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Thursday, 21 November 2024
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Turkish Press Review, 07-07-12Turkish Press Review Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: Turkish Directorate General of Press and Information <http://www.byegm.gov.tr>Summary of the political and economic news in the Turkish press this morning12.07.2007FROM THE COLUMNS…FROM THE COLUMNS…FROM THE COLUMNSCONTENTS
[01] ERDOGAN: “THE BEST WAY TO ELECT OUR NEXT PRESIDENT IS TO ASK THE PEOPLE”Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan yesterday turned down a proposal by Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Deniz Baykal to use consensus to elect an impartial figure with no political connections as Turkey’s next president. Speaking to reporters in Ankara, Erdogan treated Baykal’s offer coolly, saying that Parliament’s deputies can elect a president from within their ranks. He added that if the CHP leader really wants a president elected in this country, he should not avoid the voice of the people. /Sabah/[02] FM GUL CAMPAIGNS IN BILECIK, YALOVAForeign Minister Abdullah Gul yesterday made campaign visits to Bilecik and Yalova to woo voters to support his Justice and Development Party (AKP) in the July 22 general elections. Touting his party’s record during its four- and-a-half years in power, Gul claimed that the AKP was more of a social democratic party than certain left-wing ones, adding that he was well-liked by many people, including traditional supporters of other parties. /Turkiye/[03] CHP’S BAYKAL: “WE SHOULD ELECT AN IMPARTIAL PRESIDENT WHO FITS THE CONSTITUTIONAL MODEL”Speaking yesterday in Mersin, main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Deniz Baykal commented on the new presidential election set to follow the July 22 general elections, saying an “impartial” figure in line with the Constitution should be elected. Pointing to the compromise during the 2000 election of the current president, Ahmet Necdet Sezer, Baykal said, “The Sezer model was very beneficial.” During campaign visits to Amasya and Corum, Baykal continued to criticize Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan. /Cumhuriyet/[04] AGAR: “THE REPUBLIC BELONGS TO THE NATION, NOT JUST THE CHP”Democrat Party (DP) leader Mehmet Agar said yesterday that the republic is a value shared by the whole nation. Speaking at a press conference in the central Anatolian city of Aksaray, Agar criticized campaign rhetoric by the Republican People’s Party (CHP) claiming that if that CHP falters in the July 22 elections, the republic itself will also falter. The DP leader said that the CHP and its leader, not the republic, are being tested at the ballot box, adding that the republic is not just one party’s value, but the very nation’s. /Star/[05] BAHCELI MAKES CAMPAIGN STOPS IN KIRSEHIR, NEVSEHIROpposition Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahceli yesterday appeared at campaign rallies both in Kirsehir and Nevsehir alongside Deniz Bolukbasi, his party’s candidate for Ankara deputy. Bahceli said that the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) has left behind great destruction and damage in its wake, but that will all end after the July 22 elections, less than two weeks away. /Aksam/[06] CAMPAIGN RESTRICTIONS GO INTO EFFECT AHEAD OF JULY 22 POLLSVarious restrictions on election campaigning go into force today. Beginning today, opening and ground-laying ceremonies are banned, and official cars and other vehicles cannot be used for visits within the framework of campaigning. In addition, no mass rallies or campaigning are allowed outside of venues approved by local elections boards. The restrictions expire at midnight July 22, election day. /Turkiye/[07] IN LETTER TO US CONGRESSMEN, TURKISH GROUPS DECRY PLIGHT OF IRAQI TURKMENThe Assembly of Turkish-American Associations (ATAA), an umbrella organization of Turkish groups in the US, has reportedly sent letters to US congressmen urging them to support Iraq’s ethnic Turkmen. Stressing that Iraqi Turkmen face mass murder, illegal detention, torture and forced migration, the letter decried how after suffering under Saddam Hussein’s dictatorship and welcoming US forces to Iraq, now Turkmen are under the oppression of Kurds. /Turkiye/[08] TURKISH AMBASSADOR TO US: “BARZANI PROVIDES THE PKK WITH SHELTER AND LOGISTICAL SUPPORT”Turkey’s Ambassador to the United States Nabi Sensoy yesterday stated that Iraqi Kurds were providing the terrorist PKK with US-made weapons and that Ankara has the option of taking a military response. Meeting with defense reporters in Washington, Sensoy confirmed the Turkish army’s activity on the Iraqi border. Sensoy accused northern Iraqi Kurdish leader Massoud Barzani of supporting the terrorist PKK with American weapons, saying, “We have enough proof that Barzani’s supporters and Barzani himself as a leader are providing the terrorists and the terrorist groups with shelter as well as with logistical support.” He added, “We know that the US provides weapons to the northern Iraqi administration. It is possible that these weapons pass into the hands of terrorist groups. Tripartite meetings haven’t produced results. The Iraqi side hasn’t cooperated. Iraqis should declare the PKK a terrorist group, and Washington should demonstrate its influence over the Kurds.” /Hurriyet/FROM THE COLUMNS…FROM THE COLUMNS…FROM THE COLUMNS [09] TURKEY’S PLACE IN THE GLOBAL WORLDBY MELIKSAH UTKU (YENI SAFAK)Columnist Meliksah Utku comments on Turkey’s foreign policy and the Ministerial Conference of the Least Developed Countries held this week in Istanbul. A summary of his column is as follows: “At the beginning of this week, Istanbul welcomed a great many guests, including top officials from 50 different countries. Maybe you don’t know most of these countries, and can’t point to them on a map. You might also ask why other countries you’re familiar were among them. These 50 countries represent the world’s least-developed countries (LDCs). They were in Istanbul because the annual conference where the UN evaluates its development strategies for those countries was held this week in Turkey, hosted by Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul. Turkey hosting this conference, which our media largely ignored, in fact has great symbolic meaning. Of course a single conference isn’t enough, but it signals that Turkey has serious initiatives to carve out a role in the global world economy and politics. We can sum up our foreign policy with these two principles: ‘Peace at home, peace in the world,’ and Westernization. I personally think that the first saying by our great founder Ataturk protected our country from serious dangers and will continue to provide a moral compass to our progress in the years to come. I also believe that Westernization, which began to be shaped at the beginning of this century, is a concept spread to stifle the domestic choices of countries following the new world order. But the question is the implementation of these political preferences, not whether they are right or wrong. After all, many countries have gotten top- notch economies by implementing Westernization policies or gained international political prominence by stressing the pursuit of peaceful policies. We’ve also done a bad job implementing these two political preferences. Some politicians misunderstood ‘Peace at home, peace in the world’ to mean passivity. Moreover, we’ve used Westernization to stymie our relations with most of the world, except for a few countries located to our west, not as a development project. However, there are strong efforts for transformation. For instance, the Russian-led Commonwealth of Independent States was important in that it gave the first signs of our policies escaping from its vicious circle. This process has been rapid in recent years. I believe that this process is very healthy despite all the mistakes. For this reason, I see Turkey’s will to become the protector of the world’s poorest 50 countries as a great expansion, not a mere pipe dream. What’s that approach amount to but a natural outgrowth of the principle ‘Peace at home, peace in the world’?” Turkish Press Review Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |
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