REGIMES CAN’T BE IMPOSED
BY CUNEYT ULSEVER (HURRIYET)
“We hope that Cyprus becomes an island of peace
where Turkish and Greek Cypriots live together in
a united republic of Cyprus,” said Prime Minister
Recep Tayyip Erdogan yesterday. Before leaving for
Bosnia-Herzegovina to attend a summit of heads of
state and government of South East European
Cooperation Process (SECCP) countries, Erdogan
stated that he would meet with his Greek
counterpart Costas Karamanlis, Bulgarian President
Georgi Parvanov and Albanian Premier Fatos Nano
during his visit to the capital Sarajevo. /Turkiye/
Atzo Nicolai, European affairs minister for the
Netherlands, said yesterday that the European
Union should revise its stance if Greek Cyprus
rejects the United Nations Cyprus plan in
Saturday’s referendums. After meeting with Foreign
Minister Abdullah Gul in Ankara, Nicolai told a
press conference that Cypriots now had a historic
opportunity before them. “We’ve never been so
close to a settlement on Cyprus before,” said the
Dutch minister. Pointing to the importance of a
positive result in the referendums, Nicolai said
that if Greek Cyprus rejects the plan, Turkish
Cyprus would not left forsaken. Commenting on
Turkey’s European Union membership bid, the Dutch
minister stated that Ankara had made important
progress on its road to membership. “But,” he
added, “it’s hard to give a date for its
membership, as we’re now focused on deciding in
December whether or not to begin negotiations with
Ankara.” The Netherlands will be EU term president
when that decision is made. In related news, Gul
yesterday left for Sarajevo to attend a South East
European Cooperation Process (SECCP) summit.
Speaking to reporters en route, Gul said that he
had been sorry to hear Turkish Republic of
Northern Cyprus (TRNC) President Rauf Denktas’s
recent charge that Ankara had “sacrificed” Cyprus
for the sake of its EU membership bid. Gul said
that Turkey would always stand behind Turkish
Cypriots. In Sarajevo last evening, Gul attended
an unofficial foreign ministers’ gathering and
also held bilateral meetings. /Milliyet/
The National Security Council (NSC) is due to
hold an extraordinary meeting next Monday. The
meeting, chaired by President Ahmet Necdet Sezer,
is expected to focus on a number of issues, but
especially Cyprus. /Aksam/
US Secretary of State Colin Powell said
yesterday that Washington wanted the UN Security
Council to pass a resolution on new security
arrangements for a future united Cyprus before
Saturday’s referendums in order to encourage a
“yes” vote to reunite the island. “We’re working
with the UN Security Council on a resolution that
we would like to see acted upon this week, and
that resolution should give encouragement to the
Cypriots both north and south that the UN will be
putting its weight behind this agreement,” said
Powell. “A resolution will make sure that we call
on all parties to meet their obligations.”
/Milliyet/
In the countdown to Saturday’s referendums on
Cyprus, the European Parliament is set to convene
today to discuss a proposed resolution on Cyprus.
The resolution, to be voted on tomorrow, calls on
both sides on the island to approve the UN plan.
An EP delegation is also expected to travel to
Southern Cyprus on Friday to meet with Greek
Cypriot leader Tassos Papadopulos and leaders of
AKEL, Greek Cyprus’ largest political party, to
convince them to support the plan in the
referendums. /Turkiye/
Democratic Left Party (DSP) leader and former
Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit yesterday visited
Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC)
President Rauf Denktas to throw his support behind
the campaign against the UN Cyprus plan. Speaking
afterwards, Ecevit said that he had come to the
island to discuss recent developments on the
Cyprus issue, adding that he would visit the
Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) after returning to
Ankara. Ecevit added that the TRNC’s economy had
developed despite the economic embargos imposed on
it. For his part, Denktas warned that if the
Turkish Cypriots accept the plan, then they would
face a host of difficulties. In related news, TRNC
Foreign Minister Serdar Denktas said yesterday
that the plan included both positive and negative
elements for both sides. /Cumhuriyet/
Greek Cyprus’s largest political party, the
AKEL communist party, yesterday rejected a request
from Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC)
Prime Minister Mehmet Ali Talat to meet with AKEL
leader Dimitris Christofias to discuss this
Saturday’s referendums. Christofias stated that
the party was still discussing its stance ahead of
this Saturday’s referendums, so such a meeting at
this stage would not be useful. AKEL has opposed
the plan, but also held out the possibility of
supporting it if it gets certain guarantees from
the UN. /Cumhuriyet/
Commenting on a new 10-article constitutional
amendment package prepared by the government,
Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Deniz
Baykal said yesterday that his party would not
support the package if it does not include
measures to lift deputies’ immunity. “If the
package leaves out measures on immunity, this
would make us suspicious about the government’s
sincerity concerning democracy,” said Baykal.
“Amendments to the Constitution should be made not
for sake of our European Union membership bid, but
rather for our people.” /Sabah/
Republican People’s Party (CHP) Istanbul Deputy
Yasar Nuri Ozturk yesterday announced his
resignation from his party. He stated that he had
made this decision due to disagreements on certain
matters with party leader Deniz Baykal and the
party administration. /Sabah/
Greek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis on
Monday received Yigit Alpogan, Turkey’s ambassador
to Greece. During their talks, Karamanlis pledged
that even if Greek Cypriots reject the UN Cyprus
plan at this Saturday’s referendums, Athens would
still continue to support Ankara’s European Union
membership bid. In related news, Prime Minister
Recep Tayyip Erdogan is expected to meet with
Karamanlis today in Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina.
/Hurriyet/
Deputy Chief of General Staff Gen. Ilker Basbug
and Chilean Defense Minister Michelle Bachelet
yesterday signed an agreement on military
cooperation between their two countries. After the
signing ceremony, Basbug stated that this
agreement would help boost relations between
Ankara and Santiago. /Turkiye/
Turkish weightlifters yesterday won a total of
five gold medals and one silver and broke two
European records in the first day of the European
Men’s and Women’s Weightlifting Championship in
Kiev, Ukraine. Nurcan Taylan, Turkey’s entry in
the 53 kg women’s category, won three gold medals
and broke two European records. /Sabah/
Columnist Taha Akyol comments on Turkey, Cyprus,
and Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC)
President Rauf Denktas’s recent statements. A
summary of his column is as follows:
“Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC)
President Rauf Denktas has been criticizing the
Turkish government of late. Of course he can take
issue, but it’s worrisome that this is becoming a
polemic. ‘If we aren’t sovereign, why did Turkey
send its ambassador?’ he asked recently. ‘Why has
it recognized us as a sovereign state for 20 years?
It’s sacrificing Cyprus in order to get a date
from the EU. Turkey once risked a war for the
Aegean islet of Kardak, but now it’s preparing to
forsake Cyprus.’ When I asked Justice Minister
Cemil Cicek about these comments, he replied,
‘We’re keeping our silence because we respect
Denktas’s historic character. We know that such a
discussion between Anatolian Turks and Cypriot
Turks would be very harmful.’ I wonder if Denktas
has considered the issue from this point of view.
Denktas’ message to Turkish Cypriots that
‘Turkey is forsaking you for EU membership’ is
very mistaken. Even if UN Secretary-General Kofi
Annan’s plan is accepted, Turkey will support
Turkish Cypriots both politically and economically
for years to come. Turkish Cypriots shouldn’t get
the impression that they’ve been forsaken.
Moreover, the TRNC’s Founding Declaration clearly
envisaged ‘the re-establishment of partnership
between two equal nations [Turkish and Greek
Cyprus] under the roof of a federation.’ That’s
why the TRNC’s Constitutional Court accepted that
Annan’s plan, which would put an end to the TRNC
and establish the ‘roof of federation,’ should
face a referendum.
When there’s conflict between reason and
feelings, the requirements of reason should be
followed. Of course there isn’t just one
reasonable way, but discussions about this
shouldn’t cause friction between Cyprus and
Anatolia. On the contrary, we’re entering a
process in which the feeling of solidarity between
Turkish Cypriots and Turkey should strengthen our
economic and social ties more than ever. Denktas
can criticize the government and lead a ‘no’
campaign, but if he says that Turkey is forsaking
Cyprus, he’s not only being unfair, but also
hurting solidarity. When I spoke to Cicek about
presenting Annan’s plan to the UN Security Council
for ‘guarantees,’ he replied, ‘He was supposed to
present it after the referendums. We aren’t
complaining about it. In addition, the Security
Council resolution has a positive side because it
will boost the legal power of the derogations in
Annan’s plan.’ After 30 years, we’ve reached a
good crossroads. All of us, including Denktas,
should think of the era to follow Saturday’s
referendums.”
Columnist Cuneyt Ulsever comments on a
conference on Islam, democracy and secularism. A
summary of his column is as follows:
“Washington, DC hosted a very interesting
conference this week called ‘Islam, Democracy and
Secularism: Turkey’s Experience.’ The most
interesting aspect of the gathering was its
organizers, Johns Hopkins University's Paul H.
Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS)
and Turkey’s Journalists and Writers Association,
whose honorary president is Fethullah Gulen. On
the one hand there is a foundation founded by an
individual but outlawed by an official ideology,
and on the other hand a prestigious university.
One of the most interesting presentations was
University of Utah’s Hakan Yavuz’s classification
of seven Islamic ‘zones,’ contrary to Samuel
Huntington’s assumption of one Islam in his theory
of the ‘clash of civilizations.’ Yavuz states that
Turkey’s Islam differs from the Islam of the Arab
world and Iran. Ankara should support this concept.
I have bad news for those who expect the United
States to request help from Turkey in its Greater
Middle East Initiative. Scholars attending the
conference were near unanimous in arguing that no
regime can be imposed on another country and that
the Turkish experience couldn’t be imposed on the
Arab world.
Another important speech was made by State
Minister for Religious Affairs Mehmet Aydin. Aydin
emphasized that religion and the state are both
parts of life and so must co-exist. Therefore, the
question is to determine how their relationship
works. The best choice, according to Aydin, is
both the state and religion refraining from
getting involved in each other’s affairs, with the
state treating all religions impartially. Gandhi
once made a very important observation: ‘Those who
say that politics and religion can’t live together
know neither religion nor politics.’ Aydin’s most
important statement is that Islam is an
individually oriented religion. ‘Since man has to
give an account of his own actions, one has to
make every contribution to individual improvement,’
said Aydin. This statement emphasizes the serious
errors of both fundamentalists and secularists.”
