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Turkish Press Review, 06-03-01Turkish 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 morning01.03.2006FROM THE COLUMNS... FROM THE COLUMNS... FROM THE COLUMNS...CONTENTS
[01] PM ERDOGAN: “WE MUST ACT TOGETHER AGAINST TERRORISM”Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari yesterday came to Ankara to hold contacts. Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Ahmed Chalabi, Transportation Minister Selam Al-Maliki and Electricity Minister Mohsen Shlash accompanied al-Jaafari, who was welcomed by Turkish Energy and Natural Resources Minister Hilmi Guler. Al-Jaafari first met with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. During their meeting, which Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul also attended, Erdogan told al-Jaafari that Iraq’s political and religious leaders should unite. “It’s imperative that political circles and religious circles should act together to prevent terrorist groups in Iraq from reaching their aims,” said Erdogan. Al-Jaafari described the recent violence as deliberate terrorist acts, saying, “These outside Iraq who can’t accept the process there have carried out deliberate and harmful activities to sow an atmosphere of insecurity.” Al-Jaafari was also received by President Ahmet Necdet Sezer. In related news, Iraqi President and Kurdish leader Jalal Talabani strongly criticized al-Jaafari yesterday for visiting Turkey without informing him, and warned that any agreement reached during the trip would be invalid. /Star/[02] FM GUL: “NEWS REPORTS ABOUT ‘KURDISTAN’ ARE ERRONEOUS”Both the Foreign Ministry and Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul yesterday spoke about media reports on Turkey’s Special Envoy to Iraq Ambassador Oguz Celikkol’s conveying a message to Iraqi Kurdistan Democratic Party (IKDP) leader Massoud Barzani about a federal restructuring of Iraq’s constitution. “Nuances and interpretation of our words are very important in foreign policy,” said Gul. “Our colleagues said, ‘The Iraqi people will decide on their political system.’ The Iraqi people approved their constitution. We said that Turkey would say yes to the system which Iraqis decide on.” In addition, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Namik Tan said, “There have been no talks with Barzani on a federation in Iraq, a federation structure in the new constitution or Turkey’s recognition of these new structures, and there have been no messages to him on these issues.” /Star/[03] CHP LEADER BAYKAL: “PM IS AT THE CENTER OF CORRUPTION”Main Opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Deniz Baykal yesterday accused the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan of being at the center of political corruption. Speaking at a parliamentary group meeting, Baykal said, “It’s about time the prime minister assessed the situation. If (Finance Minister Kemal) Unakitan didn’t have the support of the prime minister, would he have been able to do so much? I’m almost ashamed to speak about the details of what’s going on. Everything is out in the open. Corruption allegations have fallen onto the AKP.” /Turkish Daily News/[04] ERDOGAN: “CONFLICT AND VIOLENCE IN IRAQ SHOULD BE BROUGHT TO AN END”Addressing his party’s group meeting yesterday, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan commented on the recent violence and bloodshed in Iraq, saying that an atmosphere of stability and confidence had not yet been ensured. “We strongly hope that common sense will replace conflicts and violence,” he said. Erdogan said that the bloodshed and violence in Iraq should be brought to an end immediately, calling for all groups in Iraq to remain calm. “If this conflict between groups doesn’t end, clearly this will hurt everyone,” he said. “A democratic system should be established with all necessary institutions. We can ensure peace in the country no matter how difficult the conditions are.” Stressing that Ankara was doing its best to help end the conflict in Iraq, Erdogan added that it had made a commitment of $50 million in aid for its neighbor. /Aksam/[05] US AMBASSADOR WILSON: “WE SUPPORT TURKEY’S EFFORTS TO PROMOTE PEACE IN IRAQ”Appearing on television yesterday, US Ambassador to Ankara Ross Wilson said that Washington supported Ankara’s efforts to promote peace efforts in Iraq. Wilson stated that Turkey was striving for the Iraqi nation to have a better future, adding that it had undertaken a role to provide the participation of all groups in the political process. Touching on the issue of Iran’s nuclear program, Wilson said that US officials would continue to exchange views with Turkish officials concerning the program. Asked about Ankara’s expectations of the US concerning the terrorist group PKK, Wilson said that in recent months US and Turkish officials had been trying to form a package of measures to address the issue fully. /Sabah/[06] AGAR COMMENTS ON IRAQ DEVELOPMENTS AND IRAQI PM’S VISITSpeaking at a press conference yesterday, opposition True Path Party (DYP) leader Mehmet Agar commented on recent developments in Iraq and Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari’s current visit to Turkey. Agar said that the Iraqi nation should guard itself against provocations, adding that common sense was important within this process. He added that Turkey would always strive for stability in the region. /Turkiye/[07] ERDOGAN ADDRESSES TEXTILE SUMMITA textile summit chaired by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan was held yesterday to discuss the problems of the sector. Addressing the gathering, Erdogan said that the textile and ready-to-wear sector in Turkey were at a disadvantage compared to other countries. “Expecting the costs of inputs to fall in the short term would not be realistic,” he said, adding that some problems of the sector were due to cyclical developments and others come from the structure of the sector. Erdogan stated that the quotas which were lifted last year hindered Turkey’s competition with China, adding that the fluctuating international oil and natural gas markets also posed a difficulty for Turkey. Erdogan added that the government was aware of the problems of industrialists and was doing its best to address these without upsetting macroeconomic balances. /Turkiye/[08] CICEK BRIEFS TUSIAD ON GOVT’S JUDICIAL REFORMJustice Minister Cemil Cicek yesterday met with top officials of the Turkish Industrialists’ and Businessmen’s Association (TUSIAD) to brief them on the government’s judicial reform plans. During the meeting, Cicek said that the issue would be a priority for some time since a sound judicial mechanism will help spur the country’s development. “It’s also a guarantee of peace, tranquility, and freedom in the country,” he said. Cicek stated that foreign investors had asked him about judicial issues before deciding about investing in Turkey. Cicek stressed that political immunity was damaging the judicial process and that Turkey should implement European Union standards. /Turkiye/[09] ERDAL GETS FOUR YEARS FOR CRIMES IN BELGIUMA Belgian court yesterday convicted Turkish terrorist Fehriye Erdal to four years in prison for crimes committed there. Describing the Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party/Front (DHKP/C), the group that Erdal was a member of, as a terrorist organization, the Bruges Criminal Court convicted other members of the group as well: Dursun Karatas to five years in prison, Musa Agaoglu to six and Kaya Saz, Bahar Kimyongor, Zerrin Sari and Akar Ozordulu to four years each. However other members of the DHKP_C, such as Hasan Ekici, Zeki Karaman, Irfan Demirtas and Nebi Albayoglu, were acquitted. /The New Anatolian/[10] FROM THE COLUMNS... FROM THE COLUMNS... FROM THE COLUMNS...[11] HAMAS’ COST TO TURKEY: LOSS OF CONFIDENCE BY CUNEYT ULSEVER (HURRIYET)Columnist Cuneyt Ulsever comments on Hamas’ visit to Ankara and its repercussions. A summary of his column is as follows:“Why have I written so much about Hamas’ visit to Turkey? Because its aftereffects will be felt over the long term, that is, six months or a year from now. Actually, as the Justice and Development (AKP) government couldn’t process the Hamas visit, it turned into a tragicomic cacophony. What’s the cost of this visit for Turkey? Erosion of trust, damaging mutual confidence once again after the March 2003 rejection of US troop deployment for the Iraq war, and questions over whether the AKP’s Islamic identity will fit in with EU policies. Some people say that the US didn’t seriously criticize Turkey. Let’s not forget that diplomacy speaks in a very different language, the US is walking on coals in the Middle East and the US said coolly following our rejection of US troop deployment that Parliament had exercised its democratic right. I don’t know if you noticed, but when a reporter asked US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld about the Hamas visit to Ankara, he just said that Turkey is the US’ ally in NATO. Ask diplomatic analysts how this sentence can be decrypted in the language of diplomacy. In a world in which almost all countries want to connect themselves in a bloc, everybody will be in contact with each other, but everybody has to establish relationships without denying the perspective of the bloc that it and the ‘others’ belong to. Turkey ignored this principle once again. What’s the cost of erosion of confidence? Nobody in the world would be offended, cut his relations, and deny the multifaceted mutual dependence just because of another person’s loss of confidence. So what’s the cost? The alliance that you belong to will neither take you seriously, nor give you an active role in their policies, nor discuss issues with you and take your recommendations seriously. The mistake made by Turkey concerning Iraq is full of examples verifying this. Fortunately, the Foreign Ministry saw the ‘new realities’ and it has been taking very positives steps for six months. However, there has already been great damage. In an atmosphere in which ties between the West and Iraq started to buckle considerably and the West turned towards attack policies under the leadership of the US, we’ll experience little by little what ‘erosion of confidence’ means for Turkey.” ARCHIVE The news and articles issued in the Turkish Press Review may be quoted from provided due acknowledgement is made. <script type="text/javascript" language="JavaScript" src="http:/_www.byegm.gov.tr_statistic/countcode.js"> </script> Turkish Press Review Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |
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