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Turkish Press Review, 04-01-06Turkish 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 morning06.01.2004FROM THE COLUMNS... FROM THE COLUMNS... FROM THE COLUMNS...CONTENTS
[01] CICEK: “DENKTAS WILL REPRESENT TURKISH CYPRUS IN TALKS OVER THE ISLAND”Stressing that the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) government was determined to have Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) President Rauf Denktas represent the TRNC at Cyprus talks, Justice Minister and government spokesman Cemil Cicek said yesterday, “Ankara wants to resume Cyprus talks within the framework of United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s Cyprus plan and sincerely wants to find a solution to the issue.” Speaking to reporters after a Cabinet meeting, Cicek said that the gathering had largely focused on recent developments on Cyprus. He added that a report on the matter prepared by Turkish officials and based on Annan’s plan had been presented to President Ahmet Necdet Sezer. Commenting on ongoing efforts to form a new TRNC government, he called on the TRNC political parties to avoid unyielding views, stances and statements as well as to act in unison. /Turkiye/[02] GENERAL STAFF STRESSES COORDINATION WITH FOREIGN MINISTRY ON CYPRUSA statement issued by the Office of the General Staff yesterday underlined the staff’s desire for a just and lasting solution to the Cyprus issue. Commenting on recent reports alleging conflict over Cyprus between Foreign Ministry officials and the General Staff, the statement said that work on the issue was being carried out between the related institutions in harmony, as befits a modern democratic country. It also urged the public to disregard anything besides official statements on the subject. /Turkiye/[03] PLANS FALTER FOR TURKISH CYPRIOT CTP, UBP COALITION GOVTWhile work to form a new government in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) is ongoing, the differences between the two top vote-getting parties in last month’s elections, the Republican Turkish Party (CTP) and the national Unity Party (UBP), are apparently growing wider. Accusing the CTP of not answering a set of 17 questions regarding United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s Cyprus plan, UBP leader Dervis Eroglu said that the CTP had long defended the plan yet refused to answer very critical questions about it. Stressing that CTP leader Mehmet Ali Talat had stated he would look for other alternatives to form a government, Eroglu wished him success. In related news, Talat yesterday met separately with both Peace and Democracy Movement (BDH) leader Mustafa Akinci and Democratic Party (DP) leader Serdar Denktas. Following the latter meeting, Denktas told reporters that he and Talat had had fruitful discussions and that after an evaluation by his party council, a decision would be made soon whether or not to take part in a coalition government. /Turkiye/[04] ERDOGAN SET TO ATTEND CONFERENCE IN BERLINPrime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is set to travel to Berlin on Thursday in order to attend the International Bertelsmann Forum, a conference on Europe sponsored by German publisher Bertelsmann. During his visit, Erdogan is expected to meet separately with his German and Crotian counterparts. /Cumhuriyet/[05] SYRIAN PRESIDENT BEGINS LANDMARK ANKARA VISIT TODAYSyrian President Bashar Al-Assad is to pay an official visit to Ankara today, the first ever by a Syrian head of state to Turkey. He will be accompanied by a delegation of Syrian officials and businessmen. Al-Assad is first scheduled to visit Anitkabir, Ataturk’s masouleum, and then meet with President Ahmet Necdet Sezer. The two presidents will then preside over inter-delegations meetings. Al-Assad is also expected to hold meetings with Parliament Speaker Bulent Arinc and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. /Hurriyet/[06] ISRAEL APPROVES DEAL TO BUY WATER FROM TURKEYAfter Energy Minister Zeki Cakan and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon reached a “water for arms” deal in Jerusalem yesterday, the Israeli government approved the agreement under which millions of gallons of fresh water are to be shipped in giant tankers across the eastern Mediterranean into Israeli ports. The deal, which has been years in the making, involves Israel building a fleet of giant water tankers to ship 50 million cubic meters of water a year for 20 years from the Manavgat River in southern Anatolia, and Turkey buying an unspecified number of Israeli tanks as well as air force technology. /Sabah/[07] VERHEUGEN: “THE HEADS OF EU MEMBER STATES WANT TURKEY TO JOIN THE UNION FOR FOREIGN POLICY AND SECURITY REASONS”The heads of European Union member states want Turkey to join the European Union, especially in the post-Sept. 11 environment, EU Commissioner for Enlargement Guenter Verheugen told a German magazine out this week. “Back in 1999, the EU leaders were not very keen on Turkey’s membership,” said Verheugen. “But now most leaders want Turkey to be a part of the Union for foreign policy and security reasons. This trend began with the Sept. 11 attacks.” He added that the political stance of the EU member states would determine whether Turkey would get in, adding that there were other choices concerning Turkey’s bid besides a definite “yes” or “no.” /Aksam/[08] NY TIMES: “KURDISH REGION IN NORTHERN IRAQ WILL GET TO KEEP SPECIAL STATUS”Citing the clock ticking down to Iraqi self-rule, “the Bush administration has decided to let the Kurdish region [in northern Iraq] remain semi- autonomous as part of a newly sovereign Iraq despite warnings from Iraq's neighbors and many Iraqis not to divide the country into ethnic states, American and Iraqi officials say,” reported The New York Times yesterday. Times correspondent Steven R. Weisman quoted an administration official as saying, "Once we struck the Nov. 15 agreement [setting June 30 as the target date for self-rule], there was a realization that it was best not to touch too heavily on the status quo. The big issue of federalism in the Kurdish context will have to wait for the Iraqis to resolve. For us to try to resolve it in a month or two is simply too much to attempt." Weisman also stated that administration and Iraq officials insist that leaving the Kurdish autonomous region intact for now does not preclude Iraq's consolidating itself without ethnic states in the future when Iraq writes its own constitution. “According to the officials, the Bush administration plans to continue to press Iraq not to divide itself permanently along ethnic lines, officials say,” Weisman added. /Hurriyet/[09] CB HEAD: “EMPLOYMENT WILL RISE THIS YEAR”Appearing on television yesterday, Central Bank Governor Sureyya Serdengecti said that successful implementation of the nation’s economic program had boosted the real sector’s productivity, adding that as a result of this the employment rate would begin to rise this year. Touching on inflation, the CB head said that Turkey had managed to tame inflation in 2003. He added that intervention in exchange rates would be inappropriate since Turkey implemented the floating exchange rate, adding that foreign trade was affected more by domestic and foreign demand than exchange rates. The CB head further stated that State Minister for the Economy Ali Babacan had congratulated the CB on its success in reducing inflation. /Aksam/[10] FROM THE COLUMNS... FROM THE COLUMNS... FROM THE COLUMNS...[11] SYRIA AND NATIONALISM BY TAHA AKYOL (MILLIYET)Columnist Taha Akyol comments on Syria, nationalism and Turkish-Syrian relations. A summary of his column is as follows:“Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s visit to our country is a very important and positive development not only in terms of solving the problems between our two countries and improving our cooperation, but also transforming the Middle East’s nationalist feelings from rawness into maturity. What are traditional problems between Damascus and Ankara? * The most important psychological problem was Syria’s habit of drawing maps showing our province of Hatay within Syrian borders. * The second has been water issues. Just like Hatay, Syria has tried to get the waters of the Firat (Euphrates) River. * The third was Syria using terrorism as a weapon to push its position on the first two. Starting from the third one, these problems have begun to improve and Assad wants to do even more. The former leaders of Arab nationalists were closed to the world, as they adopted radicalism rather than pragmatism and the emotional over the rational. Pan-Arabism was attractive to them. That’s why Syria made the Hatay and water issues into problems and used terrorism as a weapon. Thus, these leaders of old established authoritarian – and even totalitarian and militant – regimes. However, when the Soviet Union collapsed, it was slowly realized that not closed regimes, but open ones will spur the development of countries. Cooperation with your neighbors rather than quarreling works better. Becoming a state of law rather than supporting terrorism helps countries more. In such an era of change, Assad became president. Isn’t it interesting that Assad abolished the prohibition of the Internet and satellite dishes in his country? He’s a new generation leader, one lacking the imperial complex. Such a leader is favorable for both Syria and us. Trade, tourism and investment ties between Turkey and Syria will develop under two agreements to be signed this week in Ankara. Our mutual economic interests will be further strengthened. The Ankara-Damascus friendship can be a model for solving all the problems plaguing the Middle East.” [12] GUL WARNS POWELL ON KIRKUK BY SEDAT ERGIN (HURRIYET)Columnist Sedat Ergin comments on Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul’s recent warning about the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk. A summary of his column is as follows:“There was an important detail in a recent phone call between US Secretary of State Colin Powell and Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul. As Saddam Hussein was captured on Dec. 14, Powell phoned Gul to give him the news. Since the issue was Iraq, Gul said, ‘I’d like to draw your attention especially to Kirkuk. Interference in the city’s demographic structure could lead to very dangerous consequences.’ Furthermore, mentioning preparations for a new era in Iraq, Gul made this warning: ‘If the necessary sensitivity isn’t shown during these preparations, a new Arab revenge could rise in the Middle East.’ One can’t help but notice that Gul didn’t mention Iraq’s Turkmen but rather put forth directly the reactions of the Arab world. This warning was issued before Massoud Barzani and Jalal Talabani proposed a draft federal constitution for northern Iraq. Barzani and Talabani are busy shifting Kurds from nearby small towns to Kirkuk so as to increase the Kurdish population of that city so it will be included it in the Kurdish federal region. In his warnings, I think Gul, in a diplomatic way, wanted to tell his US counterpart the following: ‘The Kurdish groups are striving to change the city’s population makeup in their own favor. If you just sit and watch a city which is home to many ethnic groups being artificially populated by Kurds, then the Arab world will be against the US before even Turkey. Before Ankara, the Arabs would react against this fait accompli.’ In this sense, it is important that Gul used the term ‘a new Arab revenge.’ This was meant to remind Powell of the Arab world’s protests against US policy protecting Israel’s interests in the Middle East and that similar protests could arise in northern Iraq. The Foreign Ministry made a similar statement on Dec. 25 saying that if Kurdish groups were sponsored by the US, then the Arabs who make up the majority of the Iraqi population would not approve of this. Since the beginning of the Iraq war, Turkey has issued many similar messages on northern Iraq. The issues that Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul, Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Ugur Ziyal and other ministry officials brought to the table in their meetings with their US counterparts did not change. These were, not excluding the Sunnis, urgings to pay attention to the ethnic structure of Kirkuk and warnings that a federation based on ethnic division would lead to dangerous situations that could make the Middle East unstable. The US failed to listen to these warnings for nearly nine months, but now seems to have changed its tune. Let’s see whether the Washington be able to put the genie back into the bottle.” 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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