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Turkish Press Review, 01-06-06Turkish Press Review Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: Turkish Directorate General of Press and Information <http://www.byegm.gov.tr>Summary of the political and economic news in the Turkish press this morning06.06.2001CONTENTS
[01] RESHUFFLING IN THE CABINETThe Motherland Party(ANAP) wing of the coalition government was reshuffled yesterday and the list of Cabinet members was presented to presidential approval. With the reshuffle, the Minister of the Interior Sadettin Tantan was assigned to State Minister responsible for Customs. Yilmaz Karakoyunlu joined the Cabinet and became responsible for the Turkish Radio and Television Corporation(TRT) and Privatization Administration. State Minister responsible for the TRT and Anatolia Agency(AA), Rustu Kazim Yucelen has become the new Interior Minister. State Minister responsible for Customs, Mehmet Kececiler, whose post is now assigned to Tantan, has become the Minister responsible for Directorate General of Foundations, Directorate General of Press and Information and Higher Supervision Council. /All Papers/[02] SEZER'S STATEMENT ON THE OCCASION OF WORLD ENVIRONMENT DAYEmphasising environmental problems in Turkey and the world on the occasion of the World Environment Day, President Ahmet Necdet Sezer said, "Sensitive approaches towards environmental issues which we, as the Turkish state and Turkish nation, will develop, shall help Turkey become a more beautiful country." Sezer reminded individuals have also great responsibilities in protecting the environment besides the state. Stating "the sustainable development" must be the main principle in environmental policies, Sezer said there should be international cooperation in protecting the environment. /Cumhuriyet/[03] ECEVIT'S CONDITIONS ON THE NORMALISATION OF TURCO-ARMENIAN RELATIONSIt was reported that the US Secretary of Defence, Donald Rumsfeld, said normalisation of Turco-Armenian relations was a prerequisite for sustaining stability in the Caucasus during his meeting with Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit. Stating Azerbaijan has been occupied by the Armenians for seven years, Ecevit put forward certain conditions for the normalisation of the bilateral relations. First, Armenian withdrawal form the Nagorno Karabakh, secondly, establishment of a security corridor between Azerbaijan and Nakhichevan. In addition to the Caucasus, among the issues on the agenda of Rumsfeld's visit to Turkey are the European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP), American policy over Iraq and missile system to be established in Turkey. The differences of opinion between Turkey and the US about the relations with Iraq were clarified during Rumsfeld's meetings. The most important controversial issue between the two countries over Iraq was the US demand for Turkey to restrict border trade with Iraq. The US also disapproves the opening of a second border gate along Turkey's border to Iraq. /Cumhuriyet/[04] TURKEY REACTS TO ANNAN'S REPORTTurkish diplomats to the UN harshly criticized UN Secretery-General Kofi Annan's recent report on the Cyprus issue. Stressing the report is biased and does not reflect Turkey's view, diplomatic sources said it will escalate the tension concerning the Cyprus issue. /Hurriyet/[05] TURKEY MEDIATES IN THE MIDDLE EASTAs the clashes between Palestine and Israel reached dangerous dimensions, Turkey is also exerting great efforts to stop the violence. Undersecretary of the Foreign Ministry, Faruk Logoglu began peace tours in the Middle East. Ambassador Lologlu is holding a series of meetings with Israeli and Palestinian authorities. /Turkiye/[06] ALIYEV: "THERE IS NO OBSTACLE BEFORE BAKU-CEYHAN "Azerbaijan President Haydar Aliyev said no obstacle is left before the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline project which foresees the transfer of the Azeri Petroleum to western markets. Addressing the Eight Caspian Petroleum and Gas Fair opening ceremony, Aliyev said although they were faced many obstacles in the project, they are determined to realize it. The Azeri President reiterated Shahdeniz natural gas will reach Turkey in 2002. Additionally, in his speech at the fair, Steven Man, US President George W. Bush's Special Advisor for the Caspian Region, said, "The main export pipeline project will be Aktau-Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan Project." /Turkiye/[07] NEW YORK TIMES: "RECONCILIATION SUSTAINED ON THE ESDP"New York Times claimed that parties reached a compromise on the disputed European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP) prior to the Budapest meetings. According to New York Times Turkey approved a draft document on the ESDP. The paper says there is no explicit guarantee for Turkey to take part in the EU operations during which NATO facilities are not used. /Cumhuriyet/[08] DEFENCE NEWS: "TURKEY IN FAVOUR OF MISSILE SYSTEM PROJECT"According to Defence News, magazine of the US defence circles, Turkey is in favour of establishing an American missile defence system in Southeastern Anatolia Region. The magazine said since Turkey is under the threat of the Iraqi and Iranian missiles, she views the missile system as more positively than other NATO countries. Meanwhile, Turkish officials who spoke to the correspondents of the Defence News said it was early to talk about a development on the issue. However, they accepted the fact that Turkey is in favour of such a system in principle with the condition that it would protect other NATO countries. /Cumhuriyet/10TH GOVERNMENT OF THE TRNC The National Union Party and Democrat Party have formed a coalition government in the Turkish Republic of Northern Republic (TRNC). This will be the 10th government of the TRNC. /Cumhuriyet/ [09] NEW HORIZONS CONCERNING TURKEY-EU RELATIONSThe Europe Union Council authorized its executive organ to sign new framework conventions with three candidate countries, Turkey, Malta and Greek Cypriot Administration with the aim of facilitating their use of EU programs. The Council states the conventions would provide three countries with more facilities and therefore equate their status with the EU member countries./Cumhuriyet/[10] REJECTION NOTE BY GREECEGreek Defence Minister Akis Cohacopulos stated that Athens rejected Turkey's request to take part in the European Rapid Reaction Force at the Spring meeting of NATO. Cohacopulos said Turkey cannot have a say in the issues related to EU countries. /Cumhuriyet/DERVIS: "INFLATION RATE WILL DROP TO 30% IN THE SECOND HALF" State Minister for the Economy, Kemal Dervis, and the representatives of the Turkish banking sector attended the seminar on the fight against inflation given by the head of the Merrill Lynch and Company, Jacob Frenkel yesterday. The example of Israel, in which the inflation rate was decreased from 500% to 10%, was explained to the bankers. Dervis said they will continue to hold other such meetings, especially to analyze the Brazil case. Dervis said, "Brazilians were in great hardship two years ago, but now they decreased the inflation rate to 2%." Dervis also said the inflation rate will drop to around 30% in the second half of the year. The Central Bank will not intervene in the exchange rates." /Milliyet/ [11] FRENKEL: "YOU CAN SUCCEED IN TWO YEARS"The former Governor of Israeli Central Bank, Jacob Frenkel, said Turkey should not maintain the 30% inflation rate for long, but try to further decrease it to single digits, because to decrease the rate from 20- 30% to single digits is more difficult. Frenkel said controlling the interest rates rather than exchange rates is a rational policy. Frenkel and other experts said the fight against inflation is hard work, but Turkey can succeed in it two years. /Milliyet/[12] PAPANDONIU: "DERVIS IS DOING RIGHT"Greek Minister of Economy, Yannos Papandoniu, advised State Minister for Economy Kemal Dervis to be patient in an interview with journalist Nur Batur. Stressing the decisions made by the Turkish government were right, the Greek Minister emphasized the keys to overcome the crisis are "stability and determination." He added Greece has supported Turkey to surmount the crisis as soon as possible in every platforms and he has called on Greek businessmen to invest in Turkey. /Hurriyet/[13] PARLIAMENT CONCILIATION COMMITTEE WORKS ON CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTSThe Parliament Conciliation Committee, working on the draft for amendments to the 1982 Constitution, received the support of all parties on capital punishment and the language. The Nationalist Action Party insisted on putting terrorist activities as an exception to the abolishment of the capital punishment. According to the draft, capital punishment may be implemented in cases of war or in cases of danger of war and for terrorist crimes. The draft also says freedom of expression in languages other than Turkish will not be considered as a crime. /Milliyet/[14] JUSTICE COMMITTEE REACHES AGREEMENT OVER CIVIL CODENationalist Movement Party (MHP) deputies finally reached agreement with Justice Minister Hikmet Sami Turk on a controversial bill envisaging comprehensive changes to the Civil Code. Emin Karaa, Chairman of Parliament's Justice Committee said that a recent meeting between Turk and Justice Committee members from the MHP have agreed on how to design the new property division regime between couples during divorce. Debates over the 1,030-article bill have been deadlocked over the property division regime. Committee members from the MHP and Virtue Party (FP) were refusing Turk's plans to introduce a system based on the equal division of assets acquired during marriage and were saying that the assets should be divided on the basis of individual ownership. The consensus reached in the meeting envisages that couples may choose any of four different property division regimes before marriage. /Turkish News/[15] FINANCE MINISTER: "WE WILL MEET OUR TARGETS"Finance Minister Sumer Oral has stated that the agreement with the IMF will meet economic targets. "However much the applied program is said to be that of the IMF, the measures taken are for Turkey's targets. Turkey has approved the program with the IMF, under international rules, and the same as the other countries' agreement procedures with the Fund. Under these terms, we will fullfil our pledges. Three months later, the numerics show that we will maintain the program. In these kinds of programs, three-month periods are very important. The first results show what the future will hold.", said Oral. /Turkish News/[16] UNIVERSITY PRESIDENTS VISIT ECEVITUniversity Presidents visited Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit yesterday to thank him for his declarations on improving the situations of academicians. Following the visit, Middle East Technical University (METU) President Ural Akbulut said Ecevit's declaration on Friday was an important development for the future of the students at universities. Regarding the university charges, the rectors presidents pointed out the fact that students in state universities pay only $150-$200 while they pay more than $3,000 in foundation universities. /Turkiye/[17] TURKEY'S SECRETARY GENERAL FOR THE EU AFFAIRS VURAL MEETS NGOsTurkey's Secretary General for the EU Affairs, Ambassador Volkan Vural, has received several NGO representatives and discussed the EU's short term political criteria. In a written statement by Vural's office ,it was noted that they discussed how they could contribute to the implementation of the short term political criteria in the National Program. Present at the talks were representatives from various ministries and many NGOs. /Turkish Daily News/[18] TURKEY GRANTS GEORGIA MILITARY AIDA visiting Turkish Defense delegation signed an agreement with neighboring Georgia on Monday granting it $2.5 million in military aid. About $2 million will go toward modernizing a motorized infantry division, rebuilding a military airfield and for equipment for the military academy in Tbilisi, said Deputy Defense Minister Gela Vezhuashvili. Another $500,000 will go to the border guard service. /Turkish Daily News/[19] HEAD OF TOYOTA: "WE TRUST IN TURKEY"The head of the Japanese automotive company Toyota, Fujio Cho, said they will turn the existing Toyota automotive factory in Adapazari into one of the exporting centers in Europe. Cho said their sales in Turkey decreased due to the economic crisis, but Turkish economy has a considerable potential which cannot be easily damaged by the crisis. "Turkey has various advantages, such as young population and geopolitical position. Turkish economy will improve with the assistance of the IMF. But, the most important feature of the economy is exports and we will contribute to Turkish economy by our exports," said Cho. /Milliyet/[20] ARCELIK INVESTS IN THE NETHERLANDSThe executive board of Arcelik, Turkey's largest durable goods producing company, decided to establish a company with $7.5 million capital in the Netherlands. /Milliyet/[21] BAYAR: "THY WILL BE OFFERED TO PUBLIC"Chairman of the Privatization Administartion Board, Ugur Bayar, said they are working on the privatization of the Turkish Airlines (THY). Yesterday, Bayar met with IMF Turkey Desk Chief, Juha Kahkonen, for one hour. Talking to reporters, Bayar emphasized the reason for no-bidding for the THY was due to the finance crisis in the international airways thanks to the increase in oil prices. /Turkiye/[22] TREASURY'S BIDDINGThe Treasury yesterday sold TL 119 trillion worth of three-month bills at an annual compound yield of 83.50%. The bills are value dated today and the redemption is scheduled for Sep. 5. /Turkiye/[23] GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY PREPARES A REPORT ON MARMARA QUAKEThe Director of the George Washington Institute for Crisis, Disaster and Risk Management in the US, Dr. John Harrald, said they wanted to establish a data base on the 1999 Marmara Earthquake. Harrald said they wanted to collect data about the August 17 quake to prepare projects on the measures that should be taken and activities that should be carried out in the future. /Cumhuriyet/[24] HISTORIANS MEET AT ISTANBUL UNIVERSITYTurkish and Armenian historians will meet at Istanbul University to discuss the Turco-Armenian relations. The manager of the project, Prof. Mehmet Saray said they were against distorting historical facts and added, "We are proposing our Armenian counterparts to examine Turkish, Russian, British, German, French and American archives together and then share the truth with the world." /Cumhuriyet/[25] CAGAN WARNS PEOPLE TO TAKE MEASURES AGAINST FOREST FIRESForestry Minister Nami Cagan warns citizens against possible forest fires during the summer season. In a written statement, Cagan said that we are nowadays in a very critical time for forest fires, the public should be careful and should immediately report any sightings of smoke or fire in forest areas by calling 177 immediately. Cagan stated that all kinds of managerial and technical measures have been taken to prevent fires and all units of fire fighting teams are on standby. /Turkish Daily News/[26] ARMENIANS VISIT TURKEYA group of 150 American tourists of Armenian origin arrived in Istanbul yesterday to attend various activities within the framework of faith tourism. The trip was organized by the Turkish-Armenian Business Development Council and American Armenian Church. The head of the Council, Kaan Soyak, said if this trip proves to be successful, we can attract 50,000 Armenian Americans to visit Turkey. /Milliyet/[27] RECORDS IN TOURISMMinister of Tourism, Erkan Mumcu, said the number of tourists who visited Turkey increased by 17% when compared to last year. He said, "This year we expect a 25% increase in the number of tourists and foreign currency." Stressing 3,295,943 tourists have visited Turkey in five months, Mumcu added 1,150,705 tourists were hosted only in May. /Turkiye/[28] AWARD FOR SABANCIGebze Higher Technology Institute presented Sabanci Holding Chairman of the Executive Board, Sakip Sabanci, with the award of "Businessman Bringing Technology and Quality to Turkish Industry" which was given this year for the first time. The award will be presented to Sabanci at a ceremony to be held on June 8. /Turkiye/FIRM GIVES $900,000 TO SANTA CLAUS A German electronics group is donating $900,000 to restore a church in the Turkish home town of the fourth-century Christian bishop believed to be the original Santa Claus. Legend has it that St. Nicholas developed a reputation for generosity by giving money to penniless virgins in the Mediterranean coastal town of Demre, not far from Antalya. /Turkish News/ [29] FROM THE COLUMNS... FROM THE COLUMNS... FROM THE COLUMNS[30] THE FIRST REVISION BY GUNGOR MENGI (SABAH)Columnist Gungor Mengi comments on the first revision in the Cabinet. A summary of his column is as follows:"The Government did not pay a price even though the stability program crashed into a crisis. Therefore to show that it had respect for the people, the Government had to make a revision. This was necessary for the confidence in the success of the second program. However, the coalition parties resisted this move. Yesterday the Motherland Party (ANAP) fulfilled its part in the revision expectations. The step taken by ANAP may force its partners to do the same. It is a correct decision to appoint Yilmaz Karakoyunlu as the State Minister responsible for privatization as he believes in the spirit of the program, and is aware of the responsibility he is undertaking and has the necessary courage and energy to expedite the move towards the aims put forth. In this revision the name which will be most speculated on will be that of Sadettin Tantan. At this stage when the fight against corruption has intensified, the appreciation of the people has turned towards Tantan. He was placed in a position where he seemed to be fighting against corruption despite the ruling Coalition and his party. Therefore, as Tantan's star was rising his party was losing. This created a tense situation. Chairman of the Motherland Party, Mesut Yilmaz had revealed his intentions that he would deal with this problem. Yesterday, Yilmaz moved Tantan to another ministry where he would be successful due to his experiences in the police force. He was appointed State minister responsible for Customs. The new Minister of the Interior, Rustu Kazim Yucelen will go through a hard test. His duty will be to continue to show the same determination in the fight against terrorism and corruption. He has to prove that success is the result of the Government's determination not only Tantan's efforts. Have we realized where the political understanding based on getting more votes has led the country or are we still unaware of the situation? The Government believes it has. However, the IMF delegation, which came to Ankara, does not share the same opinion, as the Government is way above its commitments to the organization regarding the salary increases of civil workers and the base price declared for grains. Now they are asking the Government why it made such promises if it intended to break them. The tension created by this question immediately influenced the markets. The price of the US dollar increased and the stock market index dropped. If this is our last chance we have to stop breaking our promises and change our mentality. The ruling parties must put a stop to political bribes to sectors they believe to be potential vote depots. Otherwise we may lose this last chance. 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