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Turkish Press Review, 08-06-19
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
19.06.2008
CONTENTS
[01] PRESIDENT GUL CALLS ON POLITICAL LEADERS, STATE ORGANS TO MAINTAIN DECORUM IN MIDST OF DEBATE
[02] LEADERS TO MEET AT GROUNDBREAKING FOR KARS-TBILISI-BAKU RAILWAY PROJECT
[03] ERDOGAN TOUTS TURKEY'S PROGRESS, DETERMINATION TO FOREIGN INVESTORS
[04] BABACAN ATTENDS OIC FOREIGN MINISTERS MEETING
[05] DEFENSE MINISTER DUE IN ITALY
[06] US' FRIED CALLS ON ARMENIA TO RECOGNIZE CURRENT BORDERS WITH TURKEY
[07] UN'S PASCOE: "THE TWO LEADERS ON CYPRUS ARE DETERMINED TO SOLVE THE ISLAND'S DISPUTES"
[08] FRENCH PM COMES OUT AGAINST REFERENDUM ON TURKEY'S EU ACCESSION
[09] EP HOLDS MEETING TO DISCUSS TURKEY
[10] CULPRIT WANTED
[01] PRESIDENT GUL CALLS ON POLITICAL LEADERS, STATE ORGANS TO MAINTAIN
DECORUM IN MIDST OF DEBATE
President Abdullah Gul yesterday received foreign trade ministers from the
Asia-Pacific region at the Cankaya Presidential Palace. Afterwards, Gul
stated that he was closely following Turkey's ongoing political debates.
"In all these debates, certain manners, procedures and levels should be
maintained," he added. "It is in the interest of all parties to preserve
our national unity and integrity and to maintain economic and political
stability." /Star/
[02] LEADERS TO MEET AT GROUNDBREAKING FOR KARS-TBILISI-BAKU RAILWAY
PROJECT
President Abdullah Gul and his Azerbaijani and Georgian counterparts, Ilham
Aliyev and Mihail Saakashvili, next week will attend a groundbreaking
ceremony in Kars for the Turkish leg of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars Railway
Project. The venture, which is set to connect Turkey, Azerbaijan and
Georgia via a railway, aims at developing energy cooperation between the
three countries. Some 6.5 million tons of cargo and 1.5 million passengers
are expected to be transported via the railway in the first year following
its construction. /Hurriyet/
[03] ERDOGAN TOUTS TURKEY'S PROGRESS, DETERMINATION TO FOREIGN INVESTORS
Addressing the Fifth Investment Advisory Council meeting in Istanbul
yesterday, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said, "Despite global and
domestic obstacles, uncertainties, and resistance from some European
countries, Turkey is determinedly continuing to pursue its reform efforts
towards full European Union membership without any backtracking." Erdogan
said that the government's economic reforms had made Turkey an attractive
destination for foreign investments, attracting $22 billion in such
investment last year, and added that thanks to those reforms, Turkey also
had met an important Maastricht criterion on its budget deficit. Stressing
that he places great importance on winning foreign investors' confidence,
he said, "The government has strived to improve the atmosphere of stability
and trust for foreign investors, and will continue to do so." Erdogan
pledged that Turkey's fiscal discipline and monetary policy would continue
without any concessions. Many senior representatives of multinational
corporations attended the meeting. /Turkiye/
[04] BABACAN ATTENDS OIC FOREIGN MINISTERS MEETING
Foreign Minister Ali Babacan, currently in Kampala, Uganda, yesterday
attended the 35th meeting of foreign ministers of the Organization of the
Islamic Conference (OIC) and held a series of talks. Speaking to reporters
afterwards, Babacan said that the Cyprus issue and the situation of the
Turkish minority living in Greece's Western Thrace region had been
discussed. Stating that that many countries appreciate Turkey's mediating
peace negotiations between Israel and Syria, he added, "The Mideast peace
process has two basic planks, namely Israel and Palestine and Israel and
Syria. Developments between Israel and Palestine have not been fruitful,
but the second round of Israeli-Syrian meetings concluded successfully, and
peace talks held under Turkey's auspices will continue with the sides
meeting again." In related news, Babacan is expected to skip a
Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) meeting set for June
26, as it conflicts with a National Security Council (NSC) meeting the same
day. /Star-Aksam/
[05] DEFENSE MINISTER DUE IN ITALY
Defense Minister Vecdi Gonul is set to travel to Italy today to attend the
25th International Workshop on Global Security held by the Center for
Strategic Decision Research in Rome. The event brings together military
officials and experts from different countries each year. /Turkish Daily
News/
[06] US' FRIED CALLS ON ARMENIA TO RECOGNIZE CURRENT BORDERS WITH TURKEY
US Deputy Secretary of State Dan Fried said yesterday that Armenia should
make efforts to normalize relations with Turkey. Testifying before the
House of Representatives Foreign Relations Committee, Fried urged Armenia
to be ready to recognize its current borders with Turkey, clearly express
that it has no claim to any portion of modern Turkey's territory, and act
constructively in response to Turkey's efforts. Fried's remarks were the
first formal statement of this sort by a US high-level official made to
Congress, where the Armenian lobby wields great influence. /Hurriyet/
[07] UN'S PASCOE: "THE TWO LEADERS ON CYPRUS ARE DETERMINED TO SOLVE THE
ISLAND'S DISPUTES"
Lynn Pascoe, the UN’s undersecretary-general for political affairs,
yesterday held talks in both the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC)
and Greek Cyprus. Speaking to reporters afterwards, Pascoe said that he
believes TRNC President Mehmet Ali Talat and Greek Cypriot administration
leader Demetris Christofias are determined to solve the island's disputes
and build a united Cyprus. Stating that the process is going well and
developments are positive, he added, "We have to see the positive sides of
the process through problems. The two leaders' decisions and the steps they
take are very important, and we will help them in that process." Pascoe
added that they are encouraging continued work by the two leaders and
bilateral technical committees. Talat's Special Representative for the
European Union and UN talks Ozdil Nami today is set to meet with
Christofias' representative, George Iacovou, to fix the date for a meeting
between the leaders. /Star/
[08] FRENCH PM COMES OUT AGAINST REFERENDUM ON TURKEY'S EU ACCESSION
During a debate on proposed constitutional changes in the French Senate
yesterday, French Prime Minister Francois Fillion raised an objection to an
article proposing a referendum on Turkey's possible European Union
membership. "A large number of senators don't approve of this article," he
said. The article is expected to be rejected by the Senate. /Today's Zaman/
[09] EP HOLDS MEETING TO DISCUSS TURKEY
The European Parliament yesterday held a meeting to discuss recent issues
in Turkey, ruling the ruling party closure case, secularism and the
headscarf ban. Former Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz, Freedom and Solidarity
Party (ODP) leader Ufuk Uras and journalist Mehmet Ali Birand were guests
of the gathering, which was held by the EP's Greens Group. At the meeting,
Yilmaz said that unlike Christianity, Islam regulates social life, and so
Turkey has to protect secularism and take measures to make sure its
principles are internalized by the people. For his part, Uras said that in
the last 40 years 24 parties have been closed down in Turkey, criticizing
both the closings and the university headscarf ban. Birand said that
continued discussion of secularism in Turkey showed the clumsiness of post-
Ataturk politicians. /Hurriyet-Milliyet/
FROM THE COLUMNS… FROM THE COLUMNS… FROM THE COLUMNS…
[10] CULPRIT WANTED
BY OKAY GONENSIN (VATAN)
Columnist Okay Gonensin comments on recent political developments. A
summary of his column is as follows:
"Whenever our economy is assessed, the idea of a general crisis and the
element of political instability are brought up. Of course, political
instability is very important for people who have invested in Turkey or
even people who made lots of money from financial maneuvering. Without
political stability, bureaucrats find it difficult to take decisions,
things don't work, and nobody wants to take risks. Justice and Development
Party (AKP) spokesmen say similar things about the closure case against it,
warning that new problems and the power vacuum resulting from this case
could cause new economic problems. True, but we may say, physician, heal
thyself!
Last year's presidential elections sparked the current political crisis,
and top AKP officials didn't seek consensus, but won by sowing conflict.
Again, the AKP failed to respond to people's hope for a new, modern
constitution, and turned this into an area of conflict. While the effects
of this tension spread, new pressure on the headscarf issue came from the
AKP. While we wonder what will happen next, we should see these great
political mistakes recently made by the AKP. The AKP should see them
clearly. Otherwise it might repeat the same mistakes and exacerbate the
political crisis.
The AKP is known to be making similar calculations, but it never talks
about these issues in public. One of the reasons for this, and maybe the
most important one, may be efforts to not anger Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan. But the difference between Turkey's political future and Erdogan's
getting angry is very great, and people who are concerned about the future
and who want to make something new in politics shouldn't shrink from
angering him. Many people argue that the change between the Erdogan of the
aborted spring 2007 presidential elections and the Erdogan of last July's
general elections comes from psychological reasons. People in Ankara say
that Erdogan actually wanted to be president but he made a mistake and had
to let Abdullah Gul get the post. Politicians who lose touch with reality
reach a dead end. The AKP will find a new road no matter what the ruling in
the closure case is. This road has no room for more mistakes. The price for
repeating the same mistakes would be steep."
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