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Turkish Press Review, 06-02-23
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
23.02.2006
FROM THE COLUMNS... FROM THE COLUMNS... FROM THE COLUMNS...
CONTENTS
[01] PRESIDENT SEZER VISITS BULGARIA
[02] PM ERDOGAN: “WE TAKE NO NOTICE OF THE EU’S THREAT”
[03] GUL ADDRESSES PARLIAMENT’S HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION ON CARTOON CRISIS
[04] ANNAN INVITES GUL TO QATAR FOR ALLIANCE OF CIVILIZATIONS MEETING
[05] DANISH PRESS: “ANKARA WILL BE A MEDIATOR”
[06] ISRAELI AMBASSADOR: “GOOD RELATIONS WITH TURKEY WILL CONTINUE AS BEFORE”
[07] HAMAS: “WE’LL BENEFIT FROM TURKEY’S EXPERIENCE”
[08] JORDAN’S QUEEN RAINA ARRIVES IN ISTANBUL
[09] ITALIAN PM: “TAKE TURKEY AS AN EXAMPLE”
[10] GREEK CYPRIOT VESSEL CAUSES CRISIS AT MERSIN PORT
[11] BABACAN MEETS WITH GREEK FM
[12] FROM THE COLUMNS... FROM THE COLUMNS... FROM THE COLUMNS...
[13] THE WORLD SEES TURKS AS LAZY, CRAZY AND IGNORANT BY SEMIH IDIZ (MILLIYET)
[01] PRESIDENT SEZER VISITS BULGARIA
President Ahmet Necdet Sezer arrived in Bulgaria yesterday on an official
two-day visit, reported the Anatolia news agency. Sezer and his Bulgarian
counterpart, Georgi Pirvanov are expected to discuss bilateral economic and
political ties and their countries’ efforts to join the European Union, the
Bulgarian Presidential Office said. Turkey opened membership talks with the
EU in October, while neighboring Bulgaria hopes to join the 25-nation bloc
next January. /Turkish Daily News/
[02] PM ERDOGAN: “WE TAKE NO NOTICE OF THE EU’S THREAT”
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan yesterday gave a sharp response to
statements by Wolfgang Schussel, the foreign minister of European Union
Term President Austria, saying he expected Turkish harbors to open to Greek
Cypriot ships by the end of the year. “We don’t find it ethical to
constantly push this matter even though it’s not part of the Copenhagen
criteria, or the Maastricht criteria and it’s not on the agenda of Turkey’s
accession to the European Union. We don’t say ‘yes’ to this,” said Erdogan.
“We didn’t deceive the EU on the Annan plan. We acted absolutely honestly.
The Greek Cypriot administration deceived them. Unfortunately, the Greek
Cypriots got into the EU although they opposed the EU countries, and said,
‘We don’t want peace on the island,’ and the embargo remains on the Turkish
Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC). First they have to correct this
mistake.” /Hurriyet/
[03] GUL ADDRESSES PARLIAMENT’S HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION ON CARTOON CRISIS
Addressing Parliament’s Human Rights Commission yesterday, Foreign Minister
Abdullah Gul commented on recent outrage in the Muslim world over cartoons
of the Prophet Muhammed, saying that such a crisis in a period marked by
increased efforts to reconcile different cultures and societies clearly
aimed at derailing these efforts. Gul stated that the freedoms of the press
and expression were basic principles of democracies and open societies.
“However, freedom of the press shouldn’t include attacks and insults on the
religions of other people,” he said. “If the [European] leaders had been
prudent, this crisis could have been prevented.” The foreign minister
stressed that reactions to the cartoons were reaching a dangerous level,
which was the aim of some circles. Gul added, however, that in any case
such reactions shouldn’t include violence. /Star/
[04] ANNAN INVITES GUL TO QATAR FOR ALLIANCE OF CIVILIZATIONS MEETING
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has invited Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul
to attend the Alliance of Civilizations meeting on Sunday to be held in
Doha, the capital of Qatar. Annan yesterday invited the various sides of
the cartoon crisis to Doha to discuss the furor and hold a joint press
conference. /Sabah/
[05] DANISH PRESS: “ANKARA WILL BE A MEDIATOR”
Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul’s being asked to deliver the opening speech
at an unofficial European Union foreign ministers meeting next month by
European Union Term President Austria is being seen by the Danish press as
“a mediation suggestion to Turkey to solve the recent cartoon crisis.” One
newspaper wrote that the invitation is a big opportunity for Turkey to
contribute to a solution to an EU crisis. “We have difficulty understanding
the suggestion of the EU,” said Berlingske Tidende daily. /Milliyet/
[06] ISRAELI AMBASSADOR: “GOOD RELATIONS WITH TURKEY WILL CONTINUE AS
BEFORE”
Israeli Ambassador to Ankara Pinhas Avivi yesterday spoke of “sound
relations” between Turkey and Israel, saying that these relations would
continue as they were before last week’s Hamas visit to Ankara. Pinhas
stated that he believed the recent developments wouldn’t turn into a crisis
and cited President Ahmet Necdet Sezer’s upcoming visit to Israel. Pinhas
added that his contacts were continuing with the ruling Justice and
Development Party (AKP) and other parties on the issue. “Diplomats should
improve relations, not harm them,” he added. In related news, Foreign
Minister Abdullah Gul said that both the US administration and the Israeli
government had been informed about the visit beforehand. “Hamas is a
democratic party which won last month’s Palestinian elections and we needed
to meet with it,” said Gul. /Turkiye/
[07] HAMAS: “WE’LL BENEFIT FROM TURKEY’S EXPERIENCE”
Hamas Political Bureau head Khaled Mashaal, currently in Iran to hold
contacts, said yesterday that the newly elected government in Palestine
would benefit from Turkey’s experiences, adding that Turkey’s government
and cultural and economic development would all serve as examples for
Hamas. “But a country benefits from democracy under its own particular
conditions,” added Mashaal, who made a surprise visit to Ankara last week.
/Aksam/
[08] JORDAN’S QUEEN RAINA ARRIVES IN ISTANBUL
Jordan’s Queen Rania El Abdullah yesterday arrived in Istanbul on a private
plane for an unofficial visit. Queen Raina was welcomed by Istanbul
Governor Muammer Guler’s wife Neval Guler, Deputy Governor Hasan Duran and
Istanbul representative of the Foreign Ministry Fazli Kesmir at Ataturk
Airport. /Cumhuriyet/
[09] ITALIAN PM: “TAKE TURKEY AS AN EXAMPLE”
Speaking to Al Jaazera television, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi
held up Turkey as an example to the Islamic world, saying, “The West is not
your enemy. Respect is mutual. Believe in freedom and democracy.”
Berlusconi said, “Look at Turkey. I personally wanted Turkey to be in the
European Union. It quickly changes its laws or amends them. The future path
of Islamic societies can follow Turkey’s lead.” /Hurriyet/
[10] GREEK CYPRIOT VESSEL CAUSES CRISIS AT MERSIN PORT
While the European Union’s calls for Turkey to open its harbors to Greek
Cypriot ships continue, a Greek Cypriot-flagged container ship yesterday
attempted to enter the port of Mersin without permission and caused
consternation. After waiting for 13 hours, the ship was obliged by Ankara’s
firm stance to leave Turkish territorial waters. /Cumhuriyet/
[11] BABACAN MEETS WITH GREEK FM
Speaking yesterday before traveling to Greece to attend a meeting of
southeastern European economy ministers, State Minister for the Economy Ali
Babacan said that changes to the current floating exchange rate could harm
Turkey’s macroeconomic balances, adding that this could be very risky. “We
shouldn’t look for a solution in the exchange rate,” he said. Later,
Babacan met with Greek Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis to discuss a number
of issues, including economic ties between the two countries. Though no
statement was made following the meeting, Bakoyannis reportedly complained
about Turkish and Greek military jets flying very close to each other.
/Hurriyet/
[12] FROM THE COLUMNS... FROM THE COLUMNS... FROM THE COLUMNS...
[13] THE WORLD SEES TURKS AS LAZY, CRAZY AND IGNORANT BY SEMIH IDIZ
(MILLIYET)
Columnist Semih Idiz comments on Turkey’s world image. A summary of his
column is as follows:
“Turkey’s international image is really terrible. A survey done by
international marketing company GMI and brand expert Simon Anholt in 35
countries confirms this. According to the survey of 25,000 people, the
‘Turkey brand’ ranked lowest among other countries. Anholt explained the
reason for this to CNN Turk with one word: ignorance. In sum, the world
sees Turks as ignorant, lazy, poor, radical Islamist, crazy, barbaric and
dangerous. Of course, these characterizations are all wrong and none of
them suits us. However, we should accept that we do our best to feed these
misunderstandings. Looking back three or four years ago, we see our success
in the Eurovision song contest, the Formula One race in Turkey and the
‘Turks’ exhibition in London. However, such developments as the police
beating women demonstrators, the disgrace during the football match with
Switzerland and the trial of author Orhan Pamuk wiped away these gains.
Thus, we came last on the list due to a handful of people who know nothing
about the world and who profess to be fighting for Turkey’s honor.
We’re now in Brussels to try to help for Turkey’s image. Our aim is to
support the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and the Arts in getting this
magnificent city selected the European Union’s ‘culture capital’ for 2010.
The culture capital title was expanded to cover non-EU member European
countries in 2005-2019 by a decision taken in 2000. Thus, Istanbul applied
for it as well. Our only competitor is the Ukrainian capital of Kiev. Kiev
can’t even be compared with Istanbul under normal circumstances. However,
according to sources here, Polish people told the Ukrainians that Turkey’s
image is terrible and if you try for the title, you will win without a
doubt. The jury will convene for a decision on March 14. The people pushing
Turkey’s initiative are very hopeful. However, I’m afraid somebody will
spoil this, because it’s very easy to create agitation in Turkey. Anyway,
we should work hard, because we don’t deserve to come in last.”
ARCHIVE
The news and articles issued in the Turkish Press Review
may be quoted from provided due acknowledgement is made.
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