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Turkish Press Review, 04-06-24
From: Turkish Directorate General of Press and Information <http://www.byegm.gov.tr>
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Summary of the political and economic
news in the Turkish press this morning
24.06.2004
CONTENTS
[01] NSC TO CONVENE TODAY
[02] ERDOGAN MEETS WITH IRAQI TURKMEN, KURDISH LEADERS
[03] BUSH TO DISCUSS IRAQ, CYPRUS, PKK AND GME WITH TURKISH OFFICIALS
[04] SCHROEDER: “I BELIEVE THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION’S FALL REPORT WILL BE POSITIVE”
[05] DUTCH FM: “EU DECISIONS ON TURKEY WILL BE INDEPENDENT, TRANSPARENT, AND JUST”
[06] PAPADOPOULOS: “WE WON’T BLOCK TURKEY’S EU ACCESSION TALKS”
[07] DYP CELEBRATES 21ST ANNIVERSARY
[08] MINIMUM WAGE GETS 5% HIKE
[09] THY PLANE STRUCK BY LIGHTNING
[10] FROM THE COLUMNS... FROM THE COLUMNS... FROM THE COLUMNS...
[11] THE NATO SUMMITBY DAVUT DURSUN (YENI SAFAK)
[01] NSC TO CONVENE TODAY
The National Security Council chaired by President Ahmet Necdet Sezer is
set to convene this afternoon at the Cankaya Presidential Palace. The
meeting is to focus on recent foreign and domestic developments, including
the release of the former Democracy Party (DEP) deputies, the Iraq issue
and the terrorist group PKK/Kongra-gel’s activities in northern Iraq.
/Turkiye_
[02] ERDOGAN MEETS WITH IRAQI TURKMEN, KURDISH LEADERS
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan yesterday met with Iraqi Turkmen Front
(ITF) leader Faruk Abdullah. After their meeting, Abdullah told reporters
that he had told Erdogan about issues facing the Turkmen and recent
developments in Iraq. Asked about Iraqi Patriotic Union (IPUK) leader Jalal
Talabani’s recent assurances about the Turkmen, Abdullah stated that the
facts on the ground were more important than any pledges. In addition, the
premier met with Talabani, who is currently holding a series of contacts in
Ankara. During their one-hour meeting, Erdogan reportedly complained about
the Turkmen’s lack of representation in the Iraqi administration. Talabani
stated that he too was distressed by this but that responsibility for it
belonged to the United States and Arabs. Stressing that his group favored
representation of the Turkmen on all platforms, Talabani said that the IPUK
wanted the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk to have a special status with a
joint Turkmen, Arab and Kurdish administration. Meanwhile, Erdogan
underlined that Turkey would not welcome any formulas giving one group
domination over others. “We don’t want division of the region,” said the
premier. /Turkiye/
[03] BUSH TO DISCUSS IRAQ, CYPRUS, PKK AND GME WITH TURKISH OFFICIALS
US President George W. Bush is expected to arrive in Ankara this weekend
before proceeding to Istanbul’s NATO summit beginning on Monday. During his
stay in Turkey, he is expected to discuss with Turkish officials a number
of issues, including Iraq, the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk, the terrorist
PKK, Cyprus, and Turkey’s role in the Greater Middle East Initiative (GME).
During the meetings, Turkish officials are due to be briefed in detail on
Iraq’s new administration and will likely seek US support in ending the
PKK’s terrorist attacks. Ankara is also expected to seek US support on the
Cyprus issue. /Turkiye/
[04] SCHROEDER: “I BELIEVE THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION’S FALL REPORT WILL BE
POSITIVE”
Appearing on television yesterday, German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder
praised Ankara’s steps for its European Union membership bid, adding that
the government was on the right track. He expressed optimism that the EU
could give a date to Turkey this December to begin its accession talks.
“The EU should be honest about Ankara’s bid,” he said, adding that he
believed the European Commission’s fall report on Turkey would be positive.
Schroeder stressed that Ankara’s accession talks should begin as soon as
possible if the commission releases a positive report. He added that the
September 11 attacks against the US had boosted Turkey’s strategic
importance. /Aksam/
[05] DUTCH FM: “EU DECISIONS ON TURKEY WILL BE INDEPENDENT, TRANSPARENT,
AND JUST”
Speaking at a press conference yesterday, Netherlands Foreign Minister
Bernard Bot said that upcoming pivotal European Union decisions on Turkey
would be independent, transparent, and just. The Netherlands is to take
over the EU rotating term presidency from Ireland next month and will hold
it through the December summit, when a decision on starting Ankara’s
accession talks is due. Asked about the objections of Austria and France to
Turkey’s EU bid, Bot said that the Union would evaluate Turkey’s situation
in six months. “We’ll see if Ankara is ready for the EU or not,” he said.
“Recently Turkey has made important strides in its membership bid, and I
believe that it will make further progress in the six months leading to the
December EU summit.” /Cumhuriyet/
[06] PAPADOPOULOS: “WE WON’T BLOCK TURKEY’S EU ACCESSION TALKS”
Speaking to Spanish daily El Pais yesterday, Greek Cypriot leader Tassos
Papadopoulos
said that provided Ankara fulfills the Copenhagen criteria, Greek Cyprus
wouldn’t hinder Turkey’s accession talks with the European Union. Touching
on the Cyprus issue, Papadopoulos stressed his view that reunification
wasn’t possible under UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s plan, which he
lobbied against earlier this year. /Milliyet/
[07] DYP CELEBRATES 21ST ANNIVERSARY
The True Path Party (DYP) yesterday celebrated the 21st anniversary of its
founding. The party’s members visited Ataturk’s mausoleum at Anitkabir and
later held a reception at the Akay International Hotel. Speaking at the
reception, Agar said that his party supported Turkey’s European Union
membership bid but went on to criticize the ruling Justice and Development
Party (AKP), charging that its focus on getting a date to begin EU
accession talks was leading it to neglect the nation. Also present at the
reception was Germany’s Ambassador to Turkey Wolf Ruthart Born. /Milliyet/
[08] MINIMUM WAGE GETS 5% HIKE
After meeting yesterday, the Minimum Wage Establishment Commission
announced that the minimum wage is set to rise by 5% beginning next month.
Accordingly, the current figure, a net 303,079,000 TL, is supposed to rise
to 318 million. However, Turk-Is labor union officials representing workers
at the gathering walked out on it, charging that the increase was
inadequate. /Star/
[09] THY PLANE STRUCK BY LIGHTNING
A Turkish Airlines (THY) A-310 airplane carrying 181 passengers and six
crew members was struck by lightning last night on the Antalya-Istanbul
run. Though the plane’s radar system suffered damage, its pilots were able
to make an emergency landing at Dalaman Airport. Panicked passengers were
then flown to Istanbul in another plane. /Sabah/
[10] FROM THE COLUMNS... FROM THE COLUMNS... FROM THE COLUMNS...
[11] THE NATO SUMMITBY DAVUT DURSUN (YENI SAFAK)
Columnist Davut Dursun comments on next week’s NATO summit in Istanbul and
preparations for it. A summary of his column is as follows:
“Turkey has been preparing for next week’s NATO summit in Istanbul for a
long time now. The Istanbul city government has been busy overhauling the
region called the ‘NATO Valley’ where the summit will be held. When leaders
provide a service, they generally don’t consider the reaction and
expectations of those who will eventually benefit from it. Instead, they
take pains over the satisfaction of high-ranking officials. During the
1996Habitat II summit in Istanbul, the city took on a completely different
appearance. Similarly, now certain neighborhoods and streets in Istanbul
are being revamped and improved for the NATO summit. Please don’t think
that I’m complaining. Sometimes I want to say it’s fortunate these events
are held because they make the city more beautiful. However, I’d like such
work to be done not necessarily for special occasions but as a normal
service. If certain streets in Istanbul had to be renovated, why are we
waiting for the NATO summit to do so? Perhaps we put more importance on
show and do such things in order to win the favor of bigwigs.
I think we’re overemphasizing the summit a bit. The security measures for
it are extraordinary. Certain streets will be closed to traffic, and there
will be land and sea restrictions for three days. As we see now, we’re good
at making an event extraordinary by acting with agitation and excitement.
The world’s top leaders will be in Istanbul. Of course that’s important,
but we shouldn’t exaggerate the situation. There are also gradually
increasing protests and demonstrations in many cities across Turkey. They
are anti-Western signs saying ‘Stay Away Bush,’ and ‘No NATO.’ I wonder if
those opposing NATO know anything about it. This slogan was very meaningful
during the Cold War years. Particularly those who favored the Soviet Union
voiced this slogan, but nobody said ‘No Warsaw Pact.’ When NATO was the
defense alliance of Western countries, the Warsaw Pact was the same thing
for the Soviet Bloc. When the Soviet Union collapsed, the Warsaw Pact also
ended. However, NATO still exists but since 1990 it’s been facing questions
about its continued relevance. It’s wrong to think of NATO as being only
the US and ignoring its 25 other members. Now there is a solidarity,
cooperation and common action movement in the world in the areas of the
economy, politics, social issues, sports, culture, defense and security.
The NATO summit is important and meaningful for Turkey. Neither the Islamic
world nor NATO can exist without Turkey.”
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