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Turkish Press Review, 06-02-20
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
20.02.2006
FROM THE COLUMNS… FROM THE COLUMNS… FROM THE COLUMNS…
CONTENTS
[01] ERDOGAN TOUTS GOVT ROAD CONSTRUCTION, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
[02] GUL: “FOREIGN MEDIA COVERAGE OF HAMAS’ VISIT TO ANKARA WAS POSITIVE”
[03] PAPADOPOULOS: “WE WANT TO BEGIN IMMEDIATE CYPRUS TALKS TO REACH A RESOLUTION”
[04] US CHIEF OF STAFF HEAD GEN. PACE TO VISIT TURKEY
[05] TUZMEN ADDRESSES CONFERENCE ON “GREAT OTTOMAN PROJECT”
[06] BABACAN: “NO MECHANISM AFFECTS THE EXCHANGE RATE MORE THAN THE MARKET”
[07] FROM THE COLUMNS… FROM THE COLUMNS… FROM THE COLUMNS…
[08] YES, IT’S OUR PROBLEM BY TARHAN ERDEM (RADIKAL)
[01] ERDOGAN TOUTS GOVT ROAD CONSTRUCTION, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
Speaking at an opening ceremony of a local road in Bursa over the weekend,
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that when government announced
that it would build a divided highway 15,000 kilometers long, other
political parties had scoffed at this. “But we’ve built around 7,000
kilometers of it already,” said Erdogan. He stated that the government was
working very hard to raise the standards of living of the Turkish nation,
adding that Turkey’s economy was developing by using inactive equipment and
employees from the public sector. “Turkey has become a construction site,”
said Erdogan. He stressed that everyone knew the situation of Turkey back
in November 2002, when his party came to power, but now it was much better
than it was in past years. Later, attending the opening ceremony of the
Bursa Organized Industrial Zone, Erdogan said that the government aimed at
growth while respecting the environment. /Turkiye/
[02] GUL: “FOREIGN MEDIA COVERAGE OF HAMAS’ VISIT TO ANKARA WAS POSITIVE”
Addressing a meeting of his party over the weekend, Foreign Minister
Abdullah Gul responded to critics of last week’s visit of a Hamas
delegation to Ankara, saying that it was unfortunate that Turkey is unaware
of its own power. “While we’re unaware of this, it’s known by other
countries such as the US and Japan as well as the Arab world,” he said. Gul
stated that he had followed the foreign media’s coverage of the visit,
saying that it was positive, not negative. “However, our media is
interested in the tabloid aspect of the visit,” said Gul. He stressed that
the region where Palestine and Israel are situated was governed by the
Turks for centuries and added, “It is natural for us to deal with the
issue.” He further called the recent elections in Palestine the “most
democratic elections” yet in the Arab world. /Turkiye/
[03] PAPADOPOULOS: “WE WANT TO BEGIN IMMEDIATE CYPRUS TALKS TO REACH A
RESOLUTION”
Speaking to Greek daily Ethnos yesterday, Greek Cypriot leader Tassos
Papadopoulos said that his administration wanted to begin immediate
negotiations to reach a resolution on the island. Papadopoulos claimed that
the Annan plan was prepared under the expectations of Turkey, adding that
he had proposed some changes to the plan. Papadopoulos stated that he would
tell UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan that Cyprus negotiations should begin
under an “appropriate atmosphere.” He stressed that he accepted “political
equity” on the island, but that there couldn’t be “administrative equity”
between the two sides. /Sabah/
[04] US CHIEF OF STAFF HEAD GEN. PACE TO VISIT TURKEY
Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, will visit
Ankara on March 23-24 to participate in the “Global Terrorism and
International Cooperation” symposium organized by the Center of Excellence
in the Defense Against Terrorism. Pace is also expected to hold meetings
with his Turkish counterpart Gen. Hilmi Ozkok and high-ranking state
officials in Ankara. The terrorist PKK and developments in Iran and Iraq
will be the top issues during these meetings. /Hurriyet/
[05] TUZMEN ADDRESSES CONFERENCE ON “GREAT OTTOMAN PROJECT”
Speaking at a conference of a foundation called the “Great Ottoman Project”
over the weekend, State Minister Kursat Tuzmen said that since the Ottoman
Empire had been just to all nations, all nations had good feelings about
it. Tuzmen also said that history was a science, not a gossip discipline,
saying that it depended on material evidence and mind. He stated that
leaders in Turkey should look at the future realistically, unaffected by
prejudices. /Turkiye/
[06] BABACAN: “NO MECHANISM AFFECTS THE EXCHANGE RATE MORE THAN THE MARKET”
Speaking at a meeting of his party over the weekend, State Minister for the
Economy Ali Babacan said that Turkey had a floating exchange rate, adding
that the last intervention of the Central Bank showed that there was no
mechanism stronger than the market for affecting the exchange rate. “It
would be impossible for the CB to affect the rate by purchasing or selling
foreign exchange,” said Babacan. Touching on the current accounts deficit,
Babacan said that necessary steps had been taken on the issue. “A high
deficit is seen in countries like ours, which is in the midst of
negotiations with the European Union,” added Babacan. /Sabah/
[07] FROM THE COLUMNS… FROM THE COLUMNS… FROM THE COLUMNS…
[08] YES, IT’S OUR PROBLEM BY TARHAN ERDEM (RADIKAL)
Columnist Tarhan Erdem comments on the Kurdish issue. A summary of his
column is as follows:
“The Democratic Turkey Party (DTP) issued a statement. The party’s co-
chairs said that they had understood the government’s inviting Hamas and
added that in solving the Kurdish issue, the government should take
advantage of modern countries’ experience solving similar problems and so
adopt a method of dialogue and consensus. Following this invitation, the
DTP members wrote that they were ready to support all sorts of positive
steps. This declaration has a value for those who accept the Kurdish issue
as it is, like me. However, those considering the method of dialogue and
consensus or meetings should answer certain questions: Who are the parties
of the meeting? How do the parties define themselves and the problem? Who
represents the parties and why? If answers are found to these questions,
other questions should be asked: What are ‘issues’ of the meeting? Wouldn’t
it be better to cover ground without sitting at the negotiating table?
Efforts to answer these solutions without defining the Kurdish problem
clearly would yield no result. The first step is to define the problem. I
think today’s definition of the Kurdish problem is that our non-separatist
Kurdish citizens don’t consider themselves ‘equal citizens’ in life and
human rights. It’s more important whether they consider themselves equal,
rather than whether equality is real in life and human rights.
The majority of non-separatist Kurds in our country believe that they’re
not considered equal citizens. Is the DPT their real representative? The
problem starts with this question both for non-separatist Kurds and the
DPT. The DPT, which hasn’t cut its links to armed separatists, can’t get
the votes of all Kurds and can’t direct most of them either. Firstly, a
position should be taken against armed separatists in order to inspire
confidence for non-separatists. It might be thought that arms are effective
as well! Kurdish politicians should look and decide whether armed
separatists are the majority of the Kurds and how great is their influence.
I believe that the number of separatists and armed Kurds isn’t the majority,
although they are rising due to mistaken policies. Making political efforts
with the law and waging an armed struggle and favoring separateness are
very different from each other. It’s true that there are these groups
within the Kurds but it’s wrong to assume that these groups deal with
politics under the same roof. It’s impossible for all the groups to deal in
politics under one roof. There’s also a Kurdish problem, namely our Kurdish
citizens’ considering themselves not equal citizens. The Kurdish problem
shouldn’t be ignored, postponed or seen as unimportant. Delays raise the
number of those who take the armed separatists into consideration and make
the issue harder. Even if this isn’t the case, don’t the problems of our
people belong to us as well? Yes, we have a Kurdish issue. In addition,
whether it’s discussed or not and whoever the parties are, both the matters
and solutions are known.”
ARCHIVE
The news and articles issued in the Turkish Press Review
may be quoted from provided due acknowledgement is made.
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