LISTENING TO BASBUG
BY TAHA AKYOL (MILLIYET)
Addressing a meeting of the Istanbul Chamber of Industry (ISO)
yesterday, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that the
European Union gave a date to Ankara to begin its accession
talks thanks to the government’s intense efforts for the
last two years. He predicted, however, that the negotiation
process with the EU would be difficult. “But all
non-governmental organizations [NGOs], press institutions,
and academicians in Turkey will work very hard with the
government during the negotiation process,” he said, adding
that ethnic, regional and religious nationalism were three
issues which Turkey wouldn’t forsake. Also touching on the
Cyprus issue, Erdogan stressed that he didn’t consider the
issue from an ethnical prospective. “If we do that, then a
resolution on the island will be impossible,” added Erdogan.
He further touted the recent economic developments and
called for the businessmen to make new investments. “As a
result of our determined policies, we can easily roll over
our debt,” said Erdogan, adding that the nominal interest
rates fall to 17% from 70%. /Aksam/
During a press conference yesterday in Ankara, deputy head of the
General Staff Gen. Ilker Basbug said that the efforts to
change the demographic structure of the oil-rich northern
Iraqi city of Kirkuk could ignite internal strife in Iraq,
if the city falls under Kurdish control following this
weekend’s general elections. “Such a development would pose
an important security problem for Turkey,” said Basbug.
Stressing that some 350, 000 Kurds migrated to Kirkuk and
registered to vote, Basbug said that that could make the
results of the elections questionable and make it almost
impossible to find a just and lasting solution for Kirkuk,
adding that these developments could threaten the
territorial and political unity of Iraq and create a huge
security problem. Regarding the terrorist group PKK’s
presence in northern Iraq, Basbug stated that Ankara would
continue its pressure on the US and Iraq’s Interim
administration to carry out military operation against it.
He added that Turkey would not hesitate to take all measures
when its security was under threat. Reiterating that Turkey
didn’t recognize the 10-mile national airspace claimed by
Greece over the Aegean Sea that often led to accusations of
its violation by Turkey, Basbug said, “If Greece returns to
the vicious circle of creating problems in the Aegean, we
believe it will be expending its power and energy in vain.”
/Turkiye/
The Minority Rights Report prepared by the Human Right
Consultation Council is to be examined by the relevant units
of the Office of Prime Minister, rather than being submitted
to the National Security Council (NSC). In his written
statement on the issue, Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul noted
that examinations on the report are still continuing at the
Office of Prime Minister. “The report will not be submitted
to the NSC,” he wrote. The report caused tense discussions
on the definition of minorities in Turkey. /Star/
True Path Party (DYP) leader Mehmet Agar said yesterday that the Greek
side should take steps to find a settlement to the Cyprus
issue. At a press conference in Parliament, the DYP leader
stated that Turkish side’s efforts were not countered and
the Greek side didn’t seem to have any intention to solve
the issue. He added that the European Union had not kept its
promises to the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC)
to its end international isolation. /Turkiye/
Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) Prime Minister Mehmet Ali
Talat, who is currently in Brussels for an official visit,
yesterday met with European Union Commissioner for
Enlargement Olli Rehn to discuss the Cyprus issue. During
their meeting, Talat told Rehn that he was disappointed that
the EU failed to keep its promise to bring the international
isolation of the TRNC to an end. For his part, Rehn said
that the EU did its best on the issue, adding that it was
trying to overcome the Greeks’ blocking. /Milliyet/
Republican People’s Party (CHP) Istanbul deputy Zulfu
Livaneli and Sisli Mayor Mustafa Sarigul who are possible
candidates for the party’s leadership yesterday met in
Parliament in an effort to unite their forces against CHP
leader Deniz Baykal in the runup to extraordinary party
congress over the weekend. However, both candidates couldn’t
agree to withdraw in favor of the other. Speaking to
reporters, Livaneli said that they exchanged views on the
matter. Sarigul is expected to announce his candidacy for
the leadership at CHP headquarters today in Ankara. In
related news, 21 CHP deputies, including Istanbul deputy
Kemal Dervis, yesterday issued a statement lending their
support for Livaneli’s candidacy. /Turkiye/
Greek Cypriot President Tassos Papadopoulos, who traveled to
Athens two days ago to discuss the Cyprus issue with the
Greek officials, and Greek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis
yesterday agreed on a three-phase Cyprus plan setting a
number of pre-conditions to resume talks on reunifying the
divided island. In the first phase, they requested Turkey to
sign the Customs Union agreement with the Greek Cypriot
administration in line with the European Union regulations,
which would they believe inevitably mean that Turkey
recognizes the presence of the Greek Cypriot Republic. They
also stated that The Greek Cypriot government was ready for
a renewal of UN-brokered peace aimed at resolving the Cyprus
issue with a number of pre-conditions. Karamanlis said they
had discussed a common strategy for finding an "operational
and viable solution to the Cyprus problem that will be based
on the Annan plan and on the positions recently adopted by
Cyprus.” The talks, he added, focused on specific parts of
the peace plan that both Athens and Nicosia want to see
amended. According to their three-phase plan, the Turkish
Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) should be unified with
the Greek Cypriot administration under the roof of a
federation, and no calendar should be imposed upon the
talks. They also pledged to consider the talks as a separate
subject from Turkey’s EU membership bid. /Hurriyet/
German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder is set to pay an
official visit to Turkey in May 15 months after his last
visit. Schroeder is expected to give messages of full
support to Ankara for its EU membership bid. He will also
bring a number of prominent German businessmen with him to
discuss business opportunities in Turkey. /Hurriyet/
Brandenburg, which was the first German state that included
the term ‘Armenian genocide’ into its history books used in
the 9th and 10th classes since 2002, decided to take out the
term from the curriculum of the schools. State’s Spokesman
of the Education Ministry Thomas Hainz said that they found
improper to give the so-called Armenian genocide as the only
historic example in the massacres and genocides section in
their history books, and therefore decided to take the term
out. Turkey’s Chief Consul Aydin Durusoy had sent a letter
to the state of Brandenburg, giving a harsh reaction to the
use of the term. As a result of the diplomatic initiatives
of the Turkish Foreign Ministry, Durusoy, state’s Premier
Matthias Platzeck and Education Minister Holger Rupprecht
two weeks ago had agreed to take out the term from the
schools’ syllabus. /Hurriyet/
At least two people were killed and 22 injured after an
earthquake measuring 5.5 on the Richter scale which had
struck southeastern Turkey two days ago. The epicenter of
the tremors that occurred was in the province of Hakkari, a
few kilometers from Turkey’s borders with Iran and Iraq, the
Istanbul-based Kandilli quake observatory said. The
observatory added that the aftershocks ranged from 3.8 to
5.5 in magnitude on the Richter scale. Tremors were also
felt in the cities of Adana and Van. The quakes caused panic
in Hakkari as well as in neighboring provinces of Van,
Sirnak, Batman and Siirt, causing residents to run into
snow-covered streets. /Hurriyet/
Klaus Schwab, the founder and executive chairman of the
World Economic Forum, said yesterday that Turkey was very
important for Europe, adding that Ankara had made successful
reforms for its European Union membership. “Turkey
constitutes an important agenda at the Davos meetings,”
added Klaus. In related news, an analysis of the World
Economic Forum on Turkey predicted that Turkey could
constitute a bridge between the West and the Islamic world.
/Aksam/
State Minister for the Economy Ali Babacan, who is currently in Davos,
Switzerland to attend the World Economic Forum, said
yesterday that Turkey needed to achieve long-term political
and economic stability in order to attract foreign capital
and that the European Union membership bid would help Turkey
attracting foreign capital. Babacan stressed that Turkey has
received considerable portfolio investment following the
EU’s historic Dec. 17 summit, when the Union decided to
begin Ankara’s accession talks on Oct. 3. /Milliyet/
Columnist Yilmaz Oztuna comments on Deputy Chief of General Staff Gen.
Ilker Basbug’s remarks. A summary of his column is as
follows:
“Deputy Chief of General Staff Gen. Ilker Basbug
yesterday briefed the press mostly about the Iraq issue,
especially Kirkuk. Kirkuk will prepare a basis for conflicts
in Iraq, regardless of the Kurdish autonomy in northern
Iraq. Turkey will be an intervener this way or the other.
However, it will also cause problems in Turkish-US
relations. Yesterday Basbug spoke on these issues during the
press briefing. Turkey left out the US’ requests for
Incirlik headquarters due to the Kirkuk and PKK terrorist
organization issues. Although Basbug didn’t speak on this
issue yesterday, some people have been talking about it for
a long time.
Turkish soldiers are located in Afghanistan on behalf of
the UN. The US benefits from this situation the most. Basbug
said that the reaction and separatism were important issues
and that the fight against corruption would continue. The
aim of the briefing was to determine Turkey’s stance
concerning all sorts of developments following the elections
to be held in Iraq on Sunday. Turkish politicians, media and
people are making recommendations. During yesterday’s
briefing, our concerns were mentioned clearly and the broad
dimension of our relations with the US and the possibility
of a civil war in Iraq following the elections were
emphasized. In any case, important developments will occur
next month and they will influence not only our region, but
also the world politics.”
Columnist Taha Akyol comments on the statement by Deputy Chief of
General Staff Gen. Ilker Basbug. A summary of his column is
as follows:
“Yesterday’s statements by Deputy Chief of General Staff
Gen. Ilker Basbug show that Turkey is concerned about two
issues in Iraq. The first is the PKK’s presence in northern
Iraq. Although Turkey has uttered its concerns, no
development has been made. It is clear that there are
problems between Turkey and the US about this issue. The
second concern is to activate the demographic structure of
Kirkuk. Basbug said that 100,000 people including Turkmen
and Assyrians were forced to leave the city between the
years 1991-2000. The number of Kurds settled in the city has
reached 350,000. Iraq could be dragged into a civil war.
There is a disagreement between the EU and Turkey in this
issue too.
Northern Iraq is not only a shelter for PKK militants,
but also a place of ‘political activities.’ This is a
serious threat for Turkey, but the US doesn’t act against
this. Changing the demographic structure in Kirkuk shows the
nationalistic ambitions of the Kurds. Words about targeting
Diyarbakir slip out of Massoud Barzani and Jalal Talabani.
Would they not use the PKK against Turkey? The US doesn’t
take any action about Kirkuk. What are Turkey’s choices?
Should it enter Iraq and take Mosul? Should it break up with
the US and look for other allies? Basbug has clearly
explained the choice of a military operation into the region
by reminding of the period in 1923-26. Mustafa Kemal Ataturk
refused to make military operations to Mosul, which was
included in the national border of Turkey. We could enter
Mosul, but we would find ourselves in a very difficult
situation at that time. We agreed on today’s borders in 1926
and we are loyal to it. Today’s situation in the region is
worse than it was in the 20’s.
The second choice is to search for other allies than the
US. Basbug reminded that the situation in Iraq is not caused
by any bad intentions of the US, but by US not being able to
dominate the events in Iraq. ‘Our relations with the US is
so broad and comprehensive that we can’t relate them with a
single issue unless it is a vital one,’ said Basbug. We have
to strengthen our relations with the US. A valid option for
Turkey would be to use its diplomacy with the support of our
political, economic and military potential.
We have to ask the questions of how our Kurdish citizens
are influenced by Turkey’s stance in Iraq and how we can
develop economic and social integration policies to
strengthen our national unity? Turkey is entering a very
difficult period.”
