Turkish Press Review, 06-10-18

Turkish Press Review Directory - Previous Article - Next Article

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

18.10.2006

CONTENTS

[01] ERDOGAN HOSPITALIZED DUE TO DROP IN BLOOD SUGAR LEVEL

[01] ERDOGAN HOSPITALIZED DUE TO DROP IN BLOOD SUGAR LEVEL

The Turkish Parliament yesterday held a special session to debate the French Parliament’s passage last week of a bill criminalizing denial of an alleged Armenian genocide. A joint declaration signed by all parties in Parliament said that the bill was motivated from concerns of domestic political gain, adding that the bill would harm Turkish-French relations as well as prospects for normalization of relations between Ankara and Yerevan. Addressing lawmakers, Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said that Turkey hoped the bill would not become law. “This would be a great shame for France," said Gul. Furthermore, opposition Deputy Sukru Elekdag called for sanctions on Armenia, which he said was working in cooperation with the Armenian diaspora for international recognition of the alleged genocide, adding that some 70,000 Armenian illegal workers living in Turkey should be deported. /All Papers/[03] GUL: “THE EU TROIKA MEETING WAS FRUITFUL”

Speaking to reporters returning to Ankara late on Monday after a landmark meeting with the European Union Troika in Luxembourg, Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said that the talks had been fruitful, adding that Turkey and the EU met for the first time as two partners who value each other. The talks, on the eve of the Nov. 8 release of the EU commission’s key report on Turkey, were dominated by Turkish-EU relations as well as the Middle East problem and Iran’s controversial nuclear program. Commenting on the French vote on the Armenian "genocide" bill, Gul said France’s move was counter to the EU’s Copenhagen criteria on democracy, freedom of speech and the rule of law. Asked what impact it would have on EU efforts to get Turkey to amend its penal code to permit greater freedom of speech, Gul said “We’ll not repeat somebody else’s mistakes.” He added that if it necessary, the Turkish Penal Code’s (TCK) controversial Article 301 might be amended. /Turkiye/[04] CICEK: “ARTICLE 301 CAN BE CHANGED”

Before a meeting of Parliament’s Justice Commission yesterday, Justice Minister Cemil Cicek spoke to reporters about possible changes to controversial Turkish Penal Code (TCK) Article 301, saying that only four articles of the TCK couldn’t be changed, namely 1, 2, 3, and 174. “Thus, all articles except these can be changed,” said Cicek. “Article 301 was amended in the past. Article 301 isn't off-limits to change.” /Aksam/ [05] BAYKAL: “NO ONE HAS THE RIGHT TO ALLEGE TURKEY COMMITTED A GENOCIDE ON ARMENIANS”

Speaking at his party’s group meeting yesterday, main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Deniz Baykal commented on the Armenian bill passed last week by the French Parliament, saying that no one had the right to say that Turkey had committed a genocide on Armenians. Stressing that 17 countries had made this false allegation, Baykal stated that 10 of these were European Union members. Commenting on the recent dispute between Chief of General Staff Gen. Yasar Buyukanit and opposition True Path Party (DYP) leader Mehmet Agar, who suggested that terrorists should be encouraged to come down from the mountains so they can take part in politics, Baykal criticized Agar’s suggestion. /Aksam/[06] FORMER FM INAN TO RETURN FRENCH MEDAL

Veteran politician and former Foreign Minister Kamran Inan has decided to return a medal to France in protest of the passage of a French bill penalizing denial of an alleged Armenian genocide at the hands of the Ottoman Empire. Inan’s decision came one day after Professor Erdogan Tezic, the head of Turkey’s Board of Higher Education (YOK), returned his medal from France for the same reason. Inan returned a Legion d’Honneur medal that had been presented to him by then French President Francois Mitterrand with a letter to the French Embassy in Ankara attached. /Turkish Daily News/[07] IRAQI FM: “THE US AND IRAQ CAN’T STAGE JOINT MILITARY OPERATIONS AGAINST THE PKK”

Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said yesterday that given the country’s current conditions it wasn’t possible to open a military front against the terrorist PKK. Speaking to a northern Iraqi newspaper, Zebari said, “The US and Iraq cannot fight against the PKK by opening a military front in the current conditions,” adding, “Turkey should be tolerant towards us. There’s an escalating spiral of violence in Iraq. Our priority is to stop the violence in Iraq and to provide stability.” Zebari also said that dialogue should be favored over military options for solving the terrorist PKK issue. /Cumhuriyet/[08] BUSH OPPOSES DIVIDING IRAQ INTO 3 AUTONOMOUS REGIONS

US President George W. Bush said on Monday that dividing Iraq into three autonomous regions would mean that Kurds would create a problem for Turkey and this would create an even bigger mess in the region. In an interview with Fox News, Bush quoted his telephone conversation with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, saying that al-Maliki strongly opposes dividing Iraq into three autonomous regions and that he shares this view completely. /Cumhuriyet/[09] BARROSO: “TURKEY’S EU MEMBERSHIP WILL TAKE TIME”

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso stated yesterday that Turkey’s membership process in the European Union will take time. Speaking to CNN International, Barroso listed Ankara’s homework to become a member of the bloc, saying, “Political reforms should be continued, freedom of expression and religious rights should be fully adopted;, the Ankara Protocol should be implemented, and Turkish ports and harbors should be opened to the Greek Cypriots.” Stressing that the success of the process depends on Turkey, Barroso stated that although Turkey is getting closer to EU membership, the process is not moving as fast as expected. /The New Anatolian/[10] 2007 BUDGET SUBMITTED TO PARLIAMENT

The government yesterday submitted a draft budget for 2007 to Parliament. The draft foresees 204.9 billion YTL in spending, 188.2 billion YTL in revenues, and 16.7 billion YTL in deficits. /Sabah/[11] FROM THE COLUMNS…FROM THE COLUMNS…FROM THE COLUMNS…[00] THE FOREIGN MINISTRY’S STRATEGYBY ISMAIL KUCUKKAYA (AKSAM)

Columnist Ismail Kucukkaya comments on the Foreign Ministry’s strategy on a critical process. A summary of his column is as follows:

“The foreign minister's visit to Luxembourg this week where the EU Troika meeting was held showed that Turkey has entered a new era in its European Union bid and that a new process which should be handled well has started. Our progress report and strategy document will be released on Nov. 8. Some parts or certain chapters of Turkey’s EU membership talks might be suspended, because the knot concerning the Cyprus issue hasn’t been untangled yet. What’s more, it cannot be solved. At this point, we’ll see how the Cyprus issue is reflected in the progress report. If they think that we’ve met the political criteria and continued our well-intentioned reform efforts and if Article 301 is changed or removed, the resulting positive psychological climate will enable the continuation of membership talks. From the impression that I got from Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul and his staff, en route to and returning from Brussels, our strategy will be like this. In other words, we’ll carry out only realizable reforms. Thus, we’ll prevent the suspension of membership talks due to issues that are stalemated (the Cyprus issue). This isn’t so hard. We’re very much in the right on the Cyprus issue. In addition, following UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s plan, we have the psychological advantage.

While talking on the plane about the difficulties of taking a step on the Cyprus issue, Gul said that governments can’t do everything in democratic countries and emphasized the national cause, the pressure of public opinion and state policies. Brussels also doesn’t want to lose Turkey, and experienced bureaucrats from the Foreign Ministry will follow this strategy. The progress report will be nearly 100 pages. Bureaucrats say that it’s already largely ready. Actually, the important thing is the strategy document, which will determine what will happen. Finland’s suggestions concerning the Cyprus issue are being made not on a text, but with discussions. Speaking to The Times of London two days ago, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso cited the examples of Spain and Portugal, while talking about Turkey’s situation. He said that when these two countries were candidates, the people were afraid that all their workers would rush to the EU, but today these countries have reached impressive growth and this fear didn’t come true. Barroso also added that Turkey might wait 15-20 years for EU membership.”[12] THE PSYCHOLOGICAL COST OF TURKEY’S EU BIDBY HALUK SAHIN (RADIKAL)

Columnist Haluk Sahin comments on Turkish-EU relations. A summary of his column is as follows:

“One of the most difficult parts of Turkey’s road to the EU is its psychological cost to Turkey. This wasn’t mentioned, but now everybody is aware of it. We have seen that Turkey’s road to the EU brought economic advantages and was also politically useful. But we unfortunately the psychological aspect of the EU road doesn't look good. Recent opinion polls show that the parties don’t like each other as much as they used to.

One of the greatest psychological needs is the need to belong to something. People (and countries) are greatly pleased to feel that they belong to a successful club. The EU was such a group for Turkey. At the beginning of this century, Turkey was very positive about being accepted, but later, this feeling faded. As I said, the feeling of belonging is an important psychological motive, but the reverse is also true. Nobody likes to be rejected. Not only their heart, but also their honor is hurt. How many times can a person or a country hear that it doesn’t belong to a group that it’s trying to join? Or we can ask this: How many times can one person or country hear that it doesn’t belong to a group, but still continue on a road to joining it?

If there's a trauma of being rejected after the happiness of being accepted, then the next stage is hatred. This can’t continue. It is time that Europeans who don’t want to lose Turkey and Turks who don’t want to lose Europe to think about this psychological cost.”

ARCHIVE

<script type="text/javascript" language="JavaScript" src="http:/_www.byegm.gov.tr_statistic/countcode.js"> </script>

Turkish Press Review Directory - Previous Article - Next Article