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Turkish Press Review, 99-09-16Turkish Press Review Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs <http://www.mfa.gov.tr>16.09.99Summary of the political and economic news in the Turkish press this morningCONTENTS
[01] FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE COLUMNS...[02] DEMIREL EXPRESSES HIS CONDOLENCESPresident Suleyman Demirel yesterday sent a message of condolence to his Greek counterpart, Konstantin Stephanapoulos, as the Greek Deputy Foreign Minister Yannis Kraniditios lost his life in an aircraft accident two days ago. Demirel expressed his sorrow at the accident, the Anatolia News Agency reports. Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Ismail Cem phoned his Greek counterpart, George Papandreu, and expressed his regret. Cem's visit to Romania has been cancelled due to the death of Kranidiotis. Officials from the Foreign Ministry said that the reason for the cancellation was the postponement of the Foreign Ministers' Meeting of the Southeastern European Countries' Cooperation Process to be held in Bucharest.[03] HELICOPTER ACCIDENT IN PERVARIPrime Minister Bulent Ecevit issued a message concerning the military helicopter accident in which one lieutenant and two health staff lost their lives in the rural areas of the Pervari district in Siirt. Ecevit expressed his condolence over the accident. /All papers/[04] SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT FUND DELEGATION IN ANKARAA delegation from the Social Development Fund of the Council of Europe visited the Collective Housing Administration (TOKI) yesterday. A statement issued by TOKI said that the delegation consisting of Dr.Baris Trak and Juan F.Seco Gurllot met TOKI Chairman Dr.Kamil Ugurlu. The statement remarked that the delegation reported its observations in the earthquake disaster region to Dr.Ugurlu and requested information about the projects carried out by TOKI to date, especially in the aftermath of the earthquake. The statement added that detailed information had been provided about the activities of TOKI including Erzincan and Adana-Ceyhan projects, the Anatolia News Agency reports.[05] SUSPENSION IN MISSILE SALE TO TURKEY BY NORWAYThe Norwegian Government has stated that it has temporarily suspended the sale of missiles to Turkey. According to official sources in Oslo, Foreign Minister Knut Vollebaek said that the sale of the Penguin missile to Turkey has been suspended. An agreement worth $38 million for the sale of the Penguin-type missile had been signed between the Kongsberg firm in Norway and Ankara. The Norwegian Foreign Ministry Spokesman said that they would issue a final decision following a meeting between officials from the Kongsberg firm and Turkey, the Anatolia News Agency reports.[06] GALATASARAY-HERTHA BERLIN 2-2Galatasaray football team could not manage to defeat the German Hertha-Berlin football team yesterday in Istanbul. The score at the end of the match, played as part of the Champions League, was 2-2. Meanwhile, Hertha-Berlin donated 15 billion TL for the victims of the earthquake which happened in Turkey on August 17. /Aksam/[07] EXPORTS TO RUSSIAIleri Marketing Company has been able to award the Gosstandard Conformity Certificate, a state standard issued by the Russian Test and Certificate Centre (ROSTET), to all exports from Turkey to Russia. The Head of the Executive Board of the Company, Oktay Guner, said that an agreement had been signed with ROSTET for this purpose. /Aksam/[08] 18 TURKISH BANKS IN EUROPEAN LEAGUEThe British 'Banker' magazine issued a list in its issue published in September 1999 consisting of 'the biggest 500 banks in Europe'. The list included 18 Turkish banks. The top three among the Turkish banks in the list are Akbank, Is Bank and Yapi Kredi Bank. /Aksam/[09] CANADIAN OBSTACLE TO TURKISH IRONCanada has decided to enforce its Anti-Dumping Law on Turkish iron. The decision taken by the Canadian Government to protect its producers received a harsh reaction from iron-steel producers in Turkey. The General Secretary of the Iron-Steel Producers' Association, Veysel Yayan, described the Canadian decision as a protective approach. /Aksam/[10] 10 TERRORISTS KILLEDDuring raids carried out by security forces in the rural areas of Hakkari, 10 members of the PKK terrorist organization have been killed. A statement issued by the Emergency Rule Region said that a crack-down in the region was on-going. /Aksam/[11] GROSSMAN-ECEVIT MEETINGU.S. Deputy Secretary of State, Marc Grossman, visited Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit yesterday. During the meeting, Grossman revealed the agenda of issues to be discussed during Ecevit's visit to the U.S. During the visit, issues with reference to Cyprus, Iraq, the European Defence System, IMF and World Bank assistance will be deliberated. Grossman expressed his wish for the continuation of the positive atmosphere in Turco-Greek relations. Grossman stated that the $1.050 biilion aid package to be granted by the World Bank was ready. /Aksam/[12] CEM'S UN MARATHONForeign Minister Ismail Cem will meet 27 Ministers and an EU Commissioner during his five-day visit to the U.S. Cem stated that he would also deliver a speech at the UN General Council. /Aksam/[13] EDUCATIONAL COOPERATION BETWEEN TURKEY AND KAZAKHSTANThe 'Permanent Commission Protocol' comprising educational cooperation betweeen Turkey and Kazakhstan has been renovated by the representatives of the Ministries of the two countries. National Education Ministry Deputy Undersecretary Saim Hekimoglu said that with this protocol, 150 Kazakh students would receive scholarships in Turkey while 25 Turkish students would be able to have higher education with scholarship in Kazakhstan. Deputy Minister of the Science and Higher Education of Kazakhstan, Bazar Damitov, remarked that due to the project, which began in 1992, there were currently 1,000 Turkish students in Kazakhstan. /Aksam/[14] FAMOUS OPERA SINGERS TO STAGE A CONCERTRenowned opera signers from throughout the world will stage a concert in Munich, Germany on October 11 to help the victims of the earthquake in Turkey. The concert has been organized on the initiative of the Bavarian Prime Minister Edmund Stoiber and Culture Minister Hans Zehetmeier. The proceeds of the concert will be given to the victims. /Hurriyet/[15] TUSIAD TO GIVE PROJECT SUPPORT TO ECEVITThe Turkish Industrialists' and Businessmen's Association (TUSIAD) will give their project support to Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit during his visit to the U.S. Prior to Ecevit's visit, a delegation under the chairmanship of the Head of the Executive Board of TUSIAD, Erkut Yucaoglu, will go to the U.S. on September 24. Yucaoglu stated that the visit to the U.S. was to be paid to drum up much-needed resources and support from international institutions for serious projects in the aftermath of the earthquake in Turkey. The TUSIAD delegation will present their proposals and requirements for the support they wish to be provided to Turkey. /Hurriyet/[16] FOREIGN EXCHANGE RESERVES UPCentral Bank foreign exchange reserves increased by $398 million last week and rose to $24.269 billion on September 10. Central Bank foreign exchange reserves which were under $24 billion in the weeks following the earthquake again exceeded this figure last week. /Hurriyet/[17] GREEK CALL FOR MATCHThe Chairman of the Greek Football Federation, Sotiris Alemisis, said that, as the Turkish and Greek national teams had not played each other since 1989, "A friendly match between Turkey and Greece would please us greatly". Meanwhile, the proceeds of the Hamburg-Trabzonspor match organized by the Turco-German Foundation were presented to the Head of the Turco-German Foundation, Vural Oger. /Hurriyet/[18] DALI'S PAINTINGS IN ISTANBULThe paintings of the famous Salvador Dali will be exhibited in Turkey on the 10th anniversary of his death. The exhibition will be opened at the Ataturk Cultural Centre on September 18. The proceeds of the exhibition will be granted to the victims of the earthquake. /Star/[19] DINI IN TURKEYItalian Foreign Minister Lamberto Dini arrived in Turkey yesterday as the official guest of Turkish Foreign Minister Ismail Cem. Dini issued a statement at Ankara's Esenboga Airport and said that during his visit to Turkey, the development of Turco-Italian relations would be discussed and added that there were good intentions on both sides to further strengthen bilateral relations. /Star/[20] ECEVIT: "WE WANT PEACE"Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit in a statement to the Greek MEGA TV channel yesterday said that they had never coveted Greek territory. He added, "We want peace and cooperation with Greece by taking advantage of every opportunity to attain this end". Ecevit excluded the Cyprus issue from Turco-Greek relations and said that the Cyprus problem would be solved by the Cypriot nation itself. /Star/[21] IMF ALLOCATES $330 MILLIONAn emergency loan of $330 million that the IMF has designated for the repair of the earthquake damage in Turkey represents the highest sum of money following a natural disaster ever offered to any country in the history of the IMF. The highest loan to date, $291.4 million, was given to Mexico following an earthquake that claimed many lives in 1986. /All papers/[22] IMF AGREES WITH ADDITIONAL TAXThe delegation chaired by the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) Director in Turkey, Carlo Cotarelli, met the Turkish Minister of Finance, Sumer Oral. During the meeting, financing after the earthquake was discussed mostly. It was reported that the delegation had planned to cover the damage resulting from the earthquake with an the additional tax and that for this purpose they wished the Turkish Parliament to bring the additional tax draft into force. The Minister of Finance, Sumer Oral, said that they had discussed all the issues related to the earthquake and its aftermath with the IMF delegation. After seeing the extent of the destruction, Cotarelli said that he will present a proposal to Washington in order to provide the IMF with the means to increase the financial donation that is planned to be given to Turkey. /Milliyet/[23] IDEF TURKEY '99The Fourth International Defence Industry, Aerospace and Maritime Fair will be held between September 28 and October 1 in Ankara. The Fair is being organized by CNR International Fair Organisers' Inc., under the auspices of the Turkish Armed Forces Foundation. Defence Minister Sabahattin Cakmakoglu held a press conference yesterday and said that a total of 11 Defence Ministers will attend the Fair and added that important agreements would be signed during IDEF Turkey '99. /All papers/[24] HOTHOUSE IN GAPA factory which produces glass hothouse equipment has gone into service in Sanliurfa. Annually, a total of 300,000 square metres of hothouse equipment is produced to world standards in this factory. Sanliurfa Governor Sehabettin Harput said concerning the hothouse work being carried out that an important step had been taken in order to most productively evaluate the potential of the Southeastern Anatolia Project (GAP). /Turkiye/[25] TURCO-GREEK DIALOGUEThe second round of meetings between the Turkish and Greek delegations began in Ankara yesterday. The meeting, during which cooperation in culture, the struggle against terrorism and regional opportunities, are being discussed will end today. The Foreign Ministry's Deputy Undersecretary, Ambassador Mithat Balkan, is heading the Turkish delegation while the Political Director of the Greek Foreign Ministry, Anastasios Skoperitis, is heading the Greek delegation. /Turkiye/[26] SAROS '99 EXERCISEMilitary manoeuvres entitled "Saros '99", in which Land, Air and Naval Forces from Turkey, Britain and the U.S. are taking part, are running successfully in the Saros Gulf. "Saros '99" will end tomorrow. /Turkiye/[27] MARMARA EARTHQUAKE TEACHES IMPORTANT LESSONThe Director of the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), James Lee Litt, said that they learnt some important lessons from the earthquakes in Turkey and in Greece. He stated that new international construction standards would be implemented. /Turkiye/[28] FULL SUPPORT FOR DENKTASThe President of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) Rauf Denktas, Turkish President Suleyman Demirel, Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit, Chief of General Staff, Gen.Huseyin Kivrikoglu, Deputy Prime Ministers Devlet Bahceli and Cumhur Ersumer, Foreign Minister Ismail Cem, National Defence Minister Sabahattin Cakmakoglu, and State Ministers Sukru Sina Gurel and Husamettin Ozkan held a meeting at Cankaya Palace yesterday. Diplomatic sources said that this meeting aimed to declare to international public opinion that, "Turkey is siding with the TRNC" prior to the Ecevit-Clinton meeting on September 28. /Milliyet/[29] U.S. SOLUTION FOR BAKU-CEYHAN PROJECTPrime Minister, Bulent Ecevit, will demand U.S. President Clinton's support for the Baku-Ceyhan project. One of Turkey's most important projects, the Baku-Ceyhan pipeline project is in danger. Last June, the "Turn-key Contractorship Agreement", which is the first agreement concerning the Baku-Ceyhan pipeline project, had been signed with Azerbaijan's Petroleum Consortium (APC). BP purchased the American firm, Amoco and, thus, England seized the opportunity of becoming the leader of APC. When the cost of the pipeline climbed to 2.5 billion dollars, APC wanted Turkey to pay the surplus amount. The guarantee that was demanded of her was announced in an article in the 1999 budget of the TGNA.After realizing that the Baku-Ceyhan project was not an economic proposition, APC attempted to add an article to the agreement giving them the right to abandon the agreement. As the agreement has not been able to be implemented up to now, the other four agreements that are needed to see the project to furition have not been able to be signed. Officials from the Ministry of Energy stated that British officials were against the Baku-Ceyhan project and said, "British officials want to market Azerbaijan's petroleum through the Istanbul Bosphorus to world markets by expanding the Baku-Supsa pipeline." Turkey has begun her struggle to make the U.S. to intervene in the project. The Turkish Prime Minister, Bulent Ecevit, was briefed by bureaucrats from the Ministry of Energy about the current developments. It was reported that Ecevit would discuss these developments with President Clinton during his visit to the U.S. /Milliyet/ [30] FIRST CLIENT FOR ARBITRATION IS CASTROThe application of international arbitration in case of disagreements between the Republic of Turkey and foreign investors concerning investments has begun to be written into international agreements now the alteration to the Constitution has been made. One of the agreements had been signed with Cuba, which is governed by the legendary Fidel Castro. As part of the agreement for the mutual promotion and protection of investments between Turkey and Cuba, if there is a disagreement between one party and the other's investor, then international arbitration will be applied. According to this, disagreements will be reported in writing to the other government by the investor; disagreements will be solved as much as possible. Should the problem not be able to be solved within six months of the written declaration, the disagreement will be brought to arbitration by the investor.The investor will be able to apply to an arbitration court that will be founded by the UN International Trade Law Commission in accordance with arbitration rules or to the Paris International Trade Chamber's Arbitration Court. /Milliyet/ [31] OPEN LETTERS OF THANKS TO 28 COUNTRIESIn a statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Turkish government will present a silver plaque to express their gratitude to each of the teams who joined in with the search and rescue efforts in the earthquake-hit regions. Furthermore, it was reported that "letters of thanks" had been written, addressing the people of the countries who sent search and rescue teams and humanitarian aid. Yesterday the publication of these letters, prepared by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, was begun in 80 publishing houses in 28 countries, including Austria, Morocco, Uzbekistan and the Ukraine. /Milliyet/[32] ANTALYA AND ATHENS BECOME TWINSAntalya Metropolitan Municipality's Mayor Bekir Kumbul stated that they would begin work in a few days to make Athens and Antalya "twin cities". Kumbul stated that during the friendly played between Antalyaspor and Rhodes' team, Ialyos, in order to help the earthquake victims, and during the dinner at which the chairmen of both clubs were present, warm relations had been established. /Milliyet/[33] NON-AGGRESSION PACTThe 'Eleftherotipiya' newspaper, published in Athens, initiated a campaign to sign a non-aggression pact between Turkey and Greece. While the newspaper was calling for a peaceful pact the day before in its leading article, also yesterday, it issued the views of some Turkish and Greek diplomats, including the former Speaker of the Turkish Grand National Assembly (TGNA), Hikmet Cetin, and Retired Ambassador Kamuran Gurun. The newspaper pointed out that the interviews generally supported their proposal and declared that the two governments should be made to act. Stressing the view that armament is fair only for weapon's manufacturers, the newspaper also suggested that this financial clout should be allocated to the development of the two countries. /Cumhuriyet/[34] MEDICINE, PHARMACY, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY EXHIBITIONUnder the auspices of the Culture Minister, Istemihan Talay, the "1st International Medical, Pharmacological, Scientific and Technological History Museums in Europe Symposium" will be held on Friday at Istanbul University's Medical Faculty, to commemorate the 700th anniversary of the establishment of the Ottoman Empire and the 160th anniversary of the establishment of the Mekteb-i Tibbiye-i Adliye-i Sahane. The symposium is being organized with the cooperation of Istanbul University's Medical Faculty and European Medical and Pharmacological History Museums. The symposium will be inaugurated with an address by the Culture Minister this morning. /Cumhuriyet/[35] MELTEM TASKIRAN THIRD BEST IN THE WORLDThe soloist of the Egoist Group, Meltem Taskiran, came third in the '5th International Cairo Song Competition' which was held between Aug. 20th and 29th in Cairo. A total of 34 singers participated in the competition. Taskiran and composer Mine Mucur said that they devoted their song to those people who had lost their lives in the quake. /Cumhuriyet/[36] BY-INDUSTRY LAWThe Minister of Industry and Trade, Ahmet Kenan Tanrikulu, declared that they had initiated the preparation of a 'By-Industry Law Bill'. He said, "We wish to form a structure which integrates the by-industry and the larger businesses. The by-industry enjoys great production and manpower capacity but the larger firms don't see that and it is as if they crush the by-industry." Tanrikulu explained that they have requested views of trade and commerce chambers, universities, the TGNA and various public organizations to be able to prepare the Bill. /Turkiye/[37] TATEF '99 FAIRThe 7th International Metal Processing Technology Fair (TATEF '99) was inauguarated yesterday at the CNR Fair Centre in Istanbul. The Fair, in which world-leaders in metal processing are participating, will last until Sept. 19th; in total 220 companies, 60 of them foreign, are attending the Fair. /Turkiye/[38] FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE COLUMNS...[39] TURCO-GREEK EXCHANGE OF EMOTIONS -BY COSKUN KIRCA (SABAH)Former Ambassador Coskun Kirca writes on the relations between Turkey and Greece. A summary of his column is as follows:"Due to the earthquake both the Greek State and people have shown great solidarity with us on humanitarian grounds. The Turkish State and people have replied to this sensitivity with gratefulness and immediately rushed to the help of their neighbour in the aftermath of the Athens quake. If feeling the humanity of the other results in realizing the necessity of being fair to the other, it can influence diplomacy. If the Greeks understand that Turkey is not a threat to them, she too has a fair share in the Aegean since she has coasts on the shores of that Sea, if they accept the Turkish presence in Western Thrace as a minority, and that no solution can be reached concerning Cyprus unless the political equality of both communities living in Cyprus is recognized, a very important obstacle will be lifted from before many of the problems waiting to be resolved. The Greek Government not only has helped Turkey in the aftermath of the earthquake but also took her place among those States providing a large amount of aid to patch up the destruction caused by the disaster. However, this should not lead us to think to that Greece has changed its policies towards Turkey. Until today Greece has waged a harsh opposition campaign in the EU institutions against Turkey. This harsh policy has backfired. The EU has seen that supporting the demands of Greece will not yield any results. Therefore, Greece may have seen that such a policy could isolate her within the EU and so now does not oppose Turkey's membership to the organization. However, this does not mean that Greece will not use Turkey's membership in the EU to obtain compromises. Even if Turkey is recognized as a candidate, full-membership will take a long time. Until then, Greece reserves her right of veto and even may not lift the veto on the loans which should be granted in accordance with the Customs Union agreements. Furthermore, if she lifts her veto on this point, she may ask that the conditions required of Turkey be presented in a timetable-form. Among the issues she wants to be placed on the timetable may be the Aegean, Cyprus and Southeastern Anatolia problems. This in turn means a return to the Luxembourg Summit. In short, it is revealed that the earthquake disaster has not solved the political problems between the two countries. It should not be expected from Turkey to compromise on political issues. If her candidacy is recognized in Helsinki, Turkey should put its economy into order and decide if she wants to become a member depending upon the characteristic of the EU at the time and the circumstances. If her candidacy is not recognized, Turkey should pull back her application, reserving the right to re-apply at a more convenient time." [40] THE MIDDLE WAY -BY ESEN UNUR (STAR)Columnist Esen Unur expresses his views on Prime Minister Ecevit's expected visit to the US. A summary of his column is as follows:"Everyone has learnt that Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit wants the Washington Summit to be a meeting where economic and trade relations are discussed. On the other hand, the US side want to give more emphasis to the Cyprus and human rights issues. Prior to such meetings, officials are working hard to determine the agenda so as to please both sides. A joint communique to be issued following the Clinton-Ecevit meeting, is expected to state that both sides will exert every effort to solve the Cyprus problem. The real developments will take place after the meeting. It is believed that following President Clinton, the UN Secretary General Kofi Annan will take the iniative and the steps which will be taken are being cited as a call from Annan to Greek-Cypriot and Turkish-Cypriot leaders for a meeting in New York at the end of October and the implementation of a formula to overcome Turkey and the TRNC's 'equal state' pre-condition. It is expected that prior to the meeting, or at the same time, Kofi Annan or the US Secretary of State, Madeline Albright, will make a statement to the effect that the Greek-Cypriot Administration is not the government over Turks living in Cyprus. It is hoped to satisfy Turkey and Denktas with such a formula. If Denktas refuses this, he will be left in a difficult position. Washington believes that it is the right time to solve the disputes between Turkey and Greece. This belief stems from the warm interest shown by the Greek people following the earthquake in Turkey and the atmosphere of friendship it has created. The US sees Rauf Denktas and his inflexible stance as an obstacle. Therefore, pressure upon Turkey is mounting. On the other hand, using wise diplomatic policy, Greece is making statements and calls in the same vein as the US and the UN Secretary General. Turkey and the TRNC have to persuade the world that they are not the intransigent party as far as the problem is concerned." Turkish Press Review Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |
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