ECEVIT ISSUES CIRCULAR TO ACCELERATE IMPLEMENTATION OF EU LAWS
Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit issued a circular yesterday to accelerate the implementation of the European Union harmonization laws adopted by Parliament in early August. The circular states that the full implementation of these laws should begin by Nov. 15 at the latest, and that the political criteria listed in Turkey’s national program should be fully met in order to maximize Turkey’s chances of getting a date from the EU at December’s Copenhagen summit for the beginning of its accession negotiations. /Cumhuriyet/
YILMAZ: “ELECTIONS THRESHOLD SHOULD BE LOWERED TO ENSURE LEGITIMACY”
Appearing on television yesterday, Motherland Party (ANAP) leader Mesut Yilmaz stated that his party would support efforts to lower the elections threshold from 10% to 5%. Pointing out that under the current system political parties need to gain 10% of the total votes to be represented in Parliament, Yilmaz said that there was a risk that a party winning only 20% of votes could end up holding 70% of the seats in Parliament. Such a situation, he warned, could compromise the legitimacy of the Parliament. /Cumhuriyet/
TURKER TO MEET WITH IMF, WORLD BANK OFFICIALS IN US
State Minister for the Economy Masum Turker and an accompanying delegation of economy bureaucrats are set to travel to the United States on Sept. 25 to meet with officials from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank. During the meetings, the delegation will discuss holding Turkey’s fourth review in advance of its scheduled date. Following this meeting, a $1.6 billion-plus loan tranche is expected to be extended to Turkey. /Turkiye/
ORAL: “LET’S NOT BE DISTRACTED FROM TURKEY’S POSITIVE REALITIES”
Speaking to reporters after helping a school in Izmir kick off the new school year, Finance Minister Sumer Oral urged Turkish citizens not to let the upcoming elections obscure the nation’s positive trends. Remarking that Turkey had lately been preoccupied with the election campaigns, Oral said, “In the days to come, politicians will make new promises and the people will gain new hopes. But we should remember Turkey’s positive progress in its European Union membership bid and the successful implementation of its economic program.” Turkey should continue on this road without any deviation, added Oral. /Turkiye/
BAYKAL MEETS EUROPEAN OFFICIALS AT ECONOMIC FORUM
Speaking to reporters before leaving for Salzburg, Austria to attend a panel of the European Economic Forum, Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Deniz Baykal stated that recent days had seen attempts to both interfere with and delay elections scheduled for Nov. 3, but that the election process had already begun. It would be wrong to delay this process, he said. During the forum, Baykal met with European Union Commissioner for Enlargement Guenter Verheugen and Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic, as well as Germany’s deputy finance minister, France’s state minister for the EU, Danish State minister responsible for the EU and Belgium’s finance minister. /Cumhuriyet/
EU MOVES UP PROGRESS REPORT RELEASE DATE
The European Union Commission decided yesterday to release its progress report concerning Turkey and other EU candidate countries on Oct. 9, one week earlier then scheduled. The report will cover developments in Turkey over the last year, and it is expected to have an important role at this December’s Copenhagen summit, where Turkey hopes to obtain a date for the beginning of its EU membership negotiations. /Hurriyet/
YSK TO RULE ON WHETHER AKP’S ERDOGAN CAN STAND ON NOV. 3
Yesterday, the High Court of Appeals upheld a ruling of Diyarbakir State Security Court No. 3, thus rejecting a request by lawyers of Justice and Development Party (AKP) leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan that the criminal record of the former Istanbul mayor be wiped clean as the amended Turkish Penal Code (TCK) Article 312 no longer includes the crime Erdogan was sentenced for. The Supreme Election Board (YSK) is expected to make the final decision today as to whether Erdogan will be able to run in the Nov. 3 elections. /All Papers/
POWELL: “THE US ISN’T BLUFFING ON IRAQ”
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sukru Sina Gurel met with United States Secretary of State Colin Powell yesterday in New York to discuss US plans to launch an operation in Iraq and the Turkish-US strategic partnership. Both are in New York for the United Nations General Assembly meeting there. After thanking Gurel for Turkey’s support in the war against international terrorism, Powell assured his Turkish counterpart that Turkey would not be met with any surprises on the Iraqi issue. Powell was also reported to have sent a warning to Iraq by telling Gurel, “We would like Iraq to know that the US isn’t bluffing.” After this meeting, Gurel spoke with Iraqi Foreign Minister Naci Sabri and urged that Iraq comply with the expectations of the international community by allowing the return of United Nations weapon inspectors there. Gurel later stated that a war in the region could easily go out of control and that there was still room for political maneuvering to prevent such a war. Later yesterday, Sabri delivered a letter to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan pledging to allow the weapon inspectors’ return “without conditions.” /Cumhuriyet/
ANNAN: “WE APPRECIATE TURKEY’S HELP WITH IRAQ”
Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit yesterday made a phone call to United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan to discuss the Iraq issue. During the call, Annan stated that he appreciated Turkey’s efforts to convince the Baghdad administration to obey UN resolutions on weapons inspections and disarmament. Before speaking with Annan, Ecevit discussed the Iraq issue with Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Ugur Ziyal and Deputy Undersecretary Ali Tuygan at Prime Ministry headquarters. /Milliyet/
POWELL, GROSSMAN PROMOTE TURKEY’S EU BID WITH GREECE
United States Secretary of State Colin Powell yesterday met with Greek Foreign Minister George Papandreou on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York to express US support for Turkey’s European Union membership bid. Also present at the meeting was US Undersecretary of State Marc Grossman, a former US ambassador to Turkey. Powell told Papandreou that the US attached great importance to a progress report on Turkey’s bid to be released by the EU on Oct. 9, since it would likely affect the results of Turkey’s Nov. 3 elections. In addition to meeting with Greek officials, the US is also trying to convince the EU leadership in Brussels to give a date to Turkey at December’s Copenhagen summit to start its membership negotiations. /Milliyet/
BAKU-TBILISI-CEYHAN PIPELINE CONSTRUCTION TO BEGIN
President Ahmet Necdet Sezer is to participate in a ceremony with Azerbaijani President Haidar Aliyev and Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze tomorrow in Baku, Azerbijan to mark the start of construction of the 1,730-kilometre Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline designed to transport Azeri oil to the Mediterranean port of Ceyhan. The three leaders are also expected tomorrow to discuss the prospect of building a second pipeline parallel to the Baku-Ceyhan to transport Azeri natural gas to world markets via Ceyhan. /Cumhuriyet/
DIRECT LINE OF CONTACT TO BE ESTABLISHED BETWEEN TURKISH, GREEK DEFENSE MINISTERS
The defense ministers of Turkey, Greece, Bulgaria and Romania met in Istanbul yesterday at the Harbiye Military Museum and Culture Center. Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Turkish Defense Minister Sabahattin Cakmakoglu said that Turkey and Greece had decided to establish a direct contact mechanism between the two countries in order to increase mutual confidence. Greek Defense Minister Yannos Papandoniyu, for his part, stated that it was important to have a direct line of contact especially in the event of any problems. In addition, Turkey and Greece announced their support for Romania and Bulgaria’s NATO membership bids. /Hurriyet/
WORLD CULTURE MINISTERS SUMMIT STARTS IN ISTANBUL
The UNESCO Third Round Table of Ministers of Culture started yesterday in Istanbul with the attendance of over 70 ministers of culture and some 400 delegates from over 100 countries. Addressing the two-day meeting on “Intangible Cultural Heritage: A Mirror of Cultural Diversity”, President Ahmet Necdet Sezer focused on the importance of the protection of world cultural heritage. Stating that humanity had taken giant steps in recent years but that problems such as terrorism, pollution, drug trafficking and racism had risen to threaten humanity during the last century, Sezer said, “All nations must understand that the continued survival of civilization is possible only through the fostering of harmony, tolerance and dialogue.” Regarding terrorism, Sezer said that a common definition of terrorism should be agreed upon. “Terror should not be ascribed to any religion or ethnic group,” said the president. In addition, Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit sent a written message to be read out at the meeting. UNESCO head Koichiro Matsuura and Javier Perez de Cuellar, former United Nations secretary-general and current president of the World Commission on Culture and Development, as well as delegates from many countries delivered speeches at the meeting. The sessions will continue through today. /All Papers/
SOURCE: OFFICE OF THE PRIME MINISTER, DIRECTORATE GENERAL OF PRESS AND INFORMATION