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Turkish Press Review, 03-10-21Turkish 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 morning21.10.2003FROM THE COLUMNS... FROM THE COLUMNS... FROM THE COLUMNS...CONTENTS
[01] ERDOGAN TO BEGIN CENTRAL ASIAN TOURPrime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is set today to begin a four-day tour of Central Asian countries beginning with Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. In Kyrgyzstan, Erdogan is scheduled to meet with his Kyrgyz counterpart Nokolai Tanayev and other officials. After completing his contacts in this country, the premier will proceed to Tajikistan. There he will meet with Prime Minister Akil Akilov and is set to sign an agreement for the establishment of a Turkish-Tajik business council. Erdogan is scheduled to return to Ankara on Friday. /Turkiye/[02] CICEK: “TURKEY IS READY ON IRAQ; NOW WE’LL WAIT FOR DEVELOPMENTS”The Cabinet convened yesterday under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Following the two-and-a-half-hour meeting, government spokesman and Justice Minister Cemil Cicek told reporters that Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul had briefed his fellow ministers on discussions about the Iraq issue during last week’s meeting of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) in Malaysia. Stressing that Turkey had already completed all its preparations for humanitarian aid and possible troop deployment in Iraq, Cicek said, “Turkey has already taken all the necessary steps. Now we’ll wait for conditions outside of Turkey to be settled, and then act in line with those developments.” /Turkiye/[03] AKSU TRAVELS TO CHINAInterior Minister Abdulkadir Aksu yesterday flew to the People’s Republic of China to pay an official visit at the invitation of Chinese Public Security Minister Zhou Yongkang. As part of an agreement between the two countries on cooperation in the fight against organized crime, Aksu is expected to hold a series of meetings on the topic with Chinese officials. /Turkiye/[04] BAYKAL CRITICIZES AKP’S IRAQ POLICYOpposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Deniz Baykal yesterday criticized the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government’s policy on Iraq, charging that its greenlight to send troops there had made it unpopular across the border. Baykal added that Washington had begun to hesitate on the deployment. “The US has failed to persuade Iraq’s Governing Council on our troop deployment,” he stated. /Milliyet/[05] VERHEUGEN: “TURKEY’S PROGRESS REPORT WILL BE A POSITIVE ONE”Guenter Verheugen, the European Union commissioner for enlargement, yesterday called Turkey the only democratic and secular country capable of heading off possible future conflicts between the Christian and Muslim worlds, adding that everyone should recognize this. Speaking after his meeting with Economic Development Association (IKV) head Davut Okutcu, Verheugen said that the EU’s progress report on Turkey slated for release on Nov. 5 would be a positive one. He also praised the government’s determination on the nation’s EU bid. “The EU will be stronger with Turkey in its ranks,” Verheugen added. /Aksam/[06] US JOINT CHIEF MYERS: “TALKS WITH TURKEY ON TROOP DEPLOYMENT ARE STILL CONTINUING”Speaking at a conference on terrorism yesterday, US Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Richard Myers said that negotiations with Turkey and other countries on sending troops to Iraq were still continuing and would take more time. “Everyone knows that we’re discussing the issue with the Turkish, Pakistani, South Korean, and Japanese governments,” he said, adding that the final decision on the issue would be political. He further stated that the recently passed UN resolution on Iraq had paved the way for several countries to send troops to Iraq. In related news, State Department deputy spokesman Adam Ereli said yesterday that US Ambassador to Ankara Eric Edelman had recently met with a Foreign Ministry official to discuss the issue and that such talks were ongoing. "We continue to believe that Turkey has an important role to play in contributing to stability in Iraq," Ereli added. / Cumhuriyet/[07] WESTON: “THE UN’S CYPRUS PLAN IS STILL ON THE TABLE”US Special Coordinator for Cyprus Tom Weston yesterday arrived in Ankara to discuss the Cyprus issue with Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Ugur Ziyal. Speaking afterwards, Weston said that the UN’s Cyprus plan was still on the table. He stated that he expected Turkey to contribute to a resolution on the island. Also touching on presidential elections in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) set for December, Weston said that the polls should be fair and free. “Weston wants Ankara to focus on a solution after the election and to put more pressure on the TRNC,” Reuters quoted a senior Turkish official as saying. /Cumhuriyet/[08] ANKARA REPORTEDLY IN NO HURRY TO USE $8.5 BILLION US LOANTurkey is in no hurry to make use of the funds released so far to it under an $8.5 billion US loan, government sources said yesterday. In particular, the sources said, it wants to first see the US take concrete steps against the terrorist group PKK_KADEK in northern Iraq, something it has repeatedly pressed for. The sources added that Ankara was waiting to see other countries’ stances on Iraq before proceeding any further. /Sabah/[09] WEPZA HEAD: “INVEST IN TURKISH FREE TRADE ZONES”Speaking yesterday in Istanbul at a conference on free trade zones, World Economic Processing Zones Association (WEPZA) Director Robert Haywood recommended that international investors invest in Turkey’s free trade zones. Saying that this counsel was a break with his advice from years past, Haywood added, “We’ve seen important progress in Turkey. I recommend investment in its free trade zones.” /Hurriyet/[10] BABACAN: “TURKEY IS SET TO RECEIVE SIGNIFICANT FUNDS FROM THE EU”State Minister Ali Babacan, who is currently in Rome for a meeting on European Union policy adjustment, yesterday emphasized that significant funds were due to countries which are candidates for EU membership, Turkey included. “Turkey will receive a significant flow of resources from the EU in the coming period,” he said. Babacan and European Commission Turkey Representative Hansjoerg Kretschmer are set to hold a joint press conference on Thursday concerning this EU accession aid. /Hurriyet/ [11] FROM THE COLUMNS... FROM THE COLUMNS... FROM THE COLUMNS...[12] WAITING BY YILMAZ OZTUNA (TURKIYE)Columnist Yilmaz Oztuna comments on why the US is waiting on the troop deployment issue. A summary of his column is as follows:“Up to now the US has fervently wanted the deployment of Turkish soldiers in Iraq, but now it’s hesitating, which is confusing. This also shows that Washington itself is confused. Actually the US’ indecisiveness about its post-invasion Iraq course has been clear. It was unable to even provide public safety. Is the US wondering if Ankara won’t pay attention to the Syria and Iraq issues? Is it hesitant because of this? Is it waiting for more developments? How does it view the months-long delay of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) on the deployment motion? We’ll know very soon. The US made the United Nations arrive at the resolution it wanted, and now it may think that many soldiers are coming from other countries but that Turkey missed the boat. It will never hand over control in Iraq to the UN. It’s aiming to impose its political will, even change the country’s borders. If they don’t suit its interests, Washington will ignore both the UN and the countries of the Middle East. When the political stage is set for Syrian and Iranian operations – actually this has already started – the problems in Iraq will fall to second on both the international agenda and Turkey’s. The US will accuse Syria of harboring terrorist groups linked to Iran and accuse Iran of trying to develop nuclear weapons and threatening world peace. The US will thus claim to be taking revenge for the Sept. 11 attacks, but actually it will be establishing dominion over Eurasia, grabbing up most of the world’s energy resources and trying to keep US citizens on the top of the economic heap. Of course there will be some obstacles, but the US will overcome them as well as it can.” [13] GUL’S MEANINGFUL MESSAGES BY SAMI KOHEN (MILLIYET)Columnist Sami Kohen writes on last week’s Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) summit held in Malaysia. A summary of his column is as follows:“Unfortunately, our media failed to provide due coverage to Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul’s speech at the OIC Business Forum last week in the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur. However, Gul conveyed very meaningful messages to the OIC members in his address. Among the important points that he stressed were as follows: 1. The concepts of ‘Islam’ and ‘modernization’ are not contradictory. The Turkish experience shows that a Muslim society can achieve social, political and economic development. Religious values and modern life are not incompatible. 2. Muslim societies have unfortunately failed to reach high standards of living vis-a-vis democracy, equality and social rights. However, their young generations in particular are willing to work for and achieve democratic and social development. The far-reaching reforms of the current conservative administration in Ankara have taken even the most liberal circles aback. 3. The problems of Muslim countries can be resolved, and their institutions can be reformed. However, the greatest international problems seem to lie in the Western world, e.g. racism, xenophobia, anti-Semitism, violence and drug abuse. All countries should take effective measures to crack down on these scourges. In his speech, Gul once again displayed the frankness and courage which we witnessed previously at the last OIC summit in Tehran. He made similar statements at that gathering, which also received great attention from Muslim leaders. His emphasis on the problems of violence, drug abuse, racism, anti-Semitism and xenophobia was found very meaningful by the OIC members. In addition, President Ahmet Necdet Sezer remarked at the summit that the Islamic world needs radical reforms and courageous decisions to catch up with developments in the rest of the world. Both Sezer and Gul’s statements displayed our country’s vision on the concepts of Islam and modernization. Our outstanding experience in successfully synthesizing these two concepts constitutes a shining example to the Muslim world. It’s clear that the OIC needs new policies to deal with the realities of today’s world. However, the outcome of this summit has unfortunately disappointed us all since the organization failed to even reach a common declaration.” 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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