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Turkish Press Review, 09-01-30
From: Turkish Directorate General of Press and Information <http://www.byegm.gov.tr>
Summary of the political and economic
news in the Turkish press this morning
30.01.2009
CONTENTS
[01] PM ERDOGAN HOLDS BILATERAL TALKS IN DAVOS
[02] IN DAVOS, ERDOGAN REITERATES COMMITMENT TO EU ACCESSION GOAL
[03] ERDOGAN: "MIDEAST PEACE TALKS SHOULD INCLUDE ALL PALESTINIAN GROUPS"
[04] MHP'S BAHCELI: "GUL'S SUMMIT WAS BENEFICIAL"
[05] TUZMEN CALLS INCREASING TRADE TIES BEST WAY TO OVERCOME GLOBAL ECONOMIC CRISIS
[06] TURKEY, EGYPT SIGN PARLIAMENTARY PROTOCOL
[01] PM ERDOGAN HOLDS BILATERAL TALKS IN DAVOS
At the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Prime Minister Recep
Tayyip Erdogan yesterday attended a panel session with Azeri President
Ilham Aliyev, Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki and Armenian
Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian also in attendance. Speaking at the
gathering, Erdogan proposed an enhanced Caucasus platform to contribute to
peace in the region. "Turkey's aim is to contribute to peace, cooperation
and stability in the region," he added. Afterwards, Erdogan met with
Armenian President Serzh Sarksian for about 20 minutes. Erdogan also held
bilateral talks with his Albanian and Russian counterparts Sali Berisha and
Vladimir Putin, as well as Colombian President Alvaro Uribe Velez. Foreign
Minister Ali Babacan also attended the Putin meeting. "Cooperation between
Turkey and Russia is the key to solving our problems," Putin said
afterwards. He expressed his pleasure at bilateral relations between Turkey
and Russia, saying, "Economic and trade relations have been gradually
rising despite the global crises." Erdogan said that noticeable progress in
bilateral ties has been seen over the last six years. /Star/
[02] IN DAVOS, ERDOGAN REITERATES COMMITMENT TO EU ACCESSION GOAL
Turkey's European Union accession talks have not slowed down, Prime
Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared yesterday. Speaking at a panel on
Central Asia at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Erdogan
said that talks with the Union towards full membership are continuing and
Ankara recently appointed a state minister devoted exclusively to Turkish-
EU relations. Erdogan said Turkey would further improve its ties with the
EU and focus more on its accession talks. Also attending the panel were
Azeri President Ilham Aliyev, Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki,
and Armenian Foreign Minister Eduard Nalbandian. Touching on Turkey's
problems with Armenia, Erdogan said both countries should take bold steps
to boost stability in the region. Stating that the biggest challenge is the
Armenian diaspora, Erdogan said Turkey wants to normalize its relations
with Armenia as soon as possible. /Turkiye/
[03] ERDOGAN: "MIDEAST PEACE TALKS SHOULD INCLUDE ALL PALESTINIAN GROUPS"
Hamas, the party that won the elections in Gaza, should be invited to the
table for Mideast peace talks, said Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan
yesterday. He made the remarks at a panel on Gaza at the World Economic
Forum in Davos, Switzerland alongside UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon,
Israeli President Shimon Peres, and Arab League Secretary General Amr
Moussa. Saying that peace negotiations with only one Palestinian side is
fruitless, Erdogan told the panel, "Nothing can be achieved by only taking
into consideration Fatah and leaving others out of the process." Touching
on the humanitarian plight of the Gazans due to the recent Israeli attacks,
Erdogan said, "It makes no difference to me when a person is facing cruelty
whether he is Christian, Jew, or Muslim. What's important for me is
humanity." He added, "Billions of dollars couldn't make up for the losses
in Gaza. Gaza has collapsed on top of its people, who have no way to
develop economically." Peace in the Middle East is a must for global peace,
Erdogan also said. For his part, Peres gave a spirited defense of his
country's attacks on Gaza, with a raised voice and pointed finger, and
asked what Erdogan would do if Turkey were in Israel's shoes. When Erdogan
was trying to respond, the moderator cut him off and ended the discussion.
"I don't think I will come back to Davos, because you don't let me speak,"
the premier protested, standing up and walking out of the panel. Later, at
a joint press conference with Forum Chairman Claus Schwab, Erdogan
explained that he had been upset with both the moderator of the debate and
Peres' manner. "My reaction was directed at the moderator," he said. "I
think that if we have moderation like this, we won't really get out of
Davos what we all come here to get out of Davos, and it will cast a shadow
over efforts to reach peace." He added, "President Peres was speaking to
the prime minister of Turkey �" I am not just some leader of some group or
tribe, so he should have addressed me accordingly." In an earlier panel
discussion, Erdogan had said, "We took a unique stance on the Gaza
conflict. I am a prime minister who declared anti-Semitism a crime against
humanity. Today I continue to say the same thing. But I condemned the
Israeli government for what they did in Gaza. I also condemned the
international community's lack of sympathy for Gaza. All countries took
immediate action during the (last year's) Georgian conflict. But they
failed to intervene in Gaza, and instead waited for nearly three weeks.
More than 1,200 civilians died and about 5,000 were injured. Now a truce
has been declared. We hope that the parties will keep it in an effort to
ensure peace in the Middle East." He also said Turkey is determined to
contribute to peace in the region. Erdogan told a press conference after
his arrival in Istanbul that the Israeli president called him and said, "He
is very sorry for this incident." Peres also said that Turkish-Israeli
bilateral relations should continue as in previous years. /Turkiye-Sabah/
ERDOGAN HOPEFUL ABOUT A NEW STANDBY AGREEMENT WITH IMF
On the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Prime Minister Recep
Tayyip Erdogan met on Wednesday with the International Monetary Fund First
Deputy Managing Director John Lipsky. Commenting on the meeting yesterday,
Premier Erdogan said that Turkey's comprehensive talks with the Fund on a
possible standby deal would continue. "I believe the meeting was quite
fruitful. There was an approach towards a solution. I hope we will reach a
positive conclusion soon," he said. Asked about the meeting, State Minister
for the Economy Mehmet Simsek said, "We have recorded significant progress
and talks with the Fund will continue." Also the IMF spokesman David Hawley
characterized the meeting as fruitful. He said that an IMF delegation was
expected to leave for Turkey next month to conclude talks on the agreement.
Hawley added that medium-term financial reform would be high on agenda of
talks of the delegation in Ankara. Analysts are claiming that Turkey is
insisting on measures to reinvigorate the domestic economy, whereas the IMF
wants a more strictly disciplined fiscal policy and more primary surplus.
Turkey objects to these impositions on the grounds that the IMF demands
will cause further contraction in the economy at a time when it needs a way
out from an approaching recession. In related news, "Problems with the
global economy should be revised and be supervised with a news global
mechanism," Foreign Minister Ali Babacan told a TV interview in Davos
yesterday. "It has to be understood here that a new global architecture has
to be established to regulate and supervise global economic matters. No
country, including the US, can be excluded from this regulation and
supervision mechanism. Seeing that a serious problem in one country is
affecting all the open economies of the world, then no country should say
'This is my own business and no one can interfere.' Since one fault in one
country has affected everyone, then the whole world has the right to deal
with this fault," he said. /Sabah/
[04] MHP'S BAHCELI: "GUL'S SUMMIT WAS BENEFICIAL"
Opposition Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahceli yesterday
praised last week's luncheon summit of the heads of the legislative,
executive and judicial branches hosted by President Abdullah Gul. "If
tension between institutions becomes an issue, the president bringing
together them together does no harm, but on the contrary benefits Turkey,"
he said "Political institutions should have consensus on Turkey's basic
issues and problems regarding the country's continuation." /Akşam/
[05] TUZMEN CALLS INCREASING TRADE TIES BEST WAY TO OVERCOME GLOBAL
ECONOMIC CRISIS
Speaking at a seminar meeting on Turkish-Iranian trade ties and economic
cooperation in Iran's Mashhad city as part of an official visit to Iran
with a large business delegation, State Minister for Foreign Trade Kursad
Tuzmen said yesterday that he saw increasing bilateral trade ties and
investments as the best way out of the ongoing global economic crisis. "We
will increase our trade and industrial investments, this is the best way to
overcome the global crisis," he said. Tuzmen said that Mashhad was an ideal
place for Turkish businessmen to enter Iranian and Asian markets, and also
said that Turkey wanted to create a single economic zone with Iran.
Underlining that Turkish construction companies carried out prominent
projects successfully in the global markets, Tüzmen said Turkey was ready
to share its experiences with Iran in this field. Tuzmen yesterday also met
with Iranian First Vice President Parviz Davoodi. Speaking to reporters
about the meeting afterwards, Tuzmen said that Iran would reduce customs
tariffs as part of the Economic Cooperation Organization Trade Agreement as
soon as possible. He said in 2001 trade with Iran amounted to $1 billion
and that they managed to increase this number to $10 billion by the end of
2008. He said that the next target was $20 billion of bilateral trade with
Iran. /Turkiye/
[06] TURKEY, EGYPT SIGN PARLIAMENTARY PROTOCOL
Parliament Speaker Koksal Toptan yesterday received his Egyptian
counterpart Ahmad Fathy Sorour at Parliament. After signing a parliamentary
cooperation protocol, Toptan said, "As parliamentary relations improve,
this will be reflected by the people of both countries." He added that
there are already good bilateral relations. Sorour said that Turkey and
Egypt would improve cooperation on restoring regional of peace and
security. /Hurriyet Daily News/
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