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 Prime Ministry Human Rights Committee head Vahit Bıçak called on people to defend their rights and said there are many countries that see Turkey as a good example of human rights improvement.
(Turkish Daily News, Sunday, July 3, 2005)
On June 24, Friday: Iranians voted in a presidential run-off between moderate cleric Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani and hard-liner Mahmoud Ahmadinejad; the elections resulted in the victory of Ahmadinejad, who pledged to form a government of "moderation" and said Tehran would continue talks over its nuclear program and reach out to the international community.
Speaking with some European ambassadors and the European representative to Turkey, Hans Jörg Kretchmer, at a Croatian Statehood Day reception, Chief of General Staff Gen. Hilmi Özkök said the Turkish military always believed that the problems of southeastern Anatolia must be resolved through an economic-political initiative on the part of the country's civilian administration.
Turkey's eventual accession to the EU will provide benefits, particularly in the security field, to both the candidate country and the 25-nation bloc, Land Forces Commander Gen. Yaşar Büyükanıt said yesterday during his official visit to EU member Greece.
The EU, engulfed in political crisis, cannot shut the door on Turkey even if it wants to because relations are too important for both sides, a senior aide to Prime Minister Tayyip Erdoğan said yesterday.
Religious freedom in Turkey, which defines itself as a secular democracy, exists only on paper despite the fact that it is sanctioned in the Constitution, said the papal nuncio to Turkey, Monsignor Edmond Farhat.
Turkey experienced one of the proudest moments of its history when its Parliament rejected a U.S. request to launch the Iraq occupation via Turkish territory, said UNESCO peace prize holder Professor Richard Falk while delivering a speech at the final session of the symbolic World Tribunal on Iraq (WTI).
Republican People's Party (CHP) deputy leader Cevdet Selvi argued that there is a serious power vacuum in the country that has recently become more obvious.
Akif Gülle, deputy leader of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), called on the main opposition to propose solid projects instead of plainly opposing the government's privatization policies.
Police spokesman İsmail Çalışkan said yesterday that the coming into force of the new Criminal Procedures Law (CMK) has caused problems for police officers. On Saturday: The Greek Cypriot government barred some 150 Bulgarian Turks in Turkish Cyprus from crossing into Greek Cyprus to take part in Bulgarian elections.
Murat Karayalçın was re-elected as the Social Democrat People's Party (SHP) leader at the SHP delegates' convention in Ankara. Karayalçın was the only candidate and received 744 of 805 possible votes.
True Path Party (DYP) leader Mehmet Ağar said the headscarf issue was not a political matter and, in order for it to be resolved, it needs to be depoliticized. He said the issue is a fundamental matter of freedom and rights.
On Sunday: Bulgaria's Socialists scrambled for support to form a government to lead the Balkan state into the EU in 2007, after winning parliamentary elections without securing an outright majority.
The Higher Education Board (YÖK) General Assembly met for the second time within a week to resolve the "coefficient" issue with Education Minister Hüseyin Çelik chairing the meeting. Çelik said at the meeting they had failed to resolve their differences over the coefficient applied to vocational school graduates at university entrance examinations.
Dutch Deputy Transport Minister Melanie Schultz van Haegen yesterday rejected a claim filed by Turkish low-cost airline Onur Air for damages resulting from a Dutch ban on Onur flights in May. The Netherlands imposed a ban on Onur Air on May 12, citing "serious safety deficiencies" and prompting France, Germany and Switzerland to follow suit and declare their airports off-limits.
Azerbaijani Defense Minister Safar Abiyev expressed his country's gratitude for Turkey's support -- and particularly that of the Turkish Armed Forces -- for the Azerbaijani Armed Forces and contributions to Azerbaijan's military training system.
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said the government is focused on improving the people's welfare and parliamentary deputies would not get a significant pay raise until all sectors of society benefit from the economic growth.
State Minister Mehmet Aydın dismissed statements from diplomatic missions in Turkey that have been complaining of a lack in religious freedom, saying that even Western institutions in their reports on the year 2004 admitted that religious freedom exists in Turkey.
On Monday: Turkey said it would continue to seek improved relations with neighboring Iran after hard-line politician Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was elected president and said the election of the conservative candidate was an internal matter for Iran. "We wish him success," said Foreign Minister Abdullah Gül yesterday.
Turkish Cypriots offered to transfer an abandoned town in northern Cyprus to Greek Cypriot rule in return for lifting of a 30-year ban on international traffic in northern ports and at Ercan Airport. The Greek Cypriots rejected the proposal, which would have paved the way for easing the international isolation of the Turkish Cypriots, Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat announced.
Prosecutor Zekeriya Öz demanded life sentences for four Islamic militants who were among a group of al-Qaeda-linked suspects accused of carrying out a series of suicide bombings in Istanbul in 2003.
The World Tribunal on Iraq (WTI), an anti-war grouping of nongovernmental organizations, intellectuals and writers, yesterday harshly, if only symbolically, condemned the United States, Britain and their allies for the occupation of Iraq.
Foreign Minister Abdullah Gül departed for Yemen to attend the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) meeting.
Former Finnish Ambassador to Greek Cyprus Jaakko Blomberg, appointed in recent months as EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn's special advisor on Cyprus, held talks with top Turkish Cypriot figures following his talks with Greek Cypriot officials.
Björn von Sydow, speaker of the Swedish Parliament, said during an official visit in Ankara that all Swedish deputies were in favor of opening accession negotiations between Turkey and the European Union on Oct. 3 as scheduled.
Members of CHP women's branches submitted to Ali Topuz a total of 1.86 million signatures from around the country demanding the annulment of parliamentary immunity, the CHP parliamentary group deputy leader in Parliament.
Diyarbakır Governor Efkan Ala made the first compensation payments to victims of terrorism and an anti-terrorist campaign to five individuals whose gardens were damaged during a military operation against terrorist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) members last year.
AKP deputy leader Nükhet Hotar Göksel said her party has done nothing it needs to be ashamed of within its two-and-a-half years of government majority control.
On Tuesday: OIC Turkish Secretary-general Ekmeleddin İhsanoğlu stepped up his call for reform within the world's second largest organization after the United Nations and said the Muslim world should have permanent representation on the U.N. Security Council.
Islamic societies have achieved significant progress in internal economic and social reforms, Gül told a ministerial gathering of the OIC.
The EU should reach an agreement on its long-term budget before it opens accession talks with candidate Turkey, the EU's regional commissioner, Danuta Huebner, was quoted as saying.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev dismissed the possibility of popular uprisings in his country similar to those that toppled unpopular regimes in other former Soviet nations.
Parliament's Internal Affairs Commission approved a motion allowing the tapping of telephones via a central unit to be established under the Prime Ministry in cases where waiting to obtain the required court approval could damage a criminal or intelligence case.
Parliament's General Assembly approved an article in the new Judges and Prosecutors' Law that removed the ban on candidate judges and prosecutors from marrying foreigners
Staying away from crises is not always an option in today's world for aspiring global players, Turkish Chief of General Staff Gen. Özkök said yesterday at the annual Silk Road-2005 Flag Officers Seminar.
Two firebombs were hurled at a building housing the private Flash TV station in Istanbul, causing minor damage but no injuries, police said. Prime Ministry Human Rights Committee head Vahit Bıçak called on people to defend their rights and said there are many countries that see Turkey as a good example of human rights improvement.
Former Justice Minister Hikmet Sami Türk said early elections would be on the agenda by the end of 2006 at the latest, reported the Anatolia news agency. No ruling party in Turkey has managed to serve a full five-year term in power since 1983, said Türk. CHP Mersin deputy Hüseyin Güler resigned from the party, criticizing its policies for deviating from party principles and bylaws.
On Wednesday: The European Commission officially proposed a negotiating framework for accession talks with Turkey and upheld a Dec. 17 commitment to open the talks in October despite growing European misgivings with enlargement and prospects of Turkish entry in the aftermath of the rejection of a constitution for the bloc in French and Dutch referenda.
Prime Minister Erdoğan said the EU should accept Turkey as a member if it really wants to prove that it is not a "Christian club" and suggested that demands to include a reference to Christianity in the bloc's failed constitution might have been responsible for the existing troubles in Turkey's bid to join.
The draft resolution of the 32nd Foreign Ministers' Meeting of the OIC referred to the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (KKTC), recognized only by Turkey, as the "Turkish Cypriot State" for the first time.
The Greek Cypriots will earn $2 billion if Turkey opens its ports to Greek Cypriot ships, Turkish Cypriot Foreign Minister Serdar Denktaş told reporters in the Yemeni capital of Sanaa, where he was attending the OIC meeting.
Contrary to the policies of the Saddam Hussein dictatorship, the new Iraqi administration will not use terrorist groups as bargaining tools in diplomacy, Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said.
Fighting back against government members' criticism, Higher Education Board (YÖK) Chairman Erdoğan Teziç said yesterday it would be wrong for Parliament to enact a law changing the coefficient applied to vocational school graduates at university entrance examinations, reported the Anatolia news agency.
Israeli Land Forces Commander Maj. Gen. Yiftach Ron-Tal visited his Turkish counterpart, Gen. Yaşar Büyükanıt, at Land Forces headquarters.
On Thursday: Azerbaijan took steps to help ease the international isolation of Turkish Cypriots more than a year after the KKTC voted for a U.N. peace plan. Azerbaijan agreed to recognize Turkish Cypriot passports and pledged charter flights and business cooperation to reach out to the island's Turkish north.
The EU's negotiating framework document provisions are parallel to conclusions of the Dec. 17 summit, as was expected, Prime Minister Erdoğan said in Azerbaijan's capital of Baku during a visit. "Accession talks will start on Oct. 3."
AKP efforts to pass all crucial laws before the start of the parliamentary recess has caused serious scuffles and wars of words as the opposition parties failed to block an AKP proposal to change parliamentary bylaws in order to facilitate quicker proceedings.
CHP leader Deniz Baykal called on the people to rescue the country from the arbitrary decisions of the government, blasting the AKP's latest move in its efforts to change parliamentary bylaws so that legislation can be assessed in the General Assembly in 15-article batches.
Education Minister Hüseyin Çelik said YÖK Chairman Erdoğan Teziç had made inappropriate comments against the government, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Parliament and condemned Teziç's "threatening" remarks.
Parliament's General Assembly approved previously vetoed proposals for amendments to a law regulating the Scientific Board of the Scientific and Technical Research Council of Turkey (TÜBİTAK).
Parliament's General Assembly reapproved an amendment to the new penal code concerning a reduction in sentences for those convicted of running unlicensed education institutions, acts against the national interest, violations of privacy, and slander.
Land Forces Commander Gen. Büyükanıt said members of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) have been receiving "political support" in their mountain hideouts of northern Iraq.
Demanding an extraordinary party congress for the opposition True Path Party (DYP), party member and former deputy Saffet Kaya said DYP leader Mehmet Ağar should resign or he would be relieved of his duties during a party congress.
Gen. Roland Mosca Moschini, chairman of the Military Committee of the European Union, met with Chief of General Staff Gen. Özkök. |
