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Turkish Press Review, 06-12-15Turkish 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 morning15.12.2006CONTENTS
[01] SEZER MEETS WITH PM ERDOGANIn their regular weekly meeting, President Ahmet Necdet Sezer yesterday received Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Sezer and Erdogan reportedly took up recent developments in Turkish-European Union relations. /Star/[02] EU LEADERS APPROVE DECISION TO PARTIALLY SUSPEND TURKEY'S TALKSEuropean Union member states' leaders, at a summit in Brussels yesterday, approved the decision of the EU foreign ministers to suspend eight out of 35 chapters of Turkey's membership talks. Speaking at a press conference, EU Term President Finland's Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen said that the leaders had approved the decision of the foreign ministers without any discussion. For his part, European Union Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso stated that they didn't discuss Turkey yesterday since the leaders found the foreign ministers' decision "realistic." In related news, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that she believed the EU had acted determinedly and with common sense, adding that it gave a message to Turkey to continue its reforms. /Sabah/[03] ERDOGAN BOUND FOR ALLIANCE OF CIVILIZATIONS MEETING IN NEW YORKPrime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan will travel to New York on Sunday to attend a two-day meeting of the Alliance of Civilizations starting Monday. As part of his contacts, Erdogan is expected to have talks with his Spanish counterpart Jos� Luis Rodriguez Zapatero and outgoing United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan. During the gathering, a 35-page final document will be released. /Turkiye/[04] CICEK: "FORGET ABOUT EARLY ELECTIONS"Appearing on TV last evening, Justice Minister Cemil Cicek said yesterday that the next general elections would be held next November, as scheduled. Stressing that Turkey has finally reached stability, Cicek said that favorable situation could not be sacrificed just because certain circles want elections, adding that the government has no intention of doing so. Commenting on recent developments in Turkish-European Union relations, the justice minister said that the Turkish Foreign Ministry has pursued a successful policy. /Aksam/[05] PAPADOPOULOS: "WE RESERVE THE RIGHT TO BLOCK EACH CHAPTER IN TURKEY'S TALKS"Speaking at a press conference at the European Union leaders summit in Brussels yesterday, Greek Cypriot leader Tassos Papadopoulos said that Greek Cyprus reserves its right to block each chapter during Turkey's EU talks. Papadopoulos stated that the EU would send a letter to Turkey to open one of remaining 26 chapters. /Sabah/[06] BLAIR TO VISIT ANKARABritain's Prime Minister Tony Blair will travel to Ankara this evening just after the European Union leaders summit in Brussels. Blair, during his brief visit, is expected to meet with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan at a dinner and to reiterate his country's support for Turkey's EU membership process. /Cumhuriyet/[07] THE ECONOMIST: "THE EU SHOULDN'T SHUT ITS DOORS TO TURKEY"The Economist, an influential economy and political newsweekly published in Britain, this week warned that it would be a grave geostrategic failure if the European Union were to close its doors to Turkey. Pointing to the negative atmosphere against Turkey in the bloc, the article said that the real issue wasn't Cyprus, but Europe's doubts over whether or not to let Turkey join the club. Touching on Ankara's recent efforts to catch up to EU norms, it said that the reforms it had implemented were equal or above those of other EU member states. The article added that Turkey was a model country in its region, and that it would be a great failure to send it away. /Turkiye/[08] IMF'S LIPSKY: "TURKEY'S COMMITMENT TO TIGHT FISCAL POLICIES AND REFORMS DESERVES INTL SUPPORT"International Monetary Fund First Deputy Managing Director John Lipsky said yesterday that Turkey's commitment to pursue tight fiscal policies and reforms deserved the support of the international community. Saying that the IMF welcomed Turkey's 6.5% primary surplus target for 2007, Lipsky added that the target required controlling expenditures and making health outlays more efficient. /Milliyet/[09] BABACAN: "LOWER-THAN-EXPECTED GROWTH DOESN'T JEOPARDIZE OUR 5% TARGET"Speaking to reporters yesterday, State Minister for the Economy Ali Babacan said that the nation's growth rate was lower than expectations, but that this didn't jeopardize the 5% target. Stressing that quality of growth was important, Babacan said that Turkey's was sustainable. Commenting on Central Bank Governor Durmus Yilmaz's warning about the real sector's financing deficits, Babacan said that these words should be taken into consideration. /Aksam/[10] FORMER TOP IMF OFFICIAL: "TURKEY'S ECONOMY HAS SHOWN GREAT PROGRESS SINCE THE 2001 CRISIS"Speaking at a conference yesterday, former International Deputy Managing Director Stanley Fischer said that owing to the efforts of both the government and the Central Bank, Turkey's economy has shown great progress since the 2001 economic crisis. "The IMF also contributed to this," said Fischer. He stressed that during the 2001 crisis, the IMF had proposed that Turkey found a foreign exchange board, but the had government rejected this. "Now we see that the government's decision was the right one," he added. /Sabah/[11] LEGENDARY MUSIC MOGUL ERTEGUN DIESAhmet Ertegun, 83, the owner of the Atlantic Records and producer of world- famous musical acts, passed away in New York City on Thusday evening. Ertegun died in the hospital after falling down backstage during a Rolling Stones concert in Manhattan on Oct. 29. Ertegun will be laid to rest in Turkey. Moreover, a memorial service is expected to be held in New York next month. /Hurriyet/FROM THE COLUMNS... FROM THE COLUMNS... FROM THE COLUMNS... [12] CYPRUS TRAPSBY FERAI TINC (HURRIYET)Columnist Ferai Tinc comments on traps over the Cyprus issue. A summary of her column is as follows: "When �anchoring Turkey in Europe' was mentioned during the European Union leaders' summit two years ago, we discussed and criticized this concept a great deal. Now they're �anchoring' Turkey's EU membership process on Cyprus with their latest decisions. Unfortunately, it seems that this situation will effectively limit Turkey's ability to solve the problem. The Cyprus hurdle is feeding an atmosphere which would cause people to ignore many barriers to Turkey. Now I'd like to direct your attention to the Cyprus traps. Some people say that Turkey's membership talks won't be opened in eight chapters but the isolation on Turkish Cypriots will be ended, and a comfortable atmosphere will be established in which Turkey can apply the additional protocol and we will overcome this obstruction. I hope this happens, but the EU didn't make a decision to remove the barriers keeping Turkish Cypriots cut off from the world. This is deliberate, because Europe made a promise beforehand. A decision to remove the barriers will start to be shaped next week. As the term president as of Jan. 1, Germany said that it would work towards this end. We even saw reports that the Greek Cypriots were convinced. We must consider this with a grain of salt. During the foreign ministers' meeting, the EU said that a political consensus had been reached about the framework of the economic development of Northern Cyprus. A statement by the Greek Cypriot Progressive Party of Working People (AKEL) shows that there's no reason to interpret this positively. It said that the issue of Turkish Cypriot trade with the EU is covered not by the final declaration, but by a separate declaration by the EU term presidency. It added that in line with this, the declaration has a positive element in that it mentions the regions which are not controlled by the �Republic of Cyprus' in a consequential way. The term �the north of Cyprus' stressed by AKEL, which made Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) President Mehmet Ali Talat angry, later became expressed as �Cyprus' occupied territories.' It has this meaning legally as well. What will happen if the Greek Cypriots say that Turks can sell their own goods from our harbors to whoever they want? For this purpose, it's sufficient to use the formulation that Turks can carry out trade from legal harbors. None of the EU members would reject it. Would the Turkish Cypriots accept this? For Turkey, is this going to mean removing the isolation of the TRNC? No. Then are you going to say that we want the isolation of the TRNC ended? In other words, are you going to say that you mean to recognize the TRNC's sovereignty? Are you ready to do this?" Turkish Press Review Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |
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