ERDOGAN MEETS WITH KAZAKH OFFICIALS
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who is on a two-day visit to Kazakhstan, yesterday met with his Kazakh counterpart Danial Akhmetov in Astana. After their talks, Akhmetov told a news conference that his country could contribute up to 30 million tons annually to the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) Oil Pipeline which will transfer crude oil from Azerbaijan’s Caspian region through Georgia to Turkey’s Mediterranean port of Ceyhan for shipment to world markets. Asked about the international isolation of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), Akhmetov said Kazakhstan wanted to develop cultural relations with the Turkish Cypriots. For his part, Erdogan stated that they had discussed the topics of economic cooperation, the fight against terrorism, the BTC project and the Cyprus issue. The Turkish premier then met with Senate Speaker Nurtay Abikayev and addressed Kazakh businessmen at a gathering. Erdogan, accompanied by his wife as well as State Ministers Besir Atalay, Mehmet Aydin, and Kursad Tuzmen, and Interior Minister Abdulkadir Aksu, also attended a dinner in his honor hosted by Akhmetov. Today, he will proceed to Almaty to meet with President Nursultan Nazarbayev and to visit a Turkish Export Products Fair in the city. /Turkiye/
ANKARA TO HOST CYPRUS SUMMIT
Ankara is to host a Cyprus summit next week in the runup to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul’s visit to the United States in the first week of June. Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) President Mehmet Ali Talat, Prime Minister Ferdi Sabit Soyer and Foreign Minister Serdar Denktas are expected to arrive in Ankara next Thursday. They will meet with President Ahmet Necdet Sezer and then Erdogan and Gul to discuss the latest developments on the island. Erdogan and Gul are expected to meet with United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan while in the United States. /Cumhuriyet/
US STATE DEPT HAILS OPENING OF BTC PIPELINE
The US State Department warmly welcomed the official opening of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline yesterday in Baku, Azerbaijan. “The United States has long supported this historic project as a centerpiece of the East-West energy corridor,” said department spokesman Richard Boucher. “The BTC pipeline will reinforce the sovereignty and prosperity of Azerbaijan and Georgia. BTC will further integrate Azerbaijan and Georgia into the international free market economy and promote their development, while advancing our shared goal of developing multiple oil and gas export routes. The BTC pipeline will also enhance Turkey's emerging role as an energy transportation hub and help reduce oil tanker traffic congestion in the Bosphorus and Dardanelles straits. The Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline is a major success for the U.S. goal of enhancing and diversifying global energy supplies.” On the other hand, Russia yesterday lashed out at the project opening, arguing that the BTC’s true aim is nothing but serving the US’ political interests in the region. Russian Parliament Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Konstantin Kosachyov charged that the US and other Western countries are planning to deploy troops in the countries where the pipeline is situated, using regional instability as a pretext, and added that Moscow does not want to see foreign forces in the region. /Milliyet/
GERMAN OPPOSITION LEADER PRODS TURKEY OVER CYPRUS, ARMENIA ISSUES
Germany’s main opposition leader Angela Merkel yesterday urged Turkey to improve its relations with Armenia and clarify its official attitude on the Cyprus issue before starting accession talks with the European Union on Oct. 3. Although Turkey’s EU membership bid is supported by current German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and his party, Merkel’s party, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), however, favors a looser "privileged partnership” with Ankara. The CDU is the main sponsor of a draft resolution before the German Parliament calling on Turkey to take historical responsibility for the so-called mass killings of Armenians during the late Ottoman era. Merkel’s party will challenge Schroeder’s Social Democrats in early polls this September. /Aksam/
EDELMAN PAYS HIS FAREWELL VISITS TO SEZER AND GUL
US Ambassador to Ankara Eric Edelman yesterday paid his farewell visits to President Ahmet Necdet Sezer and Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul. Gul thanked Edelman for his efforts to improve bilateral relations during his mission. Edelman said that Washington would keep the promise it made to fight the terrorist PKK in northern Iraq. “Talks on this issue will continue between Turkey, the US and Iraq,” he added. “Washington will also sustain its full support for Turkey’s EU membership bid and the Cyprus issue.” He also expressed satisfaction over State Minister Ali Babacan’s being named chief negotiator for the country’s EU membership talks. /Hurriyet/
ARMENIAN CONFERENCE TO BE HELD IN NEAR FUTURE, SAY ORGANIZERS
The organizer and 43 scholars of a conference on Ottoman Armenians which was postponed earlier this week issued a statement yesterday. It said that the three-day gathering to be hosted by Bogazici University had been postponed due to pressure from certain circles, adding that it would be held in the near future. The group also criticized Justice Minister Cemil Cicek for his recent remarks about the gathering in Parliament. “No institution, no organization and no individual has the right to intervene in an academic meeting,” said the statement, adding that differing views and ideas would benefit Turkish society. On the other hand, Bulent Arinc, currently visiting the US, when asked about the issue said that he favors everybody expressing their views freely. /Milliyet/
BAYKAL TO GIVE FRIENDSHIP AWARD TO GERMANY’S RAU
Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Deniz Baykal will attend a friendship award ceremony this weekend in the German city of Solingen. At the awards ceremony, called “Hate Kills, Love Gives Life,” Baykal will give former German President Johannes Rau a friendship award. Rau was one of the first politicians to condemn a 1993 incident in Solingen in which five Turks were killed. /Cumhuriyet/
ANOTHER DEPUTY QUITS CHP
Opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) Kars Deputy Selami Yigit yesterday resigned from his party. With his resignation, the CHP’s seats in Parliament fell to 160, while the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) still holds 356 seats. /Star/