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Turkish Press Review, 08-02-08
From: Turkish Directorate General of Press and Information <http://www.byegm.gov.tr>
Summary of the political and economic
news in the Turkish press this morning
08.02.2008
CONTENTS
[01] PM ERDOGAN VISITS SITE OF GERMAN FIRE, URGES THOROUGH INVESTIGATION
[02] ERDOGAN: “THE INFORMAL ECONOMY IS ALSO A KIND OF CORRUPTION”
[03] EU: “THE HEADSCARF IS TURKEY ’S OWN ISSUE”
[04] US AMBASSADOR WILSON: “THE US DOESN’T PROVIDE WEAPONS TO THE PKK”
[05] US JOIN CHIEFS CHAIRMAN: “US-TURKISH MILITARY COOPERATION HAS REACHED AN UNPRECEDENTED LEVEL”
[06] SPEAKING TO THE WEST
[01] PM ERDOGAN VISITS SITE OF GERMAN FIRE, URGES THOROUGH INVESTIGATION
Primer Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan yesterday traveled to Germany to hold
a series of talks and to attend the Munich Conference on Security Policy,
as well as to visit the scene of a deadly fire from earlier this week.
Before leaving, when asked about statements by the Intercollegiate Board
(UAK) and Turkish Bar Association on the controversial headscarf issue,
Erdogan said those groups do not represent all academics or all lawyers,
adding that only Parliament has the authority to speak for the people. At
the scene of the fire, Erdogan was accompanied by State Minister Said
Yazicioglu and Kurt Beck, the premier of Germany ’s state of Rhineland-
Palatinate. During his visit, a group of local Turks held a protest of the
fire, which some suspect was caused by arson. German authorities told
Erdogan about the investigation of the blaze. “Both the German police and
the firefighters did their best to save lives in the disaster, but we are
expecting a thorough investigation,” Erdogan told a crowd gathered
outside the apartment building after meeting the victims’ families.
“The grief of our nation is great. But our German friends I spoke to are
also grieving.” He added, “We hope that our grief will lead towards a
fresh beginning." Erdogan also visited the Turks who were injured in the
fire. /Star/
[02] ERDOGAN: “THE INFORMAL ECONOMY IS ALSO A KIND OF CORRUPTION”
There has never even been the smallest question that Turkey ’s current
government would show the slightest tolerance towards corruption in either
the public or private sector, said Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan
yesterday. “Corruption is as old as human history, and as the economy has
gone global, so has corruption,” Erdogan told a meeting in Ankara on a
new anti-corruption initiative. Erdogan also criticized the private sector
over the informal economy, calling this another kind of corruption. /Star/
[03] EU: “THE HEADSCARF IS TURKEY ’S OWN ISSUE”
The headscarf issue is Turkey’s own issue, to be discussed by the Turkish
people, and does not concern the European Union, said a European Commission
spokesperson yesterday. Asked about Foreign Minister Ali Babacan’s remark
that the headscarf controversy is harming Turkey’s international image
and that it needs progress in rights and freedoms and political reforms to
achieve EU membership, Krisztina Nagy, EU Commissioner for Enlargement Olli
Rehn’s spokesperson, said, “This is a multidimensional issue. There is
no standard in EU law regarding headscarves. The Turkish people will
discuss this issue. The EU hasn’t asked to Turkey to make any change on
this issue, and the EU has no position on it.” /Hurriyet/
[04] US AMBASSADOR WILSON: “THE US DOESN’T PROVIDE WEAPONS TO THE
PKK”
The US does not provide weapons to the terrorist PKK or to any other
terrorist group, reiterated US Ambassador to Ankara Ross Wilson yesterday.
During a visit to Hatay Governor Ahmet Kayhan, he added, “Weapon
traffickers in the region have been selling weapons from the US without
knowing how these were acquired.” /Turkiye/
[05] US JOIN CHIEFS CHAIRMAN: “US-TURKISH MILITARY COOPERATION HAS
REACHED AN UNPRECEDENTED LEVEL”
Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen yesterday said that over
the past few months US-Turkish military cooperation has reached an
unprecedented degree. Speaking to the Senate Armed Services Committee on
next year’s proposed military budget, Mullen said that he had recently
met with Deputy Chief of General Staff Gen. Ergin Saygun. “There’s a
delicate balance,” he said. “I think not only the military but the
leaders of the two countries understand that we reached a balance and it
should continue.” /Sabah/
FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE COLUMNS... FROM THE COLUMNS...
[06] SPEAKING TO THE WEST
BY MURAT YETKIN (RADIKAL)
Columnist Murat Yetkin comments on Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s
speech to the 44th Munich Conference on Security Policy. A summary of his
column is as follows:
“Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan will make the opening speech today
at the 44th Munich Conference on Security Policy. This should be considered
a mark of Turkey ’s rising international importance. The conference is
well-known for its speeches and how they set the stage for international
security. Russian President Vladimir Putin’s speech last year, which got
the Turkish General Staff’s attention, made a big splash, as it was seen
as Russia ’s return to global politics. The General Staff showed so much
interest that it took the unprecedented step of posting the speech on its
website. So Erdogan’s speech on ‘ Turkey ’s Foreign Policy and
Security Policies’ is very important. Beyond political chatter, people on
the international level have started to be very interested in what Turkey
has to say about security issues. At the same conference, special
importance will also be paid to Afghanistan ’s future.
As Erdogan is about to give his speech, Turkey is on the threshold of a
breakthrough. For example, following years of strenuous efforts, Turkish
diplomats and the military have finally been able to make the US understand
" and the European Union, to some extent " that the terrorist PKK is a
threat and element sowing instability not only for itself, but also for the
future of Iraq and the region. Erdogan will speak on foreign policy and
security only a few days after Turkish planes carried out operations deep
in Iraqi airspace. Responding to requests from the US and NATO that Turkey
send combat troops to Afghanistan, Chief of General Staff Gen. Yasar
Buyukanit said that it wouldn’t do this as long as its own fight against
terrorism is still ongoing. We learned from Deputy Chief of General Staff
Gen. Ergin Saygun’s recent US visit that certain vehicles, equipment and
personnel moved by the US from Afghanistan were used in anti-PKK operations
in Iraq . As the Turkish government and people are starting to get some
satisfaction with successes in the fight against the PKK, Ankara has
changed its stance on Afghanistan , which should come as no surprise. All
these developments should be seen as part of Ankara ’s security policy
focused on energy routes. Similarly, we see that the General Staff will pay
special importance to energy and transportation issues during an
international symposium on terrorism in Ankara next month.
As for the political dimension of the issue, the tragic death of nine Turks
in a fire which started in a Turkish family’s apartment in Germany last
Sunday, ahead of Erdogan’s visit, must have a symbolic meaning. There are
still suspicions the fire was the result of terrorist arson, due to racist-
based xenophobia in Europe . Its symbolic meaning comes from how Turkey
’s EU bid is facing exclusionary obstacles erected by French President
Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Some people say recent
developments in Turkey provide extra ammunition to arguments that there’s
no place for Turkey in Europe . At this point, I won’t consider the issue
with such shallowness to ask how Europeans would consider us if everybody
wears a headscarf. But if Turkey lets our state absorb a Middle Eastern way
of life, our gains of recent years would be quickly lost. Turkey has a
special character that distinguishes it from other countries in the Islamic
world and earns it full and unconditional support from the West. This also
comes from its pluralist and parliamentary structure, and its legal
structure and free economy, which are approaching the Western level. But
some of these characteristics also exist in some Islam countries. The only
feature that truly distinguishes Turkey and makes it very different is its
secularism. This secular, democratic legal order provides Erdogan with the
opportunity to explain Turkey to global decision-makers in Munich . He
should know the value of this and not misuse it.”
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