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Turkish Press Review, 02-10-02Turkish 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> <map name="FPMap1"></map> Press & Information Turkish Press Summary of the political and economic news in the Turkish press this morning02.10.2002PARLIAMENT REJECTS EFFORTS TO POSTPONE ELECTIONS SEZER: “PARLIAMENT MADE THE APPROPRIATE DECISION” AZIZ: “IF TURKEY LETS THE US USE ITS AIRBASES, THE TURCO-IRAQI FRIENDSHIP WILL BE HARMED” PARTY LEADERS HAIL PARLIAMENT’S DECISION MEETING AT PRIME MINISTRY TO DISCUSS IRAQ CONTINGENCIES DENKTAS: “IF THE EU ADMITS GREEK CYPRUS IN DECEMBER, THE NEGOTIATIONS WILL END” NORWEGIAN DEFENSE MINISTER TO VISIT TURKEY TUSIAD GROUP MEETS WITH PAPANDREOU CENTRAL BANK GOVERNOR: “THE FINANCIAL FALLOUT FROM AN IRAQ CONFLICT CAN’T BE PREDICTED” IMF DELEGATION BEGINS WORK ON FOURTH REVIEW SEPTEMBER EXPORTS SOAR TO $3.3 BILLION FROM THE COLUMNS… FROM THE COLUMNS… FROM THE COLUMNS… THE INEXORABLE MOVE TO NOV. 3 BY YILMAZ OZTUNA (TURKIYE) THE COST OF A WAR BY SAMI KOHEN (MILLIYET)CONTENTS
[01] PARLIAMENT REJECTS EFFORTS TO POSTPONE ELECTIONSTopping the agenda of Parliament’s one-day session held yesterday was action to ensure that general elections already set for Nov. 3 would actually be held on that date. After weeks of speculation on the matter, a clear majority of deputies defeated efforts by members of the New Turkey Party (YTP), Felicity Party (SP) and Motherland Party (ANAP) to block Parliament from going on recess until the fall elections. A total of 191 deputies voted in favor of taking a recess, with 170 opposing it, effectively halting efforts to postpone the elections dead in their tracks. /Cumhuriyet/[02] SEZER: “PARLIAMENT MADE THE APPROPRIATE DECISION”Speaking to reporters yesterday after Parliament voted to go on recess until the Nov. 3 elections, President Ahmet Necdet Sezer called the legislature’s decision “an appropriate one.” Sezer added that the elections should be held as scheduled. Asked what the outcome of the polls would be, Sezer said that no one was in a position to predict how voters would cast their ballots. In related news, Chief of General Staff Gen. Hilmi Ozkok said that Parliament’s decision to go on recess had been taken with “free will and common sense” and he hoped it would be to Turkey’s benefit. /Milliyet/[03] AZIZ: “IF TURKEY LETS THE US USE ITS AIRBASES, THE TURCO-IRAQI FRIENDSHIP WILL BE HARMED”Iraqi’s Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz was received separately yesterday by President Ahmet Necdet Sezer and Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit. After the latter meeting, Aziz told reporters that any military intervention in Iraq would negatively affect Turkey’s economy and security. He also remarked that if Turkey lets the US use airbases on its soil, the Turkish-Iraqi friendship would be damaged. For his part, Prime Minister Ecevit remarked that Iraq’s recent decision to readmit United Nations weapons inspectors was a positive development. “However,” Ecevit cautioned, “Iraq should fully implement the relevant UN resolutions.” The Turkish premier also conveyed to Aziz Turkey’s concern over Iraq’s territorial integrity. /Turkiye/[04] PARTY LEADERS HAIL PARLIAMENT’S DECISIONYesterday’s decision by Parliament to go on recess until elections, thus derailing efforts to postpone the polls, was hailed by Turkish party leaders across the political spectrum. Prime Minister and Democratic Left Party (DSP) leader Bulent Ecevit said the decision would end talks of postponing elections, which he has consistently opposed since a date was set for them on Nov. 3. Deputy Prime Minister and Nationalist Action Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahceli stated that Parliament’s decision should be respected. Rounding out the coalition leaders, Deputy Prime Minister and Motherland Party (ANAP) leader Mesut Yilmaz said he hoped after yesterday’s decision there would be no need to reconvene Parliament before November. Calling the decision to go on recess one that “saved Turkey from chaos,” Justice and Development Party (AKP) deputy leader Abdullah Gul added that the key figure yesterday and man of the hour was Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit, who he called “a great statesman.” Finally, True Path Party (DYP) leader Tansu Ciller welcomed the decision, calling it a positive development. /Milliyet/[05] MEETING AT PRIME MINISTRY TO DISCUSS IRAQ CONTINGENCIESA meeting will be held at the Prime Ministry on Friday between representatives from the National Security Council (MGK), the Office of the Chief of General Staff, the Crisis Management Center, the Prime Ministry and the General Security Directorate to prepare an action plan to be implemented in times of crisis or disaster. Special attention will be given to the problems that Turkey might face during a possible US intervention in Iraq. /Cumhuriyet/[06] DENKTAS: “IF THE EU ADMITS GREEK CYPRUS IN DECEMBER, THE NEGOTIATIONS WILL END”Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) President Rauf Denktas declared yesterday that if the European Union admits Greek Cyprus into its ranks in December, then negotiations over the island would come to an end. Rejecting UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s assertion earlier this week that negotiations would continue even if Greek Cyprus gains EU membership, Denktas said such a decision would be a great mistake, one that would even poison United Nations efforts to resolve the Cyprus issue. /Hurriyet/[07] NORWEGIAN DEFENSE MINISTER TO VISIT TURKEYNorwegian Defense Minister Kristin Krohn Devold is expected to arrive in Turkey tomorrow. A statement issued by the Norwegian Embassy in Ankara said that Devold is scheduled to visit Anitkabir, Ataturk’s mausoleum, on Friday and also meet with her Turkish counterpart Sabahattin Cakmakoglu, as well as Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sukru Sina Gurel, Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit and State Minister Tayyibe Gulek. Devold is expected to discuss with Ecevit and Gurel the International Security and Assistance Force (ISAF), which is currently under Turkish command, as well as NATO and the situation in Iraq. /Sabah/[08] TUSIAD GROUP MEETS WITH PAPANDREOUSeeking support from European Union member states for Turkey’s EU bid before December’s Copenhagen summit, a delegation from the Turkish Industrialists’ and Businessmen’s Association (TUSIAD) headed by Tuncay Ozilhan met yesterday with Greek Foreign Minister George Papandreou. Ozilhan said that Turkey had largely fulfilled the Copenhagen criteria and so expects to get a date from the EU to start its membership negotiations, a proposition which Papandreou said he supported. The TUSIAD delegation then travelled to Brussels to meet with Didier Reynders and Louis Michel, Belgium’s finance and foreign ministers, respectively. /Hurriyet/[09] CENTRAL BANK GOVERNOR: “THE FINANCIAL FALLOUT FROM AN IRAQ CONFLICT CAN’T BE PREDICTED”Central Bank Governor Sureyya Serdengecti yesterday said that a possible war in Iraq would surely impact Turkey’s economy negatively, but added that how big a blow it would deal could not be predicted. “As yet, no one knows when a US operation might be launched, or how long it might last,” said Serdengecti, currently in Washington for meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. “Thus, its precise impact on Turkey’s economy remains a question mark.” /Sabah/[10] IMF DELEGATION BEGINS WORK ON FOURTH REVIEWAn International Monetary Fund (IMF) delegation began its contacts with Turkish officials yesterday in Istanbul. As part of the fourth review of Turkey’s economic program, IMF Turkey Desk Chief Juha Kahkonen is also expected to arrive in Istanbul today and to hold meetings tomorrow with representatives from the Association of Foreign Investors, the Union of Turkish Banks, the Turkish Industralists’and Businessmen’s Association (TUSIAD) and the Turkish Exporters’ Assembly (TIM). In related news, IMF European Director Michael Deppler said yesterday that if Turkey fully implements the conditions specified for the fourth review period, the IMF would extend a loan tranche totalling $1.6 billion. /Turkiye/[11] SEPTEMBER EXPORTS SOAR TO $3.3 BILLIONTurkey’s exports this September soared by 27.7% to reach $3.3 billion, the largest rise so far this year, said figures released yesterday by the Turkish Exporters’ Assembly (TIM). Exports for the January-September period also rose 12% when compared to the same period last year, added TIM, to total some $25.6 billion. /Star/[12] FROM THE COLUMNS… FROM THE COLUMNS… FROM THE COLUMNS…[13] THE INEXORABLE MOVE TO NOV. 3 BY YILMAZ OZTUNA (TURKIYE)Columnist Yilmaz Oztuna comments on events surrounding the Nov. 3 elections. A summary of his column is as follows:“Parliament’s one-day session yesterday made the date for polls set for Nov. 3 a near-certainty. Moreover, those still intent on postponing elections have little-to-no chance of reconvening Parliament for an extraordinary session or making it change its mind. Yet yesterday’s decision to go on recess until elections won by just 21 votes, a margin which must give the party leaders pause. The parties’ across-the-board failure to draw up decent candidate lists led to this shamefully close margin. All the lists included characters whose faults are well, and publicly, known. What’s more, none of the lists boasted a team genuinely qualified enough to govern the country. Claims that every deputy is qualified to be a minister -- which cannot be said in any country -- are stupefying. Furthermore, the need for a second vote to keep the November elections on track was deplorable, and the reasons behind this cry out for examination. Some of the parties which initially voted to hold elections this fall are clearly headed for defeat. Their leaders and supporters will have to pack their bags and quit the government. Now we’re headed towards a general election which, it is said, will be closely followed by new polls should the first results prove unsatisfactory. The weakness and unbelievable incompetence of the current government made early polls inevitable. Moreover, yesterday’s Parliament vote coincided closely with two separate and significant visits to Ankara, that of Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz and US Assistant Secretary of State Elizabeth Jones. Even as we prepare for polls, the wardrums are beating. Unless the US is swayed from its apparent determination to strike against Iraq, this issue will top the agenda of our post-election government. So elections are going forward in such an atmosphere, and everyone agrees the results on Nov. 4 will be a surprise.” [14] THE COST OF A WAR BY SAMI KOHEN (MILLIYET)Columnist Sami Kohen writes on Turkey’s stance on the Iraq issue. A summary of his column is as follows:“There are strong signs that US President George W. Bush is determined to strike against Iraq to oust its leader Saddam Hussein. During her visit to Ankara this week, US Assistant Secretary of State Elizabeth Jones made remarks which underlined the US determination to overthrow Saddam’s regime. Meanwhile, during the current meetings in Vienna between Iraqi officials and UN negotiators, although Iraq agreed to give UN weapons inspectors unrestricted access to most of the country, US representatives voiced their opposition to the return of the inspectors to Iraq without a new UN Security Council resolution threatening ‘consequences’ if Iraq obstructs their efforts. The Bush administration has so far insistently stated that its real purpose is not the return of UN inspectors but rather Iraq’s total disarmament, which means elimination of all weapons of mass destruction in Saddam’s possession. That’s why Bush is currently stepping up pressure both in the US Congress and the international community to get the authority to take unilateral military action if Saddam fails to comply with the UN disarmament resolutions. However, we also can’t deny that there is considerable opposition to Bush’s Iraq policy in the international community. We’ll have to wait and see whether this opposition can sway the US president. In the wake of this week’s overlapping visits by Jones and Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz, Turkey has clarified its stance on the Iraq issue. In fact, the Turkish government opposes a US war against Saddam, since the great economic and political fallout Turkey would suffer is all too clear. There are a host of predictions about the expected cost of a US-Iraq war. Foreign Minister Sukru Sina Gurel recently recalled that 1991’s Gulf War hit Turkey with economic losses totaling some $100 billion. A recent report by the Turkish-Iraqi Business Council also predicted that Turkey would suffer $150 billion in losses in the aftermath of a possible conflict. With these economic dimensions in mind, we should also focus on the possible political consequences of a war. Not only would a war shatter the delicate balances in our region but it would also likely alter the status quo in northern Iraq, which would spell new headaches for Turkey. It’s now high time for us to draw up detailed plans. Our country’s politicians should take into consideration all the possible consequences of their actions. As far as I can see, our officials think that a war would be costlier for us if Turkey refuses to lend the US its military support. Which is exactly why they have to discuss what Turkey could obtain in return for its military and economic support.” 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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