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Turkish Press Review, 02-01-23
From: Turkish Directorate General of Press and Information <http://www.byegm.gov.tr>
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Press
& Information
Turkish
Press
Turkish
Press Review >>
Foreign
Press Guide
Summary of the political and economic
news in the Turkish press this morning
23.01.2002
CONTENTS
[01] SEZER WELCOMES TURKISH-EUROPEAN FOUNDATION ADMINISTRATORS
[02] TURKEY TO DOSTUM: "ESTABLISHING AFGHAN ARMY IS VITAL"
[03] GAYDALI DISCUSSES TURKISH MODEL WITH AFGHAN LEADER
[04] MHP OPPOSED TO AMENDING ARTICLE 312
[05] EUROPEAN PARLIAMENTARIANS ISSUE RESOLUTION ON CYPRUS
[06] ISRAEL SEEKS TURKISH HELP TO RESTART PEACE PROCESS
[07] KUTAN: "THE GOVERNMENT MUST WITHDRAW THE "MINI DEMOCRACY PACKAGE"
[08] YILMAZ SUPPORTS AMENDMENTS
[09] TURK: "KURDISH EDUCATION PUSH IS PKK DRIVEN"
[10] IRAN AND TURKEY CELEBRATE NATURAL GAS PUMPING
[11] FROM THE COLUMNS... FROM THE COLUMNS... FROM THE COLUMNS
[12] CHANCES OF BEING A MODEL BY SAMI KOHEN (MILLIYET)
[13] HELP FROM TURKS DURING DESPERATE HOURS BY TUFAN TURENC (HURRIYET)
[01] SEZER WELCOMES TURKISH-EUROPEAN FOUNDATION ADMINISTRATORS
President Ahmet Necdet Sezer yesterday received Turkish-European Foundation
administrators on the first anniversary of the foundation's establishment.
Foundation's Executive Board Chairman Ziya Muezzinoglu said if the European
Union found itself unable to embrace Turkey at its southern and eastern
edge, then European integration would remain unfulfilled. Muezzinoglu
briefed Sezer on the aims of the foundation. "Since its foundation," he
said, "Turkey has implemented a series of radical reforms to move in line
with the democratic values espoused by the European countries and under the
guidance of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. Turkey and the EU need each other.
Integration with the EU should be carried out on the basis of full
membership relations and with conditions equal to those of the other EU
member countries. Starting membership negotiations with the EU is of the
utmost importance in terms of Turkey's future. We believe our president
will support the efforts to meet these needs." /Cumhuriyet/
[02] TURKEY TO DOSTUM: "ESTABLISHING AFGHAN ARMY IS VITAL"
Gen. Rashid Dostum, the deputy defense minister in Afghanistan's interim
government, met yesterday with Turkish Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit and
Deputy Prime Minister Devlet
Bahceli. Ecevit told Dostum that the establishment of an Afghan national
army and police force were very important to sustain peace in the country.
Ecevit also said that Turkey would continue to give full support to
Afghanistan. Senkal
Atasagun, undersecretary of the National Intelligence Organization (MIT),
also attended the meeting.
/Hürriyet/
[03] GAYDALI DISCUSSES TURKISH MODEL WITH AFGHAN LEADER
State Minister Edip Safter Gaydali yesterday evaluated his meeting with
Hamid
Karzai, the prime minister of the interim government in Afghanistan, and
said that the Turkish experience with regional development could provide a
model for Afghanistan. The issue of the establishment of domestic Afghan
security forces was also discussed. Gaydali also related that Karzai had
spoken of the importance of a strong army and told him, "If we had a strong
army like Turkey, we would not be in our current situation."
/Hürriyet/
[04] MHP OPPOSED TO AMENDING ARTICLE 312
Deputy Prime Minister and Nationalist Action Party (MHP) leader Devlet
Bahceli yesterday came out against total abrogation of controversial Penal
Code Article 312, an article that the government wants to amend. Speaking
at the MHP's parliamentary group meeting, Bahceli said the proposed
amendments to Article 312 would neither save nor punish anyone. He said
that his party was against either the total lifting of the article or
making radical amendments to it in a manner that would "make it empty
shell." Bahceli stated that exempting from punishment provocative speech or
behavior which incites separatism and discrimination could not be
reconciled with democracy or the notion of freedom of speech. "For us,
propagating separatism instigating unrest have nothing to do with freedom
in a democratic, pluralist society," Bahceli said. Regarding Kurdish-
language education, Bahceli claimed that the campaigns for this were all
organized by the separatist terrorist organization PKK. He underlined that
under the Constitution no language other than Turkish could be thought in
Turkish schools. The MHP leader added that those who demand that Turkey
lift the death sentence even for times of war and terrorists as well should
first work to fight terrorist groups that endanger the Turkish people's
fundamental right: the right to live. Bahceli said his party was against a
complete lifting of the death penalty. On the Cyprus issue, Bahceli
stressed that the island was a national cause for the Turkish public. He
said that Cyprus constituted one of the critical matters in Turkey's
relations with the EU. Bahceli also stated that he sincerely hoped that the
current peace process in Cyprus would succeed. /All Papers/
[05] EUROPEAN PARLIAMENTARIANS ISSUE RESOLUTION ON CYPRUS
The European Council's Parliamentarians Assembly (ECPA) yesterday passed a
resolution urging both the Greek Cypriot administration and the Turkish
Republic of Northern Cyprus
(TRNC) to act to improve the situation on the island. Addressing the former,
the ECPA told it to avoid political messages that might provoke Turks
concerning the issue of EU membership. The resolution also emphasized that
international negotiators on the Cyprus issue should act more sensibly
concerning the titles of Turkish Cypriot administrators. The ECPA urged the
Greek Cypriots to make the efforts necessary for the Turkish side to be
able to participate in membership negotiations with the EU and also to
brief the Turkish side on the advantages of the
EU. The ECPA further urged the Turkish side to act more positively vis-à-
vis the EU and to lift limitations on Greek Cypriots' personal contacts.
The resolution also put forward that the TRNC act more reasonably
concerning its political parties' meetings with Greek Cypriot political
parties.
/Cumhuriyet/
[06] ISRAEL SEEKS TURKISH HELP TO RESTART PEACE PROCESS
Even as Israel has toughened its stance with the Palestinians and their
leaders, it sent its Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Avi Gil and Defense
Minister Undersecretary Amos Yaron yesterday to Ankara in an effort to
ensure its continued good relations with Turkey. Gil and Yaron blamed
Palestinian leader Yaser Arafat for the increasing tension in the region
and urged Ankara to use its influence on Arafat. Gil was welcomed by
Turkish Foreign Minister Ismail Cem and later released a statement to
journalists. Stating that Israel attached a great deal of importance to its
relations with Turkey, Gil said, "Therefore we would be very grateful if
Turkey contributed to ending the crisis and restarting political dialogue."
Gil added that he believed that Turkey's messages would be given to the
Palestinian side in the proper way and that Israeli Foreign Minister Simon
Perez and his Turkish counterpart Cem would meet in New York as part of the
Davos meetings on Jan. 31. The Turkish side reportedly emphasized to the
Israeli officials that it would not be realistic to request that the
violence cease completely before restarting negotiations and added that the
increasing violence was strengthening those opposed to peace. During
Yaron's contacts, efforts to solve problems of defense industry cooperation
between the two countries were in the foreground. During Yaron's meetings,
the situation of the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) and Israeli companies in
various modernization projects was discussed. /Cumhuriyet/
[07] KUTAN: "THE GOVERNMENT MUST WITHDRAW THE "MINI DEMOCRACY PACKAGE"
Felicity Party (SP) leader Recai Kutan called yesterday for the government
to withdraw the "mini democracy package" which was prepared by the
government and is due to be debated at the Parliamentary Justice Committee
today. Addressing the SP's group in Parliament yesterday, Kutan said,
"These amendments to Penal Code Articles 159 and 312 would be no
improvement in terms of democracy and freedom of expression. On the
contrary, the government is setting a condition on 'the possibility of
disturbing public order' to the crime of incitement in Article 312 that is
ripe for exploitation." /Turkiye/
[08] YILMAZ SUPPORTS AMENDMENTS
Deputy Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz yesterday expressed his satisfaction at
the amendments in the "mini democracy package." Before leaving for Bulgaria
to attend Joint Economic Commission (KEK) meetings in that country, Yilmaz
told reporters that he was in favor of an expansion of that rights and
freedom. Regarding petitions for Kurdish-language education, he said that
the Constitution and current laws wouldn't allow them." /Turkiye/
[09] TURK: "KURDISH EDUCATION PUSH IS PKK DRIVEN"
Justice Minister Hikmet Sami Turk said yesterday that the efforts to push
for Kurdish-language education were supported by the terrorist organization
PKK. Pointing out that such education in Kurdish was contrary to the
Article 142 of the Constitution, Turk said the citizens working for this
were being directed by the PKK. He said, "By provoking people, the
terrorist organization is forcing them to submit petitions. They want to
take the issue to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) and put this in
the world spotlight. We have to be on our guard against this game."
Meanwhile, Education Minister Metin Bostancioglu also stated that education
could not be conducted in any language other than Turkish. He said, "If
these petitions are politically motivated, then we must deal with this."
/Turkiye/
[10] IRAN AND TURKEY CELEBRATE NATURAL GAS PUMPING
An official ceremony was held yesterday to mark the commencement of pumping
in the Iranian-Turkish natural gas pipeline nearly one-and-a-half months
ago. Energy and Natural Resources Minister Zeki Cakan and Iranian Petrol
Minister Bijen Namdar Zanganeh attended the delayed ceremony. Cakan went to
Iran through the Gurbilek border gate with an accompanying delegation.
Zanganeh gave Cakan a warm welcome on the border, and there were no adverse
incidents. Two ministers and delegation then went to the measuring
situation in Bazargan. Iranian Deputy Gas Minister Muhammed Nejad spoke of
the importance of the pipeline, underlining its significance for Iran.
/Aksam/
[11] FROM THE COLUMNS... FROM THE COLUMNS... FROM THE COLUMNS
[12] CHANCES OF BEING A MODEL BY SAMI KOHEN (MILLIYET)
Columnist Sami Kohen writes on the Turkish model and setting an example to
the Islamic world. A summary of his column is as follows:
"Recently, there has been much talk about the 'Turkish model'. American
officials and newspapers made assessments in the light of the Sept. 11
incidents and stressed that as a democratic, secular, pro-Western and
developing country, Turkey could be a role model for the Islamic world.
Prime Minister Ecevit touched upon the issue in his various statements and
said that as a country, which had reconciled Islam with democracy,
secularism and modern life, Turkey was a role model for the Islamic world.
Two parties are interested in the 'model' image of Turkey. The first is the
Western world, which sees great benefits in selling this model to the
Islamic world right now, and the second is the Islamic world, which it is
hoped will buy into this model. In the West, the country, which talks most
about the Turkish model and expends the greatest efforts to promote it is
the US. In the eyes of the Americans, Turkey, with its democratic regime,
liberal economic system, modern lifestyle, closeness to the West, and
efforts towards integration with Europe, has all the traits necessary to
become a model for the Muslim world.
However, the shortcomings and insufficiencies of these traits pose a
problem. These are discussed also in Turkey. For Turkey to become a role
model these drawbacks should be eliminated. This duty is the responsibility
of Ankara. Not many countries in the Islamic world are looking favorably
towards accepting such a model. Most Islamic countries are ruled by
religious laws and therefore don't favor the regime in Turkey. Some are
ruled by dictators. Our regime would be in contradiction with their
methods of government. There are others, especially in the Middle East,
which don't have warm feelings towards Turkey due to either historical or
political reasons. Although Afghanistan and Pakistan are viewed as
countries which can take Turkey as an example, the chances of this actually
happening are very slim."
[13] HELP FROM TURKS DURING DESPERATE HOURS BY TUFAN TURENC
(HURRIYET)
Columnist Tufan Turenc writes on the documentary recently reported on by
CNN entitled 'Desperate Hours' detailing the help given by Turks during
World War II. A summary of his column is as follows:
"In 1933 when the Nazis came to power and Hitler assumed Germany's
leadership, democrats in Germany and particularly German citizens of Jewish
descent were greatly troubled. Scholars were frightened. Mustafa Kemal,
who was closely following the developments in Germany, felt the coming of
the tragedy Hitler was going to inflict upon the world. Without losing any
time, he gave instructions that scholars of Jewish descent be invited to
our shores. More than 200 academics came to Turkey, which welcomed them
with open arms. The Turkish Republic, which faced many problems at the time,
appointed these academics to universities with high salaries. Through the
efforts of these gifted visitors, the quality of education in Turkey got an
immediate boost. After their long stay in Turkey and with the end of
Hitler's reich, these academics returned to their countries. However, none
of them forgot Turkey's noble gesture, and they saw our country as their
second homeland. At the beginning of the 1940s, Turkish diplomats prevented
the taking of thousands of Jews to concentration camps through the exertion
of great efforts. This exemplary action of the Turkish Republic and its
diplomats was revealed in a documentary recently prepared by Jews living
the US. This striking documentary was just promoted in CNN International.
At a time when we are being suffocated with publications and programs
slandering Turks and Turkey with countless lies, such a documentary makes
one proud. This documentary should be a lesson in humanity to those who are
trying to use history to wreak revenge and foster hostility."
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