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Turkish Press Review, 02-01-02
From: Turkish Directorate General of Press and Information <http://www.byegm.gov.tr>
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Press
& Information
Turkish
Press
Turkish
Press Review >>
Foreign
Press Guide
Summary of the political and economic
news in the Turkish press this morning
02.01.2002
CONTENTS
[01] CEM EVALUATES TURKEY'S RELATIONS WITH THE US
[02] HEAVY SCHEDULE FOR PARLIAMENT
[03] CLERIDES: "THIS YEAR IS IMPORTANT FOR CYPRUS"
[04] US AND BRITAIN CALL ON EU TO REVISE TERRORIST LIST
[05] YAHNICI CRITICIZES EU'S TERRORIST LIST
[06] JAPANESE FOREIGN MINISTER TO VISIT TURKEY
[07] REUTERS: "800 TURKISH SOLDIERS ENTERED NORTHERN IRAQ TO FIGHT PKK"
[08] ANAP PROPOSES EU COMMISSION
[09] BAHCELI TO TRAVEL TO EUROPE
[10] FAMILY COURTS TO BE ESTABLISHED
[11] IMF TO VISIT TURKEY IN MARCH
[12] ONE MILLION TURKISH WORKERS ABROAD
[13] FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE COLUMNS
[14] LAEKEN AND TURKEY BY COSKUN KIRCA (AKSAM)
[15] FIRST GUESTS BY SEDAT SERTOGLU (SABAH)
[01] CEM EVALUATES TURKEY'S RELATIONS WITH THE US
Appearing on NTV yesterday, Turkish Foreign Minister Ismail Cem offered his
evaluations of relations between Turkey and the United States. Cem remarked
that there were a number of problems concerning bilateral economic
relations between the countries. "Turkish-US commercial relations are not
balanced," said Cem. "Although to date Turkey has purchased a significant
amount of US-made armaments and other military equipment, it has as yet
been unable to get what it deserves in return." Continuing on the Iraq
issue, Cem remarked that Turkey had maintained regular contact with Baghdad
and had tried to persuade the administration there to act in line with the
UN resolutions. "If Iraq's dealings with the UN improve, Turkey then might
support the idea that sanctions imposed on Iraq should be lifted," said
Cem. /Cumhuriyet/
[02] HEAVY SCHEDULE FOR PARLIAMENT
Following last year's passage of reform laws, a heavy schedule is awaiting
Parliament in the begining of the new year. Before Prime Minister Ecevit's
visit to the US scheduled for Jan. 14, Parliament's General Assembly will
work on passing certain laws, including the Bidding Bill and the Industrial
Zone Bill. Tommorow the Tobacco Bill which was the object of criticism from
opposition parties, will be re-debated. Meanwhile, Parliament is expected
to put into force by Jan. 11 a bill which would lift a number of discount
privileges for some civil servants. /Turkiye/
[03] CLERIDES: "THIS YEAR IS IMPORTANT FOR CYPRUS"
Greek Cypriot leader Glafkos Clerides said yesterday that the year 2002 was
important for the future of Cyprus, adding that important steps would be
taken in terms of EU membership and direct talks concerning the divided
island. Clerides told reporters that he would soon tell them about a number
of so-called "missing persons," or people lost track of in 1974 and
previously, a subject which he said had brought up with Turkish Republic of
Northern Cyprus (TRNC) President Rauf Denktas at their recent dinner.
/Turkiye/
[04] US AND BRITAIN CALL ON EU TO REVISE TERRORIST LIST
The United States and Great Britain are reportedly calling on the European
Union to review and revise its new listing of terrorist organizations,
according to prominent US financial daily the Wall Street Journal. The
paper reported this week that the two nations were both urging the EU to
include the terrorist PKK on the list, thus correcting its omission from
the recently released version. The paper added that EU had not included on
the list other terrorist organizations active in Turkey, the Middle East
and Asia, but that revisions might be difficult due to lack of consensus on
some issues. /Milliyet/
[05] YAHNICI CRITICIZES EU'S TERRORIST LIST
Sevket Bulent Yahnici, the deputy chairman of the Nationalist Movement
Party (MHP) deputy chairman, yesterday criticized the European Union for
its recent decision not to include the PKK and DHKP-C in its new list of
terrorist organizations. Remarking that the EU was pursuing "unrealistic
policies" concerning terrorist organizations, Yahnici said, "How could we
ever forget that the EU doesn't consider the PKK and DHKP-C to be terrorist
organizations? Will the EU expect us to suffer memory loss when conducting
our relations with Europe?" Yahnici added that the EU had made an unjust
decision which would provide new opportunities for these terrorist
organizations to continue their activities in European countries. Recalling
that PKK and DHKP-C had killed a great many innocent people, Yahnici said,
"That's why the EU policy isn't realistic. In light of this, the EU must
explain to Turkey why it has made such a decision." /Cumhuriyet/
[06] JAPANESE FOREIGN MINISTER TO VISIT TURKEY
Japanese Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka is scheduled to arrive in Turkey
tomorrow for an official visit as guest of his counterpart Ismail
Cem. During her stay in the country, economic, cultural and political
issues will reportedly be discussed. Tanaka is due to leave Turkey on Jan.
6.
/Hürriyet/
[07] REUTERS: "800 TURKISH SOLDIERS ENTERED NORTHERN IRAQ TO FIGHT PKK"
According to the Reuters news agency, some 800 Turkish soldiers entered
northern Iraq this Monday, New Year's eve, through the Habur border gate to
conduct operations against the PKK terrorist organization. "There are still
PKK bases in this region which pose a threat to Turkey," an unnamed army
official reportedly told the agency. /Sabah/
[08] ANAP PROPOSES EU COMMISSION
The Motherland Party's (ANAP) parliamentary group is preparing a proposal
to establish a EU Commission within the Turkish Parliament with a view
towards implementing Turkey's harmonization laws as soon as possible. If
the proposal is accepted, a change in Parliament's internal regulations
will be made for the establishment of the new commission. The suggested
commission's name is the EU Relations Commission, and it would be a joint
commission. The commission is to be made up of members chosen from other
specialized parliamentary commissions. The harmonization laws listed among
the short-term targets of the National Programme would be discussed in this
commission only, and then sent on to the Plenary Session. ANAP officials
suggested that this new setup would speed up and streamline the
harmonization process by eliminating discussions in multiple commissions.
/Turkiye/
[09] BAHCELI TO TRAVEL TO EUROPE
Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader and Deputy Prime Minister Devlet
Bahceli will begin a five-day tour in Europe tomorrow. Before returning to
Turkey on Jan. 7, Bahceli is scheduled to visit Germany, the Netherlands
and Belgium on working visits. /Turkiye/
[10] FAMILY COURTS TO BE ESTABLISHED
The new Turkish Civil Code (TMK) officially went into effect yesterday. The
new TMK requires the establishment of new class of courts known as Family
Courts. These courts will be responsible for handling issues regarding
family law such as divorce, family property and child custody. Justice
Minister Hikmet Sami Turk said yesterday that a bill to set up the Family
Courts would be presented to Parliament together with a number of other
bills. "Following on the heels on our new civil code, the establishment of
the Family Courts will be a significant step forward for Turkey," said
Turk. "These courts will be in charge of issues regarding family law. I
hope that the bill will be enacted in the first half of the year."
/Hurriyet/
[11] IMF TO VISIT TURKEY IN MARCH
An International Monetary Fund (IMF) delegation headed by Turkey desk chief
Juha Kahkonen will arrive in Turkey in March for a review under new
agreements between Turkey and the fund. The next review is scheduled for
May and the third one for July. Meanwhile, Turkey's new Letter of Intent
will be sent to the IMF next week, and it is expected to be discussed
during the IMF Executive Board meeting in the third week of January.
/Turkiye/
[12] ONE MILLION TURKISH WORKERS ABROAD
A just-released book published by the Labor and Social Security Ministry
reports that out of some 3.5 million Turks living abroad, nearly 1.2
million are gainfully employed. "Currently, over 800,000 Turks abroad have
foreign citizenship including 400,000 in Germany," said the book. /Turkiye/
[13] FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE COLUMNS
[14] LAEKEN AND TURKEY BY COSKUN KIRCA (AKSAM)
Retired Ambassador Coskun Kirca writes on the recent Laeken summit and its
repercussions for Turkey. A summary of his column is as follows:
"What the Laeken European summit has wrought for Turkey cannot be regarded
as positive steps for its full EU membership. During the Nice EU summit,
the number of deputies allotted for the member states in the European
Parliament was stated, but no such provision was made concerning Turkey.
This deficiency was not compensated for during the Laeken summit. In terms
of 'realpolitik', the failure to address this point has no importance, as
the EU member and candidate countries have as yet been unable to define
what kind of a structure the Union will have when it completes its
enlargement process. This aspect bears great significance for Turkey. Will
the EU remain a union of nation-states or will it choose a federal
mechanism? Polls show that Turks would not easily accept a federal-type
arrangement. The public should be clearly told how much Turkey's freedom of
action would be lost on foreign policy and defence issues - taking the
difference of interests among us into consideration- if we entered the EU
under the present circumstances. The Laeken summit decided to convene a
convention in order to make recommendations to the member states regarding
the future structure of the EU. Turkey will participate in this convention
with the right to voice its opinion, but no right to vote. Every member and
candidate country will be represented at the convention by a government
representative and two deputies and former French President Valery Giscard
D'Estaing has been named its chairman. This is not an ordinary political
matter. Turks have to choose between accepting or rejecting assimilation
in a European federation. Our fantasy that a relative standard of
prosperity will be reached by becoming a member of the EU should be
abandoned. The latest news coming from the EU is another cause for
concern.The EU has not included the PKK or DHKP-C in its new list of
terrorist organisations. EU circles are stating that it prepared this list
to finger the terrorist organisations acting within its borders, and that a
list of international terrorist organisations would be made later. If this
is true, Germany is still unable to see that the PKK is operating within
its own borders. Even if the EU puts the PKK and DHKP-C onto a second list,
such a difference cannot be reconciled with the recent decision taken at
the NATO Council that terrorism, wherever it may take place, is a threat to
all civilized nations. Turkey should bring this issue to the Nato Council
immediately.
How can Turkey enter such a Union which bases its policy on such a
distinction?
Still another issue is that the EU has not accepted as yet to begin
monitoring the
harmonization of Turkish laws with the community acquis, even while it is
conducting such studies with six other candidate countries. However, none
of these countries have entered the Customs Union or harmonized ther joint
trade and services policies, whereas Turkey certainly has. At present the
only positive development in Turkey's relations with the EU have been seen
in the proposed European army. There is no other reason for Turkey to be
pleased with the EU's current positions."
[15] FIRST GUESTS BY SEDAT SERTOGLU (SABAH)
Columnist Sedat Sertoglu writes on Turkey's first foreign guests in the New
Year. A summary of his column is as follows:
"This week Turkey will host a number of important guests. The first guests
of the New Year are 10 congressmen from the US Senate. They are beginning
their tour of countries active in the fight against terrorism with a stop
in Turkey. They will be received by both the Turkish president and prime
minister. This is an opportunity, which can be used to send important
messages regarding not only Iraq and Afghanistan but also Cyprus, in the
leadup to Prime Minister Ecevit's visit to Washington. Ecevit's suggestions
have played an important role in persuading Turkish Cypriot President Rauf
Denktas regarding the latest initiatives for a solution to the Cyprus
problem. Reportedly, if both sides abandon their calls for compensation a
solution will be very close. Denktas is going to begin talks with Clerides
in a fortnight. TRNC President is expected to go to the meeting with a
roadmap or a document. If an agreement is to be reached on the island,
there must a document on hand to be discussed. This will be the blueprint
of the agreement. Denktas should keep in mind that the initiatives he
recently launched have created a favorable climate for Turkey both in the
US and the EU. In his meeting with President Bush, Prime Minister Ecevit
must tell him that Turkey will do everything it can for the Cyprus
negotiation process to be concluded in a way which can please everyone."
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