A TURNING POINT?
BY ERDAL SAFAK (SABAH)
Speaking at his party group
meeting, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan
said yesterday that there are people who wanted
to cast a shadow over the Nevruz festivities,
and added, “Stay away from those who try to
incite hatred among people.” Erdogan said that
the people of this country had won the War of
Independence and the Battle of Gallipoli through
unified struggle and added that this spirit of
endeavor was the most precious gift to be passed
on to future generations. “We will be together
forever in one country and at home under one
flag. Our essence and direction is one. Those
who disagree should look back to the Battle of
Gallipoli,” he added. /Hurriyet/
Speaking at his party’s group
meeting in Parliament, main opposition
Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Deniz
Baykal yesterday strongly criticized the ruling
Justice and Development Party (AKP). Baykal
spoke about the General Staff’s statement,
saying that it had been offended by the Semdinli
indictment. Touching on the Nevruz festival,
Baykal said that it was good that nature’s grand
transformation into spring had led to hopes for
a new beginning in people and society. /Star/
The General Staff will discuss
the terrorism issue at an international
symposium entitled, “Global Terrorism and
International Cooperation.” The symposium set to
begin tomorrow will be hosted by the General
Staff’s Center of Excellence-Defense Against
Terrorism, and the opening speech will be
delivered by Chief of General Staff Gen. Hilmi
Ozkok. The symposium will last for two days and
be held at Ankara’s Bilkent Hotel, and
representatives from 82 countries will
participate. In related news, the Turkish Armed
Forces Order of Merit was given to South Korean
Chief of General Staff Gen. Sang-Hee Lee, who is
currently in Turkey as Ozkok’s official guest.
During the award ceremony, Ozkok called the
relationship between two countries one of
“brotherhood.” /Turkiye-Cumhuriyet/
Greek Foreign Minister Dora
Bakoyannis on Tuesday called on Turkey to live
up to its obligations as a prospective European
Union member, including retracting a threat to
declare hostilities if Greece expands its
territorial waters in the Aegean Sea. Bakoyannis
also said that the Turkish government should
allow the reopening of the Heybeliada seminary,
which she said is important for the survival of
the Fener Greek Orthodox Patriachate in
Istanbul. “The final European course of Turkey
will be judged by Turkey itself. Turkey has
assumed some obligations, and these obligations
must be implemented,” Bakoyannis said in an
interview with the Associated Press. “All
countries adjusted their laws, accepted the
European standards so that they could join the
EU. Turkey must also do this. There is no Europe
a la carte for any country, and not for Turkey.”
/The New Anatolian/
The General Staff is preparing
to host an important guest. US Joint Chiefs of
Staff Chairman Gen. Peter Pace will visit Turkey
to participate in the “Global Terrorism and
International Cooperation” conference tomorrow.
Pace will arrive in Turkey as Chief of General
Staff Gen. Hilmi Ozkok’s guest, and he’s also
expected to pay a courtesy visit to Prime
Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. /Star/
The office of President Ahmet
Necdet Sezer issued a statement on Tuesday
denying that acting Central Bank Governor Erdem
Basci has been proposed by the government as
Turkey’s next permanent CB head, throwing the
appointment into confusion and weakening the
lira. Basci became acting governor last week,
and the financial community widely expected him
to be appointed in a permanent capacity after
the five-year term of the previous incumbent,
Sureyya Serdengecti, expired. Financial markets,
which have been anxiously awaiting a decision on
the appointment in recent weeks, weakened after
the news but the lira then recouped some of its
losses. Turkish media have speculated that
President Sezer, a staunch secularist, might
block the appointment of a person who is not
sufficiently secularist and whose wife wears a
Muslim headscarf. “The president’s office
doesn’t have a Cabinet draft decree proposing
Erdem Basci as Central Bank governor,” the
statement from the Cankaya Presidential Palace
said, in the presidency’s first comment on the
issue since the government sought its approval
for the appointment last week. Prime Minister
Recep Tayyip Erdogan subsequently said the
government had sent the president a decree on
the appointment, but declined to say who it
wanted to manage Turkey’s monetary policy.
“There was time to make preparations for this,”
said Omer Sabanci, chairman of Turkey’s leading
business group the Turkish Industrialists’ and
Businessmen’s Association (TUSIAD). “Ultimately,
the government could have managed the
appointment process in a better way.” /Turkish
Daily News/
Malaysian International
Industry and Trade Minister Rafidah Aziz said
yesterday that his country considers Turkey a
door for opening to Europe and wants Turkey to
consider his country the same for opening to
Pacific countries. Speaking at the
Turkey-Malaysia Joint Economic Commission at the
Foreign Trade Complex, Aziz hailed the Turkish
government’s restructuring reforms and its
success in European Union membership talks. “For
us, Turkey is a very important door opening to
the EU market,” said Aziz. “This way, we will be
able to enter Europe as well.” Meanwhile, Deputy
Prime Minister Mehmet Ali Sahin said that
commercial relations between Turkey and Malaysia
weren’t at the desired level but that both
countries have what’s needed to boost the trade
volume. Stating that the Asia-Pacific region was
very important for Turkey, Sahin said that the
global economy was moving to this region slowly
but well. /Turkiye/
World Bank Chief Economist
Aristomene Varoudakis said yesterday that when
Turkey reaches the level of joining the European
Union, it would have better economic development
than many EU member countries, particularly
future members Romania and Bulgaria. Stating
that Turkey had a great economic potential and
that this would be seen more in the coming
years, Varoudakis said that it had economic
superiority in certain fields over Romania and
Bulgaria even today and that Turkey should
implement structural reforms and ensure
sustainable growth. Varoudakis added that
Turkey’s economy had shown very strong
performance since 2002 and that exports can be
boosted, productivity raised and the entrance of
foreign capital facilitated thanks to its great
economic growth. Stating that there were certain
weaknesses in Turkey’s economy, Varoudakis said,
“Such issues as ensuring sustainable economic
growth, raising employment and a sustainable
current account deficit are the weak points of
Turkey’s economy.” Varoudakis added that one of
the reasons for the current account deficit was
economic growth and that the deficit should be
controlled for sustainable growth. /Turkiye/
Columnist Erdal Safak comments
on yesterday’s Nevruz celebrations. A summary of
his column is as follows:
“Fortunately, there were no incidents in
official Nevruz celebrations in many provinces
of Turkey, particularly in Istanbul, but we saw
new realities about the Kurdish issue. Nevruz
celebrations in eastern and southeastern
Anatolia should be evaluated coolly. Of course,
southeastern people’s celebrations in western
cities fall within this evaluation. Firstly,
let’s list the facts:
The
Democratic Society Party (DTP), the organizer of
celebrations, was aiming to bring political
demands to the foreground and accomplished its
goal. These demands, as expressed in the
slogans, banners and the speeches made by DTP
spokesmen, were as follows: a general political
amnesty, a mutual cease-fire, Kurdish as an
official language, etc. The political connection
between the DTP and PKK was solidified. In other
words, the DTP announced that it was the
political branch of the PKK, just like the Sinn
Fein-IRA duo in Ireland. One wing conducts the
armed struggle, and the other conducts the
political struggle.
I can
give a great deal of evidence to prove the
DTP-PKK connection. Some examples of this are as
follows:
1.
Actually, the PKK made the decision to expand
the DTP’s Nevruz celebrations to one week. It
was stated following a meeting held by a branch
of the organization on March 9-13 that it was
considered appropriate to celebrate this Nevruz
en masse and on the basis of rallying around
leader Apo (terrorist Abdullah Ocalan)
enthusiastically for one week.
2. In
their speeches, DTP spokesmen showed Abdullah
Ocalan and the PKK as their reference points.
3.
Most importantly, DTP Co-Chairman Ahmet Turk
said, ‘We have the power to take the PKK out of
the border area. When [Turkish military]
operations are stopped, we’ll make the PKK take
a decision to cease its attacks. If democracy is
ensured completely, we can take the guerillas
away from the border, and even make them lay
down arms.’
The
DTP announced that it was aiming to save Ocalan.
Finally, Ocalan was imposed as the only
interlocutor for a dialogue as a result of the
PKK’s suppressing opposing voices and Ankara’s
inability over the last seven years to produce
certain policies which will enable the birth of
different alternatives in the southeast. Can the
following be interpreted in another way? Two
million signatures were collected in the
campaign which was organized for this aim in
Diyarbakir yesterday, and Ocalan’s posters were
carried in Istanbul, Izmir and even Ankara.
These are the parameters of the new era. In the
circular sent by Interior Minister Abdulkadir
Aksu to governors’ offices, he said that turning
Nevruz in PKK propaganda wouldn’t be permitted.
However, just the opposite happened and the PKK
showed that it has almost completed the process
of politicization. Some people expected the DTP
to call on the PKK to lay down its arms
unconditionally. All the DTP spokesmen showed
that they hadn’t and wouldn’t give up
considering the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) and
the terrorist group equivalent. As the Kurdish
politician-author Umit Firat said, ‘They made a
call for peace with guns in their hands’.”
