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Turkish Press Review, 02-08-16
From: Turkish Directorate General of Press and Information <http://www.byegm.gov.tr>
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Press
& Information
Turkish
Press
Summary of the political and economic
news in the Turkish press this morning
16.08.2002
SHOCK FOR THE YTP
BY OKTAY EKSI (HURRIYET)
AFTERMATH OF AN OPERATION IN IRAQ
BY MUSTAFA BALBAY (CUMHURIYET)
CONTENTS
[01] DERVIS DECIDES NOT TO JOIN YTP, BUT VOWS TO CONTINUE EFFORTS FOR LEFTIST UNITY
[02] ECEVIT FINDS DERVIS’S STATEMENTS SUPRISING
[03] YILMAZ TO TRAVEL TO COPENHAGEN
[04] US EMBASSY IN ANKARA: “THE US PLACES A HIGH PREMIUM ON ITS RELATIONS WITH TURKEY”
[05] FOREIGN MINISTRY: “TURKEY WAS READY FOR BARZANI TO ATTEND IRAQI OPPOSITION MEETING”
[06] CILLER CALLS ON CENTER-RIGHT PARTIES TO UNIFY
[07] PISKINSUT: “LEFTIST PARTIES SHOULD UNITE UNDER THE CHP”
[08] KARAYALCIN: “BAYKAL’S CALL WAS ONLY TO THE YTP”
[09] YASAR NURI OZTURK JOINS CHP
[10] FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE COLUMNS...
[11] FROM THE COLUMNS...
[12] SHOCK FOR THE YTP
[13] BY OKTAY EKSI (HURRIYET)
[14] AFTERMATH OF AN OPERATION IN IRAQ
[15] BY MUSTAFA BALBAY (CUMHURIYET)
[01] DERVIS DECIDES NOT TO JOIN YTP, BUT VOWS TO CONTINUE EFFORTS FOR
LEFTIST UNITY
Former State Minister for the Economy Kemal Dervis yesterday finally
declared a much-awaited decision on where he would cast his political lot.
Dervis said that he wouldn’t join the New Turkey Party (YTP), citing its
rejection of efforts to unite Turkey’s leftist political parties. Following
a meeting with Confederation of Turkish Labor Unions (Turk-Is) Chairman
Bayram Meral yesterday afternoon, Dervis held a press conference. Stressing
that he has been unable to obtain any results from his contacts with the
YTP administration, Dervis said that he regretted that the YTP was
apparently not interested in joining those efforts. “They may have sound
reasons to do this, and I respect them,” said Dervis. “However, I think
efforts to unite social democrats should continue. In this case, it is not
possible for me to join the YTP.” He emphasized the importance of
Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Deniz Baykal’s recent call for the
unification of leftist parties under the CHP’s banner. “Just joining a
party is not enough,” he commented. “We should present people an option
with new dimensions. I want to thank Baykal for his important step. I will
continue my efforts with him. But we shouldn’t neglect or ignore even a
single vote of the social democrats.” Meanwhile, regarding Baykal’s call
for unification, the YTP’s Central Executive Council released a statement
saying that the party would go into this November’s elections with its own
identity. /All Papers/
[02] ECEVIT FINDS DERVIS’S STATEMENTS SUPRISING
Speaking on NTV yesterday, Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit said that he found
former Economy Minister Kemal Dervis’s same-day press conference on his
political allegiances surprising. “Dervis implied that he would work with
Republican People’s Party [CHP] leader Deniz Baykal,” he stated. “However,
in the past, Baykal ended up splitting the parties that he led. Dervis
doesn’t know our political history, so he is trying to work with the CHP as
if it were a cohesive political party.” He also said that Dervis had
encouraged half of the Democratic Left Party (DSP) deputies to leave the
party and join the New Turkey Party (YTP). “He laid the groundwork for
departures from the DSP,” Ecevit remarked. “I invited him to our party from
the beginning, but now there is nothing I can do.” /Milliyet/
[03] YILMAZ TO TRAVEL TO COPENHAGEN
Deputy Prime Minister and Motherland Party (ANAP) Chairman Mesut Yilmaz is
to travel to Copenhagen on Tuesday to discuss with Danish officials
Turkey’s latest efforts towards full EU membership. Yilmaz is expected to
meet with EU Term President Denmark’s Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen
and Foreign Minister Per Stig Moller. Turkish Secretary-General for EU
Affairs Volkav Vural is also expected to accompany Yilmaz during his visit,
which is being seen as an important event for Turkey’s EU membership bid in
the runup to the EU foreign ministers’ meeting scheduled for Aug. 30-31.
Yilmaz will tell the Danish officials about recent steps taken by the
Turkish government to fulfill the EU’s Copenhagen criteria. Danish
officials stated that they would express their satisfaction with Turkey’s
recent efforts on democratization and the advancement of human rights.
/Cumhuriyet/
[04] US EMBASSY IN ANKARA: “THE US PLACES A HIGH PREMIUM ON ITS RELATIONS
WITH TURKEY”
The United States Embassy in Ankara stated yesterday that the US Congress’
swift approval of the sale of six early warning and control system (AWACS)
aircraft to Turkey displayed how much importance the US places on its
strategic partnership with Turkey. “The successful cooperation between the
US government, US company Boeing [the AWACS producer] and the Turkish
government shows the great importance the US and Turkey attach to their
bilateral relations,” said US Embassy officials. “This also demonstrates
the support given to Turkey by the US Congress.” /Cumhuriyet/
[05] FOREIGN MINISTRY: “TURKEY WAS READY FOR BARZANI TO ATTEND IRAQI
OPPOSITION MEETING”
Both the Turkish Foreign Ministry and the US Embassy in Ankara yesterday
denied a statement by Iraqi Kurdish Democratic Party (IKDP) London
Representative Hoshyar Zebari indicating that IKDP leader Massoud Barzani
has been unable to attend the Iraqi opposition meeting in Washington due to
Turkey hindering his passage through its territories and also cancelling
his diplomatic passport. According to an article in the New York Times,
Barzani refused to attend the meeting out of disappointment over Bush
administration policy and disputes between Kurdish leaders and Turkey as
well as logistical problems. “Turkey cancelled Barzani's diplomatic
passport and made it difficult for US military officials in Turkey to
provide air transport to Barzani,” said Zebari. Denying these allegations,
one high-level US official said that despite these statements to the
contrary, Turkey had in fact proposed hosting Barzani during his visit.
“IKDP leader Massoud Barzani is a leader who can visit our country whenever
he wishes,” said Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman Yusuf Buluc. “Although
his diplomatic passport has expired, he hasn’t yet applied to Turkish
authorities for a renewal. I think there is a lack of communications
between Zebari and Barzani.” Meanwhile, White House spokeswoman Claire
Buchan stated, “Barzani was invited to the meeting, and he wanted to come.
The United States worked to facilitate his travel to the United States, but
for a variety of logistical reasons he was not able to come.” /Cumhuriyet/
[06] CILLER CALLS ON CENTER-RIGHT PARTIES TO UNIFY
Appearing on television yesterday, True Path Party (DYP) leader Tansu
Ciller called on Turkey’s center-right parties to unify under the DYP’s
banner. Ciller stated that for the sake of political stability in Turkey,
the center-right should be unified. “Some 70% of Turkish citizens are on
the right, and unification of the right would present true stability,”
added Ciller. Ciller remarked that this unification should include
everybody, not only one person or a single party. /Hurriyet/
[07] PISKINSUT: “LEFTIST PARTIES SHOULD UNITE UNDER THE CHP”
Socialist Democratic Party (TDP) leader Sema Piskinsut said yesterday that
her party considered Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Deniz Baykal’s
call for the unification of leftist parties as a positive step. “This call
should be supported instead of stymied,” she said. “The leftist parties
should be united under the CHP’s roof.” /Milliyet/
[08] KARAYALCIN: “BAYKAL’S CALL WAS ONLY TO THE YTP”
Social Democrat People’s Party (SHP) leader Murat Karayalcin yesterday said
that Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Deniz Baykal’s call for leftist
party unity was meant only for the New Turkey Party (YTP). “This call
wasn’t addressed to our party,” he stated. After meeting with Karayalcin
yesterday, Freedom and Solidarity Party (ODP) leader Ufuk Uras said that
the leftist parties offered the only way of overcoming Turkey’s political
and economic crises. “The leftist parties need to be represented in
Parliament, and all of us have a responsibility to achieve this,” he
stated. /Milliyet/
[09] YASAR NURI OZTURK JOINS CHP
Yasar Nuri Ozturk, former dean of the Theology Faculty at Marmara
University, yesterday joined the Republican People’s Party (CHP). Speaking
at his induction ceremony, Ozturk said that CHP leader Deniz Baykal
supported his views and that he found Baykal to be a unique political
leader. Ozturk added that the CHP was both an old and a new political
party. For his part, CHP leader Baykal stated that CHP was embracing people
from every sector of society. /Sabah/
[10] FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE COLUMNS...
[11] FROM THE COLUMNS...
[12] SHOCK FOR THE YTP
[13] BY OKTAY EKSI (HURRIYET)
Columnist Oktay Eksi comments on Dervis’s decision on his political
alliances and developments on the YTP’s side. A summary of his column is as
follows:
“During a press conference yesterday afternoon, Kemal Dervis bid his
farewell as a political partner to Ismail Cem, Husamettin Ozkan and the
former DSP members who had held high hopes that Dervis would join the New
Turkey Party (YTP). This decision of Dervis might comes as quite a surprise
for hundreds of thousands of people who remember him standing shoulder-to-
shoulder with Cem and Ozkan on TV promising to ‘act together’ with them.
However, there are some serious factors which brought Dervis to this point.
As you remember, in his first statement after being elected YTP leader, Cem
said his party wouldn’t ‘enter into alliances with any other party.’
However, everybody knew that Dervis was seeking as broad as possible
cooperation on the left. In other words, even at this point there were
diverging points of view on the best strategy to take. Moreover, after
declaring it wouldn’t make alliances, the YTP surprised everyone following
a meeting with center-right Democratic Turkey Party (DTP) leader Mehmet Ali
Bayar -- who previously said that he wasn’t thinking of cooperating with a
leftist party -- by announcing that it had decided to enter into an
election alliance with the DTP. There were even reports in some newspapers
that politicians from the YTP had decided to participate in the elections
on DTP candidate lists. Here we see the spectacle of a party, intent on
coming to power, taking shelter under the banner of a rightist party whose
very existence is composed of a list of organizations merely on paper. What
is more, as long as Dervis’s participation in the YTP was delayed -- due to
unrealistic attempt at alliances -- YTP members were very upset and they
became reactive. As a matter of fact, this was first signaled when Cem said
he considered Dervis ‘not a determining factor, but a contributor,’ which
meant that if Dervis doesn’t join the YTP, little would change. Then the
YTP announced that it would take part in the elections without entering
into alliances with any other party. All this was meant to signal to Dervis
a parting of ways. These are all the factors behind Dervis’s decision
announced yesterday. However, the future factors are different. First of
all, whether Dervis joins the Republican Peoples’ Party (CHP) or not, his
decision is very valuable for the CHP in terms of showing his support. This
was what CHP leader Deniz Baykal knew but didn’t say at his press
conference at the Confederation of Turkish Labor Unions (Turk-Is)
headquarters yesterday. In addition, Dervis chose the path of politics, and
he won’t return to his university duties unless something unexpected
happens. And what next? This is Turkey. Anything can happen in 24 hours.”
[14] AFTERMATH OF AN OPERATION IN IRAQ
[15] BY MUSTAFA BALBAY (CUMHURIYET)
Columnist Mustafa Balbay comments on the recent meetings held between the
US administration and Iraqi opposition groups. A summary of his column is
as follows:
“The Iraq situation became even more complicated after the US
administration met with Iraqi opposition leaders last week in Washington.
Here’s how the picture looks: Washington is determined to launch a military
operation in Iraq. Yet, no one knows the US plans for the aftermath of an
attack. Turkey is holding its current position. The US is our ally and a
possible strike will surely affect Turkey, whether it gets involved in it
or not. Thus, Turkey has an eye on the region and has plans ready to
intervene if it becomes necessary. In the meetings held in Washington, the
Iraqi National Congress (INC), the Iraqi National Accord, the Supreme
Council of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SAIRI), the Iraqi Kurdish
Democratic Party (IKDP) and the Iraqi Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (IPUK)
and Constitutional Monarchy Movement all gathered together. Each of these
six groups is aiming to assume sole control over all of Iraq. If this
proves unworkable, they will come to accept forming separate states in the
regions where they hold the most sway. So, Kurds in the north, Shiite Arabs
in the south and Sunni Arabs around Baghdad will create their own states.
After such a division, a fierce struggle will ensue between them and
thousands of people will die in a series of wars in the region. The US is
definitely aware of this drift and its consequences in Iraq, and it is even
encouraging it. However, quite contrarily, the US keeps saying that it
respects Iraq’s territorial integrity. The scenario spelled out above could
get even worse, because there are substantial differences in terms of
religion, ethnicity and culture which may lead to further division in the
region. What will happen under such circumstance? There will emerge
numerous tiny oil-rich states, whose oil flows through multinational
corporations to the West, whose weapons then flow to these tiny states in
turn. Moreover, firstly, a strong Arab state like Iraq, which threatens
Israel, a country with remarkable influence on the US in every aspect, will
be destroyed. Secondly, the US will get rid of a country which occasionally
supports the Palestinians. And thirdly, after Iraq, Iran and Saudi Arabia
will at last come onto the US’ agenda. What about Turkey?”
ARCHIVE
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