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Turkish Press Review, 05-12-06Turkish 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 morning06.12.2005FROM THE COLUMNS... FROM THE COLUMNS... FROM THE COLUMNS...CONTENTS
[01] TURKISH WOMEN CELEBRATE ANNIVERSARY OF SUFFRAGETurkish women yesterday celebrated getting the right to vote and to be elected 71 years ago. President Ahmet Necdet Sezer, political parties and a number of NGOs released statements marking the day and pointing out the problems still faced by women. Parliament Speaker Bulent Arinc received representatives of a number of women’s associations in Parliament. Arinc stated that the Parliament would take necessary steps to end all kinds of discrimination against women. Also speaking at the ceremony, State Minister Nimet Cubukcu, responsible for women’s and children’s affairs, called on women to take part in politics more actively, adding that in 1935 women made up 4.6% of deputies in Parliament, but only 4.4% today. /Hurriyet/[02] ERDOGAN HOLDS JOINT PRESS CONFERENCE WITH NEW ZEALAND’S PM, MEETS WITH LOCAL TURKISH BUSINESSMENPrime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, currently in New Zealand for an official visit, yesterday attended a meeting of Turkish-New Zealand businessmen together with New Zealand’s Prime Minister Helen Clark. Addressing the gathering, Clark said that the trade volume between the two countries was not up to its potential, adding that cooperation between Turkey and New Zealand should be strengthened. For his part, Erdogan briefed the participants on recent economic developments in Turkey, saying that the government would continue its successful debt management. Addressing a joint press conference following the meeting, Erdogan said that they had resolved to boost trade volume between their countries. He said that the policies of the two countries on Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Middle East problem were the same, adding that cooperation in fighting terrorism was a must. For her part, Clark expressed New Zealand’s support for Turkey’s European Union membership bid and added that the two countries could cooperate in such fields as agriculture and the service sector. /Star/[03] OPPOSITION LEADERS CRITICIZE ERDOGAN’S VISIT TO NEW ZEALAND, CLAIMS HE IS AVOIDING NATION’S PROBLEMSMotherland Party (ANAVATAN) leader Erkan Mumcu yesterday criticized Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s current visit to New Zealand. “Erdogan should deal with the nation’s problems instead of visiting other countries, ” said Mumcu, citing a recent rise in the crime rate. In related news, Republican People’s Party (CHP) parliamentary group acting Chairman Haluk Koc said that Erdogan had taken 96 visits to other countries over the last three years, which he said was a world record. “I think that the premier is running away from problems in Turkey,” he added. But Justice and Development Party (AKP) parliamentary group acting Chairman Eyup Fatsa tried to turn back these criticisms, saying that as a result of Erdogan’s visits, Turkey had won both increased trade and support from these countries. /Star/[04] FM GUL: “IRAQI PRESIDENT TALABANI COULD VISIT TURKEY”Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said yesterday that Iraqi President Jalal Talabani and Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) leader Massoud Barzani could visit Turkey after the Dec. 15 elections in Iraq. Before leaving for Saudi Arabia for a summit of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) in Mecca, Gul spoke on recent developments. Asked about the possibility of parties linked to terrorist groups participating in the Dec. 15 Iraqi elections, Gul said, “Surely work is being conducted everywhere and all the time in order to exclude groups believed to be linked with terrorism.” Asked about the European Union’s moves towards Turkish Cyprus, Gul said, “The EU should help to solve Cyprus issue; its stance shouldn’t worsen the stalemate, nor should it try to take place of the UN. A comprehensive solution of the Cyprus issue will be through the UN. If the EU acts according to Greek Cypriot demands, it will lose its credibility and the possibility of solving of the Cyprus issue.” /Cumhuriyet/[05] ERDOGAN TO MAKE CYPRUS ATTEMPT AT EU SUMMITAfter failing to keep its promise to end the isolation of Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), the European Union is now putting pressure on Turkey to pass the additional Customs Union protocol in Parliament and also sign decisions driving the TRNC into a corner. The EU’s separating the direct trade and fiscal aid measures, and a formula for running the port of Magosa with companies established jointly with Greek Cypriots, have led to unease in Ankara. After the premier returns from abroad, Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul and TRNC officials will hold a Cyprus summit. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan will also have contacts on the issue at the EU heads of state and government summit set for Brussels on Dec. 15-16. EU Term President Britain is expected to make an initiative on Cyprus before turning over the term presidency to Austria. /Star/[06] US SENATOR MCCAIN: “TURKEY WOULD NEVER ACCEPT ESTABLISHMENT OF A KURDISH STATE”US Republican Senator John McCain said Sunday that Turkey would never accept the establishment of an independent Kurdish state in northern Iraq. "Suppose it does break up into three different factions? The Kurds become some independent country, the Turks are never going to stand for that,” warned McCain, appearing on NBC television. “That is a recipe for chaos if you see Iraq split into three divisions." Furthermore, Democratic Senator John Kerry urged President George W. Bush to convene a regional summit on Iraq, including Turkey, following Iraq’s Dec. 15 elections. He said that a summit of Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds as well as regional countries including Turkey and Russia would strengthen political consensus, adding that doing so would help defeat the insurgents in the country. /Turkiye/[07] IRAQI TURKMEN LEADER: “I’M UNEASY ABOUT A REFERENDUM MAKING KIRKUK PART OF A FEDERATIVE KURDISH ADMINISTRATION”Iraqi Turkmen Front leader Sadettin Ergec said yesterday that he was uneasy about a possible referendum in 2007 on making Kirkuk part of a Kurdish federative administration. “We could lose Kirkuk,” he warned. Ergec said that he was planning to establish a common stance with the Arab parties in Iraq in order to prevent such a referendum. Instead, he said, “A referendum should be held all over Iraq. Kirkuk is a national treasure and we reject a referendum being held there only.” Ergec stated that Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul had reiterated Turkey’s political support for Turkmen would continue. /Milliyet/[08] TURKEY SENDS PREFABRICATED HOUSES TO PAKISTANTurkey’s aid to earthquake-hit Pakistan is continuing. Turkish officials yesterday dispatched 30 prefabricated houses for the survivors of October’s earthquake in that country. The houses are suitable especially for winter conditions and enable accommodation of six people each. Greater Istanbul Municipality Mayor Kadir Topbas and Turkish Red Crescent (Kizilay) head Tekin Kucukali said that they were planning to send 12 trucks to Pakistan including 500 prefabricated houses and humanitarian aid as soon as possible. /Aksam/[09] CROATIAN PRESIDENT DUE IN ANKARA, WILL STRESS EUROPE CAN’T DO WITHOUT TURKEYCroatian President Stejpan Mesic is due to visit Ankara today for an official visit with a strong message underlining that “Europe without Turkey is unimaginable.” Turkish and Croatian diplomats hope that Mesic’s two-day official visit will further boost bilateral relations and increase cooperation on regional and international issues. Mesic is expected today to meet with President Ahmet Necdet Sezer, and following official talks he will visit former President Suleyman Demirel. Later, Mesic is expected to give a lecture at the Center for Eurasian Strategic Research (ASAM). /The New Anatolian/[10] EU SCREENING ON AGRICULTURE BEGINSAs part of the European Union-Turkey screening process, officials from both sides began yesterday to take up the chapter of agriculture, which could be difficult for Turkey. In the first round of the meetings, EU officials will explain the Union’s common agriculture policy, and then in a second round, late next month in Brussels, Turkish officials will explain Turkey’s own regulations and policies in the area. /Turkiye/[11] CB HEAD: “EXPLICIT INFLATION TARGETING WILL START NEXT YEAR”Turkey will adopt formal inflation targeting next year, as expected, according to Turkish Central Bank Governor Sureyya Serdengecti, who held a press conference yesterday in Ankara to unveil the 2006 monetary program. Serdengecti said the consumer price inflation target for 2006 would be 5 percent, dropping to 4 percent in both 2007 and 2008. “The 2006 inflation deviation range has been set at 3 to 7 percent,” he told a news conference, adding that the bank would make announcements if inflation strayed from the central target by more than these two percentage points in either direction. Turkey’s rapid transformation from a developing country to a functioning market can be attributed to Ankara’s strong monetary policy regime, said Serdengecti. Forced to abandon its exchange-rate-based inflation stabilization plan at the beginning of 2001, the CB had to restore credibility in its policies and quickly devise a monetary-fiscal mix to bring inflation down to reasonable levels. /Turkish Daily News/[12] FROM THE COLUMNS... FROM THE COLUMNS... FROM THE COLUMNS...[13] DEMOCRACY WITHOUT WOMEN BY ERDAL SAFAK (SABAH)Columnist Erdal Safak comments on women’s suffrage and the situation of women in politics both in Turkey and the world. A summary of his column is as follows:“The 71st anniversary of women getting the right to vote and to be elected, under the leadership of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, was celebrated yesterday. Politicians publicly lamented that women’s place in Turkish politics today is small. However, few have ideas on how to correct this. In other words, they’re crying crocodile tears. Did you know that the first international women’s congress in the world was held in Turkey, before the United Nations started to deal with the issue, 40 years ago? During the congress, which was attended by physicist Eve Curie Labouisse in Istanbul in April 1935, Ataturk said, ‘Turkish women will extend their hands to the women of the world and work hard for peace and security.’ The final declaration of the First UN Women’s Congress in Mexico City in 1975 said that gender equality in the world is based on development and peace and strengthening women’s position. Ataturk’s Turkey saw 40 years before the world that women were the locomotives of society and the guarantee of peace. It not only saw that, but also put it into action. Women in Turkey were provided with the right to vote and to be elected in 1934, in other words, four years before Britain, 10 before France, 11 before Italy, 18 before Greece, 38 before Switzerland and 41 years before Portugal. However, as women’s political rights suffered erosion like other gains of the Republic, now women are represented by 24 deputies in a country with a population of 75 million, but there were 18 women deputies in 1935, when Turkey’s population was 18 million. Thus, Turkey ranks 150th in the world with this ‘performance.’ This is a shame for a country which is one of the countries which first provided women with this right. There’s only one way to wipe away this shame: a women’s quota. Although Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan claims that this would degrade women, Turkey will have to implement this quota sooner or later, because: 1. It signed the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women in 1985 and accepted that it has to accept gender equality in politics. It also gave a quota promise during the World Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995. It agreed at the European Ministers’ Conference in 1997 that gender equality was a main criterion of democracy. 2. Gender equality in politics is among the sine qua non criteria for European Union membership. The European Parliament has a binding decision to implement the quota for women until full equality and fair representation are both ensured. So far four political parties have accepted a women’s quota, namely the Republican People’s Party (CHP), Motherland Party (ANAVATAN), Freedom and Solidarity Party (ODP) and the Democratic Society Party (DTP), which is a good development. Now we’re living in a period when four heads of state or government in Europe are women, and this is just the beginning. Women’s groups should and must exert their influence to change the Political Parties and Elections Law.” 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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