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Turkish Press Review, 05-07-01
From: Turkish Directorate General of Press and Information <http://www.byegm.gov.tr>
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Summary of the political and economic
news in the Turkish press this morning
01.07.2005
ERDOGAN VISITS AZERBAIJAN
ERDOGAN: “OUR PRIORITY IS
TO DEAL WITH UNEMPLOYMENT”
EU OFFICIALS DEBATE
TURKEY’S EU MEMBERSHIP BID
PRODI: “TURKEY IS A
NEIGHBOR OF THE EU”
OIC CALLS FOR END TO
ISOLATION OF TURKISH CYPRUS
BRUTON: “TURKEY’S TALKS AIM
AT FULL EU MEMBERSHIP”
FT CALLS ON EUROPE TO
UPHOLD ITS COMMITMENTS TO TURKEY
STRAW: “BRITAIN IS
DETERMINED FOR TURKEY’S EU MEMBERSHIP”
AGAR WARNS OF DANGER IN EU
FRAMEWORK DOCUMENT
BAYKAL CRITICIZES CHANGES
TO PARLIAMENTARY RULES
BUYUKANIT: “SOME EU
COUNTRIES SUPPORT THE PKK”
OZKOK MEETS WITH EU
COMMANDER
FROM THE COLUMNS…FROM THE
COLUMNS…FROM THE COLUMNS
STARTING IS IMPORTANT
BY SAMI KOHEN (MILLIYET)
CONTENTS
[01] ERDOGAN VISITS AZERBAIJAN
[02] ERDOGAN: “OUR PRIORITY IS TO
DEAL WITH UNEMPLOYMENT”
[03] EU OFFICIALS DEBATE TURKEY’S EU
MEMBERSHIP BID
[04] PRODI: “TURKEY IS A NEIGHBOR OF
THE EU”
[05] OIC CALLS FOR END TO ISOLATION
OF TURKISH CYPRUS
[06] BRUTON: “TURKEY’S TALKS AIM AT
FULL EU MEMBERSHIP”
[07] FT CALLS ON EUROPE TO UPHOLD
ITS COMMITMENTS TO TURKEY
[08] STRAW: “BRITAIN IS DETERMINED
FOR TURKEY’S EU MEMBERSHIP”
[09] AGAR WARNS OF DANGER IN EU
FRAMEWORK DOCUMENT
[10] BAYKAL CRITICIZES CHANGES TO
PARLIAMENTARY RULES
[11] BUYUKANIT: “SOME EU COUNTRIES
SUPPORT THE PKK”
[12] OZKOK MEETS WITH EU COMMANDER
[13] FROM THE COLUMNS…FROM THE
COLUMNS…FROM THE COLUMNS
[14] STARTING IS IMPORTANT
BY SAMI KOHEN (MILLIYET)
[01] ERDOGAN VISITS AZERBAIJAN
As part of his two-day visit to Azerbaijan,
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan yesterday
met with Azeri President Ilham Aliyev. The two
leaders signed a number of agreements to boost
bilateral relations. Afterwards, during a joint
press conference, Erdogan said that friendly
relations between the two neighboring countries
would continue and that bilateral ties as well
as regional issues had dominated their talks. He
added that Turkey would continue to lend support
to Azerbaijan on the Nagorno-Karabakh issue with
Armenia. Speaking to reporters, Aliyev for his
part said that his country would take steps to
ease the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus’
(TRNC) international isolation. “We’re planning
to start charter flights to the TRNC soon,” said
Aliyev. Erdogan then met with his Azeri
counterpart Artur Rasizade and addressing Azeri
businessmen during a luncheon, he called on them
to invest in Turkey. Furthermore, the Turkish
premier delivered a speech to the Azeri
Parliament, and also met with Turkish
businessmen in the country. After attending a
dinner hosted by Aliyev in his honor, Erdogan
returned to Turkey. /Star/
[02] ERDOGAN: “OUR PRIORITY IS TO
DEAL WITH UNEMPLOYMENT”
Stating that the government’s priority is to
deal with unemployment, Prime Minister Recep
Tayyip Erdogan yesterday remarked that he
believed Turkey would make great progress in
tackling economic problems, much like the
government’s successful efforts to bring down
inflation. “We’re leading the economy to
investment, production, efficiency and quality,”
Erdogan said in his monthly “Address to the
Nation.” “The Turkish economy is now undergoing
sweeping changes,” he said. “We are also
pursuing the most active and dynamic foreign
policy of our history.” /Turkiye/
[03] EU OFFICIALS DEBATE TURKEY’S EU
MEMBERSHIP BID
In the wake of the European Commission adopting
a draft framework on Wednesday for Turkey's EU
accession talks, debates on Turkey’s membership
bid have grown fiercer, with some EU officials
warning that Ankara will face huge challenges in
seeking entry to the bloc. "It is in Europe's
interest to have a stable, democratic,
prosperous Turkey that adopts and implements all
EU values, policies and standards," EU
Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn said
yesterday. Rehn stressed that Turkey’s talks
must be "open-ended.” Opening the negotiations
in October does not mean that they will
inevitably lead to membership for Ankara, he
added. “Turkey should first of all adopt all of
the European values,” Rehn underlined. “"The
clear objective, the shared objective of
negotiations is accession," he said. “The
negotiations are open-ended. We cannot guarantee
any automatic result, and, in any case, Turkey
will have to be anchored to the European
structures through the strongest possible bond.”
In related news, French Interior Minister
Nicolas Sarkozy yesterday reiterated his call
for further EU expansion to be put on hold
indefinitely. In addition, Austrian Prime
Minister Wolfgang Schussel remarked that a new
formula other than full membership should be
found for Turkey. However, British officials
reiterated their support for Turkey’s full
membership aspirations. Britain assumes the
six-month EU term presidency today. /Cumhuriyet/
[04] PRODI: “TURKEY IS A NEIGHBOR OF
THE EU”
Italian leftist leader and former EU Commission
head Romano Prodi yesterday stated that Turkey
was a neighbor of the European Union. “The
European Union has become a neighbor to Turkey
and the Middle East as a result of the
enlargement process,” he wrote in a commentary
published by Italian daily La Repubblica.
/Milliyet/
[05] OIC CALLS FOR END TO ISOLATION
OF TURKISH CYPRUS
Foreign ministers and senior officials of the 57
states of the Organization of the Islamic
Conference (OIC) yesterday concluded their
three-day meeting with a final statement in the
Yemeni capital Sanaa. Turkish Cypriots were
represented at the meeting as an observer, and
the OIC called on the international community to
take concrete steps to end the isolation of
Turkish Cyprus. In addition, the OIC also
approved a bill recognizing that the Turkish
Muslim minority living in Western Thrace suffers
mistreatment at the hands of the Greek
authorities. The bill called on Greece to
respect and protect the human rights of this
minority. In related news, Foreign Minister
Abdullah Gul visited a Turkish school in Sanaa
after the OIC meeting ended. /Aksam/
[06] BRUTON: “TURKEY’S TALKS AIM AT
FULL EU MEMBERSHIP”
European Commission Ambassador to Washington
John Bruton yesterday stated that the ultimate
goal of Turkey’s membership talks set to begin
on Oct. 3 is full membership. “Turkey’s
membership talks will begin in October,” he
said. “At the end of these negotiations, all of
the EU member states should approve Turkey’s
entry. Therefore, the enlargement process isn’t
an automatic or easy process. For example,
Britain could not join the bloc in the 1960s
because of the French veto.” /Turkiye/
[07] FT CALLS ON EUROPE TO UPHOLD
ITS COMMITMENTS TO TURKEY
An editorial in British daily The Financial
Times yesterday hailed the European Commission’s
setting a framework for Turkey’s accession talks
as a welcome development. Calling on the EU to
uphold its commitments to Turkey, the commentary
said that it was hard to deny “an air of
unreality” surrounding Ankara’s membership.
Remarking that the Union might have difficulty
taking in Turkey’s large population, the
editorial noted that current candidate
countries, including Turkey and Balkan
countries, have a long period before full
membership. They will be able to complete the
needed reforms in that time, added the piece.
/Turkiye/
[08] STRAW: “BRITAIN IS DETERMINED
FOR TURKEY’S EU MEMBERSHIP”
Addressing the British House of Commons
yesterday on the European Union budget, British
Foreign Minister Jack Straw said that his
government’s decision and determination on
Turkey’s EU membership was unflagging. Straw
said that during Britain’s EU presidency, it
would make efforts to overcome differences on
the budget. Britain will take over the EU term
presidency from Luxembourg today for a period of
six months, which will include the start of
Turkey’s EU talks on Oct. 3. /Turkiye/
[09] AGAR WARNS OF DANGER IN EU
FRAMEWORK DOCUMENT
Truth Path Party (DYP) leader Mehmet Agar
stated yesterday that the European Union
Framework Document had created new obligations
for Turkey. Agar made the remarks after Ankara
Chamber of Commerce (ATO) Chairman Sinan Aygun
visited him at DYP head quarters. “Turkey is
worried about falling back to where it started,”
said Agar. Addressing the Cyprus problem, he
said that the EU is forcing Turkey to recognize
Greek Cyprus. “Turkey was driven into a corner
because after signing the additional protocol
[to extend its Customs Union to 10 new EU
members], its declaration that is not
recognizing Greek Cyprus faces official
rebuttal,” added Agar. “Turkey’s international
rights have become open to question.” At their
meeting, ATO Chairman Aygun said that Turkey
should not approach this document positively.
/Cumhuriyet/
[10] BAYKAL CRITICIZES CHANGES TO
PARLIAMENTARY RULES
Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Deniz
Baykal spoke yesterday at an extraordinary party
meeting about changes to parliamentary rules
that reduce opportunities for opposition parties
to contribute. He decried the situation as “a
tragedy,” and called on concerted action to
prevent the change. “At a time in which this
Parliament is under others’ control, obstructing
and muzzling deputies is a great threat to
democracy,” added Baykal. “Citizens should work
to head off these efforts and should not leave
this country’s future in their [the ruling
party’s] hands, as they don’t know how to
administer it. The government will damage
Turkey’s interests if they continue like this.”
Like Baykal, Parliament Speaker Bulent Arinc is
also against the changes to parliamentary rules.
/Hurriyet/
[11] BUYUKANIT: “SOME EU COUNTRIES
SUPPORT THE PKK”
Land Forces Commander Gen. Yasar Buyukanit
said yesterday that the terrorist PKK poses a
serious threat to the country’s integrity,
adding that this group gets support from some
European countries. He stated that the PKK is
drawing strength from the situation in northern
Iraq. “Some neighboring and European countries
are supporting the PKK by supplying them with
shelter, arms, campsites, training, financing,
treatment and transportation,” charged
Buyukanit. He also said that The Turkish Armed
Forces (TSK) is closely watching developments
and continuing to work to counter terrorism.
/Sabah/
[12] OZKOK MEETS WITH EU COMMANDER
Chief of General Staff Gen. Hilmi Ozkok
yesterday held talks with European Union
Military Committee head Roland Mosca Moschini at
General Staff headquarters in Ankara. Moschini
arrived in Turkey early this week to attend the
annual Silk Road Flag Officers Seminar. /Star/
[13] FROM THE COLUMNS…FROM THE
COLUMNS…FROM THE COLUMNS
[14] STARTING IS IMPORTANT
BY SAMI KOHEN (MILLIYET)
Columnist Sami Kohen comments on the European
Union Commission’s framework document released
this week. A summary of his column is as
follows:
“The positive side of the European Union
Commission’s framework document is that it
doesn’t consist of negative sides. Certain
members tried to change the aim of membership
talks with Turkey and put in such terms as
‘special status’ or ‘privileged membership’ in
the document during discussions at the
commission. Doing either would mean changing the
decision taken at last December’s summit and the
basis of the document. However, the commission
chairman, bureaucrats and representatives of
certain countries rejected this. Thus, they
headed off a serious crisis. At last, the
document is in line with the decision taken last
December. The aim of our membership talks which
will start on Oct. 3 is full membership. This
should be underlined. This document doesn’t
guarantee our membership and it keeps the end of
our talks open, but these are stipulations
included in previous documents. Discussion of
the framework document had bad timing. The new
atmosphere in the wake of the French and Dutch
rejection of the referendum on the EU
Constitution doesn’t favor Turkey. This
atmosphere was also reflected in the commission.
This document will be voted on and an agreement
will be made during the EU Council of Ministers
on July 17. At that time we might face certain
suggestions and speeches that we wouldn’t like.
It’s very likely that Britain and some other
countries will favor its approval. However,
there might be some opposing voices from
politicians of certain European countries and
newspapers.
Certainly, the issue of Turkey’s membership
has divided the EU. Thus, we shouldn’t consider
the views of some politicians and writers to be
the official policies of the EU. At least the
final discussions at the commission showed that
the ‘roadmap’ on our membership talks is still
the valid position of the EU. As I wrote
previously, the important thing is to set out
within the framework of last December’s
decision. There will be difficult moments on
this long road. Maybe we’ll decide to leave the
negotiating table, but for now the important
thing is to start, that is, to enter this path.
Considering certain European members’ wish to
erect new conditions for Turkey a reason for
giving up this road or postponing this project
would be very wrong. If we did this, we would
lose the chance to start the process again. Each
step taken on this road will benefit Turkey.”
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