|
|
|
Turkish Press Review, 02-08-20
From: Turkish Directorate General of Press and Information <http://www.byegm.gov.tr>
<LINK href="http://www.byegm.gov.tr_yayinlarimiz_chr_pics_css/tpr.css"
rel=STYLESHEET type=text/css>
<map name="FPMap1">
</map>
<map name="FPMap1"></map>
Press
& Information
Turkish
Press
Summary of the political and economic
news in the Turkish press this morning
20.08.2002
ECEVIT: “I WILL TELL THE PEOPLE ABOUT OUR
ACHIEVEMENTS
GUREL: “WE HAVE NO DOUBT THAT THE DSP
WILL BE IN PARLIAMENT AFTER ELECTIONS”
YILMAZ GOES TO DENMARK TO PUSH TURKEY’S
EU BID
DERVIS MEETS WITH CHP LEADER BAYKAL
NINE DSP DEPUTIES: “WE WILL NOT JOIN THE
CHP”
CEM: “OUR CHANCES FOR THE NOVEMBER
ELECTIONS ARE HIGH”
NEW CURRICULUM TO ADDRESS ARMENIAN CLAIMS
TURKMEN TO BE INVITED TO SECOND IRAQI
OPPOSITION MEETING
IRAQI TRADE DELEGATION TO VISIT TURKEY
JP MORGAN: “TURKEY’S ECONOMIC PROGRAM IS
PROCEEDING WELL”
GERMAN TOURISM CENTER: “TURKEY IS A
HOSPITABLE DESTINATION WITH FRIENDLY PRICES”
FROM THE COLUMNS… FROM THE COLUMNS… FROM
THE COLUMNS…
POLITICAL RACE BETWEEN THE AKP AND CHP
BY DERYA SAZAK (MILLIYET)
DERVIS MUST BE CONSISTENT BY SEDAT ERGIN
(HURRIYET)
CONTENTS
[01] ECEVIT: “I WILL TELL THE PEOPLE ABOUT OUR
ACHIEVEMENTS
[02] GUREL: “WE HAVE NO DOUBT THAT THE DSP WILL BE
IN PARLIAMENT AFTER ELECTIONS”
[03] YILMAZ GOES TO DENMARK TO PUSH TURKEY’S EU
BID
[04] DERVIS MEETS WITH CHP LEADER BAYKAL
[05] NINE DSP DEPUTIES: “WE WILL NOT JOIN THE CHP”
[06] CEM: “OUR CHANCES FOR THE NOVEMBER ELECTIONS
ARE HIGH”
[07] TOPTAN AND ERDEMIR JOIN AKP
[08] NEW CURRICULUM TO ADDRESS ARMENIAN CLAIMS
[09] TURKMEN TO BE INVITED TO SECOND IRAQI
OPPOSITION MEETING
[10] IRAQI TRADE DELEGATION TO VISIT TURKEY
[11] JP MORGAN: “TURKEY’S ECONOMIC PROGRAM IS
PROCEEDING WELL”
[12] GERMAN TOURISM CENTER: “TURKEY IS A
HOSPITABLE DESTINATION WITH FRIENDLY PRICES”
[13] FROM THE COLUMNS… FROM THE COLUMNS… FROM THE
COLUMNS…
[14] POLITICAL RACE BETWEEN THE AKP AND CHP BY
DERYA SAZAK (MILLIYET)
[15] DERVIS MUST BE CONSISTENT BY SEDAT ERGIN (HURRIYET)
[01] ECEVIT: “I WILL TELL THE PEOPLE ABOUT OUR
ACHIEVEMENTS
Speaking to Sabah daily yesterday, Prime Minister and
Democratic Left Party (DSP) leader Bulent Ecevit pledged to
conduct a vigorous election campaign this fall, trumpeting the
success of the coalition government under his leadership to
the voting public. He added, though, that he would “not lead
the DSP forever,” and spoke of stepping down as chairman “at a
reasonable time” after November’s elections. Reaching our to
his former Economy Minister Kemal Dervis, who has expressed
dissatisfaction with the DSP’s refusal to consider leftist
party alliances, Ecevit said that the DSP’s door was open to
him. “We opposed early elections since our government has
scored so many successes,” he continued. “But we needed one-and-a-half
or two more years to reap these successes’ full benefits. Our
coalition partners agreed with us on this, but then Mr.
Bahceli and Mr. Yilmaz started to openly advocate early
elections. In doing so, they did harm to both our government
and Turkey itself. Despite these setbacks, we are now
patiently telling the people about our accomplishments and we
will continue to do so. In the next few short months, we will
concretely lay out both our past successes and future plans.
The media must do this too. For example, I recently took part
in a campaign rally in Duzce, my first in some time. One or
two times I made slips of the tongue and the media criticized
this, correctly. However, I would like the substance of my
speech to be focused on, not its slips.” /Sabah/
[02] GUREL: “WE HAVE NO DOUBT THAT THE DSP WILL BE
IN PARLIAMENT AFTER ELECTIONS”
Speaking to daily Aksam yesterday, Foreign Minister and
Deputy Prime Minister Sukru Sina Gurel said that he had no
doubt that the Democratic Left Party would be represented in
Parliament after November’s elections. “The DSP is very lucky
to have a veteran leader like Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit,
something which the other parties clearly lack,” he stated.
“We don’t care about those who left our party because we know
what to do as the DSP. Nor are we interested in Dervis’s
political decision.” Gurel also stated that the DSP had proved
that it was an enduring political party. “Bulent Ecevit will
better explain this to the nation during this fall’s election
campaign,” he added. /Aksam/
[03] YILMAZ GOES TO DENMARK TO PUSH TURKEY’S EU
BID
Speaking to reporters at Istanbul Airport before flying to
Denmark yesterday, Deputy Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz said
that he would discuss Turkey’s European Union membership bid
with Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen and Foreign
Minister Per Stig Moller. Denmark currently holds the rotating
EU term presidency. “I will tell them of the steps Turkey has
taken for its EU bid and our expectations from them,” he said.
Yilmaz stated that Turkey had adopted a broad package of EU
harmonization laws and that now it was the EU’s turn to give
Turkey a date to start membership negotiations. In related
news, Rasmussen said that Yilmaz had played the leading role
in adopting the EU harmonization laws and that he was awaiting
Yilmaz’s briefing on these reforms. /Aksam/
[04] DERVIS MEETS WITH CHP LEADER BAYKAL
Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Deniz Baykal and
former State Minister for the Economy Kemal Dervis held a much-awaited
meeting yesterday. Following six hours of talks, Baykal told
reporters that they had had a very fruitful meeting and would
continue their work to form a strong, democratic option to
lead Turkey and bring it closer to the rest of the world.
Dervis, for his part, said that their talks had been very
intensive and valuable. When asked whether or not he would
join the CHP, Dervis declined to comment. The two are expected
to meet again tomorrow to continue their work. /All Papers/
[05] NINE DSP DEPUTIES: “WE WILL NOT JOIN THE CHP”
Nine Democratic Left Party (DSP) opposition deputies
yesterday met with Prime Minister and DSP leader Bulent
Ecevit. In a brief statement on behalf of the group issued
after the meeting, Uluc Gurkan said that they had expressed
their view that the DSP should enter into an alliance with
other leftist political parties. Answering journalists’
questions, the deputies asserted that they had no thought of
joining the Republican People’s Party (CHP), a leftist DSP
rival but also candidate for an alliance. Meanwhile, meeting
with Confederation of Turkish Labor Unions (Turk-Is) Chairman
Bayram Meral yesterday, Ecevit proposed that the labor leader
stand as a candidate from the DSP in November’s elections.
Meral told reporters that the Turk-Is Executive Board would
consider Ecevit’s proposal. /Turkiye/
[06] CEM: “OUR CHANCES FOR THE NOVEMBER ELECTIONS
ARE HIGH”
New Turkey Party (YTP) leader Ismail Cem accompanied by the
party’s Secretary-General Istemihan Talay yesterday spoke to
daily Aksam and Milliyet about Turkey’s current political
situation. Stressing that the Nov. 3 elections would be “merciless,”
Cem said that people want new politicians and new
understandings rather than old ones. Pointing to positive
public reaction to the YTP, Cem said that his party was still
a newborn, only three weeks old, and that its prospects would
be moving ever upwards beginning in September. “We are hopeful
that our chances are high in the elections,” Cem stated.
Reiterating his opposition to alliances among leftist parties,
Cem said, “Nothing could be obtained from such alliances.”
Regarding the YTP’s rapprochement with the Democratic Turkey
Party (DTP), he stated, “Our political lines are different.
However, we can understand each other.” Turkey has a vast
potential, Cem said, and our citizens should be aware of their
country’s power. “Both production and investment should be
boosted in order to overcome our economic problems,” he added.
/Turkiye-Milliyet/
[07] TOPTAN AND ERDEMIR JOIN AKP
Former Education Minister Koksal Toptan and Mehmet Erdemir,
mayor of the central Anatolian city of Yozgat and a former
Nationalist Action Party (MHP) deputy, yesterday joined the
Justice and Development Party (AKP). Speaking at their
induction ceremony, AKP leader Tayyip Erdogan stated that
efforts to the contrary notwithstanding, elections would be
held in November. In any case, the AKP is the hope of Turkey’s
citizens and the most powerful among all its political parties,
he added. /Turkiye/
[08] NEW CURRICULUM TO ADDRESS ARMENIAN CLAIMS
As part of a new Education Ministry curriculum designed to
address claims of a so-called Armenian genocide and set to be
implemented this school year, Turkey’s history and social
studies teachers are to receive special training in the
subject. A care group of 110 teachers are to learn the facts
concerning the claims through courses in Ankara, facts which
they will then carry back to their home districts. /Star/
[09] TURKMEN TO BE INVITED TO SECOND IRAQI
OPPOSITION MEETING
The United States is reportedly trying to organize another
Iraqi opposition meeting in London. Iraqi Turkmen groups,
which were not invited to the Washington meeting earlier this
month, are expected to attend the planned London meeting this
time. Ankara had previously criticized the Bush administration
for failing to invite Turkmen groups to the Washington
gathering. Meanwhile, Iraqi Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (IPUK)
leader Jalal Talabani is expected to visit Turkey after the
London meeting to brief Turkish officials on recent
developments. /Cumhuriyet/
[10] IRAQI TRADE DELEGATION TO VISIT TURKEY
A delegation of Iraqi commercial officials led by Iraqi
Trade Minister Mohammed Mehdi Saleh is due to arrive in Turkey
this week. M. Mutlu Oktem, secretary-general of the Istanbul
Mine and Metals Exporters Union, stated yesterday that Saleh
would visit Turkey in order to attend the opening of the
International Izmir Fair and hold contacts in Istanbul, Ankara
and Izmir. As part of the Iraqi delegation’s itinerary,
Turkish Foreign Trade Deputy Undersecretary Abdullah Koten and
other high-ranking officials from the undersecretariat will
organize a seminar on job opportunities in Iraq with the
participation of the representatives of various professional
organizations and exporters on Aug. 24. /Hurriyet/
[11] JP MORGAN: “TURKEY’S ECONOMIC PROGRAM IS
PROCEEDING WELL”
A report on the Turkish economy released yesterday by
investment bank JP Morgan stated that Turkey’s economic
balances had not been hurt by recent developments in the
political arena since people had full confidence in the
economic program. Remarking that Turkey should continue making
new reforms in line with its European Union membership bid, JP
Morgan stated that the financial markets would maintain their
balances in the future no matter what results come from early
polls this fall. The report also added that as all parties had
expressed their full commitment to the economic program, the
new post-election government was expected to continue pursuing
the program with great determination. /Cumhuriyet/
[12] GERMAN TOURISM CENTER: “TURKEY IS A
HOSPITABLE DESTINATION WITH FRIENDLY PRICES”
According to a recent survey conducted by the German
Tourism Research Center, German tourists prefer taking their
holidays in Turkey since they find the country both
“inexpensive and hospitable.” The results of the survey showed
that Germans consider Turkey a “must-see” destination for its
historical treasures, interesting regional cultures and rich,
diverse cuisine. “The Turkish people’s hospitality and
generosity are also very important for foreign visitors,” said
the Center’s Chairman Armin Vielhaber. The survey demonstrated
that Turkey was the most preferred country by German tourists
among other Mediterranean countries. /Cumhuriyet/
[13] FROM THE COLUMNS… FROM THE COLUMNS… FROM THE
COLUMNS…
[14] POLITICAL RACE BETWEEN THE AKP AND CHP BY
DERYA SAZAK (MILLIYET)
Columnist Derya Sazak writes about yesterday’s meeting
between Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Deniz Baykal
and former Economy Minister Kemal Dervis and its possible
outcomes. A summary of his column is as follows:
“Ankara started the week with yesterday’s meeting between
Deniz Baykal and Kemal Dervis. At this meeting, Dervis told
Baykal of the conditions he has for unifying leftist movements
under CHP’s banner. Before the meeting both sides seemed
hopeful, yet they were also cautious. On Sunday evening Baykal
assessed the latest developments with his colleagues from the
CHP. They agreed that elections were going to become a race
between the Justice and Development Party (AKP) and the CHP
and that with the participation of Dervis, the CHP would
become the party under which the left could be united.
According to Baykal, despite efforts from Dervis to become a
part of the CHP, developments keep preventing him from doing
so. Dervis has been telling his close friends that he feels
like a sheep being led to the sacrificial slaughter and that
instead of having a strong political will to resolve the
problems that Turkey will face in the future, everyone is
instead out to reap their own personal benefit. Dervis also
told a deputy from the Democratic Left Party (DSP) that just
three hours before his press conference last week announcing
that he wouldn’t be joining the New Turkey Party (YTP), he had
been determined to declare that he wouldn’t be going into
politics. However Dervis said that there was so much pressure
put on him that he finally had to change his mind and that’s
why he decided that he would seek to establish a unified left.
Dervis also called Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit and told him
that rumours claiming that Dervis orchestrated the
resignations from the DSP were untrue. What’s interesting is
that Dervis handed in his resignation on the same day that
Ismail Cem and Husamettin Ozkan resigned from the DSP. I
wonder if things would have turned out different had President
Sezer not intervened. Following this intervention, Dervis met
with Baykal and then went to the United States and upon his
return he declared that he wouldn’t be joining the YTP.
Undoubtedly, however, a Baykal-Dervis partnership would not be
completely devoid of problems. For one thing, the CHP could
find it hard to formulate a campaign strategy to persuade the
masses that have suffered the most from the February 2001
crisis that things will get better. In addition, there are
people saying that they would not vote for Baykal, even if
Dervis joins him. Baykal must convince people that he has ‘changed.’
These issues are much more important than whether Dervis is
going to put on a CHP pin.”
[15] DERVIS MUST BE CONSISTENT BY SEDAT ERGIN (HURRIYET)
Columnist Sedat Ergin writes on former State Minister Kemal
Dervis’s stepping into politics and his chances in and
contribution to it. A summary of is column is as follows:
“When he arrived in Ankara in March 2001 at the request of
Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit’s, Kemal Dervis was so powerful
that he could have taken control of the whole system in Turkey.
Turkey’s economy was in a terrible state and we needed a
person who could heal it and restore Turkey’s dialogue with
international finance institutions. Thus, Dervis turned out to
be an inevitable figure for Turkey with his wide experience in
the World Bank and his prestige in international finance
quarters as well as his deep insight into economics. The need
for a figure like Dervis was so great that it gave him some
big cards to play. Ecevit offered him the chairmanship of the
Central Bank, yet he ended up getting the state ministry post
in charge of the whole economy. After he became a minister,
Dervis, took the full reins of his position in order to
accomplish almost all his goals. He was a figure who could
achieve his goals this way or that. However, his strength did
not issue solely the support he enjoyed from international
finance quarters and markets. He was also a sympathetic man
who was able to establish direct communication with the people,
a trait which attracted substantial support especially from
the big cities. Nevertheless, as soon as he stepped into
politics, he was faced with a wholly different realm. In this
world he was introduced to an environment shaped by personal
and party-based struggles and by age-old grievances. This was
not what he had gotten used to. Was he going to be able to get
everything he wanted in this new world? Dervis’s aim this time
was truly a difficult one to achieve: reuniting the fragmented
political picture in the center under a single umbrella, which
was altogether contrary to the nature of political practice
and structure in Turkey. However, the picture grew even more
complicated. The fact that Dervis failed to keep his promises
to the New Turkey Party (YTP) and then turned to the
Republican People’s Party (CHP) created a degree of mistrust
of his consistent character in the eyes of the people.
Nevertheless, he is still a very important figure in the
enigma of politics. Undeniably, Dervis will play a crucial
role in attracting a substantial number of votes, especially
in the big cities. Yet, he has to avoid any moves which could
cast doubts on his consistency if he wants to make such an
impact.”
ARCHIVE
<script type="text/javascript" language="JavaScript" src="http:/_www.byegm.gov.tr_statistic/countcode.js">
</script>
|
