NEWS SCAN for Turkey – Nov 18th, 2013

Down below you will find a summary of topics from major Turkish papers and internet sites

PM Erdoğan adresses public in Diyarbakır

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan delivered a speech to the Public in Diyarbakır. PM referred to many points to include followin; “I salute Molla Mustafa Barzani and our esteemed friends in the Northern Iraq Kurdistan Region. We are brothers, the members of the same land and the same civilization.  We shall be marching towards future in confidence.  We have terminated the policies of denial, rejection and assimilation. We are building a new country with the spirit of 23 April 1920. That is, we are building a new Turkey together with all ethic, religious and secterian elements. There will no longer be any segregation, discord, hatred and disassociation in this land.

As a result of the new formative process, young people are not dying any more. There are no more suffering and sorrow in the cities and the mountains. I ask all the people of Diyarbakır to support this formative process. Let there be no doubt, this process will flourish and it will be lasting. Do not forget that words are stronger than the guns and politics more effective than violence.

I am confident that the future will be much better. If Diyarbakır is peaceful, happy and prosperous, so will be Arbil and Kamishli, and Turkey as well. Within the framework of today’s ceremony, we have invested 740 million liras in Diyarbakır. When you include the projects in Bismil and Ergani, total investments for Diyarbakır will reach 880 million liras. I hope all our deeds would contribute to the unity and peace in Diyarbakır and in the whole region. I would like to repeat my belief that the future will be much better than today.

DUNYA.COM

‘Turkey urgently needs a sustainable development strategy’

The world is entering a new era with a different, green economic development model, according to the head of an environmental think tank. If Turkey is not to miss out on the new green revolution era, it urgently needs to formulate a sustainable development strategy, according to Professor Volkan Ediger from Kadir Has University

Turkey urgently needs to formulate a sustainable development strategy, according to Professor Volkan Ediger, the head of the Energy and Climate Foundation (ENİVA) think tank.

The first step in formulating this strategy is to have scientific research on the effects of climate change in Turkey, as the existing scientific data on the issue is very limited in Turkey, Ediger said.

Sustainability is the key concept in the new economic development model that the world is endorsing, yet this concept is misunderstood in Turkey, according to the ENİVA head, who is one of the authors of a recent report on climate change and sustainable development in Turkey published by Istanbul’s Kadir Has University.

HURRIYET DAILY NEWS

Efforts for new charter fail: Parliamentary Speaker Çiçek

The Turkish Parliament’s charter panel appears to be living on borrowed time amid rumors that its work could be soon terminated after failing to draft a new Constitution despite the passage of two years.

Parliamentary Speaker Cemil Çiçek will pen a letter to the leaders of Parliament’s parties, telling them that the Constitution Conciliation Commission has been unable to draft a new Constitution.

Ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) deputy Mehmet Ali Şahin announced Çiçek’s decision to reporters at the end of a meeting yesterday. “I am not hopeful with the point we have arrived at. I will write letters to all four political party leaders in which I will summarize the heretofore work of the commission in the form of a report,” Çiçek was quoted as saying at the meeting.

Çiçek said he would make his final decision concerning the fate of the commission according to the responses he receives while effectively threatening to postpone the panel’s work until he receives the answers.

HURRIYET DAILY NEWS

Turkish PM hints at general amnesty, calls for support to Kurdish peace process

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan called Nov. 17 on Turkey’s Kurdish citizens to embrace the government-led peace process, a day after hinting at a possible general amnesty.

“A new process, a new climate, a new spring atmosphere is being experienced not only in Turkey but also in the region,” Erdoğan said at a ceremony yesterday in the southeastern province of Diyarbakır’s Bismil district.

The prime minister’s call came one day after he hinted at a general amnesty during another speech in Diyarbakır. Speaking at a huge ceremony also attended by Masoud Barzani, the president of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) who was officially visiting Diyarbakır for the first time, Erdoğan stressed the difficulties in resolving the problem, but expressed his optimism.

“We will witness a new Turkey where those in the mountains come down, the prisons empty, and the 76 million [citizens of Turkey] become one,” Erdoğan said, in a veiled reference to a general amnesty demanded by many Kurdish groups, including the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP).

HURRIYET DAILY NEWS

Venice Commission warns government not to intervene in private lives

The Venice Commission has warned the government of Turkey that it should not backtrack on the achievements of the Sept. 12, 2010 referendum; it should consolidate them. Commenting on government attempts to amend the law on the Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecutors (HSYK), which was already amended in the highly contested Sept. 12 referendum almost three years ago, the Venice Commission said the draft law carries the risk of yet another politicization of the council.

Commenting on Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s remarks on possible state intervention in mixed gender student houses, the Venice Commission emphasized that this sort of interference was not compatible with a democratic system. The commission strongly underlined that privacy is “a very important basic human right” and added that it should be up to students, not the state to decide on living arrangements.

The Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government has been criticized by the EU as well for not implementing all the constitutional amendments approved in that historic referendum of Sept. 12, particularly those related to the military justice system. The European Commission strongly warned the government not to amend the HSYK in a way that would weaken its independence and impartiality in the latest annual progress report that was released on Oct.16.

TODAYS ZAMAN

Çiçek: Presidential system depends on 2015 election results

In an event held last week by the Zaman Australia daily and sponsored by Turkish Airlines (THY), Parliament Speaker Cemil Çiçek has stressed that a transition to the presidential system in Turkey depends on the results of the 2015 general elections, emphasizing that under the current circumstances, a presidential system as desired by the government is difficult to switch to.

The event brought together Australian journalists and Turkish government officials, intellectuals, experts and journalists from Turkey to discuss a range of issues, including Iran, the European Union, Armenian allegations of genocide, the Kurdish question and the Gezi Park protests.

Stressing that Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) want a US model presidential system and that this was one of the main issues blocking the constitutional drafting process, Çiçek said under the current circumstances, a presidential system desired by the government is difficult to switch to.

TODAYS ZAMAN

18.11.2013
compiled by Editor BTT,

We do not verify above stories neither do we vouch for their accuracy.