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Turkish Press Review, 08-11-28Turkish Press Review Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: Turkish Directorate General of Press and Information <http://www.byegm.gov.tr>Summary of the political and economic news in the Turkish press this morning28.11.2008CONTENTS
[01] PRESIDENT GUL TO VISIT RUSSIAPresident Abdullah Gul will visit Russia on Dec. 26-28 and meet with his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev. Gul will also meet with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, Federation Council Speaker Sergei Mironov, and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. During their talks, issues such as relations between the two countries and recent developments in the Caucasus will be discussed. Gul is expected to proceed to Kazan, Tatarstan on the last day of his visit and meet with his Tatar counterpart Mintimer Shaimiev. In related news, on Jan. 5-8 Gul will make his first official visit as president to Israel and Palestine. /Turkiye/[02] HUNGARIAN PM GYURCSANY VISITS ANKARAIn Ankara, visiting Hungarian Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany yesterday met with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Afterwards, asked by reporters about a possible agreement with the International Monetary Fund, Erdogan denied claims that Turkey had asked for $26 million in credits but would get only $19 million. "Right now we're negotiating with the IMF," he added. "We haven't agreed on the principles yet. The amount of credits is the simplest side of the issue." /Cumhuriyet/[03] ERDOGAN: "IMPOSING A QUOTA FOR WOMEN CANDIDATES WOULD MEAN DISREGARDING WOMEN"Imposing a quota for women candidates in elections would mean disregarding women, said Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan yesterday. Addressing his ruling Development and Justice Party's (AKP) congress on women in international business, Erdogan said, "Imposing a quota would mean putting women under male hegemony." He said Turkey will have more women mayors after local elections next March. Condemning unregistered employment as cruel exploitation, he added, "We have to improve this situation. Women becoming active actors in the business world is very important for the development of society." The gathering brought together successful women from various sectors in Turkey and abroad. /Turkiye-Star/[04] PM ERDOGAN SENDS CONDOLENCES OVER MUMBAI TERRORIST ATTACKSPrime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan yesterday sent a message to his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh expressing his deepest condolences for coordinated terrorist attacks in Mumbai, India's financial capital, this week that left some 125 people dead. Erdogan condemned the attacks, saying, "When I visited India last week, we had a change to talk about the fight against international terrorism. I would like to reaffirm our commitment to enhance our cooperation with India to fight terrorism." /Star/[05] PKK KILLS TWO POLICE OFFICERSThree PKK terrorists yesterday morning killed two police officers and injured six others, including three other officers, on a roadblock on a major highway in the southeastern province of Hatay. Investigation of the incident is underway. /Hurriyet/[06] EP REPORT URGES DTP TO SHUN TERRORISTSEuropean Parliament Rapporteur Ria Oomen-Ruijten yesterday released a new report on Turkey. Condemning terrorist attacks by the terrorist PKK and similar groups, Oomen-Ruijten urged the members of Turkey's Democratic Society Party (DTP) to shun the PKK, and to work for the country's stability, prosperity and unity. In addition, she stressed her concerns over what she called a continued slowdown of reform efforts, calling on the government to prove its political will to continue political reforms. The report is scheduled to be discussed next Tuesday by the EP's Foreign Affairs Committee, and will face a vote in the full EP next March. /Hurriyet/[07] ALBANIAN PRESIDENT WOOS TURKISH INVESTORSTurkey is a very special country for Albania, according to Albanian President Bamir Tobi, who is in Turkey for an official visit. Addressing a working dinner yesterday, organized by the Foreign Economic Relations Board (DEIK) and Turkish Union of Chambers and Commodities Exchanges (TOBB), Tobi invited Turkish businessmen to invest in Albania, adding, "Albania is doing a great deal to ease things for businessmen." For his part, TOBB head Rifat Hisarciklioglu urged Turkish contractors urge to do more business in Albania. /Turkiye/[08] SIMSEK MEETS WITH IRANIAN PRESIDENTState Minister Mehmet Simsek met with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad yesterday as part of his official visit to the country. Simsek, in Tehran for the 20th Turkey-Iran Joint Economic Commission meetings, discussed the global economic crisis with the Iranian president and exchanged views on what both countries can do to take protective measures. /Hurriyet Daily News/FROM THE COLUMNS… FROM THE COLUMNS… FROM THE COLUMNS… [09] LET'S OVERCOME THESE PROBLEMSBY ESER KARAKAS (STAR)Columnist Eser Karakas comments on Turkey's problems and how to solve them. A summary of his column is as follows: "I've been writing for a long time that Turkey's greatest problem is normalization. This process means moving as close as possible to modern legal values in institutions and policies and finding solutions as part of universal legal and economic norms. There might be certain differences and problems stemming from this region's history, but using excuses about these differences to avoid 'normal' solutions is useless. There are preconditions for entering the process of normalization. Turkey has a series of problems that I'll mention below, which I think are very meaningless, and we can't make any progress on normalization without overcoming these problems. Actually, there's a great consensus about finding some solution to these problems, but the problem lies in how to implement such solutions. Some supporters of the status quo argue that not solving these problems is the best solution, but I think they should have little to say in the political life of such a dynamic, young population. Actually, our problems are no secret. Everybody knows that these problems are undermining us, but we run into trouble when people interfere with solution efforts. Here are a few of these problems which come to mind: changing the 1982 Constitution, the Cyprus issue, our relations with Armenia, the Kurdish/southeastern/northern Iraq issues, the deadlock in our European Union membership talks, the Alevi issue… Let's consider for a moment: A Turkey which has reformed the 1982 Constitution based on democratic values, solved the Cyprus issue, normalized relations with Armenia, largely solved the Kurdish issue on the basis of constitutional citizenship, marginalized PKK terrorism, taken strides towards full EU membership, and solved our Alevi citizens' problems would be a richer, freer and safer country, wouldn't it? Indeed, some people might fear such a Turkey, but these people are stuck in the past, and these problems should be solved through peaceful means. Reforming the 1982 Constitution in line with the principles of modern democracy and the rule of law would solve such issues as basic rights and freedoms, freedom of expression, constitutional citizenship, confused jurisdiction, and abnormal civilian-military relationships. I mention this problem first because progress on the other issues is almost impossible without addressing the coup-era Constitution. The Cyprus and Armenian issues have also been left hanging in the air for a long time, and they certainly must be solved. Nor must solving them be difficult. They shouldn't be 'solved' by ignoring certain sectors of society, either. But what we need to shake off is the view that the status quo is the best solution. The Kurdish and Alevi issues can be solved through an understanding in which the state treats all of its citizens equally in terms of its budget. This was what I expected from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) after its landslide win in last year's general elections. Perhaps Turkey is again now missing a tremendous opportunity, because in the current atmosphere of global crisis, public support for changes might never again be so high." Turkish Press Review Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |
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