CICEK: “DENKTAS WILL REPRESENT TURKISH CYPRUS IN TALKS OVER THE ISLAND”
Stressing that the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) government was determined to have Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) President Rauf Denktas represent the TRNC at Cyprus talks, Justice Minister and government spokesman Cemil Cicek said yesterday, “Ankara wants to resume Cyprus talks within the framework of United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s Cyprus plan and sincerely wants to find a solution to the issue.” Speaking to reporters after a Cabinet meeting, Cicek said that the gathering had largely focused on recent developments on Cyprus. He added that a report on the matter prepared by Turkish officials and based on Annan’s plan had been presented to President Ahmet Necdet Sezer. Commenting on ongoing efforts to form a new TRNC government, he called on the TRNC political parties to avoid unyielding views, stances and statements as well as to act in unison. /Turkiye/
GENERAL STAFF STRESSES COORDINATION WITH FOREIGN MINISTRY ON CYPRUS
A statement issued by the Office of the General Staff yesterday underlined the staff’s desire for a just and lasting solution to the Cyprus issue. Commenting on recent reports alleging conflict over Cyprus between Foreign Ministry officials and the General Staff, the statement said that work on the issue was being carried out between the related institutions in harmony, as befits a modern democratic country. It also urged the public to disregard anything besides official statements on the subject. /Turkiye/
PLANS FALTER FOR TURKISH CYPRIOT CTP, UBP COALITION GOVT
While work to form a new government in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) is ongoing, the differences between the two top vote-getting parties in last month’s elections, the Republican Turkish Party (CTP) and the national Unity Party (UBP), are apparently growing wider. Accusing the CTP of not answering a set of 17 questions regarding United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s Cyprus plan, UBP leader Dervis Eroglu said that the CTP had long defended the plan yet refused to answer very critical questions about it. Stressing that CTP leader Mehmet Ali Talat had stated he would look for other alternatives to form a government, Eroglu wished him success. In related news, Talat yesterday met separately with both Peace and Democracy Movement (BDH) leader Mustafa Akinci and Democratic Party (DP) leader Serdar Denktas. Following the latter meeting, Denktas told reporters that he and Talat had had fruitful discussions and that after an evaluation by his party council, a decision would be made soon whether or not to take part in a coalition government. /Turkiye/
ERDOGAN SET TO ATTEND CONFERENCE IN BERLIN
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is set to travel to Berlin on Thursday in order to attend the International Bertelsmann Forum, a conference on Europe sponsored by German publisher Bertelsmann. During his visit, Erdogan is expected to meet separately with his German and Crotian counterparts. /Cumhuriyet/
SYRIAN PRESIDENT BEGINS LANDMARK ANKARA VISIT TODAY
Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad is to pay an official visit to Ankara today, the first ever by a Syrian head of state to Turkey. He will be accompanied by a delegation of Syrian officials and businessmen. Al-Assad is first scheduled to visit Anitkabir, Ataturk’s masouleum, and then meet with President Ahmet Necdet Sezer. The two presidents will then preside over inter-delegations meetings. Al-Assad is also expected to hold meetings with Parliament Speaker Bulent Arinc and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. /Hurriyet/
ISRAEL APPROVES DEAL TO BUY WATER FROM TURKEY
After Energy Minister Zeki Cakan and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon reached a “water for arms” deal in Jerusalem yesterday, the Israeli government approved the agreement under which millions of gallons of fresh water are to be shipped in giant tankers across the eastern Mediterranean into Israeli ports. The deal, which has been years in the making, involves Israel building a fleet of giant water tankers to ship 50 million cubic meters of water a year for 20 years from the Manavgat River in southern Anatolia, and Turkey buying an unspecified number of Israeli tanks as well as air force technology. /Sabah/
VERHEUGEN: “THE HEADS OF EU MEMBER STATES WANT TURKEY TO JOIN THE UNION FOR FOREIGN POLICY AND SECURITY REASONS”
The heads of European Union member states want Turkey to join the European Union, especially in the post-Sept. 11 environment, EU Commissioner for Enlargement Guenter Verheugen told a German magazine out this week. “Back in 1999, the EU leaders were not very keen on Turkey’s membership,” said Verheugen. “But now most leaders want Turkey to be a part of the Union for foreign policy and security reasons. This trend began with the Sept. 11 attacks.” He added that the political stance of the EU member states would determine whether Turkey would get in, adding that there were other choices concerning Turkey’s bid besides a definite “yes” or “no.” /Aksam/
NY TIMES: “KURDISH REGION IN NORTHERN IRAQ WILL GET TO KEEP SPECIAL STATUS”
Citing the clock ticking down to Iraqi self-rule, “the Bush administration has decided to let the Kurdish region [in northern Iraq] remain semi-autonomous as part of a newly sovereign Iraq despite warnings from Iraq's neighbors and many Iraqis not to divide the country into ethnic states, American and Iraqi officials say,” reported The New York Times yesterday. Times correspondent Steven R. Weisman quoted an administration official as saying, "Once we struck the Nov. 15 agreement [setting June 30 as the target date for self-rule], there was a realization that it was best not to touch too heavily on the status quo. The big issue of federalism in the Kurdish context will have to wait for the Iraqis to resolve. For us to try to resolve it in a month or two is simply too much to attempt." Weisman also stated that administration and Iraq officials insist that leaving the Kurdish autonomous region intact for now does not preclude Iraq's consolidating itself without ethnic states in the future when Iraq writes its own constitution. “According to the officials, the Bush administration plans to continue to press Iraq not to divide itself permanently along ethnic lines, officials say,” Weisman added. /Hurriyet/
CB HEAD: “EMPLOYMENT WILL RISE THIS YEAR”
Appearing on television yesterday, Central Bank Governor Sureyya Serdengecti said that successful implementation of the nation’s economic program had boosted the real sector’s productivity, adding that as a result of this the employment rate would begin to rise this year. Touching on inflation, the CB head said that Turkey had managed to tame inflation in 2003. He added that intervention in exchange rates would be inappropriate since Turkey implemented the floating exchange rate, adding that foreign trade was affected more by domestic and foreign demand than exchange rates. The CB head further stated that State Minister for the Economy Ali Babacan had congratulated the CB on its success in reducing inflation. /Aksam/