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Turkish Press Review, 08-05-12
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
12.05.2008
FROM THE COLUMNS… FROM THE COLUMNS… FROM THE COLUMNS…
CONTENTS
[01] IN ANTALYA, ERDOGAN URGES TERRORISTS TO GIVE THEMSELVES UP UNDER PENITENCE LAW
[02] SIX FALLEN SOLDIERS LAID TO REST IN THEIR HOMETOWNS
[03] BAYKAL: "THERE IS NO ALTERNATIVE TO THE CHP"
[04] CHIEF OF STAFF BUYUKANIT TO REPRESENT TURKEY AT NATO MEETING
[05] ELIZABETH TO REITERATE BRITAIN'S SUPPORT FOR TURKEY'S EU BID
[06] CONSTITUTIONAL COURT TO ELECT NEW HEAD
[07] TRNC'S TALAT: "NEVER BEFORE HAS THERE BEEN SUCH A CHANCE FOR A SOLUTION"
[08] LEGENDARY SOPRANO GENCER DIES
[09] FERRARI'S MASSA WINS TURKISH GP
[10] ON ITS 75TH ANNIVERSARY, THY AIMS FOR RECORD PROFIT
[11] A PARTY FOR AVERAGE TURKS?
[01] IN ANTALYA, ERDOGAN URGES TERRORISTS TO GIVE THEMSELVES UP UNDER
PENITENCE LAW
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan yesterday said that the nation's fight
against terrorism will go on as long as it has to, and called on terrorists
to give themselves up under Turkey's penitence law. Speaking at an opening
ceremony in Antalya, Erdogan spoke about recent Turkish Armed Forces (TSK)
cross-border operations into northern Iraq and soldiers who fell to
terrorists. "Thanks to recent successful Turkish security forces operations,
Turkey's fight against terrorism has reached a critical stage," he said.
"Because of our government's political and cultural measures, the terrorist
organization, now isolated both in Turkey and abroad and cut off from its
financial resources, is mired in panic and confusion." He added, "I once
again call on those who went astray: You have seen that this path leads
nowhere. You have reached the end of the road, and so you should leave it
before it's too late." /Milliyet/
[02] SIX FALLEN SOLDIERS LAID TO REST IN THEIR HOMETOWNS
The funerals of six fallen soldiers who lost their lives in a terrorist PKK
attack on a military outpost in Semdinli, Hakkari were held in their
hometowns yesterday. Pvt. Gokhan Uzun was laid to rest in Trabzon, Pvt.
Halil Ibrahim Atasagun in Afyonkarahisar, Pvt. Emrah Sudut in Gaziantep,
Pvt. Eyyup Dagtekin in Sanliurfa, Pvt. Yurdakul Alcan in Mersin, and Pvt.
Serhat Genc in Antalya. /Aksam/
[03] BAYKAL: "THERE IS NO ALTERNATIVE TO THE CHP"
Main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Deniz Baykal
yesterday criticized recent remarks by both Turkey-EU Joint Parliamentary
Commission Co-Chair Joost Lagendijk and EU Commissioner for Enlargement
Olli Rehn. Speaking on television, he claimed that Lagendijk and Rehn's
remarks had gone too far, beyond what anyone has the right to do.
Responding to claims that despite poor election showings, he is resisting
replacing the CHP's leadership, Baykal denied this, saying he had changed
the party leadership before. Challenging critics who charge the CHP does
nothing, Baykal urged them to suggest alternatives. Baykal also said there
was no alternative to the CHP. /Star/
[04] CHIEF OF STAFF BUYUKANIT TO REPRESENT TURKEY AT NATO MEETING
Chief of General Staff Gen. Yasar Buyukanit is set to travel to Brussels
this week to take part in a meeting bringing together military officials of
the alliance's members and partner nations. For the first time, chiefs of
staff from non-NATO countries contributing to NATO operations in
Afghanistan and Kosovo will participate in the discussions, set for
Wednesday and Thursday. /Today's Zaman/
[05] ELIZABETH TO REITERATE BRITAIN'S SUPPORT FOR TURKEY'S EU BID
Britain's Queen Elizabeth will pay an official visit to Turkey tomorrow at
the invitation of President Abdullah Gul. Accompanied by her husband Prince
Philip and Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs David
Miliband, the queen will first visit Anitkabir, the mausoleum of Ataturk,
the founder of modern Turkey, and also meet with Gul and Prime Minister
Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Later she will visit Bursa and Istanbul. The queen is
expected to reiterate Britain's firm support for Turkey's EU accession bid,
and to say that with its strategic position along energy transportation
corridors, Turkey's accession to the Union would enhance the EU's worldwide
influence. The queen last visited Turkey in 1971. /Turkiye/
[06] CONSTITUTIONAL COURT TO ELECT NEW HEAD
Sumru Cortoglu, the chairperson of Turkey's Council of State, will step
down tomorrow, as he has reached the mandatory retirement age. Turkey's top
administrative court will start electing its new head on May 20. Court
members Yilmaz Cimen, Mustafa Birden, Gursoy Gonenc and Turgut Candan have
all declared they will seek the post. Candidates must have eight years'
experience with the court, and they need the votes of at least 44 members
to win. The court's chief justice is elected through a secret ballot. If no
winner emerges from the first three rounds, a runoff between the top two
candidates follows. If this also produces no winner, the election process
will start again. The new Council of State chair will serve the court for
four years, if mandatory retirement age is not reached. A member of the
Council of State since 1992, Cortoglu was elected its head two years ago.
/Cumhuriyet/
[07] TRNC'S TALAT: "NEVER BEFORE HAS THERE BEEN SUCH A CHANCE FOR A
SOLUTION"
Despite differences between bilateral committees and working groups, laying
the groundwork for negotiations to find a settlement on Cyprus, the general
atmosphere is good, said Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus President
(TRNC) President Mehmet Ali Talat yesterday. "If both side keep their word,
negotiations will start next month," Talat added. "Never before has there
been such a chance for a solution." He also stated that the hardest
subjects in the negotiation process will be property ownership and land
rules. /Star/
[08] LEGENDARY SOPRANO GENCER DIES
Turkish soprano Leyla Gencer, one of the greatest opera singers of the 20th
century, has died of heart failure in Milan, Italy, at the age of 79. Born
in Istanbul in October 1928, Gencer won international recognition after her
debut in 1957 at Milan's La Scala Theater as Madame Lidoine in the world
premiere of Poulenc's "Les Dialogues des Carmelites." Known as "La Diva
Turca," she performed at La Scala and other leading world theaters until
1985, accumulating a repertoire of more than 70 roles, notably the great
heroines of Donizetti. She was the artistic director of the La Scala
Academy, when she passed away on Friday in her home in Milan. A
commemorative ceremony for Gencer will be held in Milan today, after which
her body will be cremated in line with her wishes. Her ashes will then be
brought to Istanbul and scattered over the Bosphorus. /Cumhuriyet/
[09] FERRARI'S MASSA WINS TURKISH GP
Ferrari's Felipe Massa yesterday won the fifth race of the Formula One
World Championship Turkish Grand Prix at Istanbul Park. The Brazilian
driver, who started the 58-lap race in the pole position, finished in first
place to win the Turkish race for the third year running. McLaren's British
driver Lewis Hamilton, who started the race in the third place, finished
close behind Massa for second place, while Ferrari's Finnish driver Kimi
Raikonnen came in third. "It's just fantastic, today was a very difficult
race," Massa said after his seventh career win. Istanbul was hosting the
race for the fourth time. The next stop on the F1 calendar is the 55th
Monaco GP in Monte Carlo on May 25. /All Papers/
[10] ON ITS 75TH ANNIVERSARY, THY AIMS FOR RECORD PROFIT
Turkish Airlines (THY) is celebrating its 75th anniversary. Stressing that
other airline companies in Europe and US are feeling the pinch of recession,
CEO Temel Kotil said that THY's growth in the first quarter of this year
had reached 16 percent. Stating that last year THY had the best bottom line
of any European airline, he said, "We intend to be the world's most
profitable airline company this year." /Turkiye/
FROM THE COLUMNS… FROM THE COLUMNS… FROM THE COLUMNS…
[11] A PARTY FOR AVERAGE TURKS?
BY TAHA AKYOL (MILLIYET)
Columnist Taha Akyol comments on the differences between the ruling Justice
and Development Party (AKP) and main opposition Republican People's Party
(CHP). A summary of his column is as follows:
"Discussing European Union Commissioner for Enlargement Olli Rehn's term
'democratic secularism,' Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan called his
Justice and Development Party (AKP) the party of 'average Turks.' If we see
average Turks in line with our observations, we would averaging out the
social group that we belong to. For a proper definition, we need to look at
data from various studies. First let's look at findings of a reliable
pollster, A & G: AKP support rose to 54 percent in January, but fell to 42
percent at the end of April. So the AKP is still the political current in
society but its support is slippery, and can rise or fall. The economy and
stability are the key factors. If the market suffers and the AKP has an
aggressive image, its votes fall, or vice versa. Support for the Republican
People's Party's (CHP) hasn’t fallen yet, but its support could rise
slightly from 19 percent to just 23 percent. So the CHP isn't greatly
influenced by social developments. It moves around a stable and constant
vote basis. In addition, its relation to social dynamics is weak and gives
the image of an isolated party.
The AKP's high but unsteady support shows its sensitivity to social trends.
The fact that CHP support is low but stable shows that it's not so
affected. So millions of small businesses, farmers and unemployed people
have problems, and calls for democratization in society are rising, but
these millions of people don't see an alternative in the CHP. The
sociological meaning of the 'opposition gap' is that the CHP is an isolated
party in these terms. It isn't a party of social needs, but an elitist and
ideological one. Back in the '70s, CHP leader Deniz Baykal said as much in
his book 'Siyasi Katılım' (Political Participation). What's more, the CHP
has turned into an ideological party and has become more isolated from
societal sectors. Hurriyet daily's chief columnist Ertugrul Ozkok charged
that the CHP has ceded the issues of the economy and the European Union to
the AKP by making it a front for a totalitarian nationalism. This is a
serious charge. To put it symbolically, small businesses don't affect
either party. That's why employers, small businessmen and farmers don't
consider the CHP an alternative to the ruling party.
The CHP's elitist and ideological structure, inflexible and insensitive to
social requests, keeps it from being a mass party of average Turks! To
define the average Turk's social and cultural characteristics,
sensitivities, hopes and wants, academics have looked over a decade of
data. An average Turk rejects a theocratic state, but wants respect for
religion; believes in democratic secularism, but wants the headscarf ban to
be lifted; and places importance on a non-problematic course of things.
Obviously, this Turk usually votes for the AKP, to which there is no
alternative, because unfortunately we lack a social democratic party
supported by millions of average citizens from throughout Turkey."
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