PM ERDOGAN PLEASED WITH BAYKAL AGREEING TO MEET

Today’s Zaman
14 October 2009, Wednesday

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan thanked opposition Republican
People’s Party (CHP) leader Deniz Baykal for his affirmative response
to his request for a meeting. "This is a positive step. I will reply
after assessing the matter," Erdogan said yesterday at his ruling
Justice and Development Party’s (AK Party) group meeting.

"I will not evaluate the content of the letter now. We will do it
when we meet," Erdogan added.

In a six-page letter Baykal sent Erdogan on Monday he said he would
like to meet with the prime minister this week at CHP headquarters
at any time of the day if he is informed a day in advance. In the
letter Baykal stressed that the initiative process "separates rather
than unites" the country. "We should not find meetings behind closed
doors adequate while discussing society’s most important issue,"
Baykal also wrote to Erdogan.

"There should be respect for the people’s right to be informed about
this issue, which involves their future."

Baykal also added that he would like to have their meeting recorded
by a television crew but that the time and place of their meeting’s
broadcast should be decided upon together. Baykal attached three
reports prepared by the CHP on the Kurdish issue to his letter to
Erdogan. These three reports were "Approach to East and Southeast
Problems and Solution Proposals-1989," "Bill on Using Different
Languages than Turkish-1991" and "Parts of CHP Program on East and
Southeast Problems-2008."

Erdogan said yesterday that an open session would take place in
Parliament on the issue.

"We will have the opportunity to share the developments regarding the
initiative process with the parliamentarians and the nation. Every
step will be carried out with the implicit approval of the public. This
is not a secret process," he said.

On Oct. 8 Erdogan sent a letter to Baykal requesting a meeting with
the main opposition leader regarding the democratic initiative. Th
aders have not met once since late July, when the government announced
it was developing the democratic initiative.

‘We will show the Armenian team our best hospitality’

Also at his party’s group meeting yesterday, Prime Minister Erdogan
urged soccer fans to forget politics when Turkey and Armenia face
each other today in a World Cup qualifier, as the two neighbors aim
to restore diplomatic ties.

Armenian President Serzh Sarksyan has confirmed that he will attend
a World Cup qualifier in Turkey today, which takes place just
days after Ankara and Yerevan signed an accord to end a century of
hostility. Turkish President Abdullah Gul went to Yerevan last year
on the first leg of what has been called "soccer diplomacy" between
the two countries.

"The Armenian president and the Armenian national team will see what
Turkish hospitality is," Erdogan told the deputies of his ruling
Justice and Development Party (AK Party) ahead of the game in the
northwestern city of Bursa.

"I know our soccer fans in Bursa and in the rest of the country will
behave like respectable fans. I believe our country and the citizens
of Bursa will not bow their heads to politics and to the aims of those
who want to use the game to achieve something else," Erdogan said.

Meanwhile, authorities are implementing tight security measures to
avoid possible provocations during the game. According to sources,
people will not be allowed to buy tickets for the match; instead,
authorities will control ticket distribution.

The two countries share a history of hostility stemming from the World
War I mass killings of Armenians by Ottoman Turks. Armenia says it
was genocide, a term Turkey rejects.

Despite having signed accords on Saturday to establish diplomatic
relations and reopen their border, Turkey’s demands for progress on
the enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh, disputed by Armenia and Azerbaijan,
could see efforts to end a century of hostility between Turkey and
Armenia stalled for months to come.

Turkey shut its border with Armenia in 1993 in s against Armenian
separatists in Nagorno-Karabakh.

The governor of Bursa has said Azerbaijani flags will not be allowed
into the stadium for the match, but Turkish nationalists have made
some 10,000 of the flags and are distributing them in Bursa.