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Turkish Press Review, 06-04-18
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
18.04.2006
FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE COLUMNS... FROM THE COLUMNS...
CONTENTS
[01] ECONOMIC CONGRESS TO BRING ERDOGAN, MERKEL TOGETHER
[02] GUL TO SEEK RICE’S SUPPORT OVER CYPRUS
[03] ARINC TOUTS HEALTHCARE REFORMS
[04] GOVT SPOKESMAN CICEK: “ANTI-TERROR LAW WILL BE SENT TO PARLIAMENT”
[05] DYP’S AGAR CALLS FOR EARLY ELECTIONS
[06] OZAL REMEMBERED 13 YEARS AFTER HIS DEATH
[07] CZECH PRESIDENT VISITS ANKARA
[08] US EMBASSY: “WE’RE NOT ASKING TURKEY FOR BASES”
[09] SPANISH NEWSPAPER: “CERTAIN COUNTRIES ARE WORKING TO BLOCK TURKEY’S EU MEMBERSHIP BID”
[10] IRAN’S HEZBOLLAH THREATENS TURKEY IF IT AIDS ATTACK
[11] MESROB II TO ATTEND ARMENIAN CONFERENCE
[12] TRNC’S DENKTAS SPEAKS AT CANKAYA UNIVERSITY
[13] BABACAN: “INTEREST RATES HAVE FALLEN CONSIDERABLY IN RECENT YEARS”
[14] FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE COLUMNS... FROM THE COLUMNS...
[15] ELECTIONS ON CYPRUS BY MELIHA OKUR (SABAH)
[01] ECONOMIC CONGRESS TO BRING ERDOGAN, MERKEL TOGETHER
A long-awaited meeting between Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan
and German Chancellor Angela Merkel will finally take place in Berlin when
the two leaders will both participate in the Turkish-German Economy
Congress to be held by the Turkish-German Chamber of Commerce and Industry
(TDIHK) in late May. The first Turkish-German Economy Congress was held
last May in Istanbul with the participation of Erdogan and then-Chancellor
Gerhard Schroeder. /Turkish Daily News/
[02] GUL TO SEEK RICE’S SUPPORT OVER CYPRUS
Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul will meet with US Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice twice next week. During their talks, Gul reportedly will
seek Rice’s support for Turkey’s Cyprus action plan announced in January.
Welcoming Gul’s invitation to Turkey, Rice is expected to arrive in Ankara
before or after the unofficial NATO-European Union summit in Sofia,
Bulgaria on next Thursday. She is set to be received by President Ahmet
Necdet Sezer and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. In addition to Cyprus
and Iraq, as well as the Middle East issue, recent developments in Iran are
also expected to dominate their talks. Furthermore, afterwards, Rice will
also visit Athens to exchange views on the Cyprus issue. /Aksam-Turkiye/
[03] ARINC TOUTS HEALTHCARE REFORMS
Parliament Speaker Bulent Arinc said yesterday that the most important
reforms in recent years in Turkey had been done in health care. Addressing
a gathering at Manisa State Hospital, Arinc stated that promoting health is
one of the main duties of the state. Pointing to recent developments in the
system, the speaker said Turkey had very good health personnel, equipment
and facilities. /Turkiye/
[04] GOVT SPOKESMAN CICEK: “ANTI-TERROR LAW WILL BE SENT TO PARLIAMENT”
Speaking after yesterday’s Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Recep
Tayyip Erdogan, government spokesman Cemil Cicek said that the signing of
the anti-terrorism bill has been completed and that it will be sent to
Parliament. Speaking about the law, Cicek said that no single law could
defeat terrorism, adding, “The target of this law isn’t our citizens, but
those who willingly help terrorist groups will face harsher sentences.”
/Star/
[05] DYP’S AGAR CALLS FOR EARLY ELECTIONS
Addressing a meeting of his party yesterday, opposition True Path Party
(DYP) leader Mehmet Agar said that the country needed early elections.
“Early elections will pave the way for the nation,” he said. Speaking
afterwards, Agar stated that the conditions in Turkey necessitated early
elections, adding that especially farmers, retirees, and small businessmen
face difficult conditions. /Milliyet/
[06] OZAL REMEMBERED 13 YEARS AFTER HIS DEATH
Beloved Turkish statesman Turgut Ozal was commemorated at his tomb in
Istanbul yesterday on the 13th anniversary of his death, with ceremonies
held by his family and his former party. At the morning ceremony, the
proceedings started with Presidential Secretary-General Kemal Nehrozoglu
laying a wreath. His widow, Semra Ozal, said the people loved President
Ozal so much that no matter how hard some try, nothing would make them
forget his contributions. “They understand him better with the passage of
time,” she added. /Turkish Daily News/
[07] CZECH PRESIDENT VISITS ANKARA
Czech Republic President Vaclav Klaus arrived in Turkey today on a two-day
official visit to further strengthen and develop ties between the two
countries. The Czech president will hold a meeting with his Turkish
counterpart Ahmet Necdet Sezer to discuss relations between Turkey and the
Czech Republic along with other recent international and regional topics.
They also plan to discuss Turkey’s European Union membership process. Klaus
will also deliver a speech on EU enlargement and Turkey’s membership
process at Middle East Technical University (METU) in Ankara. /The New
Anatolian/
[08] US EMBASSY: “WE’RE NOT ASKING TURKEY FOR BASES”
The US Embassy in Ankara yesterday said that the US administration wasn’t
seeking any bases from Turkey. The statement from the embassy denied press
reports that the US administration wants to establish three bases in Turkey,
saying that the US didn’t want to set up any military bases on Turkish
soil. In related news, speaking to journalists, Foreign Ministry spokesman
Namik Tan called news reports about the matter baseless rumors.
/Cumhuriyet/
[09] SPANISH NEWSPAPER: “CERTAIN COUNTRIES ARE WORKING TO BLOCK TURKEY’S EU
MEMBERSHIP BID”
Spanish newspaper El Pais said yesterday that France, Denmark, Greece and
the Greek Cypriot administration were working to block talks between Turkey
and the European Union. Stressing that those countries were putting forward
certain criteria which were not political conditions for membership, the
paper said this constituted an effort to make the negotiations difficult
for Ankara. As an example, the article said recently, these four countries
claimed that there had been discrimination in Turkey regarding the
education of women and girls, adding that that matter should be included as
a criterion in talks on culture. However, that was rejected by other
members of the EU, said the article. /Turkiye/
[10] IRAN’S HEZBOLLAH THREATENS TURKEY IF IT AIDS ATTACK
Iran’s Hezbollah leader Seyyed Mohammad Bager Kharrazi yesterday said, “If
the US strikes Iran, we will stage suicide attacks on US targets throughout
the world and if Turkey cooperates with the US, we will also take Turkey as
a target.” Speaking to news channel NTV, Kharrazi said, “If the US uses
bases in Turkey and gets help from Turkey, we also attack Turkey. We’ll
fight back no matter who helps Iran’s attacker.” /Milliyet/
[11] MESROB II TO ATTEND ARMENIAN CONFERENCE
Mesrob II, the Armenian patriarch of Turkey, will attend for the first time
a conference on the Armenian issue entitled, “The Art of Co-Existence in
Ottoman Society: The Case of the Turkish-Armenian Relations.” Mesrob II
confirmed that he would attend the three-day conference beginning Thursday
in Kayseri and said, “I am going to the conference this time because it’s
been organized by young, well-intentioned academics. They came to Istanbul
and sincerely told their stance.” Professor Metin Hulagu, deputy dean of
the Faculty of Science and Letters of Erciyes University, said that the
participation of the patriarch was very important for them, and added, “We
spoke face to face with Mesrob II in Istanbul. We told him our aim. We told
him that we’re not destructive but constructive. And he agreed to attend
the conference and give a speech.” /Hurriyet/
[12] TRNC’S DENKTAS SPEAKS AT CANKAYA UNIVERSITY
Speaking at Ankara’s Cankaya University, former Turkish Republic of
Northern Cyprus (TRNC) President Rauf Denktas criticized the “dishonesty”
of international actors towards his state. Without mentioning which
government or bloc he means, Denktas said, “The TRNC is 23 years old. When
they speak to us they say ‘TRNC’ but when they speak to others, they say
‘Northern Cyprus.’ They say, ‘Lift the embargo for the Cypriot Turks, not
for the TRNC.’ You cannot ignore a state which you recognize just because
others ignore it. This TRNC is not anything to be ashamed of.” /Hurriyet/
[13] BABACAN: “INTEREST RATES HAVE FALLEN CONSIDERABLY IN RECENT YEARS”
Speaking at a press conference at the Treasury Undersecretariat yesterday,
State Economy Minister Ali Babacan said that interest rates in Turkey had
fallen considerably since 2003, but added that they were still too high.
“Interest rates fell in a period when elsewhere in the world they were
going up,” said Babacan. Touching on the current account deficit, Babacan
said that there was no need for worry. “Last year, the deficit was $23
billion, which was 6.3% of our gross national product (GNP),” he said. “In
the last three years, the percentage of the deficit to the GNP increased by
3 points. Countries in a European Union membership process always have a
high current account deficit.” He further stressed that the government
would continue to maintain a 6.5% primary surplus in order to control the
deficit. Babacan stated that the private sector had contributed to Turkey’s
growth since 2003, adding that the economy had a sound structure. /Aksam/
[14] FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE COLUMNS... FROM THE COLUMNS...
[15] ELECTIONS ON CYPRUS BY MELIHA OKUR (SABAH)
Columnist Meliha Okur comments on two upcoming elections on Cyprus. A
summary of her column is as follows:
“Turkish Cypriots are very calm. They support Turkey’s action plan and its
stance against opening its harbors and airports to Greek Cypriots before
their isolation is ended. They say that if well-known Turkish brands are to
be sold to Greek Cypriots, we should transport them there. They are very
right. After all, the screening process between Turkey and the European
Union is underway. Why is opening four harbors and airports to Greek
Cypriots the harbinger of a crisis? This issue should be explained to the
Turkish public well. There are a lot of scenarios around the issue.
Certainly people are confused. But I believe there’s one very serious
scenario. Under it, Turkey’s European Union membership talks will be
suspended. The reason for this is very simple: The Greek Cypriot
administration has the right to hold onto leverage by saying that Turkey
failed to meet the requirements of the Customs Union. If it wants, it might
not start the talks on transportation and free movement of goods. However,
Turkey is looking for a solution. If the airports and harbors are opened as
the Greek Cypriot administration wants, economic life in the TRNC will come
to a halt. What’s more, Turkey will lose a great political trump card. This
is what scares the Turkish Cypriots. So they don’t want Turkey to retreat.
At this point, Northern Cypriot Chamber of Commerce Deputy Chair Gunay
Cerkez said that a solution can be found at the right place. Because, one
week from now, two years will have passed since the TRNC’s acceptance of UN
Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s plan. The EU promised to provide Turkish
Cypriots with financial aid worth 259 million euros, but hasn’t kept its
promise yet. Therefore, May and June are very important for those living on
Cyprus. There will be general elections in southern Cyprus and local
elections in Northern Cyprus. What’s more, Turkish Cypriots will also elect
two deputies to replace President Mehmet Ali Talat and National Unity Party
(UBP) Secretary General Salih Miroglu. These elections mean a ‘vote of
confidence’ for politicians. It seems that the tension is rising on Cyprus
concerning a solution. So what’s Turkey doing? We don’t know if it will
make a diplomatic breakthrough over its 10-article action plan. However,
the Turkish Industrialists’ and Businessmen’s Association (TUSIAD) is
working on it. TUSIAD will lobby before the EU and work with certain
countries, including Austria, which will hand over the EU term presidency
to Finland at the end of June. Details are important.”
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