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Turkish Press Review, 07-02-22
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
22.02.2007
CONTENTS
[01] SEZER MEETS WITH IRANIAN FM MOTTAKI
[02] ERDOGAN: "HURDLES TO INVESTMENT WILL BE A THING OF THE PAST"
[03] GUL MEETS WITH MAHDI, URGES IRAQ TO BLOCK TELEVISED PKK PROPAGANDA
[04] TRNC'S TALAT MEETS WITH LINDEN
[05] US STATE DEPARTMENT: "THE IRAQI GOVT IS DETERMINED TO COOPERATE WITH TURKEY AND THE US TO FIGHT THE PKK"
[06] IRAQ, STEMMING INTERNAL MIGRATION TO TOP MGK MEETING
[07] RICE SPEAKS OUT IN FAVOR OF TURKEY'S EU MEMBERSHIP BID
[08] PARLIAMENT PASSES MORTGAGE BILL
[09] COSKUN: "INVESTORS CAN BE CONFIDENT WE WILL STICK TO THE ECONOMIC PROGRAM"
[10] THE NETHERLANDS AND TURKEY
[01] SEZER MEETS WITH IRANIAN FM MOTTAKI
President Ahmet Necdet Sezer yesterday met with Iranian Foreign Minister
Manouchehr Mottaki, who is currently paying an official visit to Ankara.
During their meeting, Mottaki was accompanied by a six-person delegation.
Mottaki stated that Iran would continue to pursue its peaceful nuclear
program. /Sabah/
[02] ERDOGAN: "HURDLES TO INVESTMENT WILL BE A THING OF THE PAST"
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said yesterday that his government was
making efforts to lift all obstacles facing would-be investors. Addressing
businessmen at a gathering organized by the Chamber of Maritime Trade (DTO)
in Istanbul, Erdogan said that since his government came into office, it
had tried to solve the issues hindering business. He added that the Turkish
maritime sector had made great strides in recent years. In related news,
Erdogan also received Congressman Jane Harman and US Ambassador to Ankara
Ross Wilson. During their talks, regional and international issues, as well
as the so-called Armenian genocide resolution in the US Congress, were
taken up. /Turkiye/
[03] GUL MEETS WITH MAHDI, URGES IRAQ TO BLOCK TELEVISED PKK PROPAGANDA
Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul yesterday met with Iraqi Vice President Adel
Abdul Mahdi, who is currently paying an official visit to Ankara. Speaking
at a joint press conference, Gul said that he had urged the Iraqi
government to stop the terrorist PKK from televising its propaganda on
Iraqi TV stations, adding that such promotion was unacceptable. Gul
stressed that Ankara has no designs on Iraqi territory, but added, "It's
clear that we have a problem concerning terrorism originating from northern
Iraq." For his part, Mahdi stated that he knew all terrorist groups in Iraq
were taking advantage of the country's situation, adding that the
government was trying to prevent PKK attacks on Turkey. He further stressed
that the Iraqi administration wouldn't welcome a Turkish military operation
in northern Iraq and that neighboring countries should respect Iraq's
sovereignty and independence. Later, Gul attended a ceremony in Ankara
organized by groups from the Black Sea city of Trabzon. Addressing the
gathering, Gul urged people not to fall into despair over last month's
murder of Turkish journalist of Armenian descent Hrant Dink, since such
murders were isolated incidents. Dink's assassin came from Trabzon.
/Hurriyet/
[04] TRNC'S TALAT MEETS WITH LINDEN
Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) President Mehmet Ali Talat
yesterday received Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE)
Chairman Rene van der Linden in the capital Lefkosha. Speaking to reporters
after their talks, Linden said that his trip aimed to establish a bridge
between the two sides on the island, adding that the issue should be dealt
with urgently without delay. Talat, for his part, stressed that he had
expressed his government's opposition to the embargo imposed on the TRNC,
adding that his ultimate goal was a comprehensive, permanent settlement on
the island. /Turkiye/
[05] US STATE DEPARTMENT: "THE IRAQI GOVT IS DETERMINED TO COOPERATE WITH
TURKEY AND THE US TO FIGHT THE PKK"
US State Department deputy spokesman Tom Casey yesterday stated that
Washington believes the Iraqi government, including Iraqi President Jalal
Talabani and other ethnic Kurdish officials from the northern Kurdish
region, were determined to cooperate with both Turkey and the US in the
fight against the terrorist PKK. He stressed that the US placed importance
on the issue, as shown by its appointment of retired Gen. Joseph Ralston as
special envoy to counter the PKK. /Cumhuriyet/
[06] IRAQ, STEMMING INTERNAL MIGRATION TO TOP MGK MEETING
In its first meeting of the new year, the National Security Council (NSC)
will discuss two important issues: the possibility of the country
establishing dialogue with Kurdish leaders in northern Iraq, and Prime
Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's suggestion that people seeking to move to
Istanbul be required to obtain official permission. The meeting will be
chaired by President Ahmet Necdet Sezer, one of his last NSC meetings
before his tenure ends in May. /The New Anatoian/
[07] RICE SPEAKS OUT IN FAVOR OF TURKEY'S EU MEMBERSHIP BID
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said yesterday that her country
supported Turkey's European Union membership bid. During a one-hour-plus
meeting with representatives from Turkish and Muslim groups in Berlin, Rice
listened to their opinions and exchanged views on various topics. Also
attending the gathering, Cem Ozdemir, a Turkish-origin European Parliament
deputy from Germany, said that Rice had expressed the US' support for
Turkey's EU membership and also stated that her country was not against
Muslims. /Star/
[08] PARLIAMENT PASSES MORTGAGE BILL
Parliament yesterday passed a bill designed to enable people to buy houses
through long-term loans with low interest rates. Under the new mortgage
system, interest rates will be either fixed or variable. State Minister
Abdullatif Sener hailed the law as a landmark reform. /Star/
[09] COSKUN: "INVESTORS CAN BE CONFIDENT WE WILL STICK TO THE ECONOMIC
PROGRAM"
Addressing the International Investors' Association (YASED) yesterday,
Industry and Trade Minister Ali Coskun pledged that the government wouldn't
change the economic program in order to gain advantage in the elections set
for this fall. "All investors can invest without reservation," said Coskun.
Stressing that Turkey had faced a number of economic crises in past years
but had overcome them, he added, "Turkey has become a stable country in its
region with sustainable growth." Also addressing the gathering, Turkish
Union of Chambers and Commodities Exchanges (TOBB) head Rifat
Hisarciklioglu said that Turkey was a country of opportunities, adding that
its economy was among the world's 20 largest. /Aksam/
FROM THE COLUMNS... FROM THE COLUMNS... FROM THE COLUMNS...
[10] THE NETHERLANDS AND TURKEY
Columnist Cuneyt Ulsever comments on Turkey's image in the Netherlands. A
summary of his column is as follows:
"Before the upcoming visit of Dutch Queen Beatrix to Turkey, today I'd like
to write about how the Netherlands sees Turkey. When the Dutch rejected the
EU Constitution in a referendum, some commentators characterized this as a
rejection of Turkey's EU membership. How accurate is this perception? It's
impossible for the Netherlands, with just 16 million people, not to be
disturbed by the EU memberships of Germany and France, which have much
larger populations. Turkey's possible EU membership could shrink the
Netherlands' political leverage within the EU even more. We shouldn't think
that the Netherlands would view such a prospect with naive optimism. In a
country where two notorious murders were committed, worries that Islam
won't be in harmony with Western traditions, foreign workers will depress
wages and even cause unemployment, and foreign workers will cause the
social security system to collapse have created a nationalist trend in the
Netherlands, and extreme rightist parties sent nine deputies to Parliament
in the last elections. This means the rate of Islamophobia among the Dutch
is some 6-7%. But what does the other 93-94% think of Turkey? The Dutch
people see Turkey through the lens of the 400,000 workers_citizens of
Turkish origin settled in the Netherlands. Only Dutch people who visit
Turkey as tourists can see that there are Turks besides these expatriates.
What do the Dutch people, who think about Turkey through the Turks living
in the Netherlands, see? Two pieces of Turkey!
On one side of the scale, there are Workers' Party Deputy and new
government Cabinet Minister Nebahat Albayrak, Rotterdam Vice Mayor Orhan
Kaya, Forum administrator Zeki Arslan, Fatma Kaya, Justice Ministry senior
consultant Mehmet Akozbek, Turkish Societies administrator Ahmet Azdural,
and so on, and on the other, there are other Turks whom I saw at the Hague.
While Albayrak made me wonder why there are so few politicians of her
distinction in Turkey, you can see that the Dutch people respect her
greatly and see her as the number two in their Workers' Party, which is a
coalition partner of the ruling party. On the other hand, you can see the
other Turks living in Turkish neighborhoods in the Hague who are proud of
not changing or assimilating for 40 years. Turks also find it strange when
they see their kin who have insisted not learning Dutch for four decades.
The Dutch can't help but ask how they can be members of the same club when
they look at the Turks living in the Netherlands who insist on not to
integrating with the society they live in. When you ask any Dutch person if
he wants Turkey's EU membership, he would ask you ‘which Turkey'? I would
like to extend my welcome in advance to Queen Beatrix, who is very much
beloved by Turks living in the Netherlands."
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