary to so emphasize the summit? One reason might be warning those who are in power, because the crisis is very serious. It's also getting deeper, and we don't know how long it will last. If some of the people in power still don't hear the alarm bells, then now it's time. Maybe this is even truer for parties and politicians in countries like Turkey, on the eve of elections (local elections next March). We're facing a time of crisis in which economic realities should be put before politics. We're all in the same boat! If we want to avoid outright disaster, cooperation and consensus in politics and the economy should prevail, and the sooner the better." [12] ENDTurkish Press Review Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |
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