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Turkish Press Review, 04-08-09
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
09.08.2004
ERDOGAN TO DELIVER PEACE
AND GOODWILL MESSAGE AT OPENING OF ATHENS
OLYMPIC GAMES
ERDOGAN VISITS BITLIS
GUL: “MARCH 2005 IS A
SUITABLE DATE TO BEGIN OUR EU ACCESSION TALKS”
JORDAN’S PM TOUTS GOOD
RELATIONS WITH ANKARA, URGES MORE INVESTMENT
BAYKAL RELEASES CHP REPORT
ON VAN INCIDENT
TURKISH TRUCKERS REPORTEDLY
PROTECTED BY PESHMERGA IN NORTHERN IRAQ
BABACAN: “THE GOVERNMENT IS
DETERMINEDLY CONTINUING TO EASE FOREIGN
INVESTMENT”
IMF: “TURKEY IS READY FOR
THE POST-STANDBY ERA”
PATRIARCH BARTHOLOMEW: “I
BELIEVE THE SEMINARY IN HEYBELIADA WILL BE
REOPENED”
FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE
COLUMNS...FROM THE COLUMNS...
THE AKP’S EXPECTATIONS FOR
OCTOBER
BY SUKRU
KUCUKSAHIN (HURRIYET)
CONTENTS
[01] ERDOGAN TO DELIVER PEACE AND
GOODWILL MESSAGE AT OPENING OF ATHENS OLYMPIC
GAMES
[02] ERDOGAN VISITS BITLIS
[03] GUL: “MARCH 2005 IS A SUITABLE
DATE TO BEGIN OUR EU ACCESSION TALKS”
[04] JORDAN’S PM TOUTS GOOD
RELATIONS WITH ANKARA, URGES MORE INVESTMENT
[05] BAYKAL RELEASES CHP REPORT ON
VAN INCIDENT
[06] TURKISH TRUCKERS REPORTEDLY
PROTECTED BY PESHMERGA IN NORTHERN IRAQ
[07] BABACAN: “THE GOVERNMENT IS
DETERMINEDLY CONTINUING TO EASE FOREIGN
INVESTMENT”
[08] IMF: “TURKEY IS READY FOR THE
POST-STANDBY ERA”
[09] PATRIARCH BARTHOLOMEW: “I
BELIEVE THE SEMINARY IN HEYBELIADA WILL BE
REOPENED”
[10] FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE
COLUMNS...FROM THE COLUMNS...
[11] THE AKP’S EXPECTATIONS FOR
OCTOBER
[12] BY SUKRU KUCUKSAHIN (HURRIYET)
[01] ERDOGAN TO DELIVER PEACE AND
GOODWILL MESSAGE AT OPENING OF ATHENS OLYMPIC
GAMES
Speaking to Greek daily Ethnos yesterday, Prime
Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that he would
attend this Friday’s opening of the Olympic
Games in Athens to offer a message of peace and
goodwill. "I will have the privilege of being
present at the opening ceremony of the Athens
Olympic Games to spread a message of peace,
goodwill and international solidarity, together
with other world leaders," he said, adding that
the Olympics offered a tremendous opportunity to
promote world peace. He added that he was proud
to be prime minister of a country standing at
the crossroads of civilizations, one with a
reputation for promoting values of mutual
respect and cooperation between civilizations.
/Turkiye/
[02] ERDOGAN VISITS BITLIS
Speaking in the eastern Anatolian city of Bitis
over the weekend, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan stressed the importance of fighting
poverty, adding that the most pressing problem
of Turkey’s east and southeast was unemployment,
which he said also served to exacerbate
terrorism. He predicted if jobs were created in
the region, this would help to end the terrorist
threat. “We will make our country both the most
powerful and the most civilized in its region,”
Erdogan added. “Together we’ll overcome all
obstacles.” Later, Erdogan attended the opening
of a factory in Tatvan. During his visit, the
premier was accompanied by Education Minister
Huseyin Celik, Finance Minister Kemal Unakitan
and a number of businessmen. /Turkiye/
[03] GUL: “MARCH 2005 IS A SUITABLE
DATE TO BEGIN OUR EU ACCESSION TALKS”
Appearing on television yesterday, Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said
that he hoped the European Union would set a
date at its December summit to begin Ankara’s
accession negotiations, adding that next March
was the best date to begin these talks. “This is
important not only for Turkey, but also for the
EU,” said Gul, adding that Turkey’s membership
was different from that of any Balkan state. “As
it has a religious dimension, the decision on
Turkey’s bid carries great significance,” said
Gul. /Cumhuriyet/
[04] JORDAN’S PM TOUTS GOOD
RELATIONS WITH ANKARA, URGES MORE INVESTMENT
Jordanian Prime Minister Faisal Fayez yesterday
touted the good state of relations between Amman
and Ankara, adding that he would be pleased to
see more Turkish investment in his country.
Jordan’s Energy Minister Azmi Khrisat also said
that he welcomed Turkish firms’ participation in
Amman’s privatization tenders. /Aksam/
[05] BAYKAL RELEASES CHP REPORT ON
VAN INCIDENT
Main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP)
Chairman Deniz Baykal over the weekend held a
press conference to release a report prepared by
four CHP deputies on last month’s so-called Van
incident. The Van incident is the popular name
of a scandal in which Mustafa Bayram, a tribal
leader and former deputy alleged to be involved
in heroin smuggling, is said to have raided a
police station to free his son, who had been in
custody for dealing in heroin. “Our report tries
to portray the political will behind forces
which dared to raid a police station,” said
Baykal, charging further: “The ruling Justice
and Development Party [AKP] openly condoned
these forces.” The report analyzes the incident
in detail and proposes to the government
additional avenues of investigation. /Hurriyet/
[06] TURKISH TRUCKERS REPORTEDLY
PROTECTED BY PESHMERGA IN NORTHERN IRAQ
Kurdish peshmerga in northern Iraq have
reportedly taken tight security measures to
protect Turkish convoys delivering supplies to
US forces in the country, in the wake of last
week’s videotaped killing of a Turkish hostage
by Iraqi militants. A Kurdish official stated
that the Turkish truckers were the best
protected in the region, adding that the
peshmerga were ready to take every necessary
measure to protect the convoys. “We’ve doubled
our checkpoints along the delivery route and can
reinforce our forces there if necessary,” he
added. In related news, Turkish truckers are
complaining about the lack of security in the
northern Iraqi city of Mosul, stressing that
they no longer want to deliver supplies there.
/Star/
[07] BABACAN: “THE GOVERNMENT IS
DETERMINEDLY CONTINUING TO EASE FOREIGN
INVESTMENT”
State Minister for the Economy Ali Babacan said
yesterday that the government was determinedly
continuing to work to make it easy for foreign
capital to enter Turkey. Babacan added that the
government had passed 16 laws in order to boost
foreign investment and was working on eight more
towards the same end. /Milliyet/
[08] IMF: “TURKEY IS READY FOR THE
POST-STANDBY ERA”
Rodrigo de Rato, managing director of the
International Monetary Fund, over the weekend
issued a statement saying that Turkish
authorities had informed the IMF that they would
seek a successor to the current Fund
arrangement. “Over the coming weeks, the
authorities plan to work on formulating the
policies required to sustain their existing
strategy of disinflation and debt reduction,
aimed at robust and sustained growth,” read the
statement. “Once information on these policies
has been provided to the Fund, the request for a
successor arrangement will be considered under
the applicable procedures.” The IMF’s Executive
Board last month completed the eighth review of
Turkey's economic performance under the current
standby arrangement, which expires next
February. /Sabah/
[09] PATRIARCH BARTHOLOMEW: “I
BELIEVE THE SEMINARY IN HEYBELIADA WILL BE
REOPENED”
Turkey still falls short of fully guaranteeing
religious freedoms as a European Union
candidate, but it could soon allow the reopening
of the Greek Orthodox seminary in Heybeliada,
Fener Greek Patriarch Bartholomew told Reuters
in an article published yesterday. “We [Greek
Orthodox believers in Turkey] have the freedom
to perform all our religious services but we
have no right to administer our ecclesiastical
foundations, churches, monasteries, cemeteries,
schools etc,” he said in written answers to
questions submitted by Reuters. Bartholomew
expressed optimism that Turkey’s EU membership
bid should help secure the reopening of the
Halki theological seminary on Istanbul's
Heybeliada Island. “Our government realizes that
reasons used in the past to justify the closing
of the school were not right and not in
accordance with the European perception of
religious freedom,” he argued. He also signalled
support for Turkey's bid to join the EU. “We
hope that the association of Muslims with
Europeans will convince both parties that the
peaceful co-existence and co-operation are both
feasible and beneficial,” he added. /All Papers/
[10] FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE
COLUMNS...FROM THE COLUMNS...
[11] THE AKP’S EXPECTATIONS FOR
OCTOBER
[12] BY SUKRU KUCUKSAHIN (HURRIYET)
Columnist Sukru Kucuksahin comments on Parliament’s new legislative
term set to begin in October. A summary of his
column is as follows:
“Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan will
face important decisions in the new legislative
term due to begin in October. Parliament will
choose its leaders anew. Justice and Development
Party (AKP) members assuming these leadership
roles will keep them through the next general
elections. The current leaders bear the stamp of
Abdullah Gul [who led a ‘caretaker’ AKP
administration from November 2002 until March
2003, when Prime Minister Erdogan became
premier]. Therefore new choices can carry
messages.
The decision of Erdogan everyone is guessing
about is his choice for the new Parliament
speaker. His choice will either silence some
complaints or fuel discussions about Bulent
Arinc, the current speaker Bulent Arinc. The
surprising thing is that Arinc is not a
candidate. Signaling his disfavor for some
deputies, Erdogan will throw his weight behind
others.
However strong his decisions are, Erdogan may
not be able to prevent some jolts in his party.
Erdogan shifting favor to his old friends while
punishing other deputies could spur new
discussions about the AKP’s image. The public
doesn’t expect a split in the AKP, but Erdogan’s
choices in October could pave the way for such a
split. According to some party sources, Turkey’s
stand-by decision with the International
Monetary Fund could be the reason for an early
change in the Cabinet. The train derailment
disaster could also influence this change.”
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