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Turkish Press Review, 06-12-15
From: Turkish Directorate General of Press and Information <http://www.byegm.gov.tr>
Summary of the political and economic
news in the Turkish press this morning
15.12.2006
CONTENTS
[01] SEZER MEETS WITH PM ERDOGAN
[02] EU LEADERS APPROVE DECISION TO PARTIALLY SUSPEND TURKEY'S TALKS
[03] ERDOGAN BOUND FOR ALLIANCE OF CIVILIZATIONS MEETING IN NEW YORK
[04] CICEK: "FORGET ABOUT EARLY ELECTIONS"
[05] PAPADOPOULOS: "WE RESERVE THE RIGHT TO BLOCK EACH CHAPTER IN TURKEY'S TALKS"
[06] BLAIR TO VISIT ANKARA
[07] THE ECONOMIST: "THE EU SHOULDN'T SHUT ITS DOORS TO TURKEY"
[08] IMF'S LIPSKY: "TURKEY'S COMMITMENT TO TIGHT FISCAL POLICIES AND REFORMS DESERVES INTL SUPPORT"
[09] BABACAN: "LOWER-THAN-EXPECTED GROWTH DOESN'T JEOPARDIZE OUR 5% TARGET"
[10] FORMER TOP IMF OFFICIAL: "TURKEY'S ECONOMY HAS SHOWN GREAT PROGRESS SINCE THE 2001 CRISIS"
[11] LEGENDARY MUSIC MOGUL ERTEGUN DIES
[12] CYPRUS TRAPS
[01] SEZER MEETS WITH PM ERDOGAN
In their regular weekly meeting, President Ahmet Necdet Sezer yesterday
received Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Sezer and Erdogan reportedly
took up recent developments in Turkish-European Union relations. /Star/
[02] EU LEADERS APPROVE DECISION TO PARTIALLY SUSPEND TURKEY'S TALKS
European Union member states' leaders, at a summit in Brussels yesterday,
approved the decision of the EU foreign ministers to suspend eight out of
35 chapters of Turkey's membership talks. Speaking at a press conference,
EU Term President Finland's Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen said that the
leaders had approved the decision of the foreign ministers without any
discussion. For his part, European Union Commission President Jose Manuel
Barroso stated that they didn't discuss Turkey yesterday since the leaders
found the foreign ministers' decision "realistic." In related news, German
Chancellor Angela Merkel said that she believed the EU had acted
determinedly and with common sense, adding that it gave a message to Turkey
to continue its reforms. /Sabah/
[03] ERDOGAN BOUND FOR ALLIANCE OF CIVILIZATIONS MEETING IN NEW YORK
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan will travel to New York on Sunday to
attend a two-day meeting of the Alliance of Civilizations starting Monday.
As part of his contacts, Erdogan is expected to have talks with his Spanish
counterpart José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero and outgoing United Nations
Secretary-General Kofi Annan. During the gathering, a 35-page final
document will be released. /Turkiye/
[04] CICEK: "FORGET ABOUT EARLY ELECTIONS"
Appearing on TV last evening, Justice Minister Cemil Cicek said yesterday
that the next general elections would be held next November, as scheduled.
Stressing that Turkey has finally reached stability, Cicek said that
favorable situation could not be sacrificed just because certain circles
want elections, adding that the government has no intention of doing so.
Commenting on recent developments in Turkish-European Union relations, the
justice minister said that the Turkish Foreign Ministry has pursued a
successful policy. /Aksam/
[05] PAPADOPOULOS: "WE RESERVE THE RIGHT TO BLOCK EACH CHAPTER IN TURKEY'S
TALKS"
Speaking at a press conference at the European Union leaders summit in
Brussels yesterday, Greek Cypriot leader Tassos Papadopoulos said that
Greek Cyprus reserves its right to block each chapter during Turkey's EU
talks. Papadopoulos stated that the EU would send a letter to Turkey to
open one of remaining 26 chapters. /Sabah/
[06] BLAIR TO VISIT ANKARA
Britain's Prime Minister Tony Blair will travel to Ankara this evening just
after the European Union leaders summit in Brussels. Blair, during his
brief visit, is expected to meet with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip
Erdogan at a dinner and to reiterate his country's support for Turkey's EU
membership process. /Cumhuriyet/
[07] THE ECONOMIST: "THE EU SHOULDN'T SHUT ITS DOORS TO TURKEY"
The Economist, an influential economy and political newsweekly published in
Britain, this week warned that it would be a grave geostrategic failure if
the European Union were to close its doors to Turkey. Pointing to the
negative atmosphere against Turkey in the bloc, the article said that the
real issue wasn't Cyprus, but Europe's doubts over whether or not to let
Turkey join the club. Touching on Ankara's recent efforts to catch up to EU
norms, it said that the reforms it had implemented were equal or above
those of other EU member states. The article added that Turkey was a model
country in its region, and that it would be a great failure to send it
away. /Turkiye/
[08] IMF'S LIPSKY: "TURKEY'S COMMITMENT TO TIGHT FISCAL POLICIES AND
REFORMS DESERVES INTL SUPPORT"
International Monetary Fund First Deputy Managing Director John Lipsky said
yesterday that Turkey's commitment to pursue tight fiscal policies and
reforms deserved the support of the international community. Saying that
the IMF welcomed Turkey's 6.5% primary surplus target for 2007, Lipsky
added that the target required controlling expenditures and making health
outlays more efficient. /Milliyet/
[09] BABACAN: "LOWER-THAN-EXPECTED GROWTH DOESN'T JEOPARDIZE OUR 5% TARGET"
Speaking to reporters yesterday, State Minister for the Economy Ali Babacan
said that the nation's growth rate was lower than expectations, but that
this didn't jeopardize the 5% target. Stressing that quality of growth was
important, Babacan said that Turkey's was sustainable. Commenting on
Central Bank Governor Durmus Yilmaz's warning about the real sector's
financing deficits, Babacan said that these words should be taken into
consideration. /Aksam/
[10] FORMER TOP IMF OFFICIAL: "TURKEY'S ECONOMY HAS SHOWN GREAT PROGRESS
SINCE THE 2001 CRISIS"
Speaking at a conference yesterday, former International Deputy Managing
Director Stanley Fischer said that owing to the efforts of both the
government and the Central Bank, Turkey's economy has shown great progress
since the 2001 economic crisis. "The IMF also contributed to this," said
Fischer. He stressed that during the 2001 crisis, the IMF had proposed that
Turkey found a foreign exchange board, but the had government rejected
this. "Now we see that the government's decision was the right one," he
added. /Sabah/
[11] LEGENDARY MUSIC MOGUL ERTEGUN DIES
Ahmet Ertegun, 83, the owner of the Atlantic Records and producer of world-
famous musical acts, passed away in New York City on Thusday evening.
Ertegun died in the hospital after falling down backstage during a Rolling
Stones concert in Manhattan on Oct. 29. Ertegun will be laid to rest in
Turkey. Moreover, a memorial service is expected to be held in New York
next month. /Hurriyet/
FROM THE COLUMNS... FROM THE COLUMNS... FROM THE COLUMNS...
[12] CYPRUS TRAPS
BY FERAI TINC (HURRIYET)
Columnist Ferai Tinc comments on traps over the Cyprus issue. A summary of
her column is as follows:
"When ‘anchoring Turkey in Europe' was mentioned during the European Union
leaders' summit two years ago, we discussed and criticized this concept a
great deal. Now they're ‘anchoring' Turkey's EU membership process on
Cyprus with their latest decisions. Unfortunately, it seems that this
situation will effectively limit Turkey's ability to solve the problem. The
Cyprus hurdle is feeding an atmosphere which would cause people to ignore
many barriers to Turkey.
Now I'd like to direct your attention to the Cyprus traps. Some people say
that Turkey's membership talks won't be opened in eight chapters but the
isolation on Turkish Cypriots will be ended, and a comfortable atmosphere
will be established in which Turkey can apply the additional protocol and
we will overcome this obstruction. I hope this happens, but the EU didn't
make a decision to remove the barriers keeping Turkish Cypriots cut off
from the world. This is deliberate, because Europe made a promise
beforehand. A decision to remove the barriers will start to be shaped next
week. As the term president as of Jan. 1, Germany said that it would work
towards this end. We even saw reports that the Greek Cypriots were
convinced. We must consider this with a grain of salt. During the foreign
ministers' meeting, the EU said that a political consensus had been reached
about the framework of the economic development of Northern Cyprus. A
statement by the Greek Cypriot Progressive Party of Working People (AKEL)
shows that there's no reason to interpret this positively. It said that the
issue of Turkish Cypriot trade with the EU is covered not by the final
declaration, but by a separate declaration by the EU term presidency. It
added that in line with this, the declaration has a positive element in
that it mentions the regions which are not controlled by the ‘Republic of
Cyprus' in a consequential way.
The term ‘the north of Cyprus' stressed by AKEL, which made Turkish
Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) President Mehmet Ali Talat angry, later
became expressed as ‘Cyprus' occupied territories.' It has this meaning
legally as well. What will happen if the Greek Cypriots say that Turks can
sell their own goods from our harbors to whoever they want? For this
purpose, it's sufficient to use the formulation that Turks can carry out
trade from legal harbors. None of the EU members would reject it. Would the
Turkish Cypriots accept this? For Turkey, is this going to mean removing
the isolation of the TRNC? No. Then are you going to say that we want the
isolation of the TRNC ended? In other words, are you going to say that you
mean to recognize the TRNC's sovereignty? Are you ready to do this?"
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