4 November 2003

1. "Belgian PM urges Turkey to take critical EU report positively", Turkey should not be upset over any criticism in an upcoming EU report on the country's progress towards democratisation, but take it as a "roadmap" to guide the Muslim nation towards membership of the pan-European bloc, Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt said Monday.

2. "State system to be overhauled", on the first anniversary of the Nov. 3, 2002 parliamentary elections that brought with them an overwhelming victory for the Justice and Development Party (AKP), the said party unveiled Monday a radical administrative reform package, curtailing the powers of the central administration and empowering the local administrations.

3. "Headscarf of faith and mantle of reform", Turkey’s Islamist Prime Minister blurs stereotypes with his liberal policies.

4. "Turkish parliament set to debate high-profile corruption report", Turkish legislators are to debate a high-profile report on corruption on Tuesday which calls for parliamentary probes into 25 former ministers, including former prime ministers Bulent Ecevit and Mesut
Yilmaz.

5. "Cyprus reunion only solution", Britain and Cyprus say a United Nations plan to reunite the divided Mediterranean island is the only realistic basis for a settlement, despite the rejection of the blueprint by the Turkish Cypriot leader.

6. "Turkish inflation up 1.4 pct in October, 20.8 pct on year", Turkish consumer prices rose by 1.4 percent in October from the previous month, putting the inflation rate at 20.8 percent over the past 12 months, the state statistics institute said Monday.

1. - AFP - "Belgian PM urges Turkey to take critical EU report positively":

ANKARA / 3 November 2003

Turkey should not be upset over any criticism in an upcoming EU report on the country's progress towards democratisation, but take it as a "roadmap" to guide the Muslim nation towards membership of the pan-European bloc, Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt said Monday.

The annual report by the European Commission, which was leaked last week and is set to be published on Wednesday, welcomes Turkey's efforts to meet European norms, but underlines several failings, including the army's continued political clout.

The commission's report sparked anger in Ankara, but Verhofstadt told a press conference here that Ankara should not see the critcism or advice included in the report in a bad light.

"In my opinion, Turkey should take the views and opinions in the commision's report as a challenge and a roadmap it should follow in the coming 12 months," he said after talks with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

EU leaders are set to decide in December 2004 whether to open accession talks with Ankara.

Turkey has adopted several refoms in a bid to boost its chances of joining the bloc, but the EU has said reforms need to be fully implemented for Turkey to become a member.

The Belgian leader also called for increased efforts to try and resolve the 29-year division of Cyprus before the island becomes an EU member.

"The resolution of the Cyprus issue is not a pre-condition for Turkey, but it is obvious that a resolution would facilitate the process," Verhofstadt said.

The island has been divided between its Turkish and Greek communities since 1974 when Turkey seized its northern part in response to a Greek Cypriot coup in Nicosia aimed at uniting Cyprus with Greece.

Cyprus is set to join the EU in May 2004, but the bloc says it will admit only the internationally-recognized Greek Cypriot part in the south if the island is not reunified in time.

Such a prospect may fuel tensions between Brussels and Ankara, which keeps some 30,000 troops in the Turkish Cypriot north, and impede Turkey's own EU bid.

Erdogan, for his part, underlined Ankara's desire to see a "just and lasting" solution in Cyprus, but noted that such a deal could not be reached if the breakaway Turkish state in northern Cyprus were to accept all the demands of the island's south.

"We are sensitive on this issue and we expect our friends to take this into account," he said.

Erdogan argued that Turkey had carried out all the reforms required for beginning accession talks and was determined to implement them fully.

"It is a priority targert for Turkey to obtain a date for accession talks in December 2004," he added.

2. - Turkish Daily News - "State system to be overhauled":

* On the first anniversary of the Nov. 3 polls that brought it to government in a landslide victory, the ruling AKP unveils a radical administrative reform package

* While the number of state ministries will be reduced to 8 from 20, there will be a maximum three deputy prime ministers. Undersecretaries will become 'vice ministers' coming and going with the government.

* The draft calls for the transfer of most of the powers of Ankara to local administrations. Excluding the Justice, Defense, Finance and Labor ministries, the country organizations of all ministries will be handed over to local administrations

* Excluding the Foreign Ministry and the TIKA, no ministry or public establishment will have representatives abroad. For overseas services, ministries and establishments will temporarily transfer their personnel to the Foreign Ministry

ANKARA / 4 November 2003

On the first anniversary of the Nov. 3, 2002 parliamentary elections that brought with them an overwhelming victory for the Justice and Development Party (AKP), the said party unveiled Monday a radical administrative reform package, curtailing the powers of the central administration and empowering the local administrations.

Unveiling the administrative reform package, an issue on the agenda of Ankara since the late 1980s but with no action so far, Deputy Prime Minister Mehmet Ali Sahin said the number of state ministries, which could be as high as 20 according to current law, will be reduced to eight, while there would be a maximum three deputy prime ministers and claimed that when implemented the reform would help Turkey save TL 500 trillion a year in state expenses.

Meeting the press with Prime Ministry Undersecretary Omer Dincer, considered the architect of the package, Sahin said with the reform bureaucrats would be placed under "performance supervision" and the era of "irresponsible bureaucracy" would be terminated.

The draft, "Public Administration Basic Law", introduces a revolutionary concept in the country by curtailing seriously the powers of the central government and empowering the local administrations. It calls for the transfer of most of the powers of Ankara to local administrations and underlines that excluding the Justice, Defense, Finance and Labor ministries, the country organizations of all the ministries will be handed over to local administrations together with their staff, budget, debts, movable and unmovable assets.

Excluding the Foreign Ministry and the Turkish Cooperation and Development Agency (TIKA) no ministry or public establishment will be able to have representatives abroad and for services to be provided abroad, ministries and state concerns will temporarily transfer their personnel to the Foreign Ministry. The draft also stipulates that for such services the Foreign Ministry will not be able to make appointments from its own staff.

Sahin said the aim of the transfer of powers was to transfer duty, power and responsibility to the closest administrative body where those services could be offered to the public.

He said public bodies and affiliated establishments will not be able to produce services, employ personel and have moveable or unmoveable assets incompatible with their duties.

The draft stresses that the central government's duty and responsibility will be to decide general principles, policies, aims, targets and standards of public service at a national basis also to safeguard adherence with these effectively and in a manner in conformity with laws, established policies and standards, ensure productivity of services offered and coordinate between local governments. It also states that establishing mechanisms of coordination between professional organizations, non-governmental organizations, the private sector and the public concerns are also among the duties of the central administration.

The draft states that in cities governors will be responsible for those duties previously handled by the government on a national basis.

It underlines that the financial means of the local administrations will be supported with funds and budget allocations in conformity with the added responsibilities and duties.

In defining the duties and responsibilities of the central government organs and public concerns, the draft stipulated that for similar or same state functions and duties only one body would be assigned and effective and speedy functioning of the state bodies would be safeguarded.

The draft also calls for the abrogation of the Prime Ministry High Board of Supervision and transfers the board, its duty, staff, assets and budget allocation to the Court of Accounts and thus empowers the Court of Accounts as the highest supervisory body for auditing state expenditures.

According to the draft, undersecretaries of ministries will become 'vice ministers' and they will come on duty with the governments and when a government goes, they will be automatically considered "resigned" and irrespective of whether there were vacant positions, will be automatically appointed as "advisors" to the same ministry.

The Foreign Ministry, National Security Council (MGK) General Secretariat and the National Intelligence Organization (MIT) and affiliated bodies will be exempt from the general rules and procedures on state hierarchy and posts.

According to the draft, besides the undersecretaries of the ministries, the general directors or chairman of affiliated general directorates or institutions will come and go from office with a government. These bureacrats, will automatically be appointed as "advisors" irrespective of whether there is vacancy when a government goes.

The draft states that the law establishing defense secretariats and the law on the establishment of the Prime Ministry High Supervisory Board will be abrogated by the new law. The Rural Affairs General Directorate will also be dissolved.

3. - The Times - "Headscarf of faith and mantle of reform":

Turkey’s Islamist Prime Minister blurs stereotypes with his liberal policies.

LONDON / 4 November 2003 / by Suna Erdem

WHEN Tayyip Erdogan, the Turkish Prime Minister, paid his respects last week to Kemal Ataturk, the strongly secular founder of modern Turkey, the former Islamist firebrand represented both Ataturk’s legacy and a religious devotion that he hated.

Erdogan, visiting Ataturk’s mausoleum in Ankara to mark the 80th anniversary of the republic last Wednesday, is almost one year into what many feel to be the most reformist, pro-Western government that Turkey has had since it came into existence.

Yet, Erdogan’s conservative religious credentials were also on display. He broke a traditional Ramadan fast with a poor family in Ankara and was applauded for his call on businessmen to shun expensive Ramadan iftar feasts and to help the poor instead.

He then confined himself to soft drinks at a reception hosted by President Sezer, one from which Erdogan’s wife was controversially excluded because she wears the Islamic headscarf, abhorred by staunch secularists and, indeed, by Ataturk himself.

It is probably no surprise to Erdogan’s detractors that under his tenure the Turkish republic is celebrating a birthday dominated by the divisive headscarf issue. Several MPs from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK) boycotted the reception because Sezer invited them without their wives. Social Democrat opposition MPs attended with their spouses, by invitation.

Sezer has thrown down the gauntlet to the AK, saying that people must be partisan if it means safeguarding the values of the republic. Erdogan has not picked up the gauntlet. He simply told his Cabinet to attend, left his MPs free to do as they wished and declared the argument closed, a move that made the secularists, rather than the devout, look like the panicked ideologues.

After the government’s year in office, many Turkish and foreign commentators accept that its actions – pushing through key European Union harmonisation reforms, keeping the shaky economy in check and reducing the role of the powerful military – have begun to weigh more heavily than its historic legacy as Turkey’s political Islamic movement, which was abandoned two years ago.

“In Europe, they see this as the most liberal government in 80 years,” said Taha Akyol, a respected broadcaster and columnist. “AK has taken many decisive steps ... It has moved away from Islamism and become a centre-right party.”

Since Erdogan’s fledgling party came to power last November in a landslide election, he has been cannily quoting Ataturk at every turn, particularly his aim for Turkey to reach a state of “modern civilisation”.

Through a series of difficult legal reforms that ushered in greater human rights and reduced the role of the powerful military in politics, he has taken his country closer than ever to the national dream of joining the EU – an aim that even the status quo-loving military admits that Ataturk would have set for himself.
One reason why AK has been so keen on reform, EU related or otherwise, is that it was voted in by the religious and non-religious masses who have had enough of corrupt, authoritarian rule by squabbling coalitions and the bureaucratic establishment.

Erdogan has first-hand knowledge about restrictions on the freedom of expression, having been imprisoned for reading out a poem with Islamist-military undertones.

The need to be seen weeding out corruption has also served him well, as it provided an opportunity to pursue the business empire of the controversial Uzan family whose son, Cem, is a political opponent.

Despite deep suspicions among the secularist elite, AK and its supporters are slowly becoming entrenched, leading to subtle social changes, such as the rise of an “Islamist bourgeoisie” and shifts in attitude that include a more open debate on the military’s role.

AK rule has been far from perfect. By recently trying to include Koranic schools in the mainstream of education, it has raised secularist hackles, even in quarters that it had won over.

Implementing reforms has been difficult, as judges stick to defunct laws and old-school bureaucrats create obstacles. The start of one course in the once-banned Kurdish language was delayed because the door to the classroom was deemed to be too short.

The slow pace of change is likely to be criticised in a European Commission report to be published any day now. There are also big foreign policy problems. Relations with the USA, a Nato ally, were badly strained after the Parliament refused to let US troops use its soil in the Iraq war.

Perhaps the biggest stumbling block, though, is Cyprus. AK has so far failed to soften the hard line of the Turkish Cypriot leadership and the Turkish military towards any compromise with the internationally recognised Greek Cypriots. If the issue is unresolved by the time that Cyprus – in effect, the southern, Greek part – joins the EU next year, it will be a barrier to Turkey’s own accession hopes.

4. - AFP - "Turkish parliament set to debate high-profile corruption report":

ANKARA / 3 November 2003

Turkish legislators are to debate a high-profile report on corruption on Tuesday which calls for parliamentary probes into 25 former ministers, including former prime ministers Bulent Ecevit and Mesut Yilmaz.

The report, penned by both government and opposition lawmakers after a preliminary inquiry, asks parliament to further look into claims of fraud in state tenders, sell-offs, banking reforms and energy projects over the past decade that have allegedly cost the country billions of dollars.

The parliamentarians will not vote on the report, but are expected to submit motions calling for commissions to be set up to push forward the investigation into the allegations, a lengthy process that may ultimately lead to a trial for the accused.

Sources from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) said they would submit such requests, but only for some of the cases mentioned in the report. "We are considering asking for probes into seven or eight (former) ministers. We have concentrated on cases related to privatization," a senior AKP official said.

He said former prime minister Mesut Yilmaz was among the ministers the AKP would target, but not Bulent Ecevit.

If commissions are set up and provide enough evidence, parliament could vote for the accused to be tried before a special tribunal.

The investigations are a showcase for the AKP, a conservative movement with Islamist roots which came to power last year pledging to stamp out corruption. But following the release of the report in July the party came under fire, as many saw the mass charges as an attempt at political revenge-taking.

The report was mostly criticized for implicating Ecevit -- who for decades has been the symbol of probity in Turkish politics -- while ignoring allegations against Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan during his term as Istanbul mayor in the mid-1990s.

Ecevit, who was Turkey's prime minister until November last year, was allegedly partly responsible for financial losses to the state resulting from the sell-off of a state petroleum company and from the postponement of the payments by those who had won privatisation tenders.

Yilmaz, three-time prime minister in the 1990s, is accused of corruption in the sell-off of a state bank which involved a dubious businessman and an alleged Mafia leader. One of his closest aides, former energy minister Cumhur Ersumer, who was forced to resign over fraud accusations in 2001, is another high-profile figure among those accused because of his role in signing several major energy deals, including one involving the building of a controversial gas pipeline with Russia.

According to media reports, Turkey's energy demands did not require such costly investments, but the government -- apparently eager to distribute favors to cronies -- went ahead with it anyway. The charges against other ministers include abuse of office, bullying bidders to stay out of state tenders and ignoring or neglecting orders from superiors in state tenders and banking reforms.

5. - Stuff ( New Zealand)- "Cyprus reunion only solution":

LONDON / 04 November 2003

Britain and Cyprus say a United Nations plan to reunite the divided Mediterranean island is the only realistic basis for a settlement, despite the rejection of the blueprint by the Turkish Cypriot leader.

The United States and the European Union want to break the deadlock on Cyprus before the internationally recognised Greek Cypriot side of the island joins the EU in May 2004.

But Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash last week described the UN-backed peace plan as "dead".

"The United Kingdom believes that the only realistic basis for a comprehensive settlement is the United Nations Secretary General's settlement plan," Foreign Secretary Jack Straw told reporters on Monday after talks with Cypriot Foreign Minister George Iakovou in London.

"We are encouraged that the government of Cyprus supports a resumption of negotiations on this basis," he added.

The island has been split along ethnic Greek and Turkish lines since Turkish troops invaded the north in 1974 following a Greek Cypriot coup backed by Athens. Only Ankara recognises Denktash's state and keeps some 30,000 troops on the island.

Denktash has signalled that fresh peace talks were unlikely before a general election in his breakaway northern state in December, widely seen as a referendum on his role as spokesman for Turkish Cypriots.

Iakovou said a new Turkish Cypriot leader was "a necessary but not sufficient condition for improvements in the negotiating process", adding Cyprus also wanted to see a change of attitude towards negotiations in Ankara.

He urged countries to put more pressure on Turkey to help mediate negotiations. Turkey itself is waiting for a date from the EU to start its own accession talks.

"Those who have influence on Turkey must exercise it in order to come to the negotiations and negotiate on the basis of the (UN Secretary General Kofi) Annan plan to find the solution," Iakovou said.

Iakovou said his government was concerned Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan appeared to be seeking to take negotiations outside the UN arena, adding: "We shall definitely resist that."

Iakovou said it would be a "great calamity" for Cyprus if a solution were not found by May 1, 2004.

6. - AFP - "Turkish inflation up 1.4 pct in October, 20.8 pct on year":

ANKARA / November 2003

Turkish consumer prices rose by 1.4 percent in October from the previous month, putting the inflation rate at 20.8 percent over the past 12 months, the state statistics institute said Monday.

Wholesale prices increased by 0.6 percent in October compared to September -- up 16.1-percent over the past 12 months. The figures confirmed that Ankara is well on track to achieve its year-end inflation target of 20 percent.

Turkey has been battling its worst recession in decades since 2001 under a 16-billion-dollar stand-by deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), in which decreasing the country's chronic inflation is a key objective.

Last year, Turkey beat its inflation projection of 35 percent, bringing consumer prices down to 29.7 percent from 68.5 percent in 2001.