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Turkish Press Review, 06-06-16
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
16.06.2006
ERDOGAN: “IT’S TOO EARLY TO
DEBATE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS”
GUL HEADS TO ALMATY FOR CICA
SUMMIT
CHP LEADER BAYKAL: “EARLY
ELECTIONS WILL SHOW BANKRUPTCY OF THE GOVT”
DYP LEADER AGAR: “CRISIS OF
CONFIDENCE SHOULD BE OVERCOME”
EU SECRETARY-GENERAL DEMIRALP:
“THERE WILL BE NO TRAIN CRASH IN TURKEY’S EU
PROCESS”
EU’S KRETSCHMER: “EARLY
ELECTIONS COULD DAMAGE STABILITY”
EU TO LAUNCH NEW CYPRUS SALVO
FRENCH TRADE MINISTER VISITS
TURKEY
SABANCI: “TIME, DETERMINATION,
AND CONSISTENCY ARE NEEDED TO BOOST
EXPECTATIONS”
S&P CONFIRMS TURKEY’S CURRENT
CREDIT NOTES OF FOREIGN EXCHANGE
JULY CEREMONY SET TO MARK OIL
REACHING LAST TERMINUS OF BAKU-TBILISI-CEYHAN
PIPELINE
FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE
COLUMNS... FROM THE COLUMNS...
EUROPE IS LOOKING FOR ITS
FUTURE
BY FERAI KILINC (HURRIYET)
CONTENTS
[01] ERDOGAN: “IT’S TOO EARLY TO DEBATE
PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS”
[02] GUL HEADS TO ALMATY FOR CICA SUMMIT
[03] CHP LEADER BAYKAL: “EARLY ELECTIONS
WILL SHOW BANKRUPTCY OF THE GOVT”
[04] DYP LEADER AGAR: “CRISIS OF
CONFIDENCE SHOULD BE OVERCOME”
[05] EU SECRETARY-GENERAL DEMIRALP:
“THERE WILL BE NO TRAIN CRASH IN TURKEY’S EU
PROCESS”
[06] EU’S KRETSCHMER: “EARLY ELECTIONS
COULD DAMAGE STABILITY”
[07] EU TO LAUNCH NEW CYPRUS SALVO
[08] FRENCH TRADE MINISTER VISITS TURKEY
[09] SABANCI: “TIME, DETERMINATION, AND
CONSISTENCY ARE NEEDED TO BOOST EXPECTATIONS”
[10] S&P CONFIRMS TURKEY’S CURRENT
CREDIT NOTES OF FOREIGN EXCHANGE
[11] JULY CEREMONY SET TO MARK OIL
REACHING LAST TERMINUS OF BAKU-TBILISI-CEYHAN
PIPELINE
[12] FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE
COLUMNS... FROM THE COLUMNS...
[13] EUROPE IS LOOKING FOR ITS FUTURE
BY FERAI KILINC (HURRIYET)
[01] ERDOGAN: “IT’S TOO EARLY TO DEBATE
PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS”
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan said yesterday there are still 11 months
until the presidential elections, and that it
was too early to debate the subject. Speaking to
reporters en route to Ankara after completing a
three-day visit to Croatia and Macedonia,
Erdogan said that everybody meeting the
requirements of the Constitution could be a
presidential candidate. Stressing that there
were a number of issues in the country to deal
with, the premier underlined that there was no
time to waste, adding that the government
intended to hold general elections as scheduled
in fall 2007. Commenting on recent fluctuations
in the economy, Erdogan remarked that these
movements stemmed from foreign influences. He
added that necessary measures were being taken
without making concessions to fiscal discipline.
/Turkiye/
[02] GUL HEADS TO ALMATY FOR CICA SUMMIT
Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul will today depart
for Kazakhstan to represent Turkey in the second
summit of heads of state and government of the
Conference on Interactions and Confidence
Building Measures in Asia (CICA) in Almaty.
While there, the minister is expected to meet
with Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev as
well as hold bilateral talks with leaders who
will participate in the summit. Following his
program in Almaty, Gul will travel to Baku,
Azerbaijan, to participate in the 33rd session
of the Organization of the Islamic Conference
(OIC) foreign ministers’ meeting starting on
Monday. /Turkish Daily News/
[03] CHP LEADER BAYKAL: “EARLY ELECTIONS
WILL SHOW BANKRUPTCY OF THE GOVT”
Main
opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP)
leader Deniz Baykal yesterday said that early
elections might come up at any time and that
this wasn’t dependent on the government’s
choice. “As the government can’t rule the
country and control the economy, early elections
will happen,” he said. “This will show the
bankruptcy on the part of the government.”
Baykal yesterday received Ankara Chamber of
Commerce (ATO) Head Sinan Aygun and board
members at his party’s new headquarters and
said, “We realize that Turkey will enter a very
distressing period. We want to contribute to
overcoming this approaching big crisis using
democracy.” /Hurriyet/
[04] DYP LEADER AGAR: “CRISIS OF
CONFIDENCE SHOULD BE OVERCOME”
Opposition True Path Party
(DYP) leader Mehmet Agar yesterday said that the
issue of the presidency couldn’t be solved
without solving the problem of the government.
“There’s time for the presidential issue,” Agar
said, adding, “Everything will occur within
democracy in Turkey. Everybody will carry his
own responsibility in democratic conditions. The
crisis of confidence created by the government
should be addressed first. Overcoming the crisis
of confidence is the priority issue.” /Hurriyet/
[05] EU SECRETARY-GENERAL DEMIRALP:
“THERE WILL BE NO TRAIN CRASH IN TURKEY’S EU
PROCESS”
Appearing on news channel NTV yesterday,
Turkey’s European Union Secretary-General Oguz
Demiralp said that there would be no train crash
in Ankara’s European Union process since there
was no railway between Turkey and Cyprus. “Our
conscience is clear,” he said. “We have time
ahead of us. I hope we’ll have the opportunity
to proceed with this process together with the
EU coming to a reasonable line.” He added that
he didn’t think the negotiations would be
suspended at the end of the year if Ankara
doesn’t open its harbors and airports to traffic
from Greek Cyprus, and reiterated Turkey’s
determination on this. “Our stance is quite
consistent,” he added. “We can’t participate in
measures which would increase the isolation of
the Turkish Cypriots.” /Turkiye/
[06] EU’S KRETSCHMER: “EARLY ELECTIONS
COULD DAMAGE STABILITY”
European Union Commission
Delegation to Turkey head Hansjoerg Kretschmer
yesterday said that the calls for early
elections might lead to political instability,
which would damage Turkey’s EU bid. Speaking to
reporters, Kretschmer said, “I think that this
discussion (early elections and presidential
election) could be a source of anxiety. Because
this shows lack of stability or at least lack of
respect for institutions.” Stating that this
issue has a connection with the political
criteria for EU membership, Kretschmer added,
“The criteria aren’t only related to democracy
and human rights issues, but also to stable
institutions and the rule of law.” /Cumhuriyet/
[07] EU TO LAUNCH NEW CYPRUS SALVO
Just
days after Turkey completed its first major step
in accession talks with the European Union on
Monday, Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude
Juncker came forward, urging the bloc to freeze
membership talks with Turkey if Ankara does not
open its harbors and airports to traffic from
Greek Cyprus this year. His remarks came
yesterday as the clearest signal so far that
some leaders will seek a complete halt to the
negotiations if Turkey does not fulfill its
obligation to extend its EU Customs Union to all
new member states, including Greek Cyprus, which
Ankara does not recognize. If Turkey does not
implement this condition this year, the
negotiations will have to be postponed,
predicted Juncker. /Turkish Daily News/
[08] FRENCH TRADE MINISTER VISITS TURKEY
France’s Foreign Trade Minister
Christine Lagarde accompanied by French
businessmen yesterday arrived in Ankara to have
talks with Turkish officials. During her meeting
with Energy and Natural Resources Minister Hilmi
Guler, they exchanged views on possible
cooperation in energy sector investments. Then
she met with Transportation Minister Binali
Yildirim. France is interested in Turkey’s
nuclear power plant construction plans and
certain tenders of the Turkish Armed Forces
(TSK) as well. /Turkiye/
[09] SABANCI: “TIME, DETERMINATION, AND
CONSISTENCY ARE NEEDED TO BOOST EXPECTATIONS”
Turkish Industrialists’ and
Businessmen’s Association (TUSIAD) Chairman Omer
Sabanci said yesterday that recent economic
fluctuations had shaken the confidence of
markets over political stability and reforms.
Speaking at a meeting of the Turkish Women
Entrepreneurs Association, Sabanci stated that
to improve expectations, time, determination,
and consistency were all needed. Saying that the
slowdown in European Union reforms had direct
and indirect effects on the economy, Sabaci
stressed that this slowdown had dampened the
expectations of economic actors. “The dynamism
of the reforms has weakened and this lowered the
credibility of the reform process,” he said.
Sabanci stated that Turkey was moving ahead with
determined steps to fulfill the Maastricht
criteria, adding that achieving high and
sustainable growth rates would be able to manage
current fluctuations in the markets. “I believe
that Turkey’s short- and long-term outlook is
bright,” he added. /Aksam/
[10] S&P CONFIRMS TURKEY’S CURRENT
CREDIT NOTES OF FOREIGN EXCHANGE
International rating agency
Standard & Poor’s (S&P) yesterday confirmed
Turkey’s current credit notes of foreign
exchange, BB- in the long-term and B in the
short-term, despite recent fluctuations in the
markets. S&P also confirmed the credit note
outlook. Stressing that the Turkish banking
system is better prepared better for recent
fluctuations than the past, the rating agency
added that the latest reforms made Turkey an
attractive market for foreign investors.
/Milliyet/
[11] JULY CEREMONY SET TO MARK OIL
REACHING LAST TERMINUS OF BAKU-TBILISI-CEYHAN
PIPELINE
Preparations for a ceremony to mark oil reaching
the Turkish port of Ceyhan, the last terminus of
the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline, are
continuing. The ceremony will be held on July
13. US President George W. Bush, Russian
President Vladimir Putin, Azerbaijani President
Ilham Aliev, Georgian President Mihail
Saakashvili, and British Prime Minister Tony
Blair are invited to the ceremony. The night
before, President Ahmet Necdet Sezer is expected
to host a dinner for the visitors at Istanbul’s
Ciragan Palace. /Milliyet/
[12] FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE
COLUMNS... FROM THE COLUMNS...
[13] EUROPE IS LOOKING FOR ITS FUTURE
BY FERAI KILINC (HURRIYET)
Columnist Ferai Kilinc comments
on Turkey’s relations with the European Union. A
summary of her column is as follows:
“European Commissioner for Enlargement Olli Rehn
made a joke during the press conference in
Luxembourg saying that important steps
concerning Turkey were taken during the night.
Then I realized that he’s not the only person
who made this joke. After the decision to start
our membership talks was made last October with
last-minute arrangements and nail-biting
midnight deadlines, some people said, ‘Turkey
will become a European Union member when
everybody falls asleep so nobody realizes.’
There is some truth in this joke, just like
every joke. Turkey is one of the most difficult
issues awaiting the EU over the next two years.
It would be beneficial to try to understand the
EU’s situation and problems in order to define
our relations with the EU better. Turkey is a
difficult issue, because questions about the
future of Europe haven’t been answered yet.
During this week’s summit in Brussels, a
one-year extension was sought in order to answer
these questions. Some hoped to revive the EU
constitution during a consideration period and
make institutional changes, in other words, take
the steps of ‘a Europe of Projects,’ but it
didn’t happen. Europe couldn’t get itself
together. Germany will take over the EU term
presidency next January and bring new
suggestions for the European constitution. These
suggestions are expected to be implemented by
France, which will be term president in the
second half of 2008.
Obviously, tomorrow’s Europe can’t be imagined
independent from the issue of enlargement. As
it’s the most important item in the process of
enlargement, the European public sees a direct
link tolerate freedom of expression, is closed
to thinking and still can’t move as it should
against honor killings can never get the
European public’s support in membership talks.
We were complaining about not promoting
ourselves and now we have an opportunity to do
this, because all the attention is directed
towards us now. Turkey has to demonstrate that
it’s no different from the other 25 countries by
speaking the same language. So we shouldn’t
waste time but spring into action. We can dispel
the European public’s fear by accelerating our
reforms with bold steps on certain issues which
establish the essence of the Copenhagen
criteria. We would be the biggest beneficiaries
of this, and this way Europe can find answers to
the questions which concern its future. We’ll
take part in the discussions about Europe’s
future with our stance and suggestions. So, will
the reforms be sufficient to defuse the Cyprus
issue? No, they won’t. All the signals point the
other way. The EU sees the Greek Cypriot
administration’s rejections to Turkey as part of
a completely ‘legal’ profile and finds its
requests of Turkey justified. When we defend the
rights of Turkish Cypriots and urge an end to
the isolation of the Turkish Republic of
Northern Cyprus (TRNC), they consider this a
political stance. We have to accelerate the
reform process, but it won’t be enough. The
Cyprus crisis will escalate. There’s no comfort
in the bromide that the Greek Cypriots sickened
Europe and now they see that we’re right.”
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