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CONTENTS

• GERMANY, FRANCE SUPPORT STARTING MEMBERSHIP TALKS WITH TURKEY; OPPONENTS INSIST ON PRIVILEGED PARTNERSHIP

• TURKISH PM, FM JOIN IN SIGNING EU CONSTITUTION

• GOVERNMENT VOWS MORE REFORMS

• GREEK CYPRIOT VETO ON TURKEY TALKS POSSIBLE UNTIL LAST MINUTE

• IRAQ GUNMEN KILL DRIVER OF TURKISH TRUCK IN MOSUL

• TURKEY WELCOMES APPROVAL OF SHARON'S PLAN

• UBP COALITION EFFORT FAILS, EARLY POLLS LOOM IN NORTHERN CYPRUS

• VERHEUGEN: “THE EP IS ACTING SLOWLY ON FINANCIAL SUPPORT FOR TURKISH CYPRIOTS”

• TURKISH LAWMAKERS TO MONITOR US PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS

• COMMITTEE MAKES CONTROVERSIAL 'MINORITY' REPORT PUBLIC

• 81^st ANNIVERSARY OF TURKISH REPUBLIC CELEBRATED AROUND THE COUNTRY; HEADSCARF ROW MARS PRESIDENTIAL RECEPTION

• GREECE CLAIMS OF TURKISH AIRSPACE VIOLATIONS MOUNT

• TURKEY’S NSC MEETS UNDER CIVILIAN SECRETARY-GENERAL

• PARLIAMENT SENDS FORMER MINISTERS OZKAN, ONAL TO SUPREME STATE COUNCIL; ERSUMER AND CAKAN FACE THE COURT

• 2005 BUDGET MARATHON BEGINS IN PARLIAMENT; TURKEY ANNOUNCES DEFICIT OVERRUN OF $3.5 BILLION

• IMF DELEGATION COMPLETES SECOND ROUND OF MEETINGS ON STANDBY

GERMANY, FRANCE SUPPORT STARTING MEMBERSHIP TALKS WITH TURKEY; OPPONENTS INSIST ON PRIVILEGED PARTNERSHIP

Germany and France offered a ringing endorsement for Turkey eventually joining the European Union) at a bilateral summit, as French President Jacques Chirac brushed aside doubts about Paris's backing. "We are both of the opinion that on December 17. It is about a decision that should give Turkey the opportunity to negotiate with the (European) Commission with the explicit aim of Turkey joining the European Union and with no other aim," Schroeder told reporters. Chirac added that it was his "dearest wish" that the EU membership talks with Turkey end in its joining the bloc. "The membership of Turkey would be in the interest of Turkey and in the interest of the stability and democracy in the world and in our region," he said. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan joined the Franco Summit later on, where he met with German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and French President Jacques Chirac. The official reason for invitation extended to Erdogan to join the Franco-German summit was for the signing of a 2.8-billion-dollar (2.22-billion-euro) contract for Turkish Airlines to buy 36 Airbus passenger jets to renew the flag carrier's aging fleet. Erdogan received, in this meeting, assurances from the two EU heavyweights that they would support opening accession talks in the December summit.

Schroeder has emerged as the strongest supporter of Turkey's bid within the EU. But under pressure to change his supportive line for Turkey's membership at home, French President Chirac promised a referendum on Turkish entry following the conclusion of entry talks, a process not expected to take less than a decade. The 25 EU leaders are expected at the December summit to give Turkey a green light on starting accession talks but it is not yet clear when the negotiations could begin.

During a meeting in Berlin with Claudia Roth, the leader of Germany's Greens party, the junior partner in the ruling coalition, Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan explained his objection to the idea of holding a referendum for Turkey’s entry with a soccer metaphor. "The rules of the game are known and established. You cannot have new rules once the match has begun," he was quoted by one of his advisors as saying.

Some parliamentarians in France and Germany are pushing a fresh bid for a so-called privileged partnership for Turkey in the European Union rather than the full membership backed by their respective governments. With this aim, the leader of the France Democracy Union (UDF) Francois Bayrou, a lead opponent of Turkish membership, said his party was pushing for a fresh parliamentary debate on Turkey. Earlier this month, French lawmakers aired their misgivings about Turkey's membership at a parliamentary debate but the government managed to avoid a vote, which could have embarrassed Chirac at the December summit. The UDF proposal for a privileged partnership is also promoted by conservative Christian Democrats in Germany. Germany's conservative opposition parties and a majority within Chirac's center-right Union for Popular Movement party has recently attempted to rally support for the idea.

Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer, in response to conservatives, said the Christian Democrats should explain why they abandoned a policy they pursued in the last decade that supported Turkey's accession into the EU. Claudia Roth, co-chairperson of the Greens Party, said the Christian Democrats were promoting discrimination against Turkey. "European values are not tied to a specific religion or culture. Turkey has been promised membership for 40 years. Now, are we going to say 'we didn't mean that'?" she asked. /AFP-Turkish Daily News/

TURKISH PM, FM JOIN IN SIGNING EU CONSTITUTION

Along with leaders of 28 member and candidate countries, the Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Turkey have signed the new European Union (EU) Constitution at a ceremony in Rome October 29. As a candidate country, Turkey, together with Romania and Bulgaria, signed only the Final Act. Croatia attended as an observer. The historic document will come into effect when ratified by the member states. The new constitution needs to be approved by parliaments of the member states or through a referendum. The constitution is intended to reduce bureaucracy and prevent deadlocks in the decision making process of the EU. "The fact that our country is present alongside the EU countries and candidates at this historic stage shows that Turkey is an inalienable part of Europe's future," Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said before the ceremony in the Italian capital. /NTVMSNBC-Turkish Daily News/

GOVERNMENT VOWS MORE REFORMS

The Turkish government has promised that it will enact further legislative reforms to bring the country’s laws and regulations into line with those of the European Union. In a joint statement issued by Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul, Justice Minister Cemil Cicek and Interior Minister Abdulkadir Aksu on October 29, it was announced that five more legislative acts would be proposed to Parliament related to justice and civil associations, including non-Muslim religious foundations. They also foresee amendment of criminal procedures and rules related to the execution of punishments. All five pieces of legislation are aimed at addressing concerns raised by the European Commission in its October 6 report on Turkey’s progress in meeting the requirements to start accession talks./NTVMSNBC/ 

GREEK CYPRIOT VETO ON TURKEY TALKS POSSIBLE UNTIL LAST MINUTE

Greek Cypriot leader Tassos Papadopoulos told members of the Greek Cypriot National Council at a recent meeting that whether they would veto a decision to start EU accession talks with Turkey would be clear only at the last minute. He also said that a Greek Cypriot decision would not differ from that of the Greek government’s, said Anatolia news agency. According to the Greek Cypriot press, the Greek Cypriot administration attributed major importance to Greek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis' visit to the island on November 12 and 13. "Karamanlis is the key for a veto," said a Greek Cypriot newspaper.

Turkish and Greek Cypriots had voted on a U.N. plan in April in simultaneous referenda for the reunification of Cyprus. The Greek Cypriot administration was accepted as a full member to the EU in May, although it rejected the U.N. plan, while the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), who voted in favor of the plan, was excluded from the EU. The Greek Cypriot government is recognized internationally but the TRNC is recognized only by Turkey. Greek Cypriot politicians insist that Turkish recognition of the island's Greek Cypriot government should be a condition for the start of its full membership talks with the EU. Ankara repeatedly said that it had fulfilled the Copenhagen criteria which were the only condition to start entry talks. /Turkish Daily News

IRAQ GUNMEN KILL DRIVER OF TURKISH TRUCK IN MOSUL

Gunmen killed the driver of a Turkish truck in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul on October 29 and then set it ablaze, witnesses said. They said assailants with assault rifles had shot the driver and then set fire to the truck with his body inside. It was not immediately clear if the driver was a Turkish national, but the truck, which was carrying bottled mineral water, had Turkish plates and markings. The attack occurred in Yarmuk Square in western Mosul.

Turkish trucks, drivers and workers have increasingly become the target of insurgents in Iraq. Several have been killed in armed attacks and some taken hostage beheaded. A number of Turkish companies have ceased operations in the country in a bid to save the lives of their employees held hostage by insurgents. The Turkish government advised Turkish citizens not to travel to Iraq unless it was necessary and urged them to obey the security measures when they were there. /Reuters-Turkish Daily News/

TURKEY WELCOMES APPROVAL OF SHARON'S PLAN

Turkey has said it welcomed the parliamentary approval of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's plan to withdraw from the Gaza Strip and partly from the West Bank next year. "Turkey expects full implementation of this resolution," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement. Turkey was ready to make a contribution if requested during the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip, the statement said. /Turkish Daily News/

UBP COALITION EFFORT FAILS, EARLY POLLS LOOM IN NORTHERN CYPRUS

Early elections appear to be looming in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) after efforts by Dervis Eroglu, the leader of the largest party in parliament, to form a new government failed. Both Republican Turkish Party (CTP) leader Mehmet Ali Talat and Democratic Party (DP) leader Serdar Denktas rejected Eroglu’s offers to form a new coalition. Eroglu also met with Mustafa Akinci, leader of the smaller Peace and Democracy Movement (BDH). A coalition of the two, which would have 24 seats, would fall short of the majority but pro-settlement Akinci said quantity was not the only obstacle. "There should be a sufficient convergence of views on the Cyprus issue," Akinci told reporters after the meeting.

Eroglu's UBP was searching for a coalition partner since Eroglu was asked by President Rauf Denktas last week to form a new government. The coalition government of Mehmet Ali Talat's CTP and Serdar Denktas' DP stepped down last week after losing their majority in the assembly following the resignation of three government MPs. Talat's coalition was also undermined by the European Union's failure to implement measures to end the economic isolation of the TRNC.

UBP leader Dervis Eroglu said he would return the mandate to President Rauf Denktas after a meeting of the party assembly, the Anatolia news agency said. Eroglu said Talat and Denktas refused his offer to form a new government since they had a prior agreement to take the TRNC to early polls on Jan. 23, Anatolia news agency said. "We know the CTP and the DP have even agreed on the election date," Eroglu was quoted as saying. "There is a movement against the UBP in the TRNC" he said.

The Turkish Cypriot coalition government was formed before referenda held over a United Nations blueprint for the reunification of the Turkish and Greek Cypriot sides of the divided island in April. The Turkish Cypriots voted in favor of the blueprint, but the Greek Cypriots rejected it. Eroglu's UBP opposed the reunification plan, while Talat's CTP supported it. /Turkish Daily News-Turkiye/

VERHEUGEN: “THE EP IS ACTING SLOWLY ON FINANCIAL SUPPORT FOR TURKISH CYPRIOTS”

Last week, European Union Commissioner for Enlargement Guenter Verheugen criticized the European Parliament (EP) for acting slowly on extending financial support to the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC). Speaking to the EP’s general assembly, Verheugen said that damage wrought in Cyprus after the failure of the UN plan could still be overcome, adding that the EP was dragging its feet on aid to spur the TRNC’s economic development. /Turkiye/

TURKISH LAWMAKERS TO MONITOR US PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS

Turkish lawmakers participated in an observer delegation of the parliamentary assembly of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) for monitoring the presidential elections in the U.S., said Anatolia news agency. Two deputies from the governing Justice and Development Party (AKP) and a deputy from the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) were at the U.S. Congress in Washington to attend briefings on the U.S. election system, the agency said. While Nevzat Yalcintas and Alaattin Buyukkaya from the AKP were appointed by the OSCE parliamentary assembly as observers in Virginia State, Yakup Kepenek from the CHP observed the elections in Florida State. The total 60 member OSCE delegation is first of its kind to observe elections in the U.S. The delegation was formed upon a request from the U.S. State Department. The OSCE delegation is to release a report of their observations one month after the elections. The delegation will be able to make suggestions for the following elections, if needed. The OSCE members previously observed elections in the dissolved Soviet Republics and newly emerged democratic countries. /Turkish Daily News/

COMMITTEE MAKES CONTROVERSIAL 'MINORITY' REPORT PUBLIC

A committee of academics and representatives from nongovernmental organizations officially announced at a press conference a controversial report on minorities and cultural rights to the public, after weeks of heated debates in the Turkish media. The Minority Rights and Cultural Rights Working Group, headed by Professor Baskin Oran, had presented its report to the Prime Minister's Office on October 22. The final text of the report is calling for a revision of the Constitution and relevant laws to create a democratic and pluralist legal approach and says the state should guarantee all citizens' rights to preserve and develop their distinct identity and culture through promotion of such rights as broadcasting, education and self-expression.

Turkey has signed a U.N. convention on minority rights but put reservations on certain terms. The European Union, which Turkey aspires to join, has called on Turkey to lift its reservations. The basic text on the basis of which the minority issue is regulated in Turkey is the 1923 Lausanne Treaty between the newly created Turkish Republic and Western powers against whom the Turkish Independence War was won. That treaty grants minority status only to non-Muslim communities in Turkey.

The report of the sub-committee criticizes the restrictive minority definition of the Lausanne Treaty and says it contradicts the modern-day trends, which accept presence of minorities in a state if there are communities in that state that are "ethnically, linguistically and religiously different" and feel this difference is an inseparable part of their identity. But recognition of the presence of a minority does not mean that the nation-state concerned must give them minority status and rights, as this authority lies with the nation-state itself, according to the report.

But Turkey's practice since 1923 has not been even up to the Lausanne Treaty, the report said. Article 39/4 of the treaty made it clear that all Turkish citizens were free to use the language they wish in their commercial relations, open and closed meetings and in all press and broadcasting institutions. According to the report, the whole debate on Kurdish broadcasting and education would have been pointless if this article had been properly implemented. It said even the most innocent demands for a distinct identity have been viewed with a "paranoid" suspicion in the country as if they are meant to divide the country and promote terrorism. /Turkish Daily News/

81^st ANNIVERSARY OF TURKISH REPUBLIC CELEBRATED AROUND THE COUNTRY; HEADSCARF ROW MARS PRESIDENTIAL RECEPTION

The 81st anniversary of the foundation of the Republic of Turkey was celebrated on October 29 around the country, at foreign representations and in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (KKTC). The celebrations all around the country were held in peace. However, President Ahmet Necdet Sezer’s reception, the top social event on Ankara's calendar for festivities, was boycotted by the MPs from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), after President Sezer refused to invite wives who cover their heads. Out of the 368 AKP parliamentary members, only about 20 -- including four ministers -- turned up at the presidential palace, NTV news channel reported. Some had said earlier in the week they had sent back their invitations to the president in protest at the snub of their spouses.

The wives of most members of the AKP, a conservative party with Islamist roots, wear the Islamic headscarf, seen by many in Turkey as a symbolic declaration against the Muslim nation's strictly secular order. Erdogan's government has vocally criticized the ban as a breach of religious freedoms. /Turkish Daily News/

GREECE CLAIMS OF TURKISH AIRSPACE VIOLATIONS MOUNT

EU-member Greece has increased its allegations about Turkish airspace violations, a disputed matter that could trigger tension between the two countries amid Turkey's efforts to start accession talks with the bloc. Charges by the Greek military earlier last week that armed Turkish jet fighters violated Greek airspace over the Aegean Sea added to similar accusations by Greek government officials. The reported violations by six formations of 12 fighter aircraft, three of which were armed, occurred in the eastern Aegean near the islands of Chios and Lesvos, Greece's national defense general staff said in a statement. According to the statement, Greek fighter jets were scrambled to intercept the Turkish fighters and engaged in mock dogfights with three of them before they broke off and headed back to Turkey. The statement came one day after Greece protested to Turkey for the second time in a week over alleged violations of its airspace and territorial waters. Greece warned its neighbor that such behavior could hurt its prospects of joining the European Union. Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said on Tuesday that Turkey had discussed the accusations of airspace and territorial sea violations with Greece. He did not elaborate.

Such actions have been decreasing in recent years as relations between the two countries steadily improved. Athens has staunchly backed Turkey's bid to join the EU.

In the past, long-standing disputes over airspace and territorial rights in the Aegean have nearly led to three wars between the two NATO allies since 1974. One of the disputes stems over airspace limits. Greece says its national airspace extends 10 miles but Turkey recognizes only six miles -- the same distance as territorial waters -- often leading to accusations of violations. /Turkish Daily News/

TURKEY’S NSC MEETS UNDER CIVILIAN SECRETARY-GENERAL

Last week, the National Security Council held its first regular meeting with its new civilian secretary-general, Yigit Alpogan, a former ambassador. The meeting was chaired by President Ahmet Necdet Sezer. /Hurriyet/

PARLIAMENT SENDS FORMER MINISTERS OZKAN, ONAL TO SUPREME STATE COUNCIL; ERSUMER AND CAKAN FACE THE COURT

During a Parliament session last week, the assembled deputies decided to send former State Ministers Husamettin Ozkan and Recep Onal to the Supreme State Council to face allegations of approving illegal credit granted by Halkbank. The Constitutional Court rejected a previous Parliament decision to try the politicians at the council as the cases had not been considered individually. Meanwhile, former Energy Ministers Cumhur Ersumer and Zeki Cakan's trials at the Supreme State Council will start on Tuesday, November 2. The Parliament Investigation Commission report, which was approved by the General Assembly, had said that Ersumer and Cakan had exceeded their authority, implemented wrong and illegal energy policies that resulted in a loss and abused their power, recommending them to be tried at the Supreme State Council. /Turkiye-Turkish Daily News/

2005 BUDGET MARATHON BEGINS IN PARLIAMENT; TURKEY ANNOUNCES DEFICIT OVERRUN OF $3.5 BILLION

Parliament will begin deliberations on the 2005 budget this week after a draft version of the budget was submitted to the Parliamentary Budget and Planning Commission by Finance Minister Kemal Unakitan last week. Parliamentary discussions on the budget are expected to last around a month.

Meanwhile, Turkey’s current account deficit is set to exceed government’s predictions by $3.5 billion in 2004, according to a report released November 1. Turkish government had targeted a $10.8 billion deficit for the year but has now revised this figure to $14.387, 4.9 percent of GNP. The deficit had already blown out to $10.550 billion by the end of September. However, the government said that it would reign in the deficit next year, predicting a $10.633 billion shortfall, representing 3.6 percent of GNP for 2005. /NTVMSNBC-Turkish Daily News/

IMF DELEGATION COMPLETES SECOND ROUND OF MEETINGS ON STANDBY

Following the completion of a second round of meetings with Turkish officials on a possible new standby agreement, International Monetary Fund (IMF) Turkey Desk Chief Riza Moghadam left Turkey. The IMF delegation headed by Moghadam is scheduled to pay another visit in mid-November to complete discussions on the pact. Meanwhile, Hugh Bredenkamp, the IMF’s senior resident representative in Turkey, said that the Fund expected Turkish officials would clarify details on tax and social security reform as well as banking law. /Turkiye/