ERDOGAN TO VISIT SOUTH ASIAN DISASTER REGION LATER THIS MONTH
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan yesterday visited the Black Sea province of Rize to attend the ruling Justice and Development Party’s (AKP) Youth Branch congress and to tour the region. Speaking to a crowd, Erdogan stressed how critical education, health, justice and security are for the country. He said that Turkey wanted to become a European Union member to help end conflicts between civilizations and to promote instead reconciliation and compromise. He also told reporters that at the end of this month he was planning to travel to south Asian countries recently hit by a devastating earthquake and tsunamis. “It is my duty to visit the region and lend support to victims of the disaster,” said the premier. /Turkiye/

ERDOGAN TO VISIT RUSSIA NEXT WEEK
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan accompanied by his wife is scheduled to pay an official visit to Russia early next week. A meeting with President Vladimir Putin is expected to focus on the Cyprus issue. Erdogan will ask Putin to make efforts to end the international isolation of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC). In related news, Erdogan, with an eye towards solving the Cyprus issue before this October, when Ankara is to begin accession talks with the European Union, will resume peace efforts during the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland later this month. He is set to meet with UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and urge him to seek the Security Council’s backing for the most recent version of Annan’s Cyprus plan. /Turkiye/

AT MEETING OF IRAQ’S NEIGHBORS, GUL WARNS ANY EXCLUSION AT POLLS WOULD CREATE LEGITIMACY PROBLEMS
In Amman, Jordan yesterday, Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul yesterday attended a meeting bringing together the foreign ministers of Iraq’s neighboring countries. The meeting came as some Sunni groups in Iraq called for boycotts or at least postponement of Iraqi elections scheduled for Jan. 30. Gul’s counterparts from Iraq, Syria, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain and Eygpt attended the meeting, with Iran represented by its deputy foreign minister. Addressing the gathering, Gul said that exclusion of any group from Iraq’s polls would lead to legitimacy problems, as the country is trying to create a new administration. In a post-meeting declaration, the participants stressed that all Iraqis should participate in the upcoming elections. The ministers also agreed to hold their next meeting in Istanbul. During his stay in Amman, Gul met with his Egyptian counterpart Ahmed Ebul Geyt and briefed him on his recent contacts in Israel and Palestine, which Geyt hailed as fruitful. Later, Gul met with his Syrian counterpart Farouq al-Sharaa. /Milliyet/

GUL MEETS WITH PLO LEADER TO DISCUSS WEEKEND PALESTINIAN ELECTIONS
Before attending a meeting in Jordan yesterday, Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul met with Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) leader Mahmoud Abbas to discuss Palestine’s elections set for this Sunday. During their meeting, Gul briefed Abbas on his recent contacts with Israeli officials. For his part, Abbas, a leading candidate for Palestinian president, said that he expected Ankara would play a more active role in the peace process, adding that it should contribute to future peacekeeping forces in the region. Speaking afterwards, Gul said that the Palestinian nation would grow stronger through holding elections and praised the country’s continued reforms. /Milliyet/

OZKOK MEETS WITH NATO COMMANDER, DISCUSSES MISSIONS IN IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN
In Ankara for an official visit, Gen. James L. Jones, NATO’s supreme allied commander for Europe (SACEUR), yesterday met with Chief of General Staff Gen. Hilmi Ozkok to discuss a number of issues, including NATO’s missions in Iraq and Afghanistan. /Cumhuriyet/

ARINC: “PARLIAMENT CAN FIND A REASONABLE SOLUTION TO THE HEADSCARF ISSUE”
Parliament Speaker Bulent Arinc yesterday received representatives from the Freedom of Faith Platform, a group advocating an end to legal restrictions on the wearing of headscarves. Turkey bars university students and public employees from wearing headscarves, which the secular establishment sees as a political statement in favor of religious fundamentalism. Stating that the ban should be discussed as an issue of freedom of thought and faith, Arinc told the platform members that Parliament would have the final say on the matter. “The majority of our parliamentarians favor abolishing the ban,” he said. “I believe we’ll find a reasonable solution to this problem. A woman can wear a headscarf due to her beliefs, health problems or just because she finds it stylish. The right thing to do is to respect people’s beliefs and their right to dress accordingly.” He also urged the platform not to push their cause too insistently as it had already attracted tremendous controversy. “I think discussing this as an issue of freedom of thought, using different channels, would be more productive,” he added. /Sabah/

EP HEAD BORRELL: “EUROPE MUST WORK TO DISPEL ANTI-TURKISH BIAS
Eliminating bias against Turkey as its European Union membership goes forward is both necessary and beneficial for Europe, wrote European Parliament President Josep Borrell in a guest op-ed for French daily Le Figaro yesterday. Borrell said that the EU had three major homework assignments this year, namely, enlivening the Lisbon strategy, approving the European Constitution, and moving Turkey’s membership forward. “We need to get used to heated discussions on Turkey’s membership bid,” he wrote. “This will be a test for our continent. We have to make a serious, concrete effort to dispel prejudices against Turkey. Ankara’s membership negotiations will be a long and open-ended process. Ultimately, I believe the Union will benefit from the enlargement.” /Turkiye/

POLL: DANES FAVOR TURKEY’S EU MEMBERSHIP
Nearly three-quarters of Danes favor admitting Turkey into the European Union provide it fulfills the EU’s political and economic criteria, says a new poll. The poll, conducted by the Epinion Institute and made public by the Danish Federation of Industrialists, shows 72% of Danes support Ankara’s EU bid. /Turkiye/

DYP LEADER AGAR OPPOSES LOWER ELECTION THRESHOLD
Commenting on recent proposals to lower the 10% election threshold, True Path Party (DYP) leader Mehmet Agar warned yesterday that doing so might sow instability in the country. Suggesting that fair representation might be accomplished through a model which retains the threshold but allocates 100 Parliament seats to parties failing to make the cut, Agar said his party was working on the issue. /Turkiye/

SOCIAL SECURITY HOSPITALS HANDED OVER TO HEALTH MINISTRY
Parliament yesterday passed a controversial bill proposing handing over Social Security Authority (SSK) hospitals to the jurisdiction of the Health Ministry. Speaking to the deputies, Health Minister Recep Akdag stated that the bill covered not only SSK hospitals, but all hospitals under state institutions. He said that putting all health organizations under one roof would promote greater efficiency and quality as well as better cost control. /Turkiye/

FORMER CHIEF IMF ECONOMIST HAILS TURKEY’S “SUCCESS STORY”
Kenneth Rogoff, former chief economist for the International Monetary Fund, yesterday praised Turkey as one of the IMF’s “success stories.” Lauding Turkey’s positive economic developments, Rogoff stressed that last year it had beaten its inflation and growth targets. Also touching on Ankara’s EU aspirations, Rogoff predicted that its EU bid would accelerate the reform process and speed the country’s transformation. /Aksam/