ECONOMIC CRISES ARE NORMAL
SERDAR TURGUT (AKSAM)
On the last day of his
three-day official visit to Croatia and
Macedonia, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan
yesterday met with Macedonian Parliament Speaker
Ljupco Jordanovski and members of the
Turkish-Macedonian Inter-parliamentary
Friendship Group. The premier, accompanied by a
Turkish delegation and his wife, also took time
to tour the Turkish bazaar in Skopje. After
completing his contacts, Erdogan returned to
Ankara last night. /Turkiye/
The
US is searching for ways to further develop
cooperation with Turkey in Central Asia. Richard
Boucher, US assistant secretary of state for
South and Central Asian affairs, yesterday visit
Ankara to test the waters for more cooperation.
Boucher, who was received by Foreign Minister
Abdullah Gul said, “We’re working on the
Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline project to
bring more oil to Turkey.” For his part, Gul
said, “These countries are struggling to make
progress in democracy. It’s very important to
support these countries,” and added,
“Cooperation is beneficial from the standpoint
of democracy, security and stability. Energy
creates various opportunities. They are trying
to move closer to European-Atlantic structures.
We have to be helpful on this issue.”
/Cumhuriyet/
Turkey is reiterating its
determination on its European Union bid.
Speaking at a weekly press conference, Foreign
Ministry spokesperson Namik Tan yesterday said,
“We’re determined to proceed along the EU
membership path.” Asked about EU actors saying
in Luxembourg this week that Turkey must open
its airports and harbors to Greek Cyprus by the
end of the year or its negotiations might be
suspended, Tan said that these problems were not
solvable through Turkey’s efforts alone, and
that Ankara had made serious sacrifices and
initiatives up to now, including its Cyprus
action plan. “Implementation of Turkey’s action
plan would make a great contribution to an
overall solution of this problem,” he said.
Asked about reports the foreign minister would
soon visit Iran, Tan said there were no plans
for this, but added such a visit could happen if
the need arises in the future. /Cumhuriyet/
Justice Minister Cemil Cicek
yesterday visited Republican People’s Party
(CHP) leader Deniz Baykal. During their meeting,
Cicek said that the government wanted Parliament
to pass the anti-terror bill before it goes on
its summer recess next month. Speaking
afterwards, Cicek stated that the anti-terror
bill was at a subcommission now, adding that the
subcommission could finish work on it next week.
“We want this bill passed by Parliament before
its summer recess,” he added. /Star/
Nationalist Movement Party
(MHP) leader Devlet Bahceli yesterday criticized
the government’s European Union policies, saying
that Turkish-European relations were like a soap
opera full of lies and insincerity. Saying that
the government had accepted the impositions of
the EU, Bahceli added that the government had
told lies to the nation even though nothing had
changed about the requirements on Cyprus. /Star/
Speaking at a symposium
entitled “The Importance of Non-Governmental
Organizations (NGOs) in the European Union
Process” held by his party’s Istanbul branch,
opposition True Path Party (DYP) leader Mehmet
Agar yesterday said that the path to the
European Union is a trip the nation must travel
together, arm in arm. “Countries can no longer
be ruled only by elected political staffs,” he
said. “We cannot ignore NGOs, which do the best
job observing the problems of the country. The
European Union membership process contains many
difficulties. Transparency, keeping society
informed and social participation are hugely
important for overcoming these difficulties. We
can overcome troubles with a strong political
participation with the NGOs.” /Hurriyet/
Speaking at a press conference
yesterday, Finance Minister Kemal Unakitan said
that he believed the recent fluctuations in the
markets were temporary in nature, thanks to
sound public finances, a sound Central Bank, and
a strong banking structure. Saying that people
who buy foreign currency at a high exchange rate
later regretted it when the rates fall, Unakitan
added that people should act with common sense
and stay calm. Commenting on the budget,
Unakitan stressed that so far this year Turkey’s
budget has shown a surplus -- the first in 20
years -- and CB reserves had reached $60
billion. Unakitan further warned private sector
actors, saying that they should strengthen their
capital structures. He stated that there was no
need for measures to reduce consumption due to
recent economic developments, adding that
measures would be taken if necessary. /Milliyet/
International rating agency
Fitch yesterday declared that fluctuations in
the Turkish markets didn’t pose a threat to its
credit note outlook. In a report, Fitch stated
that there was need to act very carefully in
order to ensure confidence in the markets again,
adding that everything should be done to avoid
political shocks. Fitch further stressed that
there was no problem with Turkey’s credibility
in the long term. /Sabah/
Columnist Semih Idiz comments
on Turkey’s European Union path. A summary of
his column is as follows.
“What
happened in Luxembourg this week showed that the
Greek Cypriots are determined to give a headache
to Turkey over the European Union. Actually,
expecting the opposite would be naive, because
this was the real reason why Greek Cypriots
wanted EU membership. UN Secretary-General Kofi
Annan’s plan was accepted by the Turkish side
more than two years ago. However, this week we
can see that this was a great mistake. In short,
the Greek Cypriots will obviously force Turkey
and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus
(TRNC) to go through the EU. Of course, Turkey
will obviously resist these pressures, because
the Turkish side has accepted Annan’s pan, even
if the timetable isn’t ideal. Meanwhile, the
Greek Cypriots firmly rejected the plan and they
continue to maintain this position today. So,
it’s right for the Turkish side to expect a fair
stance from the EU now. The number of EU members
who agree with this opinion isn’t small. This
number will rise due to the spoilsport stance of
the Greek Cypriots in Luxembourg. So the Justice
and Development Party’s (AKP) policy on this
issue is correct. However, we should first
accept that the Greek Cypriots couldn’t have
found the courage to do this if certain members
hadn’t supported them silently in order to make
Turkey’s EU path harder. In short, the Greek
Cypriot administration is being used against
Turkey, just like Greece was used in the past.
Meanwhile, we shouldn’t be deceived by the
argument that Austria, which tried to hinder our
path last October, worked hard for us in
Luxembourg. No EU term president wants a
political failure under its watch. This is the
real reason for the efforts made by Vienna in
our favor in Luxembourg.
However, this is where we see Turkey’s trump
card, because not a single term president would
accept cutting ties with Turkey. Therefore, we
should stress the common position paper which
was given to Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul and
our chief EU talks negotiator Ali Babacan in
Luxembourg, because it contains serious warnings
with which many people in Turkey agree. If the
majority of these complaints aren’t addressed
before our EU progress report comes out in
October, the hand of Turkey and those supporting
us in terms of the EU will weaken against those
who oppose Turkey as well as the Greek Cypriots.
In other words, Ankara shouldn’t take refuge in
the negative stance of the Greek Cypriots and
continue its foot-dragging on EU reforms. This
would show disrespect not only to the EU, but
also the Turkish people, for don’t we always say
that we want these reforms for ourselves?”
Columnist Serdar Turgut
comments on recent economic unease. A summary of
his column is as follows:
“Capitalist production depends on capital
accumulation. This is a simple truth, but not
everybody remembers it. For that reason, why
crises occur in the system from time to time and
why they can’t be prevented can’t be fully
understood. Most people can be surprised by
crises, but one who has comprehended the logic
of the process of capital accumulation accepts
crises as normal.
Crises are renovations of the capitalist
production method needed for its health in the
long-term. Periodic crises are also safeguards
to prevent huge crises in the whole system.
Currently we are experiencing periodic crisis
conditions, and there is no way out. Because the
old capital accumulation process has clogged up,
and the world is working not to prevent a
periodic crisis, but a huge crisis in the whole
system.
In
line with that, Turkey’s Central Bank governor
cannot do much whether he raises interest rates,
or buys or sells dollars. The system has begun
to experience the necessary conditions of
periodic crisis, and the main engine of these
dynamics isn’t local but global.
Turkey’s emerging from this new crisis period
without sustaining much injury is only possible
by creating new investment avenues directed to
production for global capital. Although this is
hard, is not impossible. Turkey has the capacity
to do this.”
