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Turkish Press Review, 02-05-07Turkish Press Review Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: 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 & Information Turkish Press Summary of the political and economic news in the Turkish press this morning07.05.2002CONTENTS
[01] SEZER TELLS BUSINESS LEADERS, “CHANGE IS NEEDED”President Ahmet Necdet Sezer yesterday received Istanbul Chamber of Industry (ISO) Chairman Tanil Kucuk and ISO Assembly head Husamettin Kavi. The ISO is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year and it invited Sezer to ceremonies to honor this landmark. Speaking to the two business leaders, Sezer indicated the importance of change, adding that he was hopeful for the future of the Turkish economy. The ISO officials agreed with Sezer that change was needed and said that as part of this process, the state needed to thoroughly remake itself. /Hurriyet/[02] ECEVIT TAKES A DAY FOR RESTPrime Minister Bulent Ecevit, was sent home from Ankara’s Baskent hospital on Sunday after a day of treatment for intestinal infection, spent yesterday resting at home, and he received no visitors. Meanwhile, Moldovan Prime Minister Vasile Tarle’s official visit to Turkey scheduled for May 8 has reportedly been postponed. /Turkiye/[03] BAHCELI MEETS WITH AZERI OFFICIALSDeputy Prime Minister and Nationalist Action Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahceli was received by Azeri Prime Minister Artur Rasizade yesterday on the first day of Bahceli’s official visit to Azerbaijan. A Turkish delegation also present at the meeting was made up of State Minister Resat Dogru, Health Minister Osman Durmus, Defense Minister Sabahattin Cakmakoglu and Turkey’s Ambassador to Azerbaijan Unal Cevik. Bahceli then met with Azeri Foreign Minister Vilayet Guliyev. During the meeting, Bahceli expressed his pleasure at being in Azerbaijan, and Guliyev stated that both countries had very close relations and that such high-level visits would help to reinforce these relations. Following the meetings, Bahceli visited Baku’s Cemetery of the Martyrs where the bodies of Azeri soldiers who died for their country are laid. /Turkiye/[04] TURKEY ASKS FOR INCLUSION OF KADEK ON EU TERRORIST GROUP LISTFollowing the EU’s decision last week to include the PKK and DHKP-C terrorist groups on its new terrorist organizations list, Turkey and certain EU member countries have presented the EU Commission with documents and evidence proving that KADEK is a successor to the terrorist group PKK. EU Commission Spokesman Gunnar Wiegard said last weekend that for the time being, KADEK was not on the list, but that it could well be in the near future. In related news, Turkish intelligence has evidence detailing how the terrorist PKK, acting under its new label KADEK, is active throughout Europe with some 450 affiliate groups. Turkey will reportedly petition the EU Commission to ban those organizations as well. /Cumhuriyet/[05] COMMISSION ON EU ACCESSION TO TARGET TIMETABLEIn the wake of the European Union’s decision to include the terrorist PKK and DHKP-C on its list of terrorist groups, Turkey is convening a new commission on EU accession which will work to get from the EU a membership negotiations timetable by year’s-end, when the Copenhagen Summit will take place. The commission, which is expected to have its first meeting today, was discussed last week by Foreign Minister Ismail Cem during the coalition partners’ meeting. Under the co-chairmanship of Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Ugur Ziyal and Turkey’s ambassador to the EU, the commission is set to determine what steps Turkey should take in order to reach its year-end goal and then present these findings to the government. The government will try to reach consensus on such matters as death penalty abolition and mother tongue education before the summit. /Cumhuriyet/[06] FOURTH ROUND OF CYPRUS TALKS BEGINSTurkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) President Rauf Denktas and Greek Cypriot Leader Glafcos Clerides will again meet today as part of the direct talks which began this January to find a settlement to the Cyprus issue. The talks took a recess on April 26 for the Greek Orthodox Easter celebrations. During today’s meeting, a reply is expected from the Greek side to the Turkish side’s comprehensive proposal for a solution given at the last meeting. Meanwhile, the TRNC’s Parliament will convene tomorrow to consider the situation on the island. /Turkiye/[07] TURKISH FLAG FLIES OVER NEW YORK CITYTurkey’s star and crescent flag was raised yesterday over New York City’s Bowling Green Park, a lush green area adjacent to Wall Street and the city’s financial district. The flag is there to herald the city’s Turkish Culture Festival starting on May 18. “We’re proud to see Turkey’s flag waving near Wall Street, United Nations headquarters, and Madison Avenue,” said Turkish American Foundation Federation Chairman Egemen Bagis at the park, which is New York City’s oldest. Everyone is invited to come enjoy the festival, he added. /Hurriyet/[08] SHARON: “LET’S DISCUSS PEACE IN TURKEY”Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said yesterday that he would bring the idea of holding a Middle East peace conference in Turkey to US President George Bush during his visit to Bush which starts today. Sharon also said that he doesn’t want Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat or delegations from Syria or Lebanon to participate in the conference. These issues are expected to be discussed during Sharon’s meetings with Bush. /Hurriyet/[09] GOKALP: “HORMONE CLAIMS ARE BEING INVESTIGATED”Agriculture Minister Husnu Yusuf Gokalp held a press conference yesterday in Ankara to address and clarify the recent debate over hormone-treated vegetables. Reminding the reporters of Germany’s recent refusal of exported Turkish peppers. Gokalp said that he was looking into “ulterior motives” lying behind some of the claims and speculations, adding that they might spring from Turkey’s recent moves to crack down an illegal food imports. Gokalp stressed that even before the German incident, Turkey already had a strict regime of chemical analysis of agricultural products as well as inspection of farmers. He added that the ministry was using state broadcaster TRT to keep all the interested parties up-to-date and informed. In related news, the Agriculture Ministry and the Foreign Trade Undersecretariat are meeting today with farmers and producers in Antalya to discuss the use of hormones and other chemicals in food production. /All papers/[10] TURKISH SCIENTIST RECEIVES NOBEL HONORProfessor Mirali Alosman, a scientist at Sakarya University’s Faculty of Engineering and Environmental Engineering, has been awarded with the “2002 Nobel Diploma and Medal” by the American Biographical Institute, the university announced yesterday. Twelve-time international award-winner Alosman has published nine books and nearly 150 articles in journals worldwide, and he holds over 40 patents. He is also a member of the World Water Refining Association, and he has developed a project on “New Methods for Utilizing Churn from Oil Refineries.” Alosman is reportedly on the short list for a Nobel Prize in science. /Cumhuriyet/[11] ISTANBUL HOSTS CULTURAL HERITAGE EXPOA European Union-sponsored exhibit entitled “EXPO 2000: Projecting Cultural Heritage; 20 Examples from Mediterranean Countries” is set to open on Friday at Istanbul’s Turkish-Islamic Works Museum. Culture Minister Istemihan Talay will open the exhibit, which is coordinated and organized by Germany’s Hornnemann Institute in order to promote the participating countries’ efforts to protect their unique cultural heritage. The opening ceremony, which will spotlight works from Turkey, Egypt, Algeria, Germany, France, Greece, Israel, Italy, Jordan, Lebanon, Malta, Morocco, Palestine, Spain, Syria, Tunisia and the Greek Cypriot administration, will be also attended by Dr. Annamaria Gerger and Jurgen Nowak from the Hornnemann Institute. /Cumhuriyet/[12] FROM THE COLUMNS… FROM THE COLUMNS… FROM THE COLUMNS…[13] LISTEN TO THESE WORDS BY OKTAY EKSI (HURRIYET)Columnist Oktay Eksi comments on some recent statements on Turkey made by officials in the United States and Great Britain. A summary of his column is as follows:“ ‘In their relations with Turkey, the European Union countries have chosen to focus on Turkey’s current situation without taking into account the long, hard path the Turkish nation has braved, a path which has always been beset with difficulties and problems for the entire nation. Turkey has managed to continue developing despite its economic problems and thus is a shining example for the Muslim world. Turkey has shown the whole world that religious beliefs need not be sacrificed in the name of modern, secular values and democratic institutions. Turkey gives the lie to people who argue that modern values are incompatible with religious ones.’ These are not the words of some Turkish official. In fact, US Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz said the above last week in a speech to a World Affairs Council meeting in California. Moreover, this statement neatly coincided with a recent report entitled ‘Turkey and the European Union’ prepared by the British House of Commons’ Foreign Relations Commission. Here is how the report described Turkey and its current situation: ‘Turkey is a great regional power and the only Muslim country which enjoys a secular, democratic system. There are certain obstacles to Turkey’s bid for EU membership such as deficiencies in human rights and democratization, the Cyprus problem and its economic crisis.’ Before commenting on the above-mentioned words, let me also quote a statement from Donald Anderson, the commission’s chairman: ‘We understand and appreciate both Turkey’s emphasis on secularism and the importance of its territorial integrity and its fight against separatist groups.’ As you see, there are some officials outside our borders who see Turkey’s current situation in a more positive light than certain pessimistic groups within our country. These words are worth lending an ear to because they don’t come from people who love this country for the money they make or for the power they wield.” [14] DENKTAS’S NEW PROPOSAL BY SAMI KOHEN (MILLIYET)Columnist Sami Kohen comments on Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus President Rauf Denktas’s recent proposal suggesting a new administrative model for the future of the island. A summary of his column is as follows:“After five months of intensive negotiations over the future of Cyprus, the island’s two leaders, Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) President Rauf Denktas and Greek Cypriot leader Glafcos Clerides, have as yet been unable to make significant progress. There are signs that talks reached an impasse in the wake of the Greek Cypriot side’s cool reception of Denktas’s recent written proposal to Clerides. UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who is expecting to see significant progress before June, is now preparing to intercede in the talks with the hope of opening the way towards permanent peace on the island. Annan will hold separate meetings with Denktas and Clerides on the island next week. Meanwhile, the Center for European Studies/Bogazici University and TUSIAD/Foreign Policy Forum over the weekend held an international conference entitled 'Cyprus's Accession to the European Union' where they discussed recently renewed efforts to find a solution to the problem. The participants learned about the details of Denktas’s new proposal at the conference. We can summarize its main points as follows: . A ‘Partnership State of Cyprus’ should be established. . The concept of partnership is not in contradiction with the idea of a single Cypriot state. Denktas believes that the island might join the EU as one state. . The partnership will be made up of two equal partners. . The Partnership State of Cyprus will have effective judicial, legislative and executive functions and authorities. According to TRNC Presidential Undersecretary Ergun Olgun, who presented the details of the proposal at the conference, Denktas also remarked during the negotiations that both sides might also take as an example other alternative administrative structures such as the Belgian model. ‘What he stressed,’ said Olgun, ‘was that the partnership should be formed in an evolutionary process with the joint efforts of the both sides.’ The Greek Cypriots are currently opposed to this proposal, arguing that it would mean the establishment of two separate independent states on the island. What most encourages the Greek Cypriots are the European Union’s recent signals that they might be allowed to join the Union without first reaching a permanent solution on the island. The more the EU encourages them along those lines, the dimmer are the parties’ chances of reaching a solution.” ARCHIVE <script type="text/javascript" language="JavaScript" src="http:/_www.byegm.gov.tr_statistic/countcode.js"> </script> Turkish Press Review Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |
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