Turkish Press Review, 06-08-24

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From: Turkish Directorate General of Press and Information <http://www.byegm.gov.tr>

24.08.2006

CONTENTS

[01] ERDOGAN STARTS FUNDRAISING CAMPAIGN FOR RELIEF IN LEBANON

[01] ERDOGAN STARTS FUNDRAISING CAMPAIGN FOR RELIEF IN LEBANON

Outgoing Gendarmerie General Commander Fevzi Turkeri, who will hand over his duty to Gen. Isik Kosaner on Aug. 30, yesterday paid a farewell visit to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. No statements were released after the half-hour meeting. /Cumhuriyet/[03] CHIEF OF GENERAL STAFF OZKOK PAYS FAREWELL VISIT TO CHP'S BAYKAL

Outgoing Chief of General Staff Gen. Hilmi Ozkok yesterday paid a farewell visit to main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Deniz Baykal. After the meeting, Baykal told a press conference that Gen. Ozkok had ended his distinguished career full of successes that have earned him a special place in the hearts of the Turkish people. /Star/[04] TAN: “TURKEY CAN SEND TROOPS TO LEBANON ONLY FOR HUMANITARIAN AID”

Speaking to reporters yesterday in Ankara during a weekly press conference, Foreign Ministry spokesman Namik Tan said that Ankara is still evaluating technical aspects of the possibility of its sending troops to Lebanon as part of UN forces. Underlining that Turkish troops would not go the region if the UN assigns soldiers the mission of disarming Hezbollah, Tan said that Turkey could only send troops with a mission of rendering humanitarian aid. Commenting on Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul’s recent meeting with the families of three Israeli soldiers kidnapped by Hezbollah and Hamas, Tan said that Gul had received the families in the hotel where he was staying during his visit to Israel, adding that Israeli officials had asked that the meeting remain secret. /Turkiye/[05] TURKISH DELEGATION VISITS LEBANON

A Turkish delegation including officials from the Foreign Ministry, National Intelligence Agency (MIT) and General Staff yesterday returned to Turkey after completing its work in Lebanon. The delegation, sent to the region by the government, reportedly did technical evaluations to lay the groundwork should Turkey decide to send troops to the region. In related news, Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul is set to tell next Monday's Cabinet meeting about his recent trips to Lebanon, Israel and Syria. Gul’s views are expected to influence the Cabinet ministers’ stance on sending troops to Lebanon. /Milliyet-Turkiye/[06] TURKISH BASKETBALL TEAM DEFEATS QATAR

By defeating Qatar 76-69 yesterday in their first-round Group C game, Turkey’s “12 Giant Men” advanced to the next round of the tournament at the World Basketball Championship in Japan. The Turkish team, which had already beaten Lithuania, Australia and Qatar, will play Greece today. /Hurriyet/[07] ISTANBUL TO HOST FORMULA 1 OVER THE WEEKEND

Istanbul will host the Turkish Grand Prix this weekend for the second time, where the world’s 22 fastest drivers, including Michael Schumacher, will race. Istanbul hotels reportedly will be full during the event, 50,000 tickets have been sold, and some 130,000 people are expected to watch the race. /Aksam/[08] FROM THE COLUMNS ... FROM THE COLUMNS ... FROM THE COLUMNS…[00] THE ABSENCE OF VISION BY MEHMET BARLAS (SABAH)

Columnist Mehmet Barlas comments on Turkish foreign policy. A summary of his column is as follows:

“Late President Turgut Ozal brought the concept of ‘vision’ to Turkish policy. With his policies, he showed what this vision is. But then we forgot what this concept means. For example being a model and leader for the Central Asian republics emerged after the collapse of the Soviet Union, and was also a vision of Turkish foreign policy. This should be realized through state policies and investments in the private sector. Ozal started this process.

It seems that this vision has been forgotten. Our policies towards the Middle East and the Balkans were also a part of this vision. Turkey as a ‘great’ country of the Middle East should have close relations with countries of the region. It should improve its political and economic relations with both Iran and Iraq. But the presence of these relations shouldn’t mean that Turkey should lose its ties with its basic allies. The importance of these relations should be that the countries obey the principle of not intervening in each others’ internal affairs. As a result, Turkey also reflects the mosaic of the Middle East, and a country which blows winds at its neighbors could face storms on its own soil. Northern Iraqi Kurdish leaders Jalal Talabani and Massoud Barzani were also part of Ozal’s vision. Instead of worrying about their presence, Turkey was protecting them.

Turkey should steer clear of disputes, but it should also survive and become strong in regional policies. When Ozal pointed to Israel’s unfair actions, he never crossed the line into anti-Semitism. He made late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat meet with the Bosnian leader, but the 500th anniversary of the Jewish migration from Spain to the Ottoman Empire was also celebrated.

What I want to say is this: There is an absence of a vision in the discussions of our possibly sending troops to Lebanon. We expect the US to neutralize the PKK presence in northern Iraq, and we also try to say that the rejection of the March 2003 motion (for deploying US troops on Turkish soil for the invasion of Lebanon) was right. We both emphasize that we have the most powerful army in the region and act like Switzerland in making contributions to the peacekeeping force. If we lack a vision and a strategy, then we can’t foresee what circumstances await us.”

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