|
|
Turkish Press Review, 03-12-15
From: Turkish Directorate General of Press and Information <http://www.byegm.gov.tr>
<LINK href="http://www.byegm.gov.tr_yayinlarimiz_chr_pics_css/tpr.css"
rel=STYLESHEET type=text/css>
e-mail :
newspot@byegm.gov.tr
<caption> <_caption>
Summary of the political and economic
news in the Turkish press this morning
15.12.2003
FROM THE COLUMNS…FROM THE COLUMNS…FROM THE COLUMNS
CONTENTS
[01] TRNC ELECTIONS PRODUCE PARLIAMENT EVENLY SPLIT BETWEEN RULING PARTY, OPPOSITION
[02] TALAT: “WE EXPECT TURKEY’S SUPPORT”
[03] DENKTAS, ANKARA OFFICIALS WORK ON NEW PLAN FOR CYPRUS
[04] HAYDAR ALIYEV’S FUNERAL SET FOR TODAY
[05] ERDOGAN, GUL, ARINC HAIL CAPTURE OF SADDAM HUSSEIN
[06] GUL TO VISIT JAPAN
[07] WB VICE PRESIDENT: “TURKEY HAS GREAT ECONOMIC POTENTIAL”
[08] AKP BEGINS CAMPAIGN FOR SPRING 2004 LOCAL ELECTIONS
[09] ANAP ELECTS NEW LEADER
[10] SIRIN TAKES LDP HELM
[11] FROM THE COLUMNS…FROM THE COLUMNS…FROM THE COLUMNS
[12] A DICTATOR’S END BY YILMAZ OZTUNA (TURKIYE)
[01] TRNC ELECTIONS PRODUCE PARLIAMENT EVENLY SPLIT BETWEEN RULING PARTY,
OPPOSITION
Some 141,000 Turkish Cypriots voted yesterday for new members of the 50-
seat Parliament. The ruling National Unity Party (UBP) and Democratic Party
(DP), led by Dervis Eroglu and Serdar Denktas respectively, won 25 seats in
Parliament, while opposition Mehmet Ali Talat’s Republican Turkish Party
(CTP) and Mustafa Akinci’s Peace and Democracy Movement (BDH) together also
won 25. President Rauf Denktas said that he would take into consideration
the official results of Sunday’s elections and impartially name a new prime
minister. /Turkiye/
[02] TALAT: “WE EXPECT TURKEY’S SUPPORT”
Election results in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) show
that Turkish Cypriots favor peace and settlement of the Cyrus issue as well
as European Union membership, said the TRNC’s Republican Turkish Party
(CTP) leader Mehmet Ali Talat yesterday. “When we come to power, we’ll
fight to fulfill the citizens’ wishes,” pledged Talat. “We’ll try to change
the current system.” Talat said that his party wanted the government rather
than longtime President Rauf Denktas to carry out Cyprus talks, adding that
they expected Ankara’s support when they come to power. “For the Cyprus
issue is an inseparable part of Turkey’s EU membership bid,” claimed the
CTP leader. /Turkiye/
[03] DENKTAS, ANKARA OFFICIALS WORK ON NEW PLAN FOR CYPRUS
Speaking to Greek daily To Vima yesterday, Turkish Republic of Northern
Cyprus (TRNC) President Rauf Denktas said that he and Ankara Foreign
Ministry officials were working on a new plan on the Cyprus issue to be
disclosed shortly after the just-concluded Turkish Cypriot elections.
Stressing that United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s Cyprus peace
plan was unfair in only meeting the Greek Cypriots’ expectations, Denktas
charged that the European Union was supporting TRNC opposition groups to
make Turkish Cypriots accept Annan’s plan. “The EU is spending large sums
of money on the island to do this,” claimed Denktas. /Milliyet/
[04] HAYDAR ALIYEV’S FUNERAL SET FOR TODAY
Former Azerbaijani President Haydar Aliyev, who died on Friday in the
United States at the age of 80, was brought to Baku, the capital of
Azerbaijan, yesterday. His body is set to be laid to rest today following a
funeral ceremony. President Ahmet Necdet Sezer and Prime Minister Recep
Tayyip Erdogan as well as a number of cabinet ministers are expected to fly
to Baku to attend the late statesman’s funeral. /All Papers/
[05] ERDOGAN, GUL, ARINC HAIL CAPTURE OF SADDAM HUSSEIN
Iraqi President Saddam Hussein was captured alive over the weekend by US
forces near his hometown, Tikrit, where he had been hiding in a farmhouse
cellar. World leaders hailed the capture of Saddam, saying that it had
brought a long-awaited end to the career of a remorseless dictator and
could help bring peace and stability to the war-torn country. Speaking on
Turkey’s behalf, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that he hoped
this new period would be better for all the Iraqi people as well as then
rest of humanity. Stating that the capture of Iraq's ousted president
signalled the end of an oppressive regime, Erdogan added, “What we believe
is this: Provided that everybody respects Iraq's territorial integrity and
accepts that all the nation’s assets belong to the Iraqi people, we hope
that Iraq will be able to take its proper place among the nations of the
world.” Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul stated that the country
had now entered a new period during which, he hoped, its people would no
longer suffer under obstacles to their democratization. “I hope that a new
administrative structure, one respecting the country’s territorial country,
will be established,” he added. For his part, Parliament Speaker Bulent
Arinc said that yesterday’s capture was a sad but telling end to Saddam’s
oppressive regime. /All Papers/
[06] GUL TO VISIT JAPAN
Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul is set to travel to Japan today upon the
invitation of his Japanese counterpart Yoriko Kawaguchi. Gul is expected to
stay for six days in the country, where he will be received by Prime
Minister Junichiro Koizumi. He will discuss with Japanese officials
bilateral relations as well as regional and international issues.
/Cumhuriyet/
[07] WB VICE PRESIDENT: “TURKEY HAS GREAT ECONOMIC POTENTIAL”
World Bank Vice President for Europe and Central Asia Shigeo Katsu
yesterday arrived in Turkey for a four-day visit, during which he is
expected to discuss with Turkish economy bureaucrats Ankara’s economic
program, the Country Economic Memorandum (CEM), and WB financial
assistance. Katsu is due to attend a CEM conference and visit a number of
local WB-funded projects to assess their progress. Katsu said yesterday
that Turkey had a great economic potential and that the WB believed
Ankara’s IMF-funded economic program was on the right track. Underlining
that there were no major problems in the macroeconomic part of the program,
Katsu said that Turkey should press for further progress in modernization,
living conditions and public sector management. Saying that he was also due
to meet with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Katsu added that his
meetings would focus on the WB’s financial assistance under the country
assistance strategy. /Milliyet/
[08] AKP BEGINS CAMPAIGN FOR SPRING 2004 LOCAL ELECTIONS
Prime Minister and Justice and Development Party (AKP) leader Recep Tayyip
Erdogan yesterday set in motion the wheels of his party’s campaign for next
spring’s local elections. Speaking to a party a meeting in Istanbul,
Erdogan said that AKP government was serving Turkey in the best way.
Turning to the opposition parties, Erdogan said, “Since they can’t find
anything to criticize, they try to slander the government.” /Turkiye/
[09] ANAP ELECTS NEW LEADER
The Motherland Party (ANAP) this weekend elected a new chairwoman at its
eighth congress, with Nesrin Nas set to lead the party into the future. A
new ANAP administrative board was also elected. A number of leading party
members declined to take administrative posts, and some even declined to
attend the congress. /Sabah/
[10] SIRIN TAKES LDP HELM
In its first congress yesterday, the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) elected
its new leader and administrative board. After the fall 2002 elections,
Besim Tibuk, then LDP leader, stepped down from the party helm, and
yesterday Emin Sirin, formerly a deputy with the ruling Justice and
Development Party (AKP), was elected to succeed him. Former State Ministers
Yildirim Aktuna and Akin Gonen also joined the party. /Star/
[11] FROM THE COLUMNS…FROM THE COLUMNS…FROM THE COLUMNS
[12] A DICTATOR’S END BY YILMAZ OZTUNA (TURKIYE)
Columnist Yilmaz Oztuna comments on Saddam Hussein’s capture yesterday. A
summary of his column is as follows:
“Sixty-seven-year old Saddam Hussein, one of the toughest and most
dangerous dictators of the last century, has finally been captured by the
US. Years ago he attacked Iran and waged war against it for eight years,
resulting in hundreds of thousands of deaths on both sides. Iraq profited
nothing from this war and learned no lessons from it either. Later he
invaded Kuwait, hoping take control of the oil there. Iraq suffered great
losses during the 1991 Gulf War. The Iraqi people suffered from poverty
when they could have enjoyed a well-off life like in the Gulf countries.
It might be difficult to believe, but although he’s an extreme fascist,
certain people still favor Saddam. Actually Saddam was one of Turkey’s most
fanatical and mean-spirited enemies. He hated the Ottoman, Turks, Turkmen
and Turkey. He changed the country’s demographics by exiling the Turkish
majority from northern Iraq.
Saddam’s capture will likely lessen the attacks against US soldiers in
Iraq. However, it won’t end them completely. It’s likely that Saddam
supporters will react harshly. Azerbaijan lost its President Haydar Aliyev
and Saddam got caught in Iraq, so the world is changing rapidly. Saddam’s
capture overshadowed the weekend elections in the Turkish Republic of
Northern Cyprus (TRNC). I think Saddam will face a trial. In short, the
world media got the day they were waiting for.”
ARCHIVE
<script type="text/javascript" language="JavaScript" src="http:/_www.byegm.gov.tr_statistic/countcode.js">
</script>
|