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Turkish Press Review, 05-04-28
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
28.04.2005
FROM THE COLUMNS… FROM THE COLUMNS… FROM THE COLUMNS…
CONTENTS
[01] MARMARIS MARITIME FESTIVAL OFFICIALLY OPENS
[02] ERDOGAN URGES ARMENIA TO OPEN ARCHIVES
[03] ERDOGAN: “TURKEY HAS GOOD RELATIONS WITH THE US”
[04] GUL: “WE’RE NO LONGER DEFENSIVE ON THE CYPRUS ISSUE, IT’S HIGH TIME FOR AN ATTACK”
[05] ANKARA PROTESTS POLAND AND RUSSIA
[06] ANKARA WELCOMES DERVIS’S NEW POST IN THE UN
[07] BABACAN: “WE’VE SUBMITTED OUR LETTER OF INTENT TO THE IMF”
[08] ANKARA HOSTS ISRAELI, PALESTINIAN BUSINESSMEN
[09] FROM THE COLUMNS… FROM THE COLUMNS… FROM THE COLUMNS…
[10] A GLOBAL ROLE FOR DERVIS BY DERYA SAZAK (MILLIYET)
[01] MARMARIS MARITIME FESTIVAL OFFICIALLY OPENS
President Ahmet Necdet Sezer yesterday opened the Marmaris Maritime
International Festival where he was welcomed by a military ceremony
attended by Chief of General Staff Gen. Hilmi Ozkok, main opposition
Republican People's Party (CHP) head Deniz Baykal, Transportation Minister
Binali Yildirim and Defense Minister Vecdi Gonul. Sezer and Gen. Ozkok then
saluted the participating foreign military ships. Following the parade,
Sezer lit the festival’s torch and the event officially began. Today, the
second day of festival will feature the beginning of various sports
activities such as swimming competitions, a beach volleyball tournament and
optimist class centerboat races. Turkish Navy Seals will demonstrate their
skills at a show off the public beach. Members of the media will be able to
visit the participating warships, and the Pineta De Luxe Hotel will host a
panel on
underwater archaeology. The Otoman Military Band (Mehter), the Russian
Entertainment Group, the Turkish Naval Band, the Australian Navy Band and
the Polish Entertainment Group will perform in various spots in Marmaris.
The jury will rate the entries for the ship model competition, and the day
will end with a public concert at the Marmaris Amphitheatre by famous
Turkish rock star Teoman. /Sabah, BYEGM/
[02] ERDOGAN URGES ARMENIA TO OPEN ARCHIVES
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan yesterday met with his New Zealander
counterpart Helen Clark. After their talks, speaking at a press conference,
Erdogan commented on Armenian President Robert Kocharian’s reply to
Erdogan’s recent call to establish a joint commission to study the Armenian
allegations. Stressing that Yerevan was insisting on political relations
first being normalized with Turkey, Erdogan said the issue must be settled
before making political decisions. “We’ll open all our state archives,” he
said. Urging Armenia and other states also to open their archives
concerning the issue, and form a working commission on the matter, the
premier said, “We don’t reject our past, and if there is a need, we can
inquire into it.” In addition, Ankara’s proposal for a joint commission has
also received backing from the Council of Europe and the United States.
Some 80 members of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
recently signed a statement calling on Kocharian to agree to the Turkish
proposal. /Star/
[03] ERDOGAN: “TURKEY HAS GOOD RELATIONS WITH THE US”
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan yesterday said that Ankara had no
problem in its relations with the US. Speaking at his Justice and
Development Party (AKP) parliamentary group meeting, Erdogan said that good
relations with the US were still a basic plank of Turkish foreign policy.
He added that for 50 years Turkish-US relations had been based on an
alliance. Commenting on recent rumors that the government had suspended its
efforts to harmonize with the European Union, Erdogan said, “We have never
abandoned our goal of becoming an EU member. /Turkey/
[04] GUL: “WE’RE NO LONGER DEFENSIVE ON THE CYPRUS ISSUE, IT’S HIGH TIME
FOR AN ATTACK”
Prior to this week’s 44th Turkey-European Union Partnership Council meeting
in Luxembourg, Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul held a face-to-face meeting
with EU Term President Luxembourg’s Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn. Gul
conveyed to Asselborn Turkey’s reproach of the EU’s failure to make
progress on the Cyprus issue, criticizing Brussels for asking Ankara to
take more measures without doing its own homework. Following their
bilateral meeting, Gul told reporters that although the EU itself had
failed to keep its promises on the Cyprus issue, Brussels always says that
the ball is in Turkey’s court. “They always say, ‘Turkey must speed up its
steps’,’ he added. “However, they’re now feeling frustrated because they’ve
failed. We’re no longer defensive on the Cyprus issue since we’ve done all
things that were expected of us. Thus, it’s high time for us to attack.
Brussels has failed to keep its promises on the Cyprus issue. The ball is
actually in their court now.” /Hurriyet/
[05] ANKARA PROTESTS POLAND AND RUSSIA
Parliament Speaker Bulent Arinc yesterday sent a letter to his Polish
counterpart condemning the Polish Parliament’s passing a resolution that
recognizes the Armenian allegations of genocide. In addition, in a protest
move, certain parliamentary activities to take place next month with Poland
have been cancelled. Moreover, a resolution last week in Russia’s Duma on
the matter was also condemned by the Foreign Ministry by delivering a note
of protest to Russia, and Russia’s charge d’affaires was also summoned
yesterday to the ministry to convey Ankara’s disappointment. Speaking to
reporters, Foreign Ministry spokesman Namik Tan said that Ankara had noted
with regret the parliaments of different countries passing such
resolutions. He added that Turkey was also trying to stop a similar attempt
in Germany. /Turkiye/
[06] ANKARA WELCOMES DERVIS’S NEW POST IN THE UN
Ankara has welcomed the naming of Turkish parliamentarian Kemal Dervis as
head of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP). Both Prime Ministry
and Foreign Ministry officials stated that Republican People’s Party (CHP)
Deputy Dervis’s new post is a “source of pride for Turkey.” /Cumhuriyet/
[07] BABACAN: “WE’VE SUBMITTED OUR LETTER OF INTENT TO THE IMF”
State Minister for Economy Ali Babacan yesterday announced that Turkey’s
letter of intent (LOI) on the new standby deal with the International
Monetary Fund had been signed and submitted to the Fund two days ago. In
the runup to tomorrow’s Investment Advisory Council (YDK) meeting, Babacan
held a press conference in Istanbul to brief reporters on the latest
developments with the Fund and ongoing preparations for the YDK gathering
which will be attended by high-level representatives of some 20
multinational firms. Babacan said that although May 12 had previously been
specified as the meeting date for the IMF’s Executive Board, it might
convene several days earlier or later. “It’s important that we complete all
of our relevant tasks in the first half of May,” he added. “Last night, we
discussed these tasks. We expect the board to convene within the week
starting on May 9.” IMF Managing Director Rodrigo de Rato, World Bank Vice
President Shengman Zhang and European Investment Bank President Philippe
Maystadt will all attend the YDK meeting where, Babacan said, Turkey’s
recent economic performance and investment targets will be evaluated.
/Aksam/
[08] ANKARA HOSTS ISRAELI, PALESTINIAN BUSINESSMEN
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan yesterday received Turkish, Israeli and
Palestinian business delegations led by Turkish Union of Chambers and
Commodities Exchanges (TOBB) head Rifat Hisarciklioglu, Economic
Organizations Chairman Shraya Brosh and Federation of Trade Industry and
Agriculture Chambers head Ahmad Hashem Elzogheir, respectively. The meeting
lasted one hour, after which Hisarciklioglu told reporters that Turkey
wants to help all three sides improve bilateral commercial and investment
relations. In addition, Israeli and Palestinian businessmen yesterday held
another meeting hosted by the TOBB. They discussed possible ways to boost
commercial relations between the three countries at this gathering attended
by Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul. The businessmen also decided to hold
their second meeting in eastern Jerusalem on June 8. /Milliyet, Hurriyet/
[09] FROM THE COLUMNS… FROM THE COLUMNS… FROM THE COLUMNS…
[10] A GLOBAL ROLE FOR DERVIS BY DERYA SAZAK (MILLIYET)
Columnist Derya Sazak comments on opposition Republican People’s Party
Deputy Kemal Dervis’s nomination to the post of chairman of the United
Nations Development Program (UNDP). A summary of his column is as follows:
“A few days ago, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan submitted the name of
Kemal Dervis as his preferred candidate for the post of UNDP administrator.
If the UN General Assembly approves his candidacy, Dervis will resign from
his position in our Parliament and take on the responsibility for ‘global
development programs’ within the UN. Back in February 2001, when he was
called to Turkey to help it recover from a financial crisis, Dervis had
been working as vice president of the World Bank.
While globalization creates opportunities in the fields of technology and
free trade, it also spreads poverty and inequality throughout the world. A
believer in social democracy, Dervis is most appropriate for the position
of UNDP administrator. He is experienced in dealing with poverty,
inequality and unequal income distribution. As the head of the UNDP, he
will likely be able to aid Turkey’s future strategies.
Unless we make sure that our national income is distributed fairly, our
European Union membership will be nothing but a pipe dream. We wish Dervis
the best of luck in his new assignment.”
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