SEZER: “TURKEY OWES ITS SUCCESS TO ITS TEACHERS”
In a message marking today, Nov. 24, Teachers Day, President Ahmet Necdet Sezer proclaimed that Turkey owes its success to its educators, adding that teachers deserved a higher standard of living. Echoing Sezer’s remarks, Education Minister Huseyin Celik further called for the improvement of the nation’s education system. /All papers/
ERDOGAN: “IT’S TIME FOR THE MUSLIM WORLD TO ENGAGE IN SERIOUS SELF-CRITICISM”
It’s high time for the Muslim world to engage in a process of serious self-criticism, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan yesterday told a meeting of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) Economic and Commercial Cooperation Permanent Committee (ISEDAK). “Muslim countries are exerting tremendous efforts to overcome their financial and political woes,” said Erdogan in a speech. “For years, they’ve been trying to preserve their cultures on the one hand, even as on the other the necessities of the modern age force them to change. The economy, trade, investment and development are the driving forces of globalization, and in our century the private sector has become the chief actor of economic cooperation. Under these circumstances, Muslim countries must examine themselves critically.” He added that ISEDAK should ask itself a number of significant questions, including why and how Islamic countries fell behind the standards of the modern age. /All Papers/
GUL TO ATTEND TURKEY-EU TROIKA MEETING
Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul is set to attend a Turkey-European Union Troika meeting today in The Hague. Gul will reiterate that Turkey has fulfilled the EU criteria and that Ankara expects to begin its accession talks soon. He is scheduled to meet with the foreign ministers of the Netherlands, which currently holds the EU’s rotating term presidency, and of Luxembourg, which will assume presidency as of Jan. 1. In addition, he will have talks with EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana. /Turkiye/
IRAQ CONFERENCE DECLARATION SEEKS SUPPORT FOR JANUARY ELECTIONS
Seeking ways to end the ongoing violence in Iraq, a meeting of regional and Arab countries and several international organizations meeting in Egypt on Tuesday released a declaration stressing that national elections should be held next January and calling for the international community to support this goal. The declaration also underlined Iraq’s sovereignty, political independence, national unity and the legitimacy of its government, and condemned terrorist attacks in the country. /Cumhuriyet/
PUTIN TO VISIT TURKEY
Russian President Vladimir Putin is scheduled to pay an official visit to Turkey on Dec. 5-6. During his two-day stay, Putin is set to meet with President Ahmet Necdet Sezer, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul as well as Turkish and Russian businessmen. Turkish-Russian trade relations, tanker traffic in the Bosphorus and new energy ventures are expected to be taken up during the Russian leader’s contacts. This visit was rescheduled from September due to a terrorist crisis in North Ossetia. /Turkiye/
EU FOREIGN MINISTERS SIGNAL BEGINNING OF TURKEY’S TALKS IN SECOND HALF OF 2005
In the runup to next month’s European Union summit, foreign ministers of the 25 EU countries earlier this week in Brussels agreed that Turkey’s accession talks should begin in the second half of next year. The ministers suggested starting a pre-talks screening process of Turkish regulations to check their compatibility with EU rules in the first half of 2005 and then proceeding to talks in the second half. Ankara is pushing for an earlier date, a matter to be officially decided on at the Dec. 17 EU summit. The foreign ministers also stated that in line with the EU Commission’s fall progress report on Turkey, the talks would be open-ended and could be suspended if Ankara falters in its human rights or democracy reforms. /Turkiye/
LAGENDIJK: “TURKEY CANNOT JOIN THE EU UNLESS ITS ARMED CONFLICT WITH KURDISH GROUPS IS OVER”
Turkey cannot join the European Union unless its armed conflict with Kurdish groups is over, yesterday argued Turkish-EU Joint Parliamentary Commission Co-Chair Joost Lagendijk at a conference on “The EU, Turkey and Kurds” organized by the European Parliament. Lagendijk urged Ankara to resolve its problems regarding the identity and security of Kurds living in Turkey, warning that serious difficulties existed in the implementation of recent reforms concerning minorities. For his part, Tuncer Bakirhan, the leader of Turkey’s Democratic People’s Party (DEHAP), stated that the problems of Kurdish groups must be resolved through democratic means. /Milliyet/
IMF’S BREDENKAMP: “WE HAVE NO CONFLICT WITH ANKARA OVER BANKING LAW”
International Monetary Fund Turkey Representative Hugh Bredenkamp said yesterday that there was no conflict between Ankara and the IMF concerning banking law. Addressing a conference organized jointly by the Turkish Banks Union (TBB) and the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the IMF’s private sector lending arm, Bredenkamp predicted that next year inflation would fall to single digits while growth would rise above 10%. He stressed, however, that the nation’s public debt stock was still too high compared to the European Union’s, adding that this could jeopardize the payment of Turkey’s debt. /Aksam/
HISARCIKLIOGLU: “EVERYBODY SHOULD LOOK INTO THE MIRROR NOW”
Addressing a meeting of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) Economic and Commercial Cooperation Permanent Committee (ISEDAK), Turkish Union of Chambers and Commodities Exchanges (TOBB) Executive Board Chairman Rifat Hisarciklioglu yesterday called on Muslim countries to make the radical changes needed to catch up with the modern age. “Everyone in Islamic countries should look into the mirror now,” he said. “What we need is a permanent change of heart. Businessmen and bureaucrats should work together to overcome their common problems.” /Milliyet/