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Turkish Press Review, 05-06-14Turkish 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 morning14.06.2005ERDOGAN TO TRAVEL TO LEBANON ERDOGAN ORDERS HIS STAFF NOT TO GO TO GREEK CYPRIOT ADMINISTRATION EU SIGNS ADDITIONAL PROTOCOL OZKOK ARRIVES IN KAZAKHSTAN SCHWEITZER PRAISES TURKEY CICEK: “EARLY ELECTIONS ARE NOT ON THE AGENDA” BAYKAL: “FIRST ROUND IS OVER” DUTCH FOREIGN MINISTER ASSURES TURKEY TO BEGIN EU TALKS ON TIME IMF DELEGATION MEETS WITH BABACAN FROM THE COLUMNS… FROM THE COLUMNS… FROM THE COLUMNS… THE US OR THE EU? BY SAMI KOHEN (MILLIYET)CONTENTS
[01] ERDOGAN TO TRAVEL TO LEBANONPrime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, accompanied by Finance Minister Kemal Unakitan is set to travel to Beirut, Lebanon tomorrow to attend the Arab Countries Economy Forum. During an inauguration speech of the gathering, Erdogan will brief the representatives of 30 countries about Turkey’s recent economic developments. The premier is also expected to hold bilateral meetings with Lebanese officials during his two-day visit to this country. /Star/[02] ERDOGAN ORDERS HIS STAFF NOT TO GO TO GREEK CYPRIOT ADMINISTRATIONPrime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan ordered his staff not to accept Greek Cypriot opposition party Democratic Mobilization Party (DISI) leader Nicos Anastasiades’ invitation to the Greek Cypriot administration. Reportedly, the lack of solution to the problem of the way to be followed on the way to the Greek Cypriot administration and Greek Cypriots’ policy of deadlock had impacts on Erdogan’s decision. Greek Cypriots doesn’t let passages from the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. /Aksam/[03] EU SIGNS ADDITIONAL PROTOCOLForeign Ministers of the European Union yesterday approved a protocol extending Turkey’s Customs Union to 10 new EU member countries including Greek Cyprus. The signing of the protocol is a precondition for Ankara to begin its accession talks on Oct. 3. The EU officials expect Ankara to sign the protocol before their meeting in Brussels on 16-17. Turkey and the EU previously agreed that signing of the protocol did not mean formal recognition of Greek Cypriot government by Ankara. In related news, Erdogan will not attend Brussels summit, and Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul and Chief Negotiator Ali Babacan will represent Turkey at the gathering. /Star/[04] OZKOK ARRIVES IN KAZAKHSTANChief of General Staff Gen. Hilmi Ozkok will pay official visits to Kazakhstan and Mongolia upon the invitation of these countries’ chiefs of general staff. Ozkok and the accompanying delegation yesterday left Etimesgut Military Airport for Kazakhstan. After holding official contacts in Kazakhstan for two days, Ozkok will go to Mongolia. He will be back to Turkey on Friday. /Sabah/[05] SCHWEITZER PRAISES TURKEYFrench Enterprise Movement’s (MEDEF) international relations department MEDEF International Delegation Chairman Louis Schweitzer, currently visiting Turkey with high ranking officials from 40 French companies, said yesterday, “We came here to show our confidence in the Turkish economy which has improved great recently. We completely believe that the process of Turkey’s EU membership will be positive. Schweitzer said that Turkey would be the EU’s engine of growth and that the process of participation would be the process of improvement in Turkey. Speaking at the work breakfast held with State Minister and Chief Negotiator Ali Babacan, Schweitzer said that the rejection of the referendum on the EU Constitution had nothing to do with Turkey’s EU membership and added, “The theme of this referendum is about the political problems between France and the EU and the problems of economic growth and unemployment in France and the EU.” Recalling that it was decided to start membership negotiations with Turkey last December and that the process of negotiations might continue for 10-15 years, Schweitzer added, “Everything might change in this process. The EU doesn’t have sufficient information on the level of reforms implemented in Turkey. In this process of negotiation, the EU might understand the reforms and changes in Turkey in a better way.” Meanwhile, Babacan said that Turkey would enter a very important process of transformation as of Oct. 3. He added, “It will be a process in which a fair copy of our system will be made from A to Z.” /Cumhuriyet, Aksam/[06] CICEK: “EARLY ELECTIONS ARE NOT ON THE AGENDA”The Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan convened yesterday. Following the five-hour meeting, Justice Minister Cemil Cicek told reporters that the ministers discussed the Turkish–US relations, the recent crisis with Russia concerning vegetable and fruit exports and privatization projects. Stressing that Ankara attached great importance to its relations with the US, Cicek said certain speculations were eliminated during Erdogan’s last week visit to this country. Commenting on the opposition parties’ recent calls for early elections, Cicek said elections were not on the government’s agenda. Stating that people harm Turkey with such disputes, the justice minister added, “We have a lot to do to serve Turkey.” /Turkiye/[07] BAYKAL: “FIRST ROUND IS OVER”Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Deniz Baykal said that the first round had ended between the Turkish-European Union relations. Speaking to the Socialist International meeting in Madrid yesterday, Baykal said, “The first round ended between the Turkish-EU relations. This period ended negatively for both Turkey and the EU. I guest the situation will be the same in the next few years. The process of Turkey’s membership will be slow. Turkey and the EU will start the second round with a new point of view. We should talk about our mistakes. We should start the second round not by accepting all conditions, but with a new approach with our project of modernization.” /Aksam/[08] DUTCH FOREIGN MINISTER ASSURES TURKEY TO BEGIN EU TALKS ON TIMEDutch Foreign Minister Ben Bot said yesterday that he hoped the European Union would keep its promise to begin accession talks with Turkey on Oct. 3. Commenting on the rejection of EU Constitution in recent referendums both in France and his country, Bot remarked that the results would not affect Turkey’s membership. When Ankara signs the additional protocol and is ready for the talks, we will also be ready, said the Dutch minister, adding that the talks would be carried out as scheduled at the Dec. 17 summit. /Turkiye/[09] IMF DELEGATION MEETS WITH BABACANAn International Monetary Fund delegation headed by Turkey Desk Chief Lorenzo Giorgianni is continuing its work at the Treasury Undersecretariat to review the economic developments as part of the new stand-by deal. State Minister Ali Babacan also held a meeting with the group later afternoon to exchange views on the work. /Star/[10] FROM THE COLUMNS… FROM THE COLUMNS… FROM THE COLUMNS…[11] THE US OR THE EU? BY SAMI KOHEN (MILLIYET)Columnist Sami Kohen comments on Turkey’s relations with the European Union and the United States. A summary of his column is as follows:“Does Turkey really have to make a choice between the United States and the European Union? I don’t think so. However, the question is currently discussed by some circles. There are two fresh developments bringing the issue to the agenda: The EU is in crisis now because France and the Netherlands said ‘no’ to the EU’s constitutional treaty, intensifying debates on Turkey’s EU membership bid. Second, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan paid a visit to the United States to mend fences between the two countries. Some argue that Turkey will have to make a choice between the EU and the US. Especially foreign press including the British Observer and the Times recently claimed that Ankara is unlikely to join the ranks of the EU and therefore losing its enthusiasm about becoming a EU member. In addition, the New York Times argued that Turkey has already begun to question whether it should exert more efforts to join the EU and therefore the Turkish government has decided to turn itself to Washington rather than Brussels. I believe that these evaluations are nothing but exaggeration. The New York Times quoted Erdogan saying that Turkey attaches the greatest importance to its relations with both the EU and the US. Erdogan may try to mend fences with Washington but this does not necessarily mean that his government is suspicious about the EU’s intentions. Some EU nations may oppose our membership bid but it is a fact that the EU’s decision-making organs already decided to start our membership negotiations. As the negotiations process will be a very long one, it is too early to predict that Turkey will never be able to succeed. In this very early phase, Turkey prefers preparing for the negotiations, and this is what it should do. The EU might experience radical developments during this period. Many US officials including Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice have often called on Brussels to open its doors to Turkey. This is very meaningful to us. Washington wants to see Turkey in the Western camp. Washington believes that Turkey’s EU vision overlaps with Ankara’s strategic relations with the United States. In other words, according to Washington Turkey doesn’t need to make a choice between the two.” 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 |