PM ERDOðAN REFUSES TV DEBATE WITH DENIZ BAYKAL

Today’s Zaman, Turkey
July 18 2007

Leader of the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) Prime Minister
Recep Tayyip Erdoðan turned down an invitation from Republican
People’s Party (CHP) chairman Deniz Baykal to appear on TV for a
debate, citing Baykal’s "indecent style" as the reason.

In an interview with NTV news station, aired Monday night, Erdoðan
rejected Baykal’s offer, instead calling on the CHP leader to reveal
his wife’s wealth. In response to questions on his son’s purchase of
a boat, Erdoðan said that the situation was being exaggerated. "There
are big ships and there are much smaller ones; there are new ones
and there are older ones," he said, noting that his son had indeed
bought a boat, but on credit and with payment in installments that
he would meet with his own salary.

Reiterating his stance against Baykal’s demand that the new president
be someone from outside Parliament, Erdoðan said: "I still deem it
disrespectful to think of a candidate from outside Parliament. I
definitely oppose the term ‘impartiality’. Doesn’t Baykal have
certain sides in his life? Is he able to act impartially in his
undertakings? He would then be able to gain people’s appreciation.

Nobody can be ever impartial about anything."

In response to another question on whether they had suffered any
problems with President Ahmet Necdet Sezer in that regard, Erdoðan
gave the appointments of several ambassadors as an example. "New
ambassadors will be appointed. The stance of the Foreign Ministry is
very well known; they returned it (the requests for approval of the
appointments) as is to the president. The president cannot seek the
condition of ‘suitability’. He seeks legal compatibility. He isn’t
providing the legal grounds for returning the appointments made by
the Foreign Ministry."

When he was asked about whether the president, the parliamentary
speaker and the prime minister being from the same party would cause
any problems in terms of democracy, he gave an example from Germany
and said: "Is there no democracy there? We should get used to this.

These three posts were held by the same parties in the past; does
it become an issue [only] when the AK Party is in power? If people
implicitly say in the elections that ‘you will occupy all three of
[the positions]’, will we respect the people or act in the direction
of the minority’s demands? Are those elected and those to be elected
from the AK Party not children of this nation?"

Prime Minister Erdoðan also drew a comparison between the AK Party’s
term in power and the terms of Baykal and Democrat Party )DP) leader
Mehmet Aðar, remarking: "During Baykal’s term as deputy prime minister,
1,158 Turkish soldiers were martyred. The number of our martyrs is
73 this year; it was 163 last year. Baykal pretends not to look to
his own term [in office]."

He was also asked whether pro-Kurdish independent deputies and
Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) deputies being under the same roof
would pose any dangers. "It will be a source of tension. It will
generate tension. Therefore, the importance of the votes to be cast
will be vital. The ground for conciliation will have been wiped at
the very inception. Our people have to seriously consider who they
will vote for. Let’s not miss this chance," he said.

As the final word, he said the AK Party would definitely realize the
"sorely needed" reforms in higher education if they won enough number
of seats.

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Purchasers of PETKÝM Kazakh Turks

Prime Minister Tayyip Erdoðan reacted to the speculations on the
privatization of PETKÝM. In response to questions on the issue, he
said, "[The man] who bought PETKÝM is a Kazakh Turk. He also bought a
certain amount of Þekerbank’s shares. But, due to PETKÝM’s operation
field, he made a Russian firm his partner. There are Armenians in
the managerial team of this Russian company. The Kazakh firm will
take over all the shares of PETKÝM in the event the sale takes place.

Oyakbank was sold. Whose is it? Didn’t they spread similar speculations
about the sale of Erdemir? Finally it was bought by Oyak, which in
turn sold it to a French firm. Now, how will they explain this?"

–Boundary_(ID_/laptg2xW6mjStgIz/KoCQ )–