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Turkish Press Review, 07-11-12
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
12.11.2007
CONTENTS
[01] THOUSANDS FLOCK TO ANITKABIR TO COMMEMORATE ATATURK
[02] ISRAEL’S PERES VISITS ANKARA
[03] IN BRUSSELS, CHIEF OF STAFF BUYUKANIT TO SPEAK ON POSSIBLE CROSS-BORDER OP
[04] TURKISH-GREEK NATURAL GAS PIPELINE SET TO OPEN SUNDAY
[05] PAKISTAN, GEORGIA AND BAYKAL
[01] THOUSANDS FLOCK TO ANITKABIR TO COMMEMORATE ATATURK
Nearly half a million people visited Anitkabir, the mausoleum of modern
Turkey’s founder, on Saturday to commemorate the 69th anniversary of
Mustafa Kemal Ataturk’s death. President Abdullah Gul, Prime Minister
Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Chief of General Staff Yasar Buyukanit attended
the official ceremony at Anitkabir. Compared to last year, the number of
visitors increased nearly four-fold this year. / Turkish Daily News/
[02] ISRAEL’S PERES VISITS ANKARA
Israeli President Shimon Peres yesterday arrived in Ankara for an official
visit. Peres will meet with his Turkish counterpart Abdullah Gul,
Parliament Speaker Koksal Toptan, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and
Foreign Minister Ali Babacan, and is also set to address Parliament. Gul
will bring Peres and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas together tomorrow.
Speaking to news channel NTV, Peres said that he was in Turkey not only to
speak but also to listen and added, “We’ll listen to what Turkey says.
We’ll benefit from the experiences of the Turkish president and prime
minister.” Touching on a possible Turkish cross-border operation into
northern Iraq, Peres said that Turkey’s intention to end terrorism was
acceptable. /Aksam/
[03] IN BRUSSELS, CHIEF OF STAFF BUYUKANIT TO SPEAK ON POSSIBLE CROSS-
BORDER OP
At a NATO meeting in Brussels today, Chief of General Staff Gen. Yasar
Buyukanit will speak about a possible Turkish cross-border operation into
northern Iraq. Buyukanit yesterday traveled to Brussels to attend the
military committee meeting, where he will meet with his US, Italian and
Greek counterparts and exchange views on how to combat the terrorist PKK.
/Hurriyet/
[04] TURKISH-GREEK NATURAL GAS PIPELINE SET TO OPEN SUNDAY
A new Turkish-Greek natural gas pipeline is set to be inaugurated next
weekend by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Greek counterpart
Costas Karamanlis. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, Italian Prime
Minister Romano Prodi and energy ministers from neighboring countries are
also invited to Sunday’s opening ceremony. The pipeline will initially
pump 250 million cubic meters of natural gas per year, and by 2012 is set
to have an annual capacity of 11 billion cubic meters. A Turkish energy
official hailed the pipeline as an landmark step, as it constitutes a new
energy corridor to the EU. /Turkiye/
FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE COLUMNS... FROM THE COLUMNS...
[05] PAKISTAN, GEORGIA AND BAYKAL
BY NASUHI GUNGOR (STAR)
Columnist Nasuhi Gungor comments on an anti-terrorism package proposed by
the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP). A summary of his
column is as follows:
“Recent statements by Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Deniz
Baykal signal new developments. Obviously, he said nothing new. What’s
more, clearly, the anti-terror package he proposed was prepared a bit
hastily. But this start by Baykal, who has been walking the nationalist
line for some time, is important. So what will its impact be? This depends
on analyzing the problem properly without pursuing other calculations.
Clearly, the current Iraqi border (with Turkey) separates a structure which
in terms of history, culture and economy could be a whole. The will which
drew the border this way calculated that this separation would bring ethnic
and strategic problems to Turkey. And so it did. In other words, those who
want to take steps to solve this problem should first take a historic
perspective. Secondly, they should take bold steps, particularly within
themselves. In other words, girls shouldn’t have to withdraw from
universities and the army shouldn’t discriminate between journalists. In
addition, Turkey needs an economic program benefiting the entire country.
This is the only way we can control the ethnic problem which was created
for us and the problem of terrorism.
Both Kurdish rebels and the terrorist PKK which has marked the last 30
years put Turkey’s point of view on this huge problem into a security
perspective. What’s more, this security-centric point of view caused the
ethnic problem to escalate. Confessions of commanders, which we found out
about via journalist Fikret Bila, show that the Turkish security
bureaucracy is far from grasping the seriousness of issues mostly
concerning the PKK and other crucial points. When politicians avoid taking
responsibility, they are crushed by this burden. Turkey saw developments in
northern Iraq, in other words, the Kurdish formation there, as a threat
against it and thus it made the problem worse. Both courage and vision
require a stance from inside to outside, just like any great country.
Unfortunately, the opposition led by the CHP has been making the public an
enemy of formations in this region. It all but branded a few young people
who were attending university in northern Iraq traitors to their country.
Those who speak of solutions were turned into targets. This perception must
be changed in order to fulfill the elements of the weak package presented
by Baykal and to make new political and economic moves. If Baykal and his
colleagues aren’t pursuing short-term gains and are sincere about this
new opening, they have to contribute to this process. But things might not
be as they seem, because what’s happening in Pakistan and Georgia right
now evokes strange things. What if somebody is calculating that new
openings about northern Iraq should be made not by the ruling Justice and
Development Party (AKP), but by the CHP? What if somebody is telling Baykal
that Pakistan and Georgia are examples and now it’s your turn and you
should transform yourself? Don’t you think the CHP’s past can justify
these suspicions?”
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