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Turkish Press Review, 97-02-12Turkish Press Review Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs <http://www.mfa.gov.tr>CONTENTS
TURKISH PRESS REVIEWFEBRUARY 12, 1997Summary of the political and economic news in the Turkish press this morning[01] TOP DELEGATES, FIVE MINISTERS TO ATTEND 1997 ATC MEETINGThe annual meeting of the American-Turkish Council (ATC) has once again attracted a high-profile delegation from Ankara, including government ministers, prominent businessmen, top diplomats and the military's second-in-command. The ATC meeting is a much publicized public relations scheme sponsored by Turks living in the US to promote better economic and political relations between the two countries. This year's meeting will be held in Washington between February 19 and 21. /All papers/[02] CAVANAUGH ON MORATORIUM: KLERIDES CHANGED MIND IN ATHENSCarey Cavanaugh, director of the State Department's Office of Southern European Affairs, said during USIA interview that although Greek-Cypriot Leader Glafkos Klerides did indeed give him his word on a moratorium of overflights. But when Klerides visited Athens he changed his mind, Cavanaugh claimed. Klerides denied that he ever agreed to a moratorium, or that he agreed to delay the deployment of S-300 Russian-made missiles by 16 months -although both points were presented to the press as successes of American diplomacy in Cyprus."We discussed a moratorium at all three stops-in Athens, Nicosia and Ankara" Cavanaugh said. "We had general support from Klerides on this and we had support from the Turks on this measure. But Klerides went to Athens for a meeting with the Greek government and at the end of that session, he announced that he was unable at that time to agree to it". /All papers/ [03] US STRATEGIC ASSESSMENT: ERBAKAN CHANGED TURKISH FOREIGN POLICYIn a new strategic assessment of "flashpoints and force structures" in the world, prepared by the Institute for National Strategic Studies (INSS), the Welfare Party (RP) - True Path Party (DYP) coalition government led by Islamist Prime Minister Erbakan is presented as a deviation from Turkey's traditional pro-Western orientation. "Of all the NATO allies, Turkey is currently the most vulnerable for both domestic and external reasons" the report concluded.INSS is a part of the National Defence University which is a research institute located inside Fort Lesley J.McNair, Washington D.C. The report "1997 Strategic Assessment", however, "is by no means a statement of US government policy nor of the views of the Defence Department or Joint Chiefs of Staff" the preface noted. The Turkish-Greek dispute over "NATO command and control structures, the Athens Flight Information Region, territorial airspace claims territorial seas" is described as a "potential flashpoint" which is said to be disrupting NATO's operations. /Sabah/ [04] BSEC PROPOSES FREE TRADE ZONEForeign ministers from the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC) countries, including six former Soviet republics, met in Istanbul on Friday to expand economic cooperation and establish a free trade zone. "It is the time not to talk, but to decide on key projects" Turkey's Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Tansu Ciller told the officials of the 11-nation economic grouping. Ciller inaugurated the new headquarters of the BSEC and declared that increased cooperation among member countries would "play a vital role in the restructuring of the world".A regional trade and development bank financed by the group is expected to begin operations this spring in Salonika, Greece. Officials were expected to sign a declaration indicating the intention to set up a regional duty-free trade zone. Ciller said the free trade region would complement the 11 nations' relations with the EU. Ciller also pledged that Turkey would build a 127-kilometer railroad at Kars, in eastern Turkey, that would help link the former Soviet Caucasus and Central Asia with Western Europe. Ciller also called for the establishment of a ring highway around the Black Sea that would connect member countries and facilitate economic ties. /All papers/ [05] INTERPOL LAUDS TURKEY'S ANTI-DRUG EFFORTSTurkish police play the most significant role in the fight against drugs, making a greater contribution than police forces from other countries according to Interpol, the Anatolia news agency reported. Speaking to Anatolia from Interpol's headquarters in Lyon, Philippe Quilici, a drug fighting expert, said most information concerning drugs was provided by Turkey. Germany and Italy followed Turkey in their contribution to drug fighting, he added.More than half of the 100 police working in Interpol's Turkish branch were dealing with drug fighting, said Quilici, and eighty percent of acid anhydrite, used to manufacture heroin, which Interpol seized had been intercepted during operations in Turkey. Militants from separatist terrorist organizations are personally engaged in drug smuggling, added Quilici. According to 1995 statistics, Turkey is the country where the most heroin (1313 kilograms) was seized. /All papers/ [06] US 'AID' TO TURKEY KEPT SAME IN 1998'Foreign aid' has retained its current status as a footnote to US-Turkish relations in the new US International Affairs Budget (Function 150) announced in Washington on Thursday. The amounts submitted by the Clinton Administration to Congress for fiscal year 1998 (FY98) are pretty much the same as those that the Administration asked for FY97. For 1998, the Clinton Administration asked for $175 million in FMF (Foreign Military Financing) loans; $50 million in ESF (Economic Support Fund) grants; and a truly symbolic $1.5 million IMET (International Military Education and Training) grant.The arbitrary 7-to-10 ratio between US military aid to Greece and Turkey, respectively, that was established by the US Congress in the aftermath of the 1974 Turkish intervention in Cyprus, has been observed in FMF for 1998 just as in the years before. /All papers/ [07] US SHUTS DOWN PIRINCLIK AFBThe US Secretary of Defence William Cohen announced on Thursday that the Pentagon will end operations at Pirinclik Air Base in Turkey. The base near the southeastern city of Diyarbakir is known to have housed sensitive electronic intelligence-gathering systems that kept an ear on the Middle East, Caucasus and Russia. "This action will begin immediately, with return of the installation to the host nation planned for September, 1997" a Pentagon spokesman said. It will affect about 117 US Air Force personnel currently assigned to the base. The spokesman said the same intelligence-gathering job now can be achieved through systems already in place in space./All papers/[08] THY TO FLY TO NEW DESTINATIONSTurkish Airlines (THY) General-Director Atila Celebi has announced that new international routes are to be added for the coming summer season. Celebi said new destinations would include Seoul, Beijing, Chicago, Budapest, Sevastopol. Odessa and Manchester. Celebi added that they were also planning to make direct flights to Turkish-Speaking Republics in Central Asia. /Hurriyet/[09] BRITAIN WARNS ABOUT POSSIBLE AEGEAN CLASHBritish Foreign Minister Malcolm Rifkind warned over the weekend that tension between Turkey and Greece could blow-up into a real confrontation. He warned that "excuses" were being sought to bring about a clash between the two sides. As if echoing the comments of Rifkind, former top US Foreign Department official Richard Holbrooke has also noted that today the Aegean region was one of the world's most serious hotspots.Speaking on BBC channel 4, Rifkind said that relations between Turkey and Greece were "very bad" and that both sides appeared to be seeking ways to worsen the position in the region. Rifkind said that he thought a clash was "very likely." /Milliyet/ [10] DENKTAS ACCUSES RIFKIND OF APPLYING PRESSUREThe comments of British Foreign Minister Rifkind about tensions between Turkey and Greece and the Cyprus situation have not gone down well in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC). President of the TRNC, Rauf Denktas, said in reply to Rifkind's comments that "pressure was being used" and that no solution would be reached until the TRNC was given an equal standing with the Greek side.Denktas said that Rifkind's comments were an indication that plans were afoot to apply pressure against Turkey, and he called on the public to be aware of this and stand firm./Milliyet/ [11] RUSSIA SEEKING A NEW BOSPHORUS DEALRussian ambassador to Ankara, Vadim Kuznetsov, said that Russia was ready to join in taking steps to make the Bosphorus safe to carry petrol through. He said that Russia was ready cooperate with Turkey to make the Bosphorus secure to use as a passage for the transport of fuel supplies, and that Russia was also offering to build plants to clean the city's industrial and other waste materials.Ambassador Kuznetsov also indicated that Russia was against Turkey's proposals for an overland oil pipeline between Baku and facilities in Ceyhan. /Cumhuriyet/ [12] TURKEY SETS UP BORDER SECURITY BELTThe Guardian, one of the most respected British dailies, gave extensive second page coverage to Turkey yesterday. The paper reported that the Turkish government was planning to empty villages along the southeastern border of Turkey to block support for the PKK terrorist organization extended by the villagers. According to The Guardian, Turkey has prepared a detailed report in this respect foreseeing also measures against the outlawed Kurdish party HADEP and against Med TV used by the terrorist PKK organization for broadcasting separatist propaganda. /Cumhuriyet/[13] WORLD TEXTILE GIANTS AND FASHION DESIGNERS COMING TO TURKEYThe 6th Istanbul International Fashion Design Fair (IMF'97) will be held on 27 February - 2 March and the Istanbul International Textile Fair (INTEXPO'97) will be organized on 14-16 March also in Istanbul. Chairman of the CNR International Fair Service, Ceyda Erem said that �t is expected that over 400 foreign and domestic delegates will participate in IMF'97, and that 40,000 visitors will visit the fair. Erem added: "The main aim of IMF'97 is to turn Istanbul into a world center where fashion designs are created, exhibited and sold. "Chairman of the Turkish Ready-to-Wear Industrialists Association (TGSD), Turan Sarigulle, said that IMF would be an essential stop on the London-Paris-Milano-Hong Kong-Tokyo fashion design route. He noted that INTEXPO'97, which would be organized for the first time in Istanbul, would bring together domestic and foreign companies that supply raw materials to the sector./Cumhuriyet/ [14] TURKEY TO BE A FREE TRADE HAVENThe number of free trade zones, which have been formed to increase Turkey's production and investment, to bring foreign investment and technology to Turkey and to make use of foreign exchange and foreign trade, now total nine.The General Director of Free Trade Zones of the Foreign Trade Undersecretariat, Kursat Tuzmen, said that they were still examining 55 applications to form free trade zones. He added that the Samsun free trade zone and the Istanbul Stock-Exchange Bourse Free Trade Zone would be activated by the end of February. Tuzmen pointed out that Mardin and Erzurum Southeast free trade zones were at international level./Cumhuriyet/ [15] FOREIGN CAPITAL FLOWS TO TURKEYForeign capital worth $9.2 billion has been invested in Turkey so far, while permission for foreign capital investments in Turkey total $20.7 billion. Foreign Capital Deputy General Director Aynur Atakli noted that foreign capital flows to Turkey surged after the establishment of the customs union. Nevertheless, Atakli argued, some complicated procedures should be lifted because they were an obstacle to further increasing foreign capital investments in Turkey. /Hurriyet/[16] ISTANBUL TO BECOME NEW HONG KONGAccording to news appearing in the daily Hurriyet, the European textile and finance sectors preparing to leave Hong Kong after the July 1 turning over of the region to China, are conducting talk with Turkish companies in a bid to settle in Turkey. Authorities say that Istanbul will be replacing Hong Kong, and add that the necessary work is underway for preparing the infrastructure for such a replacement. They note that two new airports will be constructed in Istanbul and that a multi-billion market and refinery will be built in the near future. /Hurriyet/[17] TURKISH EXPORTS UP 16.7 % IN JANUARYTurkish exports rose by 16.7 % to $2.12 billion in January, 1997, from $1.82 billion in the same period in 1996, the Turkish Exporters' Assembly (TIM) said in a statement on Thursday. Compared to January 1996, ready-wear exports rose by 25.6 % to $654.6 million, metal exports jumped by 34.4 % to $245.9 million and exports of textile and related raw materials grew by 16.4 % to $227.3 million in January. The biggest export growth was recorded in the electric-electronics sector with a rise of 35.8 % to $156 million. /All papers/END Turkish Press Review Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |
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