Turkish press on Monday 4 Jul 05

BBC Monitoring Service – United Kingdom;
Jul 04, 2005

The following is a selection of quotes from editorials and
commentaries published in 4 July editions of Turkish newspapers
available to BBC Monitoring

EU

Sabah (centrist) “Turkey will start the membership negotiation process
on 3 October 2005. Before now, this was a development regarded as an
unbelievable dream. If the social and political will is there for the
people of this country to become richer and freer, it [Turkey] has to
continue this process without mistakes. Long-term decisiveness is what
we need most because that is how we are going to succeed in this
process.” (Commentary by Mehmet Altan)

Kurdish issue

Tercuman (conservative) “Do all these latest bloody developments show
that the PKK [Kurdistan Workers Party] has been becoming stronger? Do
they show that ‘the environment of violence’ will once again spread
throughout the whole country? No. On the contrary, they show that the
PKK has been weakened and that it is in a state of ‘fatal
exhaustion’… What is important in this respect is the isolation of
PKK and the ‘facilitation of its inevitable end’. And in order to do
this, there should be no panic over the bloody news from the southeast
and or ‘escalation of the violence’ because this is exactly what the
PKK wants.” (Commentary by Cengiz Candar)

Regional ties

Milliyet (centrist) “Developments in that country [Iraq] continue to
be cause for great concern to Turkey. Developments in northern Iraq,
where the Kurds are continuing to increase their power mostly through
illegal ways, are especially remarkable… Ankara, which initially
showed antipathy even towards the idea of a ‘federal’ Iraq, but which
later consented to that, might soon be in a position to get used to
the idea of a ‘confederal’ Iraq. Moreover, if developments continue as
they are doing now, it might even be longing for a ‘confederal’ Iraq.”
(Commentary by Semih Idiz)

Vatan (centrist) “Turkey’s relations with Greece, which frequently
cool off, have reached new dimensions through developments in the
economic sphere. There is no real reason not to implement the same
policy towards Armenia and Kurdistan. This can be done definitely only
provided the leaders of those two countries have the same
understanding.” (Commentary by Okay Gonensin)

Iraq/USA

Zaman (moderate, pro-Islamic) “Bush, who made a speech last Tuesday at
Fort Bragg in North Carolina to win back declining public support,
said that the gains of the Iraq war were worth the sacrifices. But it
is hard for Bush to convince even the prominent leaders of his own
party, let alone public opinion. For example, according to Republican
Senator Chuck Hagel, ‘The White House is completely detached from
reality. ‘” (Commentary by Ali H Aslan)

Ties with USA

Milliyet (centrist) “Washington’s distrust of the AKP [ruling Justice
and Development Party] have caused some comments claiming that the USA
might ‘push the button’ on the [Turkish] government and move towards
scenarios including a ‘political role’ for the Turkish Armed Forces. I
disagree… On the contrary, the Bush administration wants Turkey to
continue on its path towards EUý” (Commentary by Yasemin Congar)