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Turkish Press Review, 02-04-09

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 Foreign Press Guide Summary of the political and economic news in the Turkish press this morning

09.04.2002


CONTENTS

  • [01] SEZER SIGNS HARMONIZATION LAW
  • [02] SEZER TO VISIT EASTERN ANATOLIA
  • [03] CEM: “TURKEY WILL COMPLETE ITS REFORMS”
  • [04] DENKTAS: “DON’T IMPOSE TIMETABLE ON SETTLEMENT”
  • [05] IRANIAN AMBASSADOR LAVASANI MEETS AKP CHAIRMAN ERDOGAN
  • [06] CHINESE PRIME MINISTER TO VISIT TURKEY
  • [07] IRAQ CUTS OIL EXPORTS TO PROTEST ISRAEL
  • [08] IMF EXECUTIVE BOARD TO DISCUSS TURKEY THIS MONTH
  • [09] CENTRAL BANK LOWERS INTEREST RATES
  • [10] DSP ADANA DEPUTY RESIGNS FROM PARTY
  • [11] TURKISH ENERGY COULD BE SOLD TO TRNC AND SOUTHERN CYPRUS
  • [12] TOURISM SPIKE SEEN IN MARCH
  • [13] POLAND TO SPOTLIGHT TURKISH PHOTOGRAPHER
  • [14] FROM THE COLUMNS…FROM THE COLUMNS…FROM THE COLUMNS…
  • [15] ANKARA APPROACH BY FIKRET BILA (MILLIYET)
  • [16] EUROPE STILL A PAPER TIGER BY SEMIH IDIZ (STAR)

  • [01] SEZER SIGNS HARMONIZATION LAW

    President Ahmet Necdet Sezer signed into law yesterday a harmonization bill which, following the lead of the Turkish Constitution, moves Turkey further into line with European Union norms. The law is to take effect after being published in the Official Gazette today. /Hurriyet/

    [02] SEZER TO VISIT EASTERN ANATOLIA

    President Ahmet Necdet Sezer will travel to two provinces in eastern Anatolia this week to attend ceremonies as part of the “Campaign to Support National Education” as well as to hold a series of meetings with officials in the region. Sezer is expected to leave for Malatya today and to proceed to Elazig tomorrow. /All Papers/

    [03] CEM: “TURKEY WILL COMPLETE ITS REFORMS”

    Speaking to the British Council in Turkey’s special bulletin yesterday, Foreign Minister Ismail Cem said that Turkey would complete all the reforms to which it has pledged. Cem also stated that Turkey would fulfill the Copenhagen criteria for full European Union membership but that the government would not compromise the nation’s interests for the sake of those criteria. This issue is also connected to Turkey’s profile on the world stage, Cem added. /Hurriyet/

    [04] DENKTAS: “DON’T IMPOSE TIMETABLE ON SETTLEMENT”

    As part of the direct talks process which began this January to find a solution to the Cyprus issue, Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) President Rauf Denktas will meet today with Greek Cypriot leader Glafcos Clerides to start their third round of talks. Before the meeting, Denktas issued a written statement urging the United Nations not to impose a strict timetable on reaching a settlement. The UN has stated that it wanted the two sides to come to terms by this June. /Hurriyet/

    [05] IRANIAN AMBASSADOR LAVASANI MEETS AKP CHAIRMAN ERDOGAN

    Iranian Ambassador to Turkey Muhammed Lavasani yesterday met with Justice and Development Party (AKP) Chairman Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Remarking that relations between Turkey and Iraq were gradually improving, Lavasani stressed the importance of the natural gas pipeline agreement the two countries recently signed. Recalling Iranian President Mohammed Khatami’s recent visit to Greece, Lavasani stated that Turkey, Iran and Greece were planning to develop joint projects in the future which would help to improve their relations. Turning to the issue of the terrorist PKK, Lavasani underlined Iran’s recent decision to recognize the PKK as a terrorist organization in order to stress Iran’s resolve to combat terrorism. He also denied that PKK terrorist Cemil Bayik was taking refuge in Iran. /Cumhuriyet/

    [06] CHINESE PRIME MINISTER TO VISIT TURKEY

    Chinese Prime Minister Zhu Rongji is to visit Turkey on April 15-19 as an official guest of Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit. A statement by the Foreign Ministry said that the two prime ministers would discuss bilateral relations as well as recent regional and international developments. In addition, Yugoslavian Foreign Minister Goran Svilanovich is also scheduled to visit Turkey on April 11-12. /Cumhuriyet/

    [07] IRAQ CUTS OIL EXPORTS TO PROTEST ISRAEL

    Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein yesterday declared that he would cut oil exports from his country until Israel withdraws its forces from the occupied Palestinian territories. Stressing that the Iraqi people also felt pain from the bloodshed in Palestine, Saddam said, “We want to show our support for the Palestinian people by cutting oil production until the Zionist power halts its attacks.” The Iraqi leader noted that oil transfers from the Kirkuk-Yumurtalik pipeline were also being cut. Meanwhile, Kenan Veziroglu, director-general of the Turkish Petroleum Joint Company, said yesterday that the Kirkuk-Yumurtalik pipeline cutoff would hurt Turkey both by damaging the pipeline’s operations as well as through revenue losses. He also predicted that oil prices would rise in the wake of Saddam’s decision. /Turkiye/

    [08] IMF EXECUTIVE BOARD TO DISCUSS TURKEY THIS MONTH

    The International Monetary Fund Executive Board is scheduled to convene on April 15. During the meeting, it is expected that the first review of Turkey’s economic program will be discussed and the additional Letter of Intent (LOI) that was sent to accompany it will be up for approval. In order to conclude the first review, Turkey’s government has fulfilled a number of requirements, including addressing the problem of nonproductive workers in state economic enterprises (KITs), enactment of a public financing and borrowing law, the appointment of a council on bidding and the closing of redundant regional government offices. Following the board’s approval of the additional LOI, the release of a first loan tranche to Turkey totaling $1.1 billion is expected. /Star/

    [09] CENTRAL BANK LOWERS INTEREST RATES

    Amid expectations of a continuing downward trend in inflation, the Central Bank yesterday lowered overnight and weekly interest rates by 3 percentage points apiece. The former fell from 61 to 58 percent, while the latter went down from 55 to 52 percent.

    In line with these changes, repo-reverse repo rates in Istanbul Stock Exchange (IMKB) and borrowing rates on the interbank money market were also cut by 3 points from 54 to 51 percent. In a written statement accompanying its decision, the CB noted the downward inflation trend in March on both the consumer price index (CPI) to 65.1 percent and on the wholesale price index (WPI) to 77.5 percent. The bank attributed these reductions to lowering prices trends of agricultural and food products, among other factors. Exceptions to this downward trend were attributed to recent crude oil prices increases on international markets as well as inflexible service sector pricing. The bank’s statement predicted that if government continues to decisively implement its economic program, the positive trend of reduced inflation would continue. /Hurriyet/

    [10] DSP ADANA DEPUTY RESIGNS FROM PARTY

    Democratic Left Party (DSP) Adana Deputy Arif Sezer yesterday resigned from the party. Counting Arif Sezer, the number of independent deputies in the Parliament rose to 14, while that of DSP deputies fell to 128. /Turkiye/

    [11] TURKISH ENERGY COULD BE SOLD TO TRNC AND SOUTHERN CYPRUS

    A project to sell electricity to the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) via underwater cable is currently being investigated, sources said yesterday. Additionally, as part of ongoing efforts to bolster Turkish-Greek economic and energy cooperation, eventual sale to the Greek Cypriot administration is also being looked into, the sources added. The initial step in the investigation will explore the feasibility of laying 70 miles of cable between Anamur on Turkey’s coast to Girne in the TRNC. /Star/

    [12] TOURISM SPIKE SEEN IN MARCH

    According to a statement issued by the Tourism Ministry, some 675,000 tourists visited Turkey this March. Foreign tourists from Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) memeber countries made up 58.6% of this number, a 20.8% increase compared to the same month last year. Moreover, the number of visitors from eastern Mediterranean countries coming to Turkey rose by 26.9% compared to 2001 figures. /Cumhuriyet/

    [13] POLAND TO SPOTLIGHT TURKISH PHOTOGRAPHER

    Works by Turkish photographer Cengiz Akduman will be exhibited in Warsaw, Poland, as part of “Turkish Week” events this month sponsored jointly by the Turkish-Polish Businessmen’s Association and Poland’s state television. Akduman’s exhibition entitled “Anatolia Isn’t That Far Away” will open on April 23. /Cumhuriyet/

    [14] FROM THE COLUMNS…FROM THE COLUMNS…FROM THE COLUMNS…

    [15] ANKARA APPROACH BY FIKRET BILA (MILLIYET)

    Columnist Fikret Bila writes on the Middle East problem and Turkey’s efforts to bring peace to the region. A summary of his column is as follows:

    “One of the capitals exerting maximum effort to get Israel to end its occupation of the West Bank and to get both sides to meet unconditionally at the bargaining table is Ankara. ... Turkey was the first state to issue warnings that the situation would go from bad to worse with the escalating Israeli-Palestinian tension accompanying Sharon’s rise to power in Israel. However, these efforts were of no avail, and then the crisis erupted. What can be made of this situation? It seems that little will change until US Secretary of State Colin Powell arrives in the region. Probably, some result will be achieved during Powell’s visit. This is a plan the Bush-Sharon cooperation has begun to implement in stages ... Under these circumstances Ankara is trying to transform the climate and developments stemming from Powell’s visit into a peace process. Turkish Foreign Ministry officials, who have been busy conducting talks with both sides since the beginning of the crisis with the Israeli occupation, are trying to contribute to the formation of a strong, broad-based conciliation platform. Foreign Minister Ismail Cem summarized the Ankara approach as, ‘For a peace process we can pursue a four-sided strategy, with the contributions of the UN, the EU, the US and Russia. This is an expectation, and it will require certain efforts. However, Turkey would like the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) to be included in this process, as a strong, broad-based platform would be beneficial for achieving peace. The OIC should be included because its member countries have been greatly affected by the clashes between Israel and Palestine.’ Cem stressed the fact that he had conveyed this idea to the sides regarding such a meeting during Powell’s visit. He added that Turkey has expressed its views on the issue to Spain’s ambassador in Ankara, as Spain is the current president of the EU, and to Qatar officials as the term president of the OIC. Talks are being conducted with the Israeli, Palestinian, US, Russian, and EU officials towards the same end. If such a platform can be established, what kind of a peace initiative will be explored? Foreign Minister Cem believes that the proposal receiving the most support up to now is that of Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah, which requests that Israel withdraw to its pre-1967 borders and that Arab countries normalize their relations with the Israeli state.”

    [16] EUROPE STILL A PAPER TIGER BY SEMIH IDIZ (STAR)

    Columnist Semih Idiz writes on the Middle East problem and the policies of the US and the EU on the issue. A summary of his column is as follows:

    “My first impression after listening to President Bush’s address on the Middle East crisis was that it would help to solve the problem. President Bush had expressed a determined stance towards both sides and stated that he would send Secretary of State Colin Powell to the region. At first glance, these actions seemed important to me. However, Foreign Ministry officials with whom I had the chance to speak said that they had come too late, too little. Another official said that the US administration had given Israel the chance to finish its occupation and added that Bush had been obliged to say something on the situation. Even with its inaction the US is right in the middle of the Middle East problem. It is turning a blind eye to the ongoing violence as it knows that Sharon, who has completed his occupation plan of the Palestinian territories, will have a better bargaining hand. This gives time to Sharon. Meanwhile, by consistently accusing Arafat, this tries to counter the increasing sympathy felt for the Palestinian leader on the part of the international community. By doing so, Bush demonstrates that the US is directly or indirectly involved in this problem and using its weight in line with US interests. On the other hand, when we take a look at Europe, we can see a paper tiger both as individual countries and as a whole. The EU’s influence in the Middle East is nonexistent. What is more, it has to accept Israel’s diplomatic insults directed at it. The most concrete example of this is that Israel did not allow a high-level EU delegation to meet with Arafat. It is highly noteworthy that the same Israel is permitting special US presidential envoy Anthony Zinni to meet with the besieged Palestinian leader. A few days ago, one of Danish Prime Minister Rasmussen’s chief advisors said that Copenhagen was unsure about establishing a European-based collective defense organization. He added that Denmark, like Turkey, was against the weakening of NATO, that is to say the Atlantic tie. The advisor also said that the views on European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP) should be clarified after reaching a better understanding of what it is. He added that presently there were varied views on the topic. To clarify the issue, the EU had first to develop a common foreign policy. At the moment there are differing calculations on the crises in the Balkans, Afghanistan and the Middle East in all the various European countries. Today the EU may in fact be an economic power. However, it has not yet become as a political power. It has not evolved beyond than being a paper tiger in view of certain matters. There are two important examples of this. The first is that it was unable to define a terrorist organisation such as the PKK, which has an international network, for what it is, and secondly with a near-sighted approach has come to the point of apparently importing a complicated international problem such as ‘Cyprus’ into its fold.”

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