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Turkish Press Review, 04-04-09
From: Turkish Directorate General of Press and Information <http://www.byegm.gov.tr>
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Summary of the political and economic
news in the Turkish press this morning
09.04.2004
ERDOGAN VISITS BUSINESS MOGUL
SABANCI
GUL: �ANNAN�S PLAN SHOULD BE
EXAMINED CAREFULLY�
ARINC MEETS SYRIAN PRESIDENT
AL-ASSAD
GUL, CICEK CRITICIZE FRENCH
FM�S REMARKS ON TURKEY�S EU BID
CITING �ADMINISTRATIVE
DEFICIENCIES,� CHP DEPUTIES CALL FOR AN
EXTRAORDINARY GENERAL ASSEMBLY
DENKTAS: �SINCE BOTH
PAPADOPOULOS AND I OPPOSE THE PLAN, THE UN SHOULD
POSTPONE REFERENDUMS�
ANNAN �DISAPPOINTED� WITH
PAPADOPOULOS� OPPOSITION TO UN CYPRUS PLAN
TALAT: �IF TURKISH CYPRIOTS
REJECT THE UN CYPRUS PLAN, IT COULD HURT ANKARA�S
EU BID�
FROM THE COLUMNS � FROM THE
COLUMNS � FROM THE COLUMNS
BRZEZINSKI, THE EU, AND
TURKEY
BY DERYA SAZAK (MILLIYET)
CONTENTS
[01] ERDOGAN VISITS BUSINESS MOGUL
SABANCI
[02] GUL: �ANNAN�S PLAN SHOULD BE
EXAMINED CAREFULLY�
[03] ARINC MEETS SYRIAN PRESIDENT AL-ASSAD
[04] GUL, CICEK CRITICIZE FRENCH FM�S
REMARKS ON TURKEY�S EU BID
[05] CITING �ADMINISTRATIVE
DEFICIENCIES,� CHP DEPUTIES CALL FOR AN
EXTRAORDINARY GENERAL ASSEMBLY
[06] DENKTAS: �SINCE BOTH PAPADOPOULOS
AND I OPPOSE THE PLAN, THE UN SHOULD POSTPONE
REFERENDUMS�
[07] ANNAN �DISAPPOINTED� WITH
PAPADOPOULOS� OPPOSITION TO UN CYPRUS PLAN
[08] TALAT: �IF TURKISH CYPRIOTS
REJECT THE UN CYPRUS PLAN, IT COULD HURT ANKARA�S
EU BID�
[09] FROM THE COLUMNS � FROM THE
COLUMNS � FROM THE COLUMNS
[10] BRZEZINSKI, THE EU, AND TURKEY
BY DERYA SAZAK (MILLIYET)
[01] ERDOGAN VISITS BUSINESS MOGUL
SABANCI
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan yesterday
visited Sabanci Company CEO Sakip Sabanci, who
since last week has been undergoing treatment at
an Istanbul hospital for the flu. After his visit,
Erdogan told reporters that Sabanci was in good
condition. �We also discussed recent developments
on the Cyprus issue and the economy,� said the
premier. Tomorrow, Erdogan is set to travel to
Japan to pay a four-day official visit. /Sabah/
[02] GUL: �ANNAN�S PLAN SHOULD BE
EXAMINED CAREFULLY�
Speaking to reporters yesterday, Foreign
Minister Abdullah Gul called on everybody to
carefully examine UN Secretary-General Kofi
Annan�s Cyprus plan, free from domestic political
concerns, before reaching any decision. Commenting
on recent public charges that Annan�s plan was
worse than the 1920 Treaty of Sevres, which
proposed Turkey�s breakup, Gul said that those
making such claims had read carefully neither the
treaty nor the plan. Gul said that the plan should
be examined by qualified experts, then a decision
should be made. �If they think that in the future
we could get a better deal, then they can reject
the plan, but if they think that in future we
won�t get another such opportunity, then they
should accept it,� added the foreign minister. /Turkiye/
[03] ARINC MEETS SYRIAN PRESIDENT AL-ASSAD
Parliament Speaker Bulent Arinc, who is
currently paying an official visit to Syria,
yesterday met with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
After their meeting, Arinc said that the two had
exchanged views on bilateral and regional issues.
He added that Assad�s recent visit to Turkey was a
milestone between the two countries, and that
bilateral relations were going very well. /Turkiye/
[04] GUL, CICEK CRITICIZE FRENCH FM�S
REMARKS ON TURKEY�S EU BID
Justice Minister Cemil Cicek yesterday
criticized French Foreign Minister Michel Barnier,
who said on Wednesday that his government was
opposed to Turkey�s European Union membership
�under current circumstances,� charging that
Barnier had said this due to domestic political
concerns. Cicek added that he hoped Barnier�s
views on Turkey�s EU bid would change after this
June�s European Parliament elections. Also
commenting on Barnier�s remarks, which said Ankara
had not met the membership criteria, Foreign
Minister Abdullah Gul said that there were still
things Turkey would do to gain EU membership.
�People should speak up after we fulfill our
commitments and the EU publishes its [fall]
progress report,� added Gul, implying that
Barnier�s statements had been premature. In
related news, Former German Defense Minister
Volker Ruhe said yesterday that any country trying
to block Turkey�s EU membership was making a
strategic mistake. /Aksam/
[05] CITING �ADMINISTRATIVE
DEFICIENCIES,� CHP DEPUTIES CALL FOR AN
EXTRAORDINARY GENERAL ASSEMBLY
Nine deputies from the main opposition
Republican People�s Party (CHP) yesterday issued a
declaration urging the chairman or Party Assembly
to call an extraordinary assembly meeting. The
declaration stated that the party faithful and
members of the public who look to the CHP for hope
had been greatly disappointed by the recent local
election results, which exposed �structural and
administrational deficiencies� in the party. �We
call for an extraordinary assembly meeting to
address these shortcomings,� said the deputies in
their declaration. In related news, junior
opposition True Path Party (DYP) leader Mehmet
Agar is also evaluating the election results
through meetings with provincial party chairmen
and members of the General Administrative Board. /Hurriyet/
[06] DENKTAS: �SINCE BOTH PAPADOPOULOS
AND I OPPOSE THE PLAN, THE UN SHOULD POSTPONE
REFERENDUMS�
Speaking to reporters yesterday, Turkish
Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) President Rauf
Denktas said that since both he and Greek Cypriot
leader Tassos Papadopoulos are opposed to the
United Nations Cyprus plan, the UN should re-evaluate
the issue and postpone referendums scheduled for
April 24. �I think this is the end of the process,�
said Denktas. �Why are they holding referendums?
Both Papadopoulos and I have decided not to sign
the plan.� Asked whether the referendums could be
postponed, Denktas said, �If the UN acts
reasonably, it will postpone the referendums and
continue the negotiating process.� /Aksam/
[07] ANNAN �DISAPPOINTED� WITH
PAPADOPOULOS� OPPOSITION TO UN CYPRUS PLAN
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan released a
statement yesterday expressing his
�disappointment� with Greek Cypriot Tassos
Papadopoulos� stand against the UN Cyprus plan. "The
secretary-general has welcomed the fact that a
number of political leaders on both sides in
Cyprus, as well as in Greece and Turkey, appear to
be moving in the direction of encouraging the
people to vote to build a common future in Cyprus
on the basis of the plan that he finalized on 31
March 2004 at the invitation of the parties," read
the statement. "In this regard, he has received
from the guarantors the assurances that were asked
of them regarding the holding of the referenda and
the ratification of the treaty prior to signature
and to entry into force of the settlement ... The
secretary-general is disappointed to learn that Mr.
Tassos Papadopoulos has now called for rejection
of the plan. The secretary-general fully respects
the wishes of the people and will not interfere in
their decision. However, he reiterates that
Cypriots have a unique opportunity to reunite
their country, and he hopes that they will seize
it while it is before them." /Aksam/
[08] TALAT: �IF TURKISH CYPRIOTS
REJECT THE UN CYPRUS PLAN, IT COULD HURT ANKARA�S
EU BID�
Speaking at an Istanbul Chamber of Trade (ISO)
meeting yesterday, Turkish Republic of Northern
Cyprus (TRNC) Prime Minister Mehmet Ali Talat
warned that if Turkish Cypriots reject the UN
Cyprus plan at a referendum scheduled for April
24, then this could also damage Ankara�s European
Union membership bid by derailing the possible
beginning of its accession talks next year. Asked
about TRNC President Rauf Denktas�s stance on the
referendum, Talat said that he had difficulty
understanding the president. Later, appearing on
television, Talat stated that Denktas could resign
if the Turkish Cypriots accept the UN plan in the
referendum. /Cumhuriyet/
[09] FROM THE COLUMNS � FROM THE
COLUMNS � FROM THE COLUMNS
[10] BRZEZINSKI, THE EU, AND TURKEY
BY DERYA SAZAK (MILLIYET)
Columnist Derya Sazak comments on Turkey�s EU
membership bid. A summary of his column is as
follows:
�The United States is starting the day with its
�Vietnam Nightmare.� It�s not only recent
developments that are overshadowing President
Bush�s re-election hopes; the Congress�
investigation of pre-September 11 intelligence
failures is also putting pressure on the
government.
Renowned strategist and former National
Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski brings an
intellectual viewpoint to the US� global role. In
his new book �The Choice: Global Domination or
Global Leadership,� Brzezinski examines the
effects of the chaos caused by US regional allies�
inability to control their areas of the world due
to internal problems. His book also contains
important views on Turkey�s role. Brzezinski is
seeking answers to the following question: �Would
the chances of Turkey becoming an Islamic state
rise if the EU shuts its doors to Turkey?� After
stressing the rise in the strategic role of Turkey,
a close US close ally for half a century, after it
became a model for the modernization of ex-Soviet
Central Asian republics, Brzezinski discusses
Turkey�s European Union membership process: �But
Turkey�s regional role is limited by two internal
problems: one, the future of Ataturk�s legacy and
two, the Kurdish problem. Will Turkey, whose
population is overwhelmingly Muslim, succeed in
becoming a secular European state?� Brzezinski
says that Turkey has made important strides on its
path to modernization and warns that if European
leaders embrace Turkey�s membership even
reluctantly, the prospect of Turkey becoming a
theocratic Islamic state would rise, jeopardizing
the EU�s own security in the process. According to
Brzezinski, Europe will probably delay its word on
opening its doors to Turkeys, which will in turn
exacerbate the possibility of Turkey becoming an
Islamic state and thus pose potential problems in
southern Europe. The EU�s choice on Turkey at the
end of this year will also have an effect on
global balances.�
ARCHIVE
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