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Turkish Press Review, 04-06-15Turkish 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 morning15.06.2004FROM THE COLUMNS... FROM THE COLUMNS... FROM THE COLUMNS...CONTENTS
[01] SEZER ADDRESSES OIC, URGES REFORMS FOR MUSLIM WORLDThe 31st foreign ministerial meeting of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) began yesterday in Istanbul. During the gathering, representatives of 57 Muslim countries are due to discuss common problems facing the Muslim World. Addressing the meeting, President Ahmet Necdet Sezer urged Muslim countries to adopt reforms, adding that the leaders of these countries needed to carefully evaluate their situations. “No country should isolate itself from change,” said Sezer. “At this point, we need to seek ways to make the OIC an important and effective power in the 21st century.” Sezer also criticized Israel’s recent actions in Palestinian territories. Touching on Turkey’s European Union membership bid, Sezer called on the Islamic world to support Ankara’s bid. “We believe that our Muslim friends will support us,” he added. /Milliyet/[02] ERDOGAN: “I HOPE FOR THE OIC’S SUCCESS, AS THE MUSLIM WORLD NEEDS THIS”Addressing the 31st foreign ministerial meeting of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) in Istanbul yesterday, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that he hoped for the OIC’s success, adding that the Muslim world needed this. In related news, Erdogan yesterday met separately with Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi, Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari and Afghan Foreign Minister Hurshit Mahmud Kasuri. During his meeting with the premier, Kharrazi said that the OIC could achieve its goals under Turkey’s leadership, referring to Ankara’s candidate for the OIC secretary-general post. “We all know that Turkey is a great country,” added Karrazi. /Aksam/[03] GUL: “MUSLIM COUNTRIES SHOULD DRAW STRENGTH FROM THEIR COMMON HERITAGE”Addressing the current Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) meeting in Istanbul, Foreign Minister Abdulah Gul yesterday said that Muslim countries should draw strength from their common heritage, as it offers a rational and humanistic understanding of the world. “We’re meeting again at a very crucial time,” said Gul. “The Arab-Israeli conflict with the question of Palestine at its core is bleeding hopes away. Iraq has yet to show a genuine sign of stability. Africa’s problems remain unsolved.” The foreign minister said that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict had taken on increased importance and also criticized Israel’s violence policies against Palestinians. Touching on the Cyprus issue, Gul said that all Muslim countries should band together to support the Turkish side. “The Turkish Cypriots need both monetary and moral support,” he said. “Both the European Union and the US have taken steps to bring the international isolation of the Turkish Cypriots to an end.” Touching on terrorism, Gul said that terrorism had no religion, race or culture, adding that it constituted a crime against humanity. /Turkiye/[04] OIC POLITICAL COMMITTEE PASSES BILL CHARACTERIZING TRNC AS “TURKISH CYPRIOT STATE”The Organization of the Islamic Conference’s (OIC) political committee yesterday passed a draft bill on Cyprus which characterizes the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) as the “Turkish Cypriot State.” TRNC Foreign Minister Serdar Denktas hailed the draft bill as “the first step” towards the TRNC’s recognition on the international stage. /Turkiye/[05] EU DISCUSSES TURKEY’S MEMBERSHIP BIDDuring a meeting in Luxemburg yesterday in the runup to the European Union heads of state and government summit this Thursday and Friday, the agenda of the gathering was reviewed. A statement on Turkey in the final declaration was reportedly discussed, but no revision was made to the text previously prepared. The statement praises Turkey’s reform process and reiterates that a date to begin accession talks should be given without delay if the fall EU Commission report states that Ankara has implemented the Copenhagen criteria. /Turkiye/[06] GEN. OZKOK: “WE WILL NEVER MAKE CONCESSIONS TO TERRORISTS”A message issued yesterday by Chief of General Staff Gen. Hilmi Ozkok marking the 165th anniversary of the Gendarmerie Organization said that the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) would continue its determined fight against terrorism without being confused by any counter influences, be they domestic or foreign. It remarked that in order to defend the nation even as our country is faced with a number of challenges, the TSK would combat the separatist terrorist group which recently resumed its bloody campaign as well as continued suspicious activity at the hands of fundamentalists. /Star/[07] 1,300 TERRORISTS REPORTEDLY ENTER TURKEY FROM N.IRAQThe terrorist group PKK_KONGRAGEL has reportedly sent some 1,300 members from northern Iraq across the border into Turkey. Recent reports stated that previously the group had some 500 armed militants in the southeastern Anatolia region, and now the number has climbed to 2,000. The terrorists are said to be moving in groups of 100. Security measures in the border region have been tightened to prevent terrorist infiltration. /Turkiye/[08] PKK SAYS NO END TO TERROR CAMPAIGNRebuffing the call of recently released former Democracy Party (DEP) Deputy Leyla Zana for terrorists to lay down their arms, PKK_KONGRAGEL representative Murat Karayilan said yesterday that the terrorist group would not alter its decision last month to resume terrorist activities. Claiming that the decision was not a declaration of war but rather “a right to self-defense,” Karayilan said that the PKK would abandon its campaign only if the state declares a ceasefire and the isolation of imprisoned terrorist Abdullah Ocalan is ended. /Turkiye/[09] REPUBLICAN PROSECUTOR BEGINS INQUIRY INTO DEHAP MEETINGThe High Court of Appeals republican chief prosecutor yesterday began an inquiry into a weekend Democratic People’s Party (DEHAP) meeting in Diyarbakir featuring the attendance of former Democracy Party (DEP) deputies released the previous week. During the gathering, posters supporting imprisoned terrorist group head Abdullah Ocalan were carried and slogans chanted supporting him. The chief prosecutor also previously applied to the Constitutional Court for DEHAP’s closure, charging that the party is involved in separatist activities. /Cumhuriyet/[10] DEHAP LEADER’S STATEMENT BLASTED BY GOVERNMENTCommenting on Democratic People’s Party (DEHAP) head Tuncer Bakirhan’s recent statement, “Our party is at an equal remove from both the government and the PKK,” Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan yesterday called it “ugly” for a party leader to speak of an illegal terrorist organization like this. He added that a common stance should be taken against terrorism. In addition, State Minister Mehmet Ali Sahin said that the government could not be compared to a terrorist group. “If you call a terrorist group legal, and if you are at an equal distance from both of them, then you mean that the Turkish Republic’s government is illegal,” said Sahin. “That was a highly unfortunate comment.” /Sabah/[11] FROM THE COLUMNS... FROM THE COLUMNS... FROM THE COLUMNS...[12] REFORM PAINS IN THE OIC BY MURAT YETKIN (RADIKAL)Columnist Murat Yetkin comments on the foreign ministerial meeting of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) which began yesterday. A summary of his column is as follows:“The US’ Greater Middle East Project (GME) is casting a shadow over the foreign ministerial meeting of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) which began yesterday. Actually there were only two speakers who didn’t address the need for OIC member states to reform themselves in order to have more open, democratic societies, namely, UN Envoy Lakhdar Brahimi and Guinean Foreign Minister Mamadi Cone. The need for reform first officially appeared on the Arab world’s agenda at the May Arab League summit in Tunisia and was one of the main issues discussed at last week’s G- 8 summit in the US. It will also be discussed at the US-EU summit to be held in Ireland on June 24 and the NATO summit in Istanbul on June 28-29. The current OIC meeting will also weigh in on this, and the speakers’ stances can be summarized as follows: PRESIDENT AHMET NECDET SEZER: ‘The OIC members should accelerate reforms in order to make up for lost time. Conditions in each country will determine the speed and success of reform. However, such reform is indispensable now. It’s out of the question to halt or reverse this process. Now debates over whether Mideast reforms can succeed or not should give way to discussing how to best implement them. This way the OIC can take the place it deserves on the international stage.’ TUNISIAN FOREIGN MINISTER HABIB BEN YAHTA (on behalf of the OIC’s Arab group): ‘We’ve already made a decision on this issue. There’s no doubt about the need for reform, our nations are already expecting it. We should start working immediately. We will gain a new strength through these efforts.’ INDONESIAN FOREIGN MINISTER HASSAN WIRAJUDA (on behalf of the OIC’s Asian group): ‘Terrorism threatens us all. Reforms are needed to address such threats as poverty, injustice and human rights violations.’ OIC SECRETARY-GENERAL ABDULVAHID BELKEZIZ: ‘One can’t honestly call the OIC an influential world organization. the Islamic world is now at a crossroads. We must critique ourselves, act reasonably and determine our stance on the problems of development and modernization.’ IRANIAN FOREIGN MINISTER KAMAL KHARRAZI: ‘It’s a fact that we all need to reform. We can establish dialogue with the West during the implementation of these reforms. We got positive results from our dialogue with the US last year, and we can build on this.’ FOREIGN MINISTER ABDULLAH GUL: ‘If we don’t set our own houses in order, others will step in to insist on this. We’ve been saying this for some time. Countries which are governed well and have equal education opportunities and gender equality – these are also rights of people living in the region. Islamic countries should adapt themselves to the 21st century.’ During all these speeches, I sensed an allergy to the word ‘reform’ among the Arab delegates. When I asked Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan if he saw problems ahead, he said his government was trying to steer clear of these.” 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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