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Turkish press 24 June 05
BBC Monitoring Service - United Kingdom; Jun 24, 2005
Turkey and the EU
Hurriyet [centre-right, largest circulation] "The EU countries which
saw Turkey's EU membership 'possible' back in 1963, have now started
to say, 'Let us discuss'. What will you discuss? Is this a new style -
taking a decision and then entering discussions later?... Thank god
that this atmosphere has not spread to all EU countries yet. It has
not, but this does not mean that it will not. That is why we have to
see that we are being pushed towards an open and honest confrontation
with the EU, and make our preparations accordingly." (Commentary by
Oktay Eksi)
Milliyet [centrist] "Europe is discussing its models. On the one hand
there is a model led by the UK: it highlights such concepts as
'competitive economy, globalization, economic modernization', and by
the same logic supports EU enlargement as well as Turkey's full
membership. On the other hand, there is the 'social model' led by
France. It is fond of the public sector and is deeply doubtful about
concepts like 'competitive economy and globalization'. By the same
logic, it is against EU enlargement and Turkey's membership."
(Commentary by Taha Akyol)
Blair's speech in European Parliament
Aksam [centre-right] "A historical call was made by Blair who set out
the presidency's programme yesterday in the European Parliament. Blair
reminded people of the existence of new roads towards a new European
democracy with his emphasis on the EU's 'need to learn to
compete'... As Blair said regarding the referenda, 'this is neither a
crisis of EU institutions nor a crisis of the institutions of the
states concerned. This is a crisis of political leadership'... The
French referendum result was caused by the lack of leadership by
French politicians." (Commentary by Nuray Basaran)
Radikal [centre-left] "...Blair did the right thing by putting the
blame on European leaders for the fiasco that took place in the [EU]
constitution referenda in France and Holland. He openly admitted there
was a leadership problem within the EU and said, 'the people will
support us on the issue of enlargement if we explain to them the truth
in the right way'... His statement 'we will fulfil our obligations
towards Turkey and Croatia' was placed in one paragraph of his speech
in such a way as to cause no reaction." (Commentary by Murat Yetkin)
US-Turkey relations
Cumhuriyet [secular, Kemalist] "In order for Turkey to be a strategic
partner of the US, there should be a unity of interest between the two
countries and they should act together on every issue... In our
country, there is no opposition to the US people. What we are against
is US policies and their implementation by the current US
administration." (Commentary by Zekeriya Temizel)
Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline
Zaman [moderate, pro-Islamic] "After the pumping of the first oil into
the BTC [Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan] the Armenian prime minister... said:
'Armenia is searching for alternative solutions to re-establish the
balance that has been upset', stating that the pipeline would
negatively affect the regional balance of power. It is obvious that
the change in this balance of power is not in Armenia's favour... It
is true that the pipeline has greatly bothered Yerevan." (Commentary
by Kadir Dikbas)
Kurdish issue
Milliyet [centrist] "The Turkish armed and security forces have lost
nearly a brigade in their armed struggle with the PKK [Kurdistan
Workers' Party]... The total number of deaths is 30,000. Just as it
was thought that this bloody episode in history was closed, doubts
such as 'was this merely an interlude, is the second act beginning
now' are intensifying... The bloody fingerprints of the issue
increasingly turning into a Turkish-Kurdish polarization are being
perceived." (Commentary by Guneri Civaoglu)
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
BBC Monitoring Service - United Kingdom; Jun 24, 2005
Turkey and the EU
Hurriyet [centre-right, largest circulation] "The EU countries which
saw Turkey's EU membership 'possible' back in 1963, have now started
to say, 'Let us discuss'. What will you discuss? Is this a new style -
taking a decision and then entering discussions later?... Thank god
that this atmosphere has not spread to all EU countries yet. It has
not, but this does not mean that it will not. That is why we have to
see that we are being pushed towards an open and honest confrontation
with the EU, and make our preparations accordingly." (Commentary by
Oktay Eksi)
Milliyet [centrist] "Europe is discussing its models. On the one hand
there is a model led by the UK: it highlights such concepts as
'competitive economy, globalization, economic modernization', and by
the same logic supports EU enlargement as well as Turkey's full
membership. On the other hand, there is the 'social model' led by
France. It is fond of the public sector and is deeply doubtful about
concepts like 'competitive economy and globalization'. By the same
logic, it is against EU enlargement and Turkey's membership."
(Commentary by Taha Akyol)
Blair's speech in European Parliament
Aksam [centre-right] "A historical call was made by Blair who set out
the presidency's programme yesterday in the European Parliament. Blair
reminded people of the existence of new roads towards a new European
democracy with his emphasis on the EU's 'need to learn to
compete'... As Blair said regarding the referenda, 'this is neither a
crisis of EU institutions nor a crisis of the institutions of the
states concerned. This is a crisis of political leadership'... The
French referendum result was caused by the lack of leadership by
French politicians." (Commentary by Nuray Basaran)
Radikal [centre-left] "...Blair did the right thing by putting the
blame on European leaders for the fiasco that took place in the [EU]
constitution referenda in France and Holland. He openly admitted there
was a leadership problem within the EU and said, 'the people will
support us on the issue of enlargement if we explain to them the truth
in the right way'... His statement 'we will fulfil our obligations
towards Turkey and Croatia' was placed in one paragraph of his speech
in such a way as to cause no reaction." (Commentary by Murat Yetkin)
US-Turkey relations
Cumhuriyet [secular, Kemalist] "In order for Turkey to be a strategic
partner of the US, there should be a unity of interest between the two
countries and they should act together on every issue... In our
country, there is no opposition to the US people. What we are against
is US policies and their implementation by the current US
administration." (Commentary by Zekeriya Temizel)
Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline
Zaman [moderate, pro-Islamic] "After the pumping of the first oil into
the BTC [Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan] the Armenian prime minister... said:
'Armenia is searching for alternative solutions to re-establish the
balance that has been upset', stating that the pipeline would
negatively affect the regional balance of power. It is obvious that
the change in this balance of power is not in Armenia's favour... It
is true that the pipeline has greatly bothered Yerevan." (Commentary
by Kadir Dikbas)
Kurdish issue
Milliyet [centrist] "The Turkish armed and security forces have lost
nearly a brigade in their armed struggle with the PKK [Kurdistan
Workers' Party]... The total number of deaths is 30,000. Just as it
was thought that this bloody episode in history was closed, doubts
such as 'was this merely an interlude, is the second act beginning
now' are intensifying... The bloody fingerprints of the issue
increasingly turning into a Turkish-Kurdish polarization are being
perceived." (Commentary by Guneri Civaoglu)
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress