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Turkish Press Review, 07-09-28
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
28.09.2007
FROM THE COLUMNS…FROM THE COLUMNS…FROM THE COLUMNS
TUSIAD GETS SOLID SUPPORT FROM BY SPAIN
CONTENTS
[01] ERDOGAN ADDRESSES COUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS
[02] TOPTAN: “UNIVERSITIES LEAD THE PUBLIC”
[03] CICEK: “THERE’S NO HEADSCARF PROBLEM, WE’LL DISCUSS THE RIGHT TO EDUCATION”
[04] FM BABACAN CONTINUES CONTACTS IN NEW YORK
[05] TURKEY, IRAQ EXPECTED TO SIGN ANTI-TERROR PACT TODAY, WITH SOME ISSUES LEFT OUT
[06] HALUK KOC TO SEEK CHP HELM
[07] COREPER TO INVITE TURKEY TO OPEN TALKS ON TRANS-EUROPEAN NETWORKS
[08] SPANISH QUEEN VISITS CAPPADOCIA
[09] FROM THE COLUMNS…FROM THE COLUMNS…FROM THE COLUMNS
[01] ERDOGAN ADDRESSES COUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS
Addressing the Council on Foreign Relations, a New York-based think-tank,
Prime Minister Recep Tayip Erdogan yesterday weighed in on issues such as
headscarves, the terrorist PKK and US soldiers’ possible withdrawal from
Iraq through Turkey. Touching on recent debates over the new draft
constitution, Erdogan said, “There’s a description of secularism in
articles of the 1982 Constitution, and we took these in our party’s
program. We don’t have any concerns about secularism. We’ll put almost
the same description of secularism as in 1982 Constitution.” Erdogan said
that Turkey is a victim of terrorism and that the resources of terrorism
must be cut off, and that no country can do this alone. He said that the
terrorist PKK’s presence in northern Iraq and its attacks from there have
a huge negative impact on Turkey. “Our expectations are clear,” he
explained. “Iraqi officials and the United States should quickly take
concrete steps instead of making statements about the fight against the
PKK. But unfortunately, we have yet to see any concrete steps. The blood
shed in the attacks of this terrorist group is exacerbating the mass trauma
in our society and trying the patience of the Turkish people as well as
narrowing our political options each day.” Regarding the possible
withdrawal of US troops from Iraq, Erdogan said that he thinks a sudden
withdrawal would not be right, saying that the coalition forces could
instead leave Iraq using a timetable. Erdogan also met with Richard
Holbrooke, a former top US State Department official. /Aksam-Cumhuriyet/
[02] TOPTAN: “UNIVERSITIES LEAD THE PUBLIC”
Parliament Speaker Koksal Toptan yesterday attended a ceremony at Rize
University to usher in the 2007-2008 school year. Addressing the gathering,
Toptan said that universities were the country’s most important safeguard
on the path to the civilization. Pointing to how some 20 million students,
including university students, were being educated, Toptan said the country
has a great potential so long as these students are trained well. He said
universities are institutions which lead to the development of science,
technology and the enrichment of the cultural life of the public, adding
that they find solutions to the problems facing the country. /Milliyet/
[03] CICEK: “THERE’S NO HEADSCARF PROBLEM, WE’LL DISCUSS THE RIGHT TO
EDUCATION”
Appearing on Sky Turk yesterday, Deputy Prime Minister Cemil Cicek
responded to criticisms of the new draft constitution. “Since 1990s non-
governmental organizations and political parties with groups in Parliament
have been working to change the Constitution,” said Cicek. “Some say,
‘They [the ruling Justice and Development Party, AKP] started work to
change the constitution after they got 47% of the vote in July’s general
elections. This isn’t true, we started this work before the elections.
When going to elections, we said we wanted a new constitution. We’re
putting together a constitution not for the AKP but for Turkey. We can also
make use of the initiatives of NGOs regarding this matter.” On the
headscarf issue, Cicek said, “There is no such problem. Some people take
up certain issues from time to time and turn them into a problem.” He
added, “There are articles in the Constitution saying that the right to
education is a fundamental right. We will discuss these arrangements. But
we don’t think it makes any sense to get stuck on only one article. Some
people are trying to hamper this project by stirring up extreme
discussions. I personally think that some of these discussions lack good
will.” /Star-Hurriyet/
[04] FM BABACAN CONTINUES CONTACTS IN NEW YORK
Foreign Minister Ali Babacan, currently visiting the US, yesterday
continued his contacts in New York. During a meeting between Babacan and US
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, the Iraq and terrorism issue, the
Armenian resolution before the US Congress and the Cyprus and Mideast
issues were discussed. Underlining Ankara’s concerns about Iraq’s
territorial integrity, Babacan urged the top US diplomat to take concrete
steps to stop PKK terrorists from taking shelter in northern Iraq. In
addition, Babacan also met with Belgian Foreign Minister Karel de Gucht,
and they reportedly talked about the trial in absentia of fugitive
terrorist Fehriye Erdal. Furthermore, the foreign minister held talks with
his Russian, Dutch and Dominican counterparts. /Turkiye/
[05] TURKEY, IRAQ EXPECTED TO SIGN ANTI-TERROR PACT TODAY, WITH SOME ISSUES
LEFT OUT
Three days of negotiations between Turkey and Iraq on a pact on cooperation
against the terrorist PKK stalled yesterday when the sides failed to reach
agreement on the terms of “conditional hot pursuit” operations by the
Turkish military into northern Iraq. Following the talks, the sides will
reportedly sign the seven-article text, but leave behind controversial
issues for discussion at a later date by a commission. /Sabah/
[06] HALUK KOC TO SEEK CHP HELM
Main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) Samsun Deputy Haluk Koc
said yesterday that he would run for the party leadership at the upcoming
party congress. Koc, who served the CHP as deputy group leader in the
previous Parliament, will run against CHP leader Deniz Baykal. Stressing
that he had considered what leading the party would mean, Koc said he would
soon hold a press conference. “The understanding of our party’s
administration should be changed,” said Koc. /Milliyet/
[07] COREPER TO INVITE TURKEY TO OPEN TALKS ON TRANS-EUROPEAN NETWORKS
Diplomatic sources yesterday said that the European Union’s Committee of
Permanent Representatives (COREPER) had agreed to invite Turkey to open its
membership negotiations on the chapter on trans-European networks. A letter
of invitation will be sent to Turkey soon, requesting that Ankara submit
its position paper on the chapter. /Star/
[08] SPANISH QUEEN VISITS CAPPADOCIA
Spanish Queen Sophia, currently visiting Turkey, yesterday traveled to
Nevsehir to see the historical and cultural landmarks of Cappadocia. The
queen spent the night in Urgup and also met with regional government
officials. /Turkish Daily News/
[09] FROM THE COLUMNS…FROM THE COLUMNS…FROM THE COLUMNS
TUSIAD GETS SOLID SUPPORT FROM BY SPAIN
Columnist Selale Kadak comments on this week’s Turkish Industrialists’
and Businessmen’s Association’s (TUSIAD) visit to Spain. A summary of
her column is as follows:
“As the Turkish Industrialists’ and Businessmen’s Association
(TUSIAD) won’t always lobby in countries trying to hinder Turkey’s
European Union bid, this time it went to Spain, an always-friendly country.
Right now TUSIAD head Arzuhan Yalcindag and her team is extremely busy. The
European Commission will release its new progress report on Turkey in
November. Until then, Yalcindag and her team will pay intensive one-day
visits to capital cities of friendly countries and try to ensure that the
voices of countries favoring us are better heard. In Spain, Yalcindag was
accompanied by her deputies Pekin Baran and Umit Boyner, Board Of Directors
members Ali Kibar, Bulent Akgerman, and Haluk Dincer and the
association’s foreign poliicy advisor Soli Ozel.
Everybody worked hard and the entire team learned about political and
commercial ties between Spain and Turkey. Meanwhile, Kibar told stories
about interesting incidents in exports from Turkey to other countries,
mostly to Spain. After all, TUSIAD was to be received by Spanish King Juan
Carlos for the first time. Yalcindag heard out her team’s views on
messages to be given and the support to be requested. Meanwhile, Kibar
wanted the team to relax and told them some stories about Spanish history
in order give them a lift, after holding intensive meetings for 67 hours
and long flights. TUSIAD’s secretariat also did its homework very well.
The TUSIAD team arranged meetings with important people in Madrid, except
for former Premier Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, who was in the US that day,
with the support of the CEOEF, TUSIAD’s Spanish counterpart. Yalcindag
and her team first met with Spanish Economy Minister Pedro Solbes and then
State Secretary for EU Relations Alberto Navarro. Immediately after these
meetings, the Turkish team met with representatives from the Spanish
Confederation of Employers’ Organization (CEOE) during lunch. Then the
delegation met with the opposition People’s Party spokesman Eduardo
Zaplana and spent half an hour with Spanish King Juan Carlos in a very warm
atmosphere. Turkish Ambassador to Spain Ender Arat accompanied the
delegation during all these meetings.
Spain openly supports Turkey’s EU membership. Soli Ozel mentioned the
reason for this as it has some interest in it and Spain wants to strengthen
its investments with Turkey. The Spanish government not only put Turkey on
its list of 11 priority countries in terms of commerce and investment, but
also put aside €353 million to be used for promotion and support projects
through 2009 to help Spanish firms in Turkey. I think the size of this
figure can be better appreciated it we consider that Spain’s budget for
South Korea, which is among the 11 countries, totals €7 million. In
addition, let me say that the US, Mexico, Morocco, Algeria, Brazil, China,
India, Russia and Japan are also among these 11 countries.
Commercial ties between Turkey and Spain have been grown a lot in recent
years. Arat said that at the moment the trade surplus totaled $800 million
in favor of Turkey. The trade volume between the two countries totaled
€2.3 billion in 2001, and by last year this ballooned 274% to reach
€6.3 billion. According to data from the first half of this year, Spain
ranks fifth in Turkey’s exports and 10th in Turkey’s imports.”
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