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Turkish Press Review, 05-01-26Turkish 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 morning26.01.2005ERDOGAN TO MEET WITH BLAIR IN DAVOS TO DISCUSS CYPRUS GEN.BUYUKANIT: “WITHOUT A SETTLEMENT, TURKEY WILL NOT WITHDRAW ITS SOLDIERS FROM THE TRNC” SOLANA: “ANNAN WILL LAUNCH A NEW INITIATIVE ON CYPRUS WHEN THERE’S POSSIBILITY OF AGREEMENT BETWEEN TURKISH AND GREEK CYPRIOTS” TURKISH BUSINESSMEN GATHER TO AID SOUTHERN ASIA VERHEUGEN: “THE EU WILL NEED TURKEY” EU WARNS ARMENIA ABOUT UPPER KARABAGH EU TO GRANT TURKEY SOME 320 MILLION EURO FOR 38 PROJECTS TOBB TO TAKE JOURNALISTS FOR TRAINING SEMINAR IN BRUSSELS FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE COLUMNS... NOW THEY’RE LEARNING... BY OKTAY EKSI (HURRIYET) GEN. BUYUKANIT AND CYPRUS BY FIKRET BILA (MIILLIYET)CONTENTS
[01] ERDOGAN TO MEET WITH BLAIR IN DAVOS TO DISCUSS CYPRUSPrime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who is currently in Davos, Switzerland to attend the World Economic Forum, is due to meet with British Prime Minister Tony Blair to discuss the Cyprus issue and he is expected to tell Blair that a new process for Cyprus talks on the basis of the Annan plan should be launched. Later, Erdogan will meet with German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder. During their meeting the two will discuss a number of issues and Erdogan is expected to appreciate Schroeder for his support for Turkey. The premier is also expected to meet with Dutch Prime Minister Peter Balkenende and Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean Claude Junker and to tell them that the screening process shouldn’t last long and that the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) should be recognized. The premier is also expected to meet with French President Jacques Chirac, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and Greek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis. During his stay in Davos, Erdogan would be accompanied by Finance Minister Kemal Unakitan, State Minister for the Economy Ali Babacan and Justice and Development Party (AKP) deputies Saban Disli, Egemen Bagis, Omer Celik, and Reha Denemec and several bureaucrats. /Aksam/[02] GUL TO VISIT CHINA NEXT WEEKForeign Minister Abdullah Gul is set to travel to People’s Republic of China to pay an official visit at the invitation of his Chinese counterpart Li Zhaoxing on Feb. 1-5. Gul, accompanied by parliamentarians, businessmen and journalists will discuss bilateral, regional and international issues with Chinese officials. Turkish and Chinese businessmen will also hold meetings to seek ways to develop bilateral trade relations. /Turkiye/[03] GEN.BUYUKANIT: “WITHOUT A SETTLEMENT, TURKEY WILL NOT WITHDRAW ITS SOLDIERS FROM THE TRNC”Gen. Yasar Buyukanit, commander of the Turkish Land Forces, who is currently visiting the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), yesterday met with President Rauf Denktas. After their half-an-hour meeting, Buyukanit told reporters that there would be no troop pullout from the island until a definite settlement to the decades-old issue was found. “Without a definite and permanent agreement, not even a single soldier will go from here,” said the commander. Reiterating the TRNC’s reliance on Turkey, Denktas said that any agreement on the island must protect the independence of the Turkish Cypriots. /Star/[04] TALAT TO TRAVEL TO BRUSSELSTurkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) Prime Minister Mehmet Ali Talat is due today to travel to Brussels. During his stay in Brussels, Talat will meet with European Union Commissioner for Enlargement Olli Rehn, EU High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy Javier Solana and Luxembourg’s Junior Foreign Minister Nicolas Schmit, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency, to discuss the Cyprus issue. Talat's trip to Brussels comes amid growing Turkish Cypriot disappointment over the EU's failure to fulfill pledges of financial aid and ease trade restrictions on their breakaway enclave as a reward for their "yes" vote. In related news, Greek Cypriot leader Tassos Papadopoulos yesterday visited Athens to discuss developments on the Cyprus issue in view of the likelihood of a new UN initiative. /Aksam/[05] SOLANA: “ANNAN WILL LAUNCH A NEW INITIATIVE ON CYPRUS WHEN THERE’S POSSIBILITY OF AGREEMENT BETWEEN TURKISH AND GREEK CYPRIOTS”European Union High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy Javier Solana said yesterday that UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan would launch a new initiative when there is possibility of agreement between the Turkish and Greek Cypriots. Addressing the European Parliament Foreign Affairs Committee, Solana said that he had met with Annan and that Annan briefed him on his intentions concerning a new Cyprus initiative. Solana further stated that the EU would actively support the UN if it launches a new initiative on Cyprus. /Cumhuriyet/[06] TURKISH BUSINESSMEN GATHER TO AID SOUTHERN ASIAPrime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan yesterday gave a dinner to aid the Tsunami victims in Southern Asia. About 50 businessmen attended the dinner and gave about $10 million aid. It is said that the businessmen also promised that the monetary and service aid would reach the amount of $50 million. /Sabah/[07] VERHEUGEN: “THE EU WILL NEED TURKEY”The EU will need Turkey to become a world power, said EU Commissioner for Enlargement Gunter Verheugen to the German periodical “Internationale Politik” (International Politics). Verheugen claimed that the EU would become a global actor if Turkey would join the Union. /Cumhuriyet/[08] EU WARNS ARMENIA ABOUT UPPER KARABAGHThe European Council Parliamentary Assembly warned Armenia about its occupation of the Azerbaijani soil. A report and a bill regarding the Upper Karabagh issue, prepared by British parliamentarian David Atkinson, were approved yesterday. The report stated that a member country’s occupation of another member’s soil was a serious violation of commitments made to the European Council and called on Armenia to withdraw from the Upper Karabagh. /Turkiye/[09] EU TO GRANT TURKEY SOME 320 MILLION EURO FOR 38 PROJECTSAs part of a financial aid program before the accession, the European Union is set to grant Turkey 329 million euro for 38 projects which will be carried out between 2005 and 2007. During a meeting of the Joint Monitoring Committee yesterday in Ankara, Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul, State Minister Ali Babacan and EU Commission’s Turkey Representative Amb. Hansjorg Kretschmer signed a record regarding the aid. Kretschemer said that the EU would increase its financial aid as the negotiations process goes further. /Turkiye/[10] TOBB TO TAKE JOURNALISTS FOR TRAINING SEMINAR IN BRUSSELSAs part of a “European Union Communications Project,” the Turkish Union of Chambers and Commodities Exchange (TOBB) is holding seminars to inform Turkish journalists. Yesterday in Istanbul, during a gathering, a group of journalists were briefed on European Union and Turkey-EU relations. Furthermore, some 25 journalists are set to fly to Brussels tomorrow for a one-week training program. /Turkiye/[11] FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE COLUMNS...[12] NOW THEY’RE LEARNING... BY OKTAY EKSI (HURRIYET)Columnist Oktay Eksi comments on the fundamentalist organizations in Europe and the United States. A summary of his column is as follows:“According to the recent reports, American and European governments are currently trying to take effective measures to crack down on radical, fundamentalist Islamic organizations and their leaders. These measures may include closing down of such organizations or deporting the leaders of such organizations. Germany has also taken different measures on this issue: According to the new Migration Law, which became effective on the first day of 2005, the foreigners are obliged to attend adaptation and harmonization courses. The German states are authorized to deport those who do not attend these courses. Another new measure is that the foreigners who are suspected of organizing acts of terrorism might be taken into security custody. As we all know, there is no necessity of a claim for a person to be treated like a terrorist in the United States. If you’re a dark skin, a foreign accent and have a Middle eastern outlook, you’re in big trouble. You’d probably have hard times to prove that you’re innocent and have no connection with the terrorists. Under the Patriot Act, the US government is allowed to detain anyone in connection with a terror investigation, including American citizens, without disclosing their identity until criminal charges are filed. Even death penalty is possible by a military commission if you’re convicted of acts of terrorism according to the undisclosed evidence and in confidential hearings. The situation is similar in both Britain and Canada. There are still certain laws violating the basic principles of law. However, it is possible to fight with terrorists and fundamentalists on the one hand, and to protect the rule of law ad democracy on the other. The Western countries have always refused to learn lessons from our experience, as a secular country which fought with fundamentalists for a long time. Whenever we warned them that such Islamic organizations have nothing to do with the freedom of religion and conscious and that they will pose a grave threat to the Western countries in the future, they laughed at us and did not take our warnings seriously. In their view, Turkey’s problem was lack of democracy. Didn’t Germany overlook the apostles of Cemalettin Kaplan with guns in their hands taking oaths for Sheria? Now Britain is preparing to deport a Syrian imam. Germans arrested an Iraqi and a Palestinian on the charges that they are connected to the Al-Qaeda. France also deported an imam to his country Algeria. The German police also detained 22 people on January 12 with similar reasons. As you see, there is nearly no possibility that the radical fundamentalists are not connected with terrorism. This is a fact that we’ve been aware of for a long time, but nobody has ever listened to us…” [13] GEN. BUYUKANIT AND CYPRUS BY FIKRET BILA (MIILLIYET)Columnist Fikret Bila comments on the Cyprus issue and Land Forces Commander Gen. Yasar Buyukanit’s recent remarks. A summary of his column is as follows:“Land Forces Commander Gen. Yasar Buyukanit’s recent remarks in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) has important messages for the EU and the Greek Cypriot administration. Stating that not a single Turkish soldier will be withdrawn from the island without a certain and permanent solution, Buyukanit emphasized that the Turkish side favored a solution. He emphasized that Turkish soldiers are located in Cyprus based on international agreements in order to ensure Turkish Cypriots’ security. Buyukanit added that the isolation on Turkish Cypriots was not only unfair, but also illegal. The solution of the Cyprus issue is a stipulation for Turkey to start membership talks with the EU. The EU has done it before to give a date for membership talks. Cyprus is a special stipulation for Turkey, outside the Copenhagen criteria. The Turkish side accepted this stipulation and UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s plan, but the EU continued and it’s still continuing its unfair and illegal stance. Clearly, the EU is considering the issue from the perspective of the Greek Cypriot administration. While the EU laid down conditions for Turkey, it provided the Greek Cypriot administration with the guarantee of unconditional membership and full membership. In spite of this unfairness, the burden of solving the problem is on Turkey’s shoulders. The essence of the condition is that the Greek Cypriot administration will be recognized in a way to represent the entire Cyprus. It always expects Turkey to make a concession. In addition, the EU also expects Turkey to make a gesture by withdrawing its soldiers from the island. The EU mentions this expectation but it is also supported by some Turkish people. However, the Greek Cypriot administration should make a concession and take a step. As long as such a pressure isn’t put on the Greek Cypriot administration, it has the luxury to wait until Oct. 3, 2005. The EU provided it with this luxury. The EU is exploiting Turkey’s wish and insistence on EU membership and trying to make Turkey accept its requests until Oct. 3, 2005. The main problem of Greece and the Greek Cypriot administration is the Turkish soldiers in the island and they want those soldiers to be withdrawn from the island. Clearly, they will put pressure for this purpose and try to reach their aims with the EU’s support. That’s why Buyukanit’s remarks are important.” 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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