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Turkish Press Review, 04-08-18Turkish 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 morning18.08.2004FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE COLUMNS...CONTENTS
[01] HEAVY RAINS FLOOD ISTANBULTorrential rains in Istanbul which started on Monday have caused streams to overflow and left parts of the city under water. Two streams in the districts of Alibeykoy and Esenler have caused the most damage. City authorities issued a flood alert over the weekend and decided to evacuate about 200 houses in the region, but some residents refused to leave. Rescuers helped hundreds of people leave endangered homes. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said yesterday that the heavy rains had paralyzed daily life in the city. “Since we already took the necessary measures, we’ve quickly overcome problems,” said Erdogan, a former Istanbul mayor. Noting that the government had earlier issued warnings about the rain, Erdogan said that Turkey’s infrastructure was dangerously insufficient and needed to be upgraded as soon as possible. Istanbul Major Kadit Topbas also said that the government was determined to expropriate illegal constructions in the region which are under water. /Hurriyet/[02] ALPOGAN APPOINTED FIRST CIVILIAN NSC SECRETARY-GENERALAmbassador Mehmet Yigit Alpogan yesterday was officially appointed the first civilian secretary-general of the National Security Council (NSC), a major step in the civilianization of the previously military-dominated body. The decree appointing Alpogan to the post was signed by President Ahmet Necdet Sezer and became official through its publication in the Official Gazette. The appointment is the latest in a series of reforms carried out around the structure and functioning of the council. /Aksam/[03] GONUL VISITS SERBIA-MONTENEGRONational Defense Minister Vecdi Gonul will visit Serbia and Montenegro today upon the invitation of his Serbian counterpart Prvoslav Davinic. Gonul and Davinic are slated to sign a treaty on defense industry cooperation. During his visit, Gonul will also meet with the Serbian president and the foreign minister of Serbia-Montenegro. /Star/[04] AL-YAVER ADDRESSES TURKISH-IRAQI BUSINESS COUNCILIraqi President Ghazi al-Yaver, on the final day of his official visit to Ankara, yesterday attended a meeting of the Turkish-Iraqi Business Council along with State Minister for the Economy Kursat Tuzmen. Addressing the gathering, al-Yaver said that his two-day trip to Ankara, his first-ever state visit, was no coincidence, as Turkey has a particular importance for Iraq. “There are many areas where we can cooperate with Turkey,” he said. “Since we need each other, we’ll start cooperating when stability is assured in my country.” Touching on Ankara’s European Union membership bid, al-Yaver said that he wanted to see Turkey admitted to the EU. “It deserves to join the Union,” he stated. “The whole region will also benefit from Turkey’s membership, since it’s an important country.” Al-Yaver further called on Turkish businessmen seeking investment in Iraq to employ more Iraqis since unemployment was very high in his country. Al-Yaver stated that the key city of Kirkuk in northern Iraq belonged to all Iraqis and would be a symbol of peaceful coexistence. For his part, Tuzmen said that he hoped to see the Turkish-Iraqi trade volume to rise from $2 billion this year to $5 billion next year. /Turkiye/[05] TALAT, DENKTAS MEET WITH GULTurkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) Prime Minister Mehmet Ali Talat and TRNC Foreign Minister Serdar Denktas are scheduled to meet today with Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul to evaluate recent developments on Cyprus. /Star/[06] PRIVATE RADIO STATIONS TO BEGIN BROADCASTS IN KURDISHFollowing the start of broadcasts in non-Turkish mother tongue languages on state broadcaster the Turkish Radio and Television Corporation (TRT), the Supreme Board of Radio and Television (RTUK) has now authorized three private radio stations to broadcast in Kurdish and other dialects. Diyarbakir’s Gun Radio and Soz Radio and Batman’s Cagri Radio will make broadcasts in the Kurdish dialect of Kirmanci. It was also decided that TRT television would make broadcasts in Arabic, in the Kurdish Zaza and Kirmanci dialects, and in Circassian and Bosnian. /Sabah/[07] BABACAN TOUTS SOUNDNESS OF TURKEY’S BANKING SECTORState Minister for the Economy Ali Babacan yesterday touted the soundness of Turkey’s banking sector, adding that Turkish banks could compete with banks based in European Union member states in terms of technological infrastructure. “If current positive economic developments continue, our banks will be on even firmer footing,” added Babacan. “We’re continuing to make changes to the Banking Law to put it in line with EU norms.” /Turkiye/[08] S&P RAISES TURKEY’S DEBT RATING ON IMPROVING STABILITY, BULLISH ON EU HOPESInternational rating agency Standard & Poor’s announced yesterday that it had raised its rating on Turkey’s debt because of improved macroeconomic stability. S&P said in a statement that it had lifted its rating on long- term Turkish government debt denominated in foreign currencies to BB minus from B plus. The outlook for further changes in the two ratings was stable, S&P said. "The sovereign upgrade reflects the progress Turkey is making toward durable macroeconomic stability, and the country’s expected adherence to a strict macroeconomic program beyond 2004, which would result in further fiscal improvement, disinflation, a more sustainable public debt burden, and reduced vulnerability to market sentiment," S&P credit analyst Konrad Reuss said in the statement. "Our base case says there will be a positive response'' from the European Union in December when its leaders discuss Ankara's request to start membership talks, Reuss told Bloomberg in an interview. Further upgrades are likely once such talks begin, the statement added /Milliyet/[09] FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE COLUMNS...[10] GOVERNMENT ON THE SIDELINES BY CUNEYT ARCAYUREK (CUMHURIYET)Columnist Cuneyt Arcayurek comments on the Cyprus and Iraq issues. A summary of his column is as follows:“The representatives of the Greek and Greek Cypriot foreign ministries recently met in Nicosia and held a series of meetings to discuss Turkish Cypriots’ relations with both the European Union and the United States. Officials from Athens and Greek Cyprus have reportedly decided to draw up a joint strategy to prevent the EU and US from providing the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) with political and financial assistance. The EU has yet to take any concrete step to eliminate its member states’ commercial and transportation barriers to the TRNC. Furthermore, although Washington had announced that it would immediately start direct flights to Northern Cyprus after April’s referendums and that it was ready to provide the Turkish Cypriots with financial assistance, US State Department spokesman Adam Ereli recently vaguely said that the Bush administration was still seeking ways to end the isolation on the TRNC. Meanwhile, our prime minister was busy inviting his counterpart Costas Karamanlis to his daughter’s wedding ceremony and also flying to the Athens Olympics just to please the Greek premier! For one reason or another, the Turkish Cypriots are being hoodwinked now. Washington and the EU have both failed to provide them with the promised assistance to end their isolation. Furthermore, I’ll bet a new series of demands are on the way! Turkey will be asked to withdraw its troops from the island. The Greek Cypriots are executing their plan smoothly with the help of Greece, Washington and Brussels’ stalling tactics. Meanwhile, Baghdad has decided to impose visa procedures for Turkish citizens entering Iraq. Ankara learned about this decision from the president of the Iraqi interim government when he visited the capital this week. Moreover, we’re not sure whether the government is preparing wise strategies to deal with the Turkmen and PKK problems in Iraq. It’s clear that Washington has failed to eliminate the PKK terrorists taking shelter in northern Iraq. In the months to come, a civil war might erupt between Kurdish groups supporting US forces and Arabs. If this scenario proves correct, what will happen to the Turkmen groups? Cyprus… Iraq… What is the government is doing about these issues? I guess it’s sitting on the sidelines watching developments.” 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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