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Turkish Press Review, 05-06-08
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
08.06.2005
UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT MEETS
WITH TURKISH LEADERS
ERDOGAN BEGINS CONTACTS IN
WASHINGTON
GUL: “MISUNDERSTANDINGS
WITH THE US WILL END”
GEN. BASBUG URGES THE US TO
DO MORE AGAINST PKK
SEZER POSTPONES ASIA TOUR
BAYKAL: “TERROR IS RISING
AGAIN”
US SENDS LETTER OF PROTEST
TO GREEK CYPRIOT ADMINISTRATION
BELGIAN SENATE REJECTS
“GENOCIDE” MEASURE
HIGH SCHOOL EXTENDED TO
FOUR YEARS
DIRECTORATE GENERAL OF
PRESS AND INFORMATION TURNS 85
INTERNATIONAL ISTANBUL
MUSIC FEST BEGINS
FROM THE COLUMNS…FROM THE
COLUMNS…FROM THE COLUMNS
THE GORDIAN KNOT
BY OKTAY EKSI (HURRIYET)
CONTENTS
[01] UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT MEETS WITH
TURKISH LEADERS
[02] ERDOGAN BEGINS CONTACTS IN
WASHINGTON
[03] GUL: “MISUNDERSTANDINGS WITH
THE US WILL END”
[04] GEN. BASBUG URGES THE US TO DO
MORE AGAINST PKK
[05] SEZER POSTPONES ASIA TOUR
[06] BAYKAL: “TERROR IS RISING
AGAIN”
[07] US SENDS LETTER OF PROTEST TO
GREEK CYPRIOT ADMINISTRATION
[08] BELGIAN SENATE REJECTS
“GENOCIDE” MEASURE
[09] HIGH SCHOOL EXTENDED TO FOUR
YEARS
[10] DIRECTORATE GENERAL OF PRESS
AND INFORMATION TURNS 85
[11] INTERNATIONAL ISTANBUL MUSIC
FEST BEGINS
[12] FROM THE COLUMNS…FROM THE
COLUMNS…FROM THE COLUMNS
[13] THE GORDIAN KNOT
BY OKTAY EKSI (HURRIYET)
[01] UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT MEETS WITH
TURKISH LEADERS
Ukrainian
President Victor Yushchenko, who is currently
visiting Turkey, yesterday met with his Turkish
counterpart Ahmet Necdet Sezer. After their
talks, six agreements for increased cooperation
in various areas were signed. Sezer told
reporters that cooperation between the two
countries would serve regional stability, while
Yushchenko said that the countries’ bilateral
trade volume would rise to $10 billion within
five years. Then the Ukrainian president and his
accompanying delegation paid a visit to
Parliament Speaker Bulent Arinc. Addressing a
panel in Ankara, he stressed that Turkey and
Ukraine share the same political will to
integrate with Europe. In the evening, Sezer
hosted a banquet in honor of Yushchenko and his
wife. /Turkiye/
[02] ERDOGAN BEGINS CONTACTS IN
WASHINGTON
Prime
Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan yesterday arrived
in Washington for talks with top US leaders.
Erdogan held a meeting with the Washington
Post’s editorial board and then met with 13
leading decision-makers during a luncheon. He
also had an interview with CNN International.
The Turkish premier is set to meet with his US
counterpart George W. Bush today in a bid to
reconfirm strong relations between the two
allies. The Cyprus issue and continued presence
of the terrorist group PKK in northern Iraq are
expected to dominate the two leaders’ talks.
Erdogan also plans to have talks with United
Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan to urge him
to end the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus’
(TRNC) international isolation and push Greek
Cypriots to resume talks for a settlement on the
island. /Sabah-Turkiye/
[03] GUL: “MISUNDERSTANDINGS WITH
THE US WILL END”
Foreign
Minister Abdullah Gul traveled to the US
yesterday to accompany Prime Minister Recep
Tayyip Erdogan in his talks with US President
George W. Bush and to hold contacts with other
top US officials. Speaking to reporters after
his arrival, Gul said that certain problems
which recently emerged between Turkey and the US
had stemmed from misunderstandings, adding that
those would end via a summit today between the
top leaders. After meeting with US Secretary of
State Condoleezza Rice later in the day, Gul
told reporters that they had reviewed bilateral
relations and agreed to further cooperation in
various areas, including anti-terrorist efforts
and the Cyprus issue. The Turkish foreign
minister also addressed an annual meeting of the
American-Turkish Council (ATC). /Star/
[04] GEN. BASBUG URGES THE US TO DO
MORE AGAINST PKK
Speaking
to a defense panel at the American-Turkish
Council (ATC) yesterday in Washington, Deputy
Chief of General Staff Gen. Ilker Basbug said
that the US having the PKK on its list of
terrorist organizations was not in itself
enough. “We are discussing these issues in
trilateral meetings with the Iraqi government,”
he said. “However, it’s quite striking that to
date no offensive active has been taken against
the group. The terrorist group should be starved
of outside support and its hope for success
should be ended. Now Turkey is expecting more
from its American friends concerning the issue.”
Citing how the concept of moderate Islam has
recently received wide attention, Basbug said,
“It shouldn’t be forgotten that not only the
transition from radical to moderate, but also
from moderate to radical is also possible. In
addition, I would like to emphasize that a
secular state and a moderate Islamic model can’t
coexist. Secularism is the main engine of
democracy.” Basbug added that it was well
understood that the US forces in Iraq has
certain difficulties but that attacks of the PKK
using explosives had risen. Basbug also said
that Turkey was willing to normalize its
relations with Armenia but that Armenia should
comply with basic international legal rules and
act like a good neighbor towards this end.
Meanwhile, Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of
Staff Gen. Peter Pace said that Turkish-US
relations would continue to be as important in
the next 50 years as in the last 50. Pace
praised Basbug as “forthright, honest and a real
Turkish patriot.” /Cumhuriyet/
[05] SEZER POSTPONES ASIA TOUR
President Ahmet Necdet Sezer has postponed an
upcoming Asia tour due to back problems. Sezer
had been scheduled to travel starting this
Friday to Pakistan, the People’s Republic of
China and Afghanistan to pay official visits.
/Star/
[06] BAYKAL: “TERROR IS RISING
AGAIN”
Opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP)
leader Deniz Baykal warned yesterday that the
terrorist threat had recently begun to rise
again in Turkey. Addressing his party’s
parliamentary group meeting, Baykal said that
terror could not be prevented through military
means alone. Citing how 14 security personnel
had been killed in recent clashes with
terrorists, Baykal called on the government to
evaluate the threat. “Terror cannot be
neglected,” said the CHP leader. /Sabah/
[07] US SENDS LETTER OF PROTEST TO
GREEK CYPRIOT ADMINISTRATION
After the Greek Cypriot administration
protested a US congressional visit to the
Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) last
week, the US responded in kind by sending it a
letter of protest. This marked the first
official US protest of the Greek Cypriot
administration, which is doing its best to keep
the TRNC isolated. In the letter sent to the
Greek Cypriot Embassy in Washington, US State
Department Undersecretary Daniel Free wrote that
the US was very distressed over the Greek
criticism of US Ambassador to Cyprus Michael
Klosson, who welcomed the congressional
delegation visiting the TRNC. Free emphasized
that the stance of the Greek Cypriot
administration, political parties and media
concerning the US ambassador was unacceptable.
/Hurriyet/
[08] BELGIAN SENATE REJECTS
“GENOCIDE” MEASURE
The Belgian Senate’s Justice Commission
yesterday turned back a proposal to criminalize
denying claims of an Armenian genocide. The bill
was returned to the Federal Assembly. Belgian
senators said that it wasn’t Belgium’s job to
judge historical contorversies and stressed that
the positive steps taken by Ankara concerning
the issue couldn’t be ignored. /Milliyet/
[09] HIGH SCHOOL EXTENDED TO FOUR
YEARS
Education Minister Huseyin Celik yesterday
approved a decision to extend the period of
education in high schools from three years to
four. Celik is to give more details concerning
the issue at a press conference today.
/Hurriyet/
[10] DIRECTORATE GENERAL OF PRESS
AND INFORMATION TURNS 85
A
delegation of officials from the Directorate
General of Press and Information led by Director
General Abdurrahman Bilgic visited Ataturk’s
mausoleum, Anitkabir, yesterday to celebrate the
institution’s 85th anniversary. Bilgic and the
delegation entered the mausoleum through the
Lion’s Way and observed a minute of silence.
Then Bilgic signed the commemorative guest book,
and officials and administrators of the
directorate toured the Ataturk and War of
Independence Museum. /Cumhuriyet/
[11] INTERNATIONAL ISTANBUL MUSIC
FEST BEGINS
The 33rd International Istanbul Music
Festival yesterday opened with a Borusan
Istanbul Philharmonic Orchestra concert at the
Hagia Erene Museum in Istanbul. Istanbul Culture
and Art Foundation (IKSV) Chairman Sakir
Eczacibasi made the opening speech of the
festival, sponsored by Eczacibasi Holding.
Following the ceremony, the orchestra gave a
concert led by State Symphony Conductor Pavel
Cogan. The festival will include over 30 events,
including orchestra and chamber music and
recitals, through July 2. /Aksam/
[12] FROM THE COLUMNS…FROM THE
COLUMNS…FROM THE COLUMNS
[13] THE GORDIAN KNOT
BY OKTAY EKSI (HURRIYET)
Columnist Oktay Eksi comments on Prime
Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s current visit to
the US. A summary of his column is as follows:
“Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s visit
to the US has begun. Milliyet Columnist Yasemin
Congar wrote yesterday that recent efforts to
soften Washington had yielded little. Akkording
to Congar, before Erdogan’s arrival in
Washington, US President George W. Bush’s
National Security Advisor Staphen Hadley said:
‘Turkey’s American friends should claim
Turkish-American friendship in the public arena…
And America’s Turkish friends should defend
America against the outrageous charges against
the US.’
Hadley’s words amount to saying, ‘You are
failing defend us.’ Otherwise, Hadley would give
examples of Turkey’s American friends defending
it. After the famous motion of March 1, 2003
[rejecting US troops in Turkey for an offensive
into Iraq], in an interview with CNN Turk on May
6-7, then Deputy Defense Secretary Paul
Wolfowitz and former Ambassador to Ankara Marc
Grossman weighed in with this advice: ‘We can
tell you what the right thing for you is. Just
do what we tell you.’ If not at this time, when
should our American friends raise their voices?
Despite all this, Erdogan in order to be
welcomed by Washington visited Israel, which he
had once branded a ‘terrorist state.’ He met
with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, who
used to be the leader of a band of terrorists.
It was a sort of repentance. As if he wasn’t the
one who called the people who died in Fallujah
‘martyrs,’ Erdogan issued a message on May 21:
‘Our relations with the US are different then
with any other country. The US, our friend and
our ally, is our primary partner vis-a-vis
problems both regional and worldwide.’ But we
still don’t know whether he curries favor with
the US.
Whether Erdogan likes it or not, I would like
to tell him how he could cut the Gordian knot of
Turkish-US relations: PKK terrorists are still
in the mountains… They came from Iraq, a region
under the control of the US, into Turkey. The US
doesn’t allow Turkey to conduct operations in
the region, but doesn’t say anything about the
PKK’s armaments and meeting its needs like food
and fuel in a region under US control.
Consequently, the US then, whether willingly or
not, supports the PKK. With this fact, and the
Turkish martyrs coming from southeastern Turkey,
the US shouldn’t expect to win the hearts of the
Turkish people.”
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