Headscarves and minorities dominate republic reception

Parliamentary Speaker Bulent Arinc, Deputy Prime Minister Mehmet Ali Sahin, Justice Minister Cemil Cicek, Energy Minister Hilmi Guler, Defense Minister Vecdi Gonul and State Minister Guldal Aksit were among the guests. Only two of the 12 AKP deputies were accompanied by their wives.

AKP deputy from Malatya Suleyman Saribas, who reportedly was to protest the reception when his wife wasn’t invited, was also among the guests.

When asked about the minority issue that has been dominating the agenda for the past week, President Sezer said: "All citizens of Turkey are Turks. The Constitution does not base Turkishness on ethnicity. The definition of the concept of minority is clearly written in the Lausanne Treaty. It won’t change."

Chief of General Staff Gen. Hilmi Ozkok said: "There is no reason to be scared of Turkishness being a supra-national identity. The word Turk represents the entire country. I believe any attempt to try to change this will result in great confusion and disturbance."

When asked about the European Union and the military’s relations with the government, Ozkok said it was important not to make any mistakes before Dec. 17, adding: "Even when we plan a military maneuver, we ourselves don’t agree on everything. The important thing is to create harmony. We are a body linked to the government. The most important thing for me is the government of the republic."

Land Forces Commander Gen. Yasar Buyukanit said that the United States was letting the separatist terrorist Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK/KONGRA-GEL) to remain in northern Iraq. He said: "The situation is like it was in 1998. All the terrorists in the southeast come from northern Iraq. The U.S. wants all of them to move into Turkey."

Buyukanit also said that PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan was finding it easier to rule over the terrorist organization in jail than he did in Damascus.