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Turkish Press Review, 03-07-22Turkish 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 morning22.07.2003FROM THE COLUMNS…FROM THE COLUMNS…FROM THE COLUMNS… SOLDIERS TO IRAQ? BY RAHIM ER (TURKIYE)CONTENTS
[01] ERDOGAN: “EDUCATION SHOULD BE LEFT TO THE PRIVATE SECTOR”Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan yesterday attended a signing ceremony for a “Contribution to Education Protocol” proposing a grant of TL 450 trillion from the Istanbul Stock Exchange (IMKB) to the Education Ministry to fund school construction. Addressing the ceremony, Erdogan said that Turkey needed to work to boost its literacy rate. Stressing that all sectors should contribute to the improvement of education, the prime minister stated that in time the government should withdraw from education and the private sector should become active in the field. He further noted that private schools’ student capacity was currently some 1 million, but that their enrollment was short 600,000 students. “We want to make use of this gap to help bright children from poor families, and our work on this project is continuing,” said Erdogan. /All Papers/[02] GUL SET TO LEAVE FOR US VISITForeign Minister Abdullah Gul is set to fly to the United States today for an official visit. Speaking before his departure, Gul said that both Turkish and US officials should make such visits in order to further cooperation between the two countries. Gul said that during his visit he would meet separately with Vice President Dick Cheney and Secretary of State Colin Powell, adding that the timing of his visit was appropriate. “We will discuss a number of issues, including Iraq’s reconstruction, Turkey’s contributions to the Iraq peacekeeping force, and also the Cyprus issue,” he said. Touching on the prospect of sending additional Turkish soldiers to northern Iraq, Gul said that Turkey and the US were unofficially discussing the issue. “The US administration has made no official request for our government to send [additional] Turkish troops into northern Iraq. We’re waiting to get a request,” said the foreign minister. “Later, after the US has said it wants Turkish soldiers to be sent there, then our Parliament will discuss the matter.” He added that the view of the Office of General Staff on any Iraq deployment was also important. /Milliyet/[03] DENKTAS: “NOTHING HAS CHANGED IN THE GREEK CYPRIOT LEADERSHIP”Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) President Rauf Denktas charged yesterday that nothing had changed in the conduct of the Greek Cypriot leadership. Denktas told reporters that a copy of a letter sent to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan from Greek Cypriot leader Tassos Papadopoulos, who recently rejected Denktas' latest proposals of confidence-building measures, had been conveyed to him the same day. Denktas pointed to Papadopoulos’ statements demanding that negotiations over the island be restarted while opposing the confidence-building measures. “We hope the secretary-general won't once again permit such an artificial approach and will take into consideration Papadopoulos' statements,” said Denktas. /Anatolia News Agency/[04] SYRIAN PRIME MINISTER TO VISIT ANKARASyrian Prime Minister Mustafa Miro is set to visit Ankara next week upon the invitation of his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Miro will be the first Syrian prime minister to visit Turkey in 17 years. Besides Erdogan, the Syrian premier is also scheduled to meet with Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul. /Turkiye/[05] PEARSON: “THE MATTER OF TURKEY’S SENDING TROOPS TO IRAQ WILL BE MADE CLEAR DURING GUL’S VISIT TO WASHINGTON”Speaking to reporters yesterday, US Ambassador to Turkey Robert Pearson said that during their visit to Ankara last week, high-level US military officials had unofficially asked Turkey to contribute to the peacekeeping force in Iraq. The ambassador, whose tenure in Ankara is due to end soon, added that the matter was still under consideration and would be clarified during Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul’s visit to Washington beginning today. /All Papers/[06] ISRAELI NAVY COMMANDER VISITS TURKEYIsraeli Naval Forces Commander Vice Adm. Yedidia Ya’ari yesterday arrived in Ankara to pay a two-day visit. Welcoming his counterpart with a ceremony at Ankara’s Turkish Naval Headquarters, Adm. Bulent Alpkaya said that he was pleased to host Ya’ari and that during their meetings bilateral relations would be taken up. The Israeli commander is expected to proceed to Golcuk today to visit the Turkish Naval Command. /Turkiye/[07] TALABANI OPPOSES TURKEY’S SENDING TROOPS TO NORTHERN IRAQSpeaking to news channel NTV yesterday, Iraqi Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (IPUK) leader Jalal Talabani said that he was opposed to Turkey’s sending soldiers to northern Iraq. Asked about the continued threat from the terrorist organization PKK_KADEK, Talabani expressed approval for Ankara’s plans to grant amnesties (through repentance) in order to resolve the issue. /Hurriyet/[08] FROM THE COLUMNS…FROM THE COLUMNS…FROM THE COLUMNS…[09] SOLDIERS TO IRAQ?[10] BY RAHIM ER (TURKIYE)Rahim Er writes about the prospect of Turkish soldiers serving in an Iraq peacekeeping force. A summary of his column is as follows:“The strangeness from the Sulaimaniya incident is proceeding in an unexpected way. Back in March when the proposal for US troop deployment was turned down by our Parliament, the Americans’ attitude towards Turkey grew cold. For this reason, we were not included in the stability force established in Iraq, despite the offer of our chief of General Staff to help out. Time has been working against the occupation forces. Almost every day a few Americans are killed, and we can expect these casualties to mount. Last week saw both a rocket attack and a protest by thousands of Iraqis. The question now is this: Was Saddam Hussein’s retreat to the underground planned, an intentional move? Did he plan to wage guerilla warfare with his people? Speaking for their government, visiting American generals and the US ambassador to Ankara told us last week that US forces can’t even set foot inside some Iraq cities. Their casualties are rising. The remedy is for them to use Turkish forces in Iraq, soldiers experienced in guerilla warfare, especially in the cities of Týkrit, Felluce and Bakuba, where US casualties are heavy. But while the Turkish chief of General Staff wants to move into northern Iraq to eliminate threats to Turkey, Americans argue that the area is already safe and stable. The critical point here is that Turkish soldiers in Iraq would behave in a friendly manner and win the hearts of the Iraqi people. If they fail to do so, our soldiers would be considered just another part of the occupation force, a new enemy. This would also cause great injuries, pains and open new fronts. The Americans might even like to eventually hand over the problem to the Turks and go away quietly. The situation has many dimensions. Our soldiers are being cautious. But our government looks a bit modest. Parliament is thinking of the public reaction. We may face a problem like that surrounding the defeated US troop deployment proposal In this period we must be very careful. We must measure twice, no 40 times, and only then cut. We shouldn’t forget that the Iraqi people are our neighbors, and the country belongs to them. Our respective peoples are not so different from each other. 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 |