Turkish press 25 Mar 05
BBC Monitoring Service – United Kingdom;
Mar 25, 2005
The following is a selection of quotes from editorials and commentaries
published in 25 March editions of Turkish newspapers available to
BBC Monitoring
Kyrgyzstan
Zaman [moderate, pro-Islamic] “The civil revolutions taking place
against leaders who do not give up power through elections in
countries with a Soviet infrastructure are nearly identical to each
other… Activities start immediately after the elections [in all of
them]… The possibility of the spread of these velvet revolutions
to Central Asian states, Moldova, Belarus, Armenia and even Russia
is increasingly strengthened. Elections, which are the source of the
revolutions, should be closely watched.” (Commentary by Erhan Basyurt)
Yeni Safak [liberal, pro-Islamic] “…[Kyrgyzstan] is the only
country to have Russian and American military bases simultaneously…
The Russian-American alliance might want to enjoy a democratic (!)
victory. But I do not believe that they would risk chaos in such
a strategic country on the Chinese frontier – especially when the
dispersed and indecisive behaviour of the [Kyrgyz] opposition is so
obvious.” (Commentary by Akif Emre)
Milliyet [centrist, second largest circulation] “Will the people’s
movement that started in Georgia and Ukraine end in Kyrgyzstan? Will
not this process affect the other Central Asian regimes, especially
Uzbekistan which is in a critical position?” (Commentary by Taha Akyol)
“Although Kyrgyzstan’s political, ethnic, geographic and economic
structure is different from Georgia or Ukraine which underwent
political revolutions, we hope that the ‘soft transition’ to a better
future in Bishkek will be similar to those in Tbilisi and Kiev.”
(Commentary by Sami Kohen)
Kurdish parties
Hurriyet [centre-right, largest circulation] “`We are Turkey’s
party’. First HADEP, then DEHAP [Kurdish political parties in Turkey]
underlined this point. They tried to move away from the image that
they were only parties for Kurds, as they knew that they could
not continue as a racist political movement… and they focused on
supporting Turkish intellectuals. But they could not achieve this.
This is because they could not escape from the legacy of the PKK
[Kurdish organization].” (Commentary by Ferai Tinc)
EU/Ocalan
Tercuman [conservative] “We know that there are some in the EU who see
[former leader of the PKK, Abdullah] Ocalan as a `political figure’
and want a political amnesty for him. But this has never been the EU’s
official view. The reality is that the EU cannot make such a demand
without risking the breaking off of all ties with Turkey… Actually,
if Europe takes such a decision, this will be an indication of its
decision not to take us into the Union.” (Commentary by Gulay Gokturk)
US “pressure”
Radikal [centre-left] “What is the reason for this pressure on Turkey
regarding two of its neighbours [Syria and Iran]? Isn’t Turkey giving
advice, just like all the West is, to Iran on `nuclear issues’, and
Syria on `the withdrawal from Lebanon’? Or does the US want to exert
pressure on [Turkish] political elites on other and sensitive issues,
using Turkey’s relations with its two neighbours as an excuse?”
(Commentary by M. Ali Kislali)
Cyprus
Yeni Safak [liberal, pro-Islamic] “Rauf Denktas [president of the
self-declared Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus] is probably one
of the most experienced Turkish politicians. Certainly he is the
most experienced figure when it comes to foreign policy. While this
has been a great advantage for Turkey and Cyprus for a long time,
recently it has started to have an adverse effect. His intelligence
and experience were insufficient when it came to this great politician
keeping up with change.” (Commentary by Mustafa Karaalioglu)