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Turkish Press Review, 05-09-08Turkish 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 morning08.09.2005ERDOGAN, GUL TO ATTEND UN MEETINGS IN NEW YORK ARINC SENDS LETTERS TO PARLIAMENTS WHICH RECOGNIZED SO-CALLED ARMENIAN GENOCIDE FM SPOKESMAN: “THE US OPERATION AGAINST TAL AFAR SHOULD DISTINGUISH BETWEEN CITIZENS AND TERRORISTS” EU MULLS RESPONSE TO ANKARA’S DECLARATION ON CYPRUS AGAR CRITICIZES GOVT’S STANCE ON RECENT PKK PROVOCATIONS UNAKITAN: “WE WON’T FORSAKE BUDGET DISCIPLINE” NGO SUMMIT TO FOCUS ON EU TALKS US GENERALS DUE IN ANKARA TODAY TO DISCUSS TERRORISM FROM THE COLUNMS... FROM THE COLUMNS... FROM THE COLUMNS DISCUSSED AT THE NSC BY MERIC KOYATASI (AKSAM)CONTENTS
[01] ERDOGAN, GUL TO ATTEND UN MEETINGS IN NEW YORKA three-day summit of heads of state and government will start next Wednesday in New York to follow up on the UN Millennium Summit of 2000. Turkey will be represented by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul is also expected to attend to the 60th UN General Assembly meeting to be held at month’s-end. /Star/[02] ARINC SENDS LETTERS TO PARLIAMENTS WHICH RECOGNIZED SO-CALLED ARMENIAN GENOCIDEIn letters sent this week to the parliaments of 16 countries which have recognized the so-called Armenian genocide, Parliament Speaker Bulent Arinc said that there was nothing in Turkey’s history to be ashamed of. Sweden, Poland, Canada, Argentina, and Germany were among these countries. Arinc stated that such recognitions had disappointed Turkey. /Turkiye/[03] FM SPOKESMAN: “THE US OPERATION AGAINST TAL AFAR SHOULD DISTINGUISH BETWEEN CITIZENS AND TERRORISTS”Speaking at a press conference yesterday, Foreign Ministry Spokesman Namik Tan said that the US operation in Tal Afar, Iraq should work to distinguish between local residents and terrorists. Tan stated that Turkey was working to help solve the situation in the city, adding that Turkish officials had conveyed Ankara’s sensitivities about the issue and urged the US not to harm innocents living there. In related news, the US Embassy in Ankara issued a written statement, stressing that US operations didn’t target a particular ethnic group and that no chemical weapons were used in the operations. /Turkiye/[04] EU MULLS RESPONSE TO ANKARA’S DECLARATION ON CYPRUSThe European Union’s Permanent Representatives Committee (COREPER) yesterday discussed its response to be given to Turkey’s supplementary declaration on Greek Cyprus. The debate focused on the issues of recognition of Greek Cyprus vis-a-vis the Ankara Protocol, but no consensus emerged from the meeting. Amongst the clauses of a proposed counter-declaration discussed in Newport, Wales last week was: “The EU invites Turkey to legally normalize its relationship with all Union members.” This statement was not included in the draft submitted to the committee by EU Term President Britain, but was debated. But Greek Cyprus, with the support of France, demanded that the statement be included in the draft. And Turkey tried to block at least the expression “legally normalize” from the draft, which would mean legal recognition. The second issue in the debate was a section saying the protocol had to be implemented to all member states completely. /Milliyet/[05] AGAR CRITICIZES GOVT’S STANCE ON RECENT PKK PROVOCATIONSOpposition True Path Party (DYP) leader Mehmet Agar yesterday criticized the government’s stance against the recent provocations of the terrorist group PKK, calling for the nation to stay calm and act with common sense. “The fight against the PKK is the duty of security forces,” he said, adding that no one but these forces needed to take the initiative. Agar stressed that people needed to co-exist peacefully. /Turkiye/[06] UNAKITAN: “WE WON’T FORSAKE BUDGET DISCIPLINE”Speaking at a press conference yesterday, Finance Minister Kemal Unakitan said that the government would not forsake budget discipline, adding that the interest rate pressure on the budget was still high. “We don’t want to impose new taxes, so we can’t raise tax revenues,” he said, adding that expenditures could not also be reduced since services shouldn’t be cut. “The only way is to bring down interest, which requires fiscal discipline,” he said. Unakitan said that last month’s budget surplus was 195 million YTL and that the primary surplus was 5.28 billion YTL. /Cumhuriyet/[07] NGO SUMMIT TO FOCUS ON EU TALKSTomorrow a summit of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) will be held in Ankara in the runup to Turkey’s European Union negotiations expected to begin on Oct. 3. The strategy to be followed in the talks will be discussed at the summit, which will be hosted by Turkey’s chief EU negotiator Ali Babacan. The heads of 46 NGOs are expected to attend. After the summit, proposals and points of view will be evaluated. /Star/[08] US GENERALS DUE IN ANKARA TODAY TO DISCUSS TERRORISMUS Supreme Allied Commander Europe Gen. James Jones and US Central Command Deputy Commander Lt. Gen. Lance Smith are expected to arrive in Ankara today for an official visit. During their stay in Ankara, the US generals are expected to discuss anti-terrorist efforts and the terrorist PKK. Turkish officials are expected to remind them of the US administration’s commitments about the PKK. In related news, before the generals arrive in Ankara, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip was briefed by his military advisor Gen. Bekir Kalyoncu about the issue. /Turkiye/[09] FROM THE COLUNMS... FROM THE COLUMNS... FROM THE COLUMNS[10] ISSUES DISCUSSED AT THE NSC BY MERIC KOYATASI (AKSAM)Columnist Meric Koyatasi comments on issues discussed by the National Security Council (NSC). A summary of his column is as follows:“Tension is rising due to the US, which wants revenge for Turkey rejecting the deployment of US soldiers for the Iraq invasion back in March 2003, as well as due to certain European Union member countries willing to turn their back on their promises to Turkey, and countries supporting the terrorist PKK. Through laws enacted for the EU concerning public order and national security, our security forces were weakened and this led to much criticism. Then, when the news came that the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) would make a ruling on retrying PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan, again some reasonable people issued necessary warnings. When Turkey struggled against terrorism for many years, it was hurt economically, too. Economic activity particularly in the southeast was crippled by terrorism, and resources spent for public order rose. When we were just about to say that terrorism was finished and Turkey was starting to recover economically and the state’s budget deficit was falling, the PKK started to stir up an atmosphere of ethnic conflict just one month before the EU membership talks. In the past the PKK used to target state security forces, but now it’s trying to instigate Turkish-Kurdish conflict. Can they succeed? Of course they could stir up a conflict. However, such conflicts would not lead to Ocalan’s release, or a federation. Then we would suffer hard times just when we were about to recover economically and from the threat of terrorism. Of course, meanwhile, our EU bid would be lost. So many people have discussed these incidents on newspapers and TV. Let’s say that the government has fallen short on public order and foreign policy. However, not only the government, but also the state is responsible for these issues. What was discussed and what sorts of measures were decided on the National Security Council (NSC) meeting chaired by the president with army command participation every month? Although people who are not even strategists predicted these things months ago, I wonder what the NSC members discussed?” 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 |