KOSOVAR PARLIAMENT SPEAKER MEETS WITH GUL, ERDOGAN
President Abdullah Gul yesterday received Kosovar Parliament Speaker Jakup Krasniqi and an accompanying delegation. Before meeting with Gul, Krasniqi also met with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan at Parliament. /Cumhuriyet/
AT AKP GROUP MEETING, ERDOGAN LAMBASTES ISRAEL
Speaking at his ruling Justice and Development Party's (AKP) group meeting yesterday, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan strongly criticized Israel's ongoing military operation in Gaza. "I am not emotional," said Erdogan, rebuffing Israel's statement that he was speaking emotionally. "I am speaking as a grandson of Ottoman Empire, which welcomed your forebears when they were exiled from their country. I am calling on Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni to set aside the coming elections in February. History will accuse them of putting a stain on humanity." Erdogan said that Turkey has always stood on the side of those who suffer and will continue to do so. "It is unforgivable that a people who in their history suffered so profoundly could do such a thing," he added. "In fact, they should show more respect for human life than anyone in the world. They should know well that the lives of children, women and the elderly are sacred and that justice, law and the culture of coexistence are vital." /Milliyet/
PM'S CHIEF ADVISOR: "GAZA FACES A HUMANITARIAN DISASTER"
Ahmet Davutoglu, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's chief foreign policy adviser, yesterday went to Damascus to hold talks at the request of French President Nicolas Sarkozy. Among those at the meeting were Syrian President Bashar Assad and EU foreign policy Chief Javier Solana. Afterwards, Davutoglu said that Turkey's and Syria's stances on Israel's attacks in the Gaza Strip were discussed at the gathering. Stating that Turkey remains in contact with all parties and is evaluating all proposals, he added, "Turkey's stance on the Gaza problem is quite clear. What has been happening in Gaza is nothing less than a humanitarian disaster. Turkey's most important push is to prevent more bloodshed. Turkey is trying to put an immediate end to the bloodshed in Gaza by keeping channels with all parties open. Since the beginning of the crisis, Turkish officials have held talks with their counterparts in the region to push for an immediate cease-fire and to forge a consensus among Palestinian groups." /Star/
BAHCELI LAMBASTES THE WEST, ARAB WORLD
The structure of the Turkish nation-state has been harmed through TRT 6, the first Kurdish-language channel of the state-owned Turkish Radio and Television Corporation (TRT), said Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahceli yesterday. Speaking to his party's group meeting, Bahceli also said that language is a basic pillar for creating a separate national identity. Touching on Israel's attacks in Gaza, he lambasted both the West and the Arab world, saying, "Not only the West, which tolerated Israel's offensive as self-defense, but also the Arab world also failed here." /Aksam/
BAYKAL: "ISRAEL WON'T FIND PEACE THROUGH DESTRUCTION"
Speaking at his party's parliamentary group meeting yesterday, main opposition Republican People Party (CHP) leader Deniz Baykal said that Israel's airstrikes and ground operation in the Gaza Strip would not bring peace to the Middle East. Calling the situation in Gaza one of the darkest and most shameful pages of human history, Baykal said any toleration of this is disgraceful. "It seems there is a secret consensus on Israel's attacks," Baykal said, implying this is behind a muted international reaction to the situation. He said the attacks would not make Israel safer or put its people at ease. Baykal also said that an immediate cease-fire is required by humanity, not politics. /Turkiye/
NEW INTERIOR MINISTRY UNIT SET TO FIGHT PKK TERRORISM
The Interior Ministry has formed a new unit to coordinate anti-terrorist efforts, said Interior Minister Besir Atalay yesterday. Stating that the unit will be structured as a Security Undersecretariat to strengthen coordination in the fight against terrorism, he added, "This new unit has no operational mission, but it will do research and analysis." /Star/
An International Monetary Fund delegation will begin talks in Ankara tomorrow about a new standby deal. The IMF team, led by the Fund's new Turkey desk chief Rachel van Elkan, will hold meetings with State Minister for the Economy Mehmet Simsek and other senior economic officials. Later the team is expected to head to Istanbul to meet with businesspeople and banking representatives to discuss the real sector's financing needs. The team will stay in Turkey until the end of January, and talks with the IMF are expected to resume next month. A new loan deal between Turkey and the IMF is likely to be approved by the Fund in March. Commenting on the talks, Simsek said that the new agreement would go beyond ordinary IMF deals. The cut in public expenditures initially proposed by the IMF was more than three times the cut now on the table, he explained. Simsek also said that the size of the IMF loan under the new agreement would be big enough to dispel domestic markets' financial concerns over the global economic crisis. /Sabah/