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Turkish Press Review, 09-05-15Turkish 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 morning15.05.2009CONTENTS
[01] PRESIDENT GUL DUE IN SYRIAPresident Abdullah Gul today will travel to Syria for a three-day official visit upon the invitation of his Syrian counterpart Bashar Assad. Gul will be accompanied by State Minister Zafer Caglayan, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, Agriculture and Rural Affairs Minister Mehdi Eker and Culture and Tourism Minister Ertugrul Gunay. During the visit, bilateral relations, regional and other related issues will be discussed and comprehensive exchange of views on international issues will be carried out. Gul, who is expected to attend a businessmen's forum, will also proceed from Damascus to Aleppo to deliver a speech at the Aleppo University. /Cumhuriyet/[02] ERDOGAN URGES FAIR TREATMENT OF TURKEY'S EU ACCESSION BIDDuring an official visit to Warsaw, Poland yesterday, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan lashed out at leaders of Germany and France for opposing Turkey's EU accession bid, saying that the rules cannot be changed in the middle of the game. Speaking at a joint press conference after meeting his Polish counterpart Donald Tusk, Premier Erdogan commented on recent remarks made by German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy's, declaring that they shared a common stance regarding Turkey's EU accession and that it should be offered privileged partnership, not full EU membership. "I consider recent statements of the two leaders about Turkey's EU accession process quite unfortunate," Erdogan said. "The match has started, we're playing and the penalty rules are changing during the match. It's unacceptable." Urging EU leaders to treat Turkey's accession negotiations fairly, Erdogan said, "There are negotiation chapters and Turkey should become a full member after fulfilling the requirements of those chapters. That's the rule. We don't request full membership without fulfilling the requirements. On the other hand, I am quite sure that Turkey has fulfilled more membership criteria than most of 27 EU-states." He also stressed that such statements would not affect Turkish people's approach to the EU, asking honesty in politics. Erdogan also reiterated Turkey's commitment to the Nabucco natural gas pipeline project which is considered as an alternative supply route to reduce the EU's dependence on the Russian natural gas. For his part, Tusk said that the Union should live up to its commitments to Turkey. "We need to respect each other and also the agreements we have made," he said, adding that the EU members agreed that there would be no obstacles before Turkey's membership, once it fulfils the necessary criteria to join the Union. Turkey initiated EU membership talks in 2005, despite the opposition voiced in Germany and France. But none of these countries have blocked the talks. US President Barack Obama has also urged the EU to embrace Turkey as a full member. As part of his visit, Erdogan was also received by Polish President Lech Kaczynski, and met with Parliament Speaker Bogdan Borusewicz. Erdogan also met with members of the Turkish-Polish Businessmen's Association. State Minister for Foreign Trade Zafer Caglayan was also in attendance. /Turkiye/[03] FM DAVUTOGLU MEETS WITH REHNForeign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu yesterday met with EU Commissioner for Enlargement Olli Rehn in Stockholm, Sweden, which set to assume the European Union's rotating presidency on July 1. Speaking to a joint press conference afterwards, Rehn said that the European Union Commission was committed to Turkey's full membership talks, despite the proposal made by German Prime Minister Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy about a ‘privileged partnership’ status instead of full membership for Turkey. For his part, Davutoglu said, "Our aim in the EU process is full membership." He reiterated that Turkey would reject any alternative for Turkey's full membership bid, and that the full EU membership was strategically important for Turkey's foreign policy. /Star/[04] TURKEY TO INTEGRATE EGF AS AN OBSERVERTurkey will participate into the European Gendarmerie Force (EGF) as an observer, according to the statement by Foreign Ministry yesterday. The EGF was launched in September 2004 as a multinational cooperation structure of police forces, including Italy, Spain, France, Holland and Portugal. It reiterated that Turkey applied to the force to participate as an observer in 2005, and that Turkey's application was accepted two days ago in Paris, France during the High Level Interdepartmental Committee (CIMIN) meeting. /Aksam/[05] ISTANBUL TO HOST IMF-WORLD BANK ANNUAL MEETINGThe Annual meeting of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank will be held in Istanbul on October 6-7. Nearly 13,000 participants, including finance ministers and central bank governors of 185 countries from all over the world, are expected to attend the annual meeting. Kristalina Georgieva, the vice president and corporate secretary of the World Bank, who is currently in Istanbul to attend preparations for the meeting, told reporters yesterday that hundreds of seminars and sessions would be organized as part of the meeting. Georgieva said the IMF, World Bank and Turkey had established a team immediately after the decision to organize the meeting in Istanbul, adding that the team would be responsible for the coordination of activities. She said that Istanbul's amenities and assets, beauty, location and global importance persuaded the World Bank and the IMF to choose the city as the host of their annual meeting. Georgieva said that hosting such a conference would help Istanbul position itself not only as a destination for future international conferences of similar stature, but also as a global financial center. “Istanbul is a vibrant center for finance and investment and is able to host such events,” she said. The annual meeting, considered one of the year's most important international gatherings, will address issues related to the ongoing global financial crisis and attempt to come up with solutions to overcome the problems faced by certain developing and poor countries in the world. /Sabah/FROM THE COLUMNS… FROM THE COLUMNS… FROM THE COLUMNS… [06] "IT WAS VERY GOOD"BY FADIME OZKAN (STAR)Columnist Fadime Ozkan comments on Turkish-Azeri relations. A summary of her column is as follows: "The clouds were dispersed in Baku and now the spring is in the air. The resentment, which has occurred between Turkey and Azerbaijan recently with a potential to turn in to a crisis, ended with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's visit to Baku. We sounded out Baku which had the idea that the meetings aimed at normalizing Turkish-Armenian relations would result in opening the Armenian border before Nagorno-Karabakh recovers from occupation. Before Erdogan's visit, Azerbaijan was very offended and feared that Turkey would leave it alone. All the people whom we spoke to expressed their love for Turkey. They said that Turkey was the only country which understands Armenia and that when Armenia occupied their lands, Turkey has always been next to them. They also said that we are brothers and that they consider our prime minister as their prime minister as well. But they conclude their sentences by saying that they hope Turkey wouldn't disappoint them. When we met with a couple of authors, Azeri-Turkish Women Society Chairman Assoc. Prof. Tenzile Rustemhanli said that she wished that problems between Ankara-Yerevan and Baku are solved, Armenia leaves Azerbaijani lands and the peace prevails in the region. She added that but the EU, US or Russia wouldn't allow this. The Azeri media, which has made the Azeri public's sensitivity more fragile based on the news covered by the Armenian media, approaches the issue more fervently. Before the visit, all the people in Baku have been holding their breath, watching the Turkish TV channels and waiting for Erdogan to visit and tell them that he is next to them. Erdogan said following his meeting with Azeri President Ilham Aliyev that borders wouldn't be opened, unless Armenia withdraws from the lands it had occupied. So all of these people who were very concerned started to smile. Two statesmen gave the message to the people of these two friendly countries that there is no problem and that we are and we will continue to remain as two states and one nation. Aliyev said in Brussels that Turkey was asking a simple question of whether Karabagh is covered by the road map. Following his meeting with Erdogan, Aliyev gave a very simple and clear answer to his question by saying that the remarks made by his dear friend are the most valuable answer and that he was very grateful to Erdogan. When I asked some Azeri friends how the visit was paid by Erdogan, they said very clearly and simply that it was very good." Turkish Press Review Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |
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