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Turkish Press Review, 07-09-10Turkish Press Review Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: Turkish Directorate General of Press and Information <http://www.byegm.gov.tr>Summary of the political and economic news in the Turkish press this morning10.09.2007CONTENTS
[01] GUL TO TOUR SOUTHEASTERN ANATOLIAPresident Abdullah Gul will pay his first local visit to southeastern Anatolia. During his four-day tour, Gul is set to travel to Van, Hakkari, Sirnak, and Diyarbakir. He will also visit the military units in the region. Meanwhile, the president will receive visiting Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moallem and his accompanying delegation today. In addition, before leaving for Van tomorrow, Gul is expected to pay a courtesy visit to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan today. /Milliyet-Aksam/[02] SYRIAN FM HOLDS TALKS IN ANKARAAs tension has escalated in the Middle East once again after a snap attack by Israel to Syria, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moallem arrived in Ankara late last night for a sudden visit to discuss the incident with Turkish officials. Moallem is scheduled to meet with his counterpart Ali Babacan, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and President Abdullah Gul. Reportedly, Moallem will present the evidence that Israeli air forces violated Syrian airspace early Thursday morning. Turkey was involved in the issue when fuel tanks found near its border that were allegedly dropped by Israeli aircrafts. Turkish Foreign Ministry officially requested information from Israel on Saturday but no response was received yet. /Turkish Daily News/[03] ERTUGRUL GAZI COMMEMORATEDPrime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahceli, Great Union Party (BBP) leader Muhsin Yazicioglu and other top level officials yesterday attended a ceremony to commemorate Ertugrul Gazi, the founder of the Ottoman Empire, in Sogut in the western province of Bilecik. President Abdullah Gul, Parliament Speaker Koksal Toptan and main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Deniz Baykal sent congratulatory messages to the ceremony. Addressing the crowd, Erdogan called on citizens to protect common values. “Nation’s unity will be stronger only when people come together with common values,” said the premier. /Milliyet-Sabah/[04] GEN. BUYUKANIT TO MEET WITH PRESIDENT GULChief of the General Staff Gen. Yasar Buyukanit will meet with President Abdullah Gul today at the Cankaya Presidential Palace for a congratulatory visit. Gen. Buyukanit will meet with Gul for the first time following his election as President. /Hurriyet/[05] CHP CELEBRATES 84TH ANNIVERSARY AMID PROTESTSMain opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) yesterday celebrated its 84th anniversary. CHP leader Deniz Baykal went to Anitkabir, Ataturk’s Mausoleum, to celebrate the party’s establishment. Large number of party members gathered in Ankara’s Tandogan Square and marched the Anitkabir. Meanwhile, an intra-party opposition led by Sisli Mayor Mustafa Sarigul and his followers gathered in front of CHP headquarters in Ankara where they called on Baykal and senior management to resign. /All papers/[06] BABACAN VISITS PORTUGALAli Babacan, Foreign Minister and chief European Union negotiator, made his first visit to EU Term President Portugal over the weekend. During his talks with his Swedish, Macedonian, Austrian and Estonian counterparts, as well as EU Commissioner Olli Rehn, Babacan discussed the commission’s Progress Report on Turkey to be released in November. Rehn reportedly expressed the EU’s expectation from Turkey to revive the reform progress. /Sabah/[07] EU WARNS TURKEY ABOUT THE NEW CONSTITUTIONThe European Union Commission made a warning over the weekend that all political views and all segments of the Turkish society should be included into new studies on the Constitution. The Commission requires that reforms on democratization, freedom of expression, and cultural rights and Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK) should be implemented. The EU Commission expects Ankara to take steps on the reforms before issuing its progress report on Turkey. /Cumhuriyet/FROM THE COLUMNS…FROM THE COLUMNS…FROM THE COLUMNS… [08] WE SHOULD SUPPORT GOVERNMENT REGARDING EUBY SEMIH IDIZ (MILLIYET)Columnist Semiz Idiz comments on Turkey’s European Union membership bid. A summary of his column is as follows: “German Marshall Fund’s last ‘Transatlantic Trends Research’ shows that the Turks are more pessimistic than the Europeans about Turkey’s EU bid. It’s certain that this is a result of instable Turkish-EU relations in recent years and opposition of some countries to Turkey’s membership. In fact, Europeans seeming “optimistic” about the issue is not the reflection of a desire, because the polls which were made in the EU show that the Europeans are against Turkey’s membership. Besides the current and historical prejudices about us, it is obvious that the difficulties Turks face while being adapted to the societies they live in also affected this. The Europeans who are opposed to Turkey, but believe it would be an EU member some day, think that Turkey is going towards membership despite all obstacles. Shortly, many Europeans who say that Turkey will be an EU member say this, because they are pessimistic, not optimistic. They cannot assimilate the idea that a country about which they have wrong ideas, to have a say on the destiny of Europe. For this reason, some of them say that the Europe’s borders should be determined. Those who are pragmatic are submiting formulas of “special ties” with Ankara since they know that relations could not break off. The recent developments show that the EU and Turkey are not in a course as assumed by many people. No one can fully predict what even upcoming five years, not ten years, would bring for two parties. In other words, it’s highly possible that Turkey would show a much better performance on fulfilling EU’s basic criteria and the EU would deal with serious domestic problems. We have already seen what kind of problems the EU would face due to Britain and Poland. In fact, Polish Foreign Minister Ana Fotyga declared on Friday that her country would not participate in “Charter of Fundemental Rights” as Britain does. When it is thought that EU Constitution and similar documents are vital for many mambers, the problems arising from not reaching consensus on these would be seen better. It is possible to raise the number of such examples. The possibility of a multi-speed EU is increasing despite some reactions. This means that a member will be in the EU institutions and comply with the rules it want and not participate in the EU institutions and don’t comply with the rules it doesn’t want. In other words, some members will request special ties with Turkey. It’s obvious that Turkey will favor a multi- speed EU. In such an atmosphere, it would be a strategic mistake for Turkey to deviate from its route. We believe that all people who trust in the route Turkey has been following during the last 85 years should support the government. Turkish Press Review Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |
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