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Turkish Press Review, 98-09-25
From: Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs <http://www.mfa.gov.tr>
25.09.98
Summary of the political and economic news in the Turkish press this morning
CONTENTS
[01] TURKISH CALL FOR DIALOGUE WITH GREECE
[02] DENKTAS REPLIES TO KLERIDES
[03] INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENT
[04] BRITISH-TURKISH FRIENDSHIP GROUP
[05] ANDICAN RECEIVES AMB.LEBEDEV
[06] GERMAN SUPPORT FOR SOUTHEAST
[07] TURKISH-CANADIAN ECONOMIC COOPERATION
[08] OPERATIONS IN SOUTHEAST
[09] HUMBOLDT SYMPOSIUM
[10] GUREL MEETS WITH BORMAN
[11] STATE MINISTER ASIK RESIGNS
[12] GREECE CLAIMS AIR SPACE VIOLATION
[13] STOCK EXCHANGE LOOKING UP
[14] EXPORTS INCREASE
[15] PIPELINE AGREEMENT SOON
[16] BAYAR AND ERCEL ON THE LIST
[17] INTELLIGENCE CHAMPIONSHIP IN ISTANBUL
[18] TANER TO ATTEND IMF MEETINGS
[19] ALTERNATIVE KURDISH SUMMIT IN ANKARA
[20] INONU COMMEMORATED
[21] CAKICI SENTENCED TO SIX MONTHS' IMPRISONMENT
[22] PERINCEK TAKEN INTO CUSTODY
[23] DYNAMIC MIX-98
[24] SCHROEDER'S STATEMENT TO MILLIYET
[01] TURKISH CALL FOR DIALOGUE WITH GREECE
Turkish Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz, who is currently in New York
to attend the 53rd term-meeting of the General Assembly of the
United Nations (UN), delivered a speech at the General Assembly
yesterday. Yilmaz said that Turkey was a nominee for the Security
Council for the year 2000 and that diplomatic initiatives had
been started to that end. Yilmaz issued a call to Greece for
dialogue and supported a proposal made by Turkish Cypriot
President Rauf Denktas for the establishment of a Confederation
in Cyprus. Yilmaz expressed Turkey's views on the crisis in
Kosovo, Turkish-Greek relations and the Middle East peace
process. Yilmaz also called upon Armenia to withdraw from
Azerbaijani territories. He stated that Turkey shared a joint
cultural heritage with the Arab nations, but added that Turkey
was nevertheless, a friend of Israel. /Cumhuriyet/
[02] DENKTAS REPLIES TO KLERIDES
President of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) Rauf
Denktas said that the 1960 Guarantee System in Cyprus was a
national system and added that Turkish Cypriots were against the
infringement of the system. Denktas noted that Greek Cypriots
were trying to weaken the 1960 system and turn it into an
international guarantee system. Denktas sent a written statement
to Greek Cypriot Leader Glafkos Klerides yesterday and said that
a proposal expressed by Klerides in New York to increase the
number of guarantor states in Cyprus was a 'Byzantine game'.
Denktas stated that the Cyprus problem stemmed from the guarantee
system and said: "The problem is that despite international
agreements Cyprus is being manipulated into a Greek state".
Meanwhile, Deputy Chairman of the Defense Committee of the Duma,
the lower house of the Russian Parliament, Aleksey Alfadok, said
yesterday that if Turkey intervenes during the transportation of
Russian-made S-300 missiles to southern Cyprus, they will regard
this as a reason for war and retaliate militarily. /Cumhuriyet/
[03] INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENT
A Turkish-Slovakian Joint Economic Commission First Term Meeting
protocol has been approved by the Turkish Council of Ministers. A
decision regarding this approval was published in the Official
Gazette yesterday. According to the protocol, exchange of goods
between Turkey and the Slovakian Republic will total $200 million
by the year 1999 and the activities of institutions related to
the encouragement of trade will be improved, the Anatolia news
agency reported yesterday.
[04] BRITISH-TURKISH FRIENDSHIP GROUP
Turkish Parliament Speaker Hikmet Cetin said that Turkey and
Britain are cooperating through international institutions and
are pursuing similar policies. Cetin yesterday received Chairman
of the British-Turkish Inter-Parliamentary Friendship Group Ben
Chapman and an accompanying delegation. Cetin said during the
meeting that bilateral relations between Turkey and Britain date
back 400 years. Chapman said for his part that good relations
between the two countries should be further developed through
their parliaments, the Anatolia news agency reports.
[05] ANDICAN RECEIVES AMB.LEBEDEV
Russian Federation Ambassador to Ankara Alexander Lebedev said
that Russian-made S-300 missiles purchased by the Greek Cypriot
Administration would not create any political problems between
Turkey and Russia. State Minister Ahad Andican, who received
Lebedev yesterday, said that Turkey and Russia were two important
countries in Eurasia and added that Russia was of great
significance for Turkey from the economic standpoint, the
Anatolia news agency reported yesterday.
[06] GERMAN SUPPORT FOR SOUTHEAST
A "Family Health Project" will be put into implementation by the
Turkish Health Ministry and German Technical Cooperation
Institution (GTZ). According to a written statement made by the
GTZ, the project will be implemented in Diyarbakir, Mardin,
Gaziantep and Kilis. The statement noted that Turkey was on the
way to European Union (EU) membership and that this cooperation
in the health sector between Turkey and Germany would contribute
to that goal, the Anatolia news agency reports.
[07] TURKISH-CANADIAN ECONOMIC COOPERATION
A joint declaration following a high-level commercial and
economic meeting between Turkey and Canada was signed yesterday
in Ankara. Turkish Foreign Trade Undersecretary Yavuz Ege and
Canadian Deputy Minister of International Trade Robert Wright
signed the declaration. Delivering a speech at the signing
ceremony, Ege noted that the meeting between the delegations of
the two countries had been very beneficial. Wright noted that the
second meeting would be held in Canada. During the meeting, it
was decided that an agreement for the prevention of double
taxation should be signed as soon as possible and cooperation
between Turkish Eximbank and Canadian Economic Development
Institution should be further developed, the Anatolia news agency
reports.
[08] OPERATIONS IN SOUTHEAST
During operations carried out by Turkish security forces against
the PKK terrorist organization in southeastern Anatolia, 16 PKK
terrorists were killed yesterday, according to a statement made
by the Emergency Rule Region. One terrorist surrendered to
security forces in the Catak district of Van. /Cumhuriyet/
[09] HUMBOLDT SYMPOSIUM
A Balkan Countries Humboldt Symposium organized by the Humboldt
Foundation will begin today in Istanbul. During the symposium,
issues such as the protection of historical assets in the
Balkans, archaeological research, science, politics and the
environment will be taken up. The symposium will end on September
27. /Cumhuriyet/
[10] GUREL MEETS WITH BORMAN
Turkish Labour and Social Security Minister Nami Cagan received
yesterday the Labour and Social Security Minister of the Turkish
Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) Onur Borman. Gurel said at the
meeting that the TRNC would live forever under the guarantee and
security of Turkey and the Turkish people. Gurel recalled that a
project for the transportation of water from Turkey to the TRNC
with huge balloons had been brought into operation and pointed
out that that real aim was to transport water via undersea
pipelines. He added that technical studies on this were already
underway.
Borman said for his part that meetings were being held between
the delegations of the two countries and added that within the
framework of an agreement in social security, Turkish and TRNC
workers would have mutual rights. /Cumhuriyet/
[11] STATE MINISTER ASIK RESIGNS
State Minister and ANAP party parliamentary representative for
Trabzon, Eyup Asik resigned yesterday as full details of his
connection with a leading underworld figure were published. The
connection between Asik and Alaattin Cakici, now facing
imprisonment in France, has rocked the government, and statements
by Cakici implicating Asik and other leading political figures
has created a storm in Ankara.
Yesterday Eyup Asik phoned directly to Prime Minister Mesut
Yilmaz who is in New York attending the 53rd term meetings of the
UN General Assembly, and verbally handed in his resignation from
both the government and parliament. /All papers/
[12] GREECE CLAIMS AIR SPACE VIOLATION
According to Greek news sources, Athens yesterday claimed that
Turkish fighter planes had violated Greek air space over the
islands of Sakiz and Limni. The claims have no concrete support,
and Ankara has made no statement to refute the claims. /Sabah/
[13] STOCK EXCHANGE LOOKING UP
Following recent waves of depression in the Istanbul Stock
Exchange (IMKB), yesterday's trading started to look a bit
brighter with new money pushing up the figures for trade and
stock dealing. The new activity follows in the wake of a
government package to ease the pressure on the stock exchange
stemming from the financial crash in Russia the monetary crisis
in Asia. /Milliyet/
[14] EXPORTS INCREASE
Figures issued yesterday by the State Planning Organization (DPT)
show that exports over the last eight months show an increase of
11.4 percent in real terms. Imports went up 9.4% over the same
January-August period. The latest reports show that the economy
is still following the same three-year upward trend and that in
real terms the government is keeping to its budget targets.
/Milliyet/
[15] PIPELINE AGREEMENT SOON
Agreement on the proposed Baku-Ceyhan crude oil pipeline project
is expected soon according to reports from Georgia. Georgia Head
of State Eduard Shevardnadze is quoted as saying that sides are
moving into a position where an agreement can at last be signed.
The Tbilisi Interfaks news agency reports that a signing ceremony
could take place on October 9. /Milliyet/
[16] BAYAR AND ERCEL ON THE LIST
Head of the Privatization Administration Ugur Bayar and Head of
Central Bank Gazi Ercel have been given a place among the leading
600 world financial figures. On the list there are many noted
individuals including the Chairman of the US Central Bank and the
Chairman of International Monetary Fund (IMF). /Cumhuriyet/
[17] INTELLIGENCE CHAMPIONSHIP IN ISTANBUL
The seventh World Intelligence Games Championship started in
�stanbul yesterday. Nearly 300 people are competing in the
championship which will last until September 27. /Hurriyet/
[18] TANER TO ATTEND IMF MEETINGS
Turkish State Minister Gunes Taner will attend IMF-World Bank
annual meetings on September 29. A delegation headed by Taner
will detail Turkey's achievements and economic targets.
/Hurriyet/
[19] ALTERNATIVE KURDISH SUMMIT IN ANKARA
Turkish Foreign Minister Ismail Cem, who is currently in New York
to attend the 53rd term-meeting of the UN General Assembly, noted
yesterday that a Kurdish Federation in northern Iraq was
unacceptable to Turkey. It is reported that a meeting to be
attended by Chairman of the Iraqi Kurdistan Democratic Party
(IKDP) Mesut Barzani and Chairman of the Iraqi Patriotic Union of
Kurdistan (IPUK) Celal Barzani will be held in Ankara in
November. Cem said that a decision on the future regime in
northern Iraq could not be decided in Washington, and added that
the Iraqi people should decide on this. He also noted that Iraqi
territorial integrity should be preserved and terrorist
activities should not be permitted.
Cem held a press conference in New York yesterday and said that
the Kosovo problem should be solved as soon as possible. Cem also
expressed Turkey's views on Turkish-Israeli relations and the
proposal for the establishment of a confederation in Cyprus.
/Hurriyet/
[20] INONU COMMEMORATED
The first prime minister and the second president of the Turkish
Republic Ismet Inonu was commemorated yesterday. A ceremony
marking the 114th anniversary of Inonu was held at the Ataturk's
Mausoleum (Anitkabir). Inonu's memorial is also in Anitkabir.
/Milliyet/
[21] CAKICI SENTENCED TO SIX MONTHS' IMPRISONMENT
Alaattin Cakici, head of a large criminal organization in Turkey,
was sentenced yesterday to six months' imprisonment in France for
entering that country with false documents. Another top gang
member, Murat Guler, was also sentenced by the French court to
six months' imprisonment. /All papers/
[22] PERINCEK TAKEN INTO CUSTODY
Workers' Party (IP) Chairman Dogu Perincek, General Secretary
Mehmet Bedri Gultekin and four other party members were taken
into custody yesterday because a connection between the IP and
the PKK terrorist organization was discovered after an
investigation by the Ankara State Security Court (DGM). /All
papers/
[23] DYNAMIC MIX-98
Dynamic Mix-98 (DM-98), NATO's biggest war game for 1998, will be
held on October 1-21 in Italy, Turkey and Greece, with the
participation of 11 NATO member states. /All papers/
[24] SCHROEDER'S STATEMENT TO MILLIYET
Chairman of the German Social Democrat Party (SDP) Gerhard
Schroeder made a statement yesterday to the daily Milliyet
newspaper and said that they would not close the door of the
European Union (EU) on Turkey. He added that there could not a
union based on religious values. Schroeder expressed the
importance of the 160,000 Turkish voters living in Germany.
/Milliyet/
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