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Turkish Press Review, 01-11-08
From: Turkish Directorate General of Press and Information <http://www.byegm.gov.tr>
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Press
& Information
Turkish
Press
Foreign
Press in Turkey
Turkish
Press Review >>
Press
Guide
Summary of the political and economic
news in the Turkish press this morning
08.11.2001
CONTENTS
[01] SEZER: "AFGHANISTAN BELONGS TO THE AFGHANS"
[02] SEZER TO MEET RABBANI
[03] ECEVIT: "TURKEY MIGHT SEND MORE TROOPS TO
AFGHANISTAN"
[04] MUSHERREF'S VISIT
[05] CEM VISITS ATHENS
[06] DERVIS: LOANS ARE ON THE WAY
[07] 25 HELICOPTERS TO TURKISH ARMED FORCES FROM UNITED
STATES
[08] IMF DUE BACK ON DEC.3
[09] PARLIAMENT CLOSED SESSION ON CYPRUS PROPOSED
[10] DE SOTO PUTS FORWARD A NEW PROPOSAL PACKAGE
[11] YILMAZ: "NOW IT IS THE STATE'S TURN TO
SACRIFICE"
[12] CILLER: "DECREASE THE VAT FOR EVERYONE"
[13] ERDOGAN CRITICIZES CILLER AND YILMAZ
[14] PARLIAMENT SEND DELEGATION TO BEIJING
[15] COALITION CLEARS KORAY AYDIN
[16] TURKEY SEES SHARP BOOST IN TOURISM INCOME
[17] FEMALE MANAGERS TO MEET IN ISTANBUL
[18] FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE
COLUMNS...
[19] THE CYPRUS IN THE CARIBBEAN BY OKTAY EKSI (HURRIYET)
[20] THE INITIATIVE MUST BE OURS BY SAMI KOHEN (MILLIYET)
[01] SEZER: "AFGHANISTAN BELONGS TO THE AFGHANS"
President Ahmet Necdet Sezer traveled to Tajikistan
yesterday to pay a two-day official visit. Sezer was welcomed by his
Tajik counterpart Imamali Rahmanov at Dushanbe Airport. At a press
conference after his meeting with Rahmanov, Sezer said that Turkey
would always stand by Tajikistan. Stating that the current
administration in Afghanistan was not acting on behalf of the Afghan
people, Sezer said that he appreciated Tajikistan's determined
attitude concerning the fight against terrorism. "Turkey will
always support Tajikistan's stance against terrorism. Tajikistan is
the country which has felt the most impact from the war since it is a
neighbor to Afghanistan. Turkey and Tajikistan both wish for peace to
be establish in the region as soon as possible.", Sezer said.
Voicing his wish that an Afghan government be formed which includes
the representatives of all ethnic groups in the country, Sezer
remarked, "The Taleban represents an ideology, not an ethnic
group. I have said many times that Afghanistan belongs to the
Afghans." Meanwhile, Rahmanov stressed importance of Sezer's
visit in terms of improving relations and cooperation between the two
countries. He also stated that Tajikistan agreed with Turkey's views
concerning the fight against terrorism in Afghanistan and a future
government to be formed in the aftermath of the operations.
/Cumhuriyet/
[02] SEZER TO MEET RABBANI
President Ahmet Necdet Sezer is expected to meet
former Afghan President Burhanuddin Rabbani, who leads Afghanistan's
opposition Northern Alliance that has been fighting the ruling Taleban
for five years. Elmurad Arghoon, the Ankara charge d'affaires
representing Rabbani and the Northern Alliance,said yesterday that
Rabbani was very pleased with Turkey's decision to send troops to
Afghanistan, but that 90 soldiers was be enough to help the Alliance.
Instead, he suggested, Turkey should send 10,000 troops. Arghoon added
that Rabbani wants to have more cooperation in the economic and
military spheres./H�rriyet/
[03] ECEVIT: "TURKEY MIGHT SEND MORE TROOPS TO
AFGHANISTAN"
Appearing on US television network CBS yesterday,
Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit said that Turkey might send more troops
to Afghanistan in the future if necessary. Upon being asked whether
the US had put pressure on Turkey to send Turkish soldiers to
Afghanistan, Ecevit said, "The US administration didn't put any
pressure on Turkey on the issue. Turkey made the decision on its own.
The troop contingent we're sending to the region is a small but
well-organized one. I believe they will contribute greatly to the
training of Northern Alliance forces." Additionally, Ecevit
remarked that Turkey's attitude concerning sending more troops to the
country would be totally dependent on future developments.
"Turkey can't send many troops there because our domestic
struggke against terrorism is still continuing. Our security forces
are fighting terrorism all over Turkey." He also commented that
Turkey would not support the US if it attacked Iraq, since such a move
would lead the region into chaos. /Cumhuriyet/
[04] MUSHERREF'S VISIT
Pakistan head of state Pervez Musherref paid a
brief visit to Turkey yesterday on his way to the US. Musherref said
that Pakistan and Turkey were acting harmoniously in the fight against
terrorism. Stating that the world had entered a new and critical phase
in the wake of Sept. 11, Musherref said, "We are doing out utmost
to end the war in Afghanistan as soon as possible. I am very honored
to say that Turkey and Pakistan share common views concerning the
fight against terrorism. Pakistan lends its logistic support to the
international cooperation against terrorism. Land operations are
limited to search and rescue activities." /Cumhuriyet/
[05] CEM VISITS ATHENS
Foreign Minister Ismail Cem, paying an official
visit to Athens, yesterday said that he was happy to visit Greece
since he and his Greek counterpart George Papandreou would have the
opportunity to discuss bilateral relations and post-Sept. 11
international developments. Following their one-an-one meeting, Cem
and Papendreou had a luncheon. Cem was also received by Greek
President Costas Stefanopoulos and met with main opposition leader
Costas Karamanlis in the evening and then attended the opening of the
Turkish-Greek Business Council's 4th meeting. Cem and Papandreou will
held a press conference following a inter-delegations meeting today
and he is also expected to meet with Prime Minister Costas Simitis.
/Turkiye/
[06] DERVIS: LOANS ARE ON THE WAY
State Minister for the Economy Kemal Dervis
predicted yesterday that Turkey would begin 2002 with a much stronger
economy. Dervis told the Turkish-American Business Council that
"in the wake of its economic crisis, Turkey has begun to do
things very quickly. We can't say that all the stop's we've taken have
been the rightnes, but we will continue on our way." Dervis also
remarked that the Sept. 11 attacks had affected Turkey just like all
other nations and that in a search of solutions, Turkey had meetings
with numerous international organisations and with the G-7 countries.
Finally, Dervis said that Turkey's meetings with the IMF were
continuing and that they wer now dealing with details. The
"operation has begun, and loans are on the way"./H�rriyet/
[07] 25 HELICOPTERS TO TURKISH ARMED FORCES FROM UNITED
STATES
The US Bush administration, which has welcomed
Turkey's support in the struggle against terrorism, is preparing to
send weapons to the Turkish Armed Forces as part of an aid package
prepared for Turkey. The package includes helicopters that the
Pentagon is offering to sell Ankara at a reasonable price. The
Pentagon is planning to sell 25 such helicopters to Turkey, and
Eximbank loans for the purchase of Seahawk helicopters by the Turkish
Navy are reportedly going forward./Milliyet/
[08] IMF DUE BACK ON DEC.3
An IMF commitee is due to return to Turkey on Dec.3
for the 11th review to finance the Turkish economy. At the cocnlusion
of the review, the IMF committee will submit the report to the IMF
Executive Council./Cumhuriyet/
[09] PARLIAMENT CLOSED SESSION ON CYPRUS PROPOSED
IN the wake of Foreign Minister Ismail Cem's recent
remarks on the Cyprus issue, Istanbul Independent Deputy Mehmet Ali
Irtemcelik has asked for a closed session in Parliament concerning the
issue. Irtemcelik presented his proposal with 126 deputies' signatures
both from the ruling and opposition parties to the Office of
Parliament Speaker Omer Izgi. The proposal stated that a strategic
stage had been reached in Turkey's case concerning Cyprus, which may
well require strategic decisions. /Turkiye/
[10] DE SOTO PUTS FORWARD A NEW PROPOSAL PACKAGE
Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC)
President Rauf Denktas said yesterday that Alvaro de Soto, the UN's
Cyprus special representative, had come up with a new proposal
package, but that, he wanted de Soto to give more details. Remarking
that a game was being played concerning Cyprus, Denktas said, "De
Soto wants us to sit at the table, but he doesn't specify the
conditions." Reiterating his desire to meet with Greek Cypriot
leader Glafcos Clerides, Denktas said that the two leaders want to
discuss the future of the island. He also harsly criticized the EU
saying, "The EU is disregarding our rights as laid out by the
1961 agreement." In related news, Clerides said yesterday that he
would pay no mind to Turkish threats to annex Northern Cyprus if the
Greek Cypriot administration joined the EU. /Turkiye/
[11] YILMAZ: "NOW IT IS THE STATE'S TURN TO
SACRIFICE"
Stressing that next year would be of a vital
importance for Turkey to emerge from its economic crisis, Deputy Prime
Minister Yilmaz said that the state would get smaller and that
sacrifice would be expected from the state, not the citizens.
Yesterday, during an address to the group meeting of the Motherland
Party (ANAP), Yilmaz also spoke about ANAP's proposal economic and
political package, saying that it included more than 100 concrete
proposals and they would pass it on it to their coalition partners
within a few days. /Turkiye/
[12] CILLER: "DECREASE THE VAT FOR EVERYONE"
True Path Party (DYP) leader Tansu Ciller severely
criticized the government during her speech at her party's group
meeting yesterday. Commenting on a decrease in the Value Added Tax
(VAT) for the durable goods and automotive sectors only, Ciller said,
" We aren't against this, but, if it's done, it should be for
everyone Don't discriminate." Regarding Foreign Minister Ismail
Cem's recent remarks on Cyprus, Ciller said that Turkey could neither
give up on Cyprus, nor an Turkey's EU membership. She added,
"Turkey is a powerful country, it will relent on neither
issue." /Turkiye/
[13] ERDOGAN CRITICIZES CILLER AND YILMAZ
Justice and Development Party (AKP) leader Recep
Tayyip Erdogan yesterday called both Motherland Party (ANAP) leader
Mesut Yilmaz and True Path Party (DYP) leader Tansu Ciller
"politically shameless". He said that Yilmaz opposed the
government but still retains his seat on the Cabinet. Speaking at his
AKP's group meeting in Parliament, Erdogan criticized ANAP's economic
and political reform package. "They are using certain facts as a
tool for promoting their mistaken policies," Erdogan remarked. He
also criticized Ciller for her call for a decrease in the number of
deputies in Parliament. He said, "Ciller was the person who
increased the number of deputies in Parliament to 550. This is another
example of being without shame." /Turkiye/
[14] PARLIAMENT SEND DELEGATION TO BEIJING
A six-member delegation of the China-Turkey
Interparliament Friendship Group has gone to Beijing as guests of the
Chinese Parliament. The delegation is comprised of one member from
each party in Parliament and is headed by Nazif Topaloglu of the
Democratic Left Party (DSP). /Turkish Daily News/
[15] COALITION CLEARS KORAY AYDIN
Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) member Koray
Aydin, who was compelled to resign as Minister of Public Works and
Housing after a corruption scandal , has had his resignation as a
Parliament deputy rejected by the coalition members. Despite Aydin's
resignation on Sept. 5, this action was voted on by Parliament a full
two months later. The Constitution states that Parliament must approve
of a deputy's resignation in order for it to be valid. The coalition
parties all voted to reject his resignation. MHP leader Devlet Bahceli
and Motherland Party (ANAP) leader Mesut Yilmaz did not vote, but
Democratic Left Party (DSP) leader and Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit
did, voting against. /Turkish Daily News/
[16] TURKEY SEES SHARP BOOST IN TOURISM INCOME
According to the Organisation for European
Cooperation and Development (OECD) S�NCE 1992 Turkey has seen its
revenues from tourism skyrocket 37.9%. This increase means that Turkey
is now among the world's top 10 countries in terms of tourism
revenues./Cumhuriyet/
[17] FEMALE MANAGERS TO MEET IN ISTANBUL
The Fourth Eurasian Summit starting today in
Istanbul includes a "World Female Managers Forum." The forum
will begin tomorrow afternoon and will run for a day- and-a-half. The
forum is being hosted by the Marmara Group Foundation's Human Rights
Platform, which was established in December 1999. Some 50 women from
30 countries are expected to participate in the meeting. /Turkish
Daily News/
[18] FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE
COLUMNS...
[19] THE CYPRUS IN THE CARIBBEAN BY OKTAY EKSI (HURRIYET)
Columnist Oktay Eksi writes on the Cyprus problem.
A summary of his column is as follows: "The Cyprus issue has
heated up again. It not only heated up, but when Foreign Minister
Ismail Cem told the Parliament Planning and Budgetary Commission that,
'Turkey may have to make a final decision . We must know that this
decision will lead to a high price. However, we have to make this
decision' then our relations with Greece got cooler. Cem was in Athens
yesterday. The climate of friendship between the two ministers gave
way to a more formal approach. Leaving this aside, I would like to
give exceprts from a reader's recent letter to the editor. He mentions
the resemblance between the situation of Haiti and the Dominican
Republics and the Cyprus problem. 'For several years these two states
lived together on an island called "Hispaniola". However,
the coexistence of these two communities of different origins was not
very sturdy, and did not last long. The Haitians were blacks who spoke
Creole. The Dominicans spoke Spanish and were mixed racially, or
mulatto. There were two separate communities, and they continually
complained the US and the UN that the other was trying to gain
territorial superiority. Although the leaders of the two countries
held talks in 1936 and agreed on some points, when the Dominican
dictator Trujillo killed 37,000 Haitians along the border, all
relations between the two states were cut off for a very long time. In
1966 they began talks again. 60 years had passed and two generations
had changed. Some of these talks were completed with success, but the
others failed. The situation in Cyprus resembles this.' Haiti and the
Dominican Republic are living as independent states on the same
island. No one remembers to ask them why there are two different
states on the island."
[20] THE INITIATIVE MUST BE OURS BY SAMI KOHEN (MILLIYET)
Columnist Sami Kohen comments on the recent
developments in Cyprus and different views on the issue. "Last
September former State Minister Mehmet Ali Irtemcelik put forth a new
idea which brought a new viewpoint to the solution of the Cyprus and
Aegean problems. He suggested that Turkey and Greece should discuss
the Cyprus deadlock in parallel negotiations along in a comprehensive
manner by Turkey and Greece. Such a method would lead to the softening
of the rigid approaches seen in Cyprus talks and to the bringing of
compromise solution formulas to the table. The relative stagnancy seen
in the Cypriot and Turco-Greek relations was been disrupted by
Ankara's recent harsh statements, and a period of new tension has
begun. Irtemcelik said that thus such a formula was needed now more
than ever. Diplomat turned politician Irtemcelik believes that ,
Turkey has to take the initative and play its cards right. This time
the Greek Cypriots may be the side rejecting the proposals. Touching
upon Greek Foreign Minister George Papandreou's statement that we
should act with vision for a common future, he says that although
these words were right they should be supported by compromise, not
left as mere breath. The presence of Foreign Minister Ismail Cem in
Athens these days must lead to the dispersing of clouds seen hovering
over relations between the two countries, and new steps must be taken
an the issues creating this unfavorable atmosphere. Athens and Ankara
must pave the way for a solution the critical stage reached in the
Cyprus problem. Otherwise, there may be a return to the old days in
Turco-Greek relations. At the moment, the EU is preparing to admit the
Greek Cypriot administation as if it represents the entire island,
with or without a solution. The reason is that the EU is following an
enlargement policy which includes Central and Eastern European
countries. As Turkey continues to say that the EU cannot admit the
island into the Union as is, the EU replies that if it doesn't, Greece
might use its veto and the enlargement policy would be derailed. But
if Greece did not insist on vetoing the enlargement policy, the EU
might freeze the fullmembership of the Greek Cypriot administration
for a while. This may give some time for new efforts in solving the
problem and a solution may be reached. Greece may accept such a
proposal if it sees that Turkey is ready to take a serious initiative.
If it does not, it will be the side rejecting the proposal."
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