The Council of State Prevents Parts of a Recently Adopted

8/14/2019 The Council of State Prevents Parts of a Recently Adopted

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AMBASSADOR ZMCTO OVERSEE CHEMICALWEAPONS BANAmbassador Ahmet zmc, thenewly appointed director-generalof the Organization for theProhibition of Chemical Weapons,

said on Thursday that he is proudof his new position and will workto promote the organization.

TURKEY NEEDS 277 NEW

PLANES BY 2028 TO KEEPUP WITH AIR TRAFFICTurkey's domestic flighttraffic has increased threefoldsince 2003, and the country willneed 277 more planes by 2028 tomeet the skyrocketing demandfor domestic flights, Airbusrepresentatives have revealed.

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Despite an official US request for the contribution offurther troops and more flexibility on the Afghanistan

mission, Turkey has signaled it is not willing to change itsmission's parameters currently set out in this war-torncountry. We have not changed nor reduced the numberof caveats we had drawn up for our troop's mission inAfghanistan, said Defense Minister Vecdi Gnl whenasked by Today's Zaman how he responds to Wednesday's

remarks by James Jeffrey, the US ambassador in Ankara,that the US wants more Turkish troops in Afghanistan.The remarks came shortly after US President BarackObama's announcement to boost US forces by 30,000.Turkish troops in Afghanistan will continue not toengage in clashes in Afghanistan, he stressed, addingthat the rules of engagement regarding involvementin conflicts and military operations still stand.

The top defense official also acknowledged that thelevel of Turkish troops in Afghanistan has increased from

750 to around 1,800 in response to the task of taking overfrom France for a year the leadership of the KabulRegional Command for the NATO-led InternationalSecurity Assistance Force (ISAF) on Oct. 31. He clarifiedthat all Turkish forces in Afghanistan are combat troopsin the sense that they are ready to fight but emphasizedthey are under strict orders not to get involved in fightingor clashes. Turkish forces have not suffered any casu-alties in Afghanistan so far and have established cor-dial relations with the local population.CONTINUED ON PAGE 04

UNEMPLOYMENT ISBIGGEST PROBLEM

OF DISABLED

Approximately 8.5 million disabled citizens in Turkey -- about 12 percent of the overall population -- face various difficul-ties, the biggest problem being unemployment. Mahmut Kaar, general secretary of the Civil Servants' Trade Union(Memur-Sen) and chairperson of the Turkish Health Union (Salk-Sen), said statistics show that labor participation of thedisabled remains at 22 percent compared to a general labor participation rate of 50 percent in the country. The right towork, which is the best indicator of social participation and which is a basic human right, remains a problem for disabledcitizens, he stated yesterday on the occasion of the International Day of Persons with Disabilities.CONTINUED ON PAGE 06

Turkey balks at providing Afghan combat troops

The pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party(DTP) has retracted its support for the govern-

ment's efforts to settle the long-standing Kurdishquestion through a massive democratization pack-age, claiming that the efforts were aimed at elimi-nating the party and mral, referring to the jailedleader of the terrorist Kurdistan Workers' Party(PKK), Abdullah calan. Deputy Chairman of theDemocratic Society Party (DTP) SelahattinDemirta announced during a program broadcastlive on NTV on Thursday that the DTP would notlend its support to the Kurdish initiative underexisting conditions. The Justice and DevelopmentParty's [AK Party] plan is aimed at eliminatingmral and the DTP. There is no plan at hand for theDTP to support, Demirta remarked. CONTINUEDON PAGE17

Four members of the military were detained onThursday for plotting to assassinate admirals at

the Naval Forces Command. Lieutenants Ali SeyhurDili, Burak Ana and Fatih Gkta and noncom-missioned officer Burak zkan were taken to thestanbul Beikta Courthouse early in the morning.They were questioned there by prosecutor SleymanPehlivan about the alleged plot. Three of the soldierswere released after their interrogation, while one ofthem was transferred to an stanbul court for arrest.

In July seven naval lieutenants were arrestedon charges of plotting to assassinate two admirals,Metin Ata and Eref Uur Yiit. CONTINUED ON PAGE 17

The surge in Turkish multinational companies'foreign direct investment that started in the

1990s has been impeded by the global economicdownturn, with a 62 percent drop in Turkish out-flows in the first nine months of 2009 compared tothe first nine months of 2008, a recent report has

shown. The first-ever survey of Turkish multina-tional enterprises investing outside Turkey, whichcovers 2007 data as the most recent and accuratefigures, was released yesterday. The survey wasjointly conducted by Kadir Has University, the

Foreign Economic Relations Board (DEK), and theVale Columbia Center on Sustainable InternationalInvestment (VCC) at Columbia University in NewYork within the framework of the Emerging

Market Global Players Project, an internationalcollaborative effort led by the VCC. CONTINUEDONPAGE07

PRO-KURDISH DTPNO LONGER SUPPORTSDEMOCRATIC INITIATIVE

FOUR SOLDIERS TESTIFYTO CIVILIAN PROSECUTOR

OVER ASSASSINATION PLOT

TURKISH MULTINATIONALS'INVESTMENT ABROADSLOWS DUE TO CRISIS

Davutolu warns of globalclash after mnaret banA weekend referendum in Switzerland to banthe construction of minarets is reminiscent ofEurope's religious intolerance and sectarian

wars of the Middle Ages, Foreign Minister AhmetDavutolu has said, warning that it could spark clasheson a global scale if sufficient measures are not taken.

The issue is too serious to be dealt with by merestatements, Davutolu told reporters on his way from

Athens, where he attended an Organization forSecurity and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) meeting,to Brussels late on Wednesday. I am very concerned.We must take this issue very seriously. It is not some-thing to be underestimated as an individual case.

Swiss voters adopted the ban in a referendum onSunday, defying the government and parliament,which had rejected the right-wing initiative as violat-ing the Swiss constitution, freedom of religion and acherished tradition of tolerance. The result of the vote

drew protests from Turkey, which said it had violatedthe freedom of religion. Davutolu, who discussedthe matter with his Swiss counterpart, MichelineCalmy-Rey, this week in Athens, said the fact thatsuch a result came from one of Europe's best edu-cated and elite societies is a signal that the resultcannot be underestimated. This is a symptom and itshould be taken very seriously, he said, calling theban on minarets a threat to European culture as well.

The Swiss referendum result, criticized by the UN

and the Council of Europe, proved to be a divisiveissue across Europe. A majority seemed to criticizethe result, while far-right parties as well as Frenchleader Nicolas Sarkozy have spoken in favor. InItaly, junior coalition partner the Northern Leaguecalled for legislative changes to allow referenda inmore areas than currently allowed. Who can sayfor sure that mosques in Europe are safe now?Fifteen years ago, hundreds of mosques were burneddown in Bosnia, Davutolu said. CONTINUEDONPAGE 04

SELUK GLTALI, BRUSSELS

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KADR KKTEN, STANBUL

SERKAN AHN, STANBUL

ABDULLAH BOZKURT / ERCAN YAVUZ, ANKARA

MAN WITH NORMAL HEARING DEAF COMMUNITY LEADER FOR 3 YEARS PAGE 06

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The Council of State prevents partsof a recently adopted GMO regulati-on from fully entering into effect

Losses incurred by pharmacies asa result of price changes to be com-pensated by medicine companies

Y o u r Wa y o f U n d e r s t a n d n g T u r k e yFRIDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2009 WWW.TODAYSZAMAN.COM TL 1.50

page08Fitch upgrades Turkey's rating two notches to BB+'

Yellow Canariesearn revenge andwin Group H

PRISON ROW

CASE

ENTERPRISES

COURT TO START DTP CLOSURE CASE HEARINGS PAGE 17

Wheelchair-bound people joined a demonstration held in Bursa yesterday on the occasion of the International Day of Persons with Disabilities.


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F O O D F O R T H O U G H T

I declare here that with the grace of God, theIranian nation will produce 20 percent fueland anything it needs itself.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon

Q U O T E O F T H E D AY

Expansions of [Israeli] settlements arecontrary to international law and theprovisions of the roadmap.

WORDS OF WISDOM

To die and part is a lessevil; but to part and live,there, there is the torment.

George Lansdowne

columns

The punishmentfor lyingRADKALAKF BEK

Is an attempted coup a worse crime that telling lies

to the people of the nation? I dont think so. Threeformer military commanders are to give testimonyduring the coup investigation. I am speaking of re-tired commanders Ayta Yalman, zden rnekand brahim Frtna, who were in the top ranks ofthe military in 2004. I would like to offer them a fri-endly reminder. Attempted coups and the super- vision of junta-like activities within the ranks ofthe military constitute serious crimes of a constitu-tional nature. But lying to a prosecutor or a judge,trying to mislead the court and lying to the publicare much worse crimes. Even little white lies abo-ut someones age or health, if they affect the out-come of a trial, are villainous. Do I really need toexplain more here? Trying to block the path of jus-tice is much worse than attempting a coup, takingpart in coup plans personally, or the least of tho-se crimes, just sitting back and watching it all hap-pen. Dont forget that simply remaining silent isenough to make you a tacit accomplice to a crime.What this trial is giving us is a test in the face of lies.

Civilized and peace-

loving Switzerland!STARMUSTAFA ERDOAN

Swiss approval of a national refe-rendum banning the building ofnew minarets on mosques in the-ir country was greeted with surpri-se not only in Turkey and the Isla-mic world, but in different spots ac-

ross the globe. It is really a striking to consider thataround 60 percent of the Swiss population, a nationof people known historically as being civilized andpeace-loving and whose new (1999) constitutionspreamble lists freedom and democracy as their ba-sic ideals, would show such intolerance to Muslimscomposing only around 6 percent of the nationalpopulation. When examining the Swiss constituti-on, which guarantees freedom of religious belief andconscience (Article 15) and forbids all kinds of discri-mination including that based on religion, (Article 8),and which even charges its various states and can-tons with taking precautions to preserve the peace, itis clear that the writers terming this latest referenduma step backwards for the Swiss are not incorrect.

press roundup

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Chinese people visiting the town of Safranbolu inthe northwestern province of Karabk were happy toexperience a traditional Turkish henna night that hadbeen organized for them on Wednesday evening.

yeni afak: We are all Muslims, the daily said inthe headline of its main story yesterday, quoting a banner carri-ed by protestors in Switzerland who demonstrated against a mi-naret ban imposed on the country after a referendum on Sunday.Carrying minaret mock-ups in their hands, around 5,000 protes-tors walked from a cathedral to a mosque in Geneva. ErikaForster-Vannini, a member of the Swiss Council of States, pro-mised the protestors that the minaret ban would be abolished.

akam:Leave the CHP, was the headline of the dailyslead story yesterday, quoting remarks from the RepublicanPeoples Party (CHP) stanbul provincial branch head, Grsel Te-kin, who lashed out at CHP members siding with Mustafa Sar-gl, the mayor of stanbuls ili district. Recently, after challen-ging CHP leader Deniz Baykal for the chairmanship, Sargl es-

tablished his own party. Tekin said it was not an honorable acti-on for some CHP members to side with Sargl and support hisparty when they are still members of the CHP. He called on themto resign from the CHP immediately, reported the daily.

milliyet: In its main story yesterday, the daily repor-ted that Turkey said no to the US administration, which haddemanded additional troops from Turkey for deployment inconflict zones in Afghanistan. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Er-doan, who will meet with US President Barack Obama at theWhite House on Dec. 7, is expected to tell Obama that Turkeycannot allow the deployment of its soldiers in conflict zones.Erdoan is expected to tell Obama that using Turkish soldiersagainst Muslims will cause damage instead of benefits and thatTurkey cannot accept such a thing.

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Should the pens

be silenced?YEN AFAK FEHM KORU

Prime Minister Tayyip Erdoan is byno means the first Turkish politicianto complain about the media, nor willhe be the last. Even in countries whe-re democracy runs smoothly, politici-ans focus on the media, if for no other

reason than that the media has the power to distractpeople. Still, you can be sure that even if the colum-nists who Erdoan criticized as writing too much andtoo quickly wrote their columns only once a weekand spent a good half day on those columns, the tab-leau that would emerge would still not please Erdo-an. There is actually a conflict of interests betweenpoliticians and journalists, and for this reason the ac-tors can easily switch sides on each other. I only wishthat politicians could be a bit more tolerant, and I wishthat Prime Minister Erdoan could show a bit more

patience about the criticism aimed in his direction.

A promsng moveAs prosecutors conducting an investigation into Ergenekon,a clandestine network charged with plotting to overthrowthe government, will question three generals who are men-tioned in a journal as detailing plans to stage a coup dtat,everyone is becoming more optimistic about the improve-ment in democracy in Turkey, where those responsible forcoups have so far escaped punishment. The generals, for-mer Land Forces Commander Gen. Ayta Yalman, for-mer Air Forces Commander Gen. brahim Frtna and for-mer Naval Forces Commander Adm. zden rnek, all ofwhom retired in 2004, are expected to testify to Ergenekonprosecutors on Saturday on coup plans nicknamed Moon-light, Blonde Girl and Glove mentioned in a journal,allegedly kept by rnek, detailing plans against the Justiceand Development Party (AK Party). Analysts who find themove a promising one -- because it is a new thing in Tur-key to ask coup conspirers to account for their actions -- hailthe fact that Turkey is ridding itself of the coup mentality.

Calling the fact that the generals will testify to pro-secutors an exciting development, Milliyets Hasan Ce-mal says if Turkey wants to be a country that is democra-tic and governed by the rule of law, and if the military isto operate within the boundaries of the law, it is inevitab-le that those who plan coups be brought before justice.Questioning the motivation behind the military mem-bers making the plans, Cemal refers to famous historianCemil Koak, who explained: There lies a belief behindthe motivation to stage a coup that suggests only militarypersonnel can save, defend and administer this country.Nobody can achieve this other than members of the mi-litary. Those who are opposed to the military are traitors.This mentality is still evident in the military today.

Having heard that Adm. rnek will deny being theowner of the coup diaries in his testimony, Sabahs Naz-

l Ilcak says that many of the things written in rneksdiary have already been confirmed by then-Chief of Ge-neral Staff Gen. Hilmi zkk. In addition to this, shesays four experts commissioned by the Ergenekon pro-secutors revealed that the diary was authentic and be-longed to rnek. Turkey has changed. The Nokta ma-gazine was forced to close due to financial problems af-ter it published rneks coup diaries on March 29, 2007.Many of our colleagues back then claimed that the diari-es were a fabrication. Much water has passed under thebridge since then, and those waters are now slowly clea-ning the coup mentality in Turkey, says Ilcak.

According to Vatans Okay Gnensin, the recent ap-pearance before the judiciary of military personnel en-gaged in coup plans is the turning point for real democ-racy and Turkeys rise in civilized society. In order for thecompletion of the judicial process regarding the case ofcoup generals and the end of military interventions, it isnecessary to bring the perpetrators of the Sept. 12, 1980military coup before the court. The military administra-tion of Sept. 12 has to give an account of the damage itdid to the country, and the torture of thousands of peop-

le during that time, suggests Gnensin.

CROSS READER

FATMA DL [email protected]


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What s (not)freedom of the press?HYDERABAD The Hrriyet newspaperschief columnist, Oktay Eki, who is adept increating appellations for people whose ideashe does not like, described a group of jour-nalists, including me, as virtue ghters inhis column yesterday. It has become clearthat Eki, who previously called editors-

in-chief whose ideas he did not agree withmedia imams, has thoroughly crammedhis mind -- one already rife with aging ideas-- with distorted religious terminology.

We know well what virtue means toEki and his kind, who are unyielding de-fenders of every antidemocratic militaryintervention and who serve as voluntarypropagandists of every psychological war-fare operation waged against society forthe continuation of a military guardianshipover democracy. As you may immediatelyrecall, he had the virtue of running edito-rials titled Let us know about the scoun-drels, which heartlessly targeted his ownfellow journalists after a media memoran-dum prepared by the junta of the postmod-ern Feb. 28, 1997 coup. But if you think thatEkis virtuous, antidemocratic reexeswere recently acquired, you are wrong. Hisare obviously innate. Indeed, a brief exami-nation of his past performance is sufcientto show that he invariably and steadily

sides with and lends support to antidemo-cratic interventions with a view to protect-ing the interests of a small elite group, themilitary guardianship over democracy andthe oligarchic bureaucratic establishment.

For instance, he was among the enthu-siastic supporters of the military coup of May27, 1960, which overthrew the elected gov-ernment and executed the legitimate primeminister of the time. He readily reaped therewards of his unconditional support forthe coup generals when they appointedEki a member of the Constituent Assem-bly, established after the coup. Becoming asort of member of Parliament through ap-pointment, not by election, Eki was entitledto signicant retirement benets, includinga large pension and other privileges, whichhe continues to benet from even today.

Although he has never acted to defend therights of journalists who were dismissedfrom their jobs, he is virtuous enough to op-pose all sorts of legislation that would easethe lives of journalists facing nancial prob-lems, arguing that these are in fact privileg-es. For instance, while he receives a goodpension from the state and happily benetsfrom many privileges normally granted tohigh-ranking public servants, he has thesense of virtue to harshly raise his voiceagainst some bills proposed by an organiza-tion of journalists to bring relief to membersof the press without causing an extra bur-den on the state. Wise enough to be toler-ant about the privileges enjoyed by his ownboss, Eki is strongly against the modestfacilities to be introduced for his colleagues.

Being the lifelong chairman of the PressCouncil, which today has come to representonly the Doan group as it has offended allother media groups with its biased activi-ties, Eki has never been observed showingany loyalty to his profession or fellow jour-nalists. But no one can have any suspicionabout his loyalty to the protection of the

interests of his ofcial or visible and unof-cial or invisible bosses. To follow up thecommercial affairs of their bosses and exertpressure on governments, institutions and

judicial organs using their media power tothis end is among the virtues of Eki and hiskind. Accordingly, they do not like stronggovernments in the least. They are fond of

weak coalition governments which theycan bend to their will and seize any publicland, bank or property they like without anyresistance or problem. There are plenty ofexamples of how they destroy governments

that resist their demands. It is for this reasonthat it is an honor for Eki and his kind tobe on intimate terms with the coup gener-als and junta members that grant such in-termediate regimes to them.

Also, for them, it is part of freedom ofthe press to defend military coups, to por-

tray coups as a democratic right, to affordprotection to the bloody Ergenekon terroristorganization and its members, to threatensingers and writers such as Ahmet Kayaand Orhan Pamuk, to pave the way forthe eventual murder of Hrant Dink and toadvertise many leading gures as targets.Interestingly, they have managed to luresome international organizations, includ-ing the World Association of Newspapersand News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) and the

World Economic Forum (WEF) to supporttheir distorted conception of freedom of thepress. I think the reason why institutionsthat are nancially sponsored by the Doangroup, such as WAN-IFRA and the WEF,fell in love with this distorted mentality is thesame as why Eki is enchanted by militarycoups and antidemocratic practices. Ekiand his kind, who we must appreciate areskillful in maintaining on an internationallevel the corrupt economic relations of thepress sector to which they were accustomed

in the past, are also virtuous enough to calltheir colleagues whom they do not approveof poverty-stricken knights.

I would like to once more remind in-ternational organizations who are mate-rially and spiritually under the inuenceof Eki and his squad what freedom ofthe press is and is not, by quoting froma recent article by Ergun Babahan of theStar newspaper. I fully agree with Baba-han on this point, which Eki implicitlycriticized in his virtuous article:

Freedom of the press is not freedomto become richer by using the power of themedia. It does not give you freedom to seeyourself above the nation and the electedgovernment. It is also not the freedom toimpose your own views on the governmentand Parliament as seen in many legislativeactivities, and in particular a bill concerningthe Radio and Television Supreme Council[RTK]. It is also not freedom to acquirepublic banks or petrol stations inexpensive-ly while weak governments are in power. Itcannot be regarded as the freedom to turna blind eye to coup threats or afford protec-tion to pro-coup people. It cannot be treatedas a concept that is construed to protect theinterests of a single media group. It cannotbe used as immunity from litigation in theevent of tax evasion or from refraining fromfullling ones nancial responsibilities tothe state. It is never a right to make HrantDink, Ahmet Kaya and many others targetsjust because they are Armenian or Kurdishor disliked. It does not include ignoring orobscuring documents and informationabout conspiracies devised by a treacher-ous junta within the army to create chaosin society. It also does not include disre-specting the peoples right to be informedor misusing this right to manipulate them.It cannot be accepted as failure to see plansto murder non-Muslim minorities underthe Cage operation while treating the court

decision for wiretapping 10 judges who aresuspected of being linked to the Ergenekonnetwork as fascism. It can never be con-strued to mean that we will do our best toclose down your ruling party if you do notact according to the wishes of our boss.

The Doan group has enjoyed all thesefreedoms, none of which can be consideredpart of freedom of the press. The same groupis today using its nancial strength and me-dia power to mislead international organi-zations. As seen in the last WAN-IFRA and

WEF meetings, they are successful at this.

stanbul 2010 ads inspire the world Advertisements to be used dur-ing the publicity campaign forstanbul 2010: European Capital

of Culture project were introduced yes-terday in a press conference in stanbulsraan Palace. The advertisements re-leased outside Turkey highlight stanbulas the worlds most inspiring city whilethe local adverts focus on the rediscoveryof the city by its residents.

The foreign campaigns will take place

in 20 countries, 12 of which are European,and use an iconic photograph of stanbulshowing a silhouette of the citys histori-cal peninsula in a photograph taken by fa-

mous photographer Rainer Stratman and a

publicity lm. The photograph, formed bymerging around 30 photographs together ison display at distinctive spots in Europeancities, including the Gare du Nord train sta-

tion in Paris and Piazza San Marco in Ven-

ice. The heads of the creative team for thecampaigns, Hakk Msrlolu and Paul Mc-Millen, presented the lms and the iconicphotograph of stanbul at the meeting.

stanbul has been the most inspir-ing city in the world throughout history. You can see different reections of thisinspiration in the work, studies and livesof artists, intellectuals, politicians, think-ers and leaders across the world, ekib Avdagi, the stanbul European Capitalof Culture 2010 Agency executive boardchairman said in his opening remarks.

The local stanbul 2010 campaigns,focusing on the rediscovery of stanbul byits residents and on the energy of the city,include publicity lms, announcements on

printed media and online campaigns. Weinvite everyone, not only stanbullites, toshare the energy of stanbul and to discoverthe city once more, Avdagi said.

BLENTKENE

[email protected]

ESRA MADEN STANBUL

The iconic photographis currently on display

at the Gare du Nordtrain station in Paris.

PHOTO

TODAYSZAMAN


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04 TODAYS ZAMAN F R I D A Y , D E C E M B E R 4 , 2 0 0 9 NATIONAL

The European Unions new foreign affairs chief hassaid there is a need for a more careful look into the

course of affairs regarding Turkeys ongoing negotiationprocess to become a full member of the bloc.

Britains Catherine Ashton spent two hours onWednesday answering questions from European Parlia-ment members on how she plans to represent the EU onthe global stage. Ashton responded to questions dur-ing an informal session of the European ParliamentsForeign Affairs Committee which was attended by hun-dreds of EU parliamentarians, diplomats and the media.

Ashton ducked a series of policy-specic questions,including where she stands on the issue of Turkey joiningthe EU although Turkeys eventual EU accession is a stated

aim of the bloc, news reports said On Turkey, last time Ilooked there were 33 chapters [in the accession talks] ofwhich Turkey has closed one. There are different views inthe European Council on the whole view of enlargementand how best to progress with Turkey. We will have to dis-cuss that, but it has been a long time and only one chapter,so we will have to discuss that, Ashton, was, however,quoted as saying in the same news reports.

The EUs outgoing trade commissioner, who haslittle foreign affairs experience, also ignored a ques-tion about the recognition of East Jerusalem as thePalestinians capital, an issue EU foreign ministersmay discuss next week. Ankara Todays Zaman with wires

Lady Ashton admits need fordebate on Turkeys EU bid

France has decorated prominent Turkish politi-cian Yaar Yak, a former foreign minister, with

the award of Officier de la Lgion dHonneur (Officerof the Legion of Honor) for his contributions to bilat-eral relations between France and Turkey.

French Ambassador to Turkey Bernard mi on Wednes-day hosted a reception at the embassy residence to present theaward to Yak on behalf of French President Nicolas Sarkozy.Delivering a speech at the ceremony, mi described Yak asa perfect team player between the two countries due to hisintense efforts, his commitment and his personality.

The French president, the grand master of the or-der, has decided to decorate you with the insignia ofthis order, which is an expression of gratitude felt foryour commitment in service of Turkeys interests in itsrelations with France, mi said in his speech.

Yak, 71, was a career diplomat, until he becameinvolved in politics with the establishment of the rul-ing Justice and Development Party (AK Party) in 2001.He was the foreign minister of the 58th government, be-tween November 2002 and March 2003, led by the then-prime minister, President Abdullah Gl. He has beenthe chairperson of the European Union HarmonizationCommittee in Parliament since 2002. Since January2008 he has also served as chairman of the Turkey-France Parliamentary Friendship Group. AnkaraTodays Zaman

France honors Yaar Yakwith Legion dHonneur forhelping bilateral relations

Ambassador Ahmet zmc, the newly appointeddirector-general of the Organization for the Prohi-

bition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), said on Thursdaythat he is proud of his new position and will work topromote the organization.

He is the rst Turkish national to become the chief of aninternational organization working in the security eld.

The Turkish Foreign Ministry has launched a new diplo-macy campaign that engages the public, and as one of its rst

steps, it organized a video conference with zmc. He par-ticipated from the Turkish Embassy in the Netherlands, wherethe OPCW is located.

zmc is the Per-manent Representativeof Turkey to the UnitedNations in Geneva andwill take up his new rolein July next year on a four-year term. He is a careerdiplomat and formerTurkish ambassador to Is-rael, which is one of onlyseven nations aroundthe world who havenot joined the chemi-cal weapons convention.zmc said that effortsto get Israel to join theorganization will continue.

There are seven countries who have not signedthe agreement yet and three of them are in our area,Israel, Egypt and Syria. The others are Angola, NorthKorea, Myanmar and Somalia. zmc said thatthe last country who joined was Iraq and the orga-nization is working on a plan to eliminate chemi-cal weapons from this country. The US and Britishforces eliminated some of them and after making plans forthe rest, we will continue the elimination process, he said.

He said that although the OPCW is a young organization, itis a very successful one since the number of members has alreadyreached 188 countries since it was established 12 years ago and ithas been able to destroy more than half the chemical weapons inthe world. He said that by 2012 the member states will be totallyclear of chemical weapons. Unfortunately, although highlysuccessful, the organization is not well known. I will work topromote it, to increase its effectiveness on many levels. I amhoping to work on those issues, he said.Aye Karabat Ankara

Ambassador zmc tooversee chemicalweapons banMillions of Muslims are expecting the

European leaders to show a clear stance andthey have the right to do so. Calmy-Rey hassaid her government is very concerned overthe referendum result, underlining that limita-tions on the coexistence of different cultures andreligions also endangers our security. She saidprovocations risk inaming extremism.

Davutolu also announced that Turkey andGreece agreed to deepen cooperation in severalareas and described a meeting on Wednesday

with Greek Prime Minister George Papandreouin Athens as a very good start for better ties.

According to Davutolu, he and Papandreou,who is also the foreign minister, agreed to step updialogue by introducing regular high-level politicaltalks between the two countries to boost economicand cultural ties and resolve problems regard-ing Cyprus, Aegean disputes and the situation ofminorities. They also agreed to increase Turkish-Greek cooperation in Europe, the Balkans, theMiddle East, the Black Sea area and the Mediter-ranean region. Ankara and Athens will also explore

possibilities for cooperation in global issues, such asglobal warming. There was a complete meeting ofminds. They [the Greek side] said the same thingsas us, as if they had listened to us before, he said.

Afghanistan, neo-OttomanismDavutolu, who was attending a NATO meet-ing in Brussels on Thursday, also signaledthat Turkey would not send more troops to Afghanistan for combat missions, despite aUS request to that effect. We dont see theproblem in Afghanistan as purely a military

matter, he said, calling for a comprehensiveperspective to deal with the difficulties there.

The foreign minister also criticized mediacomments describing his political vision as neo-Ottoman. I have never used that phrase. It is notsomething that we embrace, he said of the term,which is certain to raise suspicions towards Tur-keys new foreign policy in countries in the Bal-kans and in the Middle East, which were a part ofthe Ottoman Empire until the 20th century. Thosewho use this term either do not understand what itmeans, or they have bad intentions, he said.

Davutolu warns of global clash after Switzerlands minaret ban

The Turkish Foreign Ministry haslaunched a comprehensive restruc-

turing to make the public more aware ofthe countrys foreign policy de-velopments, keeping pace withtechnological developments,Turkeys growing clout in inter-national politics and the realitythat decisions made in foreignpolicy affect domestic affairs.

In this vein, final preparationsto implement a new structure atthe Foreign Ministry to overseepublic diplomacy, with the goalof acquainting the public with the latestdecisions and developments in Turkeysforeign policy, are almost complete.

The Foreign Ministry started a similar proj-

ect three years ago with a seminar in the capi-tal that considered similar experiences in theNetherlands, Germany, the US, Canada and

Israel. However, there was no follow-up,and the project was halted due to a lack ofattention. To better explain Turkeys for-eign policy priorities to the internationalcommunity and to win support from thepublic, the ministry has decided to estab-lish a public diplomacy wing. The effortwill be coordinated by Namk Tan, depu-ty undersecretary at the Foreign Ministry.

The Foreign Ministry will alsoexpand its presence on social-net-

working Web sites such as Facebook andTwitter, including the creation of a Face-book fan page for Foreign Minister Ah-met Davutolu. Sleyman Kurt Ankara

A planned visit to Turkey by a delega-tion from the Dutch House of Repre-

sentatives, the members of which would haveincluded right-wing lawmaker Geert Wilders,has been cancelled following statements byAnkara that it would not welcome Wilders,whose views of Turkey are considered here tobe racist and unacceptable.

Wilders outraged Muslims by com-paring the Quran to Adolf Hitlers MeinKampf and calling for an end to Muslimimmigration to the Netherlands. Ankarahas said Wilders presence among the delega-tion would overshadow the visit and that wouldbe unfair for positive Turkish-Dutch relations.

The issue was put to a vote in theDutch parliament on Wednesday, and allparties opted to cancel the visit, which

was scheduled for January, Dutch dailyNRC Handelsblad reported.

We deeply regret the fact that this will make an effective dialogue impos-sible, but if the Turkish government re-fuses to meet with us, the most essentialparts of our schedule will not be able togo ahead, Harm Evert Waalkens, leaderof the delegation, was quoted as saying.

In response to criticism on the issueby a member of Wilders party at a meet-ing of the European Parliaments Com-mittee on Foreign Affairs, State Ministerand Turkeys chief EU negotiator Ege-men Ba said in Brussels on Thursday:Wilders has freedo m of expression. I havethe right not to listen to those who confusecriticism and insult. Ankara Todays Zaman

Turkey balks at provdngcombat troops n Afghanstan

Ambassador Jeffrey indicated that, onthe other hand, the US expects Turkey

to be more exible on the denition of tasksto be carried out by their mission in Afghanistan.We want fewer caveats from everybody, wewant more exibility in carrying out the mission, Jeffrey said. Turkey, just like any other NATO

member country which contributes troops, hasbeen implementing its own caveats that re-strict where their troops can be deployed andtheir range of tasks. The Turkish defense min-ister signaled, however, that changing thosecaveats is out of the question for now.

The issue is likely to be on the agenda of a White House meeting between Obama andPrime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoan on Dec. 7.Sources said Erdoan will tell Obama that troopnumbers could be increased but that Turk-ish soldiers will not engage in combat mis-sions. Diplomatic sources also revealed that Ankara is disturbed by Jeffreys announce-ment, made at a press conference withoutprior consultation with Turkish authorities.

While refusing to change the rules of en-gagement in combat operations and sticking tothe policy of staying clear of conict, Turkey hasexpressed that it is willing to do more in train-ing, humanitarian aid and assistance with de-velopment for the Afghan people. The written

statement issued by the Turkish Foreign Min-istry in response to Obamas announcementsaid all international community membershave acknowledged today that the problemsin Afghanistan will not be resolved by meremilitary tactics. It noted that Turkey has beenadvocating this policy all along and placedspecial emphasis on the subject while alsohailing Obamas speech as very positive.

The Turkish Foreign Ministry also announcedthat the successful example of the Vardak Pro- vincial Reconstruction Team will be expandedto cover other provinces in the country. Since2001, Turkey has been providing developmentassistance through the Turkish Cooperation andDevelopment Agency (TKA) in Afghanistanin areas ranging from education to health andfrom developing human resources to enhanc-ing the governments institutional capabilities.

Military is opposedto further involvement

Todays Zaman also learned that the chief ofGeneral Staff submitted a written report tothe Prime Ministry painting a bleak picturein Afghanistan. Noting that the situation inthe country is worse than in 2001, the reportstrongly advised against the involvement ofTurkish forces in combat operations, saying thelocal population is increasingly turning againstNATO troops and viewing them as an en-emy rather than a savior from the Taliban.

A Turkish military report warned thatcivilian casualties from NATO operationsaccounted for 20 percent of the total civil-ian death toll in the country, suggesting thiswould hamper NATO operations in the future.

While stressing the Turkish troops involvement in development projects valuedat more than half a billion dollars so far, thereport in contrast says more than 100 times

this amount has been spent in combating theTaliban and al-Qaeda terrorists. It under-lined that the local Afghan populationsappreciation of Turkish troops should beanalyzed carefully by NATO management.

The military report points out that curtailingheroin trafcking in the country has resulted inthe creation of 800,000 unemployed people, andit criticized the lack of social projects aimedat providing employment opportunities.

Parliament approvalneeded for combat troopsKrat Atlgan, a deputy from the opposi-tion Nationalist Movement Party (MHP)and a former general, told Todays Zamanthat any combat operation needs the Turk-ish Parliaments approval, which he said isquite unlikely. Involvement in combat op-erations goes against the national interestsof Turkey, and there is pretty much agree-ment with the government and the mili-tary on this issue, he said, adding that anypolitical decision would otherwise invitethe wrath of Parliament just like it did in2003 when Parliament refused to allow UStroops to pass through Turkish territoryto open a northern front against Iraq.

Atlgan warns that if Erdoan bows to

pressure from the White House to sendcombat troops to Afghanistan when hevisits the US, it would mean that the gov-ernment would most likely be rebuffed byParliament even though his ruling Justiceand Development Party (AK Party) en- joys a majority. We will see many AKParty deputies breaking ranks with theirown party, Atlgan said. Talking to To-

days Zaman on condition of anonymity,one government official has said Turkeymay be willing to go as far as allowing itstroops to secure towns and villages onlyafter other NATO combat troops havecleared these places of Taliban or al-Qaedaelements. Depending on how negotiationsgo in the Washington meeting, Turkishtroops may be involved in patrolling placescleared of terrorists, the same sou rce said.

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AN

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Ministry to launch public diplomacy drive Wilders cancels Turkey visit after criticism

Turkey is currently undertaking the leadership of the Kabul Regional Command for the NATO-led International Security AssistanceForce with 1,800 troops. This file photo shows a Turkish soldier playing with Afghan children in a war-torn Afghan village.

Ahmet zmc


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NATIONAL FRI DA Y , DEC EM BER 4, 2009 TODAYS ZAMAN05

General Staff closely monitored coefficient move, paper shows

Vocational high school students giving up on university dreams

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoans harsh criti-cism of some columnists has reignited a debate overrelations between the government and the media. Theprime minister criticized a Milliyet daily writer whosaid, Politicians need to talk less, by saying, Actu-

ally, people like you need to write less.Like all leaders, Erdoan has people who like him and

people who dislike him. If you are in the limelight and ina position where you can take action, then you are boundto be criticized. I can understand why the prime ministerlambastes some columnists. He isnt referring to thosewho make respectful criticisms. Unfortunately, there aresome rude and disrespectful writers that degrade and in-sult their targets in their articles. There are editors-in-chiefthat never say anything about these articles and alwaysnd some way to defend themselves. I can explain whatI mean by giving one example: Hrriyet daily columnistYlmaz zdil. There is no other man in the world thatwrites as profanely and indecently as he does. He per-sonies a particular breed of columnists in Turkey.

He does not insult just individuals, he insults mil-lion. Indeed, he does not insult them, he basically swearsat them. It was him who called those who voted for the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) jarheads.When the possibility of giving deputies a red license platewas being debated, he had the nerve to write, The red li-cense plates of deputies in the Turkish Parliament shouldbe attached to the a-- of those who support them [the AKParty]. (Aug. 25) I was embarrassed to write the wordout completely. I apologize to our readers but I wanted tobe able to explain the level of shamelessness. Now, howcan this man have anything to do with journalism?

Who allowed this persons articles to be published inthe Hrriyet daily? Who presented him as the dailys third-page charm? Erturul zkk. Where do they nd thesehitmen? Does the public not see the situation at hand?

What upsets me is that the prime minister is takingthem seriously. The majority of people commends andsupports the prime minister for his courage in pursu-ing democratization, his stance against juntas and hisleadership. Believe there are even people who pray thatErdoan wont stoop to their level. Whats the purposeof showing a reaction and calling people enemies ofthe nation and state? Just as Republican Peoples Party(CHP) leader Deniz Baykal and Nationalist MovementParty (MHP) leader Devlet Baheli were wrong in declar-ing the prime minister a traitor and a divider, it waswrong of the prime minister to declare a portion of col-umnist enemies of the state and nation.

Turkey is passing through perhaps its most criti-cal days in the past 100 years. We want our primeminister to remain calm and silent during this histori-cal turning point. We want him to know how to putup with criticism and refrain from hurting anyonesfeeling even if he is hurt. There are many people thatoffend but we dont want him to offend anyone.

Lets get back to the essence of the ties between theruling power and the media. The medias (press) rela-tionship with the ruling power has been problematicsince the beginning of the republic. The media is the mostimportant pillar of the military tutelage regime. The me-dia has played a role in every coup preparation and hasalways defended junta supporters. And the media outletshave always received compensation for their services.

There has always been talk about a free and objectivepress but this was always wanted only for laic-Kemalistelites. These elites saw themselves as the real guardiansof this country and formed a community around this com-mon view. It is for this reason that the media we are talkingabout is truly a community media. Even when defendingdemocracy they worked by way of limiting the freedom ofreligion and conscience to make the public sphere a placethat provides privileges and prots only to themselves.

But in the end, they ruined it for themselves. Theywere, just like the army, unable to fulll their real dutiesbecause they were too busy dealing with the country andengineering the society. They tore their own communityaway from the developing and progressing world. Theydropped down a level. They ultimately became a mediathat solely wrote about whatever it was their communitymembers needed to read and hear. It is for this reasonthat they are doomed to have their zdils and laans.

As the waves of democratization shake all pillars, itwill become obvious that they too will no longer be ableto remain standing.

A position paper sent to the deputy chiefof General Staff by the General Staffs de-

partment of intelligence has shown that top armybrass closely monitored developments related toa move by the Higher Education Board (YK) toabolish the use of a coefcient system for Turkeysuniversity admission exam.

The paper was signed by Brig. Gen. . Ylmaz, Lt.Gen. .H. Pekin, Col. N. Ylmaz and Maj. O. Ylmaz,and was submitted to Gen. Aslan Gner, the deputychief of general staff, on Aug. 21. According to thepaper, the abolishment of the coefcient system wasaimed at allowing conservative individuals to expandtheir presence in the public sphere and, in this way,damage the unity of the country and society. The

system uses a lower coefcient on the Student Se-lection Examination (SS) to calculate the scores ofgraduates of vocational high schools.

In July, YKs General Council decided toabolish the coefcient system, a move welcomed atthe time by many who interpreted it as a ground-breaking step to end long-standing discriminationimposed on vocational school graduates, includ-ing those from religious imam-hatip high schools.

The lower coefcient was a byproduct of theFeb. 28, 1997 postmodern coup, which led to thecollapse of an Islamic-based government, and wasintroduced in an attempt to keep students fromreligious imam-hatip schools -- classied as voca-tional schools -- out of universities. The system hasbeen the subject of strong criticism in Turkey as it isconsidered unfair towards graduates of vocational

high schools who want to study at universities.The 8th Chamber of the Council of State, how-

ever, ruled last month to retain the system. The rul-ing sent shockwaves across the country, with manyobservers lashing out at the council for violatingthe principle of equal opportunity in education.

In the paper, the department of intelligencerecommended that the General Staff follow de-velopments related to YKs coefcient move.

We have reached the conviction that themove is aimed at increasing the number of in-dividuals who have adopted a conservative life-style in the public sphere. The demand fordershanes [weekend or evening schools special-izing in preparing students for national exams]will directly increase with the abolishment of thecoefcient system. In addition to the stanbul Bar

Association and the Education Personnel Union[Eitim-], students or parents of students at-tending high schools other than vocational highschools may appeal the move, noted the paper.

The Council of State ruling came four monthsafter the stanbul Bar Association appealed to thecouncil against the YK decision on the coef-cient system. The bar stressed in its lawsuit that YKs move would be unjust toward students who graduate from high schools other than vo-cational high schools, Anatolian high schools andscience schools. This move will provide unde-served gains for a certain group of students, thebar claimed. The bar appealed the decision afterthe honorary president of the Supreme Court ofAppeals, Sabih Kanadolu, said publicly that theCouncil of State would settle the coefcient matter.

Non-attendance at college prep courses hasspiked among students who attend vocational

high schools, in an apparent sign of student exasper-ation over a recent Council of State ruling to retainthe current university admission system that makesit more difcult for graduates of vocational schools toenroll in university programs of their choice.

For most, its virtually impossible to performwell on university entrance exams without enroll-ing in a private college preparatory course, a der-shane, along with the normal high school curri-cula. For long hours after school and on weekends,high school students attend extra classes, readingthrough test prep books and solving practice examquestions in a bid to secure their spots at a gooduniversity -- and their futures. But in the face of theCouncil of State decision, many vocational highschool students and even their parents are won-dering if theres even a point anymore in trying,seeing as how the system is set up against them.

Vocational high school enrollment had soaredafter the Higher Education Boards (YK) GeneralCouncil announced in July that it was lifting thecoefcient system, but the Council of State blockedthe ruling and private college preparatory courses

say that students at these high schools are drop-ping out of college prep courses at alarming rates.Students who had joyfully enrolled in college prepcourses are now reconsidering their decisions.

The situation is also concerning for the thou-sands of teachers employed at college prepara-

tory institutes, many of which are planning meet-ings to gure out how to address the situation.Muammer Saripek, the manager of Meslek Der-shane, Turkeys only dershane that caters exclu-sively to students of vocational high schools, saysthat non-attendance has soared to 30 percent

with the Council of State decision. Our schoolconsists solely of vocational high school attend-ees. Parents are confused over the matter -- theysent their children here out of hope, but nowtheyre rethinking their moves, he said.

Similarly, Mustafa Altnsoy, the head of thestanbul Provincial Education Directorates PrivateDershane Division, said that there was unanimityamongst the educational community that the Coun-cil of States decision was a negative one. We knowthat the dershanes and the private educators at theseschools are victims in this situation as well. Familiesand students are full of anxiety. There will be a seri-ous drop in enrollment due to this, he said.

mer cal, a guidance counselor at theSnav Dergisi Dershane, explained that follow-ing the original YK decision their school hadopened special courses for students of vocationalhigh schools and that following the Council ofStates move, enrollment had already droppedby 20 percent. Parents are telling us, If our chil-dren once again lose the right to attend univer-sity, well have no choice but to pull them outof these classes. This is also a serious blow tostudent motivation, and its upsetting to see thechildren who are staying in class working awayeven though they have no hope, he said.

YK appeals

ruling oncoefficientThe Higher Education Board (YK)has appealed a ruling of the 8thChamber of the Council of State to

retain the current university examinationscore calculation method that makes it moredifcult for graduates of vocational highschools to enroll in a program of their choice,saying the only authorized body to decidethe calculation method is YK.

The Council of State last week decidedto block a decision issued by YKs GeneralCouncil in July after the stanbul Bar Asso-ciation asked it to ensure the continuationof the system in which a lower coefcient isused to calculate the scores of graduates ofvocational high schools on Turkeys univer-sity admission exam, the Student SelectionExamination (SS). The system is consid-ered by many a form of clear discriminationagainst graduates of vocational schools.

The lower coefcient used for the scoresof vocational school students is a remnantof the Feb. 28, 1997 unarmed military in-tervention, which led to the collapse of anIslamic-rooted government, and was intro-duced in an attempt to keep students fromreligious imam-hatip schools -- classiedas vocational schools -- out of universities.Opponents of the coefcient rule say it isdiscriminatory and unfair.

YKs petition against the ruling wassent to the Council of State on Wednesday.In the petition, YK criticized the Council ofState, nding that students of regular highschools and vocational high schools are notequal. The petition also stated that accord-ing to the Constitution and legislation rel-

evant to YK, only YK has the authorityto decide on matters concerning the systemof transition to higher education from highschool. YKs petition also said the Coun-cil of State ruling had no legal basis and thehigh court should have overturned the appli-cation of the stanbul Bar Association in therst place. The petition said the ruling was aviolation of a number of rights guaranteed bythe Constitution such as the right to an edu-cation, equal opportunity in education andthe right to self-improvement. The petitionalso stated that vocational training shouldbe encouraged, not discouraged or punishedwith the lower coefcient.

YKs petition also dismissed thestanbul Bar Associations accusation thatthe move to abolish the lower coefcientwas ideological. The petition reiterated thatthe only way to improve vocational trainingin Turkey was to eradicate discriminationtowards students and graduates of theseschools. YK stated that the reason the co-efcient practice was being removed waseconomic and social rather than ideological.

Meanwhile, on Wednesday, shortlyafter YK completed the appeal process,

YK President Yusuf Ziya zcan toldmembers of the media that they wereprepared for obstacles and had devisedalternative systems. If the appeal is not ac-cepted, YK will employ a new methodof calculation. He did not say directly butimplied that the difference in the coef-cients used to form scores of regular and

vocational high school students might beas small as 0.01 percent.stanbul Todays Zaman

With the system set against them, many vocational high school students are beginning to wonder why

they should bother with the stress and hassle of college preparatory classes.

Communty meda

HSEYNGLERCE

[email protected]

PHOTO

CHAN,

ALNAL

PHOTO

TODAYS

ZAMAN,

KRAT

BAYHAN

EMRE SONCANANKARA

Yusuf Ziya zcans YK has appealed a Council of State decision to retain a university admissions methodthat places vocational high school grads at a disadvantage, challenging the courts jurisdiction on the matter.

TANJU ZKAYA / HEMRE KSE STANBUL

Ba: New sanctions willremove desire to join EUIf new sanctions are placed on Turkey for not openingits air and sea ports to Greek Cypriot trafc, Turkish so-ciety will lose any desire to further pursue EU member-ship, Egemen Ba, Turkeys chief EU negotiator, hassaid. Speaking at a meeting organized by the TurkishConfederation of Businessmen and Industrialists (TUS-

KON) and the Centre for European Politics (CEP) onThursday, Ba said Turkey has always been an effec-tive broker among its neighbors. Answering a questionon possible new sanctions if Turkey fails to open its portsto Greek Cypriot vessels, Ba said Turkey is alreadyaffected by sanctions. The EU decided to freeze eightnegotiation chapters and forbade the closure of any ne-gotiation chapters in 2006 due to the Cyprus stalemate.These sanctions are extreme. The two leaders of the is-land are already meeting weekly to nd a lasting peacesettlement to the conict. New sanctions over this willsignicantly reduce the will of Turkish society to pursueEU membership, Ba said. stanbul Todays Zaman


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Three Turkish newspapers suspend membership in intl press body

Man with normal hearing deaf community leader for 3 years mer Diner:Pharmaceuticalsto compensatepharmacy losses

Labor and Social Security Ministermer Diner announced yesterday

that according to an agreement the minis-try signed with representatives of medicinecompanies, these companies must compen-sate pharmacies nancial losses -- which are

estimated to be TL 800 million -- caused bythe lowering of medicine prices that result-ed in harsh criticism from pharmacists and

which led them to close their pharmacies to-day to protest the decision.

We have signed an agreement. They[the medicine companies] promised to paythe cost incurred due to the price changes.Every loss related the price change of medi-cines will be compensated, noted Dinerduring a press conference yesterday. Healso added that if the medicine companies

would not pay for the losses, the govern-ment would take the necessary steps, say-ing: I hope pharmacies will not take theirfrustration with this agreement out on citi-zens. If they do, we will abolish the agree-ment. The minister stated that the newprice list regulations will be approved dur-ing the council of ministers meeting on Fri-day and will be implemented in 2010.

With the new price regulations resulting

in the decrease in medicine prices, medicineswill be offered for lower prices. In Turkey,where the state is the only authority that setsmedicine prices, a reference price is deter-mined in comparison to medicine prices inEuropean Union countries. Before the newprice regulations, the prices in Turkey were80 percent of this reference price. With thenew regulations, medicine prices will be 60percent of the reference price. The minister

yesterday underlined that for some medi-cines the percentage may be 66 percent if itseems necessary. The new regulations will be

valid for approximately 3,000 different kindsof medicine in 2010. The minister also em-phasized that the ministry will c heck marketprices every three months, and if medicineexpenditures exceed global budget goals, theministry has the authority to adopt furtherdecreases in medicine prices.

It is believed that the new price regulationswill be instrumental in helping the state saveTL 3.3 billion each year; however, pharmacists

claim that TL 800 million of this will be takenfrom them and demand that medicine compa-nies subsidize the pharmacies losses, whichhas yet to be accepted by the medicine compa-nies. The medicine sector in Turkey has grownby 40 percent in the last two years despite theongoing global nancial crisis.

The deputy president of the Associationof Research-Based Pharmaceutical Compa-nies (AFD), Engin Gneri, stated that theprice cut will result in nancial losses forpharmacies, adding that the regulations willaffect the prices of approximately 3,000 medi-cines .Under the new regulations there maybe some issues related to offering differenttypes of medicines to patients, which will cre-ate lots of problems for people who urgentlyneed medical treatment, claimed Gneri.

Furthermore, the Social Security Institu-tion (SGK) has announced in a written state-ment on Tuesday that the institution willreconsider contracts with pharmacies that

will participate in the one-day closure on Fri-day to protest the recent decision. We willreconsider our contracts with pharmacistsand civil society organizations that preventcitizens from accessing medicines by closingtheir doors on Friday. We thank pharma-cists who will continue to offer medicine andserve citizens on Dec. 4 as they have beendoing for years, says the statement. Talks

with representatives of pharmacies and La-bor and Social Security Minister Diner havebeen going on in order to nd a resolutionfor 3,000 of the numerous pharmacies ex-pected to go bankrupt due to the new priceregulations after the price cuts.

Akda: Pharmacy boycottwill not affect medicine supplyHealth Minister Recep Akda yesterday ex-pressed his belief that the closure of some 24,000pharmacies on Dec. 4 to protest the reducedmedicine prices will not disrupt the medicine

supply and will not lead to any major problemsfor citizens. People will be able to nd medicine,adding that he thinks some responsible phar-macists will not participate in the protest.

Our citizens will continue to buy medi-cine. The social security system in Turkey is a

well-established system. The Labor and So-cial Security Ministry and the SGK have been

working on the problem. I do not think anyserious problem will occur, stated Akda inthe capital of Uzbekistan, Tashkent, wherehe paid a visit after the invitation of his Uz-bek counterpart. stanbul Todays Zaman

Three Turkish newspapers have suspendedtheir membership in international media or-

ganization the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) in protest of theorganizations report on press freedom in Turkey.

The Sabah, Zaman and Star newspapers an-nounced yesterday that they were freezing their mem-bership in the international body, accusing WAN-IF-

RA of being one-sided in a report on freedom of thepress and consulting only with members of TurkeysDoan Media Group when drafting the report. Thesethree newspapers also say their objections to the partof the WAN-IFRA report on press freedom in Turkeywere ignored by the report writers.

The report, titled Press Freedom World Re-view - June-December 2009, harshly criticized theJustice and Development Party (AK Party), accusingthe party of working to undermine freedom of thepress in Turkey. In Turkey, the government con-tinued its campaign against the inuential DoanGroup, which owns, among other media, the top-

selling daily Hrriyet newspaper and CNN Turkey,with a massive new tax ne of 1.7 billion euros inSeptember for allegedly evading taxes, chargeswhich experts say are groundless. In February, thegroup had already been ned 345 million euros onsimilar grounds. Tensions with the prime minister,Recep Tayyip Erdoan, reached a new level in 2008,when the Doan media began to cover a German

criminal investigation into a Turkish Islamic charitylinked to the government, read the report.On Tuesday, heads of the Sabah, Zaman and

Star groups released a statement at the WorldNewspaper Congress in Hyderabad, India, criticiz-ing the report for being biased. The three news-papers expressed profound disappointment in theWAN-IFRA statement concerning Turkey.

We had expected a more objective and un-biased position by such internationally acclaimedplatforms as WAN and the [World Editors Forum]WEF. We nd it misleading on the part of WAN andthe WEF not to consult Turkish members of WAN,

apart from the Doan Group, while preparing anoverview of the status of media freedom in Tur-key. It is worrisome that the committee reviewingthe status of Turkish media is evidently unaware ofwhat is actually a threat to the freedom of the me-dia in Turkey, read the statement, signed by BlentKene on behalf of the Zaman Media Group, SunaVidinli for the Sabah Group and Ergun Babahan on

behalf of the Star Group.In early September, the Doan Media Group-- Turkeys largest media company -- was slappedwith a ne of TL 4.8 billion, the highest ever im-posed on a Turkish company, for tax evasion duringa time period covering 2005, 2006 and 2007. Inspec-tors said the ne was imposed due to their ndingsthat Doan companies had concealed prots fromshare transfers among partner companies and hadavoided paying corporate tax and value-added tax(KDV) on the revenue from the transfers. Sincethen, Doan newspapers have claimed that the newas political, resulting from the holdings critical

approach to the AK Party government. The govern-ment, however, denies the claims, saying it is not aparty to the tax ne controversy.

The statement also expressed the signatory jour-nalists expectation that WAN-IFRA will conduct morethorough research and consult all parties before issu-ing a statement. Equating a tax evasion case [which isunder judicial review -- with the accused party seeking

settlement] with media freedom is an oversimplica-tion of the matter. We hereby request our statement ofdissent to be published at the end of the WAN state-ment concerning Turkey, added the statement.

The WAN-IFRA report made its way intoDoan newspapers on Tuesday. The Hrriyetdaily alleged that Turkey had been placed on awarning list along with China, Russia, Cuba,Pakistan and Yemen. The daily also reported thatthe tax ne against Doan Yayn was politicallymotivated and was aimed at silencing Doan.None of those statements, however, were includ-ed in the WAN-IFRA report. stanbul Todays Zaman

A 33-year-old man whose parents are deafand who learned how to speak when his

cousin came to live with them has been runningthe Turkish Federation for Persons with HearingDisabilities for the past three years in order toincrease the standard of living for the deaf andthe hard of hearing.

Speaking with the Anatolia news agency, Er-cment Tanrverdi said because both his motherand father are deaf, he began his childhood in asilent world. Although he himself can hear justne, because his parents dont communicate orallyTanrverdi rst learned to communicate throughsign language. First, my mother took me to the ta-ble and, pointing at the bread, showed me the signfor bread. In this manner she showed me the signsfor everything else I needed to know and thus myfamily taught me sign language, he said.

Eventually, however, they had to face the factthat Tanrverdi was not deaf and would need tocommunicate with others in the world, he ex-plained. As a solution, one of his cousins cameto live with him and in this way he learned spo-ken Turkish as well. While they lived in stanbul,Tanrverdis parents were both members of as-sociations for the deaf and he always went alongwith them to meetings and other events. Aftersome time, because of his ability in both sign

language and spoken Turkish, he was elected thepresident of the Turkish Federation for Persons

with Hearing Disabilities. Tanrverdi has servedin the post f or three years now, while also work-ing as a manager at the stanbul Metropolitan

Municipalitys Center for People with Disabili-ties. Tanrverdi is married to a deaf woman hemet 11 years ago at a deaf community event andthe couple have a daughter who can hear. Ourdaughter is 8 years old. She uses sign language

to communicate with her mother and she speaksspoken Turkish with me, he explained.

Video conferencing system majorstep in improving life for deafNot enough is done in Turkey to develop sign lan-guage and there arent enough translators; moreneeds to be done. There must be someone who un-derstands sign language in every institution, be it ahospital or another place. As a federation, we wantfor there to be sign language translators at everypublic institution, Tanrverdi said. The federationpresident explained that they were working withpublic institutions to improve the life of people withhearing disabilities, noting the creation of a videoconferencing system in collaboration with TrkTelekom as a major step. This will change the livesof those with hearing disabilities, he said.

One of the most important difculties facing thedeaf is being able to use emergency services and the video conferencing system is an important step inthis regard. Our citizens with hearing disabilitieswill be able to benet from a 24-hour translation ser-vice. Through these interpreters they will be able toreach and communicate with ambulance, reghting,police, gendarmerie and other emergency services,which is a critical step in providing essential life ser-vices, he said. stanbul Todays Zaman with wires

Unemployment s bggestproblem of dsabled

Kaar reminded listeners of the Dis-ability Act, which was passed in July

2005 to solve employment problems thatdisabled people face along with a number ofother issues. But he said the law has not beenput into practice in all sectors.

The Labor Law and the Regulation on theEmployment of Disabled People states that em-ployers in the private sector employing more than50 employees in their workplace must ensure thatat least 3 percent of their employees are disabled.

This gure is 4 percent for public institutions. Ifthey do not meet this quota, they have to pay ane of TL 1,519 per month, which is collected ina levy fund and used for projects focusing on vo-cational training, rehabilitation and employmentfor disabled people. In order to encourage com-panies to hire more disabled people, the Treasuryalso pays half of the insurance premiums for everydisabled person hired in addition to the manda-tory number. However, despite all these incen-tives, employers are still reluctant to hire disabled workers. The total amount in the levy fund wasTL 4.8 million according to 2005 gures.

Lawyer Meysun Gler Eryldr, who headsthe commission on the disabled at the BursaBar Association, also stated that laws should beimplemented as soon as possible to solve theproblems of the disabled.

Problems of the disabled are not solvedmerely by having appropriate laws [on thebooks]. These laws should be implemented.

And people at workplaces from the top to the

bottom should know about the rights of thedisabled, Eryldr said.In Bursa, disabled people held a demon-

stration in their wheelchairs to attract atten-tion to their problems.

One of their signs read We dont want to be

remembered only on Dec. 3.

The International Day of Persons withDisabilities was marked in various provincesin Turkey. In Antalya, there were celebrationsin the town square.

Mehmet Karavural, head of the Associa-tion of the Disabled in Turkey, expressed that

disabled people face many difculties. Among

those, he said, was the difculty to obtain pros-theses and necessary aids to make their liveseasier because of the new social security law.

The duties and responsibilities of the stateare on the shoulders of the families now, he said.

Meanwhile, a supportive note for the dis-

abled came yesterday from Parliament Speaker

Mehmet Ali ahin. He said Turkey has madesome progress in improving the quality of life forthe disabled but that there is still work to do. Wewill make more progress in that regard as we willtake more measures to improve the rights of thedisabled, he said. stanbul Todays Zaman with wires

Born to two deaf parents but with no hearing difficulties of his own, Ercment Tanrverdis skills in both spoken Turk-ish and Turkish Sign Language have made him a leader in the push for better lives for the deaf and hard of hearing.

PHOTO

AA,

ECVETATK

TODAYS ZAMAN NATIONALFRI DA Y, DEC EM BER 4, 200906

Statistics show that one of the biggest problems facing Turks with disabilities is unemployment, with the labor participation of this segment of societyhovering around 22 percent compared to a general labor participation rate of 50 percent.

PHOTO

TODAYSZAMAN,

KRATBAYHANcontnued from page 1


7/20

Turkish multinationals investmentabroad slows due to crisis, survey shows

As the main reasons behind the ear-lier surge in Turkeys outward foreign

direct investment, the report cited both econo-mic and political factors, enumerating the do-mestic economic crisis of the early 2000s, risinglabor costs and the developing private sectorchasing prots, along with the emergence ofindependent Turkic republics in Central Asiaafter the collapse of the USSR. Turkeys foreign

direct investment increased from $1 billion in1990 to $12.2 billion in 2007, taking Turkey to72nd place among all outward-investing co-untries in 2007, the report showed.

However, this uptrend has been interruptedwith the eruption of recent global nancial crisis,the report asserts, explaining: The current globaleconomic contraction has had a severe negativeimpact on Turkeys outward investment, as canbe seen from provisional September 2009 datafrom the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey.Turkish outows in the rst nine months of 2009fell by 62 percent from the rst nine months of2008, to $853 million from $2.26 million.

Top 12 Turkish multinationalshave $15.7 bln in foreign assetsCovering 12 largest Turkish multinationals, thesurvey revealed that these companies jointlyheld just over $15.7 billion in foreign assets in2007, a gure 32 percent higher than in 2006.

The report showed that Turkish multinati-onals lagged behind their counterparts in manyemerging markets, with only ENKA naat veSanayi A.., Turkcell letiim Hizmetleri A..and alk Holding having over $2 billion in fore-ign assets in 2007. According to the report, ran-king the multinational enterprises on the basisof their foreign assets, ENKA, which operated inthe infrastructure sector, ranked rst with $3.9billion in foreign assets, accounting for appro-ximately 25 percent of the total foreign assets ofthe selected 12 multinational companies. Turk-cell came in second on the rankings with justover $2.3 billion in foreign assets, accounting foranother 15 percent of total foreign assets of thelargest multinational enterprises and followedby alk Holding with just a little more than $2

billion in foreign assets. Total foreign assets ofthese companies as a percentage of total assetsof them were about 10 percent in 2007, incre-asing by a slightly lower rate than total assetsbetween 2006 and 2007.

The largest 12 Turkish multinational enterp-rises covered by the survey employed 72,334

workers abroad in 2007, increasing by 37 per-cent compared to 2006, a rate more than twiceof the growth rate of total employment of these

companies in the same period. This gure is 27percent of total employment of the companies.The leading company on the list of 12, ENKA,became the rst on the list of foreign emp-loyment, with a signicant number of 33,676

workers. alk Holding, the second on the list,employed 9,134 workers abroad in 2007.

The 12 multinationals had just over $11.9billion in foreign sales, representing a 37 percentrise over 2006. Foreign sales accounted for 13percent of total sales of these companies in 2007,growing by a slightly higher rate than total sales.

According to the report, the Turkish mul-tinational companies had 248 foreign afliates

(branches, subsidiaries, etc.) in 61 countries. Ofthese, 76 percent were located in Europe. Asiacame in second, with just under a fth. The sur-vey noted that there appears to be a trend of ex-pansion towards Africa, the Middle East, Aust-ralia and Latin America. Ko Holding rankedrst on the list of companies with most foreignafliates with 55 foreign afliates in 28 countries,followed by ENKA with 42 foreign afliates innine countries. Sabanc Holding came in third

with 33 foreign afliates in seven countries.The survey revealed that most of the outwardinvestment from Turkey by 2007 had been madeby publicly traded companies. There are onlytwo companies that are not publicly listed, alkHolding and state-controlled Turkish PetroleumCorporation (TPAO), in the list of the survey.Among the 10 multinational companies on thelist that are also listed on the stanbul Stock Exc-hange (MKB), Turkcell is also listed on the NewYork Stock Exchange (NYSE), Anadolu Endst-ri Holding A.. on the London Stock Exchangeand Eczacba Group on the Frankfurt and Ds-seldorf Stock Exchange. stanbul Todays Zaman

BUSINESS FRI DA Y , DEC EM BER 4, 2009 TODAYS ZAMAN07

Commission to meetto determine 2010minimum wage

Natural gas importstotal 28.78 bln cubicmeters in 10 months

New law to put anend to unlicensedconstruction

The Minimum Wage Determination Com-mission will meet next week to set the mini-

mum wage for the new year.The meeting, which will take place at the Mi-

nistry of Labor and Social Security next Thursday,represents the rst of several meetings to determi-ne the minimum wage for 2010, according to an

Anatolian news agency reporter. The commissionconsists of 15 representatives, made up of ve laborrepresentatives from the Confederation of TurkishLabor Unions (Trk-), ve employer representa-tives from the Turkish Confederation of EmployersUnions (TSK) and ve government representatives.

The minimum wage will be determined by amajority vote in the commission, taking into acco-unt the social and economic status of the nation, thecost of living index and the general status of thosecurrently living on the minimum wage.

Last year, when setting the minimum wagefor 2009, the parties involved in the commissioncould not come to an agreement, resulting in onlyemployers and the government bargaining for the2009 minimum wage. stanbul Todays Zaman with wires

Turkey has imported 28.78 billion cubic metersof natural gas in the rst 10 months of the year,

while the countrys natural gas production stood at580.48 million cubic meters in the same period.

Turkey, importing almost all its natural gas ne-eds, consumed 37.7 billion cubic meters of naturalgas last year. This gure was rst estimated to be

some 40 billion cubic meters; however, due to pricehikes in natural gas and the negative impact of theglobal economic crisis, the estimate was reduced tosome 35 billion cubic meters.

Consumption, on the other hand, is expectedto be 31 billion cubic meters by years end, consi-dering recent production and import data, meaningTurkey will be required to pay for unused gas due toa purchase or pay stipulation in agreements withboth Russia and Iran.

Turkey imported 3.16 billion cubic meters ofnatural gas in January, 2.88 billion cubic meters inFebruary, 3.17 billion cubic meters in March, 2.57billion cubic meters in April, 2.6 billion cubic metersin May, 2.7 billion cubic meters in June, 3.08 billi-on cubic meters in July, 3.08 billion cubic meters in

August, 2.86 billion cubic meters in September and2.69 billion cubic meters in October.

On the other hand, 68.13 million cubic metersof natural gas were produced in January and 59.10million cubic meters in February. In March, 65.93million cubic meters were produced, while in Aprilthis gure was 63.06 million cubic meters. May sawa drop, registering production of 58.10 million cubicmeters of natural gas. This trend continued in June(57.01 million cubic meters), July (53.75 million cu-bic meters), August (51.21 million cubic meters) andSeptember (48.34 million cubic meters). Octobermarked a turnaround and saw 55.86 million cubicmeters produced in the month. stanbul Todays Zaman

Minister of Public Works and SettlementMustafa Demir stressed that a new law ma-

king the rounds in parliament would eliminatethe notion of allowing unlicensed constructions.

The new law, which is currently being draftedby the Public Works, Transportation, and Tou-rism Comissions, would bring a completely newzoning system that would bring together vari-ous ministries to put forward sanctions and pu-nishments on allowing unlicensed constructionby municipalities.

Demir spoke in parliament yesterday, statingthat local governments, planning and construc-tion licensers, groundwork and bodywork res-ponsibilities of local administrations should beall subject to specic responsibilities and sancti-ons, highlighting that if these do not exists, thenTurkey will have skewed urbanization, unhealthyconstruction, and abuse by administrators.

He continued by stating that We haventbeen successful at stopping unlicensed cons-truction in the past, because governments andadministrators of public works did not take res-ponsibility or put forward sanctions for allowingthese constructions to continue. Municipalities

will not do anything about unlicensed buildingsor constructions unless they will also be punis-hed for itPeople outside of Turkey do not un-derstand what we mean when we say unlicensedbuildings. It doesnt make sense to them. We are

now a developed country and we will put an endto unlicensed construction in rural and urban are-as with this new law. stanbul Todays Zaman with wires

Ergn: Investment assistance office to be established in Jordan

Global motor vehicle production drops by 22.9 percent

Minister of Industry and Trade Nihat Ergnrevealed yesterday that an ofce to assist Tur-

kish investors in Jordan will be established, comp-lementing the free trade agreement signed betwe-en the two countries on Tuesday.

The minister, on a diplomatic mission to Jor-dan along with President Abdullah Gl, met withJordanian Minister of Industry and Trade AmerAl-Hadidi along with Ghazi Shbeikat, the ministerof labor, to discuss the recently signed free trade

agreement between the two countries.Ergn, who spoke at the meeting, noted that

economic development must have the private sec-tor as its base, adding: A country cannot becomerich through the building of factories by the govern-ment. Wealth can only come about through entrep-reneurship. Speaking about the difculties thatTurkish workers in Jordan face, Ergn highlightedthat the delay in processing workers permits alongwith high taxes on real estate were creating unne-cessary hardship for Turkish investors.

To solve these problems, Ergn continued, his

ministry will establish an ofce in Jordan to helpTurkish investors overcome hurdles in investing.

The ofce will employ people who know Turkishand can help Turkish investors in any way possib-le. The Jordanian Investment Promotion Agencyhas given orders to start the establishment of thisofce and is working to shorten the processing pe-riod for work permits. Theyve also accepted thattaxes are high on real estate and have promised todecrease these taxes, he said.

Speaking on the free trade agreement bet-ween the two countries, Ergn noted that Jor-

dan may experience some difculties after theagreement, but said the two economies must be

as open as possible to increase competition andthus welfare. Ergn pointed to the example ofthe automobile sector: In the 80s we were clo-sed to the outside world and produced tin cancars at the price of Mercedez Benzs automobi-les. Now we are one of the top economies in the

world and produce at European quality levelsand at competitive prices.

Ergn highlighted that his ministry will be working with Parliament to make the free trade

agreement and the lifting of visa requirements ef-fective in 2010. stanbul Todays Zaman with wires

Global motor vehicle production decreasedby 22.9 percent in the rst nine months of

this year compared to the same period in 2008,reecting the hit the automotive sector took du-ring the global economic crisis.

A statement released yesterday by the Auto-motive Manufacturers Association (OSD) basedon data obtained from the International Organi-zation of Motor Vehicle Manufacturers (OICA)reviewed global and regional production guresfor passenger and commercial automobiles in

the rst nine months of 2009.The statement noted that automobile produc-

tion decreased by 19.5 percent for a total of 32.5million units produced thus far. Light commercial

vehicle production shrank to 7.1 million units, adecrease of 33.8 percent compared to 2008. Heavytruck production and bus production dropped by29.2 percent and 23.3 percent, respectively.

The statement also mentioned regional variationsin motor vehicle production, highlighting the succes-ses and disappointing performances in the BRIC co-

untries -- Brazil, Russia, India and China. Accordingto the statement, Brazils motor vehicle productiondropped by 11.4 percent, with a staggering 63.5 per-cent decrease in Russia. India and China were thestars during this period, as their production grew by1.4 percent and 22.0 percent, respectively.

The 27 nations making up the EU experi-enced a decrease of 25.6 percent, whereas theNorth American Free Trade Agreement (NAF-TA) regions production shrank by 41.6 percent.Other European nations, a category which inc-

ludes Serbia, Russia, Ukraine and Uzbekistan,suffered the most from the economic crisis,shrinking by 55.7 percent to 1.2 million units.

According to the statement, the effect of theeconomic crisis was most felt in the rst quarter of2009, with a decrease in production of 36

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