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Turkish Press Review, 08-05-26Turkish 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 morning26.05.2008CONTENTS
[01] ERDOGAN ATTENDS LEBANESE PARLIAMENT'S PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION SESSIONPrime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Foreign Minister Ali Babacan yesterday attended a full assembly session of Lebanese Parliament which convened to elect army chief Michel Sleiman as president in a first step towards defusing an often deadly 18-month standoff between feuding political factions. Before his departure, at Ankara's Esenboga Airport, Erdogan said that Turkey would continue its efforts to find solutions for problems in the region through dialogue and compromise, adding that Ankara wants stability and prosperity in the region. In addition to Erdogan and Babacan, Qatar's emir and his prime minister -- the driving force behind the Doha agreement -- and foreign ministers from Syria, Saudi Arabia, France, and Iran were present at the gathering. Sleiman became the 11th president of Lebanon by votes of 118 deputies. Following the election and the presidential swearing-in ceremony, Erdogan met with Qatar's premier and foreign minister and Lebanon's Saad Hariri, and then returned to Turkey. /Aksam/If we had remained silent as a party elected by 16.5 million voters, we couldn't have been the voice of the silent crowd, said yesterday Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Speaking to his ruling Justice and Development Party's (AKP) women branches meeting in Ankara, Erdogan criticized latest statements by the Supreme Court of Appeals and the State Council, saying, "Everyone should do his job. Legislation is working. It is not possible to interfere with legislation.” Claiming that the supreme court of appeals board of directors do not act through the constitutional law or with the powers it got from the law, Erdogan stated that such an authorization is not possible. "If a statement is issued against a party which is sued for ban and which received votes of 16.5 million citizens, it would be betraying all these people to leave these notes unanswered,” he added. Touching on issues such as secularism and democracy, Erdogan said, "Nobody has the right to force religious belief. Some of my colleagues prefer different lifestyles. As a guarantee for liberty, secularism means differences. We do not defend secularism as a system but we experience it at the same time. The issue is not secularism; it is whether Turkey will be a country of democracy or not.” /Sabah/ [02] CROATIAN FM: "THOSE WHO SAY TURKEY ISN'T IN EUROPE SHOULD LOOK AT THE MAP"In an interview with Milliyet daily, Croatian Foreign Minister Gordan Jandrokovic said that those who believe that Turkey doesn't belong to Europe should look at the map. Asked what Turkey's importance for the European Union is, Jandrokovic said, "Within the context of region, Turkey has a great importance." He added, "One has to take this into consideration while talking about Turkey. For this reason, we closely follow Turkey-EU relations. Our principle is as follows: Every country fulfilling the EU criteria should be an EU member. /Milliyet/[03] DEPUTY PM CICEK: "I DON'T BELIVE THAT THE AKP WILL BE CLOSED DOWN"Speaking to Haberturk channel, Deputy Prime Minister Cemil Cicek said that the closure case against the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) was a surprise for him and that he doesn't believe that the party would be closed down. He said, "Europe finds it unfavorable to close down a party, except the criteria of the Venice Commission," adding, "In an atmosphere where there are so many scenarios, the AKP shouldn't respond to any question, before the case is concluded. We are the government. If the party is closed down and the premier is banned, who would take such a country seriously?" /Milliyet/[04] BAYKAL TO VISIT SANLIURFA, DIYARBAKIR NEXT WEEKMain opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Deniz Baykal is set to visit Sanliurfa and Diyarbakir next week as part of local election campaign to speak about CHP’s solutions for the problems prevailing in the southeastern region. CHP will also organize a meeting on agriculture and farmers in Sanliurfa with Central Governing Body (MYK) members, deputies and scientists. /Sabah/[05] CHP TO OPEN REPRESENTATIVE OFFICE IN WASHINGTONSpeaking to Hurriyet daily, main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Deniz Baykal said that his party would open a representative office in Washington to tell its opinions properly to the audiences in the US. He said that with the representative office, the CHP aims to dispel misperceptions and prejudices on Turkey and the CHP. "The office will help the US officials, media members and other people see issues from the CHP's point of view and also establish contacts to exchange views," he said. Baykal also stated that his meetings with European Commission head Jose Manuel Barroso and the EU Commissioner for Enlargement Olli Rehn had indicated that the CHP needs to represent its opinions well on some important issues abroad. /Hurriyet/[06] TURKISH PARADE HELD IN NEW YORKThe 27th Traditional Turkish Day Parade, organized by the Federation of Turkish-American Associations (TADF), was held in New York City on May 24. State Minister Mustafa Said Yazicioglu and ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) Deputy Chairman Egemen Bagis were among participants of the parade which was met with great interest. /Cumhuriyet/[07] SIMSEK: "POLITICAL ROWS HARM ECONOMY"Warning that rising oil prices could considerably increase Turkey oil import costs and influence the economy negatively, State Minister for the Economy Mehmet Simsek said, "Instead of escalating political disputes, we should focus on our economic growth and maintain the reforms." Stressing that the national income had increased by three times during the last five years thanks to the government's economy policies, he said that political and economic stability should be preserved to avert possible difficulties in the economy. Stating that Turkey's economy needs more skilled workers, Simsek also said that the government would implement a new program to train skilled workers, needed by different sectors. /Star/[08] TURKEY'S CEYLAN WINS CANNES' BEST DIRECTOR PRIZETurkish director Nuri Bilge Ceylan won the prize of the best director yesterday for his searing family drama "Three Monkeys" at the 61st Cannes Film Festival. Turkish director attended the ceremony with his wife and said: "I dedicate my prize to my lonely and beautiful country". Faye Dunaway handed Ceylan his prize. Ceylan, maker of "Uzak" and "Climates," is a master of psychological subtlety and intimacy, shooting meticulously beautiful images helped by his use of high-definition digital video. Before Ceylan, Yılmaz Güney won the prize of Golden Palm with his movie called "The Road" in 1982, and last year Fatih Akın won the prize of the best script with his movie called "The Edge of Heaven." /All Papers/FROM THE COLUMNS… FROM THE COLUMNS… FROM THE COLUMNS… [09] DE VILLEPIN VERSUS SARKOZYBY FERAI TINC (HURRIYET)Columnist Ferai Tinc comments on former French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin's visit to Istanbul. A summary of her column is as follows: Former French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin was in Istanbul two days ago as the guest of Turkish Industrialists' and Businessmen's Association (TUSIAD). He tried to encourage Turkey on the European Union issue during the banquet, organized in his honor and attended mostly by the businessmen. The meeting of EU-Turkey Accession Council will be held in Brussels tomorrow. France again started to exclude the word 'accession' from relevant documents. It has done the same thing during last December's summit as well. This time Foreign Minister Ali Babacan displayed a harsher and more determined stance and thus the word 'accession' wasn't excluded, but the result will be clear in Brussels today. There is something clear in Europe. France, which has previously supported Turkey and opened the road for its candidacy, is now the one creating obstacles on it. De Villepin has just pointed out this issue, saying that he's concerned over Europe's future and that the Lisbon Agreement wouldn't be able to save Europe from this difficult situation, either. De Villepin thinks that Europe lacks the capacity to overcome the complex struggle which is required to include a country like Turkey. 'A Europe without Turkey is impossible,' said Villepin. Do you think he thinks differently than French President Nicolas Sarkozy only on this issue? No, but he reaches this conclusion, as he makes a different analysis of Europe. Sarkozy says that Europe's security depends on NATO, of which Turkey has already been a member. On the contrary, de Villepin thinks that NATO is now an American tool, through which the US influences and directs its allies. For de Villepin, the problem is about whether the EU will continue to exist with its own values in the 21st century or not. Europe is now facing such a critical problem and it's also too small to be able to face the needs of this century, because it has a low population and a limited geography. Europe should include Turkey in order to be able to embrace the 21st century. De Villepin told us these things in order to show how two French politicians from the same party consider Turkey differently. De Villepin also said that Sarkozy was temporary and told us to ignore the problems caused by him and continue our relations with the EU by fulfilling our responsibilities. By the way, I would like to remind you of the fact that de Villepin is getting ready for this year's elections in France. Is he really talking about ignoring about them? Unfortunately, these suggestions from Europe are inapplicable. Is this possible not to worry about a driver who always changes gears? When we say that we will harmonize with the acquis communautaire not for the EU, it doesn't spark a realistic and transforming reform process. So telling us to ignore it and think about the period in the next 20 years aren't sufficient to accelerate this process, either. Only one chapter was opened and closed in two years, there is Greek Cypriots' veto on eight chapters and membership talks on five chapters are underway. The process of screening is very slow. This process will be slower, considering the conditions for opening new chapters. If the EU-Turkey Accession Council is carried out tomorrow, it means Ankara's stake was influential on this. As de Villepin said, the EU membership process is very complicated. We shouldn't ignore this." Turkish Press Review Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |
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