Cyprus-Forum.com

[halil]

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is in Turkey, the final stop on a week-long foreign tour.
It is the first visit by a member of the new US administration to Turkey.
The US Secretary of State was first received by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Her Turkish counterpart Ali Babacan was also present at the meeting which was closed to the press.
Clinton will also be received separately by Turkish President Abdullah Gul.

Mrs Clinton\'s meetings are expected to cover a wide range of issues, including Turkey\'s unique potential as a mediator in the Middle East, and its role in helping cut the West\'s energy dependence on Russia.

Then there is Iraq, where Ankara has indicated it will allow the US to use its territory and bases for the planned withdrawal of troops.

On Afghanistan though, there is no hint Turkey will commit any combat troops to intensified operations there.

After a fraught relationship with the Bush administration, the visit by Mrs. Clinton is also seen as a chance to reaffirm the two countries\' alliance.
Turkey calls this visit by Mrs. Clinton \"important confirmation\" of its strategic relationship with America.

The war in Iraq was just one reason public perception of the US plunged to a historic low in Turkey. So Mrs. Clinton plans to reach out to that public.

In addition to her formal meetings, she will be making an appearance on a popular daytime chat show, hosted by four women.
Significantly, this visit to Turkey has been included in the European leg of Mrs. Clinton\'s week-long tour.

Analysts see that as a sign the Obama administration plans to revitalize its support for Turkey\'s EU accession efforts.

It has also been taken as a clear message that the US sees Turkey firmly as a European power - with a very specific role to play in the Middle East.

[halil]

HIILLARY CLINTON said ,

Obama will visit Turkey in a month time . They are trying to fixed the date with her Turkish counter partner .

[paliometoxo]

buttering america up so thent hey can demand things later on or try blackmail them to get what they want

[halil]

u scratch my back ..... i scratch your .......

they already asked to Turkey ..... to left their soldiers to use Iskenderun sea port while they moves away from IRAK .

than bargain will start !

[turkkan]

Cyprus wont even be mentioned in these talks- the issues that concern turkey at this point in time is iran and the future of iraq.

[Oracle]

In addition to her formal meetings, she will be making an appearance on a popular daytime chat show, hosted by four women.

There's your clue right there as to why she was visiting Turkey. It's part of her fight oppression of women campaign ....

[turkkan]

LOL.

[Oracle]

Here are the other "non-oppressive" countries she visited ..

Beginning February 15, she will visit Japan, Indonesia, the Republic of Korea (South Korea), and China.

Is Clinton easing their passage to the EU also

The USA doesn't concern itself with whether Turkey is going to join the EU or not .... but others seem to think Turkey is less likely than ever to be allowed into the EU:

RIGHTS-TURKEY: Freedom of Expression Under Attack

By Hilmi Toros

ISTANBUL, Mar 5 (IPS) - As it aspires for full European Union membership, Turkey is still struggling with freedom of expression, raising questions whether it can ever join the EU or will simply remain a suspended bridge between East and West.

In a severe test of press freedom, the country's largest media group often critical of the government has been slapped a record 500 million dollar fine for alleged tax evasion and fraud. Critics say this is a politically motivated move to silence dissent with the Islamic-rooted governing party.

At the same time, the head of the pro-Kurdish party is ostracised, ahead of possible persecution, for breaking a taboo, if not the law, by speaking Kurdish in Parliament.

The media-government battle pits Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a former Islamist firebrand, now as popular as controversial, against Aydin Dogan, an avowed secularist and head of a business complex with about half of the national media in its fold.

The running duel between the two began last September when the Dogan group extensively covered the trial of a charitable Turkish foundation charged in Germany with siphoning funds to members of Erdogan's Justice and Development Party AKP. The Prime Minister accused Dogan of seeking revenge for failure to gain preferential treatment for his business dealings - and asked the public to boycott his news outlets.

The fine, slapped for alleged late registry of the sale of shares of the Dogan publishing group to German publisher Alex Springer AG in 2006, is unprecedented in the annals of national taxation. Erdogan calls it a "legal" issue, Dogan says it is "political".

Independent analysts and international media groups are challenging the motives behind the fine. The Cumhuriyet, the oldest daily in Turkey founded by the Turkish Republic's first president Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, left its front page blank last week in protest against what it called pressure on the media.

"This is a fine against freedom of the press and democracy," senior Dogan executive Vuslat Dogan Sabanci said in a statement. Accreditation of six Dogan group journalists to the Prime Minister's office has been revoked.

"The timing and unprecedented size of this tax fine raise serious concerns that the authorities are changing their approach from rhetoric to using the state apparatus to harass the media," International Press Institute (IPI) director David Dadge said in a statement Feb. 20. The IPI is a Vienna-based group comprising editors and media executives defending press freedom.

"Even if the case has merit, which is contestable, such a fine is unlikely to have been imposed on a media group not critical of the ruling party," Istanbul attorney Koray Argun told IPS.

Last November, the EU's progress report on Turkey noted improvements but asked for reforms to strengthen democracy and human rights. The country was considered short on implementing legislation that would qualify it for EU membership.

The current media crisis may yet come to a head. "When and how it will be settled is unknown, but there is the possibility that, if not settled, the Dogan group risks its assets being impounded," attorney Argun says.

The freedom of speech issue moved from media to parliament when Ahmet Turk, leader of the pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP), spoke in Turkish to party deputies in Parliament on the global day for mother tongues Feb. 24, as is obligatory in the legislative chamber, but then broke off into Kurdish. The state TV network cut off the live broadcast.

Turk defended himself by noting that, in a bow to EU pressure, the state-run national radio and television network TRT has launched a 24-hour Kurdish programme, and that the Prime Minister himself, in a hotly contested campaign in nationwide local elections, spoke words in Kurdish in Kurdish populated areas.

"It may be beyond logic that while the Prime Minister can say Kurdish words and the state TV has a Kurdish channel, a Kurdish party leader cannot speak his language," analyst Sanem Yunusoglu told IPS. "But the law permits only Turkish in Parliament."

Kurdish language was banned in public until 1991 for fear that it may become a springboard to demands for separate nationhood by Turkey's Kurds. The prohibition is being eased, party under EU pressure, except in Parliament.

Yunusoglu says that both the Kurdish leader and the Prime Minister are fishing for votes ahead of nationwide local elections Mar. 29, with voters of Kurdish origin accounting for a fifth of the electorate. (END/2009)

http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=45986

[DT.]

Halil, don't shake your legs before you get up on the horse.

[halil]

DT , you are the one always trying to get out something from every news or words .

here is the latest news from the Hurriyet news paper . From here more information or comments will come out .Depends how everybody understand it .

http://www.hurriyet.com.tr/english/dome ... sp?gid=244

ANKARA – The U.S. President Barack Obama will pay a visit to Turkey “in a month or so”, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Saturday in Ankara where she pays a visit. (UPDATED)

Clinton said the visit is "a reflection of the value we place on our friendship with Turkey" and that a date would be set soon.



Diplomatic sources said it is unclear whether this comes under the new administration’s goal of visiting Islam countries or he will attend the Alliance of Civilizations meetings scheduled in early April in Istanbul.



Clinton arrived in Ankara late on Friday evening and expected to leave late on Saturday under the highest level visit from the new Washington administration since Obama took the office in late January.



"The last time I was here, my husband was president. This time, I come as secretary of state, on behalf of our new president, President Obama, to emphasize the work the U.S. and Turkey must do together on behalf of peace, prosperity and progress," Clinton told reporters before holding a joint press conference with Turkish counterpart Ali Babacan.



Early on Saturday Clinton met Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan and then she held a meeting with Babacan.



The two ministers discussed various issues including Iraq, the Middle East, Syria, Balkans, Cyprus, energy security and the global financial crisis as well as the mutual relations in the meeting.



"Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Foreign Minister Ali Babacan today reaffirmed the strong bonds of alliance, solidarity and strategic partnership between the Republic of Turkey and the United States as well as commitment of both countries to the principles of peace, democracy, freedom and prosperity enshrined in the shared vision and structured dialogue document in 2006," said the joint statement issued after the meeting.



IRAQ ISSUE

She said the two allies will consult on the safest, most effective way to withdraw U.S. forces from Iraq. Turkey has said it is ready to serve as an exit route for U.S. troops.



"We have to discuss what will pass, what kind of equipment," Babacan said. "We are ready to cooperate."



Diplomatic sources said in the meeting Clinton praised Turkey’s “productive” efforts in Iraq and extended Washington’s support to such efforts.



Turkey has been a supply route for U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan and relations have improved after hitting a low in 2003 when Turkey refused to allow U.S. forces use its territory as a staging ground for the invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein.



The southern Incirlik air base has been used for transfer of U.S. troops and equipment to Iraq and to Afghanistan. So U.S. troops could leave Iraq across the Iraqi-Turkish border crossing of Habur and travel from there to Incirlik.



An Iraqi-U.S. security pact calls for American troops to withdraw from Iraqi cities by June 30 and completely pull out troops by 2012.



COOPERATION IN FIGHT AGAINST PKK

The top U.S. diplomat pledged their support to Turkey’s fight against the terror organization PKK will continue. The two countries will aim to enhance cooperation in fight against terrorism particularly against their common enemies PKK and al Qaeda, the joint statement added.



“The U.S. will continue its intelligence support to Turkish operations against the PKK and is reviewing ways to be more supportive,” the statement said.



The two ministers also said they will work together to enhance energy security and to expand the Southern corridor of natural gas and oil infrastructure to enable Caspian basin and Iraqi energy producers to reach European and world markets.



Turkey and the U.S. also pledged to continue cooperation in Afghanistan, including true continued Turkey’s contributions to the country.



“Finally they reaffirmed their determination to diversify the broad based bilateral relations particularly between the Turkish and American people. In that context the Secretary and Minister announced the establishment of Young Turkey/Young America: A New Relationship For A New Age,” the statement added.



Diplomatic sources said the efforts to have the U.S. Congress recognize the Armenian claims regarding the 1915 incidents were not discussed in the meeting. Analysts say the planned visit of Obama just ahead of the presidential statement regarding the 1915 incidents signal that the new president will refrain from labeling the incidents as “genocide.”



Clinton also visited the mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, founder of the modern Republic of Turkey. "It is an honor to visit once again this extraordinary tribute and memorial to the founder of this great country and to show the friendship of the United States and the Turkish people," she told reporters there