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Turkish Press Review, 02-10-08Turkish Press Review Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: Turkish Directorate General of Press and Information <http://www.byegm.gov.tr><LINK href="http://www.byegm.gov.tr_yayinlarimiz_chr_pics_css/tpr.css" rel=STYLESHEET type=text/css> <map name="FPMap1"> </map> <map name="FPMap1"></map> Press & Information Turkish Press Summary of the political and economic news in the Turkish press this morning08.10.2002FROM THE COLUMNS… FROM THE COLUMNS… FROM THE COLUMNS…CONTENTS
[01] SEZER VISITS ERZURUMPresident Ahmet Necdet Sezer, accompanied by his wife, left yesterday for a visit to the eastern Anatolian province of Erzurum. The president visited the Erzurum Governorship and the Ninth Army Corps Commandship, and he was briefed about the problems of the province. Sezer also attended new academic year ceremonies at Ataturk University. /Turkiye/[02] GUREL: “TURKEY WILL NOT TAKE ANY RISKS IN IRAQ”Speaking at a campaign rally for the Democratic Left Party (DSP), Foreign Minister Sukru Sina Gurel yesterday stated that Turkey didn’t want a war in Iraq and that it was willing to do whatever it could to prevent a military operation near its borders. He added, however, that were a war to break out, Turkey would take all necessary steps to ensure the security of the Turkish people and that it wouldn’t take anything which might endanger their safety. Commenting on the possible effects of a war, Gurel gave as an example the losses Turkey suffered as a direct consequence of 1991’s Gulf War and predicted that a military operation would have adverse effects on all the countries of the region. /Cumhuriyet/[03] OZKOK: “IRAQ’S TERRITORIAL AND POLITICAL INTEGRITY SHOULD BE PRESERVED”Chief of General Staff Gen. Hilmi Ozkok said yesterday that Turkey was in favor of preserving Iraq’s territorial and political integrity in any case, including whatever situation followed a possible military operation in that country. Ozkok, who is currently paying a two-day official visit to Bulgaria, met with his Bulgarian counterpart Nikola Kolev. Remarking that this was his first official visit to Turkey’s Balkan neighbor, Ozkok said, “Prior to NATO’s Prague summit, I am here to declare that Bulgaria boasts an army sufficiently strong to participate in the alliance.” Turkey is a longtime member of NATO, and Bulgaria is hoping to join its ranks. Regarding a possible operation in Iraq, he said that Turkey was always in favor of peaceful efforts to resolve international disputes. “We have conveyed Turkey’s concern over a possible operation in Iraq to the countries involved,” Ozkok added. /Turkiye/[04] ZIYAL MEETS WITH US AMBASSADOR PEARSONForeign Ministry Undersecretary Ugur Ziyal yesterday met with United States Ambassador to Turkey Robert Pearson to discuss the latest developments on the Iraq issue. At the meeting, Ziyal reportedly expressed Turkey’s concerns regarding recent US encouragement given to northern Iraqi Kurdish groups and stressed the importance Turkey places on Iraq’s territorial integrity. Underlining the need for a United Nations Security Council resolution before any operation is launched in that country, Ziyal stated that adopting a new resolution was the only way to ensure international legitimacy. Meanwhile, commenting on rumors about US requests to open a new airbase and deploy troops in Turkey, a senior Foreign Ministry official yesterday declared that currently there were no US troops stationed within Turkish borders and that the use of Turkish territory to enter Iraq would not be permitted. /Cumhuriyet/[05] TUSIAD DELEGATION VISITS WASHINGTONA delegation from the Turkish Industrialists’ and Businessmen’s Association (TUSIAD) headed by TUSAID Board of Directors Chairman Mustafa Koc yesterday travelled to Washington. The TUSIAD delegation is scheduled to meet with high-ranking US officials and Faruk Logoglu, Turkey’s ambassador to the US. A possible military operation in Iraq and its negative effects on the Turkish economy are expected to be discussed during these meetings. Soli Ozel, advisor to the TUSIAD chairmanship, is also to give a speech at the Washington Institute. /Sabah/[06] CEM: “AS PRIME MINISTER, I WILL SET A NEW STANDARD”New Turkey Party (YTP) leader Ismail Cem declared yesterday said that if the YTP came to power in next month’s elections, he would set himself apart from the nation’s previous prime ministers. “I will be an exemplary prime minister if we come to power,” Cem told a campaign rally in the central Anatolian town of Kirsehir. “If Turkey is in a bad shape now, a neglect of the nation’s needs is responsible for this.” Cem also said that most of Turkey’s problems were not economic ones. “Former governments unskilled in economic administration caused these problems, and when we come to power we will turn this situation around,” added Cem. /Milliyet/[07] CILLER: “NEITHER THE CHP NOR THE AKP ARE WHAT TURKEY NEEDS”Speaking in the central Anatolian town of Aksaray yesterday, True Path Party (DYP) leader Tansu Ciller said that the positions of the Republican People’s Party (CHP) were at odds with the nation at large and that those of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) were at odds with the state. Ciller also criticized the current government’s inaction on setting a price for sugar beets. “We will change the sugar beet law if we come to power in the Nov. 3 elections,” she added. /Milliyet/[08] TIM CHAIRMAN: “AN OPERATION IN IRAQ WOULD HARM TURKEY”Even as US officials continue to try to make the case for military intervention against Iraq, another Turkish business leader has added his voice to a chorus of voices predicting adverse economic consequences should such intervention occur. Speaking yesterday, Turkish Exporters’ Assembly Chairman Oguz Satici said that a military operation in Iraq would do harm to Turkey’s economy and trade alike. /Star/[09] IMF DELEGATION MEETS WITH ORAL, TURKERAn International Monetary Fund delegation headed by Turkey Desk Chief Juha Kahkonnen, currently in Turkey to conduct the fourth review of its economic program, yesterday met with Finance Minister Sumer Oral. Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Oral said that Turkey’s priority aim was to continue to apply the economic program. Later in the day, the IMF delegation also met with other state economy officials, including Economy Minister Masum Turker. Turker stated that the fourth and fifth IMF review would probably not be combined. If they were, however, $1.6 billion in additional financing would be provided to Turkey next year rather than this one, added Turker. /Star/[10] TANTAN: “THE YP WILL ELIMINATE CORRUPTION AND POVERTY”At his party’s inaugural campaign rally yesterday in the city of Edirne in eastern Thrace, Homeland Party (YP) leader Saadettin Tantan pledged that his party would eliminate corruption and poverty if it comes to power in next month’s elections. Tantan stated that Turkey needed a new civil cooperation which would make the nation’s best interests its priority. /Milliyet/[11] RED CRESCENT GETS READY FOR POSSIBLE IMMIGRATION WAVEThe Red Cross and Red Crescent (Kizilay) Associations yesterday held an International and Regional Cooperation Symposium in Ankara with the participation of representatives from over 24 countries. Speaking to reporters, Public Works and Housing Minister Abdulkadir Akcan said that Turkey would take necessary measures to prepare for a wave of immigration from Iraq if a military intervention takes place in that country. Red Crescent Chairman Ertan Gonen stated that the group was getting ready to deal with some 250,000 immigrants, adding that tent cities would be constructed in certain buffer regions. /Turkiye/[12] FROM THE COLUMNS… FROM THE COLUMNS… FROM THE COLUMNS…[13] EARLY DETAILS ON TURKEY’S PROGRESS REPORT BY TAHA AKYOL(MILLIYET)Columnist Taha Akyol comments on the European Commission’s Progress Report on Turkey to be released later this week. A summary of his column is as follows:“On CNN Turk yesterday, veteran journalist Mehmet Ali Birand revealed highlights from the European Union’s as yet-unreleased Progress Report on Turkey. According to Birand, the report includes some truths, but egregious errors as well. But first of all, we must mention Deputy Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz’s impressions from his recent contacts in Europe. ‘The report cannot be said to be in either Turkey’s favor or disfavor,’ he told me. ‘It’s a technical document covering issues on which Turkey has been successful or unsuccessful.’ The report praises Turkey’s successes: bringing more opportunities for mother tongue usage as well as lifting the death penalty. ‘Final touches might be put on the article before its release this Wednesday,’ Yilmaz added. ‘It’s very important for Turkey that its harmonization laws be found sufficient and that there’s no suggestion at odds with our principle of our national and territorial unity.’ The report views Turkey as deficient in such areas as the prevention of torture, the independence of the judiciary and freedom of thought. It accuses the state of interfering with the judiciary and so compromising its impartiality. The report also puts forth the following scandalous falsehood: ‘There are nearly 1,000 inmates interred in Turkey’s prisons for crimes of thought.’ Birand, a careful journalist if there ever was one, confirmed the existence of this claim in the report. Upon hearing of this, I immediately contacted former Justice Minister Hikmet Sami Turk in Trabzon, who was truly astonished. ‘It’s impossible! Such a claim is a scandal!’ he told me. ‘We removed all the sections from articles about ‘thought crime’ with the ‘Postponement Law,’ and all such prisoners were summarily released. Moreover, their number was extraordinarily low. When I was arguing that Article 312 should be changed, there were just two people jailed under its provisions. Then when this article was changed, they were set free. There might be a few people who have been arrested due to judicial or organizational crimes, but they certainly aren’t criminals of thought.’ Turk laid all this out in great legal detail. Of course there are some additional things that we should do to address freedom of thought. However, the claim of ‘nearly 1,000 criminals of thought’ is simply outrageous! Europe has been misled, and now it is misleading others as well. However, it’s our duty to explain and correct this misinformation, and we should work very hard towards this end.” [14] NORTHERN IRAQ BY HIKMET CETINKAYA (CUMHURIYET)Columnist Hikmet Cetinkaya comments on a possible US military attack on Iraq and its consequences on northern Iraq. A summary of his column is as follows:“Will the US be able to get the support of Arab countries in its plans to carry out a military campaign against Iraq? The Arab peoples are overwhelmingly opposed to such an operation. But what are these countries’ opinions of a possible Kurdish state being established in northern Iraq? If asked such questions six years ago, Saddam Hussein’s enemies would have surely preferred to hold their tongues. Their attitude then was shallow, for Arabia, Syria and Kuwait secretly relished the thought of a fragmented Iraq. Both Israel and Iran, too, were in a similar mood then. In April 1995, my colleague Ergun Balci wrote: ‘A Kurdish state would mean to Israel the destruction of its most dangerous foe, Iraq, and at the same time a US roving patrol force in charge of controlling the Arab states.’ Now here’s a question: How pleased would Israel be if a Kurdish state were founded today in northern Iraq? The answer is, I think, a lot. Turkey has the Nov. 3 elections looming near. Yet, none of the political party leaders are addressing a possible war in Iraq or a Kurdish state in northern Iraq. While certain very important decisions are being taken at top levels of the state, Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit is turning a blind eye to efforts to establish a Kurdish state in northern Iraq which will, no doubt, encourage certain radical movements in the near future. But there is a truly dangerous situation developing in the region. There are Kurdish groups in Turkey, Syria and Iran. Not only Turkey, but also those two neighbors, are deeply concerned about a Kurdish state in northern Iraq. Both know very well that a Kurdish state in northern Iraq will act under US auspices, and they suspect that this Kurdish state will try to incorporate into itself the Kurdish populations living in their own territories. What about the countries around the Persian Gulf -- Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the others? These countries aren’t yet true nation-states, and still retain some sort of tribal order. Would the dismantling of an Arab state like Iraq not presage a similar fate a decade hence for other Arab states? What if a Shiite state is founded in southern Iraq immediately after the central government in Baghdad is overthrown? Let’s take a look at what some Middle East experts say: ‘If a Shiite state is established in southern Iraq, it would definitely take a pro-Iran stance. There are currently 650,000 Shiites in Iran who fled Saddam’s regime, and their leader is also living in Iran. If Iraq loses its territorial integrity, it won’t take very long for a large Shiite state to be formed.’ They add: ‘The fragmentation of Iraq would make things in the region even worse. Rather than a fragmented Iraq, a weak Saddam regime would be preferable.’ Yet the US is determined to strike against Iraq. What the Bush administration wants is to take control of the oil resources in the Middle East, rather than resolving its conflicts. Turkey puts great importance on Iraq’s territorial integrity, and it is on guard against the formation of Kurdish state in northern Iraq. And Saddam Hussein… He has the power to crush the nascent Kurdish state in northern Iraq whenever he wants. Yet, he prefers not to do so. The US and Great Britain are planning for the next half century in the Middle East. Clearly, the region has become the stage for a very dangerous game.” ARCHIVE <script type="text/javascript" language="JavaScript" src="http:/_www.byegm.gov.tr_statistic/countcode.js"> </script> Turkish Press Review Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |
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