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Turkish Press Review, 02-02-26
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
26.02.2002
CONTENTS
[01] IZGI: “POLITICAL PKK IS IMPOSSIBLE”
[02] BLAIR PHONES ECEVIT
[03] YILMAZ: “HARMONY IS TAKING TURKEY TO THE EU”
[04] BUSY SCHEDULE IN THE PARLIAMENT
[05] DENKTAS AND EU
[06] SPANISH DEFENSE MINISTER TRILLO TO VISIT TURKEY
[07] TASAR RETURNS FROM ITALY
[08] IMF DELEGATION TO VISIT TURKEY
[09] TURKISH-US ECONOMIC PARTNERSHIP COMMISSION TO MEET TODAY
[10] GERMAN PILLER OPENS REPRESENTATIVE OFFICE IN TURKEY
[11] TURKISH BUSINESSMEN WOULD VISIT IRAQ
[12] NUMBER OF TOURISTS VISITING TURKEY SIGNIFICANTLY
INCREASES
[13] “SHOPPING FAST 2002” TO BE HELD IN ISTANBUL
[14] ANKARA TO HOST INTERNATIONAL YOUTH PLATFORM
[15] FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE COLUMNS
[16] EU AND TURKISH RELATIONS BY HASAN CEMAL (MILLIYET)
[17] RESULTS OF THE FIRST ROUND IN CYPRUS BY METIN MUNIR
(SABAH)
[01] IZGI: “POLITICAL PKK IS IMPOSSIBLE”
Parliament Speaker Omer Izgi said yesterday that PKK is a terrorist
organization that uses terrorism to take part in Turkish political life.
Izgi also said that it is impossible to imagine that the PKK will ever
have a place in the Turkish political life. /Hürriyet/
[02] BLAIR PHONES ECEVIT
British Prime Minister Tony Blair yesterday night phoned Turkish Prime
Minister Bulent Ecevit to discuss the issue of Afghanistan. Prior to his
departure from the Prime Ministry, Ecevit said that they evaluated recent
developments in Afghanistan on the phone. British government had
previously stated that it would welcome Turkey taking over the lead of the
peacekeeping force in Afghanistan from Britain. Meanwhile, a high-level
British official said, “There are discussions taking place and we expect
the Turkish government to make a formal announcement soon.” /Cumhuriyet/
[03] YILMAZ: “HARMONY IS TAKING TURKEY TO THE EU”
Deputy Prime Minister and Motherland Party (ANAP) leader Mesut Yilmaz
said yesterday that harmony is leading Turkey into the European Union.
Yilmaz also said that the government and the opposition have agreed on the
European Union. The problem now is not to reach a compromise on the issue
but to implement the agreement quickly. /Milliyet/
[04] BUSY SCHEDULE IN THE PARLIAMENT
Following the Sacrifice Feast, a busy working schedule awats the
Turkish Parliament. Abolition of the capital punishment, second
Constitutional amendment package and broadcasting in Kurdish will be the
priority topics on the agenda to be debated. The debates are expected to
cause disputes between the coalition partners, as the Nationalist Action
Party (MHP) is against Kurdish broadcasting and lifting of the capital
punishment. /Turkiye/
[05] DENKTAS AND EU
President of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus Rauf Denktas said
to Italian Limes Periodical that Greek Cypriots will become a member of EU
with the pressure of England and USA. Denktas stated that the important
thing is to solve Cyprus problem within the two sides. He said that Greek
Cypriots wanted to reduce the status of Turkish Cypriots to a minority and
the EU acted as if the only problem in Cyprus was to enter Union.
“That’s why Greek Cypriots decline agreeing with us. Greek Cypriots
know that they can carry the whole Cyprus to Europe by misleading them”.
Denktas also said that a conflict seemed near if the Greek Cypriots
entered the EU and the question would be, “ Who will protect the Green
Line?”. Greek Cypriots want to create a problem on the Green Line with
Turkish troops to capture the island and they want to bring about this
crisis to get rid of Turkish Cypriots. /Sabah/
[06] SPANISH DEFENSE MINISTER TRILLO TO VISIT TURKEY
EU Term President Spain’s Defense Minister Federico Trillo is to pay
an official visit to Turkey as the official guest of the Turkish Defense
Minister Sabahattin Cakmakoglu. Trillo will meet with Turkish Prime
Minister Bulent Ecevit and Chief of the General Staff Huseyin Kivrikoglu.
He is expected to discuss the issue of the European Security and Defense
Policy (ESDP) with the Turkish officials. /Cumhuriyet/
[07] TASAR RETURNS FROM ITALY
Turkish Tourism Minister Mustafa Tasar, who attended the “World
Tourism Fair,” opened in Milano, Italy, returned to Turkey yesterday.
During the press conference he held at Ataturk Airport in Istanbul, he
said that his meetings that lasted for four days were beneficial for the
country. Tasar added, “I think the number of Italian tourists visiting
Turkey will increase a great deal in the year 2002, as it has been in the
year 2001. In addition, the Italian tourism investors seem to be willing
to invest in Turkey.” /Aksam/
[08] IMF DELEGATION TO VISIT TURKEY
International Monetary Fund (IMF) delegation will arrive in Turkey on
March 5th for the first review of this year. If the delegation, headed by
Turkey Desk Chief Juha Kahkonen, finds the performance and structural
criteria affirmative following the review, the IMF will relase a loan
tranche of $1.15 billion. As part of the first review, the delegation is
expected to stay in Turkey for 15 days. The new stand-by agreement between
Turkey and the IMF which will last until 2004, proposes scheduled reviews
and implementation of certain criteria.Turkey waits for some $5-billion
loan from the IMF after four reviews within this year. /Turkiye/
[09] TURKISH-US ECONOMIC PARTNERSHIP COMMISSION TO MEET TODAY
The Turkish-US Economic Partnership Commission is to hold a two-day
meeting. The Turkish group is chaired by Foreign Ministry Undersecretary
Ugur Ziyal and the US group by the Assistant Secretary of State Alan
Larson. The Turkish Union of Chambers and Stock Exchanges (TOBB) and the
Turkish Assembly of Exporters (TIM) sent a letter to US Secretary of State
Colin Power, stating that a commercial agreement should be signed between
the two countries. /Cumhuriyet/
[10] GERMAN PILLER OPENS REPRESENTATIVE OFFICE IN TURKEY
German Piller Company, world famous in production of industry fans,
opened its 15th representative office in Turkey. At a meeting organized to
promote the Piller, Director General Nils Englund said, “Turkey is a new
door for our company to open up to the world.” Stressing that the Piller
had a turnover of 50 million DM and had a share of 12% in the sector in
Germany, Sales Manager Joachim Schmitz underlined that trade relations
would get Turkish and German cultures closer. /Turkiye/
[11] TURKISH BUSINESSMEN WOULD VISIT IRAQ
Foreign Trade Undersecretary (DTM) Kursat Tuzemen will visit Iraq on
2-5 March with a group of 150 Turkish businessmen. During the visit
Turkish businessmen will meet with representatives of the Iraqi
government. /Hürriyet/
[12] NUMBER OF TOURISTS VISITING TURKEY SIGNIFICANTLY
INCREASES
According to recent data released by the World Tourism Organization,
the number of foreign tourists visiting Turkey increased by 12.4 % in
2001. The increase has been evaluated as a remarkable success for Turkey
as the number of tourists visiting other countries has dramatically
declined in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. /Hurriyet/
[13] “SHOPPING FAST 2002” TO BE HELD IN ISTANBUL
Istanbul is preparing for the shopping campaign, “Shopping Fast
2002,” which will be held for the first time on March 15-20 so it will
become a brand worldwide. Istanbul Chamber of Commerce (ITO), Turkish
Association of Travel Agencies (TURSAB) and the Turkish Hotel Association
(TUROB) will carry out the campaign with the support of Tourism Ministry.
Kapalicarsi, Nisantasi and Osmanbey were chosen as pilot regions during
the campaign. The campaign will bring to fore that Istanbul, with its
great historical and cultural wealth, might become a worldwide shopping
center. /Aksam/
[14] ANKARA TO HOST INTERNATIONAL YOUTH PLATFORM
University students from Turkey and abroad will gather together during
the “International Youth Platform” to be held on April 24-28 by Gazi
University’s Rectorship and Gazi University’s Engineering-Architecture
Faculty Student Group’s Career Club. The young people will seize the
opportunity to find jobs at the “Opportunity Creating Fair” to be held
as part of the platform. Students from the state and foundation
universities all around Turkey and the university students from the
Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, Italy, Austria, Germany, the US,
England, France, the Netherlands, Australia, China, Japan, Philippines and
Canada were invited to the platform, in which the problems of the young
will be discussed. /Aksam/
[15] FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE COLUMNS
[16] EU AND TURKISH RELATIONS BY HASAN CEMAL (MILLIYET)
Columnist Hasan Cemal writes on Turkish-EU relations. A summary his
column is as follows:
“Can Turkey be divided? This cannot be. However, Turkey can be led to
a turbulence and instability. PKK terrorist organization has served this
purpose and in a bloody way at that. Can this be repeated? This may be so,
and therefore Turkey has to be prepared for such a possibility. In order
to achieve this a game plan covering religious and ethnic groups must be
prepared. Developing within political stability, and spreading prosperity
through democracy and the rule of law will form the framework of this game
plan. However, Turkey excluded from Europe will be more prone to losing
strength or falling into instability. In fact EU membership is adopted as
a national policy in Turkey. The public support for this is around 75%.
2002 is an important year for EU membership. The EU has to set a date for
Turkey’s accession negotiations until the end of 2002. If the date is
set, the road to membership will be opened before us. However, Turkey has
to complete its homework set for the short term. The Coalition government
has fulfilled some of them but others still maintain their important
positions such as the abolition of death penalty, radio-tv broadcasts in
Kurdish. Turkey must take steps to be admitted to the EU.
If the EU may not agree to our membership finally, it is not the end of
the world and we will continue on our path.”
[17] RESULTS OF THE FIRST ROUND IN CYPRUS BY METIN MUNIR
(SABAH)
Columnist Metin Munir writes on the first round of the dialogue ongoing
in Cyprus between Turkish and Greek Cypriots. A summary of his column is
as follows:
“The first round of the peace talks in Cyprus is over. The
negotiation table means the last test the Greek Cypriots have to pass to
be admitted to the EU. They can win this test in two ways; they may either
unite the island coming to an agreement with the Turkish Cypriots or if
this is not possible, they can lay the blame of its failure on the
shoulders of the Turkish Cypriots. The EU has no problem in admitting a
united country into the organization. The Greek Cypriots have done and are
all doing all that is required of them to be admitted into the Union. The
only setback for their being a member is that the Island is divided and
this bears a potential danger of clashes. Only this can obstruct a
unanimous vote for the acceptance of the Greek Cypriots into the EU.
However there are ways for the Greek Cypriots to overcome this obstacle.
They may convince the whole world that notwithstanding their efforts to
find a solution to the problem, Turks have hampered finding a solution to
the problem. Brussels would not want to punish the Greek Cypriot side,
which would seem to have done all it can to find a solution. Therefore, if
the negotiations fail to reach an agreement, it would be very important
for them that everyone knows that the responsibility for the blame does
not lie with them. That is why the Greek Cypriots are sending a copy of
all the documents to the European Union and United Nations officials.
Greek Cypriots are giving the open message that they are playing with open
cards. In order to show that they are exerting every effort to reach an
agreement at the end of the negotiations they are sending a copy of the
documents of proposals they are bringing to the table. The results
achieved until today show that the proposals brought forth by the Turkish
side did not suffice to establish the minimum conditions for a unitary
state required by the EU candidacy. If Turkish proposals are accepted,
there will be two states and the organs of the joint state will be
insufficient to carry out the requisitions of the EU membership.
Therefore, these proposals will be rejected not only by the Greek
Cypriots, but also by the EU. Dialogue between Denktas and Clerides seems
to pass behind closed doors but all the concerned parties are aware of
what is going on. In other words, Denktas is conducting talks not only
with the Greek Cypriots, but also with the EU and the US.”
ARCHIVE
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