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Turkish Press Review, 06-03-22Turkish 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 morning22.03.2006PM ERDOGAN: “STEER CLEAR OF THOSE WHO TRY TO INCITE HATRED” CHP LEADER BAYKAL: “SEMDINLI INDICTMENT OFFENDED THE GENERAL STAFF” INTL TERRORISM SUMMIT TO MEET IN ANKARA GREEK FM CALLS ON TURKEY TO LIVE UP TO EU OBLIGATIONS US JOINT CHIEF GEN. PACE DUE IN ANKARA MARKETS UNEASY OVER CB GOVERNOR SUCCESSION CONFUSION MALAYSIAN TRADE MINISTER CALLS ON TURKEY TO OPEN TO PACIFIC COUNTRIES WB’S VAROUDAKIS HAILS TURKEY’S ECONOMIC POTENTIAL FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE COLUMNS... FROM THE COLUMNS... A TURNING POINT? BY ERDAL SAFAK (SABAH)CONTENTS
[01] PM ERDOGAN: “STEER CLEAR OF THOSE WHO TRY TO INCITE HATRED”Speaking at his party group meeting, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said yesterday that there are people who wanted to cast a shadow over the Nevruz festivities, and added, “Stay away from those who try to incite hatred among people.” Erdogan said that the people of this country had won the War of Independence and the Battle of Gallipoli through unified struggle and added that this spirit of endeavor was the most precious gift to be passed on to future generations. “We will be together forever in one country and at home under one flag. Our essence and direction is one. Those who disagree should look back to the Battle of Gallipoli,” he added. /Hurriyet/[02] CHP LEADER BAYKAL: “SEMDINLI INDICTMENT OFFENDED THE GENERAL STAFF”Speaking at his party’s group meeting in Parliament, main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Deniz Baykal yesterday strongly criticized the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP). Baykal spoke about the General Staff’s statement, saying that it had been offended by the Semdinli indictment. Touching on the Nevruz festival, Baykal said that it was good that nature’s grand transformation into spring had led to hopes for a new beginning in people and society. /Star/[03] INTL TERRORISM SUMMIT TO MEET IN ANKARAThe General Staff will discuss the terrorism issue at an international symposium entitled, “Global Terrorism and International Cooperation.” The symposium set to begin tomorrow will be hosted by the General Staff’s Center of Excellence-Defense Against Terrorism, and the opening speech will be delivered by Chief of General Staff Gen. Hilmi Ozkok. The symposium will last for two days and be held at Ankara’s Bilkent Hotel, and representatives from 82 countries will participate. In related news, the Turkish Armed Forces Order of Merit was given to South Korean Chief of General Staff Gen. Sang-Hee Lee, who is currently in Turkey as Ozkok’s official guest. During the award ceremony, Ozkok called the relationship between two countries one of “brotherhood.” /Turkiye-Cumhuriyet/[04] GREEK FM CALLS ON TURKEY TO LIVE UP TO EU OBLIGATIONSGreek Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis on Tuesday called on Turkey to live up to its obligations as a prospective European Union member, including retracting a threat to declare hostilities if Greece expands its territorial waters in the Aegean Sea. Bakoyannis also said that the Turkish government should allow the reopening of the Heybeliada seminary, which she said is important for the survival of the Fener Greek Orthodox Patriachate in Istanbul. “The final European course of Turkey will be judged by Turkey itself. Turkey has assumed some obligations, and these obligations must be implemented,” Bakoyannis said in an interview with the Associated Press. “All countries adjusted their laws, accepted the European standards so that they could join the EU. Turkey must also do this. There is no Europe a la carte for any country, and not for Turkey.” /The New Anatolian/[05] US JOINT CHIEF GEN. PACE DUE IN ANKARAThe General Staff is preparing to host an important guest. US Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Peter Pace will visit Turkey to participate in the “Global Terrorism and International Cooperation” conference tomorrow. Pace will arrive in Turkey as Chief of General Staff Gen. Hilmi Ozkok’s guest, and he’s also expected to pay a courtesy visit to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. /Star/[06] MARKETS UNEASY OVER CB GOVERNOR SUCCESSION CONFUSIONThe office of President Ahmet Necdet Sezer issued a statement on Tuesday denying that acting Central Bank Governor Erdem Basci has been proposed by the government as Turkey’s next permanent CB head, throwing the appointment into confusion and weakening the lira. Basci became acting governor last week, and the financial community widely expected him to be appointed in a permanent capacity after the five-year term of the previous incumbent, Sureyya Serdengecti, expired. Financial markets, which have been anxiously awaiting a decision on the appointment in recent weeks, weakened after the news but the lira then recouped some of its losses. Turkish media have speculated that President Sezer, a staunch secularist, might block the appointment of a person who is not sufficiently secularist and whose wife wears a Muslim headscarf. “The president’s office doesn’t have a Cabinet draft decree proposing Erdem Basci as Central Bank governor,” the statement from the Cankaya Presidential Palace said, in the presidency’s first comment on the issue since the government sought its approval for the appointment last week. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan subsequently said the government had sent the president a decree on the appointment, but declined to say who it wanted to manage Turkey’s monetary policy. “There was time to make preparations for this,” said Omer Sabanci, chairman of Turkey’s leading business group the Turkish Industrialists’ and Businessmen’s Association (TUSIAD). “Ultimately, the government could have managed the appointment process in a better way.” /Turkish Daily News/[07] MALAYSIAN TRADE MINISTER CALLS ON TURKEY TO OPEN TO PACIFIC COUNTRIESMalaysian International Industry and Trade Minister Rafidah Aziz said yesterday that his country considers Turkey a door for opening to Europe and wants Turkey to consider his country the same for opening to Pacific countries. Speaking at the Turkey-Malaysia Joint Economic Commission at the Foreign Trade Complex, Aziz hailed the Turkish government’s restructuring reforms and its success in European Union membership talks. “For us, Turkey is a very important door opening to the EU market,” said Aziz. “This way, we will be able to enter Europe as well.” Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister Mehmet Ali Sahin said that commercial relations between Turkey and Malaysia weren’t at the desired level but that both countries have what’s needed to boost the trade volume. Stating that the Asia-Pacific region was very important for Turkey, Sahin said that the global economy was moving to this region slowly but well. /Turkiye/[08] WB’S VAROUDAKIS HAILS TURKEY’S ECONOMIC POTENTIALWorld Bank Chief Economist Aristomene Varoudakis said yesterday that when Turkey reaches the level of joining the European Union, it would have better economic development than many EU member countries, particularly future members Romania and Bulgaria. Stating that Turkey had a great economic potential and that this would be seen more in the coming years, Varoudakis said that it had economic superiority in certain fields over Romania and Bulgaria even today and that Turkey should implement structural reforms and ensure sustainable growth. Varoudakis added that Turkey’s economy had shown very strong performance since 2002 and that exports can be boosted, productivity raised and the entrance of foreign capital facilitated thanks to its great economic growth. Stating that there were certain weaknesses in Turkey’s economy, Varoudakis said, “Such issues as ensuring sustainable economic growth, raising employment and a sustainable current account deficit are the weak points of Turkey’s economy.” Varoudakis added that one of the reasons for the current account deficit was economic growth and that the deficit should be controlled for sustainable growth. /Turkiye/[09] FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE COLUMNS... FROM THE COLUMNS...[10] A TURNING POINT? BY ERDAL SAFAK (SABAH)Columnist Erdal Safak comments on yesterday’s Nevruz celebrations. A summary of his column is as follows:“Fortunately, there were no incidents in official Nevruz celebrations in many provinces of Turkey, particularly in Istanbul, but we saw new realities about the Kurdish issue. Nevruz celebrations in eastern and southeastern Anatolia should be evaluated coolly. Of course, southeastern people’s celebrations in western cities fall within this evaluation. Firstly, let’s list the facts: The Democratic Society Party (DTP), the organizer of celebrations, was aiming to bring political demands to the foreground and accomplished its goal. These demands, as expressed in the slogans, banners and the speeches made by DTP spokesmen, were as follows: a general political amnesty, a mutual cease-fire, Kurdish as an official language, etc. The political connection between the DTP and PKK was solidified. In other words, the DTP announced that it was the political branch of the PKK, just like the Sinn Fein-IRA duo in Ireland. One wing conducts the armed struggle, and the other conducts the political struggle. I can give a great deal of evidence to prove the DTP-PKK connection. Some examples of this are as follows: 1. Actually, the PKK made the decision to expand the DTP’s Nevruz celebrations to one week. It was stated following a meeting held by a branch of the organization on March 9-13 that it was considered appropriate to celebrate this Nevruz en masse and on the basis of rallying around leader Apo (terrorist Abdullah Ocalan) enthusiastically for one week. 2. In their speeches, DTP spokesmen showed Abdullah Ocalan and the PKK as their reference points. 3. Most importantly, DTP Co-Chairman Ahmet Turk said, ‘We have the power to take the PKK out of the border area. When [Turkish military] operations are stopped, we’ll make the PKK take a decision to cease its attacks. If democracy is ensured completely, we can take the guerillas away from the border, and even make them lay down arms.’ The DTP announced that it was aiming to save Ocalan. Finally, Ocalan was imposed as the only interlocutor for a dialogue as a result of the PKK’s suppressing opposing voices and Ankara’s inability over the last seven years to produce certain policies which will enable the birth of different alternatives in the southeast. Can the following be interpreted in another way? Two million signatures were collected in the campaign which was organized for this aim in Diyarbakir yesterday, and Ocalan’s posters were carried in Istanbul, Izmir and even Ankara. These are the parameters of the new era. In the circular sent by Interior Minister Abdulkadir Aksu to governors’ offices, he said that turning Nevruz in PKK propaganda wouldn’t be permitted. However, just the opposite happened and the PKK showed that it has almost completed the process of politicization. Some people expected the DTP to call on the PKK to lay down its arms unconditionally. All the DTP spokesmen showed that they hadn’t and wouldn’t give up considering the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) and the terrorist group equivalent. As the Kurdish politician-author Umit Firat said, ‘They made a call for peace with guns in their hands’.” 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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