Shoes and pens...

To get it right, I must underline as well that even though the feelings the Iraqi journalist might have had when he threw his shoes at Bush are shared by a vast majority of Iraqis and people elsewhere angered with the "attack first, will find a reason later" mentality of Bush, obviously the duty of a journalist is not to throw anything but words at the news source.

So said our benevolent Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan as well... He said he disapproved of the Iraqi journalist throwing his shoes at Bush and he believed it would have been more appropriate had he instead preferred to corner the American president with his words and ideas.

Nothing wrong in what he said, however, to what extent do the words of the prime minister conform to the attitudes of the prime minister or to his relations with the Turkish media, caricaturists, or to his attitude vis a vis people criticizing him with words?

Was it not Erdoğan who opened scores of libel suits against cartoonists? Was it not Erdoğan who barred seven correspondents from the Prime Ministry and from events he participates in? Was it not Erdoğan who called for a boycott of the newspapers and TV stations who have been reporting on the court process in Germany against the Islamist Deniz Feneri charity fund?

Yes, journalists, cartoonists must use their pens and cameras rather than shoes in "cornering" politicians, but politicians should as well accustom themselves to criticisms of the media... After all, is it not because the media serves as a watchdog of the public interest that it is considered a fundamental element of the democratic system in a country?

Disappointment with Babacan
On Monday, Foreign Minister Ali Babacan, who is also Turkey’s chief negotiator, - at least for the time being - hosted a working luncheon with the ambassadors of the European Union countries.

At that working luncheon Babacan "re-asserted" the commitment of his government to reform; underlined that after the March local polls the reform drive in Turkey would gain new momentum; and underlined that the draft National Program was a demonstration of the "strong political will" of the ruling Justice and Development Party, or AKP, government to undertake a comprehensive push to harmonize the legislative setup in the country with the EU acquis communitaire... The minister reportedly also reaffirmed Turkey’s strong commitment to the peace efforts on Cyprus within the UN framework and urged the two parties on the island, as well as Greece and Turkey, to remain focused on a settlement; stressed that the process could not be an open-ended one; and in an unexpected move, stressed that irrespective of how long the talks continue, Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots would not be able to establish full accord on everything and at a "mature stage of talks" the UN must step in to breach the remaining gap between the positions of the two sides or to fill in the blanks in a draft settlement accord...

EU envoys talking with us about the luncheon have said regarding Cyprus, Babacan appeared to be more committed than ever to a negotiated settlement on the island and they appreciated that. However, as regards reforms and Turkey-EU relations, the ambassadors underlined that the minister preferred to talk with a generalized approach, did not go into details; could not even explain why all ministers had not yet signed the National Program or what reforms Turkey intends to undertake after the March polls.

"We were not satisfied at all," an ambassador said, complaining of the lack of enthusiasm for reform in the AKP government. "Babacan was like a car dealer who was trying to sell a car that he knows well is broken and cannot be fixed..." What else can be said?