NATIONAL ISSUE, NATIONAL GOAL
BY ISMET BERKAN (RADIKAL)
Speaking at his party’s parliamentary group meeting
yesterday, Prime Minister and ruling Justice and Development
Party (AKP) leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan reiterated his
condemnation of Saturday’s terrorist attacks on two
synagogues in Istanbul. “If these terrorists wanted to send
a message, then rest assured they will find no audience
here,” he said. He lamented that the attacks had cast a
shadow over Turkey’s peaceful atmosphere, adding that such
slaughter of innocents was inhuman. “All those who lost
their lives or suffered injuries are citizens of Turkey,
regardless of their religion,” said Erdogan. He added that
Turkish security forces had gathered important clues in the
search for the attacks’ culprits and that DNA test results
would be pivotal in this effort. /Milliyet/
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan yesterday received
visiting Iraqi Turkmen Front head Faruk Adullah Abdurrahman.
During their talks, Erdogan said that Turkey would continue
to support Iraq’s ethnic Turkmen in the nation’s
reconstruction process. He said that he wanted the Turkmen
to be prepared for elections in the country, adding that he
had no wish to see a Turkmen-Kurdish conflict. /Cumhuriyet/
Speaking yesterday at a seminar on obstacles to peace in
the 21st century, Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said that
investigators had uncovered a link to Saturday’s deadly
synagogue bombings and a terrorist group in Afghanistan. “It
has emerged that there is a link with an organization in
Afghanistan in terms of belief and understanding,” said Gul.
“The emerging evidence demonstrates that the security
services have been very successful in their work. A trail
has been found and relationships have emerged.” Though Gul
declined to provide any further details, his comments were
the clearest statement to date pointing to a connection with
the al Qaeda terrorist network. /Cumhuriyet/
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan last night met with
US Ambassador to Ankara Eric Edelman. On the eve of
Edelman’s departure for a visit to Washington, Erdogan
reportedly conveyed Turkey’s request that the US lift the
political provisions in an $8.5 billion US loan pledged to
Turkey following the Iraq war. Pointing to instability in
Iraq and the ongoing PKK/KADEK terrorist threat, Erdogan
argued that conditions in Iraq had changed and so the
conditions of the agreement should also be changed. Edelman
reportedly pledged to convey Ankara’s concerns to
Washington, but added he was not hopeful the terms of the
agreement could be changed. /Sabah/
Speaking at his party’s parliamentary group meeting
yesterday, opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader
Deniz Baykal charged that a lack of leadership, not
intelligence failures, had made Saturday’s deadly terrorist
attacks possible. He added that the attacks had not just
targeted two Istanbul synagogues, but in fact the entire
nation. /Milliyet/
In the wake of Saturday’s deadly terrorist attacks in
Istanbul, Israeli Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin accompanied
by Israeli Ambassador to Ankara Pinhas Avivi yesterday
visited the Beth Israel and Neve Shalom Synagogues, which
were the targets of the attacks. After surveying the damage
in the area, Rivlin told reporters that as the attacks were
acts of international terrorism, international cooperation
was needed to fight this menace. Meanwhile, six Jewish
victims of the attacks were laid to rest in Istanbul
yesterday. Speaking at their funerals, Chief Rabbi Ishak (Yitzhak)
Haleva blamed terrorism for their tragic deaths. /Sabah/
Regulations prepared by the Radio and Television Higher
Board (RTUK) for broadcasts in traditional (mother-tongue)
languages and dialects were sent to the Prime Ministry
yesterday. At a press conference, RTUK Chairman Fatih Karaca
said that as an initial phase, stations with a nationwide
reach would be able to produce broadcasts in traditional
languages, including news shows, music, and promotion of
traditional culture. Under the regulations, radio stations
and TV channels can broadcast such programs for up to five
hours a week. In addition, Turkish subtitles of the texts
must be simultaneously broadcast. /Sabah/
Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said yesterday that Turkey
was willing to pay some $900,000 in compensation and accrued
interest to Greek Cypriot citizen Titina Loizidou if a
compromise could be reached on the issue, and particularly
it was established the case wouldn’t set a precedent for
similar cases in the International Court of Human Rights.
Speaking to reporters at Esenboga Airport before leaving for
Sweden, Gul said both Turkey and the Council of Europe were
working on the issue. Regarding the weekend synagogue
attacks, Gul stated that far too many people had lost their
lives due to terrorism. “Making peace in a country is only
possible through united efforts against terrorism, one
including all neighboring countries as well,” he added. /Turkiye/
Columnist Cuneyt Ulsever comments on the concept of
transnational terrorism. A summary of his column is as
follows:
“Here’s what the world requires now:
Efficient production in order to maintain global
competitiveness, (b) Local sensitivity in order to be
flexible to local demands, Organizational learning able to
assimilate constant innovations.
Such developments require a new model of organization,
that is, transnational companies. They are dispersed but
dependent on each other. Other structures which have been
able to keep in step with the differing needs of different
countries contribute to these companies’ globally-integrated
main structures. In addition, these companies produce
information cooperatively which is then shared worldwide.
Since the Sept. 11 attacks, we have seen that terrorist
groups are the best at practicing this model. Now the era of
national terror (PKK), international terror (ASALA) and even
multinational terror (the Red Brigades, Baader Mainhof) has
come to an end, ushering in the age of transnational terror.
This structure uses global technology and flexibility in
line with different national settings, and they produce
information and share it worldwide. Each country has its own
terrorist organization in this new structure, exemplified by
al Qaeda, but orders are given from a single center, and
their members are trained in centers where information is
produced in cooperation. We saw this in last weekend’s bomb
attacks on two synagogues in Istanbul. The perpetrators were
Turkish, but they had been trained at a center, they used
common world technology, and the main center made the
decisions. The information is produced globally, but used
appropriate to the general target. Currently this common
structure acts together in the Afghan mountains, Chechnya,
the Middle East, the US and Turkey. As long as a
transnational fight against transnational terror is lacking,
there will be no end to the terrorist threat.”
Columnist Ismet Berkan writes on the Cyprus issue. A
summary of his column is as follows:
“How would our newspapers and TV stations have covered
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s recent Cyprus visit if
it hadn’t been overshadowed by Saturday’s terrorist attacks?
I wonder whether certain dailies would have argued that
Erdogan was shifting his position on the Cyprus issue?
Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) President Rauf
Denktas was highly pleased with some of the words Erdogan
used during his visit to the island. However, his comments
also found some favor with the opposition parties. Anyway...
Erdogan made similar statements both on the island and
during yesterday’s AKP group meeting: ‘Cyprus is our
national issue. The European Union is our national goal. We
must find a way to reconcile these two issues.’ However, if
we examine the current atmosphere, we see that these two
questions seem to be on a collision course.
Last Friday, Denktas spoke with a number of journalists
on CNN Turk. First a story was shown summarizing why the
Turkish side opposes the Annan plan, after which Denktas was
asked whether he’d like to add anything. ‘Just a couple of
sentences,’ he replied. However, it seemed to me that if no
one stopped him, he could have spoken straight through to
morning. The Turkish Cypriot side doesn’t seem to be ready
to approve any solution under the Annan plan. There’s no
point in discussing this plan with Denktas since his
opposition to it is clear and outspoken. Both Denktas and
his supporters in Turkey are rightfully complaining about
the steady international pressure warning that time is
running out. ‘Under these circumstances, diplomatic
negotiations never work,’ they argue. Very well then, but
aren’t these people responsible for this no-solution impasse?
Aren’t these people responsible for failing to resolve this
problem in 1978 and missing many opportunities since to
reach a permanent solution? Is it fair to have the Turkish
nation foot the bill for all this? Why do the Turkish people
have to make concessions from their own goals for the sake
of protecting our rights on Cyprus? To over half of our 70
million population, the Cyprus Peace Operation is ancient
history, something which happened before they were even born.
These young people know Denktas as a politician always
negotiating with some Greek official or another. I can
understand why our prime minister is so concerned. Turkey is
facing many problems since the handling of these two issues,
Cyprus and the EU, has been linked together. But why don’t
we think this way? No matter what happens on our path
towards the EU, we must resolve the Cyprus issue as soon as
possible.
