THOUGHTS ON 'EUROPE DAY' BY SAMI KOHEN (MILLIYET)
President Sezer gave a banquet to the EU member and
candidate countries' Ambassadors to Ankara at the Cankaya Presidential
Palace on the occassion of the 'Europe Day'. During the banquet, the
EU Commission's representative to Ankara, Karen Fogg, asked Sezer,
"One of the conditions for being a member of the EU is to share
the sovereignty in some issues. How do you consider this sharing
out?" Sezer replied, "The international agreements in Turkey
are on the level of law but below the Constitution. I think we will
have to review the 90th article concerning the sharing of the
sovereignty when the time arrives." Sezer also gave the message
that Turkey should make some legal reforms on the way to the EU and
said, "Turkey is determined to make the required improvements and
strengthen all the necessary developments, mostly in the legal field,
in the changing conditions of the world." Meanwhile, EU's current
president, Swedish Ambassador to Ankara, Henrik Liljegren, also made a
speech during the banquet and said, "Turkey belongs to
Europe." /Hurriyet/
US President George W. Bush sent a letter to Prime
Minister Bulent Ecevit through US Ambassador to Turkey, Robert
Pearson. In the letter, Bush said, "We strongly support your
reform efforts regarding the Turkish economy." Stressing the
government's intense efforts are encouraging, the US President said,
"I understand that reforms such as privatization of
telecommunications and restructuring of banking sector are not easy
and require great political courage." Regarding the recent raid
on the Swiss Hotel in Istanbul, Bush congratulated Turkish security
forces for their success in solving the hostage-taking incident.
/Turkiye/
Turkey, who has concerns over the recent
developments, is increasing her diplomatic initiatives in the Balkans.
Foreign Minister Ismail Cem will travel to Skopje today after his
visit to Kosovo. He is expected to convey Turkey's support messages to
Skopje. Ankara denounced the recent attack of the extreme nationalist
Sebin groups to the Osman Pasha Mosque in Trebinye. "Turkey
harshly denounces the recent developments and demands the Serbian
Administration catch the assailants and punish them as soon as
possible. Cem will meet with the officials from the UN mission,
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and KFOR
(NATO Kosovo Force) today. He is also expected to meet with people of
Turkish descent and to visit Turkish Battalion Mission Force in
Kosovo. After paying his one day official visit in Kosovo, Cem will
travel to Skopje. Cem, who supported international initiatives
launched after the struggles between Macedonian majority and Albanian
minority have mounted, is expected to be received by the Macedonian
President Boris Traykovski. /Cumhuriyet/
Turkey has presented a diplomatic note to Greece
over a new spat that has developed, after Turkey rejected a flight
plan for a helicopter taking Greece's navy chief to a NATO ceremony,
because it would have taken off from the Greek island of Rhodes, which
Turkey wants demilitarized. Foreign Ministry Spokesman Huseyin Dirioz
said Wednesday that the flight plan was unacceptable under a 1947
agreement saying that Rhodes should be demilitarized.Greek Defense
Minister Akis Cohacopoulos argued that Turkey was wrong in taking such
a decision and said, "Ankara's stance over the issue causes
problems concerning Turkey's cooperation with Greece and strengthens
Greece's thesis which claim there is nothing to be discussed about the
Aegean issue. He also said he would inform NATO about the issue.
/Cumhuriyet, Turkish News/
The US, NATO and the EU are said to initiate effort
to persuade Turkey to accept Greek Cypriot Administration's full EU
membership by 2004. According to the Greek newspaper
"Etnos", no matter what the attitude of Turkish-Cypriots is,
western community aims to recruit the Greek-Cypriot Administration as
an EU member. The newspaper said these three powers propose Turkey to
furher develop relations with the EU and to become a member of the
European Security and Cooperation Identity(ESDI) before being a full
member, in return for withdrawing her objection for the Greek-Cypriot
full EU membership. /Milliyet/
The Internal Affairs Commission of Parliament
approved the draft law calling the denouncement of France which issued
a law recognizing the so-called Armenian genocide. The draft law,
which is expected to be debated in the General Assembly soon, says
Turkey rejects the claims of the so-called Armenian genocide which has
been neither determined or accepted by history. It continues to state
that France and other foreign powers provoked the Armenians for their
own purposes during World War I. "We strongly condemn the loss of
life and the support and shelter given to ASALA terror," said the
draft. The draft also underlines France and other European countries'
moral responsibility by keeping silent during the invasion of Azeri
land, forcing the people to migrate, and perpetrating genocide to the
people of Bosnia because of their religion. /Turkish Daily News/
Islamic Conference Organization and the Permanent
Committee of Economic and Commercial Cooperation's (ISEDAK) Monitoring
Committee's 17th meeting began at The Marmara Hotel in Istanbul.
Deputy Prime Minister Devlet Bahceli made a speech during the opening
session of the meeting and said that the process of globalization
consists of opportunities of improvement and welfare for the
developing countries. Following the speech of Bahceli, who is also the
Chairman of the ISEDAK Monitoring Committee, messages were read.
Secretary General of the Islamic Conference Organization, Abdulvahid
Belkeziz called the international arena to establish a system of
protection for Palestine and to convince Israel to stop its violent
actions. /Sabah/
The Europe Day, which has been celebrated since
1985 by the European Union (EU) member countries, is also among the
special days in Turkey. The Association of Turkish Industrialists and
Businessmen (TUSIAD) led this initiation in Turkey, which is not a
member of the EU yet. Chairman of TUSIAD, Tuncay Ozilhan, said,
"The celebration of this day is an expression of our desire to
share the basic values of the EU. The Europe Day is celebrated during
an activity, jointly organized by the TUSIAD and the EU Commission,
for the first time in Turkey, which has taken the status of the
candidate country during the Helsinki Summit in 1999. /Hurriyet/
Chairman of the European Commission, Romano Prodi,
sent a visual message to the Europe Day activities, and suggested
Turkey not to lose her original values while being a European. Prodi
said, "If you aim to be a member of the European Union (EU),
adhere to the rules not only on human rights and democracy, but all of
them. Then you will enter a process of great change. But do not forget
that first of all, you are Turks and do not lose your own
characteristics. I am a European but also an Italian and I do not
forget this fact. As the EU, we are born as six countries, this number
has reached 15 and new countries will join us in 2004. The EU is a
market of 500 million people and all the countries, which will become
a member of this market, will win." /Hurriyet/
Minister of Labour and Social Security Yasar Okuyan
said there was no problem between him and State Minister Kemal Dervis.
Recalling there is a consensus between employees, employers and the
government about the Bill on the Employment Security Law, Okuyan said
he hoped there would not be a problem concerning the bill.
/Cumhuriyet/
Belgian Greens Party parliamentarian Leen Laenens
declared a report on the hunger strikes and F-type prisons in Turkey
at the meeting held in the Representatives Assembly Chairmanship. The
report will be discussed tomorrow at the Council of Europe meeting.
Stating Turkish officials were very cooperative and helpful to himself
during his Turkey visit to prepare the report, Laenens said The
Committee to Prevent Torture at the Council of Europe had positive
views about the F-type prisons in Turkey. The report states inmates
who lost their consciousness go on hunger strike again because of the
oppression by the terrorist organisations after taking medical
treatment. /Cumhuriyet/
Interior Minister Sadettin Tantan, who is currently
in Iran for a 3-day official visit, met with Secretary of the Iranian
National Security High Council Huccetulislam Hasan Ruhani and
President's Primary Assistant Hasan Habibi. After the meetings, Ryhani
said, "Such meetings condtituted a guarantee for our nations that
the borders will always be protected and respected by the two
countries. Meanwhile Tantan stated, "Iranian and Turkish nations
have close relations and have common interests in the region. We
believe the economic and cultural relations between the two countries
should improve." /Cumhuriyet/
Long lasting meetings between Turk-Is,
representative of 50 thousand civil workers, and the government were
ended. Following a meeting yesterday at State Minister Mehmet
Kececiler's office, the sides said they are close to a final agreement
and they expect to sign it on Tuesday. /Turkiye/
Parliament passed on Wednesday all articles of the
new Civil Code, except the one relating to the property regime. The
Parliamentary Justice Commission passed 92 articles of the new civil
code. The members of the governing coalition proposed that the new
Civil Code be enforced as of Jan. 1, 2002, after debating on whether
to put the law into force after a six-month period following its
approval by Parliament. /Turkish News/
Following the capture of 448 illegal migrants
aboard a sand coaster vessel, the coastguard has stepped up its
security measures. /Turkish Daily News/
Aid has started to arrive at the flood-stricken
Southern Anatolian town of Antakya, paralyzed by torrential rains that
began on Tuesday. Mayor of Antakya, Iris Senturk said the electricity
lines were cut due to the threat of electrocution. Senturk said that
settlement near the banks of the River Asi are still unreachable. Many
cattle and sheep are also reported lost or drowned. Two people drowned
and one is reported to be lost. There is over $10 million in damage.
The rain is expected to continue two more days and move eastward.
/Turkish Daily News/
The Telekom crisis was solved yesterday at leaders
meeting. Following the 4.5-hour meeting, Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit
said, "A compromise was reached on the privatization of the
Telekom and the bill will be sent to the Parliament tomorrow."
/Turkiye/
State Minister responsible for the Economy, Kemal
Dervis, said both Turkish public and international financial circles
exert strong pressure on the government to establish sanctions for
individuals, who are responsible for the deterioration of a bank's
finances, by changing the Banking Law. The new law allows the freezing
of assets of bankers, administrators and their relatives. Dervis also
said the Treasury has a considerable amount of burden of debt
repayment in June and July and the required resources should be
obtained before that time. Dervis said limitless guarantees granted to
banking sector through savings accounts fund should be reduced,
because currently the state shoulders all savings accounts by giving
guarantees. /Milliyet/
The countdown has started for the construction of
the Baku-Ceyhan pipeline project, which was planned to carry Caspian
oil to world markets. Detailed engineering studies, which are the
first step before the construction of the pipeline, will start in
June. The final financing and construction of the project will be
certified after the cmpletion of detailed engineering studies, which
will last around 12 months. Then, the tender for construction will be
opened. The pipeline will be 1,037 kilometers long and the $1.3
billion-worth financing will be provided by company groups to
construct the line. The Baku-Ceyhan oil pipeline is expected to be
completed by 2005. The whole cost of the line will be up to $3
billion. /Turkish Daily News/
It was reported the number of Turkish entrepreneurs
in the EU countries will reach 160.000 in 2015. According to data by
the Turkish Researches Center (TAM), 960,000 people from different
countries will be employed in Turkish managements within the next 15
years. TAM Director Prof. Faruk Sen said Turkish entrepreneurs bridged
the EU and Turkey. /Cumhuriyet/
Stanley Fischer announced that he would resign from
his duty as the First Deputy Chairman of the International Monetary
Fund (IMF) and held a press conference concerning the issue. During
the press conference, he also pointed to the economic situation in
Turkey and said the IMF, the US and the G-7 countries were fully
supporting Turkey in her efforts to overcome the economic crisis.
/Hurriyet/
Koc Holding, Dogan Holding and Ata Insaat chairmen
of the executive boards are getting ready to invest in Ardahan.
Reportedly, businessmen and Husnu Yusuf Gokalp, Minister of
Agriculture and Rural Affairs, will travel to the region in following
days to make observations in the region. /Turkiye/
Turkish Tourism Investors Association (TYD) and the
Turkish Association of Hotel Owners (TUROB) were united under the same
roof. The TYD and TUROB decided to act together by preserving their
autonomy and will be managed with the system of co-chairmanship. They
will continue their works in a single center as of 1 June. /Sabah/
The number of tourists visiting Turkey is
significantly increasing. According to data by the Tourism Ministry,
there is a 17.4 % increase in the number of tourists who visited
Turkey during April compared to the same period last year. Germany,
Russian Federation and France are the three countries who send the
greatest numbers of tourists to Turkey. /Cumhuriyet/
Columnist Sami Kohen writes on the views concerning
Turkey's full EU membership. A summary of his column is as follows:
"Turkish Industrialists and Businessmen's Association (TUSIAD)
organized a ceremony to mark the 'Europe Day'. A distinguished
audience attended the ceremony where President Ahmet Necdet Sezer,
Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit,President of the European Commission
Romano Prodi, businessmen, intellectuals, youth representatives, and
man-on-the-street expressed their views on Turco-EU relations.
According to foreign diplomats participating in the ceremony the
message which came out from the 'Europe Day' celebrations was that
Turkey had to keep the desire to integrate with the EU alive.. 'Europe
Day' is celebrated in the EU member countries to mark the anniversary
of May 9, 1950, when the foundations of the community were first laid.
As Secretary General for the European Union Affairs, Ambassador Volkan
Vural, pointed out in his speech that 'May 9 Europe Day' was a day to
celebrate for Turkey as well. EU representative to Turkey Karen Fogg
expressed her expectation that 'Europe Day' would raise hopes in the
country and be a source of inspiration for Turkey on the issues she
must deal with. One of the issues attracting our attention during the
speeches delivered yesterday was the difference in the aproaches by
the politicians and the civil society. For example, Prime Minister
Ecevit stated Turkey was a European country but accepted the fact that
she had certain shortcomings in democracy and economy. Is it not the
duty of the politicians to eliminate these shortcomings? The voices
heard from the civil society were more determined and energetic.
Particularly the youth expressed their expectations from the EU and
what must be done to be a member more clearly. One of the students
attending the ceremony said that the EU would broaden the horizon for
Turkey and guide her. However, the transition process will be carried
out by Turks themselves. We would all like Turkey to make this
transition by her own free will. It is a fact that adherence to rules
set by the EU is a driving force and keeps the vision of change
alive."
