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Turkish Press Review, 05-09-01
From: Turkish Directorate General of Press and Information <http://www.byegm.gov.tr>
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e-mail :
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Summary of the political and economic
news in the Turkish press this morning
01.09.2005
FROM THE COLUMNS…FROM THE COLUMNS…FROM THE COLUMNS…
CONTENTS
[01] SEZER, ERDOGAN, AND OZKOK ATTEND GRADUATION CEREMONY AT AIR WAR ACADEMY
[02] US GENERALS DUE TO VISIT TURKEY NEXT WEEK
[03] IN BAKU, SERDAR DENKTAS SIGNS FIVE PROTOCOLS WITH AZERBAIJANI-TURKISH BUSINESSMEN UNION
[04] CRITICAL MEETING TO BE HELD TODAY
[05] EU PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVES COUNCIL DECIDES TO RELEASE A DECLARATION ON RECOGNITION OF GREEK CYPRUS
[06] REHN: “TURKEY COULD BE COMPELLED TO MAKE CONCESSIONS ON THE CYPRUS ISSUE”
[07] FRANCE AND AUSTRIA ARE DETERMINED TO SAY “NO”
[08] GREEK CYPRIOTS: “WE CAN BLOCK THE NEGOTIATIONS”
[09] FROM THE COLUMNS…FROM THE COLUMNS…FROM THE COLUMNS…
[10] FRANCE’S OPPOSITION BY SEMIH IDIZ (MILLIYET)
[01] SEZER, ERDOGAN, AND OZKOK ATTEND GRADUATION CEREMONY AT AIR WAR
ACADEMY
President Ahmet Necdet Sezer, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and
Chief of the General Staff Gen. Hilmi Ozkok yesterday attended a graduation
ceremony at the Air War Academy. Also present at the meeting were Defense
Minister Vecdi Gonul, Interior Minister Abdulkadir Aksu, Education Minister
Huseyin Celik. Addressing the gathering, Air War Academy Commander Gen.
Orhan Ugurluoglu said that the Academy has achieved great progress in 54
years, since it was founded in 1951. /Turkiye/
[02] US GENERALS DUE TO VISIT TURKEY NEXT WEEK
US Central Command General Gen. John Abizaid and US Forces Commander in
Europe Gen. James Jones are expected to visit Turkey next week to discuss a
number of issues, including the PKK presence in Iraq with Turkish military
officials. During the negotiations, which are expected to be held at the
headquarters of the General Staff, Turkish officials will brief the
generals on details about the terrorist group PKK. The US generals are
expected to ask the Turkish officials what could be done in the fight
against the PKK besides military operations. /Turkiye/
[03] IN BAKU, SERDAR DENKTAS SIGNS FIVE PROTOCOLS WITH AZERBAIJANI-TURKISH
BUSINESSMEN UNION
Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) Foreign Minister Serdar Denktas,
who is currently in Baku, yesterday signed five protocols with the
Azerbaijani-Turkish Businessmen Union. The protocols were about tourism,
construction, banking, agriculture, and hotel management. Later, speaking
at a press conference, Denktas said that he appreciated Azerbaijani
President Ilham Aliyev’s hospitality, adding that the TRNC delegation had
found new friends in Baku. Denktas further stated that hereafter the
Turkish Cypriots could enter Azerbaijan without a visa. /Turkiye/
[04] CRITICAL MEETING TO BE HELD TODAY
An important meeting will be held today and tomorrow in Wales, Britain
prior to Turkey’s Oct. 3 negotiations with the EU. During the meetings, the
foreign ministers of the European Union member countries will discuss
Turkey’s declaration for not recognizing Greek Cyprus. Foreign Minister
Abdullah Gul will also participate in the meeting. /Aksam/
[05] EU PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVES COUNCIL DECIDES TO RELEASE A DECLARATION
ON RECOGNITION OF GREEK CYPRUS
European Union Permanent Representatives Council (COREPER), which convened
in Brussels yesterday, decided to release a declaration for Turkey’s
supplementary declaration, which stressed that signing additional Customs
Union protocol didn’t mean recognition of Greek Cyprus. In a statement
released following the meeting, it was stressed that Ankara’s recognition
of Greek Cyprus couldn’t be a condition for Turkey’s EU talks. The
statement further emphasized that no EU member state demanded Turkey’s EU
accession talks to be delayed. The talks are scheduled to begin on Oct. 3.
In related news, European Union Commission Spokesman Francoise Le Bail said
that the stance of the commission about Turkey’s EU bid didn’t change,
adding that Turkey had fulfilled necessary conditions. /Turkiye/
[06] REHN: “TURKEY COULD BE COMPELLED TO MAKE CONCESSIONS ON THE CYPRUS
ISSUE”
European Union Commissioner for Enlargement Olli Rehn yesterday called for
the governments of the EU member states for Turkey’s EU talks to begin on
Oct. 3, as scheduled. Rehn said, however, that Turkey could be compelled to
make concessions on the Cyprus issue, adding that these concessions could
be to allow Greek Cypriot ships to use Turkish ports. Rehn further
predicted that the negotiation process could be difficult, adding that
Ankara needed to take concrete steps on judicial reform and basic rights.
/Milliyet/
[07] FRANCE AND AUSTRIA ARE DETERMINED TO SAY “NO”
French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin yesterday repeated the request
for Turkey’s clarifying its stance on recognizing Greek Cyprus. Villepin
stated that they want to preserve the unity and the integrity of the EU.
Villepin said: “If a candidate country rejected recognizing all member
states of an union, it would create a problem”. Austrian Prime Minister
Wolfgang Schussel said that alternatives should be developed apart from
full membership. Schussel said: “The negotiations may continue for 20 years
and they are open-ended”. /Aksam/
[08] GREEK CYPRIOTS: “WE CAN BLOCK THE NEGOTIATIONS”
Greek Cyprus threatened if the EU’s reply to Turkey’s not recognizing Greek
Cyprus did not meet their expectations, they would block Turkey’s
negotiations with the EU. Greek Cyprus spokesman Kipros Hrisostomides,
referring to the EU Foreign Ministers’ unofficial meeting to be held today,
said: “If Greek Cyprus is not satisfied, the negotiation framework document
will not be discussed”. On the other hand, prior to the critical EU meeting
(COREPER), the Greek Cypriots distributed a 30 page-file yesterday. Greek
Cyprus tried to defend the need of a counter declaration against Turkey’s
supplementary declaration with legal arguments. /Aksam/
[09] FROM THE COLUMNS…FROM THE COLUMNS…FROM THE COLUMNS…
[10] FRANCE’S OPPOSITION BY SEMIH IDIZ (MILLIYET)
Columnist Semih Idiz comments on France’s stance concerning the deadlock in
the Cyprus issue. A summary of his column is as follows:
“French President Jacques Chirac wants Turkey to clarify its stance on the
Cyprus issue and expects Turkey to make a gesture. French Foreign Minister
Philippe Douste-Blazy thinks that ‘it’s a hardly acceptable situation’ that
a country willing to become a European Union member doesn’t recognize
another EU member country. Maybe there is nothing more insincere than this
stance. The reason for this is clear. However, let’s explain this more
clearly so France can understand. France is the permanent member of the
United Nations Security Council and it has been aware of the details of the
Cyprus issue for nearly 30 years. In addition, it knows the details of the
latest efforts of UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and supported Annan’s
plan concretely, like all the other members of the Security Council. It
gave this support as the EU member. In sum, France always supported the
solution of the Cyprus issue as part of this plan. This plan revealed a
solution for the first time thanks to Turkey’s constructive stance and
Turkish Cypriots’ positive approach. Therefore, hopes for a solution
increased both in the UN and the EU. Then what happened? Finally, as is
known, Turkish Cypriots supported Annan’s plan with a referendum greatly.
What did Greek Cypriots do in turn? After their leaders called on them not
to accept this, they rejected Annan’s plan. They also destroyed the myth
that the Turkish side is uncompromising. This way, they really showed the
uncompromising one, when all the cards were put on the table. Meanwhile,
former European Commissioner for Enlargement Gunter Verheugen said that
while Turks were doing everything for a solution, Greek Cypriots deceived
us. Shortly, as Douste-Blazy said, if there is a hardly acceptable
situation within the EU, not the Turkish side, but the Greek Cypriot side
is responsible for this. What’s more, Turkey signed the ‘Cyprus protocol’
by accepting the European Council’s condition in December 2004. Meanwhile,
it announced an issue, which was confirmed by the most authorized people
within the EU, with a declaration and put forth that the signature doesn’t
mean recognizing the Cyprus Republic. In addition, Turkey openly said that
it would recognize the Cyprus Republic which will emerge following a
solution. In sum, Ankara ‘clarified’ its stance concerning the Cyprus
issue. It’s uncertain what kind of a gesture can be done more. Today,
France is not only using the Cyprus issue for its own purpose, but also
ensures the continuation of the lack of solution by encouraging Greek
Cypriots. Then it points to the Turkish side as the reason of this lack of
solution insincerely. This is the black and white photograph of the
incident.”
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