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Turkish Press Review, 06-05-18Turkish 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> <style type="text_css"> <!-- .baslik { margin-right:0cm; margin-left:0cm; margin-top:1cm; font-size:12.0pt; color:#000099; text-align: justify; } --> <_style> e-mail : newspot@byegm.gov.tr <caption> <_caption> Summary of the political and economic news in the Turkish press this morning18.05.2006FROM THE COLUMNS…FROM THE COLUMNS…FROM THE COLUMNS…CONTENTS
[01] DEADLY ATTACK TARGETS TOP JUDGESA gunman, reportedly a lawyer registered with the Istanbul Bar, stormed into a meeting at the Council of State, Turkey’s highest administrative court yesterday and opened fire, killing one judge and wounding four others. Judge Mustafa Yucel Ozbilgin died from a bullet wound in the head after hours of major surgery, doctors reported. The second chamber of the Council of State, whose judges were attacked, ruled this March against promoting a teacher who wore a headscarf outside school, a decision which angered Islamist circles as well as the government, which criticized the court as being anti-democratic. /All papers/[02] SEZER CONDEMNS ARMED ATTACK AGAINST COUNCIL OF STATE, CALLS IT “DARK STAIN” ON REPUBLIC’S HISTORYPresident Ahmet Necdet Sezer yesterday issued a message to strongly condemn the deadly armed attack against five judges of the Council of State, saying that the attack was against the principles and institutions of the republic, which are guarantees of the independence, freedom, and modern life of the Turkish nation, and that such attacks will never reach their goals. In his message, Sezer said, “The attack, which took place while the high court was carrying out its hallowed duty, is a dark stain on the republic’s history. Pressures and threats won’t intimidate the Turkish judiciary. The Turkish judicial system will pursue its constitutional mission by staying loyal to the secular and democratic republic.” /Sabah/[03] ARINC CALLS ATTACK ON COUNCIL OF STATE “TRAITOROUS”; GUL CONDEMNS ATTACKParliament Speaker Bulent Arinc yesterday condemned the armed attack against five judges of the Council of State, saying that Turkey had undergone a blatantly provocative action. In his statement, Arinc called the attack “traitorous,” and added that it must be denounced no matter who committed it. He stressed that politicians should remain calm and try to make the nation do the same. In related news, Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul also condemned the attack, adding that it didn’t just target the Council of State, but also the entire Turkish nation. “There can be no justification for such an attack,” added Gul. “The government will seriously deal with the matter.” /Turkiye/[04] ERDOGAN, OZKOK DENOUNCE DEADLY ATTACK ON JUDGESPrime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan yesterday condemned the deadly attack against the Council of State, saying that the attack aimed to harm Turkey’s peace. Speaking to reporters after his meeting with his visiting Finnish counterpart Matti Vanhanen, Erdogan said that such an attack during a period of rising unity in Turkey was especially reprehensible. He added that it wouldn’t be appropriate to talk about the reasons for the attack as the investigation is in progress. “It will become clear,” he said. “We should try to strengthen our unity.” In related news, Chief of General Staff Gen. Hilmi Ozkok sent a message to Council of State Chief Justice Sumru Cortoglu in the wake of yesterday’s deadly assault, calling the attack “outrageous.” He stated that the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) condemnS the attack. /Turkiye/[05] COUNCIL OF STATE HEAD: “THE STATE WAS DEEPLY WOUNDED BY THIS ATTACK”Council of State Chief Justice Sumru Cortoglu yesterday condemned the deadly attack against five judges of the court, adding that the attack had gone beyond the judges that it wounded and killed. “The Council of State was subject to a hateful attack which targeted the law, the Constitution, the republic, state, and the nation,” said Cortoglu. “The state, which didn’t maintain its judiciary, is deeply wounded.” Cortoglu charged that “irresponsible” press institutions and certain authorities bore some responsibility for the attack. /Milliyet/[06] BAYKAL: “THE GOVERNMENT BEARS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THIS ATTACK”Main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Deniz Baykal yesterday condemned the deadly attack against five judges of the Council of State, saying that the attack was an attempt to “massacre” the Council of State, the Constitution, and the secular and democratic republic. Asked whether the government bore any responsibility for the attack, Baykal said that he had no doubt about this. Opposition Motherland Party (ANAVATAN) leader Erkan Mumcu called the assault “an clear terrorist attack,” adding that the nation should try to act with common sense. Opposition True Path Party (DYP) leader Mehmet Agar, in a written statement, said that the attack targeted the entire nation. /Sabah/[07] FOREIGN MINISTRY: “WE HOPE THE ARMENIAN BILL WON’T BE PASSED BY THE FRENCH PARLIAMENT”A bill to criminalize denial of the so-called Armenian genocide submitted by France’s Socialist Party is set today to be debated and put to a vote by the French Parliament. Speaking at a weekly press conference, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Namik Tan yesterday said that Turkey’s expectations were clear, adding, “We hope that the Armenian bill, which could seriously damage deep-rooted historical relations between Turkey and France, won’t be approved by the French Parliament.” Tan expressed Turkey’s satisfaction that the bill aiming to introduce prison terms and fines for those who question the Armenian genocide claims is opposed both by circles in the French government and among the public. While declining to publicly comment on announcements over the controversial issue in order not to attract criticism from the Armenian lobby, French President Jacques Chirac, the French Prime Ministry and the French Foreign Ministry are silently lobbying to convince ruling Union for Popular Movement (UMP) deputies to vote against the bill. /Star/[08] FINNISH PM VISITS TURKEYPrime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is now hosting Matti Vanhanen, prime minister of Finland, which is set to assume the European Union term presidency on July 1. After their meeting, Erdogan told a press conference that any deadline before 2007 for ratification of the Ankara protocol was unacceptable, underlining that he won’t bring the protocol to Parliament unless the EU ends the isolation of the Turkish Cypriots. Vanhanen described Cyprus as one of the toughest issues during his country’s upcoming term and said, “There’s no shortcut to the EU. Once Turkey meets its commitments, then the EU will do the same. There are no additional criteria imposed on Turkey.” /Aksam/[09] MGK SECRETARY-GENERAL ALPOGAN TO VISIT RUSSIADiplomatic traffic between Turkey and Russia is getting busier while Turkey works to convey messages between the West and Tehran. First, National Security Council (MGK) Secretary-General Yigit Alpogan will visit Russia with an Iran dossier on Monday as the guest of Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will visit Turkey on May 31 with the same agenda. President Ahmet Necdet Sezer will visit Russia on June 28, and Parliament Speaker Bulent Arinc will do the same on July 11. “These contacts about Iran between the two countries are very important, ” said a Russian source. /Aksam/[10] IRAN’S RAFSANJANI: “TEHRAN AND ANKARA SHOULD WORK TOGETHER TO ESTABLISH SECURITY IN THE REGION”Turkey’s new Ambassador to Tehran Gurcan Turkoglu yesterday met with Iran’s Expediency Council Chairman Hashemi Rafsanjani. During the meeting, Rafsanjani said that the need for dialogue is being felt now more than ever, and Iran and Turkey should work together to remove hurdles to establishing security in the region. “Iran and Turkey are great powers in the region. The neighborhood and common ground between Iran and Turkey in terms of religious and cultural affinities is serving to develop relations between Tehran and Ankara,” said Rafsanjani. /Cumhuriyet/[11] ARMENIAN, GREEK CYPRIOT EFFORTS TO BLOCK MISSILE SALE TO TURKEY FAILAttempts by four US congressmen close to the Armenian and Greek Cypriot lobbies to prevent the US selling air-to-ground SLAM-ER missile systems have ended in failure. Pentagon officials said that the congressmen’s objections weren’t enough to block the sales of the missile systems. The Pentagon made an announcement to Congress on April 28 about selling 50 AGM- 84K air-to-ground SLAM-ER missile systems to Turkey for the use of Turkish Air Forces. The planned sale of the project is worth up to $162 million. /Cumhuriyet/[12] FROM THE COLUMNS…FROM THE COLUMNS…FROM THE COLUMNS…[13] MESSAGES FOR CONSPIRACY THEORISTS BY SOLI OZEL (SABAH)Columnist Soli Ozel comments on Turkish-American relations. A summary of his column is as follows:“Spring has come to Washington as well as to Turkish-American relations. The relations, which were hurt slightly by the ill-timed visit of Hamas’ Khaled Meshaal in February, are now getting better. This is the opinion of Marshall Fund Ankara representative Suat Kiniklioglu, Milliyet columnist Hasan Cemal and various government figures. One can say that Turkey has maintained and even increased its importance for the US for various reasons. This situation requires a revision of relations and definition of areas of common interest. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s request for a meeting with US President George W Bush can start such a new definition. The shared vision which came up after the recent visit of US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will also contribute to this search. One of the issues behind better Turkish-US relations is oil and gas lines. The fact that Turkey is an alternative to Russia in transporting resources from the Caspian and Central Asia is one of the important issues for both Europe and the US. A US State Department official explained the issue as the need to prevent Russia’s Gazprom from gaining a monopoly as either supplier or purchaser. He believes that such a development would increase Russian influence and even pressure on Caspian and Central Asian countries. There is a competition and even a power struggle between Russia and the West on energy transportation lines. Therefore Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan’s dependence on Russia should be broken. In this respect the transportation of Azerbaijan’s natural gas from Turkey to Greece and Italy seems very important. He added that the value of these lines will be clearer if natural gas and oil from Kazakhstan also flows from Turkey to the market. ‘We are for diversity and preventing the monopolization of Gazprom,’ he explained. Another official from the US National Security Council said that a scenario for the US has four stages. First the Baku-Ceyhan Pipeline will start operations and be successful. Then, the Kazakhs will agree to transport their natural gas through the Baku-Ceyhan pipeline and the US will establish a market for these resources. And Kazakhstan, which doesn’t want to be dependent on Moscow, would see this opportunity and decide to transport its natural resources through Turkey. It is natural that developments in Turkey are considered while its role in transporting energy grows. A note for those who believe that someone in the US is working against the Justice and Development Party (AKP): The US doesn’t see any political movement which could form an alternative to the AKP. Nobody wants a coup. Some are suspicious about the AKP’s commitment to secularism and its foreign policy. There are even those who support these scenarios. However they don’t have as much problem with the AKP as it may seem. At least until Turkey comes to a threshold of some choices.” NOTE: The Turkish Press Review will not appear on Friday in honor of May 19, Youth and Sports Day. Please join us again on Monday. 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 |
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