News, Etc.
Turkish Parliament passed the controversial government legislation on tendering the clearance of landmines along Turkey’s border with Syria in exchange for granting the right of farming on the land to the company that is awarded the contract.
If President Abdullah Gul endorses the bill, the main opposition Republican Peoples Party (CHP) will take it to the Constitutional Court demanding a repeal.
The controversy over the bill broke out over reports that the contract will be awarded to an Israeli firm. Opponents of the bill argue that giving the control of the land along the Syrian border to the Israelis would carry the danger of Turkey getting involved in a possible conflict in the Middle East.
Dissent within PM’s party
Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan had scolded his own deputies at an in camera session of his party group in the parliament last week because they were not attending the sessions.
“What other business do our friends who do not come to the assembly have? Let them tell me and let me hear,” Erdogan said.
However, during the same group meeting some of the deputies expressed their reservations about the landmine bill, the newspapers reported.
In the final voting session that continued into the early morning hours, 62 of Erdogan’s 338 deputies were still absent from the floor.But the bill passed with 255 votes.
