Turkish Press Review of Hurriyet, Milliyet, Sabah, Turkiye, Zaman, Yeni Safak, Vatan, Cumhuriyet, Radikal

HURRIYET

PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who came to power (in the last elections) by winning 34.4 percent of votes, defined his success criteria: "I will make an assessment with my friends if we don't get more than 34.4 percent votes in the upcoming elections (July 22nd general elections). I will check the situation after that assessment." Criticizing Devlet Bahceli and Mesut Yilmaz, who returned to politics after they quitted, Erdogan said, "how can you believe them as they say something in the evening and another thing in the morning? But just watch Tayyip Erdogan if he made such a decision." Asked if he would go to (northeastern city of) Rize (in that case), Erdogan said, "Istanbul would be my place, but I can also spend some time in Rize. But I was born and grew up here (Istanbul), and I was the mayor for four and a half years."

The natural gas deal reached by Turkey and Iran made Washington administration uneasy. U.S. Embassy spokesperson Schalow recalled the UN resolution regarding commercial embargoes on Iran, and said that they are against this cooperation. FM Abdullah Gul, on the other hand, said, "UN sanctions are not violated."

MILLIYET

FM Abdullah Gul announced that American government had answered allegations that it had supplied the terrorist organization PKK with arms with a statement saying, "the weapons we have given to the Iraqi army might have ended up in the hands of PKK." Gul commented on the U.S statement and said, "this proves that the Iraqi army is not trustworthy."

The MoU (memorandum of understanding) on natural gas signed between Turkey and Iran disturbed the United States. Kathy Schalow, the spokesperson of the U.S. Embassy in Ankara, said that it was not wise to rely on Iran as a natural gas supplier. On the other hand Energy and Natural Resources Minister said on the American stance, "I don't think they uttered the remark 'we are against', however they may not be sympathetic."

SABAH

PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan paid a visit to the Eriklibaba Association after the election campaign rally of his Justice & Development (AK) Party in Istanbul, and chatted with Alawite people. During the 30-minute meeting that took place on Sunday, Erdogan said, "we will try to solve problems of Alawite people when we come to power again." FM Abdullah Gul also participated in the meeting.

FM Abdullah Gul said, "what is important is our interests," when commenting on the stance of the USA that reacted to natural gas agreement between Turkey and Iran.

TURKIYE

PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan, speaking in Edirne and Tekirdag, said, "what we have done in four and a half years is obvious. We are not speaking in vain. The highways, increasing national income, export figures, hospital services are all what we have achieved."

Sixty percent of Turkish Finans, the bank of Ulker and Boydak Group, was sold to a Saudi Arabian group in return for 2 billion USD. The Saudi Arabian company that purchased the bank will be made public on Tuesday.

ZAMAN

Europe has again shed green light to the terrorist organization PKK. Riza Altun, one of the top members of the terrorist organization PKK who was released pending trial by a French court, ran away to Irbil although he was not even allowed to get out of Paris. It has been revealed that Austria condoned Altun's escape. Altun was detained in Vienna by Austrian police on July 4th, however he was released on July 13th although he was wanted by Interpol with a red bulletin and although there is a French judicial order regarding him. Altun, who was released on condition that he left the country (Austria), flew to Irbil with a scheduled flight of the Austrian Airlines on July 13th. The Austrian administration informed neither Ankara nor Paris about detention of Altun although it was aware of the international arrest warrant.

A forest fire broke out in three different spots in Osmaniye on Monday evening. Efforts are under way to contain the fire that has burnt 100 hectares of forest. Osmaniye Governor Zubeyir Kemelek said that the possibility of a sabotage is high when they took into consideration the way the fire started.

YENI SAFAK

FM Abdullah Gul said the allegations suggesting that the U.S supplied terrorist organisation PKK with arms, could be a conspiracy theory and indicated that the relations with the U.S would be ruined should the allegations prove to be true. "Upon sound confessions, we demanded an explanation. Both the U.S and European countries are supplying Iraq with weapons. They might have given or sold. We seized weapons belonging to the Iraqi army on some terrorists." "If the U.S is supplying the terrorist organisation PKK with weapons, this will surface one day. And if such a thing occurs, relations will be ruined. We are inquiring. These can be raised to harm the relations between Turkey and the U.S," said Gul.

Environment and Forestry Minister Pepe said he would file a lawsuit against Baykal who claimed that Pepe's son owned 600 flats. Pepe, said "my sons who are living on rented flats own 5 yet unfinished flats. I want Baykal to pay me the remaining 595 flats from his Is Bankasi shares ."

VATAN

PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan, for the first time, expressed his views about possible distribution of seats at the parliament after July 22nd general elections. Justice & Development (AK) Party, led by Erdogan, won 363 seats at the parliament in 2002 general elections. On AK Party's new target, Erdogan said, "I have asked my friends to calculate possible number of representatives we will have in the new parliament, but it will not be right to make it public. We will be stronger in a two-party parliament. However, if three parties manage to pass the electoral threshold, our seats will definitely be over 300."

The USA, which objects to a possible operation of Turkey on north of Iraq, harshly reacted to the natural gas agreement between Turkey and Iran this time. Gul responded to the USA through Vatan daily. The U.S. Embassy in Ankara released a statement in which it said that they are against any type of cooperation with Iran. The USA is imposing embargoes on countries that make over 20 million USD of energy cooperation with Iran since this country has not ceased its nuclear program. The pipeline that will carry Iranian natural gas to Europe via Turkey is worth 2 billion USD. The agreement will make BOTAS (Pipeline Transportation Corp.) and TPAO (Turkish Petroleum Corp.) face embargoes, while Gul said, "Turkey is not doing anything wrong. We are just making the biggest contribution to the energy safety of not only Turkey but also Europe. Turkey has to consider its own interests and security. Security is related with not only military issues, but also it is related with energy matters."

FM Abdullah Gul thinks that it will not be beneficial to enter north of Iraq these days. "This issue has been discussed so much that the terrorist organization changed the places it was sheltering. If you enter now, it will be just for glory. We will not have any hesitations under appropriate circumstances, and we will stage the cross-border operation," he added.

CUMHURIYET

Forest fires that broke out during the weekend near touristic regions like Bodrum, Manavgat and Cesme make everybody think that they were intentional because most of the fires started in places which are close to valuable regions. Fires that began in Ispatli and Seki villages in Antalya's Alanya town have not been contained yet.

Washington opposed the two pipeline projects that will carry the natural gas from Turkmenistan and Iran to Europe under the natural gas agreement that will be signed with Turkey. Kathy Schalow, the spokesperson of the U.S. Embassy in Ankara, reminded that Iran was not cooperating with the UN and said, "the U.S is against all cooperations with Iran." Ross Wilson, American Ambassador in Ankara, asked for an appointment from Energy Minister Guler.

RADIKAL

FM Abdullah Gul made public the U.S. response to allegations that it had supplied the terrorist organization PKK with arms: "The arms we sent to Iraq may have ended up in the hands of PKK due to some ethnic reasons."

A research team from Ankara's Middle East Technical University (METU) achieved to obtain expensive industrial diamond from 6-watt battery, table salt, chloroform, water, solvent and two steel bars.

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Güncelleme Tarihi: 17 Temmuz 2007, 11:03