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Turkish Press Review, 01-10-31
From: Turkish Directorate General of Press and Information <http://www.byegm.gov.tr>
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Press
& Information
Turkish
Press
Foreign
Press in Turkey
Turkish
Press Review >>
Press
Guide
Summary of the political and economic
news in the Turkish press this morning
31.10.2001
CONTENTS
[01] NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL MEETING
[02] LEADERS HOLD SUMMIT
[03] CILLER VISITS DEMIREL
[04] GEN. KIVRIKOGLU: "NO CONCESSIONS CONCERNING
ESDP"
[05] "IT IS HIGH TIME FOR SELF-CRITICISM"
[06] US PRESS: "GERMANY IS FIGHTING ISLAMIC
ORGANIZATIONS"
[07] GERMAN AMBASSADOR VISITS TOURISM MINISTER TASAR
[08] TURK: "NEW ASSET SHARING SYSTEM IS FOR FUTURE
GENERATIONS"
[09] DERVIS: THE WORLD SUPPORTS TURKEY
[10] "TURKEY IS OUR FRIEND"
[11] 40TH YEAR OF TURKISH IMMIGRATION TO GERMANY
[12] NEW THREAT TO CYPRUS FROM EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT
[13] PROBLEMS OF US FIRMS IN TURKEY UNDER REVIEW
[14] TURKEY ELECTED TO UNESCO COUNCIL
[15] IMF: WE WILL STRENGTHEN THE TURKISH ECONOMY
[16] BAKU-CEYHAN PROJECT
[17] TURKISH BUSINESSMEN IN IRAQ
[18] FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE
COLUMNS
[19] GENERAL ELECTIONS BY YILMAZ OZTUNA (MILLIYET)
[01] NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL MEETING
The National Security Council (MGK) headed by
President Ahmet Necdet Sezer held its ordinary October meeting at the
Presidential Palace yesterday. Following the five-hour meeting, a
statement was issued saying, "Domestic and international
developments , as well as the operation being carried out in
Afghanistan, were discussed during the meeting. Additionally, the MGK
decided to advise the government to extend the State of Emergency for
four more months in Diyarbakir, Hakkari, Sirnak and Tunceli." As
part of the amendment to Article 118 of the Constitution, which
increased the number of civilian members at the MGK from 5 to 9,
Deputy Prime Ministers Devlet Bahceli, Mesut Yilmaz, Husamettin Ozkan
and Justice Minister Hikmet Sami Turk also attended the meeting.
/Turkiye/
[02] LEADERS HOLD SUMMIT
The leaders of the coalition government met
yesterday following the MGK meeting. Chief of General Staff Gen.
Huseyin Kivrikoglu, Deputy Prime Minister Husamettin Ozkan, Foreign
Minister Ismail Cem, Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Ugur Ziyal and
National Intelligence Service Undersecretary Senkal Atasagun also
participated in the meeting After the meeting, Prime Minister Bulent
Ecevit told reporters that the group had evaluted recent developments
in the operations in Afghanistan and pointed to Turkey's ongoing
support for the US. /Turkiye/
[03] CILLER VISITS DEMIREL
True Path Party (DYP) leader Tansu Ciller paid a
suprise visit to the former President Suleyman Demirel yesterday,
meeting with him for more than an hour. Stressing that the two had
discussed national problems and ways to solve them, Ciller urgently
called on the government to hold elections. She said, "If
public's support for a government falls below 10 %, the thing to be
done is to resign, as BorisYeltsin did." /Turkiye/
[04] GEN. KIVRIKOGLU: "NO CONCESSIONS CONCERNING
ESDP"
Answering reporters' questions at a reception held
by President Ahmet Necdet Sezer to mark October 29, Republic Day, at
the Cankaya Presidential Palace two days ago, Chief of General Staff
Gen. Huseyin Kivrikoglu made remarks on the subject of European
Security and Defense Policy (ESDP). Stating that Turkey was one of the
West's most reliable allies, Kivrikoglu said, "Turkey's best
interests require it to take part in the new European security
architecture. There is a newly emerged re-structuring process in the
world just now. The US says that Europe should establish its own
security architecture through using NATO facilities. The EU does not
want to see us in this new structure. However, we cannot accept their
using NATO facilities yet excluding us from this process at the same
time. We would take only scenarios which include Turkey into
consideration. Nobody should expect us to accept proposals which don't
clearly put forth Turkey's position." /Cumhuriyet/
[05] "IT IS HIGH TIME FOR SELF-CRITICISM"
Religious Affairs Directorate Head Mehmet Nuri
Yilmaz issued a message to mark Berat Kandili (an Islamic holy day).
Stating that Islamic countries should engage in self-criticism
concerning the issue of terrorism, Yilmaz said, "Muslims must
never support terrorists, those who perpetrate horrifying acts of
terrorism. The Islamic world should not take stances supporting
terrorism. The line between religious beliefs and terrorism should be
very clearly demarcated." Yilmaz said that today Islam has the
unfortunate reputation of supporting terrorism. He added that since
this image has nothing to do with Islam's essence, what Islam really
is, the Islamic world should do its utmost to correct this impression.
/Sabah/
[06] US PRESS: "GERMANY IS FIGHTING ISLAMIC
ORGANIZATIONS"
Prominent US news magazine Newsweek and business
daily The Wall Street Journal have both reported that Germany's
government is aiming to end the activities of radical Islamic
organizations through amending certain laws. German Interior Minister
Otto Schilly has reportedly launched an initiative to end the
activities of Kaplancilar, a group which has pursued illegal aims and
supported terrorist activities targeting Turkey. Schilly has also
begun to review the activities of Milli Gorus (National View). /Sabah/
[07] GERMAN AMBASSADOR VISITS TOURISM MINISTER TASAR
Turkish Tourism Minister Mustafa Tasar received
German Ambassador Rudolph Schmidt in his office in Ankara. Tasar
stated that Turkey and Germany have an important relationship and
share a number of issues in common, adding that all kinds of
cooperation between both countries would be helpful. Schimdt said that
this year has seen a 40 percent increase in German tourists visiting
Turkey, setting a new record. Schmidt added that tourism was not
simply economic in nature but that it also has a cultural dimension
and continued: "German citizens know that Turkey is a Muslim
country and they see this when they come to Turkey. They leave Turkey
with very good memories after their visits." /Turkish Daily News/
[08] TURK: "NEW ASSET SHARING SYSTEM IS FOR FUTURE
GENERATIONS"
Justice Minister Hikmet Sami Turk said on Tuesday
that the revised version of the Civil Code aims to bring a brand new
asset sharing system to future generations. Receiving representatives
of women's associations, Turk briefed them about the Civil Code
amendment. Turk remarked that the most important characteristics of
the amended Civil Code would be full gender equality. /Turkish Daily
News/
[09] DERVIS: THE WORLD SUPPORTS TURKEY
State Minister for the Economy Kemal Dervis said
that aid provided through foreign financing is important for Turkey in
order to put its real economy in order. Dervis issued a statement
saying that "Turkey is supported by industrialized countries and
by international financial organizations, and this support is very
important for Turkey's restucturing program and for it to grow its
economy". He also stated that IMF Turkey desk chief Juha Kahkonen
accopmlied by irs committee would visit Turkey in few days for its
10th review and in order to reaffirm the foreign finance provided to
Turkey. /Hurriyet/
[10] "TURKEY IS OUR FRIEND"
H. Nasser Ziya a represantative of Afghanistan's
former government serving in Italy said that he sees Turkey as a
friend because of the effort that it has shown to convene a Afghan
summit in Ankara. He also mentioned that the Turkey's effort pleased
Afghan King Zahir Sah./Hürriyet/
[11] 40TH YEAR OF TURKISH IMMIGRATION TO GERMANY
Germany celebrated on Tuesday an agreement signed
40 years ago with Turkey inviting workers to help rebuild its postwar
economy, but admitted that more must be done to improve their
integration. About 6,800 Turkish workers came in the first year of the
deal, signed on October 30, 1961. The influx accelerated after that,
until West Germany closed its doors in 1973 as unemployment spiralled
during the global oil crisis that year. Today, Germany's Turkish
community numbers almost 2.5 million-the biggest minority group in a
population of some 82 million. "The Turkish population in Germany
has not only contributed considerably to the success of the German
economy in the past, but it also helps to secure our prosperity today
as taxpayers, consumers, investors and entrepreneurs," Chancellor
Gerhard Schroeder said in a statement. /Turkish Daily News/
[12] NEW THREAT TO CYPRUS FROM EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT
Jacques Poos, the European Parliament's Cyprus
Rapporteur and a known partisan on behalf of Greece said yesterday
that "Until a solution is found to the Cyprus problem, neither
Turkey nor Turkish Cypriots can be members of the European
Union"./Türkiye/
[13] PROBLEMS OF US FIRMS IN TURKEY UNDER REVIEW
Retired Gen. Brent Scowcroft, a former advisor the
first US President Bush, is heading a delegation of the
Turkish-American Council that will be in Turkey on Nov. 5-10 to hold
high-level talks. The delegation will be accompanied by the
representatives of many US companies and will meet Turkish President
Ahmet Necdet Sezer, Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit, Deputy Prime
Minister Mesut Yilmaz, Foreign Minister Ismail Cem and State Minister
for the Economy Kemal Dervis. Gen. Scowcroft said that the attacks of
Sept.11 had underlined the importance of Turkish-American relations.
ATC Chairman McCurdy said Turkey's problems existed mainly in its
energy sector. McCurdy said the ATC would present the government with
a package of proposals to address these problems, but declined to go
into detail. Both McCurdy and Scowcroft said that the elimination of
these and other prblems would show that Turkey is a country that can
be invested in. They underlined that there were no problems at all
between US companies and the Turkish government when it came to
defense matters./Turkish Daily News/
[14] TURKEY ELECTED TO UNESCO COUNCIL
Turkey has been elected to the United Nations
Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)'s
Administration Council membership for the 2001-2005 term. The Council
is the execution organ of UNESCO and plays an important role in making
decisions in this international institution. /Turkiye/
[15] IMF: WE WILL STRENGTHEN THE TURKISH ECONOMY
International Monetary Fund (IMF) Chairman Horst
Kohler said that the terrorist attacks on the US had negatively
affected the Turkish economy and added, "We are working to
strengthen it." After the IMF Executive Board meeting on Turkey,
Kohler remarked that a delegation would be sent to Turkey for the
completion of the tenth review period and according to its advice, the
topic of additional finance for the year 2002 would become clear and
the delayed fourth credit tranche would likely be released. /Turkiye/
[16] BAKU-CEYHAN PROJECT
US State Department Senior Advisor for Caspian
Energy Diplomacy Steven Mann said in a speech delivered in Askabat
that the construction of the Baku-Tfilisi-Ceyhan pipeline would begin
next summer. Stating the first pipe laying was expected in 2003, Mann
said that there were still ongoing detailed engineering studies
concerning the project. /Cumhuriyet/
[17] TURKISH BUSINESSMEN IN IRAQ
Trade between Turkey and Iraq, which largely came
to a standstill after the embargo emposed on the latter a decade ago,
has begun to revive. Some148 Turkish businessmen, headed by Foreign
Trade Undersecretary Kursat Tuzmen, flew to Baghdad yesterday to
participate in the 34th International Trade and Industrial Products
Fair. The fair will be held on Nov. 1-14 and 112 Turkish firms are
expected to attend. /Turkiye/
[18] FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE
COLUMNS
[19] GENERAL ELECTIONS BY YILMAZ OZTUNA (MILLIYET)
Columnist Yilmaz Oztuna writes on the need for
general elections. A summary of his column is as follows: "A
consensus is being reached on holding general elections. Mr. Demirel's
repeated call for elections have drawn attention. He is undoubtedly
the world's most experienced living statesman. He has doubled the
wealth of Turkey in the years 1965-1971... Although the official
figures speak for themselves, those who want to forget them or let
them be forgotten would like to influence today's generations by
speaking ill of them. Early general elections are held to find a way
out from a crisis. They are a valve for democracies to let off steam.
Otherwise there willl be an explosion. If we wait for this legislature
to run its full course, interventions in the political structure may
be seen. The military, judiciary, media, business world and everyone
tries to give advice to the government. Aren't we we in such a
situation now? The alternative to the ruling party is the opposition.
In situations where the oposition can't be an alternative to the
government, there is no other choice but elections. Sometimes to set a
date for early elections without losing any time and determination can
avert developments for the worse. An election with a set date will
decrease tension, and increase hopes. In fact, democracy means
elections. Three opposition parties are calling for early elections.
They should not avoid general elections. Even the ruling parties have
a chance in a general election, provided they act with reason. We
would like this chance to be given. Local elections should also be
held on the same day."
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