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Turkish Press Review, 09-02-03
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
03.02.2009
CONTENTS
[01] GUL DUE IN SAUDI ARABIA TODAY
[02] GUL: "HAMAS SHOULD BE PART OF THE MIDEAST PEACE PROCESS"
[03] CICEK: "TURKEY WANTS TO PROTECT RELATIONS WITH ISRAEL"
[04] PALESTINIAN PRESIDENT ABBAS TO VISIT ANKARA
[05] IRAN'S PRESIDENT TO INVITE GUL TO ECO MEETING IN TEHRAN
[06] UN'S BAN: "THE REGION NEEDS ERDOGAN'S LEADERSHIP AND MEDIATION"
[07] OIC: "OBAMA SAYS THE US CAN WORK WITH MUSLIMS"
[08] ITALIAN FM: "THE DAVOS INCIDENT WILL NOT AFFECT TURKEY'S ROLE IN PEACE"
[09] SIMSEK: "THE IMF SHOULD CONSIDER TURKEY'S CHANGING STRUCTURE AND THE WORLD ECONOMY"
[01] GUL DUE IN SAUDI ARABIA TODAY
President Abdullah Gul and a delegation including Defense Minister Vecdi
Gonul, State Minister for Foreign Trade Kursat Tuzmen, Industry Minister
Zafer Caglayan and Agriculture and Rural Affairs Minister Mehdi Eker will
pay an official visit to Saudi Arabia today, along with a large business
delegation. Gul is expected to discuss recent developments in the region,
Israel's attacks in Gaza, and bilateral relations during his contacts. Gul
and his delegation will be greeted by Saudi King Abdullah at the airport,
followed by a dinner hosted by the monarch. Gul will later proceed to
Jeddah to meet with Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, the Turkish scholar who heads the
Organization for the Islamic Conference (OIC). /Hurriyet/
[02] GUL: "HAMAS SHOULD BE PART OF THE MIDEAST PEACE PROCESS"
President Abdullah Gul yesterday received at the Cankaya Presidential
Palace a delegation of teachers and students from the Four Operations
Education Center, a primary educational institution in the Turkish Republic
of Northern Cyprus (TRNC). During the meeting, Gul reiterated Turkey's firm
support for the TRNC in all areas, adding that thanks to this support,
Turkish Cypriots would always feel safe. Stressing that Turkey places great
importance on the TRNC's development and stability, he assured the Turkish
Cypriots that the pains of the past would not be repeated. Gul also spoke
at length with the children in the delegation. In related news, speaking to
a Saudi daily before traveling to Riyadh for a visit today, Gul said that
Hamas should be included in the Middle East peace process. Stressing the
importance of the unity of the Palestinians for reaching a lasting peace in
the region, Gul also urged Hamas to change its stance on the peace process.
/Hurriyet-Aksam/
[03] CICEK: "TURKEY WANTS TO PROTECT RELATIONS WITH ISRAEL"
After yesterday's Cabinet meeting, government spokesperson and Deputy Prime
Minister Cemil Cicek told reporters that Turkey places special importance
on its relations with Israel. Stating that Turkey wants to protect its ties
with Israel, Cicek added, "False and irrelevant assessments of relations
between Turkey and Israel have been made." Cicek reiterated that Turkey's
stance on Gaza has nothing to do with the Israeli people but the
humanitarian tragedy there. Saying that Turkey is working to ensure a
lasting peace and cease-fire, he added, "Turkey thinks that Palestinians'
democratic choice should not be ignored and Hamas should not be excluded
from the process but rather should be part of the solution." Cicek also
urged Hamas to act accordingly. /Star/
[04] PALESTINIAN PRESIDENT ABBAS TO VISIT ANKARA
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will visit Ankara this weekend as the
guest of President Abdullah Gul. Abbas will also meet with Prime Minister
Recep Tayyip Erdogan. During the meeting, Erdogan is expected to push for a
compromise between the disputing Hamas and Fatah. /Milliyet/
[05] IRAN'S PRESIDENT TO INVITE GUL TO ECO MEETING IN TEHRAN
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will invite his Turkish counterpart
Abdullah Gul to a meeting of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) on
March 11 in Tehran. Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Muhsin Telia is
expected to visit Ankara today to convey Ahmadinejad's invitation to Gul.
Representatives from Pakistan, Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan,
Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan will also attend the
meeting. /Hurriyet/
[06] UN'S BAN: "THE REGION NEEDS ERDOGAN'S LEADERSHIP AND MEDIATION"
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon yesterday telephoned Prime Minister Recep
Tayyip Erdogan to express his regret at Erdogan suddenly leaving the World
Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, following a contentious seminar that
he also attended. Saying that he had been unable to meet with Erdogan in
the wake of the seminar, Ban added that its moderator had unfairly
prevented Erdogan from expressing his views. "We know that the Middle East
will get through this thorny and painful process," he added. Ban stressed
that the region needs Erdogan's leadership and mediation. For his part,
Erdogan reiterated that Turkey is always ready to do its part to promote
peace in the region. /Aksam/
[07] OIC: "OBAMA SAYS THE US CAN WORK WITH MUSLIMS"
New US President Barack Obama has said he is confident the US can work
together with the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC). In a letter
to Turkish scholar and OIC Secretary-General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, Obama
said he would work to improve relations with the group, the Jeddah-based
organization said Sunday on its website. Obama also thanked the OIC, which
represents 1.5 billion Muslims in 57 countries, for its congratulations
after his Jan. 20 inauguration, the group said. /Today's Zaman/
[08] ITALIAN FM: "THE DAVOS INCIDENT WILL NOT AFFECT TURKEY'S ROLE IN
PEACE"
The incident between Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and
Israeli President Simon Peres during last week's World Economic Forum in
Davos, Switzerland will not negatively affect Turkey's diplomatic role in
the Middle East peace process, Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini
said yesterday. "The prime minister's stance can be explained by the
country's internal political dynamics," Frattini said during a meeting in
Milan. /Hurriyet Daily News/
[09] SIMSEK: "THE IMF SHOULD CONSIDER TURKEY'S CHANGING STRUCTURE AND THE
WORLD ECONOMY"
After certain issues are solved, Turkey will invite International Monetary
Fund officials to Turkey to continue talks on a possible standby agreement,
State Minister for the Economy Mehmet Simsek said yesterday. He said if the
Fund meets Turkey's expectations, Turkey could complete talks with the Fund
and send its letter of intent by the end of this month. Stressing that the
new agreement should not be based on past IMF prescriptions, Simsek said
the IMF had earlier sought to require that public borrowing and
expenditures be reduced and government revenues be raised. "But Turkey
doesn't have any public borrowing problem, but rather fiscal discipline,
and so the program should take into consideration the current global
conditions and Turkey's changing structure," he said. Simsek said that
Turkey could easily meet its foreign finance needs of $30-15 billion this
year as it has sufficient foreign exchange reserves. Touching on his talks
in Davos, he said that he had had the opportunity to meet with many foreign
investors there, who told him they find Turkey attractive despite the
crisis. Simsek predicted that there would be direct foreign capital inflow
to Turkey this year, particularly in energy, medicine and telecommunications.
After a Cabinet meeting yesterday, Deputy Prime Minister Cemil Cicek said
Turkey currently doesn't need any foreign financing but wants to get the
IMF's symbolic support at a time of global economic crisis, as it is an
important accreditation institution in the world economy. /Sabah/
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