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Turkish Press Review, 03-04-25Turkish 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> e-mail : newspot@byegm.gov.tr <caption> <_caption> Summary of the political and economic news in the Turkish press this morning25.04.2003GUL: “TURKISH BUSINESSMEN WILL GET THE LION’S SHARE IN IRAQ’S RECONSTRUCTION” FROM THE COLUMNS…FROM THE COLUMNS…FROM THE COLUMNS…CONTENTS
[01] ERDOGAN: “TURKEY IS DETERMINED TO FULFILL EU CRITERIA”Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan yesterday received European Union Commissioner Responsible for Budget Michaele Schreyer. Erdogan said that Turkey was determined to fulfill EU’s political criteria to become an EU member. During the meeting, reportedly EU’s financial aid to Turkey was taken up. Stressing that the EU had increased its financial aid, Erdogan said, “But it should be higher than the specified amount.” For her part, Schreyer stated that Turkey should fulfill EU’s political criteria by the end of 2004. She pledged that the EU would grant some 1 billion euros to Turkey up to the year of 2006. /Turkiye/[02] GUL: “TURKISH BUSINESSMEN WILL GET THE LION’S SHARE IN IRAQ’S RECONSTRUCTION”Receiving a delegation from the Turkish Exporters Assembly (TIM) at the Foreign Ministry yesterday, Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said that the Turkish exporters were very likely to enjoy a great many opportunities in Iraq’s reconstruction process. “No matter what some says, the Turkish businessmen will get the lion’s share in Iraq,” added Gul. “Most of all, Turkish exporters will benefit from Iraq’s domestic markets.” /Cumhuriyet/[03] GUL TO VISIT DAMASCUSForeign Minister Abdullah Gul is due to visit Damascus, Syria to hold contacts with Syrian officials next Tuesday. Gul is scheduled to meet with his Syrian counterpart Farouk al-Shara and President Bahsar al-Assad. On the expected agenda of Gul’s visit are Iraq’s postwar regime and the country’s reconstruction process, and Israeli-Palestinian conflict as well as strengthening bilateral relations between Turkey and Syria. /Cumhuriyet/[04] FOREIGN MINISTRY PROTESTS UNVEILING OF KOMITAS STATUE IN PARIS IN COMMEMORATION OF SO-CALLED ARMENIAN GENOCIDEForeign Ministry issued an official statement protesting the unveiling of a statue of Armenian composer Komitas in Paris yesterday in commemoration of the so-called Armenian genocide by Turks in 1915. “It is regrettable that third parties’ mistaken ideas have been allowed to harm Turkish-French relations, especially in light of the negative effects of France’s so- called Armenian genocide law passed in 2001,” the statement said. The said French Parliament resolution was passed in 2001 and caused rifts in relations between Ankara and Paris. A plaque on statue’s pedestal made mention of “1.5 million Armenians, the victims of the first genocide of the twentieth century in the Ottoman Empire in 1915.” Contrary to the Armenian arguments, Komitas, who spent his last 16 years in France, was not among those who lost their lives during the Ottoman deportation of Armenians in Anatolia to Syria in 1915 as a part of the measures taken against the Tashnak and Hunchak Committees, two Armenian organizations which were carried out terrorist activities against Turkish population in eastern Anatolia in 1915. 40,000 to 50,000 Armenian people died during deportations because of epidemic and scarce of food as well as bad weather conditions. /Turkiye/[05] ANKARA REACTS TO GARNER’S STATEMENTTurkey reacted to American Retired Gen. Jay Garner’s recent statement, “Kirkuk is a Kurdish city.” Garner, who will be the head of an interim government to be established in Iraq, paid a visit to northern Iraq on Wednesday and met with Kurdish leaders Jalal Talabani and Massoud Barzani. In a press conference, he claimed that Kirkuk was a Kurdish city. Regarding the future of Kirkuk, he said that the new administration would deal with the Kirkuk issue. “The topic that who would govern Kirkuk will be taken up later,” he added. Summoning the US Embassy undersecretary to Turkish Foreign Ministry yesterday, Turkish officials conveyed Turkey’s concerns over Garner’s recent statement. The officials said that in case Garner made such a statement, then it was a violation of an compromise reached during a gathering by the attendance of the Iraqi opposition leaders, and Turkish and US officials on March 19 in Ankara. US Ambassador to Turkey Robert Pearson will also be summoned to Foreign Ministry and he is expected to brief about the issue. /Turkiye/[06] VERHEUGEN: “IF TURKEY IMPLEMENTS THE POLITICAL CRITERIA IT MAY JOIN THE EU IN 2011”Speaking at the European Union Partnership Council in Brussels yesterday, EU Commisioner for Enlargement Guenter Verheugen said that if Turkey implements EU’s political criteria, it might join the union in 2011. “If Turkey implements the political criteria and resolves the Cyprus issue, talks may begin in 2005,” said Verheugen. “After completing talks, it may sign its EU accession agreement.” Verheugen remarked that the Iraq war proved Turkey’s importance once again, adding that Turkey’s economic potential is greater than that of the EU’s new member countries. “Turkey may play an important role in heading off conflict between the West and Islamic world since it is influential and important for both sides. “ If Turkey fails to receive a date by the end of 2004 for negotiations, the nation would be disappointed,” he stated. /Milliyet/[07] GOVERNMENT TO PAY CIVIL SERVANTS’ COMPULSORY SAVINGSA bill proposes to pay civil servants’ compulsory savings this month and interests of them in 10 installments in three years yesterday passed Parliament. Following President Ahmet Necdet Sezer’s approval, principal capital of the savings which amounts 1.4 quadrillion is to be paid to 15 million servants in April. The bill also proposes interest on savings to be paid every three months beginning from March 2004. /All Papers/[08] OECD PREDICTS TURKEY’S INFLATION 27% FOR THIS YEAR, URGES THE GOVERNMENT TO IMPLEMENT ECONOMIC REFORMSOrganization for Economic Cooperation and Development OECD declared yesterday that Turkey was unlikely to achieve its growth and inflation targets for this year due to signs of slippage from IMF fiscal targets. The organization stated that the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government should continue to fully implement the economic reforms in order to roll over its debt successfully. “Repeated budget slippages would impact on the financial exchange rate markets, threatening the viability of the recovery as well as the disinflation process,” the organization said. “Adherence to expenditure targets and steady implementation of the structural reforms in the banking sector are very important in order to bring down inflation and to create the conditions for a durable recovery.” OECD said that Turkey’s economy exceeded expectations in 2002 by growing 7.8% as it recovered from a deep recession. However, it added that 20% inflation target for this year didn’t seem feasible, but that this year’s inflation would be 27%. /Aksam/[09] FROM THE COLUMNS…FROM THE COLUMNS…FROM THE COLUMNS…[10] EVERY YEAR THE SAME CHORUS BY SAMI KOHEN (MILLIYET)Columnist Sami Kohen comments on the so-called Armenian issue. A summary of his column is as follows:“We see the same picture on April 24 and listen to the same chorus every year. The situation was the same yesterday. There were commemorations particularly in the places where the Armenian lobby is effective due to the day for commemorating the so-called Armenian genocide. This time a monument was set up in Paris in the name of the so-called genocide. Of course France isn’t the only country which has a stance favoring Armenians. Besides France, many countries, including Sweden, Argentina, Russia and Greece, has a law concerning the so-called Armenian genocide. In addition to the decisions taken by certain states in the US, now there is the ‘Armenian genocide bill’ numbered HR 123 on the agenda of the US Congress. When there is the same scenario on April 24 every year, the officials from Turkey and the countries close to Turkey say, ‘Not the politicians, but the historians should evaluate these claims. Let the historians determine the truth.’ This is a reasonable approach. However, this suggestion, which has been repeated for many years, cannot be carried out for some reason or other. Except the individual researches carried out by the Turkish and foreign historians, there isn’t a collective undertaking. As I wrote before, Turkey should be the initiator of such a joint work. This would also establish a dialogue with the circles of the Armenian origin or the circles close to the Armenian thesis. During French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin’s visit to Ankara two days ago, this issue, with the connection of the establishment of the monument, was discussed. In this respect, Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul stated that this issue shouldn’t overshadow the relations between the two countries. The difficulty faced by France is that there is a crowded Armenian lobby in the country, which affects particularly the local authority and make them accept their demands. As a French diplomat said, ‘In spite of all its efforts, the government is incapable of preventing these sorts of actions.’ The difficulty faced by Turkey is the fact that many countries have a similar stance. Can Ankara follow a successful foreign policy by being angry at these countries and damaging its relations with them? For this reason, Turkey should discuss this issue with a new approach this very moment, without waiting for the provocations to occur next year.” 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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