TURKISH PARLIAMENT TO DEBATE THE GOVERNMENT PROGRAM
Gizem Cevik
The New Anatolian, Turkey
Sept 3 2007
Turkey poised for a take off
The Turkish Parliament will today debate the government program
unveiled by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday that sets
the stage for a take off for Turkey.
The government in its first five years between 2002 to 2007 introduced
economic stability after years of financial chaos and now with more
economic reforms it hopes to bring Turkey into a take off stage where
it will join the European Union and spread prosperity to the poor
and the underprivileged.
In 2002 Prime Minister Erdogan asked the masses to show patience for
three years until the government brings order to the chaotic economy.
Now with his new mandate Erdogan has to spread the country’s wealth to
the masses in a country where income distribution has been extremely
unbalanced.
Experts say in the past five years the rich grew richer in Turkey
but they did not invest in job generating businesses. Now with a
new tax law and more incentives added with prospects of joining the
EU observers say Turkey can grow richer and dish it out to its poor
masses in a more balanced way. A senior government official told The
New Anatolian this will be the main task of the administration in
the next five years.
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who won a second mandate in
parliamentary elections in July, told the Parliament on Friday while
reading out his government program that the administration will press
ahead with democratic and judicial reforms, overhaul the constitution,
and establish "zero tolerance" against torture.
"Our government sees the EU entry talks both as a way of integration
and a reform process to improve political, economic, social and legal
standards," said Erdogan.
Relations between Turkey and the EU, Erdogan said, are "of great
significance in easing tensions that threaten global peace and
expanding cooperation in risk areas such as international terrorism,
cultural confrontation and energy security."
Erdogan said the government will also draft a new constitution that
will "protect individual rights in the most efficient manner and bring
basic rights and freedoms in line" with universal standards, he said.
Turkey began accession negotiations with the EU in 2005, but Brussels
froze the talks last year in eight of the 35 policy areas candidates
must complete.
The move was a response to Ankara’s refusal to grant trade privileges
to EU-member Cyprus, which it does not recognize.
The talks have also snagged on strong opposition in some EU countries,
notably France, to Muslim-majority Turkey’s accession.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy, a staunch opponent of Turkish
membership, softened his stance Monday, saying France would not block
the negotiations.
Legislators from Erdogan’s Justice and Development (AK Party)
are working on a draft proposal that overhauls the constitution –
a legacy of a 1980 military coup – to make it more democratic.
"Our new constitution must bring to life the democratic, secular and
social state, governed by the rule of law, and protect individuals
rights, and it must guarantee fundamental rights and liberties,"
said Erdogan, who has shifted over the past decade from advocacy of
political Islam to a more moderate stance in which religion is not
the driving force in policy-making.
The current constitution, adopted in 1982, has been amended several
times but its many critics say a fundamental overhaul is needed
to stamp out its authoritarian spirit and bring it in line with
contemporary standards of democracy.
One planned amendment, media reports say, would allow dismissed
military men to appeal against their expulsions, a move likely to irk
the army which is already mistrustful of the AK Party’s Islamist roots.
Soldiers suspected of Islamist activities are routinely dismissed
and have no right of appeal under current legislation.
Erdogan vowed to eradicate torture, which human rights groups say
has persisted in detention centers despite vast improvements in
the country.
"With an understanding of zero tolerance, we will fight with great
determination – just as we have done so far – against human rights
abuses such as torture, death under custody, which are unacceptable
in democratic countries," Erdogan said.
Erdogan promised to continue reforms to boost the economy, maintain
fiscal discipline and fight corruption. The government’s policies,
backed by the International Monetary Fund, have helped bring down
soaring inflation to single-digit figures in the past five years.
Erdogan said his government would move to attract more direct foreign
investment and speed up privatisation.
He promised to decrease the tax burden on employers as a means of
reducing unemployment and battling Turkey’s giant underground economy.
The ultimate aim, he said, was to raise per capita GNP from 5,477
dollars last year to 10,000 dollars by 2013 and propel Turkey,
currently the world’s 17th largest economy, into the top 10 by 2023.
Erdogan said the government would aim to more than double Turkey’s
exports to US$200 billion (~@147 billion) during its five-year term.
He pledged the government’s resolve to fight separatist Kurdish rebels,
whose attacks this year prompted the Turkish military to recommend
an offensive against their bases in neighboring Iraq.
Turkey’s political leaders have instead appealed to Iraq and the United
States to crack down on the PKK terrorists operating in northern Iraq.
"We will not allow the territory of any neighboring country to be
used as a base for terrorist attacks against our country," he said.
The program, however, made no mention of any measures to lift a ban
on Islamic-style head scarves in schools and government offices,
a symbolic issue that has had an especially polarizing effect on
Turkish society.
Despite Erdogan’s pledge to improve human rights, he did not mention
Turkey’s Article 301, which has been used to prosecute journalists,
writers and academics for allegedly insulting Turkish identity. Nobel
Prize-winning author Orhan Pamuk and slain ethnic Armenian journalist
Hrant Dink were prosecuted under the law, which the EU wants Turkey
to scrap.
Erdogan’s new government is expected to formally assume office after
a confidence vote in parliament on Wednesday, which it is expected
easily win.
…and on some other issues
Here are some extracts from the government program
DEFENSE
"Our government adopts policies that will strengthen the Turkish
nation’s unity, brotherhood and unitary form of governmental
structure. We will continue to struggle against all attempts that
may jeopardize national security without making any concessions. We
will stand firm against all attempts to hurt our national security,
indivisible unity and unitary form of the country", remarked Erdogan.
"We will follow closely all global technological progress and develop
our national defense system. Accordingly, we will make Turkey less
dependent on foreign industries in the defense area", underlined
Erdogan.
ECONOMY
"Central Bank’s foreign-exchange reserves, which were nearly 26.8
billion USD by the end of 2002, reached 70 billion USD as of August
2007, the highest figures in the history. Consequently, our economy’s
resistance against external shocks has increased," Erdogan said.
"While the privatizations carried out between 1985 and 2002 amounted
to only 8 billion USD, the privatizations conducted since 2003 reached
33 billion USD. This way, public sector’s share in economy has been
diminished and private sector’s role has been strengthened," he noted.
Moreover, Erdogan said, "Our main target is to make Turkey one of
the top 10 economies of the world by the year 2023, in terms of the
extent of GNP based on purchasing power parity".
Erdogan also stated, "On the other hand, the ratio of Overall Net
Public Debt over Gross National Product, which was around 78 percent
by the end of 2002, decreased to 45 percent as of end of 2006. In the
upcoming period, the ratio of public debt over national income will
be drawn down more. In spite of the recent negative developments in
the global markets, the interest rates are currently around 17-19
percent as of August 2007".
"Our government’s goal is to reduce interest rates to one-digit
figures in the upcoming period," he affirmed.
BANKING & TOURISM
"We have made significant progress in lessening the fragility of
the banking sector thanks to our program that aims to reform the
business. The banking system is now more resistant," PM Erdogan said.
On Turkey’s tourism industry, Erdogan noted, "according to the
figures of 2005, our country was the ninth among the countries that
attracted the highest number of foreign tourists and was the eighth
among countries that earns the highest income from tourism. There has
been significant rise in the number of tourists visiting our country,
and in our tourism income, thanks to our efforts to make Turkey a
brand name in the world. The number of tourists preferring Turkey
as a destination rose to 19 million in 2006, and we earned about 17
billion USD from this industry. We aim to raise our tourism income
to 40 billion USD in 2013."
ENERGY
Erdogan said, "the main factor in our energy program is the safety of
energy supply. Ensuring participation of private sector in electricity
generation and transmission, forming a competitive market, increasing
the number of supplier countries, using domestic resources in energy
generation and reducing our dependence on imports are our priorities
in energy sector."
"Just as the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline demonstrated, we will
strengthen Turkey’s geo-strategic role in channeling regional oil,
natural gas and electricity to international markets. We will work
to make Ceyhan a major hub in the energy distribution, as well. By
completing natural gas pipelines, Turkey will play a vital role in
transferring natural gas to Europe", said Erdogan.
"We will endeavor to transfer the Caspian region and Middle
East natural gas reserves to European markets via the Turkey-
Bulgaria-Romania-Hungary-Austria (NABUCCO) natural gas pipeline.
Furthermore, a natual gas pipeline, with an annual capacity of 12
billion cubic meters, will be established connecting Turkey, Greece
and Italy (Southern Europe Line)", noted Erdogan.
"The dams of Boyabat, Deriner, Ermenek and Ilisu will be completed
during our term. We will begin constructing the Yusufeli dam soon. We
will give priority to the construction of hydroelectric and thermal
power plants", stressed Erdogan.
TRANSPORTATION
"It is not possible to go on with the current transportation system
(in Turkey) which is 90 percent dependent on roads and highways. In the
next decade, we will develop land, sea, railway and air transportation,
parallel to each other. Our main goal is to begin high speed trains,
renew the existing railway system, and receive the support of the
private enterprises in Turkish railways. We pay high attention to the
Ankara-Istanbul speed train project that will make possible the travel
between the capital and the biggest city, only in three hours. We
are also about to implement the Marmaray project", stated Erdogan.
"Air transportation in Turkey has reached a new era under our
government term. The monopoly in domestic flights has ended and we now
have private airlines carrying passengers to domestic destinations. The
number of domestic passengers using domestic airlines has increased
to 29 million in 2007 from 8.5 million in 2002. The number of
Turkish passengers taking both domestic and international flights
has increased to 62 million in 2006 from 33.5 million in 2002. This
is a world record!" underlined Erdogan.
RURAL DEVELOPMENT
For the first time in Turkish history, we have prepared a "Rural
Development Strategy", told Erdogan. "We have allocated a resource
of 4.5 billion YTL in the past two years for villages and small
towns, under the projects such as KOYDES and BELDES. We are working
to satisfy all the needs of villagers, including roads and potable
water", Erdogan stressed.