|
|
|
Turkish Press Review, 05-01-31
From: 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 morning
31.01.2005
<blockquote>
<_blockquote>
CONTENTS
[01] MAIN OPPOSITION RE-ELECTS BAYKAL
[02] ERDOGAN TO TRAVEL TO SOUTH ASIA NEXT WEEK
[03] MICROSOFT’S BILL GATES VISITS TURKEY
[04] RICE TO VISIT TURKEY NEXT WEEK
[05] GUL: “TURKEY SUPPORTS IRAQI ELECTIONS”
[06] BARZANI. “KIRKUK IS A KURDISH CITY”
[07] UND: “WE ARE READY TO ESTABLISH SAFE TRUCK PARKS IN IRAQ”
[08] ERDOGAN CRITICIZES NBC’S WEST WING, ASKING DIPLOMATIC REACTION
[09] FROM HIS STAFF
[10] UNESCO TO MAKE ITS FINAL DECISION ON ISTANBUL
[11] GREEK EDUCATION MINISTER VISITS TURKEY
[12] QUAKE SHAKES SOUTHWEST TURKEY
[13] FROM THE COLUMNS…FROM THE COLUMNS…FROM THE COLUMNS
[14] SARIGUL AND CHP
[15] BY CUNEYT ULSEVER (HURRIYET)
[01] MAIN OPPOSITION RE-ELECTS BAYKAL
Deniz Baykal was reelected as the leader of the main opposition Republican
People’s Party (CHP) at its 13th extraordinary congress this weekend.
Baykal ended up the victor with 674 votes whereas CHP Sisli Major Mustafa
Sarigul received 460 votes. “I can proudly say that the CHP has been born
again during this congress,” said Baykal after his victory. However, this
congress occurred in a violent environment which severely damaged the image
of the CHP. Speaking at a press conference at his office in Ankara, Sarigul
claimed that the congress had been held under antidemocratic conditions. In
addition, Sarigul and his supporters boycotted yesterday’s session of the
congress, as they were against the selection of the party assembly using a
block listing. In related news, President Ahmet Necdet Sezer, Parliament
Speaker Bulent Arinc and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan congratulated
Baykal for being reelected for Republican People’s Party (CHP) leadership.
/Star/
[02] ERDOGAN TO TRAVEL TO SOUTH ASIA NEXT WEEK
Ruling Justice and Development Party’s (AKP) Central Execution Board (MYK)
chaired by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan met yesterday. During five-
hour gathering, Erdogan reportedly told his party staff about his scheduled
visit to tsunami-hit south Asia countries next week. Stressing that India
had not taken a positive stance to the efforts to aid, Erdogan said he
would not pay a visit to that country, but he would travel to Indonesia,
Malaysia, Sri Lanka and Maldives. /Turkiye/
[03] MICROSOFT’S BILL GATES VISITS TURKEY
Microsoft Corporation boss Bill Gates, the richest man in the world, paid a
four-hour visit to Ankara yesterday at the invitation of Prime Minister
Recep Tayyip Erdogan. During a meeting with Erdogan, Gates reportedly
pledged to support Turkey’s desire to use of technology in education,
adding that Microsoft would make Istanbul its center to transfer technology
to other 79 countries. Then, Gates attended a conference on information
technologies at Hilton Hotel. /Hurriyet/
[04] RICE TO VISIT TURKEY NEXT WEEK
US new Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is scheduled to pay one-day
official visit to Ankara next week as part of a tour of the Middle East and
Europe. During her stay, Rice will meet with President Ahmet Necdet Sezer,
Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul. The Iraq
issue, bilateral relations and Turkey’s possible role in ending Palestinian-
Israeli conflict are expected to be taken up during their talks. In related
news, Gul sent a congratulatory message to Rice who was officially
appointed her post last week. In his message, pointing to the close
relations between Turkey and the US for decades, Gul said he was confident
that those would further develop during Rice’s tenure as the head of he
State Department. /Turkiye/
[05] GUL: “TURKEY SUPPORTS IRAQI ELECTIONS”
Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul over the weekend stated that Turkey supported
the Iraqi elections whose legitimacy would be clarified when the level of
participation and whether any manipulation was involved in the elections
were determined. “There is a timeline for transition to democracy in Iraq,”
said Gul. “We want Iraq to prepare a new constitution and complete its
transition to democracy on time. According to this timeline, foreign troops
will withdraw from Iraq in the end of 2005, and the Iraqi people will start
governing their own country. These elections have constituted an important
step for the Iraqi democracy.” /Cumhuriyet/
[06] BARZANI. “KIRKUK IS A KURDISH CITY”
Iraqi Kurdistan Democratic Party (IKDP) head Massoud Barzani reaffirmed
yesterday that Kirkuk, an oil-rich northern Iraqi city, was Kurdish,
defying warnings from Turkey that it should have a special status. Speaking
to reporters after he cast his vote at polling station in Salahaddin,
Barzani reiterated claims for control of the disputed city of Kirkuk and
said that Kurds were not interested in what Turkey and any other country
said about it. “Kirkuk is a Kurdish city with a Kurdish identity,” said
Barzani. “Neither Turkey nor any other country has the right to speak about
Kirkuk or any other Iraqi city.” Meanwhile, Iraqis turned out to vote
yesterday in their country’s first free election in a half-century under
insurgents’ deadly suicide bombings and mortar strikes at polling stations.
/Hurriyet/
[07] UND: “WE ARE READY TO ESTABLISH SAFE TRUCK PARKS IN IRAQ”
International Transportation Association (UND) Director Cetin Nuhoglu over
the weekend stated that the Iraqi government suggested establishing truck
parks along the line from Baghdad to Turkey so as to ensure the safety of
the truckers doing business in the country. Nuhoglu said that the Iraqi
officials listened to the security concerns of the Turkish drivers during
their recent visits to Turkey and then proposed to establish five safe
truck parks along the Baghdad-Turkey route. “The Iraqi government has
announced that it is ready to undertake the responsibility of ensuring the
security of the parks,” he added. /Aksam/
[08] ERDOGAN CRITICIZES NBC’S WEST WING, ASKING DIPLOMATIC REACTION
[09] FROM HIS STAFF
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan over the weekend criticized the NBC
series “West Wing” which in one of its episodes described Turkey as a
country where women are beheaded as a punishment to adultery. Stating that
such serials damaged the image of Turkey in the eyes of the world by giving
incorrect information about the country, Erdogan asked Foreign Minister
Abdullah Gul and Justice Minister Cemil Cicek to launch a diplomatic
initiative on the issue. “Necessary judicial steps must be taken as soon as
possible to correct this,” he added. “The Turkish Embassy in the US must be
more active to denounce the series.” /Milliyet/
[10] UNESCO TO MAKE ITS FINAL DECISION ON ISTANBUL
UNESCO is set to decide whether to include Istanbul into its “Endangered
World Heritage List” tomorrow in line with the report to be presented to
the organization by Turkey. UNESCO had announced last July that Istanbul
would be taken out from the World Historical Heritage List and included
into the Endangered World Heritage List if Ankara fails to take effective
measures as soon as possible. Foreign Ministry, Culture and Tourism
Ministry, Interior Ministry and Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality
officials had held a meeting on January 12 to discuss the issue. UNESCO’s
final decision is to be announced tomorrow. /Cumhuriyet/
[11] GREEK EDUCATION MINISTER VISITS TURKEY
Education Minister Huseyin Celik and his visiting Greek counterpart
Marietta Giannakou attended the 550th anniversary of the Fener Greek Clergy
School in Istanbul this weekend. Emphasizing on the importance of Greek
citizens of Turkey, Celik said, “The value of the democracy in a country is
not only dependent on maintaining prosperity and freedom to the majority,
but also to the minorities.” Answering questions on reopening the clergy
school Giannakou said that she was confident that Turkey would keep its
promise. /Sabah/
[12] QUAKE SHAKES SOUTHWEST TURKEY
An earthquake measuring 5.3 on the Richter scale yesterday shook the
district of Kas in southwestern Turkey. There were no reports of injuries
or damage to property, officials said. The quake caused panic in the
district and neighboring settlements. /Milliyet/
[13] FROM THE COLUMNS…FROM THE COLUMNS…FROM THE COLUMNS
[14] SARIGUL AND CHP
[15] BY CUNEYT ULSEVER (HURRIYET)
Columnist Cuneyt Ulsever comments on yesterday’s Republican People’s Party
(CHP) congress. A summary of his column is as follows:
“Answering a reporter’s question just before the opposition Republican
People’s Party (CHP) congress yesterday, Sisli Mayor Mustafa Sarigul said,
‘I would never participate in a competition which I cannot win.’ I wonder
how he feels now. I also wonder if he realized that he had lost the general
leadership competition. However, everybody knows that the CHP lost, thus,
Turkey lost, too. Now nobody can take CHP seriously, except those who
supported it and its leader. From now on, whatever CHP leader Deniz Baykal
and his staff do, nobody would support this party as long as they keep the
leadership. Turkey has no left and opposition now. I saw many disputed
congresses. However, this is the first congress in which a candidate struck
another mayor with his fist. Baykal preferred to make Sarigul nervous and
he succeeded in it. When Sarigul lost his temper, he was wounded not only
by CHP delegates, but also by the nation who followed the congress on nine
different television channels.
However, Baykal lost, too. He annoyed Sarigul clearly but didn’t allow him
to speak and he was unable to produce a message other than his hate for
Sarigul. He also seemed to have no project for Turkey and ended his own
political career himself yesterday. Most importantly, the oldest party in
Turkey was damaged this much, which is a loss for Turkey. The control and
balance are indispensable tasks both for the party in power and the
opposition party and the right and left. A rightist party in power might be
saved from a leftist opposition and this might make the party in power
insensitive. Yesterday not only CHP, but also the entire Turkey was
wounded.”
ARCHIVE
<script type="text/javascript" language="JavaScript" src="http:/_www.byegm.gov.tr_statistic/countcode.js">
</script>
|
