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Turkish Press Review, 04-06-04Turkish 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 morning04.06.2004FROM THE COLUMNS…FROM THE COLUMNS…FROM THE COLUMNS…CONTENTS
[01] IN RUSSIA, ARINC TOUTS TURKEY’S SECURITYParliament Speaker Bulent Arinc, who is currently in Saint Petersburg, Russia to pay an official visit, said yesterday that Turkey was one of the most secure and stable countries in the world. Asked about the threat of terrorism at a press conference, Arinc touted Turkey’s security ahead of a month-end NATO summit in Istanbul. “For years our nation suffered from terrorist attacks, but those days are behind us now,” added Arinc. /Turkiye/[02] ERDOGAN ATTENDS AUTO INDUSTRY GROUP ANNIVERSARY CEREMONYSpeaking at a ceremony marking the 30th anniversary of the Automotive Industry Association yesterday, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan pledged that there would be no tax increases on commercial vehicles. Touting Turkey’s recent economic developments, Erdogan said that the government was working hard to further strengthen the economy. /Hurriyet/[03] NEW GOVT COALITION SOUGHT IN TRNCFollowing the fall in Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus’ (TRNC) Parliament seats held by the Republican Turkish Party (CTP)-Democratic Party (DP) government coalition to 23, work to establish a new coalition government has begun. Yesterday a Peace and Democracy Movement Party (BDH) delegation headed by Mustafa Akinci met with Prime Minister and CTP leader Mehmet Ali Talat. Afterwards, the two leaders told reporters that they had decided to joint forces to establish a new government with a majority in Parliament. Meanwhile, Talat sent a letter to European Parliament head Pat Cox and the leaders of European Union member states urging them to support the Turkish Cypriots’ justified cause. /Turkiye/[04] UN TO DISCUSS REPORT URGING END TO TRNC’S ISOLATIONFollowing UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s presentation of a Cyprus report earlier this week, the UN Security Council is expected to discuss the report and issue a resolution on the matter by June 15, when the term of the UN peacekeeping force on the island is due to expire. In his report, Annan noted that the Turkish Cypriots voted for the island’s unification in April referendums and urged the council to end the international isolation of the TRNC. In related news, Greek Cypriot leader Tassos Papadopulos yesterday met with Annan in New York. Annan reportedly told Papadopulos that after the Greek Cypriots’ rejection of the UN plan, the Greek side should take the initiative to make progress on the issue. /Milliyet/[05] EU PRAISES TURKEY’S EFFORTS ON ITS ROAD TO MEMBERSHIPA section on Turkey to be included in the final declaration of the European Union Brussels summit of June 17-18 has reportedly been drafted. Praising Ankara’s decisive stance on its road of EU membership, the text underlines the importance of further efforts in the coming days. It reiterates that when Turkey fully implements the Copenhagen criteria, its accession talks will begin without any delay. An official decision on starting the talks is due at the EU’s December summit. /Milliyet/[06] FRENCH SOCIALIST LEADER URGES TURKEY TO RECOGNIZE SO- CALLED ARMENIAN GENOCIDE FOR EU MEMBERSHIPFrench Socialist Party (SP) leader Francois Hollande yesterday said that the European Union giving a date to Turkey to begin its accession talks should be contingent on Ankara recognizing the so-called Armenian genocide. In a joint press conference with Murat Papazyan, the European head of Armenia’s Tashnak Party, Hollande said that in addition to the Copenhagen criteria, Turkey should heed a 1987 European Parliament 1987 resolution calling for recognition of the so-called genocide, withdrawal of Turkish troops from Cyprus and respect for human and minority rights. /Milliyet/[07] AGAR: “STRONG TURKISH-US TIES BENEFIT BOTH SIDES”True Path Party (DYP) Leader Mehmet Agar yesterday received a delegation from the Assembly of Turkish American Associations (ATAA) headed by ATAA President Ercument Kilic. Speaking afterwards, Agar said that the ATAA had played a key role in Turkish-US relations for 25 years, adding that continued strong bilateral ties would benefit both countries. /Turkiye/[08] PUTIN COULD VISIT TURKEY THIS FALLThough Russian President Vladimir Putin’s decision not to attend this month’s NATO summit in Istanbul caused some to question ties between Ankara and Moscow, signals are coming that Putin will visit Turkey this fall. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who will represent Moscow at the NATO summit, yesterday said that Putin’s no-show should not be misunderstood. Added one diplomatic source: “Putin can’t visit Turkey twice this year, so he chose to visit this fall.” /Radikal-Yeni Safak/[09] UNIDO DIRECTOR GENERAL TO ATTEND SME CONFERENCE, MEET GOVT OFFICIALSUnited Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) Director General Carlos Magarinos is due to arrive in Turkey today to attend the second Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) small- and medium-size enterprises (SMEs) ministers' conference. Tomorrow Magarinos is to chair a working group meeting on “Enhancing the Role of SMEs for Development.” He is expected to proceed to Ankara on Saturday to hold bilateral meetings with business leaders and government ministers, including Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul, Energy and Natural Resources Minister Hilmi Guler and Industry and Trade Minister Ali Coskun. /Anatolia News Agency/[10] IFC’S KLEIN: “AN APPROPRIATE COMPETITIVE FIELD SHOULD BE CREATED BETWEEN SMES AND LARGE COMPANIES”Micheal Klein, chief economist and vice president of THE International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private sector lending arm of the World Bank, said yesterday that an appropriate competitive field should be created between big business and small- and medium-size enterprises (SMEs). Addressing an Istanbul symposium at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) ministerial conference, he said that more competition would mean more product choices. Klein stressed that the IFC annually provided $5.5 billion in loans to 60 SMEs in developing countries. Also at the symposium, Industry and Trade Minister Ali Coskun has said that the Emerging Regional Markets Technology Transfer Network (REMTECH) project was open to the participation of all countries. /Anatolia News Agency/[11] TBB HEAD BRIEFS IMF DELEGATION ON ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTSBanks Association of Turkey (TBB) head Ersin Ozince yesterday received a visiting International Monetary Fund delegation headed by IMF Turkey Desk Chief Riza Moghadam. Speaking afterwards, Ozince said that he had briefed the delegation on recent economic developments. /Aksam/[12] MAY INFLATION PUSHES YEAR-TO-YEAR CPI TO HISTORIC LOWThe State Institute of Statistics (DIE) yesterday released month-on-month inflation figures for May. Inflation last month was 0.38% on the consumer price index (CPI) and -0.3% on the wholesale price index (WPI), pushing year-to-year WPI to 9.56% and CPI to 8.88%, the lowest figure in 32 years. /All papers/[13] FROM THE COLUMNS…FROM THE COLUMNS…FROM THE COLUMNS…[14] ESTABLISHING OR SPOILING STABILITY IN IRAQ BY NURAY BASARAN (AKSAM)Columnist Nuray Basaran comments on the difficulty of establishing stability in Iraq and possible solutions. A summary of her column is as follows:“A new process is starting in Iraq with the new administration established with the support of UN Special Representative to Iraq Lakhdar Brahimi and Washington. The main aim of this process is general elections planned for next January. The new Governing Council which will take over the administration of the country on June 30 will be responsible for carrying out three aims towards fulfilling this goal. The first is representing the Iraq state on the international stage, holding meetings and dealing with agreements. The second is reestablishing public order and meeting the urgent needs of the nation, and the third is ensuring Iraq’s security and stability. An effective political power is really needed but no such power, that is, an effective domestic army and police force, yet exists. It seems the coalition powers will continue to meet this need, supported by international forces under the United Nations Security Council and NATO umbrella. Shiite Arabs have the upper hand now, and Iran is waiting for its moment to step into the game. Circles behind Sunni Arabs are resisting Arab countries, and former Baath groups and making efforts to secure certain areas. It also seems such forces as al-Qaeda will stay in Iraq for longer. The Kurds seem to be stuck in expectations created by the atmosphere of victory and the fear of attacks by Shiite Arabs. Meanwhile, Turkmen are mulling over their role. More time is needed for democracy and welfare in Iraq because the atmosphere described above shows the tension between establishing a balance and upsetting one. Although the US is still expecting a democracy there, the majority of the world expects the US to speak differently until the establishment of a proper Iraq state. For this reason, the three obstacles to setting up democracy in Iraq should be addressed; firstly, an international stabilization force, even a symbolic one, should come to Iraq, secondly, issues of central administration and the regime should be solved, and thirdly, fair distribution should be done.” [15] ANNAN’S AGENDA BY MUSTAFA KARAALIOGLU (YENI SAFAK)Columnist Mustafa Karaalioglu comments on UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s agenda and summits to be hosted by Turkey this month. A summary of his column is as follows:“State Minister Besir Atalay met with UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan in New York this week with a delegation from the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC). The delegation, consisting of ministers from Morocco, Senegal, Palestine and Malaysia, addressed the quartet determined by the United Nations and prepared a comprehensive plan to find a solution to the Palestinian-Israeli issue. In addition, the UN, the US, Russia and the EU term presidencies will take part in the quartet to which the OIC delegation will present the plan. The quartet also prepared a comprehensive road map to halt the bloodshed of the conflict between Israel and Palestine. The plan, which includes such basic issues as recognizing Palestine as an independent state and removing obstacles to its economic and social development, is supported by the OIC. Atalay stated that although the context of the plan was valuable, its basis wasn’t so firm, but that the steps taken so far had been fruitful. However, certain basic truths still hold. For example, the UN plan envisages Israel’s unconditional withdrawal from Palestinian territories under the control of the Palestinian administration. However, Israel has rejected this, in one of the chief obstacle to peace efforts. Actually everybody is wondering about Washington’s stance for solving the problem. For this reason, the success of the UN initiative depends on US confidence in the plan. For Atalay, serious pressure and opening diplomatic channels for the solution of the Israeli-Palestinian issue will be made during the June 14 OIC meeting in Istanbul. During this meeting, the OIC delegation’s contacts with the UN quartet will be evaluated, and at this point Turkey has a duty to continue this pressure at the NATO summit in Istanbul this month. Turkey’s role is very important because Annan is praising Turkey’s constructive stance on the Cyprus issue. Atalay also thanked Annan for his stance and actions on the issue. Turkey has to play a role in what is happening in Palestine. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s latest messages about Israel also show that he won’t be indifferent to the region.” 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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