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Turkish Press Review, 02-01-22

Turkish Press Review Directory - Previous Article - Next Article

From: Turkish Directorate General of Press and Information <http://www.byegm.gov.tr>

<LINK href="http://www.byegm.gov.tr_yayinlarimiz_chr_pics_css/tpr.css" rel=STYLESHEET type=text/css> <map name="FPMap1"> <_map> Press &amp; Information Turkish Press Turkish Press Review &gt;&gt; Foreign Press Guide Summary of the political and economic news in the Turkish press this morning

22.01.2002


CONTENTS

  • [01] PUBLIC BIDDING LAW APPROVED
  • [02] ECEVIT TO SADDAM: "TAKE BUSH'S WARNINGS SERIOUSLY"
  • [03] NO STATEMENT FROM DENKTAS-CLERIDES MEETING, TALKS CONTINUE
  • [04] CILLER VISITS TUGIAD, PLEDGES SUPPORT FOR PARTIES LAW
  • [05] COUNCIL MEETS TO BATTLE "GENOCIDE" ALLEGATIONS
  • [06] MUSHARRAF PRAISES ATATURK
  • [07] BRITISH DELEGATION TO VISIT GAP
  • [08] TURKEY TO BUY 14 SEA HAWK HELICOPTERS FROM US COMPANY
  • [09] IRANIAN NATURAL GAS COMING TO TURKEY
  • [10] IMF TO DISCUSS TURKEY'S STANDBY AGREEMENT ON FEB. 4
  • [11] $500,000 ON THE WAY TO AFGHANISTAN FROM TURKEY
  • [12] TURKISH FABRIC AND TEXTILES PROMOTED IN US
  • [13] FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE COLUMNS
  • [14] STRATEGIC IMPORTANCE WON'T SAVE US BY SEMIH IDIZ (STAR)
  • [15] TURKISH-EU RELATIONS BY HASAN CEMAL (MILLIYET)

  • [01] PUBLIC BIDDING LAW APPROVED

    President Ahmet Necdet Sezer yesterday approved Turkey's new Public Bidding Law. The law proposes opening the Turkish market to international companies and ensuring a more transparent bidding market as well as establishing a Public Bidding Board. The board will have the authority to organize and supervise the bidding market. Passage of the law was among Turkey's committments to the IMF. /All Papers/

    [02] ECEVIT TO SADDAM: "TAKE BUSH'S WARNINGS SERIOUSLY"

    Speaking to Turkish channel TRT-1 yesterday, Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit cautioned Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein that he should take seriously warnings from US President George W. Bush. " In any operation against Iraq, we would be successful" Ecevit added. Ecevit also said that the US would consult Turkey about any possible military strike against Iraq as part of the war against terrorism. Neither should Sadddam defy the decisions of the European Union because by doing so he only makes problems with the rest of the world, Ecevit remarked. /Hürriyet/

    [03] NO STATEMENT FROM DENKTAS-CLERIDES MEETING, TALKS CONTINUE

    Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) President Rauf Denktas and Greek Cypriot administration leader Glafcos Clerides met for the second time yesterday as part of the direct talks, which started on Jan. 16. After their talks, Denktas reminded reporters of his and Clerides' decision not to make in-depth statements concerning the meeting, and said merely that they had discussed "general issues." He added, "The Greek Cypriot administration doesn't want to release any statements to reporters either. It's too early for that, so there will be no more information for now." Following the meetings, which were also attended by US Special Cyprus Envoy Alvaro de Soto as an observer, Denktas said they would continue their contacts on this Wednesday. Denktas' advisor on constitutional and legal issues Mumtaz Soysal said that all the issues had been discussed, and added that they were doing their best to be hopeful. Before Denktas and Clerides met TRNC Prime Minister Dervis Eroglu and Deputy Prime Minister Salih Cosar conferred. Before this meeting, Denktas told journalists, "We will determine our agreements and disagreements. We will discuss our disagreements at last and try to reach an agreement on these issues." /Cumhuriyet/

    [04] CILLER VISITS TUGIAD, PLEDGES SUPPORT FOR PARTIES LAW

    True Path Party (DYP) leader Tansu Ciller yesterday visited the Turkish Young Businessmen's Association (TUGIAD) to talk with its members. Stressing her support for TUGIAD'S position on the political parties and electoral law, Ciller said, "The law should be debated soon, because we can truly say that today's economic crisis stemmed from a political crisis." Ciller stated that the DYP wanted to decrease the number of deputies from the current number of 550. Concerning the 10% representation threshold elections for parties in Parliament, she said, "Decreasing the threshold would cause political divisions and coalition governments for our country. But we need political unification, not division." /Turkiye/

    [05] COUNCIL MEETS TO BATTLE "GENOCIDE" ALLEGATIONS

    The Coordination Council to Struggle Against Baseless Claims of Genocide, which was established in order to research allegations against Turkey of so- called genocide, was convened yesterday under the chairmanship of Deputy Prime Minister Devlet Bahceli. Before the council's second meeting held at the National Security Council (MGK) Secretary-General building, Bahceli, MGK Secretary General Tuncer Kilinc and his chief assistant conferred with each other. At the council meeting itself, Turkey's Legal Research Group, the National Education Working Group and State Archives director general Yusuf Serenay gave presentations on their work, with the latter saying that Turkey's Ottoman-era archives were already open for everyone to examine. "We have intensified our work in order to better our services through taking advantage of the latest technology," he stated. During the meeting, the council decided that a concerted effort was needed against the claims of so-called genocide, which have increased in recent years. Towards this end, it decided to bolster lobbying efforts as well as to produce films to help argue its case to the world. /Aksam/

    [06] MUSHARRAF PRAISES ATATURK

    In an interview, Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf speaks of his admiration for Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of the Turkish Republic, but also remarks that he considers Pakistanis a "more Muslim-oriented society" than Turkey. Speaking to US-based Newsweek international magazine, Musharraf expresses pride in his fluent Turkish, which he learned as a child when his father was a diplomat in Ankara. But even while admiring Ataturk, he says that his real role model is Mohammed Ali Jinnah, Pakistan's founder, who - similar to Ataturk - "envisaged a modern, secular Muslim state." Addressing the recently heightened tensions between Pakistan and India, Musharraf remarks, "I don't think there can be war-unless there's some mad action." /Cumhuriyet/

    [07] BRITISH DELEGATION TO VISIT GAP

    As a sign of Great Britain's continuing interest in the Southeastern Anatolia Project (GAP), a delegation led by British Defense Attaché Kim Winfield will visit the region this week. The delegation will go from Ankara to Gaziantep today and then to Sanliurfa in order to investigate the GAP work in the region. /Cumhuriyet/

    [08] TURKEY TO BUY 14 SEA HAWK HELICOPTERS FROM US COMPANY

    Turkey last week agreed to purchase 14 Sea Hawk naval helicopters made by US-based Sikorsky Aircraft using loans granted by US Eximbank, during Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit's visit toWashington. The US bank had decided to provide $324 million in loans for Turkey's purchase of the helicopters, but the project first needed the approval of the US Congress. US Eximbank granted Turkey a $1.3 billion loan some three years ago for the sale of 50 Black Hawk military and transport helicopters. Ankara has used up to $1 billion of that loan, and the rest of it could be used for the purchase of the Sea Hawk helicopters for Turkey's Naval Forces. /Turkiye/

    [09] IRANIAN NATURAL GAS COMING TO TURKEY

    After years of work, Iranian natural gas will at long last begin to be pumped to Turkey today with a ceremony. Turkey is to buy the gas will be purchased from Iran for a 25 year period. In the beginning, the volume of the gas will be 3 billion cubic meters annually, and later increasing year by year it could reach an annual volume of 10 billion cubic meters. /Turkiye/

    [10] IMF TO DISCUSS TURKEY'S STANDBY AGREEMENT ON FEB. 4

    The International Monetary Fund is expected to meet on Feb. 4 in order to discuss Turkey's new standby agreement. Turkey's Letter of Intent was given and signed during Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit's recent visit to the United States. /Hürriyet/

    [11] $500,000 ON THE WAY TO AFGHANISTAN FROM TURKEY

    State Minister Edip Safter Gaydali attended a conference yesterday in Tokyo on rebuilding Afghanistan. He said that as a first step Turkey would provide $500,000 to the nation's international reconstruction fund and would increase its aid to $5 million over the next five years. Gaydali said that there were three areas where Turkey could play a role, namely, health, social development and agriculture. /Milliyet/

    [12] TURKISH FABRIC AND TEXTILES PROMOTED IN US

    A Fashion and Fabric Fair was opened yesterday at the New York Intercontinental Hotel to promote Turkish fabric and textile products for US business purchasers. State Minister Tunca Toskay and Foreign Trade Undersecretary Kursat Tuzmen attended the opening ceremony of the fair, made a tour of it and wished success to the producers. Over 30 companies from throughout Turkey are participating in the fair that will last for two days. /Aksam/

    [13] FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE COLUMNS

    [14] STRATEGIC IMPORTANCE WON'T SAVE US BY SEMIH IDIZ (STAR)

    Columnist Semih Idiz writes on the strategic importance of Turkey and its affect on its relations with the West. A summary of his column is as follows:

    "Turkey's 'strategic importance' has always played an important role in its relations with the West. That is why the usual policies of the West were not implemented in line with the circumstances prevalent at the time. Turkey's military takeovers were excused, and the arms embargo imposed on Turkey in 1974 by the US under pressure from the Greek and Armenian lobbies was lifted by President Carter within a short time. In fact, during the Cold War, lashing out at Turkey was not in line with the interests of the West. If we must tell the truth, this phenomenon has prevented the elevation of democracy and human rights in the country to Western standards. Even as the Western countries took important strides towards these goals following World War II, they were not interested with the situation in Turkey. They attached more importance to Turkey's stability as a 'border station' against the Soviet threat. It didn't concern conservative circles who were afraid of the Soviet threat if this stability was achieved through authoritarian means. The criticism leveled at Turkey came rather from the liberal and leftist circles growing within the framework of increasing democracy and human rights. Then as everyone was thinking that Turkey had lost its strategic importance due to the collapse of the Soviet Union, Saddam Hussein came to the rescue. The West, once again woke up to Turkey's strategic significance. During the Gulf crisis one of the most-talked-about countries was Turkey. However, in time this importance began to fade away and the lobbies against Turkey were revived. This time they began to strike Turkey using the Kurdish issue. Turkey and the West, which were allies within the framework of NATO, almost began to seem as foes. The 'cold war' between Europe and Turkey reached its peak. They accused Turkey of not facing upto its history and of having low standards of democracy and human rights. They seemed determined to divide Turkey, espousing double standards and a Crusaders' mentality. Thus began a dialogue between Turkey and Europe where no one listened to the other. Finding circumsmtances convenient, the Armenian and Greek lobbies began to launch initiatives against Ankara -- until Sept. 11. The attacks launched against the World Trade Center and the Pentagon demonstrated Turkey's strategic importance once more. How long this situation can last depends upon international circumstances. With the cooling of the war against terrorism, Turkey's strategic location will lose its importance. This makes us wonder whether the strategic location of Turkey will be enough to save us in the long run. Today, Turkey is among those countries which are passing through a transition and have complex social structures. In brief, it is crucial for us to understand the dynamics coming with our economic and social developments. Turkey is passing through the same stages the West has gone through only in a different time. That is why the strategic location of Turkey is not enough by itself to save Turkey. Turkey has to have a strong economy in addition to high standards in its democracy and legal system and respect for human rights. Otherwise it will get to be more difficult to defend our long-term interests."

    [15] TURKISH-EU RELATIONS BY HASAN CEMAL (MILLIYET)

    Columnist Hasan Cemal comments on the recent list published by the EU regarding terrorist organizations. A summary of his column is as follows:

    "The confusion in the EU regarding what is terror and who is a terrorist continues unabated. It may be that this confusion is a choice made consciously. The Union may believe that he who doesn't harm the EU can be left alone. The PKK is a terrorist organization and so is the DHKP-C. However, the list the EU has released begs to differ. If the PKK or the DHKP-C are not terrorist organizations, what are they? The EU cannot defend this choice. It cannot answer the questions of the Turkish side behind closed doors and gives signs that these two organizations will be included in other lists, which will be published later. Did no one learn from the tragedy of Sept. 11? This stance is affecting Turkish-EU relations adversely and strengthens the hands of those who would like to keep Turkey away from Europe. In addition, it is hampering Turkey's democratization and reform process besides encouraging the PKK. Some issues, such as education in a mother tongue, cannot be solved through demonstrations in the streets. The solution for them needs time, and care. If you carry the issue to the streets this will only backfire. Turkey has entered a critical year. The importance of 2002 lies in the fact that there will be important developments regarding Turkish-EU relations. If the date for accession negotiations are finalized at the end of the year at the latest, a vital threshold will have been passed. Thus, Turkey's EU membership will get on a track with no return. There are many responsibilities falling upon everyone regarding the issue. We hope that the EU convinces Belgium and the Netherlands and puts the PKK and DHKP-C on its terrorist organizations list. We also hope it is realized that a sensitive issue like education in Kurdish needs care and patience and that it should not be carried to the streets. Otherwise, the hands of those who would like to keep Turkey away from Europe will be strengthened."

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