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Turkish Press Review, 05-09-20
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
20.09.2005
FROM THE COLUMNS... FROM THE COLUMNS... FROM THE COLUMNS...
CONTENTS
[01] IN TRABZON, ERDOGAN CALLS FOR BROTHERHOOD
[02] PARLIAMENT DEBATES TERROR
[03] TURKS MAKE THEIR MARK ON GERMAN ELECTIONS
[04] FALLEN SOLDIERS� DAY COMMEMORATED
[05] COREPER REACHES CONSENSUS ON COUNTER-DECLARATION
[06] LAGENDIJK: �THE KURDS MUST FORGET OCALAN�
[07] GOVT PLANS ECONOMY SUMMIT
[08] FROM THE COLUMNS... FROM THE COLUMNS... FROM THE COLUMNS...
[09] COLORFUL SCENARIOS BY SAMI KOHEN (MILLIYET)
[01] IN TRABZON, ERDOGAN CALLS FOR BROTHERHOOD
Returning to Turkey after attending the United Nations World Summit in New
York last week and then paying a courtesy visit to the king of Saudi Arabia
on Sunday, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan yesterday traveled to the
Black Sea province of Trabzon. Erdogan, accompanied by a number of Cabinet
ministers, attended the opening of the new academic year at Karadeniz
Technical University. Addressing the ceremony, Erdogan said that none of
the recent provocations and incitements would be able to harm nation�s
unity or brotherhood. He called on people to focus on quality work,
solidarity, and following developments in the world. The premier then
proceeded to Rize. /Turkiye/
[02] PARLIAMENT DEBATES TERROR
During an extraordinary session yesterday pushed by the main opposition
Republican People�s Party (CHP), Parliament focused on recent terrorist
incidents in the country. After the quorum of 184 deputies was reached,
representatives of parties voiced their views on the issue. CHP leader
Deniz Baykal, Motherland Party (ANAP) leader Erkan Mumcu and True Path
Party (DYP) leader Mehmet Agar called on the ruling Justice and Development
Party (AKP) government to take more effective measures to counter rising
terror. Speaking on behalf of the government, Interior Minister Abdulkadir
Aksu said that Turkey is situated in a sensitive region. Stressing that the
nation had been fighting terrorism for a long time, Aksu said the
government was determined to continue its efforts to end incidents which
disturb the public and threaten the national unity. Following these debates,
a general debate on the issue was voted against and defeated by the AKP
deputies, and then Parliament went on recess to reconvene on Oct. 1, as
previously scheduled. In related news, after completing his contacts as
part of the United Nations World Summit in New York last week, and his
visit to Saudi Arabia over the weekend, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan
yesterday traveled to the Black Sea province of Trabzon while Parliament
was holding the extraordinary session. /Sabah/
[03] TURKS MAKE THEIR MARK ON GERMAN ELECTIONS
Turks made their presence felt both as voters and deputies during the
weekend elections in Germany, largely supporting leftist parties by casting
some 600,000 ballots. In addition, five Turkish candidates out of 26 who
ran in the elections won seats in the Bundestag. The recently established
Left Party won 51 seats in its first ever elections, including three
Turkish deputies. University student Sevim Dagdeviren, who was elected from
the Left Party, is one of the youngest deputies in the Parliament.
/Milliyet/
[04] FALLEN SOLDIERS� DAY COMMEMORATED
Messages marking Fallen Soldiers� Day were issued yesterday by President
Ahmet Necdet Sezer, Deputy Parliament Speaker Nevzat Pakdil, Prime Minister
Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and other political party leaders as well as Chief of
General Staff Gen. Hilmi Ozkok. The messages called for national unity in
the face of recent efforts to divide the nation. Ozkok underlined that the
Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) is standing guard against threats to national
unity and reactionary groups using Islam to manipulate people. /Milliyet/
[05] COREPER REACHES CONSENSUS ON COUNTER-DECLARATION
The European Union Permanent Representatives Committee (COREPER) in
Brussels yesterday reportedly reached a consensus on a draft counter-
declaration regarding Turkey�s declaration on the Cyprus issue. At the
urging of EU Term President Britain, COREPER worked hard to hammer out a
deal. The representatives, who had been stymied over disagreement
especially over recognition of Greek Cyprus, reached consensus over a text
reading as follows: �During its talks with the EU, Turkey shall normalize
its relations with all member states, including Greek Cyprus.� /Star/
[06] LAGENDIJK: �THE KURDS MUST FORGET OCALAN�
The European Parliament yesterday held a meeting on �The Kurdish Problem in
the Framework of the European Union.� Former deputies of Turkey�s Democracy
Party (DEP) Hatip Dicle, Selim Sadak and Orhan Dogan, as well as Joost
Lagendijk, co-chair of the Turkey-EU Joint Parliamentary Commission, and
writer Mehmet Uzun, who says he is on a terrorist PKK �hit list,� attended
the gathering. During the meeting, Lagendijk said that the Kurds had to
abandon rallying around terrorist leader Abdullah Ocalan and added, �The
Kurds must give up calling for Ocalan�s release. This just plays into the
hands of nationalists in Turkey.� /Aksam/
[07] GOVT PLANS ECONOMY SUMMIT
After the summer holiday, the government is getting prepared for a busy
fall. The economy and the budget will dominate the government�s program.
After his visit to the Black Sea region, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan will be briefed on the economy prior to Oct. 3, the date Turkey�s
European Union negotiations are set to start. State Minister Abdullatif
Sener, Economy Minister Ali Babacan, and Finance Minister Kemal Unakitan
will brief Erdogan on the 2006 budget. During the summit, meetings with
International Monetary Fund representatives and the selling of state
refining concern TUPRAS will also be evaluated. /Star/
[08] FROM THE COLUMNS... FROM THE COLUMNS... FROM THE COLUMNS...
[09] COLORFUL SCENARIOS BY SAMI KOHEN (MILLIYET)
Columnist Sami Kohen comments on the weekend elections in Germany. A
summary of his column is as follows:
�Sunday�s elections in Germany were full of contradictions and ambiguities.
The contradiction was that two great rivals were both winners and losers.
Christian Democratic Union (CDU) leader Angelina Merkel is now the leader
of the number one party. However, the CDU�s votes exceeded those of their
rival the Social Democrats by only a hair. Merkel was 20 points ahead of
her rival at the beginning of the campaign. She hoped that she could come
into power with the Liberals. However, the result fell short of her hopes.
Meanwhile, Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder made a great last-minute
breakthrough and all but caught up with Merkel. However, this didn�t
prevent the Social Democrats from falling to number two. Now Schroeder is
facing the risk of losing the chancellorship. As for ambiguities, the
breakdown of votes and the new composition of the Parliament make it
impossible to predict what sort of a coalition will be established and who
will become chancellor. The result is open to all sorts of coalition
scenarios. As the German parties are known by their colors, a �colorful
picture� is emerging! The most likely possibilities are as follows: (1)
�black-red�, that is, a grand coalition consisting of the Christian
Democrats and Social Democrats, (2) a �traffic light,� in other words, a
red-green-yellow (Social Democrats, Greens and Liberals) coalition or (3)
�Jamaica,� that is, a black-green-yellow coalition like the country�s flag
(Christian Democrats, Greens and Liberals). Speaking to Turkish journalists
yesterday in Istanbul, CDU political consultant Hans-Joachim Veen said that
it seems most likely that a grand coalition will be established. Now the
question is who will be the leader of the �black-red� coalition.
This means that Germany is entering an ambiguous period. In other words,
failing to establish the government in a short period of time would lock
both politics and the economy. Obviously, a government will be established
in Berlin one way or another. However, the question of how and under whose
leadership will occupy the people�s minds for a long time. Meanwhile,
Turkey is certainly glad with this result. In fact, Turkey is glad that
Merkel was unable to get the result she expected. However, Turkey�s
European Union bid didn�t dominate the elections and determine the results
as some thought. The heart of the elections was the economy and reform
program. This issue is dividing the German nation between the wish for
reform and concerns about change. Yes, Turkey is relieved that Merkel was
unable to triumph. Even if she becomes head of a grand coalition or another
government, she will have to reach a consensus on a common road with her
coalition partners. In this respect, for example, she won�t insist on a
�privileged partnership� for Turkey in the EU. I asked Veen if this means
that the issue of privileged membership won�t be discussed, and he said
yes. In addition, if a grand coalition is established and the Social
Democrats take the Foreign Ministry, this issue would be in the background.
That�s why a Merkel chancellorship in the new conditions created by the
election shouldn�t worry us so much.�
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