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Turkish Press Review, 05-11-28
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
28.11.2005
FROM THE COLUMNS�FROM THE COLUMNS�FROM THE COLUMNS
CONTENTS
[01] ERDOGAN URGES WORLD COUNTRIES TO STAND UNITED AGAINST TERRORISM
[02] ERDOGAN ATTENDS EU-MEDITERRANEAN SUMMIT
[03] ARINC CALLS ON PARLIAMENTS TO COOPERATE AGAINST TERRORISM
[04] IRANIAN FM TO VISIT TURKEY
[05] RAUF DENKTAS: �THE EU IS IMPOSING A CYPRUS CONDITION�
[06] BAYKAL: �ROJ-TV IS ACTIVE IN TURKEY�
[07] TURKEY-EU JJC MEETING TO START TODAY IN BRUSSELS
[08] TEACHERS DEMONSTRATE FOR BETTER CONDITIONS
[09] FROM THE COLUMNS�FROM THE COLUMNS�FROM THE COLUMNS
[10] DEMOCRACY AND THE ECONOMY BY ERDAL SAFAK (SABAH)
[01] ERDOGAN URGES WORLD COUNTRIES TO STAND UNITED AGAINST TERRORISM
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan yesterday delivered a speech at the
opening of the first meeting of the high-level group formed under the
Alliance of Civilizations Project in Mallorca, Spain. Erdogan said that
during his government�s three years in office, he had always underlined the
need for an alliance of civilizations. Stressing that no religion or
culture could be represented as a reason for violence and terrorism,
Erdogan stated that it had no particular religion, language, country, race
or nation. He also urged world countries to take concrete steps to overcome
terrorism. /Turkiye/
[02] ERDOGAN ATTENDS EU-MEDITERRANEAN SUMMIT
The 10th European Union-Mediterranean Summit yesterday began in Barcelona,
Spain yesterday with the participation of leaders and organizations from 40
countries. On the first day of the gathering, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan held bilateral meetings with world leaders. Following a meeting
with new German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Erdogan said that Turkey and
Germany would continue their cooperation both economically and politically
in the days to come. He added that he had invited Merkel to visit Turkey to
develop relations. For her part, Merkel
stated that they had taken up economic cooperation and the issue of the
integration of Turks living in Germany, adding that she welcomed Erdogan�s
invitation to Turkey. Furthermore, Erdogan met with Spanish Premier Jose
Luis Rodriguez Zapatero. The two leaders reportedly focused on the Cyprus
issue. Zapatero is expected to visit Turkey next spring to boost bilateral
economic and trade relations. Erdogan then held talks with Catalan
Autonomous Administration leader Pasquel Maragall. /Star/
[03] ARINC CALLS ON PARLIAMENTS TO COOPERATE AGAINST TERRORISM
Parliament Speaker Bulent Arinc yesterday attended the Fifth Euro-
Mediterranean Parliamentary Assembly meeting in Barcelona. Speaking at the
gathering, Arinc said that every country should decide on a single,
comprehensive definition of terrorism in order to better coordinate the
fight against it. He added that parliaments needed to have a more
influential political mission in relations between different countries.
/Milliyet/
[04] IRANIAN FM TO VISIT TURKEY
Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki is set to pay a one-day working
visit to Turkey on Wednesday. His visit will be the first high-level visit
from Iran since conservative leader Mahmod Ahmadinejad�s election there as
president. He is expected to be received by President Ahmet Necdet Sezer
and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and hold talks with his Turkish
counterpart Abdullah Gul to discuss economic, political and cultural
relations. /Star/
[05] RAUF DENKTAS: �THE EU IS IMPOSING A CYPRUS CONDITION�
Speaking at a conference on �Turkish-Greek Relations and Cyprus� in Aydin
yesterday, former Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) President Rauf
Denktas warned, �If Turkey recognizes the Greek Cypriot administration in
the way the European Union wants it to and opens up its harbors, the TRNC
will become a virtual state. We might be removed from there in short
order.� Stating that Turkey deserves EU membership and has met the
Copenhagen criteria, Denktas said that the EU was always stipulating new
conditions to Turkey. �What are the mines, pitfalls and dangers on the EU
path?� Denktas asked. �When we talk about this, the press never reports it.
It paints a rosy picture to the nation. Even if it has no right, the EU is
stipulating a Cyprus condition to Turkey, as if Turkey had created the
Cyprus issue. It wants Turkey to recognize the Greek Cypriot administration
as a legal government and apply the additional Customs Union protocol on
the Greek Cypriots as well. This means ignoring the 1960 treaties which
made Turkey a guarantor for Cyprus.� /Cumhuriyet/
[06] BAYKAL: �ROJ-TV IS ACTIVE IN TURKEY�
Opposition Republican People�s Party (CHP) leader Deniz Baykal said over
the weekend the fact that Danish-based Roj-TV, which is linked to the
terrorist PKK, is active in Turkey was more important than a deputy giving
an interview to it. Speaking to journalists, Baykal said that CHP Deputy
from Hakkari Esat Canan being interviewed on Roj-TV showed that the channel
is active both in Denmark and Turkey. Turkey says Roj-TV is a mouthpiece
for the outlawed PKK, which is designated a terrorist group not only by
Turkey but also by the United States and the European Union, and is
pressing Denmark to close it. Baykal said the government needs to tackle
the issue and take measures against Roj-TV. /Turkish Daily News/
[07] TURKEY-EU JJC MEETING TO START TODAY IN BRUSSELS
The Turkey-EU Joint Consultation Committee�s (JCC) 20th meeting, where
Turkey�s accession talks will be discussed in detail, will be held in
Brussels today and tomorrow. The Turkish side will be represented by a
large delegation of members of employers and employee trade unions. Turkish
Union of Chambers and Commodities Exchanges (TOBB) President Rifat
Hisarciklioglu is scheduled to have a private talk with EU Commissioner for
Enlargement Olli Rehn on the second day of the gathering. /The New
Anatolian/
[08] TEACHERS DEMONSTRATE FOR BETTER CONDITIONS
Thousands of teachers from across the country held demonstrations in Ankara
over the weekend. Teachers under the banner of the Education Personnel
Labor Union (Egitim-Sen) demonstrated for better conditions and clashed
with police, leaving 17 injured. Commenting on the incidents, Education
Minister Huseyin Celik admitted that teachers� wages were low, but added
that protests would not lead to any improvement. /Star/
[09] FROM THE COLUMNS�FROM THE COLUMNS�FROM THE COLUMNS
[10] DEMOCRACY AND THE ECONOMY BY ERDAL SAFAK (SABAH)
Columnist Erdal Safak comments on the relationship between democracy and
the economy. A summary of his column is as follows:
�In Sabah�s supplement to commemorate its 20th anniversary, Prime Minister
Recep Tayyip Erdogan wrote, �Reforms, particularly economic openings,
weren�t supported by structural reforms in the 1990s.� Isn�t this the
reason behind the crises we have suffered? Erdogan tried to be objective in
this article and set aside his political concerns. The article also
includes very important reminders and certain observations which make us
unhappy when looking at the past. For example, Erdogan wrote, �The world�s
closed regimes started to follow a policy of openness in the 1980s and
became successful, whereas Turkey squandered the 1990s. Obviously, the
impact of this process on our nation was very painful.� He means the
following: after the Berlin Wall collapsed in 1989 and Communism ended in
Europe, the former Eastern Bloc countries started to rapidly integrate into
the world. While all the members of former Warsaw Pact began to move to
liberal economies, Turkey, for example, was 10 years ahead of them in
privatization. Today, all of those countries have completed their
privatization, but Turkey is only half finished. It was a waste of time and
many natural resources were wasted.
The sentence about structural reforms written by Erdogan made me think of
March 1997. At that time, international rating agencies were lowering
Turkey�s credit rating. They based this on such negative factors as our
growing budget deficit and the rising ratio of debt payments to the gross
national product (GNP). The Central Bank chairman of the time, Gazi Ercel,
said in March 1997, �No, the fall in our rating comes not from these
developments, but from the fact that there�s nothing to make us hopeful for
structural reforms.� Then he listed the steps he expected from Turkey:
expanding the tax base, speeding up privatization, radical reform to social
security and the retirement system, transparency and most importantly,
democratic stability. However, at that time Turkey couldn�t listen to the
warnings made by credit rating agencies and Ercel, because tanks were
hitting the wall of democracy in the process of Feb. 28 [the 1997 so-called
postmodern coup]. We paid the price for this during the economic crisis of
February 2001, that is, four years later. What�s more painful is that
during that 20-year period Turkey couldn�t make the connection between good
governance and human rights. If our politicians had seen that transparency
is a requirement of a strong economy and that it could be ensured by the
independence of the judiciary, the rule of law, human rights and democracy,
and then done what was necessary at the time of Sabah�s establishment,
would the terrorist PKK and separatist terrorism exist today? Erdogan is
right: Democracy is a prerequisite for progress.�
ARCHIVE
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