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Turkish Press Review, 08-06-19Turkish 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 morning19.06.2008CONTENTS
[01] PRESIDENT GUL CALLS ON POLITICAL LEADERS, STATE ORGANS TO MAINTAIN DECORUM IN MIDST OF DEBATEPresident Abdullah Gul yesterday received foreign trade ministers from the Asia-Pacific region at the Cankaya Presidential Palace. Afterwards, Gul stated that he was closely following Turkey's ongoing political debates. "In all these debates, certain manners, procedures and levels should be maintained," he added. "It is in the interest of all parties to preserve our national unity and integrity and to maintain economic and political stability." /Star/[02] LEADERS TO MEET AT GROUNDBREAKING FOR KARS-TBILISI-BAKU RAILWAY PROJECTPresident Abdullah Gul and his Azerbaijani and Georgian counterparts, Ilham Aliyev and Mihail Saakashvili, next week will attend a groundbreaking ceremony in Kars for the Turkish leg of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars Railway Project. The venture, which is set to connect Turkey, Azerbaijan and Georgia via a railway, aims at developing energy cooperation between the three countries. Some 6.5 million tons of cargo and 1.5 million passengers are expected to be transported via the railway in the first year following its construction. /Hurriyet/[03] ERDOGAN TOUTS TURKEY'S PROGRESS, DETERMINATION TO FOREIGN INVESTORSAddressing the Fifth Investment Advisory Council meeting in Istanbul yesterday, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said, "Despite global and domestic obstacles, uncertainties, and resistance from some European countries, Turkey is determinedly continuing to pursue its reform efforts towards full European Union membership without any backtracking." Erdogan said that the government's economic reforms had made Turkey an attractive destination for foreign investments, attracting $22 billion in such investment last year, and added that thanks to those reforms, Turkey also had met an important Maastricht criterion on its budget deficit. Stressing that he places great importance on winning foreign investors' confidence, he said, "The government has strived to improve the atmosphere of stability and trust for foreign investors, and will continue to do so." Erdogan pledged that Turkey's fiscal discipline and monetary policy would continue without any concessions. Many senior representatives of multinational corporations attended the meeting. /Turkiye/[04] BABACAN ATTENDS OIC FOREIGN MINISTERS MEETINGForeign Minister Ali Babacan, currently in Kampala, Uganda, yesterday attended the 35th meeting of foreign ministers of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) and held a series of talks. Speaking to reporters afterwards, Babacan said that the Cyprus issue and the situation of the Turkish minority living in Greece's Western Thrace region had been discussed. Stating that that many countries appreciate Turkey's mediating peace negotiations between Israel and Syria, he added, "The Mideast peace process has two basic planks, namely Israel and Palestine and Israel and Syria. Developments between Israel and Palestine have not been fruitful, but the second round of Israeli-Syrian meetings concluded successfully, and peace talks held under Turkey's auspices will continue with the sides meeting again." In related news, Babacan is expected to skip a Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) meeting set for June 26, as it conflicts with a National Security Council (NSC) meeting the same day. /Star-Aksam/[05] DEFENSE MINISTER DUE IN ITALYDefense Minister Vecdi Gonul is set to travel to Italy today to attend the 25th International Workshop on Global Security held by the Center for Strategic Decision Research in Rome. The event brings together military officials and experts from different countries each year. /Turkish Daily News/[06] US' FRIED CALLS ON ARMENIA TO RECOGNIZE CURRENT BORDERS WITH TURKEYUS Deputy Secretary of State Dan Fried said yesterday that Armenia should make efforts to normalize relations with Turkey. Testifying before the House of Representatives Foreign Relations Committee, Fried urged Armenia to be ready to recognize its current borders with Turkey, clearly express that it has no claim to any portion of modern Turkey's territory, and act constructively in response to Turkey's efforts. Fried's remarks were the first formal statement of this sort by a US high-level official made to Congress, where the Armenian lobby wields great influence. /Hurriyet/[07] UN'S PASCOE: "THE TWO LEADERS ON CYPRUS ARE DETERMINED TO SOLVE THE ISLAND'S DISPUTES"Lynn Pascoe, the UN’s undersecretary-general for political affairs, yesterday held talks in both the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) and Greek Cyprus. Speaking to reporters afterwards, Pascoe said that he believes TRNC President Mehmet Ali Talat and Greek Cypriot administration leader Demetris Christofias are determined to solve the island's disputes and build a united Cyprus. Stating that the process is going well and developments are positive, he added, "We have to see the positive sides of the process through problems. The two leaders' decisions and the steps they take are very important, and we will help them in that process." Pascoe added that they are encouraging continued work by the two leaders and bilateral technical committees. Talat's Special Representative for the European Union and UN talks Ozdil Nami today is set to meet with Christofias' representative, George Iacovou, to fix the date for a meeting between the leaders. /Star/[08] FRENCH PM COMES OUT AGAINST REFERENDUM ON TURKEY'S EU ACCESSIONDuring a debate on proposed constitutional changes in the French Senate yesterday, French Prime Minister Francois Fillion raised an objection to an article proposing a referendum on Turkey's possible European Union membership. "A large number of senators don't approve of this article," he said. The article is expected to be rejected by the Senate. /Today's Zaman/[09] EP HOLDS MEETING TO DISCUSS TURKEYThe European Parliament yesterday held a meeting to discuss recent issues in Turkey, ruling the ruling party closure case, secularism and the headscarf ban. Former Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz, Freedom and Solidarity Party (ODP) leader Ufuk Uras and journalist Mehmet Ali Birand were guests of the gathering, which was held by the EP's Greens Group. At the meeting, Yilmaz said that unlike Christianity, Islam regulates social life, and so Turkey has to protect secularism and take measures to make sure its principles are internalized by the people. For his part, Uras said that in the last 40 years 24 parties have been closed down in Turkey, criticizing both the closings and the university headscarf ban. Birand said that continued discussion of secularism in Turkey showed the clumsiness of post- Ataturk politicians. /Hurriyet-Milliyet/FROM THE COLUMNS… FROM THE COLUMNS… FROM THE COLUMNS… [10] CULPRIT WANTEDBY OKAY GONENSIN (VATAN)Columnist Okay Gonensin comments on recent political developments. A summary of his column is as follows: "Whenever our economy is assessed, the idea of a general crisis and the element of political instability are brought up. Of course, political instability is very important for people who have invested in Turkey or even people who made lots of money from financial maneuvering. Without political stability, bureaucrats find it difficult to take decisions, things don't work, and nobody wants to take risks. Justice and Development Party (AKP) spokesmen say similar things about the closure case against it, warning that new problems and the power vacuum resulting from this case could cause new economic problems. True, but we may say, physician, heal thyself! Last year's presidential elections sparked the current political crisis, and top AKP officials didn't seek consensus, but won by sowing conflict. Again, the AKP failed to respond to people's hope for a new, modern constitution, and turned this into an area of conflict. While the effects of this tension spread, new pressure on the headscarf issue came from the AKP. While we wonder what will happen next, we should see these great political mistakes recently made by the AKP. The AKP should see them clearly. Otherwise it might repeat the same mistakes and exacerbate the political crisis. The AKP is known to be making similar calculations, but it never talks about these issues in public. One of the reasons for this, and maybe the most important one, may be efforts to not anger Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. But the difference between Turkey's political future and Erdogan's getting angry is very great, and people who are concerned about the future and who want to make something new in politics shouldn't shrink from angering him. Many people argue that the change between the Erdogan of the aborted spring 2007 presidential elections and the Erdogan of last July's general elections comes from psychological reasons. People in Ankara say that Erdogan actually wanted to be president but he made a mistake and had to let Abdullah Gul get the post. Politicians who lose touch with reality reach a dead end. The AKP will find a new road no matter what the ruling in the closure case is. This road has no room for more mistakes. The price for repeating the same mistakes would be steep." Turkish Press Review Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |
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