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Turkish Press Review, 06-07-04
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
04.07.2006
FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE COLUMNS... FROM THE COLUMNS...
CONTENTS
[01] RECTORS PRESENT “TURKISH HIGHER EDUCATION STRATEGY” REPORT TO SEZER
[02] IRAQI FM ZEBARI MEETS WITH SEZER, ERDOGAN, AND GUL
[03] GUL TRAVELING TO WASHINGTON TO MEET WITH RICE
[04] GEN. OZKOK: “COOPERATION IS NEEDED FOR WORLD PEACE”
[05] TRNC’S TALAT MEETS WITH PAPADOPOULOS
[06] TURKEY SUPPORTS UN ENVOY’S CYPRUS EFFORTS
[07] EC PRESIDENT BARROSO WARNS TURKEY ON GREEK CYPRUS
[08] JUNE INFLATION FIGURES RELEASED
[09] FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE COLUMNS... FROM THE COLUMNS...
[10] HOW SHOULD WE SEE GUL’S VISIT? BY MURAT YETKIN (RADIKAL)
[01] RECTORS PRESENT “TURKISH HIGHER EDUCATION STRATEGY” REPORT TO SEZER
Rectors from 77 universities led by Board of Higher Education (YOK) head
Erdogan Tezic yesterday presented a report entitled “Turkish Higher
Education Strategy” to President Ahmet Necdet Sezer. A Strategy Development
Commission was founded under YOK for this report, which aims to discuss the
problems of universities and propose solutions to them. The report includes
sweeping proposals to address problems in all areas of higher education.
Speaking at a press conference following the meeting, Tezic said that the
report was the fruit of a year-and-a-half of work, adding that he would
send it to institutions related to universities. “The report will take its
final shape and then be presented to the government,” he added. “We tried
to form a system in line with Turkey’s realities.” Tezic added that the
government would evaluate the report and make a decision whether to apply
it or not. Asked whether he thought university entrance exams should be
abolished, Tezic said that as universities have a limited capacity such
exams were inevitable, adding, “But changes could be made to the exam
system.” /Sabah/
[02] IRAQI FM ZEBARI MEETS WITH SEZER, ERDOGAN, AND GUL
Iraq’s Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari, currently in Ankara for an official
visit, yesterday met separately with President Ahmet Necdet Sezer and Prime
Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to discuss a number of issues, including
bilateral relations. During his meeting with Erdogan, Zebari said that Iraq
needed Ankara’s leadership to end the Sunni-Shiite conflict and said that
he appreciated
the contributions of the Turkish government towards solving the issue up to
now. Saying that he placed importance on the role of Erdogan in the
alliance of civilizations, Zebari added that Iraq needed Turkey on all
issues, including security. He further lamented that some regional
countries were intervening in Iraq’s internal affairs. Erdogan said that
solidarity between all groups in Iraq was crucial for stability in the
country. Later, Zebari met with Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul to discuss
the terrorist PKK. Speaking at a joint press conference afterwards, Zebari
said, “We’re trying to control our borders. The security of our country has
the priority, but don’t think that we disregard your security. The
cooperation between our countries on the PKK will increase after security
is ensured in our country.” /Milliyet/
[03] GUL TRAVELING TO WASHINGTON TO MEET WITH RICE
Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul is due today to travel to the US to meet with
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to discuss bilateral relations.
Gul’s two-day visit will focus on such issues as Turkish-US relations, Iran,
the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, and the terrorist PKK. After their
meeting, Rice is expected to announce a “Common Vision Document,”
considered to be a roadmap between Ankara and Washington. /Aksam/
[04] GEN. OZKOK: “COOPERATION IS NEEDED FOR WORLD PEACE”
Chief of General Staff Gen. Hilmi Ozkok said yesterday that no country of
the world could find resolution to security issues all by itself.
Addressing a seminar yesterday in Ankara, Ozkok said that concrete results
could only be obtained through cooperation between nations. Stressing that
Turkey had pursued a foreign policy based on Ataturk’s principle of “Peace
at Home, Peace in the World,” Ozkok said it lent support to all activities
to ensure both regional and global peace and would continue to do so.
/Turkiye/
[05] TRNC’S TALAT MEETS WITH PAPADOPOULOS
Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) President Mehmet Ali Talat
yesterday emphasized one more time that he was ready for negotiations to
find a comprehensive and permanent solution to the Cyprus issue. President
Talat met with Greek Cypriot administration leader Tassos Papadopoulos for
the first time in two years at the residence of Michael Moller, the UN
secretary-general’s special representative in Cyprus, in the UN-controlled
buffer zone to mark the newly appointed third member of the Committee of
Missing Persons (CMP), Christophe Girod, taking office. Afterwards Talat
told a press conference that he was ready for negotiations on the Cyprus
issue as well as to meet with UN Undersecretary General for Political
Affairs Ibrahim Gambari along with Papadopoulos. /Star/
[06] TURKEY SUPPORTS UN ENVOY’S CYPRUS EFFORTS
Turkey yesterday expressed support for the efforts of United Nations
Undersecretary General for Political Affairs Ibrahim Gambari, who has
started a tour between Ankara, Athens and Cyprus to start a new meeting
process within the parameters of the Annan plan. Gambari yesterday met with
Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul in Ankara. During the meeting, Gul reportedly
told Gambari that an important opportunity had been missed in 2004 and that
Turkey would support the Cyprus process being conducted under the auspices
of the UN. /Cumhuriyet/
[07] EC PRESIDENT BARROSO WARNS TURKEY ON GREEK CYPRUS
European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso yesterday said that
Turkey’s European Union membership negotiations were generally on track but
that improvement was needed in order to avoid serious problems about
Cyprus. At a joint press conference with new EU Term President Finland’s
Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen, Barroso said that there would be serious
repercussions should Turkey not open its airports and harbors to Greek
Cypriots. Barroso also said that today’s meeting of Turkish Republic of
Northern Cyprus President Mehmet Ali Talat and Greek Cypriot administration
leader Tassos Papadopoulos was encouraging and added, “Solving this problem
would naturally facilitate taking further steps. They’re not strictly tied
to each other. They’re separate issues. But it’s obvious that we need
progress on the Cyprus issue.” /Cumhuriyet/
[08] JUNE INFLATION FIGURES RELEASED
The Turkish Statistics Institute (TUIK) yesterday released inflation
figures for June. The consumer price index (CPI) rose 0.34 percent month-on-
month for an annual rise of 10.12 percent, while the producer price index
(PPI) was up 4.02 percent month-on-month and 12.52 percent year-on-year.
Turkey’s inflation returned to double digits for the first time in nearly
two years in June. Price rises are generally lower in June due to seasonal
factors, and in June 2005 the CPI rose 0.10 percent and the PPI fell 0.48
percent. /Sabah/
[09] FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE COLUMNS... FROM THE COLUMNS...
[10] HOW SHOULD WE SEE GUL’S VISIT? BY MURAT YETKIN (RADIKAL)
Columnist Murat Yetkin comments on Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul’s current
visit to Washington. A summary of his column is as follows:
“Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul’s visit to the US starting today is
happening at a critical period in terms of the political issues facing
Turkey and its choices. Similarly, Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari
and new UN coordinator for Cyprus Ibrahim Gambari were in Ankara yesterday,
and contacts were underway about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Gul’s
visit coincides with the US Independence Day, that is, July 4, which shows
that the Bush administration gives this visit a symbolic importance. Now we
should look at the content of the visit more closely. During this visit,
the Turkish-US strategic cooperation vision document is expected to be
signed. The document doesn’t bind the two countries in terms of
international law. That doesn’t weaken the document’s importance, but the
term ‘strategic cooperation’ was used so frequently that it had started to
lose meaning. Strategic cooperation requires not only harmony over final
goals, but acting together. So we can say that Britain is the only
strategic partner of the US.
For example, does Ankara think the same way about Iraq, which is the most
strategic issue of Washington? Or does Washington supports Ankara on the
Cyprus issue unconditionally? It can be seen that these two important NATO
members don’t agree with each other on the Black Sea issue and that Russia
is coming between these two allies. The fact that the US is the only
country which openly supports Turkey on the issues of Cyprus and the
terrorist PKK while Russia hinders Turkey on both of these situations
doesn’t change the situation. What’s strange is that the US’ full support
for Turkey's European Union membership bid doesn’t prevent the anti-US
stance in Turkey from taking top rank on the global scale. Iran is another
issue. The US administration must have understood Ankara’s intention to
highlight the Iran issue as among the most important issues of the visit,
yet it gave the message that it appreciates Turkey’s efforts but the real
channel is already operating between Ankara and Tehran. Justice Minister
Cemil Cicek stated that the Israeli-Palestinian issue was at the center of
the visit and that Turkey had stepped in upon the parties’ request. Gul
also has no program at the US Congress. He will speak at think-tanks to
people whose only job is to watch, interpret and reach a judgment about
Turkey. So, what is the main idea of this visit? Is this visit trying to
tell the Turkish public that the US administration has no problem with the
Justice and Development (AKP) government? It wouldn’t be realistic to say
that Gul’s visit also aims to repair our image. We shouldn’t forget that
actually Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan wanted to meet with US
President George W. Bush last month and give the message in Washington that
there is no problem. Bush was said to have a very busy agenda and that
maybe a visit would work in September. However, not Erdogan, but Gul was
called there and it's clear that he’s trying not to be seen as someone who
takes sides between the government and other institutions. Gul has a quite
heavy burden on his shoulders.”
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