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Turkish Press Review, 05-12-05
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
05.12.2005
FROM THE COLUMNS…FROM THE COLUMNS…FROM THE COLUMNS
CONTENTS
[01] ERDOGAN VISITS NEW ZEALAND
[02] FM GUL: “DEC. 15 ELECTIONS WILL BE A TURNING POINT IN IRAQ”
[03] BUSY WEEK AHEAD FOR PARLIAMENT
[04] STATE MINISTER CUBUKCU PLEDGES LEGAL CHANGES TO HELP THE HANDICAPPED
[05] ARINC TO ATTEND OIC SUMMIT THIS WEEK
[06] WASHINGTON: “THE PKK PROBLEM IS DAMAGING TURKISH-US RELATIONS”
[07] BARZANI CONFIRMS MEETING WITH MIT CHIEF
[08] NEW US AMBASSADOR ARRIVES IN ANKARA
[09] BODRUM HOSTS SYMPOSIUM ON TURKS, ARMENIANS
[10] FROM THE COLUMNS…FROM THE COLUMNS…FROM THE COLUMNS
[11] TURKEY’S FACILITATOR ROLE BY SEMIH IDIZ (MILLIYET)
[01] ERDOGAN VISITS NEW ZEALAND
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan yesterday met with representatives of
Turkish citizens living in Auckland, New Zealand, the first stop of a nine-
day tour including Australia. Erdogan called on the citizens to preserve
their unity and solidarity as well as their own values. Erdogan,
accompanied by his wife and other government ministers, then attended a
luncheon hosted by his New Zealand counterpart Helen Clark on board the
Pacific Mermaid. The Turkish premier will have official talks with the
government today and will also visit Christchurch before leaving for
Australia on Wednesday. /Hurriyet/
[02] FM GUL: “DEC. 15 ELECTIONS WILL BE A TURNING POINT IN IRAQ”
Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul yesterday met with US Ambassador to Baghdad
Zalmay Khalilzad and Iraqi Sunni Arab representative Tariq al-Hashimi in
Istanbul. Following the meeting, Gul and Khalilzad held a joint press
conference alongside Hashimi. “We strongly support a stable and democratic
Iraq which maintains its political and territorial integrity,” Gul said.
Stressing that Iraq’s Dec. 15 elections will be a turning point to this end,
the Turkish foreign minister called on all Iraqi groups, especially Sunni
Arabs who boycotted the constitutional referendum, to participate in the
elections and take the future of Iraq into their hands. /Aksam/
[03] BUSY WEEK AHEAD FOR PARLIAMENT
Parliament is heading towards another busy week, including bills on
education and mining. Parliament will resume debates over a bill
stipulating the transfer of schools belonging to public institutions to the
Education Ministry and then a mining bill stipulating incentive
certificates for investment in some mines and used in construction, road
work cement and the ceramic industry will be debated. Meanwhile
parliamentary commissions will also continue their work. On Tuesday the
Planning and Budget Commission will debate an amendment to the Special
Consumption Tax (OTV) Law under which the tax would be applied to biodiesel
products. While the Justice Commission will debate an amendment to the Land
Registry Law regulating the rights of foreigners who own immovable property
in Turkey, a commission investigating the factors behind “honor” killings
and ways to prevent them will continue its hearings on the matter on
Wednesday. A commission investigating the 1991 murder at the deputies’
lodges of Mustafa Gungor, son of then Deputy Erol Gungor, will also present
its report to Parliament this week. /The New Anatolian/
[04] STATE MINISTER CUBUKCU PLEDGES LEGAL CHANGES TO HELP THE HANDICAPPED
Attending ceremonies held in Istanbul yesterday marking World Disabled Day,
State Minister Nimet Cubukcu vowed to make necessary arrangements to
improve life for the handicapped. Stressing that the government was aware
of the problems of the handicapped, Cubukcu said that a law to address
these would soon be enacted. /Star/
[05] ARINC TO ATTEND OIC SUMMIT THIS WEEK
Parliament Speaker Bulent Arinc will represent Turkey at a summit of Muslim
leaders in Saudi Arabia this week. President Ahmet Necdet Sezer has decided
not to attend the summit of the 57-nation Organization of the Islamic
Conference (OIC) in Mecca but has not said why. Foreign Minister Abdullah
Gul will also be in Saudi Arabia, attending a ministerial meeting in
preparation for the summit of leaders on Tuesday. Prime Minister Recep
Tayyip Erdogan, currently on a tour of New Zealand and Australia, will not
be able to attend the summit. The two-day meeting will start on Wednesday
and is expected to endorse a declaration, in addition to a 10-year action
plan setting out reform plans for member countries. The Dec. 7-8 summit is
the first to be chaired by a Turkish official, Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, the
first Turkish secretary-general of the organization. /Turkish Daily News/
[06] WASHINGTON: “THE PKK PROBLEM IS DAMAGING TURKISH-US RELATIONS”
A new report by the Washington Institute think-tank said that the PKK’s
continued terrorist attacks are damaging Turkish-US relations, as most
Turks blame Washington for renewed PKK violence. The report said that
northern Iraq was not the only front where the PKK is active but also
maintains a working infrastructure in Europe. The report urged the US,
European Union and Turkey to further pool their efforts within the European
Counter Terrorism Group, a body composed of EU member states as well as
Norway and Switzerland to counter the problem. /Turkiye/
[07] BARZANI CONFIRMS MEETING WITH MIT CHIEF
Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) leader Massoud Barzani has confirmed his
recent meeting with Turkish National Intelligence Organization (MIT) chief
Emre Taner but denied news reports that Israeli soldiers are training
Kurdish peshmergas. According to news channel NTV, Barzani also met with
Iraqi President Jalal Talabani in the town of Salaheddin. After the meeting,
the two leaders held a joint press conference, saying that they had decided
to work together. “From what we see, the Turkish government is trying to
solve its problem with Turkish Kurds through peaceful means,” said Barzani.
“We said that we are ready to facilitate this if there is such an effort.”
/Sabah/
[08] NEW US AMBASSADOR ARRIVES IN ANKARA
Six months after the departure of his predecessor, the new US ambassador to
Turkey, Ross Wilson, arrived in Ankara on Saturday. Speaking to reporters
at Esenboga Airport, Wilson pledged to work towards further strengthening
relations between the two NATO allies after the tension over Iraq. /Turkish
Daily News/
[09] BODRUM HOSTS SYMPOSIUM ON TURKS, ARMENIANS
Turkey’s Aegean coastal town of Bodrum hosted a symposium entitled “Turks
and Armenians in History and Truth” over the weekend. Speaking at the
gathering, Professor Turkkaya Ataov said that Ottoman Turks had never
committed a crime of genocide against Armenians during World War I. Also
addressing the meeting, Turkish Historical Society (TTK) head Yusuf
Halacoglu stated that Turkey’s national War of Independence was not yet
over. Stressing that for years Turkey had failed to effectively counter the
Armenian allegations, he called on the Turkish people to cooperate to
uncover historical facts as well as fight against lobbies led by Armenians.
/Hurriyet/
[10] FROM THE COLUMNS…FROM THE COLUMNS…FROM THE COLUMNS
[11] TURKEY’S FACILITATOR ROLE BY SEMIH IDIZ (MILLIYET)
Columnist Semih Idiz comments on Turkey’s facilitator role on the Iraq
issue. A summary of his column is as follows:
“The meeting between Iraqi Islamic party leader Tariq al-Hashmi and US
Ambassador to Baghdad Zalmay Khalilzad under the supervision of Foreign
Minister Abdullah Gul in Istanbul yesterday showed that ‘backroom
diplomacy’ over Iraq will soon be full of surprises. National Intelligence
Agency (MIT) Undersecretary Emre Taner’s secret meeting with Kurdistan
Democratic Party (KDP) leader Massoud Barzani at the beginning of November
should be seen as part of this as well. Ankara has now accepted a ‘federal’
Iraq emerging after the elections in Dec. 15 as a reality. Ankara’s
democratic efforts favor providing Iraq with stability by ensuring
functionality within constitutional unity. Meanwhile, Ankara’s facilitator
role, which was presented to parties as part of the Middle East issue but
which actually wasn’t put into practice, gained a new meaning with the
meeting with Khalilzad. Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul also gathered
together his Israeli and Pakistani counterparts in Istanbul recently.
Hashmi held contacts with the US in Istanbul, which shows Turkey’s stature
in the eyes of Iraqi Sunnis. According to Arab diplomats I spoke with,
Turkey’s rejection of the deployment of US soldiers before the Iraq
invasion in March 2003 is the basis of this respect. In Iraqi Sunnis’ eyes,
this makes Turkey a neutral player.
Meanwhile, the meeting with Hashmi showed another example of the
government’s ‘multi-axis foreign policy administration’ concerning Iraq,
because the news of this meeting caught those who normally know these
developments by surprise. According to backroom rumors, Ankara will soon
invite the prime minister of the Kurdish administration in Erbil, Nechirvan
Barzani. If this happens, Ankara is expected to keep the issue of the
terrorist PKK fresh during the meeting. In addition, Iranian Foreign
Minister Manouchehr Mottaki’s visit to Ankara last week wasn’t ignored by
diplomatic eyes. A breakup of Iraq would be favorable neither for Turkey,
or Iran, Syria, or the US. It would even be against the interests of Kurds,
Sunnis and Shiites, because the ensuing chaos would give a headache to
everybody. All of the parties seemed to have understood this.”
ARCHIVE
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