5 minutes, 5 minutes for opposition parties
Güncelleme Tarihi:
Hurriyet Daily News
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Nisan 03, 2009 00:00
ANKARA - The ambiguity over the meetings between U.S. President Barack Obama and opposition party leaders in Parliament on Monday has been solved through a formula to allocate five minutes to each party’s chairman.
Parliament will be an important stop for Obama during his Ankara talks, not only for his address but also his scheduled meetings with opposition leaders. Obama will arrive at Parliament at 2:30 p.m. and will be welcomed by Parliament Speaker Köksal Toptan.
Then he will meet with Deniz Baykal of the Republican People’s Party, or CHP; then Devlet Bahçeli of the Nationalist Movement Party, or MHP; and then Ahmet Türk of the Democratic Society Party, or DTP. Obama will meet with each leader for five minutes. In the initial program, Obama would meet with leaders all together, but the opposition parties did not accept the plan.
"Obama’s time is very limited and therefore he will just meet with leaders. Political issues are not expected to be raised," Parliament officials told the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review yesterday. Then he is planned to start his 45-minute speech to Parliament at 3:15 p.m. While in Parliament, Obama will be accompanied by Toptan. But that day, a female deputy, probably the deputy Parlaiment Speaker Güldal Mumcu of the CHP, will chair the session in the general assembly.
Preparations for Obama’s visit started a week ago, including a scrutiny of security measures. Around 300 surveillance cameras and electronic communication systems were rechecked. All parking lots will be emptied that day. Around 150 foreign and 200 Turkish journalists are accepted to cover Obama’s Parliament visit Monday. As part of the tight security measures to be applied during Obama’s stay in Ankara, many roads will be closed to traffic late Sunday and Monday. Mobile communication will also be blocked with a jammer. Meanwhile, Obama’s close security guards are expected to enter Parliament, as it was during former President Bill Clinton’s trip in 1999. According to Parliament rules no weapons are allowed. It’s not clear if Obama’s guards will be armed.
Then he will meet with Deniz Baykal of the Republican People’s Party, or CHP; then Devlet Bahçeli of the Nationalist Movement Party, or MHP; and then Ahmet Türk of the Democratic Society Party, or DTP. Obama will meet with each leader for five minutes. In the initial program, Obama would meet with leaders all together, but the opposition parties did not accept the plan.
"Obama’s time is very limited and therefore he will just meet with leaders. Political issues are not expected to be raised," Parliament officials told the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review yesterday. Then he is planned to start his 45-minute speech to Parliament at 3:15 p.m. While in Parliament, Obama will be accompanied by Toptan. But that day, a female deputy, probably the deputy Parlaiment Speaker Güldal Mumcu of the CHP, will chair the session in the general assembly.
Preparations for Obama’s visit started a week ago, including a scrutiny of security measures. Around 300 surveillance cameras and electronic communication systems were rechecked. All parking lots will be emptied that day. Around 150 foreign and 200 Turkish journalists are accepted to cover Obama’s Parliament visit Monday. As part of the tight security measures to be applied during Obama’s stay in Ankara, many roads will be closed to traffic late Sunday and Monday. Mobile communication will also be blocked with a jammer. Meanwhile, Obama’s close security guards are expected to enter Parliament, as it was during former President Bill Clinton’s trip in 1999. According to Parliament rules no weapons are allowed. It’s not clear if Obama’s guards will be armed.