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TRKNWS-L Turkish Press Review (October 4, 1995)
Subject: TRKNWS-L Turkish Press Review (October 4, 1995)
CONTENTS
[01] PETROL PROJECT LOOKING BETTER
[02] EU PRESSING FOR CUSTOMS UNION
[03] DENKTAS REJECTS PLAN
[04] INDIA WANTS STRONG TIES WITH TURKEY
[05] MORE AID TO DINAR QUAKE VICTIMS
[06] AMBASSADOR KANDEMIR WARNS CONGRESS AGAINST PELL AMENDMENT
[07] FIRST ARMENIAN PLANE LANDS IN ISTANBUL
[08] ANKARA TELLS EUROPE: TO INVEST IN TURKEY IS TO INVEST IN THE FUTURE
[09] TURKISH, EUROPEAN TRADE MISSIONS RELEASE JOINT DECLARATION TO SUPPORT CUSTOMS UNION
TURKISH PRESS REVIEW
WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 4, 1995
Summary of the political and economic news in the Turkish press
this morning
[01] PETROL PROJECT LOOKING BETTER
The Azeri early petrol consortium will meet in London today to
make a final decision on the route of the overland pipeline
project to carry the petrol to port facilities in Turkey and
Russia.
Although Turkey wanted a major share in the project, the
consortium seems set on including a Russian proposal that take
the petrol to a Black Sea port. On the other hand, Turkey is
happy that final decisions will include Turkey, especially as
even this was doubtful a few weeks back. Turkish officials are
agreed that in the long-term, the dual system will still work
out in Turkey's favour. /All papers/
[02] EU PRESSING FOR CUSTOMS UNION
The European Union (EU) member countries are exerting every
effort to get Turkey signed into the EU customs union at the
end of the year. Although there are still some snags, the EU
has made it known that it wants Turkey in the customs union.
There are conditions however. The most problematical issue from
Turkey's standpoint is the revision of the 8th article of the
constitution, which still remains a point of contention between
Turkey and the EU-which has already recommended that Turkey
should be more flexible in connection with provisions of the
article.
Reports from Brussels nevertheless tend to be optimistic, with
the general outlook very much in Turkey's favour. The Europeans
have boosted Turkey's morale with talks that indicate a lot of
support for Turkey, despite the current domestic political
problems. Turkey too, seems to be trying to reinforce its image
of developing democratization. The European Commission, in line
with developments in Europe and Turkey, has announced that it
wants to see an end to "stop and go" policies where Turkey is
concerned. /All papers/
[03] DENKTAS REJECTS PLAN
Rauf Denktas, President of the Turkish Republic of Northern
Cyprus (TRNC), has rejected a USc draft regarding a solution to
the Cyprus issue.
Answering questions from journalists in Famagusta, Denktas said:
"Richard Boucher, US Ambassador to Nicosia, wanted to give me a
report on 14 September. But I refused to take it because he said
that the report included membership in the European Union (EU)
before a solution current issue."
Pointing out that within the framework of an agenda, decided by
UN General Secretary Butros Ghali on October 1994, security
building measures should first be discussed and then the essence
of the Cyprus issue must be debated, Denktas added: "First of all
Turkish Cypriots' status will have to be decided and after that
the EU issue will be debated. Thus, we cannot accept a report
including EU membership."
On the other hand, a former Cyprus envoy tothe UN, Hugo Gobbi,
maintained that a solution to the Cyprus question exists if the
north and the south of the island agree to coexist within a
system of cooperation, even while maintaining their differences.
Gobbi told a press conference at Bilkent University in Ankara
that he was in favour also of a Turkish Cypriot state and a
Greek Cypriot state. He mentioned that a single, undivided
Cyprus would run an enormous risk of ethnic tension.
/Hurriyet/Cumhuriyet/
[04] INDIA WANTS STRONG TIES WITH TURKEY
Indian Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao, pointing to historical
and cultural similarities between India and Turkey, said that
this fact underlines "the necessary groundwork for diversifying
and strengthening relations between the two countries."
Rao indicated that this was especially important at a time when
both countries were building beneficial political and economic
links with countries around the world./All Papers/
[05] MORE AID TO DINAR QUAKE VICTIMS
The number of victims in Dinar, a township near Afyon in Turkey,
hit by a major earthquake at the weekend, has risen to at least
73 dead and over 200 injured as Turkish and foreign rescue teams
sifted through the debris on Tuesday with fading hopes of
finding survivors. Besides Swiss and German rescue specialists,
Greece sent more doctors and ambulance yesterday. Shocked
survivors have had to spend more time in fear as another
aftershock rocked the half-destroyed town 370 kilometers
southwest of Ankara where some 4,000 houses have been
destroyed./All Papers/
[06] AMBASSADOR KANDEMIR WARNS CONGRESS AGAINST PELL AMENDMENT
Turkey's Ambassador to the United States, Nuzhet Kandemir, sent
a letter on Monday to the conference committee that will soon
meet to reconcile the differences between the House and Senate
versions of the Foreign Assistances Appropriations bill.
Ambassador Kandemir drew the attention of the committee members
to the fact that an amendment introduced by Sen. Claiborne Pell
might have adverse effects on Turkish-US relations.
In his amendment, Pell required Turkey to allocate "not less
than $5 million" of the US aid to help promote human rights for
Kurds in the Southeast through non-governmental organizations
(NGSs).
Kandemir said in his letter that if the NGOs are allowed to
operate within Turkey without the knowledge of the Turkish
government, there could be political drawbacks from the point
of view of international human rights laws in general, and the
Geneva Convention on human rights, in particular.
A senior State Department official echoed sentiments expressed
in Kandemir's letter to the conference committee. The senior
official, talking to a small group of Turkish and Greek
journalists, said the Pell amendment was uncalled for especially
when Turkey was doing its best to cope with human rights
violations./All Papers/
[07] FIRST ARMENIAN PLANE LANDS IN ISTANBUL
For the first time ever an Armenian Airlines passenger plane
has landed in Istanbul. The Armenian Airlines Tupolev 134 landed
on Monday after Turkey announced the opening of the air corridor
between the two countries, the Anatolia news agency reported.
Being the first Armenian national carrier flight to land on
Turkish soil, the five crew members and 21 passengers were
greeted with flowers at the airport.
[08] ANKARA TELLS EUROPE: TO INVEST IN TURKEY IS TO INVEST IN THE
FUTURE
At a crowdy conference in the European capital of Brussels,
senior Turkish bureaucrats displayed their packed privatization
list.
"To invest in Turkey is to invest in the future," said Turkey's
top privatization official, Ufuk Soylemez. He tols a group of
businessmen and bankers in Brussels, where a Turkish mission is
promoting 18 state firms on the sell-off list, "Turkey is an
interesting and highly-attractive area for the rational foreign
investor."
Speaking at the same gathering, Treasury Undersecretary Ayfer
Yilmaz said that Turkey was a "key country" to invest in, given
the fact that the largest privatization operations would be
arranged in the next five years./All Papers/
[09] TURKISH, EUROPEAN TRADE MISSIONS RELEASE JOINT DECLARATION TO
SUPPORT CUSTOMS UNION
An Istanbul-based investors' club and a group of European trade
missions based in Turkey have released a joint declaration
to call for further support for Turkey's proposed customs union
with 15 nations of the European Union, scheduled for
January 1, 1996.
"We are hereby repeating our determination to make every
necessary move in Europe to clear the way for the completion
of the customs union," the declaration concluded.
The signatories were: the Foreign Capital Coordination
Association (YASED), the Association for Turkish Businessmen
and Industrialists in Europe (ATIAD), the British Trade Office,
the Italian Foreign Trade Office, the Program for Turkish-German
Economic Cooperation, the Spanish Trade Office, the German
Chamber of Trade and Industry, the Turco-French Trade
Association, the Turco-French Investment and Cooperation
Promotion Organization, the Italian Trade Office, and the
Swedish Trade Center./All Papers/
END
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