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Wednesday, 18 December 2024
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Turkish Press Review, 00-11-20Turkish Press Review Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs <http://www.mfa.gov.tr>20.11.00Summary of the political and economic news in the Turkish press this morningCONTENTS
[01] FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE COLUMNS[02] PARLIAMENT BUSY WITH BUDGET DEBATESParliament is going to debate a bill envisioning that some of the temporarily imposed taxes be extended for some time. The taxes were imposed to contribute to the financing of the eight-year compulsory education project launched by the government and to help restore the sites damaged by last year's earthquakes. They were originally supposed to apply until the middle of this year. The taxes will be imposed for two more years, if the bill is passed in parliament. Parliament will also debate the issue of the recent prison unrest. Another topic on Parliament's agenda is legislative immunities. Parliament is set to debate some 10 files which foresees the lifting of certain deputies' immunities. Some 37 other immunity files are still waiting to be put on the parliament's agenda. As for the onging budget debates, Parliament's Planning and Budget Commission is expected to debate the budgets of the Interior Ministry, the Justice Ministry, the Constitutional Court, the Council of State and the Court of Appeal today. Reports say Parliament might also debate the issue of amnesty, which has been on the public agenda for some time. A bill, drawn up as a result of discussions among the coalition parties, is expected to be submitted to the Parliamentary Speaker's Office. The Justice Commission will immediately debate the bill, in the event the government submits it to the Parliamentary Speaker's Office, say the reports. The draft may even be brought to Parliament before the end of the week. /Turkish Daily News/[03] CEM MEETS WITH SAUDI FOREIGN MINISTER FAISALForeign Minister Ismail Cem met with his Saudia Arabian counterpart Prince Saud-el Faisal in Riyadh. The two ministers discussed bilateral economic and political relations as well as developments in the Middle East peace process. Mr. Cem was also received by Crown Prince Abdullah and King Fahd. /Turkiye/[04] DEMIREL TO VISIT THE USAFormer President Suleyman Demirel will leave for New York Nov. 25 to participate in the international commission, headed by former US Senator George Mitchell, which was formed to examine the outbreak of violence in the Middle East. In addition to Mr. Demirel, EU Higher Representative Javier Solana, Norweigan Foreign Minister Thorbjoem Jagland and another former US Senator, Warren Rudman, are also members of the commission. The formation of the commission is reported to be approved both by Israelis and Palestinians. Meanwhile, in the coming days, the UN Security Council is expected to discuss a draft resolution proposed by Palestinians to send a UN force to Jerusalem, West Sheria and Gaza to protect civilian Palestinians. /Aksam/[05] MINISTRY OF NATIONAL EDUCATION GETTING PREPARED FOR THE EUThe Ministry of National Education conducts research on all EU member countries' education systems. The aim of the research is to explore the basic characteristics of the educational systems and then enable Turkish education sysytem to adjust to these characteristics and catch up with the standards of the EU countries. The domain of the research covers every level and type of schools and includes certain features such as compulsory education years, education programs and the preparation of lecture books. /Hurriyet/[06] COURT OF APPEALS DECISION ON THE SO-CALLED ARMENIAN GENOCIDEThe Court of Appeals sent its four year old decision on the so-called Armenian genocide, stating that no genocide occurred only losses due to migration, to the Office of the Prime Minister. The Court of Appeals decided that Armenian writer Vhakn N. Dadrian's book, titled "Genocide as a Problem related to National and International Law" distorted historical facts. The decision states that it was the Armenians who carried out genocide and terror in the Ottoman Empire. The decision stated: "Because of the violent attitudes of the Armenians towards both the public and the soldiers, the Ottoman state made the decision to exile them to the southern parts of the Empire. During the migration there were certain losses of Armenian people for various reasons. It is not fair to judge the Turkish nation for incidents which took place during the migration and to call these incidents a genocide." /Hurriyet/[07] FOREIGN MINISTERS MEETING IN BRUSSELSThe EU Ministers of Foreign Affairs will meet today in Brussels. The meeting is expected to focus on two basic issues. First, the Cyprus issue and second, Turco-Greek relations. At the Nov 8 EU Commission meeting, the paragraph on Cyprus was excluded from the `principles' chapter of the accession partnership document and included in the `short term priorities' chapter. The paragraph was changed as follows: "Turkey should give its full support to the UN Secretary General's attempts to find a stable and realistic solution to the problem." Since Ankara was concerned over the inclusion of the Turco-Greek relations into the accession partnership document, the Foreign Ministers in Brussels are expected to make a decision which would not annoy Turkey and would satisfy Greek demands. /Hurriyet/[08] PANGALOS DISMISSED FROM OFFICEGreek Culture Minister Theodoros Pangalos was dismissed from office for critisizing the Turkey policies of the ruling PASOK party and Foreign Minister George Papandreu. Previously, in 1999, Pangalos was removed from the Foreign Ministry for giving shelter to terrorist Abdullah Ocalan in the Greek Embassy in Kenya. Greek Prime Minister Kostas Simitis announced that he replaced Pangalos with Evangelos Venizelos as Culture Minister. /Aksam/[09] CAKMAKOGLU TO ATTEND ESDI MEETINGTurkey's Permanent Representative in the Western European Union, Ambassador Temel Iskit, said some progress has been achieved on the issue of establishing a European Army. Mr. Iskit said in order for Turkey to take part in the European Security and Defense Identity (ESDI), the EU should state beforehand its will to live with Turkey under the same umbrella. The defense ministers of EU and non-EU, NATO member countries will convene this week in Brussels. National Defense Minister Sabahattin Cakmakoglu will represent Turkey at the meeting. The ministers will discuss the establishment of a European Army. The positions and status of the NATO member countries, such as Turkey, Norway, Iceland, Hungary, Poland and Czech Republic will be discussed in the meeting. /Turkiye/PRODI: "GREEK-CYPRIOTS WIll NOT BE A EU MEMBER BEFORE A SOLUTION" The President of the European Commission, Romano Prodi, said, prior to the settlement of the Cyprus problem, the admittance of Greek-Cypriots into the EU will cause great problems. Mr. Prodi, in the Greek newspaper "Ethnos", said the EU cannot bear the tensions of the Cyprus problem if the Greek-Cypriots are admitted into the EU before a viable solution for the island is found. Mr. Prodi said the enlargement process will be used as an instrument to solve the Cyprus problem. /Milliyet/ [10] AWARD TO ENVER ORENThe president of the Executive Board of the Ihlas Holding received "The Most Respectable Person" award given by the American Biographical Research Institute. /Turkiye/[11] NEW NATURAL GAS RESERVES IN TRACENew natural gas reserves were discovered around the province of Tekirdag in Thrace. The reserves are predicted to be were around 2-3 billion quadrat meters. /Turkiye/[12] WORLD BANK LOANS TO UNION OF CO-OPERATIVESThe Union of Co-operatives are going to be rehabilitated. The restructuring program will be implemented with the help of the $166 million loans received from the World Bank. The restructuring will be completed in four years. /Star/[13] TURKEY TO ATTEND 89 FAIRS IN 2001Turkey will attend 89 international fairs in 2001. At the fairs, products ranging from furniture to food will be exhibited. /Sabah/[14] TUGIAD ATTENDS YES FOR EUROPE FORUM 2000 MEETING IN BRUSSELSTurkey attended the "Yes for Europe Forum 2000 meeting" in Brussels. During the meeting, members of the Turkish Young Businessmen Association (TUGIAD) gave a conference on "the new economy" to their collegues from the EU member countries. Replying to the questions of Turkish reporters after his 3-day contacts in Brussels, Chairman of TUGIAD Muharrem Yilmaz said, "Turkish businessmen showed their European collegues that they were ready to enter the EU. We're improving our relations with the young European businessmen." /Sabah/[15] FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE COLUMNS[16] REJECTING THE EU'S OFFER BY SUKRU ELEKDAG (MILLIYET)Former Ambassador Sukru Elekdag comments on the contents of the EU Accession Partnership Document. A summary of his column is as follows:"In case the statements concerning Cyprus question remain as is in the EU Accession Partnership Document, the issue will come before us in the future no matter what we say. Therefore, due to the importance of the issue, we had suggested Prime Minister Ecevit launch initiatives by visiting the capitals of the EU states. We believed that in face-to-face meetings with his counterparts, Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit could express, with determination, his Government's refusal to accept any deviation from the Helsinki Declaration without causing a breakdown in the dialogue. This proposal was not taken into consideration and only messages were sent to the leaders of the EU states. Ankara grasped the severity of the matter when it learned that an attempt was made to include the Aegean problems into the APD (in addition to the Cyprus issue) as a political criterion. This led to a warning by Ecevit stating that, unless the statements were removed from the text, Turkey's relations with the EU would be reviewed. This means that Turkey may withdraw its candidacy from the European Union. Ecevit has staked all in his reply to the EU. Therefore, the following question should be answered: 'Have the results of such a great gamble been assessed clearly?' We believ this is not an action taken after fastidious calculation. In fact, Turkey's interests are best served through hardwork done in a calm and collected manner, without giving way to fury. Otherwise, Turkey will fall into the trap set by those wanting to keep the country out of the EU. As a result of our obligations stemming from the APD, the accordance of Kurdish broadcasting and of cultural rights reveal the difference of opinion among the Coalition partners on the issue. In fact, the fourth and fifth pharagraphs of the Lausanne Treaty sheds light on the situation. The Lausanne Treaty did not granted Kurds a minority status, but given the Kurds and other Turkish citizens the right to broadcast in their mother tongue within the framework of common legal and individiual rights and to preserve their own identity." Turkish Press Review Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |
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