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Turkish Press Review, 04-08-06Turkish 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 morning06.08.2004TURKEY AND IRAN BY COSKUN KIRCA (AKSAM)CONTENTS
[01] SEZER RECEIVES ERDOGANPresident Ahmet Necdet Sezer yesterday received Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the Cankaya Presidential Palace. The premier later proceeded to the new Turkish Radio and Television State Broadcasting Institution (TRT) building where he was briefed by Director-General Senol Demiroz on the institution’s financial situation, technical infrastructure, broadcasting policy and targets. In related news, he is expected to attend the opening ceremony of the Athens Olympics in Greece. The premier is set to travel to the Greek capital on Aug. 13. /Sabah/[02] SUPREME MILITARY COUNCIL DECISIONS ANNOUNCEDThe decisions made by the Supreme Military Council (YAS), which was convened under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan for a two-day meeting, were announced yesterday after they were approved by President Ahmet Necdet Sezer. The number of generals in the Land Forces Command (KKK) has been reduced from 11 to 10. Two generals still have to be assigned since the NATO Northeast European Joint Command was closed as part of the alliance’s restructuring efforts and a civilian will be assigned as the Secretary-General of the National Security Council (MGK) in line with the EU’s Copenhagen criteria. According to the decisions which are expected to enter into force on Aug. 30, KKK commander Gen. Aytac Yalman has been resigned and First Army Commander Gen. Yasar Buyukanit has been assigned to this post. /Hurriyet/[03] RELEASED TURKISH HOSTAGES TO RETURN TO TURKEYTwo Turkish hostages, Abdurrahman Demir and and Sait Unurlu who were freed on Wednesday yesterday came to Turkish Consulate in Baghdad. Demir and Unurlu are due to return to Turkey today. /Turkiye/[04] EP PRESIDENT BORRELL: “TURKEY IS READY TO BEGIN ITS ACCESSION TALKS WITH THE EU”New European Parliament President Josep Borrell said yesterday that Turkey was ready to begin its accession talks with the European Union. Speaking to Spanish daily El Periodico, Borrell said that the EU wouldn’t decide about Ankara’s accession to the union at its December summit, adding that it would decide about the conditions of the accession in the future. He added that Turkey’s accession to the EU would also ease the democratization process of the Islam world. /Turkiye/[05] BELGIUM SOCIALIST PARTY DEPUTY VISITS TURKEY, EXPRESSES SUPPORT FOR TURKEY’S EU BIDEmin Ozkara, deputy from the Belgium Socialist Party, yesterday visited Afyon. During his visit, Ozkara was accompanied by a deputy from his party Josep Parmenter. Ozkara said that he wanted Turkey to join the European Union and added that the Belgian government also favored Ankara’s membership. “Turkey should join the Union as soon as possible,” he said. /Turkiye/[06] VERHEUGEN TO VISIT ANKARA IN SEPTEMBEREuropean Union Commissioner for Enlargement Guenter Verheugen is due to visit Ankara in September to meet with Turkish officials before the European Commission releases Turkey’s progress report in December. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is expected to visit Germany in September to seek its support for Ankara to begin its accession talks. Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul is expected to attend a meeting of EU member states’ foreign ministers in Maastricht. /Turkiye/[07] DENKTAS: “THE EU WILL GIVE A DATE TO ANKARA TO BEGIN ACCESSION TALKS, BUT IT WILL TAKE 20 YEARS TO JOIN THE UNION”Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) Presdient Rauf Denktas said that he believed the European Union would give a date to Ankara at its December summit to begin accession talks, but added that it could take 20 years to join the Union. He also stressed that he would soon leave his post, adding that he hoped Turkey would continue to support the TRNC. /Milliyet/[08] IMF DELEGATION MEETS FINANCE MINISTER UNAKITAN AND STATE MINISTER BABACANThe International Monetary Fund (IMF) delegation under the chairmanship of the Turkey Desk Chief Reza Moghadam is about to end its work on Turkey’s new three-year economic program. The delegation yesterday held a meeting at the Finance Ministry with Finance Minister Kemal Unakitan and State Minister Ali Babacan. The meeting focused on Turkey’s three-year financial perspective, payments balance, banking reform and structural reforms. Turkey’s three-year financial need has been calculated as 12-15 billion dollars for 2005-2008. /Sabah/[09] TURKEY-LIBYA JEC MEETING HELD IN ANKARAThe 19th meeting of Turkey-Libya Joint Economic Commission (JEC) was held in Ankara. In his opening speech, State Minister Kursad Tuzmen stated that economic and commercial cooperation among the regional powers would contribute to the efforts to establish peace and stability in the region. Recalling that the trade volume between the two countries reached 1.3 billion dollars last year, Tuzmen said that exports from Turkey to Libya increased by %12 in the first half of 2004. “Turkey aims to increase its trade volume with Libya up to 3 billion dollars by the end of the year,” he added. “In order to reach this target, we should sign a series of agreements to prevent double taxation, to encourage and protect investments and to cooperate in customs and agriculture.” Responding to a question on the International Transportations' Association (UND)'s recent decision to halt deliveries to US forces in Iraq, Tüzmen said, “Our trade with Iraq will continue.” /All Papers/[10] FROM THE COLUMNS… FROM THE COLUMNS… FROM THE COLUMNS…[11] TURKEY AND IRANBY COSKUN KIRCA (AKSAM)Columnist Coskun Kirca comments on Turkish-Iranian relations. A summary of his column is as follows: “Prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan visited Iran and Tehran promised to cooperate in the fight against the terrorist group PKK. The real question, however, is whether Iran will keep its promise. The Saadabad Pact was signed between Turkey, Iraq and Iran over 60 years ago. According to this pact, parties shouldn’t provoke the tribes in the region against the members to the pact. Turkey obliged to this rule for over 60 years. Iraq and Iran on the other hand violated this obligation from time to time. Therefore we will see whether Iran will keep its promise. Turkey doesn’t put forward territorial claims to Iran and wants to improve its friendship and trade with Iran as it does for its other neighbors. Secular Turkey doesn’t have any ambitions about political leadership in the Middle East and is not in any competition with any other country. Turkey is also not attempting to become a model in any field. Also in trade, Turkey makes trade with those countries, which even have hostile attitudes towards it. Iran’s opinion, however, is not the same. According to Mullahs, Turkey betrayed Islam when accepting secularism. There are other reasons why the Mullahs don’t like secular Turkey. The Turks and Iran fought many religious wars in history.” 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 |