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Turkish Press Review, 02-11-14Turkish 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 morning14.11.2002CONTENTS
[01] LEADERS’ SUMMIT DISCUSSES CYPRUS ISSUEA leaders’ summit was held yesterday at the Foreign Ministry with the attendance of Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit, Foreign Minister Sukru Sina Gurel and foreign ministry bureaucrats to discuss the latest developments on the Cyprus issue. The leaders from the outgoing government agreed that a Foreign Ministry delegation should visit Cyprus after Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) President Rauf Denktas returns to his country this weekend. They also decided to hold a meeting with Turkey’s Washington Ambassador Faruk Logoglu, London Ambassador Korkmaz Haktanir, UN Permanent Representative Umit Pamir and Lefkosha Ambassador Hayati Guven, as well as other related officials. Appearing on news channel NTV, Prime Minister Ecevit stated that Turkey could not agree to the UN’s Cyprus plan in its current form since it proposes sharp reductions in the number of Turkish troops stationed on the island. Reiterating that Turkey had deployed soldiers on the island in its role as a guarantor state, Ecevit added that the Turkish government needed much more time than a week to analyze the comprehensive and detailed document. The UN has asked Turkey to announce its official view on the document within one week of its release, meaning next Tuesday. Ecevit also criticized the UN for preparing such an important document while Turkey was still preoccupied with its just-completed elections. Meanwhile, Justice and Development Party (AKP) leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan stated that before Turkey takes further steps on the Cyprus issue, the new AKP government should have the chance to assume power. In addition, incoming opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Deniz Baykal stated that the Cyprus issue carried great importance for Turkey’s European Union membership bid. /Hurriyet/[02] ERDOGAN GETS ITALY’S SUPPORT FOR[03] TURKEY’S EU MEMBERSHIP BIDOn the first stop of his tour of European Union member states to seek support for Turkey’s membership bid, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, leader of incoming ruling party the Justice and Development Party (AKP), yesterday met with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. During their talks, Berlusconi said that Italy supported Turkey’s EU bid. Berlusconi added that EU expansion shouldn’t hinge on religious factors and asked Erdogan what he could do to help him. He stated that he would also try to persuade other EU member heads of state to lend Turkey their support. “I will do my best to ensure that Turkey isn’t disappointed at next month’s Copenhagen summit,” added the Italian premier. Erdogan said that the AKP government was ready and determined to take important steps to start membership negotiations with the EU as soon as possible. Speaking at a press conference after their meeting, Erdogan stated that Turkey’s EU membership process was the most important event for the nation since the foundation of the Turkish Republic. He also briefed reporters on the reform package he had presented to Berlusconi, including plans to amend Turkey’s Constitution, reform the Political Parties and Elections Laws, and implement European Court of Human Rights decisions. /Milliyet/[04] BAYKAL SEEKS SUPPORT IN WARSAW FOR[05] TURKEY’S EU MEMBERSHIPRepublican People’s Party (CHP) leader Deniz Baykal yesterday flew to Poland to attend the European Union of Social Democratic Parties’ meeting in Warsaw. Before his departure, incoming opposition leader Baykal told reporters that his visit would be a good opportunity to express Turkey’s views on various topics and its recent political situation before the European Union’s summit next month in Copenhagen. Upon arriving in Warsaw, Baykal, in the company of CHP Deputies Inal Batu and Kemal Dervis, first met with Polish Foreign Minister Wlodzimierz Cimozewicz. /Turkiye/[06] NEW PARLIAMENT TO CONVENE TODAYTurkey’s new Parliament is due to convene today for its first session since last week’s elections dramatically altered the nation’s political landscape. The oldest current number of Parliament, Republican People’s Party (CHP) Deputy Sukru Elekdag, will chair the session, which will be highlighted by the 550 new deputies taking their oath of office. The new chamber will include 363 deputies from the Justice and Development Party (AKP), the new ruling party, and 178 from opposition party the CHP, as well as eight independent deputies. CHP leader Deniz Baykal will be absent from today’s session, as he is attending a European socialists’ meeting in Warsaw, as will AKP leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who is currently barred from becoming a deputy. A statement from President Ahmet Necdet Sezer’s office said that he, too, would be absent. /Milliyet/[07] CHIEF OF STAFF OZKOK TO VISIT CYPRUSChief of General Staff Gen. Hilmi Ozkok is to visit the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) today to mark the 19th anniversary of the nation’s establishment. Diplomatic sources stated that Gen. Ozkok’s visit had added significance for the TRNC in the wake of the release this week of a UN plan expected to pave the way for significant developments in Cyprus’ future. Ozkok is scheduled to meet with Parliament Speaker Zeki Serter to discuss recent developments on the issue. /Cumhuriyet/[08] ANKARA WELCOMES IRAQ’S ACCEPTANCE OF[09] UN SECURITY COUNCIL RESOLUTIONTurkish officials yesterday said that they welcomed Iraq’s announcement that it would comply unconditionally with a new UN Security Council resolution calling on the country to disarm and admit weapons inspectors. An advance UN team is set to arrive in Iraq on Monday, and the first UN inspectors are to begin work on Nov. 25, UN officials said yesterday. The UN team will include five Turkish inspectors. According to diplomatic sources, Ankara sees the UN resolution as a “last chance” for Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein and so sees Iraq’s acceptance as a “very positive development” which could contribute greatly to efforts to solve the Iraq issue peacefully. /Cumhuriyet/[10] SOLANA TO VISIT TURKEY TO DISCUSS CYPRUS, ESDPJavier Solana, the EU’s secretary-general and high representative for common foreign and security policy, is scheduled to visit Turkey today to discuss the Cyprus and European Security and Defense Policy (ESDP) issues with incoming officials of the new Justice and Development Party (AKP) government. He is expected to express the EU’s views on these two sensitive issues and convey the message to AKP leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan that the EU expects the new AKP-led government to take significant steps to move those issues forward. /Cumhuriyet/[11] TUSIAD DELEGATION MEETS WITH VERHEUGENA delegation from the Turkish Industrialists’ and Businessmen’s Association (TUSIAD) met yesterday with Guenter Verheugen, the EU commissioner for enlargement. Cuneyt Zapsu, a member of the TUSIAD delegation, briefed Verheugen about the Justice and Development Party (AKP), the party set to lead the incoming government. Zapsu said that AKP leader Erdogan attached great importance to democracy since he had “personally experienced hardships” due to shortcomings in democracy. During the talks, EU officials said that they were sure that Turkey would eventually succeed in gaining membership in the Union, but that it would take time. The EU officials also stated that Turkey still needed to carry out a number of reforms for its EU bid, but that doing so before next month’s Copenhagen summit would be quite difficult. TUSIAD Chairman Tuncay Ozilhan said that the EU should give a date to Turkey at Copenhagen to start its membership negotiations as soon as possible. /Milliyet/[12] TRNC EXPRESSES RESERVATIONS ON PLAN;[13] FORMAL REPLY AWAITS DENKTAS’S RETURNCommenting on the United nations Cyprus proposal presented this week, Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) Prime Minister Dervis Eroglu said yesterday that the plan contained a number of “negative elements,” including sections on property and land redistribution and population migration from the south to the TRNC. Eroglu added, however, that review of the plan was ongoing, and that a comprehensive response awaited Saturday’s return of President Rauf Denktas from New York. /Turkiye/[14] GREEKS WELCOME UN CYPRUS PLANThe first positive reply to the Cyprus plan proposed this week by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan came yesterday from the Greek Cypriot side. Yannakis Kasulides, the Greek Cypriot administration’s foreign minister, said that the Greek side would accept Annan’s plan as a basis for discussions to find a settlement to the Cyprus issue. Following a Cabinet meeting, Kasulides said that the Greek Cypriot administration would give its official answer to Annan after next week’s National Council meeting to be held after their leader Glafcos Clerides return from in Athens. Meanwhile, mainland Greece’s Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Costas Simitis yesterday met to discuss Annan’s proposal. During the meeting, Simitis said that the UN had prepared a comprehensive solution plan for the issue. “This plan may be the last opportunity to solve the problem, so it should be given a fair hearing,” said Simitis. /Turkiye/[15] SCHROEDER EXPRESSES SUPPORT FOR[16] TURKEY’S EU MEMBERSHIPGerman Prime Minister Gerhard Schroeder said yesterday that he strongly supported a rapprochement between Turkey and the European Union. Stressing that Turkey’s perspective was also Europe’s, Schroeder stated that circles in Turkey which favor Europe should be supported. “The initial declarations from Turkey’s incoming government party lend us hope,” said the German leader. “If it gives clear indications that reforms will be implemented, new steps may be taken for Turkey’s membership during next month’s Copenhagen summit.” /Turkiye/[17] CHILEAN CHIEF OF GENERAL STAFF MEETS[18] WITH GEN. OZKOKChile’s Chief of Genaral Staff Gen. Cheyre, who is currently paying an official visit to Turkey, yesterday met with his Turkish counterpart Gen. Hilmi Ozkok. At a meeting between the delegations headed by the two commanders, bilateral military cooperation and developments in Afghanistan and the Middle East were reportedly discussed. /Turkiye/[19] TALABANI OFFERS FOREIGN MINISTRY[20] REASSURANCES ON TURKMENSIraqi Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (IPUK) leader Jalal Talabani yesterday met with Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Ugur Ziyal and other high-level Turkish diplomats to discuss recent developments on Iraq and to exchange views on an Iraqi opposition meeting slated for next Friday in Brussels. Confirming that the IPUK had offered Iraqi Turkmen groups a 10% share at a regional parliament to be formed, Talabani stressed that the IPUK wanted to improve its relations with these Turkmen groups. Remarking that the IPUK advocated a “united and democratic” Iraq, Talabani also added that the IPUK was trying to resolve all differences of opinion within Iraqi opposition groups. /Star/[21] CIA CONTACTS IN TURKEY FOCUS ON IRAQ, PKKFollowing the completion of its contacts in Turkey, a 25-person CIA delegation led by Deputy Director John Mc Laughlin returned to the United States yesterday. During their meetings with Turkish officials, the CIA delegation reportedly asked for consultations on Turkey’s “security map” of the region as well as other resources in preparation for a possible Iraq operation. The Turkish officials reportedly replied by urging the US to consider in its plans Turkey’s ongoing fight against terrorist PKK remnants in northern Iraq. During Chief of General Staff Gen. Hilmi Ozkok’s visit to Washington last week, he also stressed Turkey’s tragic losses due to terrorism, and reiterated consensus that regional conflict could lead to terrorist incursions into Turkey. Both sides reportedly pledged to cooperate on these issues. /Star/[22] EU COMMISSION: “TURKEY’S ECONOMY WILL GROW[23] BY 4% NEXT YEAR”Turkey’s economy will grow by 4% next year, predicted a semi-annual report on European Union candidate countries’ economies released yesterday by the EU Commission. The forecast said that Turkey’s economy was on track to recovery, but warned that a war in Iraq threatened to derail this improvement, particularly through a drop in tourism revenues. For 2004, the report stated, Turkey should see further growth. /Star/[24] CHINESE AMBASSADOR PROMOTES IMPROVED[25] BUSINESS TIES WITH TURKEYThe People’s Republic of China yesterday invited Turkey to attend a Chinese commercial fair to be held in the United Arab Emirates on Dec. 10-14. In a press conference, Chinese Ambassador Yuangyi Yao stated that his country wished to improve its commercial relations with Turkey, adding that the Chinese businessmen were currently looking for new opportunities to invest in the country. He also stated that there were tremendous business opportunities for Turkish businessmen who wanted to invest in his own country. /Aksam/[26] FROM THE COLUMNS… FROM THE COLUMNS…[27] FROM THE COLUMNS…[28] THIS CHANCE SHOULDN’T BE MISSED FOR THE WORLD[29] BY SAMI KOHEN (MILLIYET)Columnist Sami Kohen writes on the solution plan for the Cyprus issue presented by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan earlier this week. A summary of his column is as follows:“UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s solution plan for the Cyprus issue, both in its content and its timing, has set the island on a new, irreversible course. Annan’s plan presents reasonable grounds which both sides on the island can agree on, and so for the first time ever a Cyprus proposal constitutes a truly serious opportunity for a permanent settlement. Of course there are certain points in this comprehensive solution plan which both sides find inimical to their own positions and interests. Yet there are also other points on which the two sides can bargain. Whatever the prospects of the plan, both Rauf Denktas (hence, Ankara) and Glafcos Clerides (hence, Athens) must come to consider it as the ‘bona fide’ or ‘last’ opportunity for finding a solution to the Cyprus problem which has for so many years been a source of tension. Clerides and Denktas must realize that it is high time to reach an end on the issue in line with the new plan. Both leaders, who have been involved in the Cyprus issue for coming on 50 years now, are the bearers of a historic responsibility. May God grant them long and healthy lives, but Clerides is 82 years old and Denktas is 78, and both of them suffer from heart disease. They have this very last chance to cap off their political careers with a joint triumph. True, the plan requires certain concessions on both sides’ part. But there is no doubt that coming generations on the island would lead a much happier life thanks to those concessions. As I mentioned above, the possibility of the two sides’ opposing Annan’s plan is very small. The reasons for this are twofold. Firstly, it is in neither side’s interests to reject the solution plan altogether, as it addresses most of the particular issues that they insisted on. Secondly, rejecting the plan outright would amount to a setback to realizing their broader foreign policy goals. In this sense, it is obvious that the prospect of accession to the European Union has played a key role in the process. It seems to me that the Greek Cypriot administration, in order to lock up its EU membership bid, is now ready to accept certain conditions which it had long opposed. That is why Clerides won’t reject this plan in the leadup to next month’s Copenhagen summit. The new plan largely meets the Turkish side’s demands concerning its administrative status on the island. However, Denktas has some serious concerns and reservations on certain issues such as migration and handing over land. Of course the Turkish side must make concessions, too. Yet, these could be reduced to a minimum during the negotiations, and they should be assessed while keeping in mind that they will surely serve the Turkish side’s interests in the long run. Let’s look the picture from the other way round, and not forget that rejecting the plan would surely deal a great blow to both Turkey’s and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus’ (TRNC) interests on the international stage.” [30] “SOLVE CYPRUS, AND BE RESCUED”[31] BY MUSTAFA BALBAY (CUMHURIYET)Columnist Mustafa Balbay comments on the UN’s new proposal for resolving the Cyprus issue. A summary of his column is as follows:“Just as it threatens to take on wider implications, the Cyprus issue has embarked on a hurried push for resolution. In the past, calling for a solution to the Cyprus issue was branded as ‘disloyalty,’ but now the atmosphere is just the opposite. 1. Turkey is basing its opinion on a 10-15 page summary of the 150-page plan itself, which was distributed to both principal parties. The details aren’t known yet. According to the summary, the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) is expected to vacate more than 50 villages, 60-70, 000 Turks will have to find new homes and its share of territory will decrease from 36% to 26%. These are the first negative aspects that catch one’s eye. 2. Looking at history not with mere curiosity, but as a series of transformations and events that change the fate of nations, it’s clear that the situation in Cyprus is reminiscent of Crete. On that island, a local assembly was established in 1878. The assembly had 49 Greeks and 31 Turkish members. There were conflicts in Crete, and the Ottoman Empire dealt with them. Then Europe said, ‘I will protect the island,’ and it gave the island to Greece in 1913. Today the population balance on Cyprus is 7-2 in Turkey’s disadvantage. In the UN’s plan, the stipulated equality of both sides is positive. However, very strong institutions and mechanisms should be established so the continuance of this equality won’t come to look like Crete. 3. The UN solution proposal should be considered in the light of the above- mentioned facts. The United Nations stated, ‘I’m giving you one week. We’ll need your opinion on this plan.’ The European Union said, ‘You should sign a document before the Copenhagen summit on Dec. 12, otherwise we will strike you from the list.’ In other words, the idea is, solve this problem, and you’ll be “rescued.” 4. Looking at the discussions, there seems to be a direct relation between Cyprus and Turkey on the question of giving a date for our EU membership negotiations. However, there is no guarantee of this. In other words, the EU doesn’t seem to be saying, ‘If the Cyprus problem is solved, a date will definitely be given to Turkey.’ 5. Both of the sides examining this plan are trying to act dignified. Neither party wants to be seen as ‘the negative one.’ Whoever rejects this proposal first will pay a heavy price. 6. Naturally, there is a busy behind-the-scenes agenda as well. US Secretary of State Colin Powell sent a message to Turkish Foreign Minister Sukru Sina Gurel just two days before the announcement of the plan, saying, ‘Please don’t immediately reject this plan. We will support your full EU membership.’ Gurel replied, ‘We will examine the plan using a realistic perspective. If it includes certain suggestions wholly contrary to our demands, we cannot accept it.’ Barring a last-minute change of schedule, Gurel will hold a press conference today to express his opinions and tell of developments. Gurel is purposely excluding Foreign Ministry bureaucrats from this press conference to protect them from possible retaliation from the incoming government. 7. Looking at the policy so far advocated by Justice and Development Party (AKP) leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan, one can say that the Cyprus issue is the AKP’s personal matter. According to Greek daily To Vima, Erdogan called Greek Prime Minister Costas Simitis both before and after the elections and told him that Turkey favored adopting the Belgian model. When this came out and people objected, Erdogan tried to douse this fire. We hope that Erdogan isn’t saying this just to gain the EU’s favor. 8. Cyprus isn’t just a chunk of land. The people, our people, are living on it. They should also have a say in shaping steps towards the island’s future.” 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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