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Turkish Press Review, 08-05-08
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
08.05.2008
CONTENTS
[01] ERDOGAN MEETS WITH AKP DEPUTIES TO DISCUSS CLOSURE CASE
[02] ERDOGAN TELEPHONES SYRIA'S ASSAD
[03] IN STRASBOURG, BABACAN ATTENDS CoE MEETING
[04] BUYUKANIT: "TURKEY CAN SOLVE ALL ITS PROBLEMS ITSELF"
[05] TALAT, HRISTOFIAS PLEDGE TO CONTINUE NEGOTIATIONS OVER CYPRUS
[06] REHN: "THE AKP HAS NO DESIGNS FOR A RELIGIOUS STATE"
[07] BARZANI LAUDS PROGRESS IN TIES WITH ANKARA
[08] TUZMEN MEETS WITH TOP IRANIAN OFFICIALS
[09] UNDP'S DERVIS SOUNDS WARNING ON GLOBAL INFLATION
[10] GOLFERS ON COURSE FOR TURKISH OPEN
[11] REHN
[01] ERDOGAN MEETS WITH AKP DEPUTIES TO DISCUSS CLOSURE CASE
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan yesterday met with 100 ruling Justice
and Development Party (AKP) deputies to speak about the closure case
against the party. Erdogan said that he didn't believe that the AKP would
be closed, but added he was preparing for every contingency. The deputies
said that they would support whatever Erdogan decides. Stating that the AKP
had submitted its response to the indictment, which he characterized as not
legal, but political, Erdogan said that they would continue their
parliamentary and governmental work without any letup. /Aksam/
[02] ERDOGAN TELEPHONES SYRIA'S ASSAD
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan yesterday reportedly made a telephone
call to Syrian President Bashar Assad. According to Syria's official news
agency SANA, Erdogan and Assad discussed the situation in Iraq and the
Middle East peace process as well as bilateral relations and common
interests. /Cumhuriyet/
[03] IN STRASBOURG, BABACAN ATTENDS CoE MEETING
Foreign Minister Ali Babacan yesterday represented Turkey at a Council of
Europe (CoE) Committee of Ministers meeting in Strasbourg. During the one-
day gathering, Sweden took over the rotating presidency from Slovakia for
the next six months. The meeting focused on the CoE's contributions to
Europe's security and stability. Efforts to strengthen the protection of
human rights, cross-cultural dialogue and relations between the CoE and the
European Union were also discussed. In addition, Babacan held bilateral
meetings with his counterparts from Greece, Andorra, Hungary, Azerbaijan
and Georgia, as well as CoE human rights representatives. Babacan is
expected to leave Strasbourg for Slovenia today to attend the 11th
Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR) European Forum in Ljubljana. / Turkiye/
[04] BUYUKANIT: "TURKEY CAN SOLVE ALL ITS PROBLEMS ITSELF"
Chief of General Staff Gen. Yasar Buyukanit yesterday attended a reception
in Ankara marking the 60th anniversary of the foundation of Israel.
Speaking to reporters at the ceremony, Buyukanit said that Turkey can solve
its problems by itself, without need for advice from others. Asked about
the labels "fanatic secularism" or democratic secularism" being applied to
Turkey, Buyukanit said that he always objects to such labels, as only Turks
can define themselves. Stressing that Turkey should avoid polarization, as
it sows conflict, he added, "We created a republic from the Ottoman Empire,
and Turkey has the ability to solve all its problems." Touching on past
cross-border operations against the terrorist PKK, he said that Turkey has
gained a psychological advantage in fighting the PKK, as will become clear
in the near future. Stating that public support is very important in
fighting terrorism, which has social, economic and psychological aspects,
he added, "The terrorists reaching their goals is inconceivable."
/Milliyet/
[05] TALAT, HRISTOFIAS PLEDGE TO CONTINUE NEGOTIATIONS OVER CYPRUS
Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) President Mehmet Ali Talat and
Greek Cypriot leader Dimitris Hristofias yesterday attended a reception at
Slovakia's Embassy in Southern Cyprus, with TRNC Prime Minister Ferdi Sabit
Soyer also in attendance. The two leaders pledge to continue negotiations
over the divided island. /Star/
[06] REHN: "THE AKP HAS NO DESIGNS FOR A RELIGIOUS STATE"
Everyone knows that Turkey's ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP)
doesn't intend to establish a theocracy, European Union Commissioner for
Enlargement Olli Rehn said yesterday. In a TV interview, Rehn said, "The EU
expects the Turkish judiciary to do its duty in line with the Union's
democratic values." Asked about whether the EU will respect the judiciary's
decision at the end of the legal process, Rehn said, "The rule of law is a
basic European value. If the judiciary's verdict is in accordance with the
democratic values of the Union, then that decision will be acceptable." He
also added that the Turkish Constitution also entails respect for
international agreements on human rights, the European Convention on Human
Rights, and European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) precedent. /Sabah/
[07] BARZANI LAUDS PROGRESS IN TIES WITH ANKARA
Addressing members of his Kurdistan Democrat Party (KDP) yesterday,
northern Iraqi Kurdish leader Massoud Barzani reportedly said that
psychological hurdles between Turkey and his administration have been
eliminated. "The latest meeting between Turkish and Kurdish delegations in
Baghdad was very fruitful," he added. "We expect new steps to be taken."
/Milliyet/
[08] TUZMEN MEETS WITH TOP IRANIAN OFFICIALS
State Minister Kursad Tuzmen, accompanied by a delegation visiting Tehran
for a Turkey-Iran Economic Cooperation Seminar, yesterday met with Iranian
Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki. During their talks, Tuzmen urged the
Iranian official to let Turkish banks do business within the country. "If
Turkish banks opened branches in Iran, this would greatly serve the trade
ties between our countries." said Tuzmen. He also held talks with Iranian
Commerce Minister Massoud Mir-Kazemi to discuss the problems Turkish
businessmen face in Iran, and ask his support for solutions. Tuzmen was
also received by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. /Turkiye/
[09] UNDP'S DERVIS SOUNDS WARNING ON GLOBAL INFLATION
United Nations Development Program (UNDP) head and former Economy Minister
Kemal Dervis yesterday cautioned that developing countries like Turkey
could face severe problems in controlling inflation and money supply due to
the expansionary economic policies of developed countries seeking to
protect themselves. "This may cause us a lot of headaches in the next two
or three years," he told Britain's Financial Times. Dervis, who helped
Turkey's economy emerge from its 2001 crisis with a successful economic
stabilization program, also said that the urban poor in developing
countries were already facing an "inflation tsunami" from soaring food and
energy prices, making them up to 25 percent poorer in less than a year.
Stressing that developed economies are facing the new phenomenon of rising
commodity prices at a time of recession, or at least slowdown, and that
liquidity in the system is looking for an outflow, he said, "But how can
you tighten your monetary policy in an emerging market when the Fed (US
Federal Reserve) is lowering interest rates? Countries like Turkey and
Brazil, which have been fighting inflation for years, are now facing a real
inflationary danger that does not result from a macroeconomic cycle but
from the need to bail out the financial sector." He added, "We did not see
this coming. We are all a little bit guilty. A year ago very few people
were warning about this, although the trends were already there."
/Hurriyet/
[10] GOLFERS ON COURSE FOR TURKISH OPEN
The Ladies European Tour's (LET) first visit to Turkey started with the Pro-
Am Tournament yesterday. That event marked the tee-off moment of the 250,
000-euro prized Garanti American Express Turkish open at the National Golf
Club in the Mediterranean resort town of Belek, Antalya. The first round of
the tournament starts today. A field of 126 players will tee up in the 72-
hole stroke play event with a cut to the leading 60 players and ties after
36 holes. Britain's Lisa Hall, the ANZ Ladies Masters champion, will be
among the favorites for the title, along with last week's Aberdeen Asset
management ladies Scottish Open champion Gwladys Nocera from France and
Sweden's Emma Zackrisson, who recently claimed the Spanish Open. /Turkish
Daily News/
FROM THE COLUMNS… FROM THE COLUMNS… FROM THE COLUMNS…
BY SEMIH IDIZ (MILLIYET)
Columnist Semih Idiz comments on his interview with European Commissioner
for Enlargement Olli Rehn. A summary of his column is as follows:
"As you can see from my interview with European Commissioner for
Enlargement Olli Rehn, Rehn is trying to take an extremely balanced
position on the issue of secularism in Turkey. But while doing this, his
statements show that he actually favors the ruling Justice and Development
Party (AKP). His visit this week shows that a symbiosis is developing
between the European Union and the AKP. Signs that this relationship was
strengthened by the closure case against the AKP are also rising. We can
even say that the AKP is under the EU's protection, because it thinks the
AKP is Turkey's only guarantee of democracy. The EU has also defined its
enemies in Turkey. In Rehn's words, these people are extreme secularists
and autocratic nationalists. He evidently means the main opposition
Republican People's Party (CHP) and its supporters. Similarly, recent
verbal sparring between the CHP and EU Joint Parliamentary Commission Co-
Chairman Joost Lagendijk and the CHP's salvos against EU Commission Head
Jose Manuel Barroso show this enmity.
The EU also clearly considers the Constitutional Court, the Turkish Armed
Forces (TSK) and the Kemalist bureaucracy to be against it. In addition,
due to recent killings of priests, the violence in Malatya, last year's
Hrant Dink assassination and the Ergenekon probe associated with the
Nationalist Movement Party's (MHP) Idealist Hearths, the EU considers the
party a potential criminal. Likewise, Rehn's response to the way Cumhuriyet
daily columnist Ilhan Selcuk was taken into custody showed this to some
extent. Although Rehn said that he understood the humanitarian concerns
over Selcuk's detention, he then immediately emphasized the importance of
the Ergenekon probe. He said that this would show the work done by the
legislative branch and security forces. In short, he didn't say that
Selcuk's human rights were violated.
It was also strange for a person who tried to paint himself as
knowledgeable about Ergenekon to say that the EU has no intelligence agency
and so can't know about every development in Turkey. In sum, his answer
about Selcuk also reflected his bias. In addition, I found his suggestion
of setting up an ombudsman system to deal with problematic issues like the
headscarf to be naïve. He said that this would be the best way to solve
certain 'small problems' about secularism, which showed that he hasn't
grasped how deep this conflict is. This enmity between the EU and extreme
secularists and autocratic nationalists show that if the AKP is closed down,
Turkish-EU relations will suffer serious turbulence. Of course, meanwhile,
all sorts of bad things happen to Turkey's liberal and secular democrats,
who consider themselves neither extreme secularists, nor autocratic
nationalist. Rehn, who says that EU reforms aim to ensure that liberal
democracy and democratic secularism in Turkey flourish, fails to see this."
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