WHAT ABOUT AFGHANISTAN? BY YILMAZ OZTUNA (TURKIYE)
The Interior Ministers of Turkey, Georgia and Azerbaijan yesterday
signed an agreement in Trabzon for joint action against terrorism,
organized crime and as well as cooperation on ensuring the security of
energy pipelines. President Ahmet Necdet Sezer, who met with his
Azerbaijani and Georgian counterparts this week, said that the aim of
the pact was to provide peace and stability in the region. “With this
meeting we wanted to underline the importance of international
cooperation against terrorism, organized crime and drug smuggling,”
Sezer added. Sezer also stated that the three national signatories would
take advantage of this opportunity to make strenuous efforts for peace
and security in the Caucasus region. /Hurriyet/
Deputy Prime Minister and Motherland Party (ANAP) leader Mesut Yilmaz
said yesterday that even as the European Union is evaluating terrorist
groups, they are also looking behind their backs in fear of these groups.
Yilmaz also predicted that the terrorist PKK would be included on the
EU’s revised terrorist group list, but that the DHKP-C might not be
added until later, echoing a widespread view among EU observers. /Hurriyet/
Calling the idea of a two-round election system for Turkey “unrealistic,”
Deputy Prime Minister and Nationalist Action Party (MHP) leader Devlet
Bahceli said yesterday, “Such a system would encourage the formation of
ethnic, religious and regional blocs and lay the groundwork for a
dangerous polarization.” At the MHP’s parliamentary group meeting,
Bahceli spoke on the two-round proposal which emerged after the recent
success of extremist politician Jean-Marie Le Pen in the first round of
French presidential elections. “It is impossible to understand that how
members of terrorist organizations are wreaking havoc in the European
Parliament, even as the EP lambastes Le Pen,” he stated. “More
importantly, how exactly does asking Turkey to guarantee the political
freedoms of terrorist organization members and supporters serve to
promote democracy and friendship? While the restlessness and reaction
against the ghost of racism in Europe are obvious, one cannot help but
doubt the goodwill of those who displayed neither support nor tolerance
to Turkey while it faced a vicious terrorism campaign lasting 15 years.”
/Turkiye/
Foreign Minister Ismail Cem gave a speech entitled “Turkey, Europe
and Eurasia” at the beginning of this week at the Strategic
International Relations Institute (Institut des Relations
Internationales et Stratégiques), a Paris-based prominent strategic
research center specializing in the problems of international relations.
Cem remarked that Turkey’s policies on Europe and Eurasia were not
incompatible but rather complementary, and that they are aimed on the
one hand at joining the EU, and on the other at playing a pivotal role
in Eurasia. Cem stated that the rise of the extreme right in Europe, a
political faction he called “notorious for xenophobic nationalism,”
constituted a serious problem against Turkey’s bid to join the European
Union. Cem also held a press conference yesterday in Paris, briefing
journalists on his contacts with French officials. Stating that
abolishing the death penalty was of great importance for Turkey to
fulfill the EU’s Copenhagen criteria, Cem said, “Turkey hasn’t carried
out any death sentences for 20 years. That’s why I don’t see any reason
not to abolish the practice.” When asked about Turkey’s views on
education and broadcasting in languages other than Turkish, Cem stated
that it was “not impossible” for Turkey to make regulations on this
issue in accordance with its interests, just as various practices can be
seen in a number of European countries. /Cumhuriyet/
State Minister for the Economy Kemal Dervis argued yesterday that
persistently high interest rates were holding Turkey back and that the
nation’s aim should be a real interest rate of no higher than 6%.
Speaking at an Istanbul conference on “Turkey: New Dynamism, New
Opportunities” sponsored jointly by the Financial Times and the
International Herald Tribune, Dervis remarked that no country could long
survive interest rates of 20% or more. In order to bring down these
rates and reach the targets of the government’s economic program, he
said that reducing inflation was “imperative.” Dervis predicted reduced
inflation as early as this summer. The economy minister also counseled
against “quick fixes” to boost Turkey’s growth. /Milliyet/
The European Union member countries’ permanent representatives in
Brussels reportedly decided yesterday to add the terrorist PKK to the EU
list of terrorist groups, thus redressing a glaring omission on the last
such list. However, the new list fails to include the terrorist DHKP-C
and the PKK’s self-proclaimed new label, KADEK. Responding to
preliminary reports of the new list, which has not officially been
released yet, KADEK so-called leadership council member Osman Ocalan
claimed that the PKK had not been a terrorist group for 15 years and
called the new listing “strange.” The PKK’s terrorist campaign in
southeastern Anatolia over the last 15 years enacted a death toll of
over 30,000 lives. /Turkiye/
True Path Party (DYP) leader Tansu Ciller released a statement
yesterday objecting to efforts to revive a conditional release bill
after President Ahmet Necdet Sezer’s veto, and moving on to a more
general critique of the government coalition. “The vacuum of leadership
in Turkey is turning into a permanent acute crisis,” Ciller wrote. “The
government behind this chaos and scandal of justice should resign. Their
mishandling of the economy and foreign policy has now infected the
justice system. What’s important now is not to enact many laws, but to
pass practical, smart laws that address our nation’s pressing needs.” /Turkiye/
Jews of Turkish origin living in Switzerland are set to establish an
association to bring together all Jews of Turkish origin throughout the
world to lobby on Turkey’s behalf. A ceremony will be held tomorrow to
mark the establishment of the “Association of Jews from Turkey” with the
attendance of Turkish State Minister Sukru Sina Gurel. Albert Covo, one
of the group’s founding members, stated that there was a deep-rooted
friendship between Jews and Turkey which had endured for centuries and
that the association hoped to reinforce this relationship by lobbying
for Turkey within the international community. /Cumhuriyet/
World Bank Turkey Director Ajay Chhibber yesterday lauded the
government’s current Turkish economic program as “ambitious and
aggressive,” adding, “With this program Turkey will improve and become a
country with a high standard of living.” Speaking at a conference in
Istanbul organized by the Financial Times and the International Herald
Tribune, Chhibber also stated that Turkey was the country with the
highest energy costs in Europe, but that steps have been taken to
address this problem and that energy costs are decreasing as the natural
gas supply is increasing. /Hurriyet/
Speaking to Parliament’s Budget and Planning Commission, Central Bank
Governor said yesterday that Turkey’s trade balance this year was
expected to end in a deficit of approximately $2.2 billion, with capital
inflow for the year adding up to $6.6 billion. “Our 2001 trade deficit
of $9.8 billion gave way to a $3.3 billion surplus last year,” he added.
“This was due mainly to the lira’s rapid depreciation caused by Turkey’s
contracting economy.” /Milliyet/
The third meeting of the Turkish-US Industrial Investment Framework (TUFA)
last week in Washington DC brought together delegations from Turkey’s
Foreign Trade and Investment to discuss technical and legal aspects of
the proposed Qualified Industrial Zones (QIZ). An undersecretariat
official said after the meeting that the prevailing atmosphere had been
“positive” and that the US was due to begin procedures to establish a
QIZ in Turkey. The US side also urged Turkey to begin contacts with
Israel to move the matter forward. Technically the QIZ are a US Israeli
arrangement, but the US decided to bring close ally Turkey into the fold
this year/ Hurriyet/
Yapi Kredi was honored yesterday for joining the ranks of the top 10
Visa card issuers internationally. Recent figures show the Turkish bank
ranking number 10 among 5,700 banks in 45 countries in terms of number
of cards issued, and number 20 in terms of transactions made with Visa
cards. VISA European Chairman Hans Van Der Verde presented Yapi Kredi
Director-General Naci Sigin and Deputy Director-General Nazan Somer a
commemorative plate to mark the bank’s achievement. Van Der Verde
remarked that Yapi Kredi was a special bank because it was the first
bank to issue Visa cards in Turkey. Speaking of the honor, Sigin said,
“Our aim is to compete with European banks. This achievement is not our
success alone, but also Turkey’s.” /Sabah/
A representative of popular European racing circuit Formula One said
yesterday that plans were being laid for races to be held in Turkey as
early as 2005 or 2006. “We’ve decided to bring the races to Turkey at a
racetrack to be determined later,” said Formula One official Cem Hakko
after meeting with State Minister Fikret Unlu. In addition, world-famous
racing cars used by Formula One drivers are currently being exhibited at
Istanbul’s Beylikduzu Migros Shopping Center. The exhibit will run
through May 19 and will then be shown at Antalya’s Migros Shopping
Center on May 23-June 9. /Sabah/
The International Ankara Cartoon Festival sponsored by Cartoon
Foundation begins on Friday at the Art and Sculpture Museum and will run
through May 7. The festival will feature work by Turkish and foreign
cartoonists from a half dozen six countries, as well as symposiums,
movie and computer workshops, video shows and panel discussions. Suat
Yildiz will also receive an award for “Cartoonist of the Year.” The
theme for this year’s festival is “Cartoons and Information Technology.”
/Sabah/
Columnist Oktay Gonensin comments on election systems in France and
Turkey. A summary of his column is as follows:
“ Importing France’s two-round election system to Turkey has been
previously brought up at various times, and then the subject was dropped.
In 1994, when center-left and center-right parties were competing for
the same votes, the Welfare Party’s (RP) candidates captured 20% of the
voters.
A central aspect of France’s two-round system is the ‘narrow region’
practice. Under this system only one person from each region is selected.
Voters vote for one candidate only rather than a long list. In this way,
a direct relation is obtained between the regional voters and the
candidate.
Before the second round a unanimity originating from the grassroots
is ensured between parties. For example, let’s say a candidate from
party A proceeds to the second round in one region, and in another
region, a candidate from party B does the same. The parties then support
each other, and the voters elect the best candidate for them, and they
know that in the other region voters of the other party will support
their party’s candidate. This an unanimity at the grassroots. As a
result, surprise coalitions which are not supported by voters do not
emerge.
In this system, party administrations should decide on the best
candidates in terms of suitability for its own voters as well as
concerning other parties’ voters. People, who are opposed to the two-round
election system have certain anxieties. Although they do not express it
clearly, they are concerned that right-wing parties will always be make
it to the second round, and that the left wing may be erased. Under
current conditions they may be right. However, if the center-left enters
elections with 4 or 5 parties including new ones to be established, no
matter the system, it will never be a viable alternative to the ruling
party or parties.
Another anxiety, also not expressed clearly, is that parties like
HADEP or ones similar to it in southeastern Anatolia may also be erased.
Indeed, this shows their own weakness, “We are unable to produce
policies for our citizens in the southeastern region, nor can we direct
them to centrist parties by meeting their expectations, and we cannot
prevent them from being used by extremist parties.”
Such criticisms and anxieties spring from today’s dysfunctional
political understanding which has also led to difficulties in the
current system and thus paved the way for the rise of extremist parties.”
Columnist Yilmaz Oztuna comments on the Afganistan issue. A summary
of his column is as follows:
“The Afghanistan issue has apparently been put on the back burner due
first to Iraq and then to the Palestine-Israel conflict. However, the
country’s situation is still a complex one. Osama bin Laden is not
making headlines anymore, but everybody knows that the US intelligence
service is hellbent on finding him. It is clear that such a person
cannot hide from them forever.
The US administration is making Afghanistan act in line with its
wishes. The US has begun to establish bases in regional countries. If 10
years ago someone had told us that the US would establish bases in the
Caucasus and Central Asia, and Russia would not object, nobody would
take him seriously.
Turkey has decided to take command of the international peacekeeping
force (ISAF) to ensure the peace in Kabul and the surrounding area.
Waving the Turkish flag in Central Asia is a positive thing.
However, where is Afghanistan is going to? Former King Zahir Shah
recently returned from Rome after a 10-year exile. Now, the clan
assembly is expected to convene and a new government to come to the
power.
Will Zahir Shah and his son be invited back to the throne? I don’t
think the Afghan leaders will be wise enough to do that. If they were
that smart, they would not have exiled their king in the first place,
opened their arms to communism, caused millions of Afghans to lose their
lives, brought al-Qaeda to their country, tortured their women and
destroyed Buddha statues, enraging the international community.
The king will not rule the country by himself, but represent the
unity of the country like a flag. If this unification can be ensured,
this important country will finally be able to develop.”
