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Turkish Press Review, 04-08-11
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
11.08.2004
ERDOGAN TO VISIT GEORGIA
ISTANBUL ROCKED BY BOMB
BLASTS
KARAMANLIS REITERATES
SUPPORT FOR TURKEY’S EU BID, SAYS ANKARA’S
FUTURE IS IN EUROPE
PUTIN INVITES ERDOGAN TO
VISIT RUSSIA
TALAT: “THE TRNC’S
ISOLATION SHOULD BE ENDED BEFORE ANKARA GETS A
DATE TO BEGIN ITS EU ACCESSION TALKS”
UNAKITAN PREDICTS JOB
GROWTH ON THE WAY
ISO SURVEY EXPRESSES
OPTIMISM ON ECONOMY
FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE
COLUMNS...FROM THE COLUMNS...
WILL THE RELIGIOUS AFFAIRS
DIRECTORATE COVER SYNAGOGUES’ ELECTRICITY BILLS?
BY ERTUGRUL OZKOK (HURRIYET)
CONTENTS
[01] ERDOGAN TO VISIT GEORGIA
[02] ISTANBUL ROCKED BY BOMB BLASTS
[03] KARAMANLIS REITERATES SUPPORT
FOR TURKEY’S EU BID, SAYS ANKARA’S FUTURE IS IN
EUROPE
[04] PUTIN INVITES ERDOGAN TO VISIT
RUSSIA
[05] TALAT: “THE TRNC’S ISOLATION
SHOULD BE ENDED BEFORE ANKARA GETS A DATE TO
BEGIN ITS EU ACCESSION TALKS”
[06] UNAKITAN PREDICTS JOB GROWTH ON
THE WAY
[07] ISO SURVEY EXPRESSES OPTIMISM
ON ECONOMY
[08] FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE
COLUMNS...FROM THE COLUMNS...
[09] WILL THE RELIGIOUS AFFAIRS DIRECTORATE COVER SYNAGOGUES’
ELECTRICITY BILLS?
[10] BY ERTUGRUL OZKOK (HURRIYET)
[01] ERDOGAN TO VISIT GEORGIA
Prime
Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is due to travel
to Tbilisi, Georgia today to meet with Georgian
President Mikhail Saakashvili to discuss a
number of issues, including bilateral relations
and regional and international developments.
During his two-day visit, Erdogan is also
expected to meet with his Georgian counterpart
Zurab Zhvania. In related news, Greek Prime
Minister Costas Karamanlis is due to arrive in
Turkey next Monday for a four-day visit, where
he will be expected to express his support for
Turkey’s European Union membership bid before
the December EU summit, when the Union is to
decide whether or not to begin Ankara’s
accession talks. /Turkiye/
[02] ISTANBUL ROCKED BY BOMB BLASTS
Bomb blasts early Tuesday
rocked two tourist hotels and a gas complex in
Istanbul, killing two and wounding 11. Two
near-simultaneous explosions occurred at around
2 am in the hotels, and an hour later two more
bombs went off at a liquefied gas storage site
in Esenyurt, on Istanbul's outskirts. “We are
taking all necessary measures to ensure that
tourism is not affected,” Interior Minister
Abdulkadir Aksu told a news conference. Aksu
recalled that Istanbul earlier this year hosted
a NATO summit and several other international
conferences without a hitch, thus proving
Turkish officials’ ability to provide security.
An al-Qaeda-linked group claimed responsibility
for the bombings. “The Abu Hafs [Al Masri]
Brigades have carried out the first of a series
of operations that will be launched in the face
of European states... and the upcoming attacks
will be more violent,” the group said a
statement posted on an Islamist website.
However, Aksu stated that the perpetrators of
the bombings were Kurdish separatist PKK
militants. In the evening, the PKK denied the
al-Qaeda-linked group’s statement, and itself
claimed responsibility for the attacks. /All
Papers/
[03] KARAMANLIS REITERATES SUPPORT
FOR TURKEY’S EU BID, SAYS ANKARA’S FUTURE IS IN
EUROPE
Speaking to French daily Le Monde yesterday,
Greek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis praised
Recep Tayyip Erdogan, saying that now Ankara was
much closer to the European Union thanks to his
Turkish counterpart. Karamanlis stated that
Ankara’s future was in Europe and reiterated
Greece’s support for Turkey’s EU bid. He said
that Turkey’s European Union membership was
important not only for Ankara, but also for the
whole region and that recently Ankara had taken
important steps forward. “We appreciate Turkey’s
EU reforms for its membership bid,” said
Karamanlis. Asked whether close relations
between Turkey and the EU would hinder a
resolution on the Cyprus issue, Karamanlis said
that he didn’t believe so, adding that for the
last 40 years, all sides had been doing their
utmost for a resolution. He added that he didn’t
believe the Greek Cypriots would oppose Turkey’s
EU bid. /Turkiye/
[04] PUTIN INVITES ERDOGAN TO VISIT
RUSSIA
Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is
expected to pay an official visit to Turkey in
September, has invited Prime Minister Recep
Tayyip Erdogan to visit his country for World
War II victory commemoration ceremonies to be
held next May. Erdogan yesterday met with
Russian Ambassador in Ankara Peter Stegny, who
conveyed Putin’s invitation to the premier. The
leaders of the UN National Security Council and
G-8 countries are expected to attend the victory
celebrations. /Hurriyet/
[05] TALAT: “THE TRNC’S ISOLATION
SHOULD BE ENDED BEFORE ANKARA GETS A DATE TO
BEGIN ITS EU ACCESSION TALKS”
Turkish
Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) Prime
Minister Mehmet Ali Talat yesterday warned that
if Turkey gets a date to begin its European
Union accession talks at the December EU summit,
then this could reduce Ankara’s leverage on the
Cyprus issue. Talat stressed that in light of
this danger, the TRNC’s international isolation
should be brought to an end before Turkey gets a
date from the EU. He further urged that since
Ankara had fulfilled the Copenhagen criteria,
the Union should give Turkey such a date.
/Milliyet/
[06] UNAKITAN PREDICTS JOB GROWTH ON
THE WAY
Speaking
at a press conference yesterday, Finance
Minister Kemal Unakitan predicted that
increasing investment and economic growth would
yield rising employment in the months to come.
“We’ll see this in the second half of this year
and the next,” he said. He also touted recent
low inflation figures, adding that the nation
would get used to this modest inflation.
Unakitan stated that the government was closely
watching Turkey’s high current accounts deficit
and had taken certain measures to reduce it. The
current accounts deficit is expected to reach
$10 billion by year’s-end. /Aksam/
[07] ISO SURVEY EXPRESSES OPTIMISM
ON ECONOMY
Istanbul Chamber of Commerce (ITO) Chairman
Tanil Kucuk yesterday released the results of
the chamber’s Economic Situation Public Survey,
saying that it showed optimism for the economy
for the second half the year. Kucuk said that
the ITO expected the economy to continue to grow
in the coming months. He also underlined that
unemployment could only be tackled through
well-prepared, comprehensive plans designed to
create new manufacturing jobs. /Hurriyet/
[08] FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE
COLUMNS...FROM THE COLUMNS...
[09] WILL THE RELIGIOUS AFFAIRS DIRECTORATE COVER SYNAGOGUES’
ELECTRICITY BILLS?
[10] BY ERTUGRUL OZKOK (HURRIYET)
Columnist Ertugrul Ozkok comments on Turkey’s
Jewish community. A summary of his column is as
follows:
“Whatever their faith, the electricity bills
of places of worship in Turkey were covered by
the Turkish Electricity Distribution Company
(TEDAS), at least until 2002. The former
coalition government lifted this financial
burden from TEDAS, and the Directorate of
Religious Affairs started to cover these
expenses.
However, the situation of the synagogues and
churches was forgotten. TEDAS also used to pay
their electricity bills, but stopped this and
expected them to pay instead. The Jewish
community wrote to TEDAS, but to no avail.
Therefore the community appealed to the
government. ‘The problem isn’t money,’ a Jewish
community member told me. ‘We are upstanding
members of this society and carry Turkish
passports. If the state is covering the
electricity bills of mosques, shouldn’t it do
the same for synagogues, which are places of
worship for Turkish citizens who are Jews? This
would demonstrate equal rights for all
citizens.’
At last the government found a solution to
this, and the Directorate of Religious Affairs
will cover these expenses. By the way, I’d also
like to touch upon a recent controversy which
also involved the Jewish community. Last weekend
Reuters quoted Fener Greek Patriarch Bartholomew
as saying, ‘Freedom of religion is restricted in
Turkey.’ This statement wasn’t welcomed among
the Jewish community, which firmly rebuked it
and decided to announce that it disagrees with
the patriarch. In a statement released
yesterday, Istanbul’s chief rabbi said that Jews
living in Turkey don’t face any problems
concerning religious freedom or practicing their
faith. Reuters has apologized, saying that the
statement had been misquoted. All these events
show how the Turkish state has good relations
with its non-Muslim citizens.”
ARCHIVE
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