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Turkish Press Review, 99-03-17Turkish Press Review Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs <http://www.mfa.gov.tr>17.03.99Summary of the political and economic news in the Turkish press this morningCONTENTS
[01] JAPANESE AMBASSADOR: "WE WANT TO IMPROVE TURCO-JAPANESE RELATIONS"[02] FROM THE COLUMNS ... FROM THE COLUMNS ... FROM THE COLUMNS ON THE DOUBLE STANDARDS DISPLAYED BY EUROPE - BY HASAN CEMAL[03] (MILLIYET)[04] DEMIREL TO VISIT BULGARIAPresident Suleyman Demirel will pay an official visit to Bulgaria on March 22-23, the Anatolia News Agency reports. Demirel will be decorated with 'Stara Planina' state medal, the most significant medal of Bulgaria, during his visit to this country. Demirel will meet his Bulgarian counterpart, Petar Stayanov, Bulgarian Prime Minister Ivan Kostov and Yordan Sokolov, the Speaker of the Bulgarian Parliament during his visit to Bulgaria. Demirel will also attend the opening ceremony of the Demirbank Bulgaria.[05] STRICT MEASURES AGAINST TERRORIST ACTIVITIESStrict measures have been taken due to the increasing terrorist activities in Istanbul. Security measures in such places as shopping malls, hotels, cinema buildings, places of entertainment and public transport vehicles will be implemented by the Office of the Istanbul Governor. A decision concerning these measures was published in the Official Gazette yesterday. Meanwhile, 30,000 brochures were hung in various places in Istanbul calling on terrorists to surrender themselves to the Turkish security forces. /Milliyet-Sabah/[06] BAYAR: "WE HAVE FOUND IMPORTANT CLUES"Interior Minister Cahit Bayar said yesterday that they have found some important clues regarding the recent terrorist attacks. Bayar noted that Turkey was passing through an important turning point and they had expected that these terrorist activities would increase following the capture of the PKK chief Abdullah Ocalan. Bayar stated that terrorism was not a short-term incident and said that the Republic of Turkey would reach its goal in the end. /Turkiye/[07] ANKARA APPLIES PRESSURE TO SHUT DOWN MED-TVFollowing deadly terrorist attacks on civilians, Ankara has stepped up pressure on European governments to ban the broadcast of London-based MED-TV, a pro-PKK channel which issues daily calls for violence against Turkey. Speaking to press members yesterday, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ismail Cem, said that he had had a telephone conversation with his British counterpart Robin Cook and asked him to ban MED-TV broadcasts. Cem added that no media institution could be allowed to issue orders for murder and terrorism.Meanwhile, Minister of Transportation, Hasan Basri Aktan, said that they had tried to secure the closure of MED-TV. He added they had BEEN informed that private institutions provided MED-TV with the opportunity to broadcast, and it was difficult for governments and international organizations to interfere. MED-TV broadcasts from London; it also has also offices and studios in Brussels. Sweden, France and the Netherlands have also provided direct or indirect assistance to MED-TV's broadcasts. /Aksam/ [08] 110 PEOPLE TAKEN INTO CUSTODYDuring operations carried out by members of Istanbul Security Office's Anti-Terrorism Department, 110 people were taken into custody concerning the molotov cocktail attack in Istanbul on Saturday. /Sabah/[09] KUTAN: "WE MAY ACCEPT THE DELAY OF THE ELECTIONS"Recai Kutan, the leader of the Virtue Party (FP), declared that they may accept the delay of the forthcoming April 18 Elections, in the case that those `disgruntled' MPs put forward the `postponement of the General Elections' as the mere condition for the `abolition of political prohibitions'. Kutan also remarked that the abolition of political prohibitions through the necessary amendments in the Turkish Criminal Code will pave the way for the return of Necmettin Erbakan, the former leader of the now-defunct Welfare Party (RP) and the most powerful figure in the Islamic political movement in Turkey. Meanwhile, in a special interview with `Hurriyet', Kutan interestingly stated that in the post-election period they would prefer to form a coalition with the Democratic Left Party (DSP) rather than with other parties in Parliament, mainly due to ethical reasons. /Hurriyet/[10] YILMAZ: "THEY ARE REFRAINING FROM ELECTIONS"The Chairman of the Motherland Party (ANAP), Mesut Yilmaz, claimed that the Virtue Party (FP) and the Republican People's Party (CHP) were refraining from the Elections to be held on April 18, 1999. Yilmaz, who harshly criticized the disgruntled MPs, said: "The date of the Elections has already been fixed; the State has spent trillions of TL on it, civil servants have resigned to become deputies in the Elections, the elections lists have become certain and election campaigns have started. Now some deputies who have been excluded from the lists in Ankara are calling on Parliament to convene in order to cancel the Elections, claiming that they will discuss terrorism. However, we have seen that they have not debated terrorism and their aim is only to postpone the Elections". Yilmaz also blamed the FP and the CHP for supporting the disgruntled deputies. /Turkiye/[11] DTP: "NO SUPPORT FOR THE 312TH ARTICLE"The Deputy Chairman of the Democrat Turkey Party (DTP), Ismet Sezgin, noted yesterday that they would not support the removal of the 312th Article of the Turkish Penal Code which deals with the provoking of hatred and hostility among people on the grounds of religious or racial discrimination. Sezgin, who held a press conference yesterday, said that the General Elections should not be held in a hurry and they wanted the Local and General Elections not to be held at the same time. Replying to a question concerning the postponement of the Elections, Sezgin said: "If Parliament decides to postpone the Elections, we will abide by this decision and we will cast our votes to this end". /Milliyet/[12] 15 LAWYERS FOR OCALANThe process of meetings to prepare the plea of the PKK chief Abdullah Ocalan, imprisoned on Imrali Island, has started. Lawyers Selim Okcuoglu, Niyazi Bulgan and Irfan Dundar, who were given the proxy of attorney for the PKK chief Abdullah Ocalan, went to Imrali Island yesterday; the lawyers, who stayed on the Island for nearly four hours, left at 7 p.m. In the proxy request given by Ocalan to Zeki Okcuoglu through a Notary, Okcuoglu assigned 15 lawyers from various bars to plead for Ocalan. Okcuoglu, who made a statement on the issue, said that Ocalan has extended to him the power to assign other attorneys and noted that therefore he and his brother Selim Okcuoglu and 15 other attorneys would defend Ocalan. /Sabah/[13] BONN EXTRADITES PKK MEMBERSGermany is preparing to extradite a number of PKK members, including the Kurdish businessman Savas Buldan, and Behcet Yildirim, the nephew of Adnan Yildirim, who was killed together with Haci Karay. Along with these figures, Mecit Kizil will also be extradited to Turkey. It is reported that the Turkish Government is continuing its efforts to have Kemal Demir, Hamza Demir, Kadir Kaya and Aydin Celik, who have started a hunger strike in prison, extradited. /Hurriyet/[14] 11 THOUSAND PKK MEMBERS IN GERMANYThe English newspaper `The Guardian' reported that notwithstanding the prohibition of the terrorist organization in Germany, the PKK has augmented its power in this country over the last five years, while the number of those PKK members inclined to violence has risen from 7 thousand to 11 thousand in Germany. `The Guardian' also noted that both the UK and Germany pay significant attention to threats of this kind. /Hurriyet/[15] KIOSK OWNED BY TURKS BURNT DOWN IN BONNA kiosk owned by Turks was burnt in a fire in Bonn yesterday, causing 500 thousand DM of material damage. Nobody was injured in the accident. The police said the reason of the fire has not been yet determined, the Anatolia News Agency reports.[16] PANGALOS SAYS PKK VIOLENCE NOT TERRORISMThe Greek Minister of Foreign Affairs, Theodoros Pangalos, said that the violent attacks by the PKK could not be defined as terrorism, according to the Anatolia News Agency. In remarks to the daily "Ethnos", Pangalos said that while concrete acts of terrorism should be condemned, this did not hold true for the acts of organizations that "do not have the opportunity to act in other way." Pangalos also criticized Washington's attitude towards Greece.[17] NOVEMBER 17 ACCUSES GREEK GOVERNMENTOne of the world's most elusive terrorist organizations issued an eight-page declaration, published in the Athens newspaper "Eleftherotypia". The statement focused on Greece's perceived role in the arrest by Turkish authorities of the chief of the terrorist PKK organization, Abdullah Ocalan, last month. November 17 accused the Greek government of "betrayal" by purposely turning Ocalan over to Greece's traditional rival Turkey. /Cumhuriyet/[18] `CATLI HAD A GREEK PASSPORT'Haluk Kirci, who was involved in the Susurluk incident and is one of the suspects in the Bahcelievler massacre in which seven Turkish Workers' Party (TIP) members were killed in 1977, has claimed that Abdullah Catli, a Turkish criminal figure who died during the accident in Susurluk, had a Greek passport. This claim has been confirmed and it is reported that Catli entered Turkey via Istanbul's Ataturk Airport on January 28, 1996, with a Greek passport in the name of Mehmet Ozbay. It has also been determined that Catli had entered Turkey under Iranian, British, Brazilian, Irish and Belgian passports. /Sabah/[19] LOGAN: "OCALAN'S FUTURE IS A JUDICIAL ISSUE"The British Ambassador to Ankara, David Logan, said that Abdullah Ocalan's future was a judicial issue. He added, "The Turkish government has no right to interfere with the judiciary. And also no-one else has this right. Ocalan's trial is not a political issue. Most of the European countries, including Britain, have been faced with demonstrations protesting Ocalan's capture." /Aksam/[20] DENKTAS: "TURKEY IS THE ONLY TARGET OF GREEK-CYPRUS"The President of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), Rauf Denktas, attended the "Recent Developments in Cyprus Issue" seminar organized by the Culture University in Istanbul. Denktas said in his speech that for every step that Greek-Cyprus takes in uniting with the European Union (EU), they will take the same step in integrating with Turkey. He claimed that because Greek-Cyprus had given a passport to Ocalan and still gave shelter to PKK terrorists, it meant that Turkey and being a Turk were the main targets of Greek-Cyprus. /Cumhuriyet/[21] GERMAN GOVERNMENT APPROVES NEW CITIZENSHIP LAWGerman Chancellor Minister Gerhard Schroeder's government approved a modernization of Germany's 1913 Citizenship Law yesterday, hoping to end weeks of debate about the integration of foreign residents. The Lower House is to take up the Law on Friday. The compromise Bill gives automatic German citizenship for the first time to children born to foreign residents. Germany has some 7.3 million foreigners, nearly 10 % of the population, about two million of which are Turks. /Milliyet/[22] EUROPEAN SUPPORT FOR TURKEYEuropean newspapers reported that there is no need to fear going to Turkey due to PKK activity. The Russian newspaper, "Izvestia" reported on the front page that the terrorist organization had, in fact, damaged itself. It added that PKK lost the support of the West by launching its violent attacks. It is reported that travel agencies in Russia encouraged tourists to go to Turkey. Meanwhile, British travel agencies claimed that the PKK was trying to damage Turkish tourism. A representative of the British Sun World Travel Agency said that during every tourism season terrorists played the same game on Turkey but they were not thinking of cancelling their reservations in Turkey. /Aksam/[23] SEVEN TERRORISTS KILLED IN THE SOUTHEASTSeven terrorists were killed during the on-going operations in Eastern and Southeastern Anatolia. According to military sources, at the end of intense clashes between the security forces and the terrorists seven terrorists had been killed. Meanwhile, two terrorists were captured in Tunceli. It was reported that operations will continue in and around the region. /Aksam/[24] TERRORISTS KILL A VILLAGE GUARDTerrorists killed a village guard in Genc county of eastern province of Bingol, the Anatolia News Agency reports. Three terrorists kidnapped Yuksel Cakan, a village guard on Monday while he was on his way to home. The terrorists opened fire towards the flats of judiciary personnel and escaped in the darkness. Officials said that operations were underway to capture terrorists.[25] OPERATION AGAINST HIZBULLAH IN THE SOUTHEASTAfter the interrogation of the 20 members of the out-lawed Hizbullah terrorist organization who were captured last week, security forces have started a wide scope of operations in and around Diyarbakir, Mardin and Batman. It is reported that two more terrorists were captured in the Kiziltepe district of Mardin. /Cumhuriyet/[26] A BOMB EXPLODES IN HATAYA car containing members of the PKK terrorist organization who were planning to hold a suicide attack exploded yesterday in the Kirikhan district of Hatay. Debris was scattered everywhere and two PKK terrorists in the car died following the explosion. /Sabah/[27] A TOTAL OF 62 ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS CAPTUREDThe Gendarmes captured a total of 62 immigrants in Edirne, who were trying to proceed to Greece illegally, yesterday. Immigrants including 30 Iranians, 14 Moroccans, 10 Iraqis, three Pakistanis, three Bangladeshis and two Afghans, were later taken into custody for violating the Turkish borders and the passport law, the Anatolia News Agency reports. Meanwhile security forces captured two Bulgarians in Huseyinpinar village in Lalapasa county of Edirne who entered Turkey illegally.[28] TURKISH AND SYRIAN MINISTERS WILL MEET IN ANKARAThe Syrian and Turkish Economic Ministers will meet in Ankara in the following weeks, for the first time since a serious political and military strain erupted between the two countries in last October due to Syrian support for PKK terrorism. It is expected that the Syrian minister and his Turkish counterpart, State Minister Hikmet Ulugbay, will discuss those policy measures to be implemented in order to increase the trade volume between the two countries. /Hurriyet/[29] BULGARIAN DEPUTY GOVERNORS OF TURKISH ORIGINDeputy Governors of Turkish origin have taken their office in the Razgrad, Shumen, Kircali, Haskova and Blagoevgrad provinces of Bulgaria, where citizens of Turkish ethnic origin constitute a notable percentage of the total population. Guner Tahir, the Head of the National Rights and Freedoms Movement and a Razgrad MP, pointed out that Turks have finally been delegated top level administrative and political responsibilities due to their ceaseless efforts in the Bulgarian Parliament. Tahir also heralded that the Turkish broadcasts of Sofia Radio will be increased to two hours in the near future. /Hurriyet/[30] CILLER DEMANDS PROPER DEMOCRACYDuring a meeting held in Istanbul yesterday, Tansu Ciller, the leader of the True Path Party (DYP), said that their main target is a `proper democracy'. Ciller also reiterated that they are against the postponement of the April Elections. /Hurriyet/[31] HAYRETTIN UZUN RESIGNES FROM DYPIzmit mayoral candidate and True Path Party (DYP) Deputy Hayrettin Uzun has resigned from Parliament. Answering journalists' questions at a press conference he held in Izmit Uzun said that Turkey's political party and election laws should be revised to prevent the corruption Turkish political life. /Milliyet/[32] REJECTION OF SEKER'S RESIGNATIONThe resignation of the True Path Party's (DYP) Bilecik Deputy, Bahattin Seker, was rejected during the General Assembly of the Turkish Parliament yesterday. According to the 84th Article of the Turkish Constitution, when a deputy resigns, this decision should be approved by the General Assembly in Parliament. /Turkiye/[33] NEW MODEL FOR PRIVATIZATIONThe Head of the Privatization Administration, Ugur Bayar, pointed out that privatization was in a tense process and said: "Governments which have a three-four year outlook on privatization, can persuade our citizens and alleviate the social pain caused by privatization, are needed". Bayar noted that redundancy payments equivalent to 18-24 months' salary could be made to people who will become jobless because of privatization. Bayar recalled that last year $141 billion of privatization was achieved in the world during the time when the crises in Asia, Russia and Brazil were being experienced.Bayar said, concerning a new alternative model for privatization, that at the end of some upheaval, if an increase in revenues and savings in expenses could be achieved, sources transferred to those facilities which experience great losses would be limited and these sources would create new employment opportunities and cause an increase in the growth rate. /Sabah/ [34] KOC OPENS TRUCK FACTORY IN SAMARKANDThe lorry and truck factory SamKocoto JSC in Samarkand, Uzbekistan was opened by Turkish President Suleyman Demirel and his Uzbek counterpart, Islam Kerimov yesterday. The Chairman of the Koc Group, Rahmi Koc, made a speech during the opening ceremony of the factory saying that SamKocoto factory was the biggest investment abroad Koc Holding had made so far. He added that they were planning to produce 5,000 trucks annually in that modern complex. Koc noted, "Other types of commercial vehicles can be manufactured here and the production numbers can be increased. We are continuing talks concerning other investments. I hope that Koc Group, which had a leading role in the foundation of the Turkish automobile industry, will continue to enjoy the same success in Uzbekistan as well." /Milliyet/[35] JAPANESE AMBASSADOR: "WE WANT TO IMPROVE TURCO-JAPANESE RELATIONS"The Japanese Ambassador to Ankara, Seiji Morimoto, said that Turkey was the second country following Egypt to which his country extended the biggest financial aid. He added that Turco-Japanese relations should be strengthened. The First Secretary of the Japanese Embassy, Toshiro Hosoi, said, for his part, that they gave almost $ 3 billion in 1997 within the framework of Official Development Aid (ODA). He added that Turkey had great potential and an important place in the Middle East. The Chairman of the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA), Tasuo Yonebayashi, noted that they had extended $ 209 million technical cooperation aid to Turkey up to now. /Cumhuriyet/[36] BOSNIA WAITS FOR TURKISH INVESTMENTIbrahim Kadic, the Chairman of the Bosnian Industry and Trade delegation in Turkey, said that an era of intense investment had begun in Bosnia after the war; however, their chief problem is lack of capital and they want to form joint ventures with Turkish businessmen. Kadic told the Anatolia News Agency that they needed support from Turkish companies in their efforts to further economic development. The privatization drive in Bosnia was going well, said Kadic, who suggested that Turkish businessmen should take part in the sell-offs.[37] CONSTRUCTION OF D-400 CONNECTION ROAD STARTSThe foundation of the D-400 connection road at Gaziantep's Sumerbank Crossroads will be laid today as a part of Tarsus-Adana-Gaziantep (TAG) Highway project. According to the information released by the Highways General Directorate, the construction of the three thousand 200 meter highway will start today with an opening ceremony which will be attended by Ali Iliksoy, the Public Works and Housing Minister, the Anatolia News Agency reports.[38] NEW HEAD OF BOTAS IS APPOINTEDGokhan Yildirim, the Head of the Natural Gas Division of the Turkish Pipeline Corporation (BOTAS), was appointed as the new chairman for the state concern. BOTAS had been chaired by Nadir Biyikoglu since the former chairman, Nevzat Arseven, left the office to enter politics. /Cumhuriyet/[39] TURKISH EXPORTERS TO DUBAITurkish exporters will go to Dubai, known as the 'Hong Kong of the Middle East'. The aim of the exporters, who will participate in the Shopping Fair organized by Elit International Trading Consultancy on April 6-10, is to increase the share of Turkish products in the foreign import trade of Dubai, which has an annual $250 million consumption potential. /Turkiye/[40] ISTANBUL WORLD'S 59TH MOST EXPENSIVE CITYIstanbul ranked as the 59th most expensive city in the world in a report by the Geneva-based Corporate Resources Group (CRG), which ranked the world's 151 most expensive cities. Tokyo ranks as the most expensive city in the world, with Hong Kong and Beijing just behind. The list was based on the price of goods and services sold to foreigners. /Milliyet/[41] TURKISH GROUP TO REPRESENT GERMANY IN EUROVISIONIt is reported that a Turkish group 'Surprise' (Surpriz) will represent Germany in the Eurovision Song Contest to be held in Israel. When it became evident that the song 'Hor den Kindern einfach zu' sung by Corinna May, who was elected the first by the national jury, had been entered in the short-list of songs for Germany in 1997, it was decided that the Turkish group, which ranked second, would represent Germany. /Milliyet/[42] FROM THE COLUMNS ... FROM THE COLUMNS ... FROM THE COLUMNS[43] ON THE DOUBLE STANDARDS DISPLAYED BY EUROPE - BY HASAN CEMAL (MILLIYET)Columnist Hasan Cemal analyzes the stand taken by Europe versus the PKK television channel and newspaper calling for violence in Turkey. A summary of his column is as follows:"The television channel of the PKK terrorist organization MED-TV is calling for violent actions in Turkey. Bombs are exploding, innocent people are losing ther lives... The PKK newspaper 'Ozgur Politika' is publishing calls for violent actions in Turkey . Innocent people are losing their lives...But MED TV is not silenced, 'Ozgur Politika' goes on publishing...They carry on their activities in Belgium, Germany and England; in countries which have accepted democracy as a way of life... Can inviting , encouraging and directing terrorism be in agreement with the freedom of the press? Certainly not.In a panel discussion handling this issue in 1996, I stated that the broadcasts of [6~MED-TV should be silenced. One of the leading human rights activists attending the panel told me privately that if there had been a television station broadcasting for the IRA within another country,the Royal Air Force would have downed the satellite providing such an opportunity. However, the same England is embracing the MED-TV which is calling for terror and violence. Not only England, but Belgium and Germany are also providing safe havens for them; MED-TV programmes are prepared in Brussels, the PKK newspaper 'Ozgur Politika' is published in Germany....It is beyond comprehension how these organs of the press can be being sheltered in England, Belgium and Germany. What kind of a double standard is this? Aren't they acting with the logic that so long as it is not in their backyard it can go on forever? This double standard is the violation of those values which make Europe what it is today...Europe will turn a blind eye and shut its ears to what is happening there and then dare to judge Turkey from a legal point of view. This is neither convincing nor influential." [44] TERRORISM AND THE LOGIC OF ANKARA - BY CUNEYT ULSEVER (HURRIYET)Cuneyt Ulsever, a columnist in the `Hurriyet' daily, reflects on what terrorism currently implies for international politics and how Ankara is reacting against it. Ulsever writes:"Those civilized (!) countries who have already experienced two World Wars no longer resolve the problems between them by means of grand wars. For they hold in their hands a less problematic means than war: terrorism! In this respect, the price of the power struggle for the Middle East between the Anglo-Saxon world and Continental Europe has been paid for by Turkey in terms of the Kurdish Question and PKK terrorism. On the other hand, the Turkish Republic has grounded its conception of statehood on the search for potential criminals; she spends all her energy on eliminating those elements which may challenge her legitimacy. The United States, which has begun an aggressive and active policy towards a New Middle Eastern Order, confronted the Europe's `Kurdish Parliament' move through pacifying the PKK. The US goal is to prevent a possible political legitimization of the PKK. In order to hold the Kurdish card in hand, however, the US aided the `healthy' delivery of Abdullah Ocalan to Turkey. Otherwise, he might have been `terminated' in `self-defence' during the operation; it is a well-known fact that Western Civilization is quite successful in those sort of methods. Now, Turkey is squeezed between her `homework' and the terror-ridden intimidation policies of Continental Europe. Interestingly, `rural terrorism' has been suddenly transmuted into `urban terrorism' under different names. Yet the only change must have been in the proxy forces! In the midst of such a turmoil, Turkey closes the liberal Kurdish party of Serafettin Elci on the one hand, and tries to exclude HADEP from the April Elections on the other. In addition, one observes that `the disgruntled' movement strengthens and the amnesty of Necmettin Erbakan, who has criticized the entire Christian world save Germany in his lifetime, becomes the the most important issue on the agenda. What is the reaction of Ankara to those efforts? It demands the execution of Erbakan! The bureaucratic apparatus is still in favour of capital punishment and opposes the abolition of the 312th article. Yet it fails to realize that such measures cannot ameliorate the situation but will serve to further exacerbate the strains." [45] WHAT IS WRONG? - BY HIKMET CETINKAYA (CUMHURIYET)Columnist Hikmet Cetinkaya looks into the reasons why the Turkish Grand National Assembly has been recalled. A summary of his column is as follows:"What do the disgruntled Members of Parliament have in common with the Virtue Party? Terror is rampant in Istanbul, MED-TV is calling for more violent incidents and the press is occupied with the abolition of 312th article of the Turkish Penal Code... The question is why did the Members of Parliament wait for so long for the abolition of the 312th article, the civilianization of the State Security Courts, and the taking steps of on the road to democracy? Why did the Bill, prepared by the Republican Peoples' Party, wait for years and why did not other parties including the Virtue Party support it? ...Had not the former leader of the Virtue Party Erbakan been banned from political life, would the Virtue Party cooperate with the disgruntled Members of the Parliament?... Turkey needs democracy but you should decide how sincere the Virtue Party is in its desire to lift the 312th article, enact the Repentance Law or civilianize the State Security Courts? " Turkish Press Review Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |
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