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Turkish Press Review, 07-09-14Turkish 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 morning14.09.2007FROM THE COLUMNS…FROM THE COLUMNS…FROM THE COLUMNSCONTENTS
[01] GUL VISITS SIIRT, SIRNAKPresident Abdullah Gul yesterday visited Siirt and Sirnak on the third day of his visit to eastern and southeastern provinces. Extensive safety measures were taken for Gul, who landed at the Siirt airport in a military helicopter. The president was greeted by a joyful crowd carrying Turkish flags. Gul received representatives of 32 non-governmental organizations at Siirt governor’s office. Later, President Gul proceeded to the neighboring province of Sirnak, where he met Governor Selahattin Apari. Gul’s last stop on his current tour will be Diyarbakir, the biggest city in the region. In related news, a foreign ministry statement declared that President Abdullah Gul would make his first visit to abroad to the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) on Sept. 18-19, where will meet with TRNC President Mehmet Ali Talat and top officials to discuss recent developments on the Cyprus issue. /Star-Cumhuriyet/[02] SAKARYA VICTORY CELEBRATEDTurkish victory in Sakarya Pitched Battle (Aug. 23-Sept.13, 1921) was celebrated yesterday in Ankara’s Polatlı town. Parliament Speaker Koksal Toptan, Defense Minister Vecdi Gonul, Chief of General Staff Gen. Yasar Buyukanit and force commanders, as well as a large crowd of people were present for the ceremony on Duatepe. Sakarya Victory had important political and military consequences. It had a positive role in the future of the Turkish nation; every private from the chief commander to the most bottom ranked soldier had superior efforts. /Milliyet/[03] ERDOGAN TO TRAVEL TO THE US NEXT WEEKPrime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan will travel to New York next week to attend United Nations General Assembly meetings on Sept. 24-25. Erdogan is also expected to hold bilateral meetings with heads of state and government of certain countries. The premier may move to Washington for official contacts with the Bush administration and the US Congress. /Turkiye/[04] BABACAN TO HOLD EU MEETINGForeign Minister and Chief European Union Negotiator Ali Babacan will hold a meeting on Sept. 17 with high-level officials of all ministries and public bodies which contributed the EU process. Turkey’s EU accession process and steps to be taken in the coming period will be discussed at the meeting which will be held at the Secretariat General for European Union Affairs. /Star/[05] EP DISCUSSES REPORT ON TURKEYThe European Parliament Committee on Foreign Affairs yesterday discussed a draft resolution on Turkey prepared by its Dutch Christian Democrat member Ria Oomen-Ruijten. Commenting on Abdullah Gul’s presidency, Oomen-Ruijten said that she knew Gul well. “Mr. Gul is very capable and wise man; he knows how to make politics,” said Oomen-Ruijten. She also expressed her belief that Gul certainly will act in line with the principle of secularism. /Sabah/[06] WILSON VISITS DIRECTOR GENERAL OF SECURITYUS Ambassador to Ankara Ross Wilson yesterday visited Director General of Security Oguz Kaan Koksal at his office. During the meeting, Wilson asked whether there was a link between the minivan packed with explosives near a multi-storey car park at Sihhiye district and Al-Qaeda. Koksal said that they didn’t have findings to this effect, evidences and information were indicating the terrorist PKK, but they were investigating every kind of possibility. It was reported that Wilson had congratulated Turkish police on their successful operation. /Hurriyet/[07] TUZMEN VISITS TURKISH COMPANIES AT TEXTILE FAIR IN MUNICHState Minister Kursad Tuzmen yesterday visited Turkish companies participated at a textile machinery exhibition in Munich, Germany. Stressing that Turkey was willing to boost textile machinery exports, Tuzmen said that in the last 12 months, Turkish firms exported $99 billion of machinery, and that figure was expected to hit $100 billion by next month. /Turkiye/FROM THE COLUMNS…FROM THE COLUMNS…FROM THE COLUMNS [08] LETTER OF CREDENTIALSBY ERDAL SAFAK (SABAH)Columnist Erdal Safak comments on the new draft constitution. A summary of his column is as follows: “I’ve read the draft constitution drawn up by Prof. Ergun Ozbudun and his colleagues. Here are my first impressions: The text is full of spelling errors and lacks a unity of language, which has made me think that it wasn’t written by one person. Both in the articles and the preamble, a lot of old words, which can be replaced by more modern ones, were used. The text lacks care. For instance, while the 1982 Constitution is referred to the expression ‘It was amended more than 10 times’ is used. Such an expression clearly doesn’t suit the gravity of a constitution. The last part of the current Constitution includes the exact number: It was amended 13 times from 1987 to 2007. It also includes some expressions which may lead to different comments, arguments and even accusations of ‘vindictive’. For instance the beginning of the preamble writes ‘None of the constitutions of the Republic of Turkey has been accepted as a product of a discussion and conciliation process by parliaments consisting of members elected by people of their free will. Thus, it puts forth that the parliaments enacting the 1924, 1961 and 1982 Constitutions weren’t composed of real representatives elected by people of their free will. Let’s leave the 1961 and 1982 Constitutions aside, as the former was drawn up by the Constitutional Assembly formed by the Committee of National Unity and the latter was prepared by the Advisory Committee formed by the National Security Council. But isn’t it unfair to put the second parliament, the members of which were elected and drew up the 1924 Constitution into play? That parliament proclaimed the republic and passed the revolution laws enlisted in the new draft constitution prepared by Ozbudun and his colleagues. Implying that that parliament was embodied by ‘the sole elector’ Mustafa Kemal Ataturk (as I can understand from the expression) opens the door for casting a shadow on not only the legitimacy of the second parliament but also the republic it proclaimed and the laws it enacted, which led the way for Turkey’s modernization. It’s a shame! I have got another impression I would like to share. Prof. Ozbudun and his colleagues seem to forget a lot of things in a rush to complete the draft as quickly as possible. I’ll cite an example on the duties and powers of the president. The 1924, 1961 and 1982 Constitutions all say that the president accredits representatives of the Turkish state to foreign states and receives the representatives of foreign states appointed to the Republic of Turkey. But this duty of the president was forgotten in the new draft constitution. So, won’t ambassadors to Turkey present their letters of credentials to the president, then?!” Turkish Press Review Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |
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