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Turkish Press Review, 03-04-24Turkish 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> e-mail : newspot@byegm.gov.tr <caption> <_caption> Summary of the political and economic news in the Turkish press this morning24.04.2003FROM THE COLUMNS… FROM THE COLUMNS… FROM THE COLUMNS…CONTENTS
[01] TURKEY CELEBRATES CHILDREN’S DAYCelebrations were held throughout Turkey yesterday to mark the 83rd anniversary of the foundation of Parliament on the nation’s April 23 National Sovereignty and Children’s Day. Parliament Speaker Bulent Arinc laid a wreath and a moment of silence was observed in a ceremony at Parliament, also attended by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Chief of General Staff Gen. Hilmi Ozkok, members of the Cabinet, and national force commanders. Thereafter Arinc and an accompanying delegation visited Anitkabir, the mausoleum of republic founder Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. They laid a wreath and observed a moment of silence, and Arinc signed the mausoleum’s commemorative guest book. In the evening, Arinc hosted a traditional reception, notably absent from which – due to a recent controversy regarding Arinc’s headscarved wife – were President Ahmet Necdet Sezer, high-ranking generals of the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) and main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Deniz Baykal,. Under the nation’s dress code, women are not allowed to wear headscarves in state offices or universities. Strict secular circles view the headscarf as a symbol of political Islam, while headscarf advocates claim this ban violates their rights and their freedom to practice religion. As a result of tensions over the issue, Arinc’s wife was also absent from the reception. /All Papers/[02] ERDOGAN CALLS BUSH, DISCUSSES RECENT DEVELOPMENTS ON IRAQPrime Minister and Justice and Development Party (AKP) leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan yesterday telephoned US President George W. Bush to discuss recent developments concerning Iraq. During their conversation, Erdogan stressed Turkey’s sensitivities concerning northern Iraq and Bush replied that he appreciated Ankara’s stance on the issue and welcomed its willingness to work together with the US on it. At a press conference yesterday, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer briefed reporters on the leaders’ conversation. “The two reaffirmed their strong relations between the US and Turkey, longtime friends and allies,” he said. “Bush expressed appreciation for Turkey’s ongoing resupply of US forces in northern Iraq, and he welcomed Turkey’s desire to work closely with the US in support of Iraq’s security, stability, and reconstruction.” Fleischer added that Bush had praised Turkey's ongoing economic reforms and cooperation with the IMF. “Erdogan expressed thanks to the United States for [its] ... support of Turkey, including the $1 billion of assistance included in the recently passed supplemental legislation,” said the White House spokesman. /Milliyet/[03] RETIRED GEN. GARNER CALLS KIRKUK A KURDISH CITYJay Garner, the retired US general charged with administering postwar Iraq, began his administration of the country over the weekend by visiting Baghdad and the Kurdish-controlled north of the country. Garner told Iraqi Kurds in the northern city of Arbil that his goal was to help Iraq become a more democratic state in the future. "Our goal and our purpose here is to create an environment in Iraq where we can have a democratic process, where Iraqis can choose their own leaders and Iraqis can choose their own type of government,” said the retired general. “And we've put together a democratic process so at the end of that, Iraq has a government that represents the freely elected will of the Iraqi people." Garner stated that since Turkish- US relations were strong and well established, he believed that Ankara would not have any problems with either the Bush administration or Iraq’s future regime. He also added that the problem of Kirkuk, which he characterized as a Kurdish city, would be solved by the forthcoming national government. Ankara, however, has long maintained that Kirkuk is a city belonging to its majority ethnic Turkmen population. /Hurriyet/[04] UK’S INDEPENDENT REPORTS ON VIOLENT KURDISH CAMPAIGN OF INTIMIDATION AGAINST NORTHERN IRAQ’S TURKMENIn a news analysis by Kim Sengupta, British daily The Independent yesterday stated that in the wake of war, northern Iraq’s Kurds are being blamed for a violent campaign of intimidation against the country’s Turkmen population. “A bitter conflict is unfolding in northern Iraq between two minority communities, with the Americans accused of turning a blind eye to killings and ethnic cleansing,” said the writer. “Organizations representing the Turkmen say they want British and European troops to protect them because the Americans are acquiescing in what is taking place. In Kirkuk, peshmerga fighters of Jalal Talabani's IPUK (Iraqi Patriotic Union of Kurdistan) and Massoud Barzani's IKDP (Iraqi Kurdistan Democratic Party), Turkmen militia, armed Arab fighters and US forces form a combustible mixture. Eleven people are reported to have been killed and more than 50 injured in the past 10 days. Dozens of families, mainly Turkmen but some of them Arab, are said to have been driven from their homes by Kurds.” The daily stated that while the Turkmen claim they form 65 percent of the population of 600,000 in greater Kirkuk, the Kurds insist that they form the majority. “All the communities say they have received little benefit from the region's oil,” added the writer. /Hurriyet/[05] ERDOGAN DISCUSSES IRAQ, CYPRUS WITH FRENCH FOREIGN MINISTERPrime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan over the weekend met with French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin to discuss the issues of Cyprus and Iraq’s postwar reconstruction. Erdogan told de Villepin that the European Union had made a grave mistake by approving the membership of southern Cyprus without reaching a permanent solution accepted by both the island’s Turkish and Greek Cypriots. Erdogan stressed that not only the Turkish side but also the Greek Cypriot administration must make sacrifices to reach a settlement on the island. He also added that although Ankara has had a consistent policy of protecting Iraq’s territorial integrity, he was disappointed that certain European countries had failed to comprehend Turkey’s stance on northern Iraq. For his part, de Villepin stated that France highly appreciated Turkey’s position on the Iraq issue. The visiting foreign minister also stated that he expected Turkey to accelerate its EU membership bid process. /Cumhuriyet/[06] SADDAM’S WEAPONS ALLEGEDLY AT PKK TERRORIST CAMPSReports said yesterday that during the recent Kurdish offensives into the northern Iraqi cities of Kirkuk and Mosul, seized weapons, ammunition and vehicles previously used by Saddam Hussein’s soldiers were expropriated to Kurdish hands and moved to areas controlled by the Kurds. Turkish officials had told US officials before the Iraq war of their concerns concerning such weapons seizures. Some of the weapons went to Kurdish peshmerga near the Turkish border, while others were reportedly taken to a new PKK terrorist camp near Iraq’s border with Syria. /Turkiye/[07] UNAKITAN: “THE AKP IS CONTINUING TO FULLY IMPLEMENT THE ECONOMIC PROGRAM”Finance Minister Kemal Unakitan said yesterday that the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government was continuing to fully implement the nation’s economic program and would also try to keep the previous coalition government’s promises to the International Monetary Fund. “If the government continues to act reasonably, then there should be no conflict with the IMF,” Unakitan added. /Milliyet/[08] BABACAN: “TURKEY’S ECONOMY WILL SOON BEGIN A RAPID RECOVERY”Speaking at a press conference yesterday after meeting with the Turkish Bankers’ Association (TBB), State Minister for the Economy Ali Babacan said that he soon expected the nation to see a rapid economic recovery. “All Turkey’s institutions, sectors, and even its media should support the Justice and Development Party [AKP] government and its economic program,” said Babacan. “With everyone’s support, our program will be successful and we will be able to achieve sustainable growth.” Babacan further predicted that the government’s policies would bring down interest rates, adding that they had no plans to revise this year’s economic targets. /Aksam/[09] FROM THE COLUMNS… FROM THE COLUMNS… FROM THE COLUMNS…[10] THE RECEPTION CRISIS BY NURAY MERT (RADIKAL)Scholar and regular columnist Nuray Mert comments on yesterday’s reception given by Parliament Speaker Bulent Arinc in honor of April 23 National Sovereignty and Children’s Day. A summary of her column is as follows:“I’m afraid that Turkey’s headscarf issue will never cease to plague this country. Yesterday, this simmering controversy threatened to boil over once again with the occasion of Parliament Speaker Bulent Arinc’s reception celebrating April 23 National Sovereignty and Children’s Day. Recent weeks have seen the very political foundations of the world shaken and our neighbor under invasion, and with each passing day our region is dragged further and further into chaos. But who cares! It’s all about the headscarf issue and the image of our ‘westernized woman,’ this is what we should be concerned about right now. The rest is just a never-never land. Believe me, the very thought of this makes me every day grow more and more ashamed of the freedoms I enjoy as an unveiled woman. Days before the reception, the opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) announced that it would protest the occasion should Arinc’s headscarved wife [Munevver Arinc] attend the gathering. Well, a splendid piece of ‘effective’ opposition politics indeed. Take a look at what CHP Izmir Deputy Canan Aritman said on Tuesday: ‘Enough is enough. They must immediately stop testing our limits. Her husband sits at Ataturk’s chair. The Clothing Reform is the most important accomplishment this country has ever witnessed.’ This is it. This is the precise mentality of those in Turkey who are obsessively, steadfastly opposed to headscarves, deeming the 1920’s Clothing Reform as our most magnificent achievement ever. I would like to congratulate Mrs. Aritman for her frankness. For many years, I have argued that behind the surface of the heated secularism debate in Turkey has lain the mere desire to ape Western styles and modes of doing things. Thanks to Mrs. Aritman’s statements, my thesis has been handily reconfirmed. In short, this sums up the whole discussion: When one talks about the republican regime, one instantly thinks about apparent Westernization attempts such as wearing Western-type clothes, going to balls and receptions and dancing, etc. As if these were the only things that make Turkey’s republican revolution a significant event. Apparently, the utmost concern of such a mentality is not the republican regime or secularism, but forging a Western identity and making people accept it. And the headscarf is the number one obstacle to such a project. Because to the extent that the obsession with adopting a Western identity has to do with physical appearance, wearing headscarves constitutes a challenge to this Western identity. A single offending picture of a headscarved woman is just what they don’t want to see, as it threatens to sweep away all of their fond dreams of feeling like a complete Westerner in a Westernized environment and country. We should stop looking at ourselves through the gaze of the other. Internalizing the Western perspective as a criterion for assessing ourselves is just what makes Turkey a third-world country.” [11] GENOCIDE LIES BY OKTAY EKSI (HURRIYET)Columnist Oktay Eksi comments on the so-called Armenian genocide allegations and the measures Turkey can take to refute them. A summary of his column is as follows:“Sukru Elekdag, a former Turkish ambassador to Washington, is now a deputy for the opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) deputy. In Washington, he provided exemplary services to organize Turkish people there to solve their problems. In particular, he helped Turks respond to the unfounded claims that 1.5 million Armenians lost their lives early last century in a so-called genocide.’ Every year on April 24 the Armenian lobby works for the recognition and commemoration of the genocide. Their aim is to tar Turkey as a country guilty of crimes against humanity in order to demand ‘compensation’ and then territory. Earlier this week, Elekdag told his fellow parliamentarians how Turkey can best fight the genocide allegations. In sum, he said, ‘The facts show clearly that the Ottoman Empire neither planned nor carried out a genocide. A book entitled ‘The Treatment of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire, 1915- 1916’ is often used as a source to assert the opposite. This book, which is also known as the blue book, describes Turks as people lacking honor, conscience and mercy, and as fundamentally tending towards evil, bloodthirsty acts. However, this blue book is a tissue of lies and fabricated documents. Professor Justin McCarthy definitively demonstrated this through using archives located in Britain. Moreover, if the documents in the book had been real, then Britain, which invaded Istanbul in 1920, would have showed these documents when they arrested Turks and expelled them to Malta. However, Britain instead set these Turks free.’ Elekdag also suggested that officials publicize their case to the world. Armenians will soon open an ‘Armenian Genocide Museum’ in Washington. This museum would be in essence a factory to crank anti-Turkish propaganda. ‘We cannot prevent this unfortunate development,’ said Elekdag, ‘but we can all work to establish a museum of Anatolian culture and civilizations in the same area’.” 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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