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Wednesday, 18 December 2024
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Turkish Press Review, 08-02-14Turkish 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 morning14.02.2008CONTENTS
[01] GUL: “THE EU SHOULD ABIDE BY THE AGREEMENTS IT MADE WITH TURKEY”President Gul yesterday visited the Foreign Ministry, which he headed for over four years before his current post. After meeting with Foreign Minister Ali Babacan, Gul addressed ministry personnel. Later, Gul also visited Turkey’s Secretariat General for European Union Affairs. Saying that the EU project is ultimately bigger than both the Union itself and Turkey, he added “We haven’t reached this point by chance.” Gul reiterated that Turkey is continuing its reforms in every area, explaining, “These reforms are for raising the standard of living of the Turkish people, not pleasing the EU.” Addressing recent hurdles in Turkey ’s EU bid from certain countries, he said, “It is against our strategic policy to hinder negotiations for political reasons. Our aim is full membership, and the EU should abide by the principle of pacta sund servanda,” meaning pacts must be followed by all the parties to them. /Turkiye/[02] OSCE SECRETARY GENERAL VISITS GULPresident Abdullah Gul yesterday met with Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Secretary General Marc Perin de Brichambaut. During their meeting, they discussed the OSCE Minsk Process, which aims to find a solution to the Nagorno-Karabagh issue. /Turkish Daily News/[03] ERDOGAN: “WE ARE THE GUARANTOR OF EVERYONE’S WAY OF LIFE”Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan yesterday again criticized main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Deniz Baykal and some media outlets over their opposition to ending the university headscarf ban. Speaking at a ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) meeting, Erdogan said that his government doesn’t discriminate between women who wear headscarves and those who don’t. “We are the guarantor of everyone’s way of life,” he said. “If a woman who doesn’t wear a headscarf hasn’t seen us do anything against her so far, she won’t in the future either.” Noting that several large cities in Turkey are being governed by AKP mayors, he asked, “What have you seen (in their governance) besides service and care?” He added, “We have devoted ourselves to all of Turkey.” /Turkiye/[04] ISRAEL’S BARAK MEETS WITH CHIEF OF STAFF BUYUKANIT, PRESIDENT GULVisiting Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak was received separately yesterday by Chief of General Staff Gen. Yasar Buyukanit and President Abdullah Gul. During their talks, Gul pointed to recent efforts to get the Palestinian-Israeli peace process back on track, saying, “Continuing this process is very important for lasting peace in the Middle East . We strongly condemn the attacks on Israel from the Gaza Strip and advise Israel to keep its composure and resist provocations, though there are some who want to sabotage the peace process. Otherwise the two-state solution will not be realized.” For his part, Barak said, “We understand Turkey ’s view on the issue. If we had acted under provocation, we would have taken action before now.” He also praised Turkey ’s role on regional issues, saying that Turkey could help convince Syria to take a more productive stance. During his meeting with Buyukanit, Barak said that Israel supports Turkey ’s fight against the terrorist PKK by, for example, sharing its military technology and intelligence. Barak also stated that defense-related deals between the two countries total in the hundreds of millions of dollars. /Star-Cumhuriyet/[05] DEPUTY US JOINT CHIEFS CHAIR CARTWRIGHT ARRIVES TO DISCUSS ANTI-PKK COORDINATIONDeputy Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. James Cartwright arrived in Turkey yesterday to hold talks with his Turkish counterpart Gen. Ergin Saygun on cooperation against the terrorist PKK between the two countries. The two generals are responsible for coordinating the bilateral military cooperation process against the terrorist group. /Star/FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE COLUMNS... FROM THE COLUMNS... [06] A RULING PARTY FEELING LIKE A STRANGER IN ITS OWN LANDBY NURAY MERT (RADIKAL)Columnist Nuray Mert comments on the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and the headscarf issue. A summary of her column is as follows: “I can understand why Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is angry. Considering his political journey and the great change he’s undergone and how he adopted democratic values as time went on, but also how he had difficulties concerning the headscarf issue, this anger can be understood. Erdogan must be thinking that while he’s changed greatly others haven’t changed a bit on the headscarf issue. It might not be considered understandable for a prime minister to get so angry and speak rashly. I can understand his position, so long as everyone has the right to speak their mind on the issue. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but he recently said that they wouldn’t allow anybody to be a stranger in his own land. This was a reference to Necip Fazil Kisakurek’s poem ‘Sakarya,’ which is often cited by rightist, religious and conservative circles. The poem says that you’re a stranger in your own land, an outcast in your own land. Religious and conservative circles have been feeling like outcasts and outsiders since the foundation of the republic, but since the multiparty era they’ve had the chance to express themselves. There’s a political tradition in the phrase ‘minority rule’ which is often mentioned by the conservative press. The issue isn’t limited to headscarves or even secularism. It’s is deeper and more serious. This is a fight which started with the shift to the multiparty era, and the story of this fight is too long for this space. But firstly we should say that the problem isn’t the continuation of minority rule, as conservatives argue. It’s a fact that the number of ‘others’ opposed to the conservatives is small. But, despite what some argue, these others haven’t been the ‘minority elite’ for a long time. During each government since the 1950s, the conservatives have ascended into a higher class. On the other hand, the class of ‘elite bureaucrats’ has fallen in status and seen its importance shrink. Under these circumstances, only an ignorance of history allows one to say that this class is fighting to keep its privileges. Now the system is resisting the latest wave of conservatives as centered around certain symbols. So saying this is about ‘official-civilian’ or ‘elite-commonwealth’ issues is incorrect. Why the ruling party and its circles present the issue this way is understandable politically. But apparently this isn’t something which is often mentioned politically. In other words, the conservative actually still see the issue this way. It’s a ruling party which feels like a stranger in its own land, and this angers it. It’s also a ruling party which feels victimized, even though it has a lot of power. This is a bit strange, because having the power while seeing oneself as a victim lies behind today’s ‘fearful anger.’ After all, we shouldn’t leave behind equality. At this point, the opposition should do something, but the ruling party’s supporters should do more. Erdogan should consider that he’s actually making things harder for his supporters. The great interest in supporting the ruling party slavishly and also words of anger and aggressiveness through the mistreatment suffered by the opposition " though it’s an opposition " fan the flames of tension and make things harder for the opposition party. Those who don’t want to be strangers in their own land should understand that they may be strangers on the headscarf issue, but not about having economic and political power, and thus nobody sees them as strangers. On the contrary, some are anxious that one day they might use this power against everybody.” [07] ENDTurkish Press Review Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |
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