INCIDENTS IN SEMDINLI
BY CUNEYT ULSEVER (HURRIYET)
Italian
President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, currently in
Ankara for an official visit, yesterday met with
President Ahmet Necdet Sezer to discuss a number
of issues, including Turkey’s European Union
membership bid. During their meeting, Ciampi
stressed that Italy’s support for Turkey’s EU
bid would continue. Speaking at a joint press
conference afterwards, Ciampi reiterated that
Italy would continue to support Turkey’s
membership in the EU, in which democracy, the
rule of law, and human rights predominate. “The
EU should be considered a political, economic,
and cultural union,” said Ciampi. “An
institutional union should be established in
order to govern the expanding EU.” For his part,
Sezer hailed relations between Turkey and Italy,
calling them “flawless.” Sezer stressed that
cooperation between the two countries should be
further strengthened. Later, Ciampi was received
by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. During
their meeting, Erdogan said that he was pleased
that Ciampi was accompanied by Italian
businessmen, adding that he hoped the number of
Italian investors in Turkey would rise. For his
part, Ciampi said that Italian businessmen had
accompanied him since they were interested in
investment opportunities in Turkey. In related
news, the Italian businessmen, chaired by
Italian Banks Union President Maurizio Sella,
yesterday visited the Turkish Union of Chambers
and Commodities Exchanges (TOBB). During the
visit, Sella said that they weren’t only
interested in banks which have been privatized.
/Milliyet/
Addressing
his party’s group meeting yesterday, Prime
Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke on his
recent visit to Hakkari, saying that judicial
and administrative probes into the recent
bombings in the province were continuing.
Erdogan stated that constitutional citizenship
in the Turkish Republic was an assurance and a
common power, adding that Turkey was a mosaic.
“There are circles in our country who welcome
negative developments,” said Erdogan, meaning
the bombings and unrest. “This is a problem
transcending politics and all parties should
cooperate to overcome it.” He stressed that the
government wasn’t indifferent to the nation’s
problems, saying that every corner of Turkey was
equally close to the government. Erdogan added
that he hadn’t visited Hakkari at the behest of
other political party leaders. /Cumhuriyet/
Foreign
Minister Abdullah Gul yesterday met with African
Unity Commission Chairman Alpha Oumar Konare in
Ankara. In a reception in honor of Konare hosted
by Gul, the Turkish foreign minister commented
on recent incidents in Hakkari’s Semdinli.
Speaking about the ongoing investigations, Gul
said nothing would be closed, but rather they
would try to clarify everything. He added that
Turkey had greatly changed and that inquiries on
the matter would be carried out to their
conclusion. /Sabah/
Addressing
his party’s first group meeting yesterday
following the party’s 31st congress, Republican
People’s party (CHP) leader Deniz Baykal
criticized Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s
recently characterization of Turkish Republic
citizenship as an “upper identity,” saying
Erdogan was wrong. “Turkish Republic identity is
a legal identity,” added Baykal. During his
Hakkari visit, Erdogan said that Turkey should
respect all sub-identities, but everyone has an
upper identity, a situation which shouldn’t
disturb anyone. /Cumhuriyet/
Denmark yesterday officially
announced that it was not closing down Roj-TV, a
station affiliated with the terrorist PKK.
Denying recent remarks of Turkish Justice
Minister Cemil Cicek accusing Danish officials
of failing to act on evidence provided by Turkey
concerning ties between Roj-TV and the PKK,
Danish Foreign Minister Per Stig Moeller said
that no new evidence had been provided.
Stressing that he hadn’t taken Cicek’s criticism
into account because he didn’t interfere in
police business, Moeller added that the issue
was one of for the police. The PKK is listed as
a terrorist organization by the US and the
European Union, including Denmark. Prime
Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, during an
official visit to Denmark last week, boycotted a
joint press conference with his Danish
counterpart to protest the presence of reporters
from Roj-TV. /Aksam/
Foreign
Ministry Spokesman Namýk Tan criticized
yesterday the approval by the Edinburgh City
Council last week of an Armenian bill concerning
the so-called genocide allegedly committed by
the Ottomans. Speaking at a weekly press
briefing, Tan called the decision groundless and
divorced from reality. He stressed that in spite
of Turkish officials’ efforts and the Turkish
people’s campaign to prevent such an initiative,
the council had still passed the bill supporting
biased Armenian allegations. /Turkiye/
US
State Department spokesman Sean McCormack on
Monday reiterated that the US lists the PKK as a
terrorist group. At a daily press briefing,
McCormack stated that halting the activities of
the terrorist PKK was a longstanding plank of US
foreign policy. He added that US officials were
in coordination with Turkish and Iraqi officials
on the matter. Furthermore, he made no comment
on Turkey’s drive to ban pro-Kurdish Roj-TV
broadcasts from Denmark. /Turkiye/
Speaking to German daily
Helsingin Sanomat yesterday, European Union
Commissioner for Enlargement Olli Rehn said that
Turkey was violating freedom of expression,
adding that if it doesn’t stop doing this within
one or two years, then Ankara’s EU membership
talks could be suspended. Freedom of expression
is one of the issues on which the EU places
great importance. /Sabah/
The Justice and Development
Party (AKP) government this week submitted a
bill to the Office of Parliament Speaker
proposing the establishment of 15 new
universities in the provinces of Kirsehir,
Kastamonu, Duzce, Burdur, Usak, Rize, Tekirdag,
Erzincan, Aksaray, Giresun, Corum, Yozgat,
Adiyaman, Ordu and Amasya. The bill also
proposes 2,000 permanent staff to work at the
universities in question. /Sabah/
Parliament Human Rights Commission head Mehmet
Elkatmis and an accompanying delegation
yesterday travelled to Semdinli, Hakkari to
investigate the recent bombings and disturbances
there. The delegation is due to prepare a report
on the events. Last week, a bookstore was bombed
in the town of Semdinli, triggering a chain of
confrontations and clashes between locals and
security forces. /The New Anatolian/
Columnist Cuneyt Ulsever comments on recent
incidents in Hakkari, Semdinli and Yuksekova. A
summary of his column is as follows:
“I
still insist that if Turkey had accepted the
deployment of US soldiers for the invasion of
Iraq back in March 2003, now it could have coped
with its domestic problems beyond its borders.
Of course, then the Iraq war gave the PKK an
opening and the opportunity to dominate masses
of people. The incidents in Semdinli, Hakkari
and Yuksekova showed that two elements which
feed from each other came into action. Neither
can live without the other. Now Turkey is under
the influence of these two elements:
As I
mentioned above, the PKK is gaining vitality.
What’s more, it’s trying to move to a political
basis. The state’s deep reflex, which can’t be
defined with a legal process, sprung into action
as well.
The
PKK is trying to enter the political process
perhaps with the momentum brought by the war in
Iraq. It’s looking for a solution envisaging a
republic with two nations. In addition, there
are certain powers which support the status quo
and try to make forces outside the Parliament
influential by using the PKK’s salvo. These
powers are also supported by certain focuses
both in Turkey and abroad. The US is likely to
withdraw from Turkey next year. Certain wings in
Washington will want the state-within-a-state
mechanism to be in the foreground, instead of
the political power. Meanwhile the civil stance
which wants the political power to be the winner
in this confusion is also active in the US. They
want to develop a common stance with the
civilian power in the new era.
In
such a period of time, Prime Minister Recep
Tayyip Erdogan’s visit to the ‘problematic
region’ is a very positive initiative. Erdogan’s
visit this summer accomplished nothing as it
lacked the means and it was shaped outside his
will. However, now, it is he who chose the visit
and it also seized developments outside the
civilian and given will. I hope this will
continue. All parliamentary powers should
support his initiative. In this respect, today’s
Parliament session in which the Semdinli
incidents will be debated is very meaningful. If
the chosen ones don’t want to transfer their
legislative power to another power, they have to
support the government so the executive branch
takes a hands-on approach to Semdinli. Deputies
from both the leadership and the opposition
should support this. Parliament will face a
difficult test today!”
