Opposition vows to stop mine plan
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Daily News Parliament Bureau
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Haziran 03, 2009 00:00
ANKARA - The opposition said yesterday that it was determined not to support the law on de-mining the Syrian border if the government insists the job be done through the build-operate-transfer model.
"We will do everything to stop this law in Parliament. You will not be able to lease these lands to foreigners. The cost of clearing the area will be paid to foreign companies if, of course, we cannot do it ourselves, but afterward, this land will be given to its real owners," Deniz Baykal, leader of the main opposition Republican People’s Party, or CHP, told his deputies at a parliamentary group meeting. Parliament was still discussing the law late Tuesday when the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review went to print.
As a party to the Ottawa Convention, which obliges signature countries to de-mine its territories by 2014, the Turkish Parliament is discussing a draft law that would enable foreign companies to use the cleared area for 44 years in return for removing the mines. Though they have different reasons to oppose, the opposition parties and even some ruling party members seem united in rejecting the law. The fact that it is only Israeli companies that are interested in bidding for the job causes concerns in the ruling party.
To ease the concerns, the government offered to revise some articles of the law in a way to add the military’s proposal of allowing NAMSA, NATO’s procurement agency, to do the job. The opposition on Tuesday rejected the ruling party’s proposal to review the law, insisting on the withdrawal of the build-operate-transfer model from the law.
"We’ll block the work of Parliament if they don’t change the law," Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, deputy leader of the CHP, told reporters. The CHP’s stance was also backed by the Nationalist Movement Party, or MHP.
Reactions anger PM
The determination of the opposition parties and dissidents of his own party angered Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. In a meeting with his deputies on Tuesday, Erdoğan threatened both his deputies and those of the opposition to keep Parliament working during the summer. Parliament ceases its session on July 1. "I want to congratulate the opposition for its lively imagination. The only thing they do is commit defamation and aspersion," Erdoğan said. "Which part of the draft law mentions Israeli companies? Do you think there are only Israelis who can do this? Just go to Ostim [organized industrial zone in Ankara] and you will find many. É"
"The government is misinforming the public on the cost of the de-mining. The area could be cleared at a cost of $100 million to $300 million. The prime minister recently bought a jet for himself at a price of $61 million," Baykal said. The pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party, or DTP, backed the CHP’s idea to distribute the area to the poor villagers after de-mining.
As a party to the Ottawa Convention, which obliges signature countries to de-mine its territories by 2014, the Turkish Parliament is discussing a draft law that would enable foreign companies to use the cleared area for 44 years in return for removing the mines. Though they have different reasons to oppose, the opposition parties and even some ruling party members seem united in rejecting the law. The fact that it is only Israeli companies that are interested in bidding for the job causes concerns in the ruling party.
To ease the concerns, the government offered to revise some articles of the law in a way to add the military’s proposal of allowing NAMSA, NATO’s procurement agency, to do the job. The opposition on Tuesday rejected the ruling party’s proposal to review the law, insisting on the withdrawal of the build-operate-transfer model from the law.
"We’ll block the work of Parliament if they don’t change the law," Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, deputy leader of the CHP, told reporters. The CHP’s stance was also backed by the Nationalist Movement Party, or MHP.
Reactions anger PM
The determination of the opposition parties and dissidents of his own party angered Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. In a meeting with his deputies on Tuesday, Erdoğan threatened both his deputies and those of the opposition to keep Parliament working during the summer. Parliament ceases its session on July 1. "I want to congratulate the opposition for its lively imagination. The only thing they do is commit defamation and aspersion," Erdoğan said. "Which part of the draft law mentions Israeli companies? Do you think there are only Israelis who can do this? Just go to Ostim [organized industrial zone in Ankara] and you will find many. É"
"The government is misinforming the public on the cost of the de-mining. The area could be cleared at a cost of $100 million to $300 million. The prime minister recently bought a jet for himself at a price of $61 million," Baykal said. The pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party, or DTP, backed the CHP’s idea to distribute the area to the poor villagers after de-mining.