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Turkish Press Review, 08-04-14Turkish Press Review Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: Turkish Directorate General of Press and Information <http://www.byegm.gov.tr>Summary of the political and economic news in the Turkish press this morning14.04.2008FROM THE COLUMNS…FROM THE COLUMNS…FROM THE COLUMNSCONTENTS
[01] PM ERDOGAN ATTENDS DOHA FORUM ON DEMOCRACY, DEVELOPMENT, AND FREE TRADEPrime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan yesterday went to Qatar, to attend the Eighth Doha Forum on Democracy, Development, and Free Trade as an honored guest. Speaking at the forum, Erdogan said that Turkey's democratic experience has a long history. Stressing that the process of democratization isn't easy, he added, "Sometimes we have faced tough times in democratization, but we have never made concessions." Saying that democracy and the economy are interconnected, he added, "As Turkey makes progress in democracy, it will also continue to develop economically." Speaking about the Alliance of Civilizations project, he added, "It a period in which Islamophobia has recently been spread widely and made some countries feel paranoia, Turkey is working to refute the clash of civilizations." Erdogan also met with Qatari Emir Khalifa Al Thani. /Sabah/[02] ERDOGAN: "ONLY IN BAYKAL'S MIND IS THERE A PROBLEM WITH SECULARISM"At the weekend youth branches congress of the ruling Justice and Development Party in Ankara, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan criticized main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Deniz Baykal. He said that outside of Baykal's condescending view, the nation doesn't have a problem with secularism. "Nobody in Turkey wants secularism put to a vote," he added. /Aksam/[03] PARLIAMENT SPEAKER TOPTAN DUE IN SLOVENIAParliament Speaker Koksal Toptan will visit Ljubljana today as the guest of his Slovenian counterpart France Cukjati. On Wednesday, Toptan will proceed to Germany to attend a Turkish night sponsored by the State Parliament of North Rhine Westfalia. /Cumhuriyet/[04] CHANGES TO ARTICLE 301 FACE DEBATE IN PARLIAMENTJustice Minister Mehmet Ali Sahin yesterday said proposed changes to Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK) would be debated by Parliament's Justice Commission this week. Asked about criticisms of a separate proposal under which only the president could file a case to close a political party, so as to make closures harder, Sahin said several Western countries have the same policy. In addition, the full Parliament will continue three weeks of debates on the social security bill before its expected passage later this week. /Turkiye/[05] BUYUKANIT VISITING EGYPT THIS WEEKChief of General Staff Gen. Yasar Buyukanit today is set to travel to Cairo, Egypt today a four-day official visit. Buyukanit will meet with his Egyptian counterpart Mohamed Hussein Tantawi Soliman and also visit the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, the tomb of late Egyptian leader Anwar Sadat, and the Turkish Soldiers' Cemetery. /Sabah/[06] WILSON PRAISES TURKISH INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITIES AHEAD OF CONFERENCEA three-day trade conference sponsored by US and Turkish companies and business institutions and the US Commerce Department is set to begin today in Istanbul. Nearly 60 US companies are expected to attend the Trade Winds Europe conference. Before the event, US Ambassador to Ankara Ross Wilson wrote an article for Commercial News USA magazine saying that Turkey's economy has grown steadily and remarkably for the last six years thanks to government reforms. "Turkey's commitment to the reform process and political stability make it a very important economic magnet that has drawn approximately $50 worth of foreign capital for the last three years," he wrote. Wilson also stressed that Turkey's growing prosperity is raising its demand for products, services and business partners from the US. On the last day of the conference, Turkish and US companies will hold bilateral talks to evaluate investment and cooperation opportunities. /Hurriyet/[07] IRAN'S DEPUTY INTERIOR MINISTER TO VISIT ANKARAAbbas Mohtaj, Iran's deputy interior minister in charge of security, is expected to pay a visit Turkey tomorrow or Wednesday to discuss joint military operation possibilities against the terrorist PKK and its Iranian branch PJAK. Mohtaj's delegation will meet with a group of top security officials led by Interior Ministry Undersecretary Osman Gunes. One Turkish official said that Turkey and Iran have had significant security cooperation against the terrorist PKK for four years now, adding that 150 Turkish members of the terrorist group have been caught and delivered to Turkey by Iranian security forces. /Hurriyet/[08] MURDER OF ITALIAN ARTIST SPARKS SORROW, CONDEMNATIONThe murder in Turkey of an Italian artist who was traveling to promote peace has produced widespread outrage and sorrow. Speaking to reporters, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan condemned the murder of Giuseppina Pasqualino di Marineo, 33, also known as Pippa Bacca. "I offer my condolences to her family and to the Italian people," he said, adding that the murderer will be punished in line with Turkish law. /All Papers/[09] ISTANBUL WINS BID TO HOST 2012 SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPTurkey will host a World Championship in swimming for the first time in history, after the sport's ruling body, the International Swimming Federation (FINA), declared Saturday that Istanbul will stage the 2012 world short course championships. Turkey will also host the European short course championships in 2009 as well, and those two events could play important roles in increasing interest in swimming in Turkey. The events will be held at the 17,000-capacity Sinan Erdem Sports Hall in Atakoy, which is still under construction. /Turkish Daily News/FROM THE COLUMNS…FROM THE COLUMNS…FROM THE COLUMNS [10] THE BARROSO SHOWBY TUFAN TURENC (HURRIYET)Columnist Tufan Turenc comments on European Commission head Jose Manuel Barroso's visit to Ankara last week. A summary of his column is as follows: "European Commission head Jose Manuel Barroso was in Ankara week with EU Commissioner for Enlargement Olli Rehn, and his statements were full of hypocrisy and intimidation. He looked at us in the eye and lied about our EU membership, not caring that he was dragging Turkey into a tight spot on the issue. But the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) liked his statements, because it isn't interested in our EU membership. It only cared about his signaling that the EU supports us. So Barroso behaved like an actor and did what the AKP wanted. He gave the Constitutional Court the message that it shouldn't close the AKP, implying that otherwise relations with EU might be cut off. What else could he do? What's more, he gave certain messages to strengthen the AKP's hand on the secularism and headscarf issues. He said the EU can't take a stance on the headscarf issue or impose standards, because each woman's ability to make her own choice is one of the Union's basic principles. Barroso thinks that Turkish women cover their heads of their free will, but he's wrong. He knows nothing about the pressure from families, neighborhoods and the environment, directions from religious sects, and the AKP's encouragement. He doesn't know that all this begins when girls are only 5 or 6 years old. I wish somebody had taken Barroso and Rehn to outlying areas to show them how people take little girls to Koran courses and deny their freedom to play. If Barroso had learned the truth, he could see how the EU's basic principle of protecting individuals' freedom against social pressures was being violated by the ruling AKP. Barroso said that the main principle was democratic secularism �" that is, separating the state from religious affairs �" and so could have understood that actually this is the critical problem in Turkey, and realized that the ruling AKP, which always quarrels with the regime, will do anything to make religion dominate the state. If we look at pictures of the lunch given by Foreign Minister Ali Babacan in Barroso's honor, certain incidents become clearer. The exchange of information at these tables weighed large. Four journalists were invited, and what they said exceeded the AKP's expectations: 'Don't worry, because secularism in Turkey isn't in danger, there's no interference in social life, the headscarf issue is completely an issue of individual freedom, the military-bureaucratic oligarchy and their supporters are pressuring the democratic actors, and they are totally against the EU.' When Barroso, Rehn and others come to Turkey, they usually prefer meeting with the people who give the same messages, because such information and messages suit them. Afterwards, when they get back to Europe, they say, 'Islam and secularism and democracy can't coexist, a woman's wearing a headscarf is against our culture, and due to its different culture, EU membership for Turkey can never happen." [11] ENDTurkish Press Review Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |
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