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Turkish Press Review, 05-02-09
From: Turkish Directorate General of Press and Information <http://www.byegm.gov.tr>
09.02.05
Summary of the political and economic news in the Turkish press this
morning
CONTENTS
[01] IN WAKE OF TSUANMI DISASTER, ERDOGAN VOWS TO STRENGTHEN TIES WITH SOUTH ASIAN COUNTRIES
[02] ERDOGAN MEETS WITH IRANIAN FM IN MALAYSIA
[03] GUL CRITICIZES BARZANI’S REMARKS ON KIRKUK
[04] TURKEY HAILS PEACE PLEDGES FROM EGYPT SUMMIT
[05] POSSIBLE AKP PUSH TO END HEADSCARF BAN DRAWS OPPOSITION FIRE
[06] SENER: “SUNNIS MUST BE INCLUDED IN IRAQ’S POLITICAL PROCESS”
[07] EDELMAN: “THE US HAS NO ‘REVENGE POLICY’ ”
[08] RICE CITES TURKEY AS MODEL FOR IRAQ
[09] FORMER MINISTERS OZKAN, ONAL FACE SUPREME STATE COURT
[10] FOREIGN MINISTRY PLANS TO FIGHT HOLLYWOOD BIAS
[11] IMF’S BREDENKAMP: “INCREASED SUBSIDIES WOULD THREATEN THE STANDBY”
[12] FROM THE COLUMNS … FROM THE COLUMNS … FROM THE COLUMNS
[13] RICE’S PAX, AND TURKEY BY YILMAZ OZTUNA (TURKIYE)
[01] IN WAKE OF TSUANMI DISASTER, ERDOGAN VOWS TO STRENGTHEN TIES WITH
SOUTH ASIAN COUNTRIES
In Bangkok, Thailand, on the third day of his five-nation tour of the Asian
disaster zone, Erdogan met with his Thai counterpart Thaksin Shinawatra.
Offering the premier political counsel, Erdogan remarked on the importance
of opposition parties in Parliament. “If we had a Parliament without
opposition, we would prefer to hold another election,” said the Turkish
premier. Then he proceeded to Phuket Island in southern Thailand. Speaking
to reporters there, Erdogan said that Ankara would do its best to help
dress the wounds in the disaster-hit south Asian countries. He said that
his visit also presented an opportunity to renew and strengthen Turkey’s
trade, economic and cultural ties with the region’s countries. After
completing his contacts in this country, Erdogan is expected to head for
the Maldives and Sri Lanka before returning to Turkey. /Turkiye/
[02] ERDOGAN MEETS WITH IRANIAN FM IN MALAYSIA
While visiting Malaysia to see the damage from December’s tsunami, Prime
Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan yesterday had a surprise meeting in Kuala
Lumpur with Iranian Foreign Minister Kemal Kharrazi, who is also visiting
the country. During a 20-minute talk, the two leaders focused on how their
nations could help in disaster relief. Erdogan called on Islamic countries
to send more aid to the region. /Star/
[03] GUL CRITICIZES BARZANI’S REMARKS ON KIRKUK
Iraq’s Kurdish groups should learn lessons from the past, Foreign Minister
Abdullah Gul said yesterday. In a joint press conference alongside his
visiting Tunisian counterpart Abdelbaki Hermassi, Gul criticized Iraqi
Kurdistan Democratic Party (IKDP) head Massoud Barzani’s recent vow never
to “forsake” the city of Kirkuk, saying that it was high time for the Iraqi
Kurds to learn from the past instead of indulging in flights of fancy and
unrealistic rhetoric. “Failed leadership, unrealistic projects and
irrational rhetoric have long plagued the Middle East, especially Iraq,” he
said. “So Iraq’s Kurds must act with common sense. In fact, all Iraqis
should focus their energy on fostering an atmosphere of peace and
stability. Any other course will damage both their country and the region.”
Urging the Iraqi people to face the future without being bogged down in the
past, Gul added that Turkey was ready to assist them towards this end.
“Turkey wants Iraq to forge peaceful relations with its neighbors,” he
stressed. For his part, Hermassi said that Tunisia and Turkey stood as one
in wanting to protect Iraq’s territorial integrity. /Sabah / Cumhuriyet/
[04] TURKEY HAILS PEACE PLEDGES FROM EGYPT SUMMIT
Turkey yesterday hailed the outcome of this week’s Egyptian summit for
Mideast peace. A Foreign Ministry statement said that pledges from both
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas to
halt attacks and military actions was a positive step towards a permanent
settlement and peace in the region. It added that Ankara wanted both sides
to stick to their commitments to maintain and strengthen the current
positive atmosphere. At Tuesday’s summit in Egypt’s Red Sea resort of Sharm
El-Sheik, Sharon and Abbas, along with host Egyptian President Hosni
Mubarak and Jordan’s King Abdullah, met for the first time in four years.
/Turkiye/
[05] POSSIBLE AKP PUSH TO END HEADSCARF BAN DRAWS OPPOSITION FIRE
A weekend article in Germany’s Welt am Sonntag quoting Prime Minister Recep
Tayyip Erdogan to the effect that the government would seek to overturn the
ban on wearing headscarves at university has sparked fierce debate in
Ankara. Ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) deputies denied that a
report was being prepared on legislative changes to lift the ban, but
acknowledged that the issue was being discussed with nongovernmental
organizations (NGOs). Speaking at yesterday’s main opposition Republican
People’s Party (CHP) group meeting, CHP leader Deniz Baykal charged that
Erdogan was trying to distract the country with an “artificial agenda.” Our
Constitution cannot be changed at the whim of the prime minister, added
Baykal, warning that insisting on the issue could lead to controversy
similar to last year’s adultery-ban firestorm. He charged further that the
government’s “passive” and “ineffective” foreign policy had relegated
Turkey to the sidelines of the latest developments in northern Iraq.
/Cumhuriyet/
[06] SENER: “SUNNIS MUST BE INCLUDED IN IRAQ’S POLITICAL PROCESS”
Addressing the ruling Justice and Development Party’s (AKP) group meeting
yesterday, acting Prime Minister Abdullatif Sener briefed his party on the
latest developments in Iraq. Lamenting how many Sunni groups had boycotted
the recent Iraqi elections, Sener said that Turkey had strived to ensure
the participation of all Turkey’s social and ethnic groups in the polls.
“The coming months are very important for Iraq’s future,” he said.
“Therefore, all groups should be represented in the new administration.
Iraq’s territorial integrity and political unity must be protected. The US
administration shares this view, and we’ll do our utmost towards this end.”
/Aksam/
[07] EDELMAN: “THE US HAS NO ‘REVENGE POLICY’ ”
The US does not have a policy of revenge, US Ambassador in Ankara Eric
Edelman told a press conference yesterday. Edelman took sharp exception to
the view that the US is trying to “punish” Turkey for a lack of cooperation
in its Iraq invasion. “If the US had such feelings, it would not have
supported Turkey with the International Monetary Fund and the European
Union,” added Edelman. He said he understood one of the reasons for the
recent anti-American sentiment in Turkey concerns Iraq. Edelman stated that,
over the past six weeks, there have been many contacts between Turkish and
US officials, referring specifically to the weekend meeting between Foreign
Minister Abdullah Gul and US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, adding
that both sides are aware of the importance of their relationship. Asked
about the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk, Edelman said that the US wants to
preserve Iraq’s territorial integrity. “The Iraqi people will decide on
Kirkuk through compromise,” he said. Asked whether Washington was seeking
to use Turkey’s Incirlik Airbase as a “full operational headquarters,”
Edelman said that this hadn’t come up during Rice’s meeting with Gul. In
response to a question on Iran, Edelman replied that this issue had not
been discussed in detail during Rice’s visit. “The US hasn’t asked anything
of Turkey concerning Iran,” he added. Asked what Washington was doing to
end the international blockade against the Turkish Cypriots, Edelman
answered that several Cyprus initiatives were ongoing. Asked about the
continued presence of the terrorist PKK in northern Iraq, Edelman commented
that the US faces a difficult security situation in the country. “Yet this
does not imply that we will not fulfill our promises” to fight the PKK, he
added. /Hurriyet/
[08] RICE CITES TURKEY AS MODEL FOR IRAQ
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, in France as part of a tour of
Europe and the Mideast, including Turkey, yesterday cited Turkey as an
example of the successful coexistence of Islam and democracy, adding that
it could be a model for Iraq. Speaking at Paris’ Sciences Politiques
Institute, Rice said, "What we must understand there is no inherent
conflict between Islam and democracy." /Turkiye/
[09] FORMER MINISTERS OZKAN, ONAL FACE SUPREME STATE COURT
Hearings for former state ministers Husamettin Ozkan and Recep Onal began
at the Supreme State Court yesterday. The two are charged with
irregularities in Halk Bank during their terms in office, with prison
sentences of one to three years being sought. /Star/
[10] FOREIGN MINISTRY PLANS TO FIGHT HOLLYWOOD BIAS
Foreign Ministry sources yesterday said lawsuits were being planned to
combat biased portrayals of Turks and Turkey in American film and TV
productions. The moves follow Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul’s complaints
during US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice’s recent visit about this
bias, with Rice replying that Washington had no power to change the
entertainment industry. /Hurriyet/
[11] IMF’S BREDENKAMP: “INCREASED SUBSIDIES WOULD THREATEN THE STANDBY”
We cannot go forward with our standby program with Ankara when the budget
figures don’t add up, yesterday warned Hugh Bredenkamp, the senior
International Monetary Fund representative in Ankara. “That’s the case
right now,” he added, referring to a government proposal to expand
subsidies Bredenkamp said would lead to “dramatically” higher costs.
/Milliyet/
[12] FROM THE COLUMNS … FROM THE COLUMNS … FROM THE COLUMNS
[13] RICE’S PAX, AND TURKEY BY YILMAZ OZTUNA (TURKIYE)
Columnist Yilmaz Oztuna comments on US Secretary of State Condoleezza
Rice’s weekend visit to Turkey. A summary of his column is as follows:
“US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul,
‘Each of us [Ankara and Washington] . . . have a responsibility with our
publics, because we have democracies to speak out for how important and
central [our] relationship is to both of us; to remind all of us and our
people of the long history that we have together, of what we have achieved
together, of what we have supported for one another, and of what a
prosperous future we have in working on the many difficult and complicated
issues ahead, as well as the bright opportunities ahead.’ Rarely have I
heard such sweeping sincere sentences from a politician. Rice reminded us
that during the half-century of the Turkish-US partnership, we defeated
Soviet communism and pushed Russia back to its borders. She meant that from
now on, we could reset the political balance, reestablishing it by
continuing our strategic partnership. She wanted to say that the US was not
planning on benefiting solely from opportunities, but rather sharing these
with its strategic allies. Rice also suggested that only countries ignoring
their best interests would turn this down. She was telling the Turkish
people that both it and the American people can prosper by taking advantage
of these opportunities, and called on our government to quell the soaring
anti-American feelings in Turkey.
Rice won’t retreat from the Pax Americana. If Washington can’t do this with
Turkey, it will instead work with Kurds, Armenians, etc. She will
eventually become the secretary of defense and command the US armed forces.
She will become a candidate for the Republican Party leadership and perhaps
run against Hillary Clinton from the Democrats. Hillary is seven years
older than Rice and still a New York senator. Whoever wins will protect the
Pax Americana. Only their styles are different. Those who have difficulty
understanding this combination should reconsider and expand their
horizons.”
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