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Turkish Press Review, 06-12-27
From: Turkish Directorate General of Press and Information <http://www.byegm.gov.tr>
Summary of the political and economic
news in the Turkish press this morning
27.12.2006
CONTENTS
[01] FORMER IRAQI PM MEETS WITH GUL
[02] ARINC MEETS WITH FAMILY OF FASTING LAWYER
[00]
DEPUTY CHIEF OF STAFF SAYGUN VISITS ISRAEL
[03] THE WASHINGTON TIMES: "THE EU IS MAKING A STRATEGIC BLUNDER ON TURKEY"
[04] TUZMEN TO VISIT EGYPT TO BOOST TRADE TIES
[00]
NEW MINIMUM WAGE SET AT 403 YTL
[05] MAHIR KAYNAK (STAR)
[01] FORMER IRAQI PM MEETS WITH GUL
Former Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi yesterday met with Foreign Minister
Abdullah Gul in Ankara. Speaking at a press conference afterwards, Allawi
said that Iraq needed regional and international support to ensure peace
and stability. Stressing that the problems of the Iraqi nation couldn't be
solved under the current conditions, Allawi stated that the nation needed
international support for stability in their country. Allawi added that he
had a plan to peacefully solve the country's problems, but declined to
disclose details of the plan. Allawi further stated that he and Gul had not
discussed the possibility of Ankara sending troops to Iraq. /Cumhuriyet/
[02] ARINC MEETS WITH FAMILY OF FASTING LAWYER
Parliament Speaker Bulent Arinc yesterday met with representatives of non-
governmental organizations and family members of lawyer Behic Asci, who has
been on a "death fast" for 265 days to protest conditions in F-type
prisons. During his contacts, Arinc stated that Asci was continuing his
fast and was successful in protesting the conditions of F-type prisons.
Arinc further stressed that a delegation would start working next month to
address the issue. Saying that he wanted Asci to end his fast, Arinc added
that he would be pleased with positive developments on the issue and that
Parliament couldn't be unresponsive to the efforts of a lawyer endangering
his own life to protest prison conditions. /Sabah/
[00]
DEPUTY CHIEF OF STAFF SAYGUN VISITS ISRAEL
Turkey's Deputy Chief of General Staff Gen. Ergin Saygun held key talks
with Israeli officials in Tel Aviv yesterday on recent developments in the
Middle East and the threat of the proliferation of weapons of mass
destruction in the region. Gen. Saygun was accompanied by a military
delegation of experts on terrorism, intelligence and the defense industry.
/The New Anatolian/
[03] THE WASHINGTON TIMES: "THE EU IS MAKING A STRATEGIC BLUNDER ON TURKEY"
US daily The Washington Times said yesterday that the European Union's
recent decision to halt Turkey's accession talks on eight chapters had not
served the bloc's interests. Calling the decision a sign of Europe's
putting Turkey at a distance, the daily claimed that it would be a
"strategic blunder" if Turkey were to move closer to the Middle Eeast due
to that mistaken policy. Stressing that Turkey's sense of disappointment
was gradually rising, the editorial said a failure of accession talks would
hurt both Turkish-EU relations and Turkey itself, adding that the Cyprus
issue should not negatively affect Ankara's EU process. /Aksam/
[04] TUZMEN TO VISIT EGYPT TO BOOST TRADE TIES
State Minister Kursad Tuzmen and a delegation of Turkish businessmen will
visit Egypt on Jan. 9-12. The visit is part of efforts to improve relations
with African countries. During the visit, Turkish export materials will be
promoted, in a bid to increase the collaboration between the two countries
and boost the market share of Turkish exports in Africa. /Turkish Daily
News/
[00]
NEW MINIMUM WAGE SET AT 403 YTL
The Minimum Wage Determination Committee yesterday set the minimum wage for
2007 after completing its meetings. Accordingly, the minimum wage will be
increased 6 percent to a net 403.03 YTL in the first half of the year and
another 4 percent to 419.15 YTL in the second half. Speaking to the press,
Labor and Social Security Minister Murat Basesgioglu said that the hike was
the best that the government could afford, although it was not at the level
they really desired. /Star/
FROM THE COLUMNS…FROM THE COLUMNS…FROM THE COLUMNS…NEW WORLD ORDER
[05] MAHIR KAYNAK (STAR)
Columnist Mahir Kaynak comments on a "new world order" and Turkey's place
in it. A summary of his column is as follows:
"Two moves made by Turkey show that it wants to take its place on the
frontlines of an international struggle. It agreed to sell natural gas from
its own allocation and showed that it wants to be influential here by
attending late Turkmen President Saparmurat Niyazov Turkmenbashi's funeral
with a large delegation in order to render the pressure Russia wants to put
on Georgia over natural gas ineffective. These two moves also carry the
marks of the conflict over international energy issues. It's no secret that
the revolution in Georgia was created by global capital, that Russia wants
to change the administrations in Georgia, Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan, and that
it uses economic pressure for this purpose. Turkey is taking its place in
this international competition by showing its importance in efforts against
Russian control in the post-Turkmenbashi era. In addition, these moves also
mean taking sides and showing that our place isn't beside Russia. It's
important to ask how this policy will be reflected in the US. According to
the conventional wisdom, global capital is already a part of the US and so
Ankara's moves will be supported by Washington.
But I disagree. Instead, I think that global capital and the US
administration don't complement each other, but contradict each other. I
also think that the US and Russia are in a quest for balance and that this
should be established by these two forces, just like during World War II.
For this purpose, they want to control Europe and China, and their most
important goal is to control their energy resources. I think that they want
to leave the natural gas resources to Russia and the Middle Eastern oil to
US control and also want to establish a double structure. Thus, the
dominance of just one force would be avoided. If this analysis is sound,
regions of influence must be established in accordance with it. If it's
wrong to call them ‘regions of influence,' it can be said that new
alliances will be established as part of it. Turkey's initiative would mean
another global economic force's entrance into the region of natural gas and
limiting Russia's influence. In this case, Russia wouldn't permit the US to
control Middle East oil alone. This situation would cause competition
between these two great forces and an uncertain world future. However, the
policy pursued to date aimed to prevent such uncertainty and hinder a
conflict between these great nuclear powers. I believe that it would be
wrong for Turkey to take the initiative without making a decision on the
big picture. If there is such foresight and the cost of Russia's
restrictions are calculated, this is a preference and the responsibility
belongs to the administration. My words aim to explain this picture."
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