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Turkish Press Review, 08-08-26
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
26.08.2008
FROM THE COLUMNS…FROM THE COLUMNS…FROM THE COLUMNS
CONTENTS
[01] TOPTAN, PM ERDOGAN RELEASE MESSAGES MARKING VICTORY WEEK
[02] EDUCATION MINISTER CELIK DUE IN IRAN TODAY
[03] MHP CHARGES RULING AKP FAILING TO FIGHT EMBEZZLEMENT
[04] DSP'S SEZER: "WE CAN'T CONVICT THE LEFT TO LANGUISH IN OPPOSITION"
[05] BUYUKANIT TOUTS TIMING OF FEBRUARY ANTI-PKK CROSS-BORDER OP
[06] HISARCIKLIOGLU URGES WOMEN TO TAKE ACTIVE PART IN SOCIETY
[07] MOSCOW'S MOVE
[01] TOPTAN, PM ERDOGAN RELEASE MESSAGES MARKING VICTORY WEEK
Ahead of August 30 Victory Day celebrations this Saturday, Parliament
Speaker Koksal Toptan and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan yesterday
separately released messages marking Victory Week. Both leaders stressed
the pivotal nature of the day for Turkish history and called for unity.
"The Turkish War of National Independence, which resulted in a great
victory, formed the basis of the Turkish Republic , which is now a proud
member of the modern world," said the prime minister's message. "The
Turkish people will continue to live freely on this land. Our duty is to
pass the spirit of independence on to future generations and to make the
republic, which is a democratic, secular and social state under the rule of
law, surpass the level of contemporary civilizations." August 30 Victory
Day marks the War of Independence's final battle in Dumlupinar in 1922,
which led to the defeat of the invading Greek army and the creation of the
Turkish Republic the following year. /Turkiye/
[02] EDUCATION MINISTER CELIK DUE IN IRAN TODAY
Education Minister Huseyin Celik is set to visit Iran today at the
invitation of his Iranian counterpart Alireza Ali-Ahmadi. During his four-
day visit, Celik and his delegation will meet Iranian officials in a bid to
boost bilateral relations in the area of education. /Aksam/
[03] MHP CHARGES RULING AKP FAILING TO FIGHT EMBEZZLEMENT
At a press conference at Parliament, opposition Nationalist Movement Party
(MHP) deputy group leader Oktay Vural yesterday lashed out at the ruling
Justice and Development Party (AKP) over high-profile cases of
embezzlement. "Unfortunately, the AKP has failed to take a determined stand
to battle embezzlement," charged Vural. /Aksam/
[04] DSP'S SEZER: "WE CAN'T CONVICT THE LEFT TO LANGUISH IN OPPOSITION"
Opposition Democratic Left Party (DSP) leader Zeki Sezer yesterday said
talk of an election alliance in local polls due to be held next March is
uncertain right now. "No one has the right to sentence the left to a life
sentence of being in opposition," he said. "If (late DSP leader Bulent)
Ecevit) was the only one able to bring the left to power since 1950, this
should give us pause. The DSP and the (main opposition) Republican People's
Party (CHP) are separate parties sharing similar sensitivities. We didn't
face any problems in our alliance before last year's general elections. We
have to examine the success of this alliance. The Constitutional Court
decision ruling (last month) to not close down the ruling Justice and
Development Party (AKP) gave us the chance to beat it in the next general
elections." /Star/
[05] BUYUKANIT TOUTS TIMING OF FEBRUARY ANTI-PKK CROSS-BORDER OP
Ahead of his retirement on Saturday, Chief of General Staff Gen. Yasar
Buyukanit yesterday received members of the News Photographers' Association
and Professional News Cameramen's Association. During the meeting,
Buyukanit touted the timing of the February Turkish Armed Forces' (TSK)
cross-border operation into northern Iraq , stressing that the TSK chose
intentionally to strike at a time of poor weather conditions to ensure the
success of this key offensive against the terrorist PKK. "Normally
operations are conducted in the best possible weather conditions," he
explained. "We chose the worst conditions because then members of the
terrorist PKK couldn't detonate their bombs due to the heavy snow. The army
planners looked over weather reports for recent decades and set February
for the operation, when the coldest and the harshest conditions prevailed
in the area." He added, "That's why we had no major casualties. If the
operation had been held in the summer, we would have had more casualties.
The success of the operation proved us right." Buyukanit, who has reached
mandatory retirement age, will hand over his duties to Gen. Ilker Basbug on
Saturday. /Turkiye/
[06] HISARCIKLIOGLU URGES WOMEN TO TAKE ACTIVE PART IN SOCIETY
At the Turkish Union of Chambers of Commodities Exchanges (TOBB) first
women entrepreneurs' board congress yesterday, TOBB head Rifat
Hisarciklioglu called for positive discrimination to boost female
employment and urged that Parliament set up a commission on gender
equality. More than 600 female entrepreneurs from around Turkey
participated in the congress held at TOBB University in Ankara . Stressing
the importance of women's role in society, Hisarciklioglu said that Turkey
fares poorly in female employment, with only 24 percent of all women in the
workforce, compared to a world rate of 49 percent and European Union
average of 56 percent. Also addressing the gathering, State Minister Nimet
Cubukcu said that traditional values limit women to responsibilities in
private life. "But every day women are overcoming cultural and economic
obstacles to join the economy as entrepreneurs," she added. Cubukcu said
the government had introduced new regulations to permit flexible work hours
for women, but their effect has yet to be seen. /Hurriyet/
FROM THE COLUMNS…FROM THE COLUMNS…FROM THE COLUMNS
[07] MOSCOW'S MOVE
BY SAMI KOHEN (MILLIYET)
Columnist Sami Kohen comments on the conflict in the Caucasus. A summary of
his column is as follows:
"The Russian Parliament's decision yesterday to recognize the independence
of South Ossetia and Abkhazia has raised issues of separatism and
territorial integrity. The move was meant to give a legal imprimatur to
these two Georgian regions' declarations of independence back in the 1990s.
The Kremlin still has to approve the decision. Actually, Russian leaders
openly said during the recent conflict over South Ossetia that the two
separatist regions would never again be dominated by Tbilisi , but it's
clear that they're not in any hurry to approve Parliament's decision but
instead will act in line with developments. In other words, Moscow will try
to use this trump card against the West.
Russia's support for South Ossetia and Abkhazia's separatist movements is
nothing new. After Georgia left the former Soviet Union and gained
independence, these two regions declared they wanted to leave Tbilisi .
After a pro-US administration was established in Georgia , Russia boosted
its military and economic support to the two regions and even distributed
Russian passports to the locals. If a pro-Russian regime, instead of
Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili, had held power in Tbilisi , Moscow
's stance on Georgia 's territorial integrity would have been different too,
just like its stance on Kosovo declaring its independence earlier this
year. Back then, the Kremlin defended Serbia 's territorial integrity
against Kosavar separatism. And when many Western countries recognized
Kosovo's independence, Moscow clearly said that if you do this, one day
we'll recognize Abkhazia (and South Ossetia ). In this respect, the latest
step by Russia on the independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia can be
considered its move in response to Kosovo.
In principle, or on paper, everybody is in favor of territorial integrity
and against separatism. The Russian Federation also espouses these
principles due to its own problematic regions, like Chechnya . But when it
suits its interests, Moscow carefully defends the same criteria for others,
like on the Kosovo issue, or for Cyprus . Moscow has long supported the
Greek Cypriot administration over the Cyprus issue, objected to Turks'
establishing a separate entity, and refused to recognize the Turkish
Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC). But Russia 's operation in South
Ossetia and its active support for separatism both there and in Abkhazia
and now its decision to recognize their independence shows that when its
own interests are at stake, it takes the opposite side. Moscow 's
recognizing separatist regions over Georgia 's territorial integrity is a
bad example for the Greek Cypriots, who have always gotten sympathy and
support from Russia , as they're concerned about the West recognizing
Kosovo."
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