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Turkish Press Review, 03-07-04Turkish 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 morning04.07.2003FROM THE COLUMNS... FROM THE COLUMNS... FROM THE COLUMNS...CONTENTS
[01] SEZER VISITS CROATIA TO DISCUSS BOTH COUNTRIES’ EU MEMBERSHIP BIDPresident Ahmet Necdet Sezer yesterday visited Zagreb, Croatia to meet with his Croatian counterpart Stipe Mesic. During their talks, Sezer and Mesic discussed a number of issues such as cooperation between the two countries to fight terrorism, drug smuggling, and European Union membership bid of both Turkey and Croatia. Speaking afterwards, Sezer said that he and Mesic had same point of view on many issues. “We share common goals, especially in joining the EU and now we need to coordinate our cooperation to meet these goals,” said Sezer. “We agreed that exchanging views for our EU membership bid could create new cooperation fields.” Sezer reiterated that Turkey would continue to support Croatia’s NATO membership and that Croatia’s membership would contribute to the stability and security of Southeastern Europe. For his part, Mesic said that there was not only political cooperation between the two countries, but also in other fields. “Turkish companies may take part in the infrastructure and in our country,” he said. “Integration of Southeastern Europe into EU is our main goal and we should cooperate to reach our goal.” During their meeting, Sezer and Mesic agreed to work harder to improve trade ties and that the free trade agreement which took effect on July 1 between Turkey and Croatia would be a turning point for both. /Aksam/[02] GUL MEETS WITH BRITISH FM STRAWForeign Minister Abdullah Gul, who is currently on a working visit to Britain, yesterday met with his British counterpart Jack Straw in London. Speaking at a joint press conference following the meeting, Gul said that he conferred on Turkey’s EU candidacy and the Cyprus issue with Straw. Answering a question on the Cyprus problem, Gul stated that Turkey had always favored a fair and lasting settlement on the island and that concrete steps were taken to this end. Straw, for his part, said that Britain appreciated Turkey’s progress in passing the necessary political reforms for its EU membership, and that he was hopeful for a permanent resolution soon on the Cyprus problem. /Cumhuriyet/[03] FM GUL: “WE ARE WAITING FOR AN ANSWER FROM THE US ON OUR OFFER TO HELP IN IRAQI RECONSTRUCTION”Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul yesterday said that Turkey had offered substantial assistance, including supplies of electricity, water and refined gasoline, to the US in the Iraqi postwar reconstruction but had yet to receive any reply from Washington. “The situation in Iraq is not good, and unfortunately is getting worse, and we are worried,” said Gul in an interview with British daily the Financial Times. “It is not just security that is a problem, and the Coalition Forces should not only deal with the security.” /Hurriyet/[04] PEARSON: “TURKISH-US COOPERATION WILL ALWAYS CONTINUE”US Ambassador to Turkey Robert Pearson, whose duty is due to expire soon, gave a reception at the US embassy yesterday due to Indepence Day of the US, July 4. Speaking at the reception, Pearson said that Turkish-US cooperation would always continue no matter what and that tension between the two countries due to Iraq war was in the past. “Now future and what we will do in the future is important,” said Pearson, adding that he was sorry to leave Turkey. Also speaking, Deputy Prime Minister Mehmet Ali Sahin said that Pearson had represented the US successfully during three years. Sahin added that strategic cooperation between the two countries would always continue. /Milliyet/[05] GERMAN AMBASSADOR BORN: “TURKEY’S EU ACCESSION NEGOTIATIONS COULD BEGIN IN 2005”Wolf-Ruthart Born, Germany’s new ambassador to Ankara, yesterday said that Turkey’s European Union accession negotiations could begin in 2005 should the nation fully comply with the Copenhagen criteria, adding, however, that becoming a full member in the Union might take quite a long time. Born furthermore stated that Turkey’s being a Muslim country did not constitute an obstacle to the country’s EU membership, for Turkey had a well- established secular system. “What is important is that both the EU and Turkey share many common values,” underlined Born. Born is set to assume the ambassadorial post in Ankara replacing Rudolf Schmidt next week. /Hurriyet/[06] RTUK DECIDES TO SUSPEND BROADCASTS OF FIVE UZAN-OWNED TV CHANNELSThe Supreme Board of Radio and Television (RTUK) yesterday decided to suspend broadcasts of five TV channels owned by the controversial Uzan group, namely Star TV, Kanal 6, Starmax, Star 6 and Star 8, each for a period of one month. The decision came on the heels of recent derogatory broadcasts appeared on these channels shortly after the cancellations of the concession agreements of two power stations owned by the Uzan group, namely Cukurova Electric and Kepez Electric. The broadcasts targeted Prime Minister Recep Erdogan and the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government. /Cumhuriyet/[07] BDDK APPOINTS NEW MANAGEMENT TO UZANS GROUP’S IMAR BANKThe Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency (BDDK) yesterday announced that it appointed a new management to Uzan group’s Imar Bank. The written statement said that appointments came after a member of the Bank’s board have resigned. Cumhur Dogan was appointed the new general manager of the bank. /Turkish Daily News/[08] JUNE INFLATION FIGURES RELEASEDThe State Instýtute of Statistics (DIE) yesterday released month-on-month inflation figures for June. Inflation last month was -1.9% on the whole price index (WPI) and –0.2% on the consumer price index (CPI). The figures pushed year-to-year WPI inflation to 29.6% and CPI inflation to 29.8%. /All papers/[09] FROM THE COLUMNS... FROM THE COLUMNS... FROM THE COLUMNS...[10] KAZAKH EXAMPLE ON THE PATH TO THE EU BY FERAI TINC (HURRIYET)Columnist Ferai Tinc comments on her interview with Kazakh Ambassador to Turkey Kayrat Saribay in Istanbul. A summary of her column is as follows:“During my meeting with Kazakh Ambassador to Turkey Kayrat Saribay in Istanbul recently, he said, ‘Certain circles suggest that Turkey shouldn’t integrate with Europe, but with Asia. We don’t agree with this. We support Turkey’s European adventure. Turkish-Kazakh relations had been institutionalized. There is no need to be emotional in our relations. Turkey’s strength would be beneficial for us as well. We believe that the European Union will contribute to Turkey in this respect and we support Turkey’s EU membership.’ Saribay not only speaks Turkish fluently, but also knows Turkey very well. While saying that the relations with Asia cannot be an alternative to Europe, the things he told showed that certain examples from Kazakhstan could be followed in terms of harmonization with Copenhagen criteria. Below you can find the way to do this. Kazakhstan’s structure of population changed the most in the Soviet Union era. In the first years of its independence, in Kazakhstan the rate of the population with the Kazakh origin was 30% and Russians constituted 40% of the population. A great many of different ethnic and religious population faced a new identity, that is, the identity of Kazakhstan. Saribay said, ‘Soviet regime had negative aspects but also certain positive ones as well. We took over these positive aspects as inheritance. Internationalism taught us how varieties could live together in peace. We took lessons from the past.’ Explaining how the new state, which faced the problem of establishing the Kazakh national identity following the independence, put this understanding into practice, Saribay said, ‘We protected national identities. Today 53% of the population is Kazakh and 30% is Russian. The official language of education is Kazakh and Russian. Besides Kazakh schools, there are also German and Russian schools. In these schools the education is in their languages but the Education Ministry is preparing the education program. For example, the children of German minority are learning the Kazakh history in German. However, they have to learn Kazakh language as well.’ There is a similar understanding concerning the broadcast issue. The broadcast in the mother language is free in private television channels but 50% of broadcasts have to be in Kazakh language. It cannot be said that Kazakhstan has an ideal democracy. It also has economic problems but it’s improving step by step. It’s advancing in the direction of human rights, free market economy and values and the east doesn’t provide shelter for those who escape the European process and change.” [11] THE US AND THE TURKISH ARMED FORCES BY FIKRET BILA (MILLIYET)Columnist Fikret Bila writes on the Turkish-US relations. A summary of his column is as follows:“According to the sources in Washington, the Bush administration is still disappointed by Turkey’s refusal of US troop deployments for the Iraq war. Washington holds the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) responsible for Turkey’s refusal. This is a mistaken policy. First of all, it was the Turkish Parliament, in other words the members of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), which refused to approve the bill authorizing US troops deployments. Accusing the TSK for such a decision truly made via democratic procedures is an unrealistic approach. In addition, we are all aware that the AKP was never willing to approve such a bill which would plunge our country into the war. The Bush administration should never forget that in democracies national assemblies have the final say. This is what the democracy requires. Both Washington and Ankara should not be stuck in the past. It’s clear that Washington has yet managed to control the latest developments in the post- Iraq, contrary to its plans. There are problems that the US officials are currently encountering in the country. The US intervention has failed to gain social and political support. The only groups supporting Washington in the region are the ethnic Kurds. However, despite its failure to establish peace and stability in Iraq, Washington as already begun made offensive statements against Iran. It holds responsible Iran for the negative developments in southern Iraq. Furthermore, the Bush administration has also failed to find any weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and lost its accountability in the international arena. Under these circumstances, we should make a realistic analysis: It’s both mistaken that Washington has yet to forgotten Turkey’s refusal. Moreover, it’s again incorrect that Turkey is still acting as if it is trying to confess its sins. We both should forget the past and focus on our common future.” 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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