AFTER THE PRESIDENTIAL PALACE SUMMIT BY YILMAZ OZTUNA (TURKIYE)
President Ahmet Necdet Sezer yesterday vetoed a bill proposing changes to the Basic Law on National Education. Sezer sent the bill back to the Parliament, requesting reconsideration of its first article, which proposes extending to poor children the opportunity to receive education in private schools. “Under this article, private schools would be supported by state funds,” wrote the president in his veto justification. “Since prominent private schools of proven quality cannot accept more students as they are already at full capacity, such students would inevitably to be sent to private schools which were founded by certain circles for specific reasons. This would set the stage for students to be educated with a mentality contradicting the basic principles of our secular, democratic Republic.” He added that under the supplemental Article 4 of the Law on Private Schools, private schools were already obliged to admit students totaling at least 2% of their total enrollment capacity free of charge. /All Papers/
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is set next month to visit European Union Term President Italy and thereafter Germany. He is also expected to pay a visit to Spain in the fall. Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul is to visit both Germany and France and then travel to Italy on Oct. 1. Both leaders are reportedly planning to actively lobby for Turkey’s EU membership bid in the runup to the fall release of the EU Commission’s annual progress report on Turkey. They are to tout to EU officials the latest steps taken by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) towards fulfilling the EU criteria. /Sabah/
According to diplomatic sources, Ankara is planning to send approximately 10,000 soldiers to Iraq, which would make Turkey the third-biggest military force in the region, following the US and Britain. The General Staff Office and the Foreign Ministry have reportedly sped up their preparations to complete all the necessary procedures and plans. Ankara is expected to sign an agreement on the issue with a US delegation set to visit Turkey next week. /Hurriyet/
Ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) Deputy Chairman Akif Gulle said yesterday that as it enters its third year, his party holds an important place in Turkish politics. “Over the last year, the AKP has pursued its own course,” he told a press conference. “Today we are more powerful than yesterday, and we believe that tomorrow we will be more powerful still.” Gulle also briefed reporters on today’s program of events to celebrate the party’s second anniversary. He said that first a photograph exhibit would be opened at the party’s Ankara headquarters and then in the afternoon, there would be a visit to Anitkabir, the mausoleum of Turkish Republic founder Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. Later the party’s founding members are to gather to celebrate at the Bilkent Hotel. /Aksam/
Turkey should contribute its soldiers to Iraq stabilization efforts, Motherland Party (ANAP) leader Ali Talip Ozdemir said yesterday. “Parliament should re-convene as soon as possible to render a final decision without losing any time,” said Ozdemir, who is also a Parliament deputy. “We should prove Turkey’s power in the Middle East.” He also underlined that Iraq’s territorial integrity was very important for Turkey. /Turkiye/
Speaking to daily Hurriyet, an anonymous US official yesterday stated that PKK/KADEK terrorists must leave northern Iraq and return to Turkey to appeal for lenience under the recently passed repentance law, popularly known as “Return to Home,” or face certain US military force. Stressing that conditions in northern Iraq had changed significantly since the war’s end, the official said that if the PKK/KADEK failed to grasp this new reality and refused to return to Turkey, then US military forces would have no choice but to engage them in combat. “They shouldn’t pass up this opportunity,” warned the official. “They must return to Turkey, otherwise they’ll be finished off by US forces.” /Hurriyet/
Turkey sending its soldiers to Iraq could help Turkish businessmen who want to do business in the country and boost the export trade, said Turkish Exporters’ Association (TIM) Chairman Oguz Satici yesterday. “Over 40% of Turkish businessmen want to do business in Iraq and if Turkey decides to send soldiers, then this would also encourage our businessmen,” predicted Satici. “Turkey plays an important role in the region through both its production and exports.” /Cumhuriyet/
A boat carrying illegal migrants yesterday capsized off the Turkish coast in the Aegean, killing at least five of its passengers. Four other migrants from Liberia and Somalia were rescued, but 10 others remain missing. Turkish Coast Guard efforts to find those missing migrants are continuing. The survivors said they boarded a ship in Libya to travel to Italy and had been misled to believe that they were near the Italian coast. /All Papers/
The oil pipeline from Kirkuk, Iraq to Turkey’s Mediterranean port city of Yumurtalik yesterday began pumping oil for the first time since the Iraq war ended. Analysts said that it was unclear how reliable the flow of oil from fields near the northern Iraqi city might prove to be, but the reopening of the pipeline is considered a key step in rebuilding Iraq's oil industry. /Turkiye/
Columnist Yilmaz Oztuna comments on the aftermath of yesterday’s Cankaya Presidential Palace summit. A summary of his column is as follows:
“During yesterday’s Cankaya Presidential Palace summit, it was decided that Turkey will send soldiers to Iraq. Thus, a new proposal on this issue will be presented to Parliament for the deputies to vote on. If they reject it, the government will have to resign. Such a development would be disastrous because Turkey would waste so much time, our economy would suffer and our foreign policy would be damaged. For this reason, the government should present to Parliament a well-crafted proposal. The ruling Justice and Development Party’s (AKP) leaders should make sure its ranks know about Turkey’s best interests. Of course it should also make a group decision on this proposal.
Possibly the government will call Parliament to meet in extraordinary session. For this reason, Ankara is waiting for Washington to respond its questions. We are expecting information on the situation of Turkish soldiers in Iraq. The status applied to other countries’ soldiers would be valid for us in any case. However, our role in Iraq might be proportional to the number of soldiers we send.
If there are soldiers here from every country but Turkey, it doesn’t take a political genius to predict our sufferings in such a case. The US allowed the plundering of the Baghdad Museum. We should send as large a force as possible because the US needs our help in this land so it doesn’t commit the same blunders twice.”
