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Turkish Press Review, 08-04-14
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
14.04.2008
FROM THE COLUMNS…FROM THE COLUMNS…FROM THE COLUMNS
CONTENTS
[01] PM ERDOGAN ATTENDS DOHA FORUM ON DEMOCRACY, DEVELOPMENT, AND FREE TRADE
[02] ERDOGAN: "ONLY IN BAYKAL'S MIND IS THERE A PROBLEM WITH SECULARISM"
[03] PARLIAMENT SPEAKER TOPTAN DUE IN SLOVENIA
[04] CHANGES TO ARTICLE 301 FACE DEBATE IN PARLIAMENT
[05] BUYUKANIT VISITING EGYPT THIS WEEK
[06] WILSON PRAISES TURKISH INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITIES AHEAD OF CONFERENCE
[07] IRAN'S DEPUTY INTERIOR MINISTER TO VISIT ANKARA
[08] MURDER OF ITALIAN ARTIST SPARKS SORROW, CONDEMNATION
[09] ISTANBUL WINS BID TO HOST 2012 SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIP
[10] THE BARROSO SHOW
[11] END
[01] PM ERDOGAN ATTENDS DOHA FORUM ON DEMOCRACY, DEVELOPMENT, AND FREE
TRADE
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan yesterday went to Qatar, to attend the
Eighth Doha Forum on Democracy, Development, and Free Trade as an honored
guest. Speaking at the forum, Erdogan said that Turkey's democratic
experience has a long history. Stressing that the process of
democratization isn't easy, he added, "Sometimes we have faced tough times
in democratization, but we have never made concessions." Saying that
democracy and the economy are interconnected, he added, "As Turkey makes
progress in democracy, it will also continue to develop economically."
Speaking about the Alliance of Civilizations project, he added, "It a
period in which Islamophobia has recently been spread widely and made some
countries feel paranoia, Turkey is working to refute the clash of
civilizations." Erdogan also met with Qatari Emir Khalifa Al Thani. /Sabah/
[02] ERDOGAN: "ONLY IN BAYKAL'S MIND IS THERE A PROBLEM WITH SECULARISM"
At the weekend youth branches congress of the ruling Justice and
Development Party in Ankara, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan criticized
main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Deniz Baykal. He
said that outside of Baykal's condescending view, the nation doesn't have a
problem with secularism. "Nobody in Turkey wants secularism put to a vote,"
he added. /Aksam/
[03] PARLIAMENT SPEAKER TOPTAN DUE IN SLOVENIA
Parliament Speaker Koksal Toptan will visit Ljubljana today as the guest of
his Slovenian counterpart France Cukjati. On Wednesday, Toptan will proceed
to Germany to attend a Turkish night sponsored by the State Parliament of
North Rhine Westfalia. /Cumhuriyet/
[04] CHANGES TO ARTICLE 301 FACE DEBATE IN PARLIAMENT
Justice Minister Mehmet Ali Sahin yesterday said proposed changes to
Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK) would be debated by
Parliament's Justice Commission this week. Asked about criticisms of a
separate proposal under which only the president could file a case to close
a political party, so as to make closures harder, Sahin said several
Western countries have the same policy. In addition, the full Parliament
will continue three weeks of debates on the social security bill before its
expected passage later this week. /Turkiye/
[05] BUYUKANIT VISITING EGYPT THIS WEEK
Chief of General Staff Gen. Yasar Buyukanit today is set to travel to Cairo,
Egypt today a four-day official visit. Buyukanit will meet with his
Egyptian counterpart Mohamed Hussein Tantawi Soliman and also visit the
Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, the tomb of late Egyptian leader Anwar Sadat,
and the Turkish Soldiers' Cemetery. /Sabah/
[06] WILSON PRAISES TURKISH INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITIES AHEAD OF CONFERENCE
A three-day trade conference sponsored by US and Turkish companies and
business institutions and the US Commerce Department is set to begin today
in Istanbul. Nearly 60 US companies are expected to attend the Trade Winds
Europe conference. Before the event, US Ambassador to Ankara Ross Wilson
wrote an article for Commercial News USA magazine saying that Turkey's
economy has grown steadily and remarkably for the last six years thanks to
government reforms. "Turkey's commitment to the reform process and
political stability make it a very important economic magnet that has drawn
approximately $50 worth of foreign capital for the last three years," he
wrote. Wilson also stressed that Turkey's growing prosperity is raising its
demand for products, services and business partners from the US. On the
last day of the conference, Turkish and US companies will hold bilateral
talks to evaluate investment and cooperation opportunities. /Hurriyet/
[07] IRAN'S DEPUTY INTERIOR MINISTER TO VISIT ANKARA
Abbas Mohtaj, Iran's deputy interior minister in charge of security, is
expected to pay a visit Turkey tomorrow or Wednesday to discuss joint
military operation possibilities against the terrorist PKK and its Iranian
branch PJAK. Mohtaj's delegation will meet with a group of top security
officials led by Interior Ministry Undersecretary Osman Gunes. One Turkish
official said that Turkey and Iran have had significant security
cooperation against the terrorist PKK for four years now, adding that 150
Turkish members of the terrorist group have been caught and delivered to
Turkey by Iranian security forces. /Hurriyet/
[08] MURDER OF ITALIAN ARTIST SPARKS SORROW, CONDEMNATION
The murder in Turkey of an Italian artist who was traveling to promote
peace has produced widespread outrage and sorrow. Speaking to reporters,
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan condemned the murder of Giuseppina
Pasqualino di Marineo, 33, also known as Pippa Bacca. "I offer my
condolences to her family and to the Italian people," he said, adding that
the murderer will be punished in line with Turkish law. /All Papers/
[09] ISTANBUL WINS BID TO HOST 2012 SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIP
Turkey will host a World Championship in swimming for the first time in
history, after the sport's ruling body, the International Swimming
Federation (FINA), declared Saturday that Istanbul will stage the 2012
world short course championships. Turkey will also host the European short
course championships in 2009 as well, and those two events could play
important roles in increasing interest in swimming in Turkey. The events
will be held at the 17,000-capacity Sinan Erdem Sports Hall in Atakoy,
which is still under construction. /Turkish Daily News/
FROM THE COLUMNS…FROM THE COLUMNS…FROM THE COLUMNS
[10] THE BARROSO SHOW
BY TUFAN TURENC (HURRIYET)
Columnist Tufan Turenc comments on European Commission head Jose Manuel
Barroso's visit to Ankara last week. A summary of his column is as follows:
"European Commission head Jose Manuel Barroso was in Ankara week with EU
Commissioner for Enlargement Olli Rehn, and his statements were full of
hypocrisy and intimidation. He looked at us in the eye and lied about our
EU membership, not caring that he was dragging Turkey into a tight spot on
the issue. But the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) liked his
statements, because it isn't interested in our EU membership. It only cared
about his signaling that the EU supports us. So Barroso behaved like an
actor and did what the AKP wanted. He gave the Constitutional Court the
message that it shouldn't close the AKP, implying that otherwise relations
with EU might be cut off. What else could he do?
What's more, he gave certain messages to strengthen the AKP's hand on the
secularism and headscarf issues. He said the EU can't take a stance on the
headscarf issue or impose standards, because each woman's ability to make
her own choice is one of the Union's basic principles. Barroso thinks that
Turkish women cover their heads of their free will, but he's wrong. He
knows nothing about the pressure from families, neighborhoods and the
environment, directions from religious sects, and the AKP's encouragement.
He doesn't know that all this begins when girls are only 5 or 6 years old.
I wish somebody had taken Barroso and Rehn to outlying areas to show them
how people take little girls to Koran courses and deny their freedom to
play. If Barroso had learned the truth, he could see how the EU's basic
principle of protecting individuals' freedom against social pressures was
being violated by the ruling AKP. Barroso said that the main principle was
democratic secularism â€" that is, separating the state from religious
affairs â€" and so could have understood that actually this is the critical
problem in Turkey, and realized that the ruling AKP, which always quarrels
with the regime, will do anything to make religion dominate the state.
If we look at pictures of the lunch given by Foreign Minister Ali Babacan
in Barroso's honor, certain incidents become clearer. The exchange of
information at these tables weighed large. Four journalists were invited,
and what they said exceeded the AKP's expectations: 'Don't worry, because
secularism in Turkey isn't in danger, there's no interference in social
life, the headscarf issue is completely an issue of individual freedom, the
military-bureaucratic oligarchy and their supporters are pressuring the
democratic actors, and they are totally against the EU.' When Barroso, Rehn
and others come to Turkey, they usually prefer meeting with the people who
give the same messages, because such information and messages suit them.
Afterwards, when they get back to Europe, they say, 'Islam and secularism
and democracy can't coexist, a woman's wearing a headscarf is against our
culture, and due to its different culture, EU membership for Turkey can
never happen."
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