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Turkish press 4 Apr 05

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  • Turkish press 4 Apr 05

    Turkish press 4 Apr 05

    BBC Monitoring Service - United Kingdom;
    Apr 04, 2005


    Pope's death

    Milliyet [centrist] "The Vatican officially recognized the state of
    Israel in 1993 for the first time during his [Pope John Paul II's]
    period. He was the first pope to visit the divine sites of Muslims
    and Jews in Jerusalem and went to the 'Wailing Wall' and the Genocide
    Monument and prayed there. He was also the first pope to visit the
    Palestinian refugee camps, holding hands with Arafat and showing his
    interest in oppressed Muslims. ...He was also the first pope to visit
    foreign countries 128 times and organize mass ceremonies involving
    hundreds of thousands during his papacy of 26 years. ...The idea of
    'dialogue between religions' has expanded much more during his time.
    ...Yes, without doubt, he was the 'biggest Pope' of the century;
    he deserved the respect of humanity." (Commentary by Taha Akyol)

    Hurriyet [centre-right, largest circulation] "While guesses are being
    hazarded about the identity of the new pope, I wonder if the new one
    will be able to do something that the former one has left half-done.
    What kind of attitude will the new pope have towards the risk of
    clashes between civilizations at this time when the Middle East is
    being reformed and during Turkey's EU membership process? ...I hope the
    new pope heeds the calls of Muslims [for a papal apology to Muslims for
    the Crusades], because this will be the strongest political message -
    one which will define the Crusades." (Commentary by Ferai Tinc)

    Sabah [centrist] "If you ask 'what was the most influential factor in
    ending the Soviet system?', like everybody else, we too will point
    to the pope at the Vatican [Pope John Paul II] who hailed from the
    Eastern Bloc. ...The world is now crying for a pope who caused the
    collapse of a system and ended the 'Cold War'. An equally historic
    mission awaits his successor: To prevent the 'War of Civilizations.'"
    (Commentary by Erdal Safak)

    Turkey-US relations

    Milliyet "President Bush, who has started his second term by taking
    fresh support from US voters, now gives the impression of a president
    who is much more confident, and who believes in his mission to
    transform much more. The mass explosions [social uprisings] in
    Ukraine, Kyrgyzstan and Lebanon have also greatly encouraged Bush.
    ...Between the start of the Iraq war and the end of 2004, maybe
    sometimes with the help of good fortune too, the AKP [ruling Justice
    and Development Party in Turkey] was able to maintain relations with
    the USA at a certain level without fully surrendering to the demands
    of the USA. However, now it seems that the USA has come to a new
    phase of its great game plan and it is understood that in this phase,
    making the USA wait, or resisting its demands, may be much harder."
    (Commentary by Osman Ulagay)

    Turkey and the West

    Cumhuriyet [secular, Kemalist] "Initially, the West meant only Europe
    for us; afterwards, it covered the USA too. These days, Turkey has
    problems with the two geopolitical entities expressed by the acronyms
    EU and USA. ...Why has the West placed the 'Armenian issue', which was
    experienced in eastern Anatolia at the beginning of 20th century',
    before Turkey at the beginning of 21st century as if it were a very
    'urgent' subject? Why has the West raised the recognition of the Greek
    state up to the level of a precondition for Turkey's acceptability
    to the EU? What is the reason for the negative voices coming from
    the number one power in the West, the USA? ...It is true that there
    is tension between the West and Turkey but is it not unfair to say
    that this is being caused totally by us?" (Editorial)

    Turkey-EU relations

    Yeni Safak [liberal, pro-Islamic] "The opinion that discrimination
    is being practised against Turkey as it moves towards EU membership
    is widespread. If one looks closer, one can see that things are
    being asked of Turkey prior to membership which are not asked of any
    other member country. Some claim that this opinion is wrong. However,
    there are indications that this supposition is real." (Commentary by
    Cevdet Akcali)

    Iraq

    Zaman [moderate, pro-Islamic] ...The fact that [Hacim] Al-Hassani
    has been appointed to this post [parliament Speaker] shows that
    Sunni society in Iraq can be an element of balance. Turkey's Iraq
    policy must cover the Sunni population, too, as much as the Turkoman
    population, whose existence cannot be felt in the general picture."
    (Commentary by Kerim Balci)

    Aksam [centre-right] "If Turkey is to have the status of a respected
    power in its own region, then it certainly must not neglect its
    strategic economic interests. Thus, our state must reconsider its
    relations with the Kurdish formation in northern Iraq and make
    the necessary changes in current attitudes in terms of Turkey's
    interests. Approaching the region in terms of economic interests will
    both provide us an advantage and make the Kurdish formation [there]
    come much closer to us." (Commentary by Serdar Turgut)
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