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Turkish Press Review, 97-07-08Turkish Press Review Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs <http://www.mfa.gov.tr>CONTENTS
TURKISH PRESS REVIEWJULY 8, 1997Summary of the political and economic news in the Turkish press this morning.[01] YILMAZ READS NEW GOVERNMENT'S PROGRAM TO PARLIAMENTPrime Minister Mesut Yilmaz read the Motherland Party (ANAP), Democratic Left Party (DSP) and Democratic Turkey Party (DTP) coalition government's program to Parliament on Monday. Yilmaz emphasized his government's promise to seek to firmly establish "a culture of compromise" in Turkey.The coalition government promised the country a civilian democracy, pledged new measures to boost investment and create new jobs in the terrorism-torn Southeast. A general debate on the government program is planned for Thursday and a vote of confidence is scheduled to be held on July 12./All papers/ [02] TURKEY: "PRESSING PALMS, PUSHING AGAINST US STANCE"Turkish leaders arrived in Madrid on Monday to join their counterparts at the NATO summit, a meeting which will determine the candidates for membership in the first wave of the organization's eastward expansion.President Suleyman Demirel, accompanied by Foreign Minister Ismail Cem and Undersecretary Onur Oymen, will be heading the Turkish delegation at the summit. Demirel pointed out that important decision would be taken regarding the Alliance's internal and external adaptation to changing international security concerns. Turkey is expected to speak out against the U.S. declaration that Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic would be the first group of new members. U.S. President Bill Clinton has said that at this point he will resist other NATO states' attempts to broaden the first wave of entrants to include Romania and Slovenia. Ankara has taken the stance that neither the Balkan states nor Slovenia and certain Mediterranean states - Italy in particular - should not be left out of the first round./Milliyet/ [03] DENKTAS: "WESTERN COUNTRIES RESPONSIBLE FOR CYPRUS PROBLEM"Rauf Denktas, president of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) who is in New York for direct talks with Greek Cypriot leader Galfkos Clerides, told the Anatolia news agency on Monday that the real responsibility for the 34 year long Cyprus problem lay with the European countries, the United States and Britain.Denktas said: "If human rights has any meaning for them, they should act to stop the injustice which has been brought against us for 34 years." "I will tell foreign governments to remind Clerides that his position is illegal and his government is not the government of Turks," Denktas said. On the other hand, alluding to the meetings between Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) President Rauf Denktas and the Greek Cypriot leader in New York, Deputy Prime Minister and Democratic Left Party (DSP) leader Bulent Ecevit said that international pressures on Denktas were likely to intensify. However, Turkey was determined to face these pressures dependent on one. Ecevit emphasized the change of Turkish strategy toward the Cyprus issue and said that TRNC security was also vital for Turkey./Milliyet/Cumhuriyet_ [04] TURKEY SUPPORTS TAJIKISTAN PEACETurkey is welcoming the recent developments in Tajikistan, which legally ended its civil war with the signing of the "General Agreement of National Reconciliation and Peace Establishment" on June 27 and is conducting ongoing peace negotiations, the Foreign Ministry announced on Monday. At the weekly press conference, the ministry said Turkey was very pleased to see that its friend and "brotherly country" Tajikistan had taken "a big step towards reaching lasting peace and the state of welfare it deserves."Spokesman Sermet Atacanli said, "In this framework, Ankara hopes to see efforts in good faith follow important developments and stability to come out of the First National Reconciliation Council meeting on Monday in Moscow."/All papers/ [05] MORE PRAISE FOR YILMAZThe foreign press continues to be kind to Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz, noting his good qualities and stressing that he could do much to repair the damage left by previous administrations.The French Le Point weekly magazine notes in its latest issue that Mesut Yilmaz is the man to support and protect the principles of secularism. The magazine adds that although Yilmaz lacks charisma, he is a hero in other ways. According to the New York Times, Mesut Yilmaz is the most worthy person to step into the top governmental position. The paper says that Washington is happy about the way things are going in connection with the government that Yilmaz is setting up. /All papers/ [06] "DEATH SQUADS" ALARMInformation about highly trained death squads filtering into Turkey from Syria have set alarm bells ringing in all the security departments. According to information received by the security forces, hit squads from the illegal DHKP-C terror organization have been sent into Turkey to de-stabilize the situation just prior to the parliament vote of confidence in the new government. Reports suggest that a total of about thirty trained terrorists have crossed the border into Turkey. These will form small teams of two or three individuals to create terror and if possible, disrupt political developments during the next few weeks. /Sabah/[07] 45 HIZBULLAH MEMBERS ARRESTED IN MERSINForty-five members of the illegal fundamentalist and terrorist Hizbullah organization have been taken into custody in Mersin, according to a statement made by the Icel Security Office.Meanwhile, an armoured car belonging to a police team patrolling in the Silopi district of Sirnak the previous night rolled over a shoulder of the road. In the accident, two policemen died and two were injured. In another incident, militants of the PKK terrorist organization fired on a minibus in the Ucpinar village of Bingol yesterday, killing four people and wounding ten others. /Sabah/ [08] PKK PURCHASES STINGER MISSILESAfter it was confirmed that two Turkish helicopters were shut down by PKK terrorists during the recent military operation in northern Iraq, intelligence units pointed out that the PKK was now looking for Stinger missiles. According to MOSSAD, CIA and Turkish intelligence units, some neighbours of Turkey directly support the PKK. A special report prepared by Turkish intelligence units and submitted to the President and the Prime Minister accuses Iran, Syria, Greece, Romania, Bulgaria, Russia, Armenia and the Greek Cypriot Administration of supporting the PKK. /Milliyet/[09] GERMAN CHIEF OF GENERAL STAFF IN TURKEYGerman Chief of General Staff Gen.Hartmut Bagger paid a visit to his Turkish counterpart Gen.Ismail Hakki Karadayi yesterday. Karadayi noted that a briefing would be given to the visiting commander regarding relations between the Turkish and German armed forces. Gen.Bagger said, for his part, that this was his second visit to Turkey and thanked Gen.Karadayi for his invitation. /Milliyet/[10] STAND AGAINST FRIGATE EMBARGOFollowing US insistence on implementing a weapons embargo against Turkey, using Congress as an excuse, it has been decided to ask for a prerequisite from US firms in the arms trade. This means that the US has been put on a special list as far as Turkey's weapons purchases are concerned.. Furthermore, although it has not been officially announced, high-level visits to the US have been suspended./Cumhuriyet/[11] 97 WILL BE A GOLDEN YEAR FOR TOURISMAccording to information released by Turkish Research Center, Turkey will be the tourism champion among the European countries in 1997. The Turkish Research Center claims that there has been a 20% increase in reservations when compared to last year. The largest tour operator in Germany (TUI) has increased the number of tourists it has brought to Turkey by 49%./Milliyet/[12] GEOPHYSICAL CONFERENCE THIS WEEK IN ISTANBULNew technologies in the exploration for hydrocarbons, and the role of Turkey will figure in the transport of energy resources from the former Soviet Central Asia to western markets which are the main topics of an international conference and fair that began in Istanbul on Monday.More than 1,000 geophysicists, petroleum engineers and executives of energy related companies from 60 countries are attending the four-day International Geophysical Conference and Exposition. The decision to hold the conference in Turkey comes from the increased ties between Turkish geophysicists and their counterparts in the Balkans and the Turkish-speaking Republics of the former Soviet Caucasus and Central Asia, experts said./All papers/ [13] SUITCASE TRADE WORTH MILLIONS OF DOLLARSTurkish Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges (TOBB) Deputy Chairman Ali Osman Ulusoy said that Turkey was benefiting from the so-called "suitcase" trade by at least $ 15 billion each year. Ulusoy told the Anatolia news agency that although Turkish exports were less than its imports, suitcase trade figures, not registered to the balance of payments, compensated for this deficit. "Suitcase trade has averaged $ 15 billion for the last five years; this means $ 75 billion in five years. That amount of surplus helps our economy. The increase in the suitcase trade with the Confederation of Independent States will also correspondingly bring about an increase in the transport sector. In 1996 73,000 lorries transported goods to these countries," said Ulusoy.[14] INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION PERFORMING WELLIndustrial production for the month of May rose by 11.2 percent compared to May 1996, outstripping Turkey's gross national product growth rate of 5.6 percent for the first quarter of the year.According to figures released by the State Institute of Statistics (DIE) on Monday, industrial production for the first five months of the year rose by 7 percent. This figure was helped in the main by an increase of 11.6 percent in manufacturing overrall for the month of May and an 11.9 percent increase in the electric, gas and water sectors./Sabah/ END Turkish Press Review Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |
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