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And Gül briefs Parliament
Thursday, May 5, 2005
OPINIONS
TDN editorial by Yusuf KANLI
Yusuf KANLI-It's a constant complaint of Parliament: The government
does not adequately or sufficiently inform parliamentarians
onforeign policy issues. Irrespective of whether the country has a
fractured Parliament, a multi-party coalition government or, as now,
a legislature dominated by two parties and a government enjoying
overwhelming parliamentary strength, this complaint survives every
condition and the test of time.
Foreign policy, of course, is a sensitive area, and governments
oftenprefer to holdtheir cards close to thechest and provide as little
information as possible to members of the ruling party and even lessto
the opposition.
Thus, when a foreign minister speaks at Parliament or at a gathering of
some key parliamentary commissions, it's an important event. We should
concede the fact, anyhow, that the current Justice and Development
Party (AKP) government appears more willing than previous governments
to provide information to Parliament, though onlyafter the issues under
discussion are somewhat finalized either by the Foreign Ministry or
at the government level.
It would have been great, for example, if Parliament had beeninformed
of the Incirlik air base discussions with the United Statesbefore
the government opted to use a back-door method and provide
broaderbase-usage rights to the U.S.military, thus avoiding a
parliamentary debate over the issue.
Still, a briefing to Parliament by the foreign minister is an
important event,at least for the records of the state. What did
Foreign Minister Abdullah Gül say on Wednesday to a joint meeting of
some key parliamentary commissions?
1 - There is no letup in Turkey's EU bid. Turkey is now concentrating
more on implementation of legislated reforms than on maintaining the
former rapid pacein undertaking new reforms.
2 - This does not mean Turkey has completed its reform program (that
is, the reforms the EU has been demanding). The Penal Code reform is
inprocess in Parliament, while the reform in the law on foundations --
which would make it easier for minority foundations to own property --
will soon be submitted by the Cabinet to Parliament.
3 - Turkey has taken every possible move regarding expansion of the
1963 Ankara Association Treaty to cover all new members of the EU
-- including the Greek Cypriot state -- and the ball is now in the
EU's court. Turkey is waiting for the EU to complete the process and
approach Ankara to sign the extension protocol. This will definitely
be done before Oct. 3, the start of talks.
4 - The screening process will not take much time, and Ankara expects
the accession talks to proceed speedily once they start on Oct. 3.
5 - The U.S. has not been given blanket permission inthe new Incirlik
decree by the government. U.S. flights will be confined to logistic
suppliesshipped to Iraq and Afghanistan and Turkey will be adequately
informed of all traffic.
6 - All facilities provided to the U.S. at Incirlik are in conformance
with the spirit of the alliance and existing agreements as well as
international law.
7 - The rules and conditions of use of Incirlik by the U.S. will be
decided by Turkey.
And Gül says Turkey may soon take a new initiative on the
Armenian.. What? Wait until the next briefing to learn more, or follow
the press!
--Boundary_(ID_mYOSAFIA+k1svg9yFDYTNw)--
Thursday, May 5, 2005
OPINIONS
TDN editorial by Yusuf KANLI
Yusuf KANLI-It's a constant complaint of Parliament: The government
does not adequately or sufficiently inform parliamentarians
onforeign policy issues. Irrespective of whether the country has a
fractured Parliament, a multi-party coalition government or, as now,
a legislature dominated by two parties and a government enjoying
overwhelming parliamentary strength, this complaint survives every
condition and the test of time.
Foreign policy, of course, is a sensitive area, and governments
oftenprefer to holdtheir cards close to thechest and provide as little
information as possible to members of the ruling party and even lessto
the opposition.
Thus, when a foreign minister speaks at Parliament or at a gathering of
some key parliamentary commissions, it's an important event. We should
concede the fact, anyhow, that the current Justice and Development
Party (AKP) government appears more willing than previous governments
to provide information to Parliament, though onlyafter the issues under
discussion are somewhat finalized either by the Foreign Ministry or
at the government level.
It would have been great, for example, if Parliament had beeninformed
of the Incirlik air base discussions with the United Statesbefore
the government opted to use a back-door method and provide
broaderbase-usage rights to the U.S.military, thus avoiding a
parliamentary debate over the issue.
Still, a briefing to Parliament by the foreign minister is an
important event,at least for the records of the state. What did
Foreign Minister Abdullah Gül say on Wednesday to a joint meeting of
some key parliamentary commissions?
1 - There is no letup in Turkey's EU bid. Turkey is now concentrating
more on implementation of legislated reforms than on maintaining the
former rapid pacein undertaking new reforms.
2 - This does not mean Turkey has completed its reform program (that
is, the reforms the EU has been demanding). The Penal Code reform is
inprocess in Parliament, while the reform in the law on foundations --
which would make it easier for minority foundations to own property --
will soon be submitted by the Cabinet to Parliament.
3 - Turkey has taken every possible move regarding expansion of the
1963 Ankara Association Treaty to cover all new members of the EU
-- including the Greek Cypriot state -- and the ball is now in the
EU's court. Turkey is waiting for the EU to complete the process and
approach Ankara to sign the extension protocol. This will definitely
be done before Oct. 3, the start of talks.
4 - The screening process will not take much time, and Ankara expects
the accession talks to proceed speedily once they start on Oct. 3.
5 - The U.S. has not been given blanket permission inthe new Incirlik
decree by the government. U.S. flights will be confined to logistic
suppliesshipped to Iraq and Afghanistan and Turkey will be adequately
informed of all traffic.
6 - All facilities provided to the U.S. at Incirlik are in conformance
with the spirit of the alliance and existing agreements as well as
international law.
7 - The rules and conditions of use of Incirlik by the U.S. will be
decided by Turkey.
And Gül says Turkey may soon take a new initiative on the
Armenian.. What? Wait until the next briefing to learn more, or follow
the press!
--Boundary_(ID_mYOSAFIA+k1svg9yFDYTNw)--