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Turkish Press Review, 04-07-13
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
13.07.2004
VERSATILE MIDDLE EAST RELATIONS
BY SAMI KOHEN (MILLIYET)
CONTENTS
[01] GUL: “IF THE EU DECIDES NOT TO BEGIN ACCESSION TALKS WITH TURKEY, THIS WILL DAMAGE ITS PRESTIGE”
[02] ARINC MEETS WITH ROMANIAN SENATE SPEAKER, DISCUSSES TURKEY’S EU BID
[03] BRITAIN PREPARING FOR DIRECT FLIGHTS TO THE TRNC
[04] IRAQI PRIME MINISTER COULD VISIT TURKEY
[05] OLMERT DUE IN TURKEY TODAY
[06] DUTCH FM: “THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION’S CYPRUS PACKAGE WILL BE DISCUSSED IN SEPTEMBER”
[07] EU GENERAL AFFAIRS AND FOREIGN RELATIONS COUNCIL CONVENES, DISCUSSES TURKEY’S EU BID
[08] TWO DEPUTIES LEAVE CHP
[09] TURKISH DRIVER KILLED IN IRAQ BOMBING
[10] FROM THE COLUMNS... FROM THE COLUMNS... FROM THE COLUMNS...
[11] VERSATILE MIDDLE EAST RELATIONS
[12] BY SAMI KOHEN (MILLIYET)
[01] GUL: “IF THE EU DECIDES NOT TO BEGIN ACCESSION TALKS WITH TURKEY, THIS
WILL DAMAGE ITS PRESTIGE”
Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul warned yesterday that if the European Union,
at its December summit, decides not to begin accession talks with Turkey,
then this would not only damage Turkey but also the EU, adding that such a
decision could also hurt the Union’s prestige. Speaking to Turkish Bulletin
magazine, Gul said that Ankara’s EU membership was very important for both
the Union and Turkey itself. “We’ve fulfilled the Copenhagen criteria,” he
said, adding that he believed the European Commission would make a fair
evaluation this December. /Turkiye/
[02] ARINC MEETS WITH ROMANIAN SENATE SPEAKER, DISCUSSES TURKEY’S EU BID
Parliament Speaker Bulent Arinc yesterday met with visiting Romanian Senate
Speaker Nicolae Vacaroiu to discuss a number of issues, including bilateral
relations and Turkey’s European Union membership bid. During their meeting,
Vacaroiu said that he appreciated Turkey’s support for Romania’s own recent
successful NATO membership bid, adding that Bucharest was ready to support
Ankara beginning its accession talks with the EU. “Our accession talks with
the EU are due to end in November,” said Vacaroiu. “We’ve had positive
results up to now, and we’ll support Turkey’s accession talks.” Romania is
due to join the EU in 2007. /Hurriyet/
[03] BRITAIN PREPARING FOR DIRECT FLIGHTS TO THE TRNC
The British government has started laying the legal groundwork for direct
flights between Great Britain and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus
(TRNC). A British Foreign Office spokesman said yesterday that Britain is
seeking ways to overcome legal hurdles to direct flights between London and
Nicosia, underscoring that London supports starting such flights between
the two countries. The TRNC, in return, will extradite fugitives sought by
Britain. /Sabah/
[04] IRAQI PRIME MINISTER COULD VISIT TURKEY
Reuters reported yesterday that Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi may soon
pay a visit to Turkey, among other regional neighbors. No date was
specified for the visit. /Sabah/
[05] OLMERT DUE IN TURKEY TODAY
Israeli Industry, Commerce and Employment Minister Ehud Olmert will arrive
in Turkey today. Olmert is set to visit Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul,
State Minister Ali Babacan and Agriculture Minister Sami Guclu. In related
news, Israeli Ambassador Pinhas Avivi has reportedly asserted the good
health of Turkish-Israeli relations. /Aksam/
[06] DUTCH FM: “THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION’S CYPRUS PACKAGE WILL BE DISCUSSED
IN SEPTEMBER”
Dutch Foreign Minister Bernard Bot said yesterday that the European
Commission’s recent package proposing measures to help end the
international isolation of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC)
would be discussed at the EU General Affairs Council in September.
Netherlands currently holds the EU’s rotating six-month presidency. In
related news, Greek Cypriot Foreign Minister Yorgos Yakovu said that he
wanted to be briefed by the commission on the package. /Aksam/
[07] EU GENERAL AFFAIRS AND FOREIGN RELATIONS COUNCIL CONVENES, DISCUSSES
TURKEY’S EU BID
The European Union’s General Affairs and Foreign Relations Council
yesterday held a meeting in Brussels attended by the EU member states’
foreign ministers. During the meeting, a number of issues, including
Turkey’s EU bid, economic assistance to Iraq, and decisions taken at last
month’s NATO summit in Istanbul were discussed. Measures to be taken by the
EU after it takes over the peacekeeping force in Bosnia-Herzegovina from
NATO were also discussed. /Turkiye/
[08] TWO DEPUTIES LEAVE CHP
Two deputies from the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP),
Necdet Budak and Atilla Basoglu, yesterday resigned from the party. The two
will reportedly join the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).
/Sabah/
[09] TURKISH DRIVER KILLED IN IRAQ BOMBING
A Turkish driver was killed yesterday when a roadside bomb destroyed his
truck as he travelled with a US military convoy north of Baghdad, an Iraqi
police officer said. Lt. Col. Namis Saeed said an Iraqi civilian was also
killed and his wife injured when US soldiers in the convoy opened fire
after the explosion near Baiji, about 180 km north of Baghdad. /All papers/
[10] FROM THE COLUMNS... FROM THE COLUMNS... FROM THE COLUMNS...
[11] VERSATILE MIDDLE EAST RELATIONS
[12] BY SAMI KOHEN (MILLIYET)
Columnist Sami Kohen comments on Turkey’s relations with countries of the
Middle East. A summary of his column is as follows:
“The Balkans recently captured the diplomatic spotlight with the visits of
President Ahmet Necdet Sezer to Romania and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan to Bulgaria. This week the focus will turn to visits to Turkey by
Syrian Prime Minister Naji al-Otari, Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Ehud
Olmert and an official Iranian delegation. Coincidentally, these visits
will coincide. However, they ably display Turkey’s policy of establishing
versatile and balanced relations with countries in the region. The Syrian
and Iranian visits show a recent rapid development in bilateral relations.
The Iranian delegation’s meetings in Ankara will concern security
cooperation. Iran has a new stance fitting Turkey’s expectations on the
issue. Clearly, the war in Iraq and developments in northern Iraq have
paved the way for rapprochement between Turkey and both Iran and Syria.
Although the US wants to isolate them, Turkey has been trying to strengthen
its ties with these two countries. This stance is also in line with the
policy of EU member countries who are trying to carry on relations with
Tehran and Damascus. In the words of one Turkish diplomat, this shouldn’t
be considered a slap at the US, but the result of the flow of events.
Al-Otari’s contacts in Ankara and Istanbul will be mostly economic in
nature. There have been significant developments of late, but many things
remain to do in order to reach the desired goals. The current political
atmosphere between Ankara and Damascus is appropriate for this. In addition,
Olmert’s visit to Ankara is also based on economic reasons, but it has also
a political meaning and importance.
Considering the cold winds blowing recently between our two countries, a
visit by such a high-level Israeli official is also important. These cold
winds are the result of Erdogan’s firm rejection of Israeli Prime Minister
Ariel Sharon’s policies towards the Palestinians. Then reports that Israel
was training Kurdish peshmerga created a crisis of confidence, although the
Israelis denied the allegations. So the distance between Turkey and Israel
grew. However, Turkey is trying to continue its relations with Israel in
other areas. In sum, Turkey’s political relations with Israel seem to be on
hold, whereas our relations in economics and other areas seem to be
active.”
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