Compact version |
|
Wednesday, 18 December 2024 | ||
|
Turkish Press Review, 04-07-12Turkish 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 morning12.07.2004FROM THE COLUMNS… FROM THE COLUMNS… FROM THE COLUMNS…CONTENTS
[01] SEZER: “HIGH STANDARDS OF LIVING CAN ONLY BE REALIZED BY SLOWING POPULATION GROWTH”Increased standards of living and successful education, health, employment and job security programs can only be realized by slowing population growth, said President Ahmet Necdet Sezer yesterday. “For balanced population growth, citizens must be educated and family planning practiced,” added Sezer in a message issued to mark World Population Day. “Girls and boys should be offered the same educational opportunities.” /Sabah/[02] SENER: “TURKEY WILL CONTINUE ITS FINANCIAL SUPPORT FOR THE TRNC”State Minister Abdullatif Sener yesterday stated that Turkey’s financial support for the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) would continue into next year. Pointing out that relations between Turkey and the TRNC go beyond those of normal bilateral ties, Sener said that relations between the two states will continue as before. /Hurriyet/[03] ATALAY: “OUR NEW PRESS LAW IS MORE TRANSPARENT”Appearing on television yesterday, State Minister Besir Atalay answered questions on a number of issues, including last month’s NATO summit in Istanbul, the new Press Law, and unemployment. Touching on inflation, Atalay said that lower inflation had benefited the nation, adding that the lira was now worth more. Also touching on the new Press Law, Atalay said that the old law was over 50 years old and so was insufficient for modern needs. He added that the new law was more transparent than the old one. /Turkiye/[04] NEW AUSTRIAN PRESIDENT: “TURKEY SHOULDN’T BE LEFT OUTSIDE THE EU”New Austrian President Heinz Fischer said yesterday that Turkey shouldn’t be left outside the European Union. Appearing on Austrian television, Fischer said, “I believe that Ankara shouldn’t be excluded from the EU. However, we should also make sure that Turkey ensures democracy.” Fischer just succeeded Thomas Klestil, Austria’s president for over 10 years who died last week. In related news, Greece’s leader yesterday lent additional support to Ankara’s EU bid. “I support Ankara getting a date from the European Union to begin its accession talks,” stated Greek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis. He further urged the continuation of Ankara’s reforms. /Cumhuriyet/[05] EU COMMISSION COMPLETES BASIC TEXT OF TURKEY’S PROGRESS REPORTThe European Union Commission yesterday reportedly completed the basic text of Turkey’s progress report. The report, which will weigh large on the EU’s decision whether or not to begin Ankara’s accession talks, is due to be released in October. The EU is expected to decide whether or not to begin accession talks with Turkey at its December summit. /Cumhuriyet/[06] IRAN: “WE’RE COOPERATING WITH TURKEY ON SECURITY AND WILL CONTINUE TO DO SO”The Iranian Foreign Ministry yesterday released a statement saying that Tehran was positively and constructively cooperating with Ankara on security, adding that this cooperation would continue. The statement added that security issues would be discussed at a Turkish-Iranian Joint Security Council meeting scheduled to begin tomorrow in Ankara. /Turkiye/[07] CB DEPUTY HEAD: “THE ECONOMIC RECOVERY SHOULD CONTINUE IN ORDER TO STRIKE ZEROS FROM THE LIRA”Central Bank Deputy Governor Sukru Binay said yesterday that the nation’s economic recovery should continue in order to go ahead with plans to erase six zeros from the Turkish lira next January. Speaking to a publication of the Bursa Chamber of Trade and Industry, Binay said, “Low inflation should continue in order to go through with striking out the zeros.” He stated that the CB had begun working on the issue since 1998, when getting rid of the zeros would have been riskier. He further urged the government to continue its tight monetary policy, warning that if it failed to do so, then this could lead to hyperinflation. /Turkiye/[08] ERDOGAN’S DAUGHTER GETS MARRIEDPrime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s elder daughter Esra Erdogan yesterday exchanged nuptials with Berat Albayrak, the son of Turkish journalist Sadik Albayrak. Thousands of guests attended the ceremony in Istanbul, including Jordan's King Abdullah, Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, Greek Premier Costas Karamanlis and Romanian Prime Minister Adrian Nastase. /All papers/[09] FROM THE COLUMNS… FROM THE COLUMNS… FROM THE COLUMNS…[10] WHAT EDWARDS MEANS BY ASLI AYDINTASBAS (SABAH)Columnist Asli Aydintasbas writes on the coming US presidential elections. A summary of her column is as follows:“Does everybody really want George W. Bush to lose the coming US presidential elections? Will a new administration led by Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry really manage to turn a new page on US foreign policy? For Turkey, the situation is quite complicated. As a matter of fact, Ankara doesn’t willingly support the Bush doctrine of pre-emptive strikes whose ultimate aim is to expand American military and economic power in the Islamic world. However, on the other hand, neither does Ankara oppose the ‘star’ role Washington has set for Turkey in its Greater Middle East Initiative (GME), which is why certain domestic circles were extremely pleased with Bush’s speech at Galatasaray University at the closing of NATO’s recent Istanbul summit. Having seen Turkey’s critical importance in the wake of Sept. 11 attacks, the Bush administration is now lending its full support to Ankara on both its EU membership bid and relations with the International Monetary Fund. Bush somehow knows and likes our country. Therefore, Ankara foreign policy circles believe that the devil we know is better than the one we don’t. Let’s recall that Kerry is one of the supporters of the so-called Armenian genocide bills. In addition, he is a member of US leftist circles, which are known for their harsh criticisms of Turkey. Unlike Bush, Kerry won’t be willing to pressure EU countries for Turkey’s EU membership. However, Turkey shouldn’t let itself get worried. Let’s not forget the Clinton administration, once very close to the leftist and Greek lobbies in the US, and how Clinton’s term was one of the golden eras for Turkish-US relations. What I’d like to stress here is no matter what the US president thinks about our country, Turkey is a sine qua non for US foreign policy. There are fixed, inevitable parameters in Washington’s foreign policy which no leader can alter. Moreover, would a Kerry administration be able to ignore the nuclear power plant that Iran is currently building in Natanz? Kerry certainly doesn’t have any magic wand with which to change the world. Kerry and his charismatic running mate John Edwards so far seem very clumsy in their campaigning, as Edwards is voicing a very leftist rhetoric which means little to the US nation. The specter of ‘class war’ which Edwards often raises in his speeches is not a popular theme for Americans. This duo must prove to their country that they are capable of correcting things inside and outside the homeland. Otherwise, Americans too might opt to stick with the devil they know.” [11] ISLANDS WITHOUT TROOPS AND AIR SOVEREIGNTY BY COSKUN KIRCA (AKSAM)Columnist Coskun Kirca comments on areas of dispute between Turkey and Greece. A summary of his column is as follows:“This issue was set out under the Treaty of Lausanne and other treaties. Under Lausanne, the Aegean islands belong to Greece, but Greek troops had to vacate them. Turkey benefits from this situation. Although Turkey also signed the Italian Treaty, it benefits from this status of the ‘Twelve Islands’ from which troops were withdrawn under this agreement. In international law, vacating troops from an area means that the country in question can establish neither military units nor fortifications in an area so vacated. However, this doesn’t mean that if the country which owns that area is attacked, it can’t defend itself militarily. But Greek is openly violating the vacated status of these islands. The pretext given by Athens is that these islands are threatened by Turkey. There is no other country or international institution which supports this claim. The military fortifications on these islands were put there by NATO. However, Greece is not the only state that can request use of these. Even Turkey can do so. In such a situation, Greece should end these violations. Turkey can request that NATO deploy military units belonging to Greece or other NATO member countries if it decides alliance interests are at stake. A Flight Information Region (FIR) is an airspace of defined dimension within which flight information service and alerting service are provided. The UN International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) gave these duties to the Athens Air Traffic Control Center for a region which also covers Istanbul. Authority deriving from this duty has no right of sovereignty, but is rather purely administrative. There is no responsibility to report flight plans for military aircraft in this area to the responsible center. However, Greece is invoking those administrative rights as sovereignty rights in order to prevent Turkish military flights. Turkey has objected. There is a mechanism within the ICAO for conflict resolution on issues within its sphere of authority. So such disagreements should be brought there.” 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 |