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Turkish Press Review, 03-08-06Turkish 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 morning06.08.2003FROM THE COLUMNS… FROM THE COLUMNS… FROM THE COLUMNS…CONTENTS
[01] SEZER APPROVES REPENTANCE LAWPresident Ahmet Necdet Sezer yesterday signed into law a measure passed by Parliament last week allowing a conditional repentance for members of terrorist organizations. Excepting the leaders of such outlawed organizations as well as those who benefited from previous repentance laws, the law enables all members under certain conditions to enjoy an amnesty or a reduction in punishment. /Cumhuriyet/[02] LEADERS HOLD IRAQ SUMMITAn Ankara summit chaired by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan was held yesterday to discuss the question of Turkey’s possibly sending troops to Iraq. In addition to Chief of General Staff Gen. Hilmi Ozkok, also in attendance were Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul, Interior Minister Abdulkadir Aksu, Defense Minister Vecdi Gonul and Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Ugur Ziyal as well as National Intelligence Organization (MIT) Undersecretary Senkal Atasagun. During the nearly two-hour discussion, the officials reviewed a list of risks entailed in sending troops. A final decision on the matter will reportedly be made next month. Meanwhile, some 13,000 troops from various countries under Polish command are due to replace US forces in southern Iraq in September. /All Papers/[03] TURKISH KURDS IN NORTHERN IRAQI UN CAMP PREPARING TO RETURN HOMEMore than 10,000 Turkish Kurds in the United Nations-administered Mahmur camp in northern Iraq are currently preparing to return to Turkey to appeal for lenience under the repentance law just signed into law by President Ahmet Necdet Sezer. These same Kurds were forced in 1994 by the terrorist group PKK_KADEK to leave their homes near the Turkish-Iraqi border for northern Iraq and were based first in the Atrush camp and then moved to Mahmur, where they have been living for the last six years. In related news, Turkish and US forces have reportedly found at Mahmur a large cache of weapons and ammunition believed to belong to the PKK_KADEK. The matter was taken up yesterday during Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul’s meeting in Ankara with UN Iraq Envoy Sergio Vieira de Mello. Gul reportedly told de Mello that the camp effectively served as a shelter for PKK/KADEK militants and so should be closed down. /Hurriyet_[04] ANKARA MAYOR, FORMER STATE MINISTER BOTH TO JOIN AKPAnkara Greater Municipality Mayor Melih Gokcek and former State Minister Isilay Saygin will reportedly join the Justice and Development Party (AKP) next week during a ceremony to mark the ruling party’s second anniversary. The AKP was established on Aug. 14, 2001 with 73 founding members, including current Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Gokcek and Saygin are expected to be the AKP’s mayoral candidates for Ankara and Izmir, respectively, during local elections set for next year. /Aksam/[05] DELEGATION TO VISIT WASHINGTON TO DISCUSS $8.5 BILLION US LOANA delegation of economic officials is set to fly to Washington later this month to discuss the conditions for releasing $8.5 billion in US loans, State Minister for Economy Ali Babacan announced yesterday. Babacan said that he had also requested that International Monetary Fund officials take part in the talks. “There are presently no obstacles to the loan,” stated Babacan, adding, however, that the Treasury was acting cautiously on the funds and not taking them for granted in its fiscal projections. The funds, disbursable as either $1 billion in outright grants or $8.5 billion in loans, were allocated by the US Congress to help compensate Turkey’s Iraq war-related losses. Their release was tied to Ankara’s compliance with IMF guidelines, something confirmed last week by the successful conclusion of Turkey’s Fund-supported economic program. /Milliyet/[06] SWISS COURT REJECTS UZANS’ APPEAL TO UNFREEZE ITS ASSETSA Swiss Court has dismissed the appeal of Turkey’s Uzans family to unfreeze its assets, said Motorola Inc., the Uzans’ foe in litigation, on Monday. The ruling, which was made in the Swiss Federal Supreme Court, stems from a civil fraud case related to loans cellphone makers Motorola and Nokia made to Telsim, the second-largest Turkish GSM operator, owned by the Uzans. The decision dealt yet another blow to the Uzans, who last week were ordered by a US court to pay more than $4.2 billion to Motorola for illicitly channeling large sums of money into their own pockets and into the coffers of other Uzan-controlled entities, and to hand over 73.5% of Telsim’s stock shares to Nokia. /Milliyet/[07] FROM THE COLUMNS… FROM THE COLUMNS… FROM THE COLUMNS…[08] GUL: WE WOULD GO TO IRAQ TO HELP ITS PEOPLE BY FIKRET BILA (MILLIYET)Columnist Fikret Bila comments on Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul’s view of postwar Iraq and Turkey’s stance on sending troops there. A summary of his column is as follows:“Saying that Turkey’s stance on sending troops to Iraq could be summed up as a desire to help Iraq and contribute to its stability, Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul told me, ‘If we send troops to Iraq, we would go there not to fight, but to help save the Iraqi nation. However, along those lines Turkey would take upon itself a duty, that is, it would go there not only to establish security, but would also have social aims.’ For Gul, the postwar conditions will be the most important factor in his stance on sending troops. ‘There’s a great difference between the prewar situation and now,’ he explained. ‘Back then, there was the risk of war. Today there is the problem of establishing stability plus the task of reconstruction. This is not only a military, but also a social, economic and political process. If Turkey can contribute to Iraq and if doing so would benefit our national interests as well, of course it would be right for us as a neighboring country to make a contribution.’ Stating that Turkey should neither act like an invading country nor be seen as one, Gul added, ‘We would take pains not to fight with the Iraqi people, but rather to help rescue it. We would make contributions so the people there will have welfare, peace and stability and so as to meet their basic needs. Turkey would provide such a service for Iraq.’ Gul also stressed that before giving a definite answer to the US on sending troops, Ankara should clearly lay out its stance. Gul’s words imply that Ankara is leaning towards sending soldiers to Iraq so long as humanitarian aims, social aid and political restructuring are at the forefront. Ankara also wants to make clear its stance not only to the US, but also to the Iraqi people.” 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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