ERDOGAN MEETS WITH FRENCH SENATE DELEGATION
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan met yesterday with a visiting delegation from both the French Senate, including its Defense and Armed Forces commissions, and the French Foreign Ministry. The delegation was headed by Senator Xavier de Villepin. During the meeting, relations between the Turkish and French parliaments as well as regional and international issues were discussed. /Anatolia News Agency/
ERDOGAN: “TURKEY EXPECTS CONCRETE STEPS IN THE FIGHT AGAINST TERRORISM”
Turkey expects to see concrete steps taken both regionally and internationally in the fight against terrorism, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said yesterday. During a meeting with US Ambassador to Turkey Eric Edelman, both the Iraq issue and bilateral matters were discussed. Edelman told reporters that the terrorist group PKK/KADEK would be eliminated from northern Iraq, something he said would benefit both countries. Pointing to the strong state of Turkish-US relations, Edelman said the decision whether or not to send troops to Iraq was Turkey’s own and that the US would respect it. /Turkiye/
GUL: “IRAQIS WOULD FAVOR TURKISH TROOPS OVER FORCES FROM OTHER COUNTRIES”
Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul yesterday held a meeting in Tbilisi with Georgian State Minister Malkhaz Kakabadze, where the two officials discussed regional issues. Accompanied by his Georgian counterpart Irakli Menagharsihvili, Gul then visited a joint Turkish-Georgian military academy and also the new Turkish Embassy building. Speaking to reporters en route back to Turkey, Gul criticized the European Union’s latest failure to include the PKK/KADEK on its just-revised list of terrorist groups. “I hope that the EU will soon comprehend its mistake and rectify it,” said Gul. He also commented on a possible Turkish troop deployment to Iraq, saying he strongly believed Iraqis would prefer to see Turkish peacekeepers in their country over other foreign troops. "Naturally, nobody wants to see foreign troops on one's own soil,” said Gul. “But if foreign troops come, the Iraqi people would prefer Turkish troops to soldiers from Britain, Russia, the US or Poland. Cultural and religious ties between our two countries will help Turkish troops if they are dispatched to war-ravaged Iraq.” He added that if Iraq’s Kurds worked to earn Turkey's confidence, this would benefit them in the long run. “Our stance towards Kurds in the region is clear,” stated Ankara’s top diplomat. “We saved them from massacres in the most difficult times. We supported them economically. We even provided them with Turkish passports to help them travel. We will continue to protect them. They should also be aware that earning Turkey's confidence will be to their benefit in the long term.” /Hurriyet, Anatolia News Agency/
EU’S NEW LIST OF TERRORIST GROUPS FAILS TO INCLUDE PKK/KADEK
The European Union yesterday released a revised list of terrorist organizations which once again failed to include the terrorist group PKK/KADEK, much to Turkey’s disappointment. Last year after the EU released a revised list including the PKK, the terror group promptly changed its name to KADEK. EU sources reportedly said that KADEK didn’t make the list because it allegedly had not carried out any terrorist acts. /All papers/
AKP DISCUSSES PREPARATIONS FOR OCTOBER PARTY CONGRESS, DECIDES TO DISTRIBUTE COAL TO THE POOR
Speaking after the ruling Justice and Development Party’s (AKP) Central Executive Board (MKYK) meeting yesterday, AKP Secretary-General Idris Naim Sahin said that Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan had briefed the gathering on the government’s domestic and foreign policies. Sahin said that preparations for the AKP’s National Congress scheduled for Oct. 12 had also been discussed. He added that the MKYK had decided to give out coal to the poor this winter, saying that the Energy Ministry and Social Assistance and Cooperation Fund would decide how best to distribute it. /Aksam/
INDIAN PRIME MINISTER VAJPAYEE ARRIVES IN ANKARA
Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee yesterday arrived in Ankara for a three-day official visit, the first by an Indian premier in 15 years. Vajpayee is expected to meet with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan today to discuss Turkish-Indian relations and recent developments in Iraq. Both nations are currently deciding whether or not to send troops to Iraq at the request of the United States. /All papers/
DEPUTY PM SENER: “TURKEY’S EFFORTS TO PROMOTE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT WILL CONTINUE”
A UN-sponsored meeting entitled “The Practice of Sustainable Development in Transitional Countries” began yesterday in Istanbul. Deputy Prime Minister Abdullatif Sener told the gathering that Turkey was determined to improve both its democratic institutions and its economy. “We are continuing our efforts to promote sustainable development and to establish a fair system where the benefits of globalization are shared equally by all citizens,” added Sener. /Cumhuriyet/
PERMISSION FOR US FORCES TO USE TURKISH AIRSPACE DUE TO EXPIRE
Turkey’s permission granted this March for US military planes to use its airspace for the Iraq operation is due to expire this weekend. Parliament had passed the motion allowing the passage of planes carrying supplies and humanitarian aid for a six-month period. If no new motion is passed, something unlikely as Parliament is currently on recess, the airspace will be closed to allied forces’ airplanes. However, the topic is expected to be discussed during this Friday’s National Security Council (NSC) meeting. /Turkiye/
GERMAN INTERIOR MINISTER: “EFFORTS TO EXTRADITE KAPLAN ARE ONGOING”
German Interior Minister Otto Schily, who is currently paying an official visit to Turkey, yesterday met with his Turkish counterpart Abdulkadir Aksu. Following their meeting, the ministers stated that they had discussed efforts to extradite wanted militant Metin Kaplan from German soil. Schily said that the German federal government wanted to extradite the terrorist radical, but were now waiting for the result of their appeal of a Cologne administrative court ruling. He added that Berlin expects certain guarantees from Turkey that Kaplan will be “treated fairly” if he is extradited, something Aksu said should not pose a problem. /Milliyet/
TURKEY, GREECE SIGN PACT ON AEGEAN AIRSPACE
Turkey and Greece yesterday signed an agreement to regulate air traffic over the Aegean. The new accord set to go into effect later this year is designed to accommodate an expected rise in air traffic during the 2004 Olympics hosted by Athens. A statement said that under the agreement, both aviation capacity and security for the region would be improved. /Turkiye/
GERMAN FM FISCHER: “WE WANT TO SEE TURKEY IN THE EU’S RANKS”
German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer yesterday said that Germany supports the idea of a larger European Union, one including Turkey. Remarking that his country supported current EU Term President Italy’s positive stance towards all EU candidate countries, Fischer said, “Europe should expand. We’re planning to accept approximately 25 more countries into our Union, including Turkey.” /Hurriyet/
FINANCE MINISTER UNAKITAN SAYS GOVERNMENT TO LIFT FULL GUARANTEE ON BANK DEPOSITS
Speaking at a press conference yesterday, Finance Minister Kemal Unakitan said that the government was planning to lift the full guarantee from bank deposits, but did not say if this change would be immediate or gradual. “The Turkish nation should no longer have to shoulder the burden of shysters,” he said, evidently alluing to the recent takeover of the Uzans’ Imarbank. “Lifting the full guarantee may trouble weaker banks, but people used to put their money in high-interest accounts without worrying about risks.” Unakitan added that the full guarantee created unfair competitition between weak and strong banks, saying that this should change. He further stated that heavy tax burden on the banking and financial sectors should be reduced in line with international standards. /Aksam/
BARZANI: “WE DON’T WANT SOLDIERS FROM NEIGHBORING COUNTRIES IN IRAQ”
Iraqi Kurdistan Democratic Party (IKDP) leader Massoud Barzani yesterday stated that despite Washington’s efforts to persuade various countries to deploy their troops in Iraq, the best solution for the Iraqi people would be to end the influx of foreign forces. He remarked that Iraqis would need assistance from foreign countries in their postwar transitional period. “We don’t oppose European or international troop deployments in our country,” said Barzani. “However, we don’t want any soldiers from our neighbors, including Turkey. If Washington really wants to establish peace and stability in the region, it shouldn’t ask our neighbors to deploy their troops in Iraq.” /Hurriyet/
WASHINGTON POST: “PLAYING THE TURKISH CARD IN IRAQ CARRIES RISKS”
One hidden casualty of the Iraq war has been the damaged strategic partnership between the United States and Turkey, something reflected in the current Iraq troop deployment issue, commented Washington Post columnist David Ignatius yesterday in his op-ed piece entitled “The Turkish Card.” “Now the two countries are near agreement on a plan to send up to 10,000 Turkish troops into the savage battleground northwest of Baghdad known as the Sunni triangle, where US forces are facing almost daily attacks,” wrote Ignatius. “It's a bold plan that could bolster the American occupation -- and also revive the battered Turkish-American relationship.” Ignatius asserted that “playing the Turkish card” in Iraq would be dangerous for both Washington and Ankara, since in his view the old issues and anxieties between the two countries still persist. “The Turks are still demanding a free hand to deal with Kurdish terrorists, the Kurds are still wary of having Turkish troops inside Iraq, and America is still caught in the middle,” wrote the columnist. “Some analysts fear that the [Bush] administration, in its eagerness to get a multinational force in Iraq, may be overlooking warning signs once again. The old Turkish-American relationship was a leftover of the Cold War, and it effectively died on March 1 [the day Turkey’s Parliament voted against allowing US ground troops to deploy in Turkey on their way to Iraq]. With their decisions on Iraq, the two countries are now writing the rules for a new relationship. Let's hope it will be solid enough to outlive America's current troubles.” /Cumhuriyet/