Japan Rejects Turks Bearing Gifts

[Mulboyne]

[floatr][/floatr]TurkishPress: Anti-bribe clause in Japanese agreement draws Turkish ire
Turkish lawmakers rejected a 2.4 million dollar grant agreement with Japan because of a clause demanding that Turkey ensure the deal will be corruption-free...The clause is in an annex to a 2005 agreement under which Japan will grant Turkey funds to build an archaeological research institute, a museum and a Japanese garden in the central Turkish town of Kaman. It calls on Ankara to "take the necessary measures to prevent any proposals, gifts, payments or benefits which may be interpreted as bribes" in the execution of the project. Angered by the clause, the parliament foreign affairs committee...sent the document back to the foreign ministry for amendment, the commission's chairman Mehmet Dulger told the Anatolia news agency. "This is like an insult. How could we adopt or sign this text?" Dulger said...The Japanese embassy in Ankara said it was "astonished" by the controversy surrounding the article, which has been included in every international economic agreement Japan has signed since 1996...The incident was front-paged Friday in major Turkish newspapers, which saw it as international recognition of rampant corruption in the country.

[American Oyaji]

me think they doth protest too much

and in protesting, provide justificatin for Japan including that clause.

[Big Booger]

If you are not going to do corruption, what is the problem with signing a document stating so, especially when you're getting free money in the deal?

[Ketou]

Because the image is always more important than the actuality....