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Turkish Press Review, 05-08-25
From: Turkish Directorate General of Press and Information <http://www.byegm.gov.tr>
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e-mail :
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Summary of the political and economic
news in the Turkish press this morning
25.08.2005
FROM THE COLUMNS…FROM THE COLUMNS…FROM THE COLUMNS…
CONTENTS
[01] ERDOGAN TO ATTEND THINK TANK FORUM IN ITALY
[02] OZKOK: “THE ENTIRE NATION AND ALL ITS INSTITUTIONS SHOULD COOPERATE TO COMBAT TERRORISM”
[03] EU PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVES’ MEETING SET FOR NEXT WEEK
[04] EP AGRICULTURE COMMISSION HEAD: “OWING TO ITS GEO-STRATEGIC LOCATION, TURKEY’S EU MEMBERSHIP IS INEVITABLE”
[05] JAPAN’S OECD SECRETARY-GENERAL CANDIDATE: “TURKEY IS A KEY GLOBAL PLAYER”
[06] BAHCELI: “TERRORISM SHOULD BE DEFEATED IN ORDER TO CREATE PEACE IN TURKEY’S EAST AND SOUTHEAST”
[07] FROM THE COLUMNS…FROM THE COLUMNS…FROM THE COLUMNS…
[08] TIME TO CHOOSE BY SOLI OZEL (SABAH)
[01] ERDOGAN TO ATTEND THINK TANK FORUM IN ITALY
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is due to travel to Italy on Sept. 1 in
order to attend a forum of an Italian think tank. The forum, which is
expected to last two days, is being organized by the think tank Ambrosetti.
During the first part of the forum, a number of issues such as geopolitics
will be discussed and in the second, European Union institutions, economy
and competition will be the focus. Erdogan is expected to make a speech at
the forum called “Current Problems Facing the World.” Italian Prime
Minister Silvio Berlusconi is also expected to attend the meeting.
/Turkiye/
[02] OZKOK: “THE ENTIRE NATION AND ALL ITS INSTITUTIONS SHOULD COOPERATE TO
COMBAT TERRORISM”
Speaking at a command handover ceremony yesterday, Chief of General Staff
Gen. Hilmi Ozkok said that the entire nation and all its institutions
should cooperate in order to fight terrorism. Ozkok stressed that Turkey
lies in a volatile region, a situation which places great responsibilities
on the Turkish Armed Forces’ (TSK) shoulders. “The TSK has been fighting
terrorism for the last two decades,” he said. Touching on a recent wave of
terrorist attacks, Ozkok said that the TSK was continuing its fight against
the terrorist PKK. /Turkiye/
[03] EU PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVES’ MEETING SET FOR NEXT WEEK
A meeting of the permanent representatives of European Union member states
in Brussels (COREPER) is expected to be held next Wednesday. During the
gathering, the representatives may issue a declaration against Ankara due
to its refusal to recognize Greek Cyprus. In related news, Foreign Minister
Abdullah Gul is set to travel to Britain in order to attend an upcoming
meeting of EU foreign ministers. /Aksam/
[04] EP AGRICULTURE COMMISSION HEAD: “OWING TO ITS GEO-STRATEGIC LOCATION,
TURKEY’S EU MEMBERSHIP IS INEVITABLE”
European Parliament Agriculture Commission Head Joseph Daul said yesterday
that Turkey’s European Union membership was inevitable owing to its geo-
strategic location. Daul, who is currently visiting Edirne, said that he
had come to Turkey in order to see its progress before its accession talks
begin on Oct. 3. Daul said that he had met with Agriculture Minister Mehmet
Mehdi Eker, and praised Turkey’s agricultural economy. “The technical
standards of agriculture in Turkey are very close to Europe’s,” he added.
/Turkiye/
[05] JAPAN’S OECD SECRETARY-GENERAL CANDIDATE: “TURKEY IS A KEY GLOBAL
PLAYER”
Dr. Sawako Takeuchi, Japan’s candidate to head the Organization for
Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), said yesterday that Turkey was
an important global power due to its geopolitical location, predicting that
it could play an important role in the OECD. Touching on Turkey’s European
Union membership bid, Takeuchi said that Turkey’s influence in its region
would continue even if doesn’t join the EU. “Turkey has implemented the
Copenhagen criteria and it’s fulfilling the Maastricht criteria,” she
added. /Turkiye/
[06] BAHCELI: “TERRORISM SHOULD BE DEFEATED IN ORDER TO CREATE PEACE IN
TURKEY’S EAST AND SOUTHEAST”
Opposition Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahceli said
yesterday that in order to end economic disparities between regions and
improve the economic situation of Turkey’s east and southeast, terrorism
should be defeated and an atmosphere of peace established. /Turkiye/
[07] FROM THE COLUMNS…FROM THE COLUMNS…FROM THE COLUMNS…
[08] TIME TO CHOOSE BY SOLI OZEL (SABAH)
Columnist Soli Ozel comments on Turkey’s alternatives and possible
preferences for postwar Iraq. A summary of his column is as follows:
“While a new order is being established in Iraq, the possible political
picture is also being shaped. A unified Iraq based on the absolute
domination of Sunni Arabs is a non-starter. If the constitution is accepted,
a federalism will be formed in which founding units have great autonomy. In
this federal structure, Shiite Arabs will have more domination and the
political structure of the country will reflect Shiite parties’ concept of
fundamentalist administration. But if the constitution isn’t accepted, Iraq
might break apart. A civil war might rage on until everybody loses his
power, including the Sunni Arabs’ support from surrounding countries. The
US’ war in Iraq destroyed the power structure which reflected the
sectarian_ethnic distribution of power in the Middle East. Sunni Arabs’
domination over those who are neither Sunni nor Arab is over, and ethnic
and sectarian identities are very important in today’s Arab politics. The
language of struggles for political power and the ways of finding allies
spring from these differences. Up to now the Arab state system could
control the separations and differences within itself, but now its old
methods are losing power. A federal Iraq is a great threat to the Arab
state system.
In addition, Iran’s domination over Iran will rise, whether Iraq’s future
is federalism or separation. There will be no power to balance Iran in the
region. Those who argue that the US is trying to establish a Kurdish state,
without referring to a source or presenting an analysis based on
international relations, are ignoring this fact. It’s quite hard to think
that the US will be the midwife of a development which will boost Iran’s
power and make it unrivaled in the Gulf region. These developments create
certain difficult choices for Turkey. Up to now Ankara has preferred a
Baghdad-centered Iraq where Sunni Arabs can administer Kurds with pressure.
Therefore, our governments said nothing about massacres of Iraq’s Turkmen.
As there will be no such Iraq and the Sunni-Arab political power structure
can’t continue with the old model, Turkey should find a new position. No
matter what the Iraqi constitution says, religious Shiite parties will
shape Iraq into an Islamic republic and its policies will be close to those
of Iran. In such a situation, Turkey might prefer to live with a friendly
fundamentalist Shiite state in the south. The other preference is
establishing a political axis with Kurds who are secular, but whose plan to
establish a federal or independent state isn’t welcomed by the state or
most of the nation in Turkey. Kurds’ respect for Turkmen’s rights and their
lack of territorial ambitions is the precondition for this arrangement.
Which choice is settled on depends on the results of discussions within
Turkey concerning the Kurdish issue.”
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