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Turkish Press Review, 02-11-18Turkish Press Review Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: 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 morning18.11.2002NEW CABINET SLATE TO BE ANNOUNCED TODAY ERDOGAN TO MEET WITH GREEK PRIME MINISTER SIMITIS ERDOGAN VISITS FORMER PRESIDENT DEMIREL US PRESS HAILS GUL’S APPOINTMENT TO PRIME MINISTRY BAYKAL: “I HAVE DOUBTS ABOUT THE EU’S GOODWILL” KESKIN: “THE CHP WAS NOT SUCCESSFUL IN THE ELECTIONS” PAPANTONIOU: “TURKISH-GREEK RELATIONS CAN’T BE GREATLY IMPROVED IN THE SHORT TERM” ANNAN SENDS LETTERS TO BOTH SIDES OF THE CYPRUS ISSUE, STEPS UP PRESSURE TURKISH EXPORTERS TO PROMOTE TURKEY’S EU BID AMONG EUROPEAN BUSINESS LEADERS CORSICAN FESTIVAL PROMOTES TURKISH CULTURE FROM THE COLUMNS…FROM THE COLUMNS…FROM THE COLUMNS THE AKP’S ROAD MAP BY DERYA SAZAK (MILLIYET) ERDOGAN’S WAY OF DOING DIPLOMACY BY ZEYNEP GURCANLI (STAR)CONTENTS
[01] NEW CABINET SLATE TO BE ANNOUNCED TODAYAbdullah Gul, prime minister designate and deputy leader of the Justice and Development Party (AKP), is set today to submit to President Ahmet Necdet Sezer a list of the new AKP government cabinet ministers. Following AKP leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s submission of Gul’s name to Sezer on Saturday, Sezer approved him to take over the prime ministry, an appointment which now only awaits Parliament’s confirmation. Tomorrow, Parliament is to elect its new speaker. Vecdi Gonul and Bulent Arinc are reportedly the AKP’s candidates for the speakership. The opposition party Republican People’s Party’s (CHP) candidate may be Istanbul Deputy Sukru Elekdag. If the speaker election goes through tomorrow, the government’s program will be read out on Wednesday. On Saturday, debates on the program will be held. At the beginning of next week, a vote of confidence is to be held and if successful, the new government will then officially begin its term in office. /All Papers/[02] ERDOGAN TO MEET WITH GREEK PRIME MINISTER SIMITISRecep Tayyip Erdogan, leader of incoming ruling party the Justice and Development party (AKP), is set today to fly to Athens to meet with Greek Prime Minister Costas Simitis. Greece will be the second stop on Erdogan’s tour to drum up support for Turkey’s European Union membership bid, on the heels of his trip to Italy last week. During their talks, Erdogan and Simitis will reportedly discuss the recent United Nations Cyprus plan as well as Turkey’s EU bid. After meeting with Simitis, Erdogan will meet with Costas Caramanlis, leader of the main opposition New Democracy Party. Erdogan will then fly to Spain to visit Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar. /Milliyet/[03] ERDOGAN VISITS FORMER PRESIDENT DEMIRELJustice and Development Party (AKP) leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan yesterday visited former President Suleyman Demirel at his working office in Ankara. After the meeting, Erdogan told reporters that he had visited Demirel in order to get the benefit of the elder statesman’s long experience in politics. For his part, stressing that the Nov. 3 elections had brought stability to Turkey, Demirel said that swift establishment of a new government would benefit the nation, as a number of issues urgently needed to be addressed. /Turkiye/[04] US PRESS HAILS GUL’S APPOINTMENT TO PRIME MINISTRYPrime Minister designate Abdullah Gul, deputy chairman of Nov. 3 election winner the Justice and Development Party (AKP), was praised in yesterday’s US press as an “able” choice to lead Turkey’s incoming AKP government. Gul was approved on Saturday by President Ahmet Necdet Sezer to be the new prime minister, a a move which the Parliaments is soon set to confirm. The New York Times noted Gul’s pledge to show the world that “Islam and democracy can work together.” The AKP’s election victory “was an historic moment” in Turkey, the Times commented, adding that Gul “expressed confidence that both Turkey’s democracy and its Western leanings could thrive under an Islamic leadership.” The Washington Post also covered Gul’s appointment, hailing his “warm, affable manner” and his suitability to bolster the AKP’s moderate credentials. /Milliyet/[05] BAYKAL: “I HAVE DOUBTS ABOUT THE EU’S GOODWILL”In an interview with daily Cumhuriyet, Republican People’s Party (CHP) Chairman Deniz Baykal, the leader of the sole opposition party in the new Parliament, gave his views on a council meeting of the Party of European Socialists (PES) he attended last week in Warsaw, Poland, as well as the emergency action plan announced over the weekend by Justice and Development Party (AKP) leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan. “I have doubts about the EU’s goodwill in its relations with Turkey,” said Baykal. “The atmosphere in Warsaw was not friendly. In the near future, Turkey might face certain unfair EU policies which it by no means deserves. What the EU wants from Turkey is for it to find a permanent solution to the Cyprus problem as soon as possible and to approve the European Security and Defense Policy [ESDP]. I believe that the new AKP-led government should be careful and cautious in its relations with the EU.” In addition, Baykal also stressed that though he was familiar with the AKP’s action plan, the actual implementation, rather than the plan itself, was the most important thing. /Cumhuriyet/[06] KESKIN: “THE CHP WAS NOT SUCCESSFUL IN THE ELECTIONS”Adnan Keskin, a member of the Republican People’s Party’s (CHP) Party Assembly, charged yesterday that his party had not been successful in the Nov. 3 elections. Besides the incoming ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), the CHP was the only other party to attract enough votes to get into the new Prliament, at about 20%. The CHP had been entirely absent from the previous Parliament. The CHP’s Party Assembly headed by Chairman Deniz Baykal met yesterday at its headquarters. Before the meeting, Keskin told reporters that the participants would discuss the results of the last elections. Criticizing the party administration for the “unsuccessful” results, Keskin asserted that a vote of confidence should be taken at a future extraordinary convention. Following the six-hour-plus meeting, Baykal said that both the election results and the CHP’s opposition policy had been discussed. Addressing Keskin’s criticisms, Baykal stated that only four assembly members out of 72 had claimed that the election results were unsuccessful. He added that there was no need for an extraordinary convention. /Turkiye/[07] PAPANTONIOU: “TURKISH-GREEK RELATIONS CAN’T BE GREATLY IMPROVED IN THE SHORT TERM”Greek Defense Minister Yannis Papantoniou stated over the weekend that although reaching a permanent settlement on the Cyprus issue would positively affect Turkish-Greek relations, nobody should expect dramatic improvement in the short term. Papantoniou underlined that the implementation stage would be very important for a solution to the Cyprus problem after both sides reach agreement on a plan. /Cumhuriyet/[08] ANNAN SENDS LETTERS TO BOTH SIDES OF THE CYPRUS ISSUE, STEPS UP PRESSUREUN Secretary-General Kofi Annan is stepping up diplomatic pressure to solve the Cyprus problem in the wake of his presentation last week of a solution proposal to both sides. Annan has sent letters to both Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) President Rauf Denktas and Greek Cypriot leader Glafcos Clerides, underlining that this is the last opportunity for them to reach a settlement. Annan also called on the two leaders to hold a meeting within the month to discuss his solution proposal. Meanwhile, Denktas stated that the TRNC wouldn’t hesitate to discuss the proposal, though he characterized some points in it as “mistaken” and “unfair.” Clerides also remarked that he would agree to negotiate on the UN plan. In related news, Denktas was due to return to the TRNC this weekend following his recuperation from heart surgery, but further complications have caused a delay. It is currently unclear when he will be able to return. /Hurriyet/[09] TURKISH EXPORTERS TO PROMOTE TURKEY’S EU BID AMONG EUROPEAN BUSINESS LEADERSThe Turkish Exporters’ Union (TIM) will tomorrow kick off a letter-writing campaign to promote Turkey’s European Union membership bid among European businessmen, TIM Chairman Oguz Satici announced yesterday. Satici said that he hoped the businessmen would see fit to lobby their governments to support Turkey’s membership at next month’s EU Copenhagen summit. These businessmen believe that Turkey should be a member of the EU and they wonder why it isn’t already, he commented. “They also believe that Turkey became economically integrated into the EU with the 1996 Customs Union,” said Satici. /Milliyet/[10] TURKISH JOURNALIST RECEIVES AWARDTurkish-born journalist Mustafa Can, currently a writer for Swedish daily Dagens Nyheter, has received the 2002 Grand Journalism Prize for his coverage of the Swedish Democratic Party, a group notorious for its ultra-nationalist and xenophobic policies. Over a seven-week period, Can spoke to members of the party in an effort to understand their policies and stances. His interview served to demonstrate that racism and xenophobia are both unfortunately alive and well in Sweden. /Cumhuriyet/[11] CORSICAN FESTIVAL PROMOTES TURKISH CULTUREThe French island of Corsica kicked off its Arte Mare Festival on Sunday, a weeklong event which this year is celebrating Turkish culture. Corsica’s capital Bastia is hosting scores of Turkish artists displaying their work and participating in exhibitions and workshops. In addition, the festival will also feature performances of Turkish music and screenings of Turkish films. /Cumhuriyet/[12] FROM THE COLUMNS…FROM THE COLUMNS…FROM THE COLUMNS[13] THE AKP’S ROAD MAP BY DERYA SAZAK (MILLIYET)Columnist Derya Sazak comments on the road map to be followed by incoming ruling party the Justice and Development Party. A summary of his column is as follows:“The 58th government to be established by Justice and Development Party (AKP) deputy leader Abdullah Gul is expected to be on duty later this week. The AKP administration started to work on putting together a new cabinet yesterday. Gul and AKP leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan will have the final say on the new ministers. Since Nov. 3, Turkey has been living under an unprecedented situation, i.e. a Parliament of only two parties, the ruling party having a constitutional majority with 363 votes, the leader_prime ministry split due to Erdogan’s political ban, etc. Gul faces a lot of difficulties ahead. As he stated after leaving the Cankaya Presidential Palace, he will try to open the way soon from an ‘abnormal’ situation to ‘normalization.’ Perhaps Gul will leave the prime ministry to Erdogan just when he is at the top of his game. He will be satisfied with being the ‘second man’ or foreign minister in the role of ‘the AKP’s face for the West.’ Erdogan and Gul’s guiding principle for the new cabinet will be avoiding the need for future shakeups. The recent visits to the Presidential Palace are giving clues about ‘different preferences.’ When Erdogan went to the palace twice, he was accompanied by Abdulkadir Aksu and Vecdi Gonul, two other candidates for the prime ministry post. When President Ahmet Necdet Sezer appointed Gul, this problem was solved. Gul went to the Presidential Palace with Ertugrul Yalcinbayir and Murat Mercan. Instead of insisting on constitutional changes for the prime ministry qualifications, Yalcinbayir supported Gul’s candidacy. Bulent Arinc’s importance also cannot be denied in terms of the balances within the AKP. Following a visit paid to him, Arinc said that he was willing to be Parliament speaker. So if Gonul also insists on getting the speakership, would the AKP parliamentary assembly hold an election between them? Obviously the important thing for the AKP is to step up firmly to its power. This is early for a fight for the chair. The first 100 days of the ‘urgent action’ plan as announced by Erdogan are important. The Copenhagen summit, the future of the European Union and Cyprus will give the first impressions in terms of the success and continuity of Gul’s government.” [14] ERDOGAN’S WAY OF DOING DIPLOMACY BY ZEYNEP GURCANLI (STAR)Columnist Zeynep Gurcanli comments on Justice and Development Party (AKP) Chairman Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s recent visits to Italy and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), and the scope of his insight into Turkish foreign policy. A summary of her column is as follows:“AKP leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan has begun an extensive tour of major European capitals to seek support for Turkey’s EU membership bid. As the chairman of the incoming government party, Erdogan has demonstrated a resolute attitude and pledged to implement further political reforms, a stance which the EU appreciates. However, Erdogan’s recent short visit to the TRNC served to exposed his almost complete lack of experience in foreign policy matters. On the first stop of his tour of EU member states, Erdogan met in Rome last Wednesday with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, a figure similarly inexperienced in statesmanship. Erdogan and Berlusconi did get on well. They conferred on several issues without being dragged into deep, vexing questions of foreign affairs. Erdogan laid out Turkey’s ambitions to become an EU member and reiterated that his party was determined to carry out further political reforms. Berlusconi, in turn, spoke of other European leaders on a first-name basis, so implying that they all were his close friends, and he pledged to support Turkey’s membership bid. Everything was fine with the Italy visit. Yet when he went to the TRNC, the bells tolled dangerously for Erdogan. The press briefing Erdogan gave as soon as he landed on the island revealed that he lacks even the most basic knowledge and perspective on the Cyprus issue, a matter which carries tremendous importance for Turkey. Whatever the reason, Erdogan floundered and found it difficult to answer the questions journalists posed to him, and finally he made a terrible gaffe. Thanks to the quick thinking of some high-ranking AKP officials in his entourage, amends were made for Erdogan’s mistake through a second press briefing before his departure. Yet, that was not the only gaffe Erdogan made during his visit to the island. The AKP leader declared the UN secretary-general’s solution plan ‘worth talking over,’ without feeling any need for further assessment of the plan. Indeed, Sukru Sina Gurel, the foreign minister of the outgoing government, last week stated that certain points contained in the plan were completely out of bounds, although his comments, coming from a lame duck member of Cabinet, were of dubious value at best. Erdogan must have gotten so angry with Gurel that he cried: ‘We are not scared of discussing the Cyprus issue,’ effectively getting caught up in Gurel’s position. In his own way of doing diplomacy, Erdogan, as the leader of Turkey’s new government party, expressed a binding view about the UN plan without even waiting to hear TRNC President Rauf Denktas’s view as to whether or not the plan could constitute a basis for negotiation. Erdogan did all this utterly unaware that even accepting the plan as a basis for negotiation could harm the interests of both Turkey and the TRNC. All of this must be seen as a source of deep concern about Erdogan, as he is heading for an extensive tour of European capitals this week. He will first meet in Athens with Greece’s premier ‘hawk’ on domestic and foreign affairs alike, Prime Minister Costas Simitis. Of course Erdogan and Simitis will discuss the Cyprus issue and Greek-Turkish relations, the heated issues on which even the most senior Turkish diplomats pay the utmost attention to their words and deeds. The Greek media will surely try to force Erdogan to make binding statements on behalf of Turkey and the TRNC. Erdogan will then move on to London to meet with British Premier Tony Blair. Again in London, two very difficult topics will be awaiting Erdogan, namely the Cyprus issue and the European Security and Defense Policy (ESDP). Both will require great skill and finesse. But if Erdogan demonstrates similar performances in his next European stopovers as he did in the TRNC, then hard times lay in store for Turkey.” ARCHIVE <script type="text/javascript" language="JavaScript" src="http:/_www.byegm.gov.tr_statistic/countcode.js"> </script> Turkish Press Review Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |
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