Anadolu Agency: News in English, 97-12-23

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From: The Anadolu Agency Home Page at <http://www.anadoluajansi.gov.tr/>

23 DEC 1997

CONTENTS

[01] TURKEY-PRESS SCAN

[02] TURKISH PRESS REVIEW

[03] TURKEY IN BRIEF - DECEMBER 23, 1997

[04] TURKEY-EU - EU COUNTRIES' EXPORTATION TO TURKEY RISES BY 236,9 PERCENT BETWEEN 1988-1996 - TURKEY'S EXPORTATION TO EU COUNTRIES INCREASES BY 114,6 PERCENT IN THE SAME PERIOD

[05] TURKEY-ISRAEL - TURKISH-ISRAELI MILITARY DIALOGUE MEETING HELD

[06] TURKEY-GREECE - GREECE TO EXPEL A TURKISH DIPLOMAT

[01] TURKEY-PRESS SCAN

H�RR�YET (LIBERAL)

KARADAYI: ''WE ARE RESOLVED TO SMASH FUNDAMENTALISM''
Chief of General Staff Ismail Hakki Karadayi sent a message to Menemen governor in the anniversary of the killing of lieutenant Kubilay by extreme fundamentalists and said ''Turkish Armed Forces is determined and able to smash, and end fundamentalism.''

M�LL�YET (LIBERAL)

OZDEN: ACCUSED PARTY WILL BE CLOSED
Constitutional Court Chairman Ozden harshly reacted to pressure claims, saying ''even President does not meddle with my job, how does Prime Minister meddle? I do not agree with the statements of the US State Department. The accused party will be closed.''

SABAH (LIBERAL)

TURKISH-ISRAELI AND US MILITARY EXERCISE
Turkish-Israeli-US joint maneuver, called Reliant Mermaid, which will last four days will start in the Mediterranean on Jan 5.

CUMHUR�YET (LEFT)

YILMAZ: ''WE HAVE REACHED OUR GOALS''
Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz evaluated his 5-day visit to the US. He said ''I am pleased to say that we have reached our goals with the visit.''

T�RK�YE (RIGHT)

DEMIREL: EU'S DECISION IS HURTING
President Demirel said ''Turkey is a NATO member. It is okay when we are guarding the borders but when meal time comes, they do not let us to eat. This is not understandable.''

RAD�KAL (LEFT)

FOREIGN MINISTRY: HUMAN RIGHTS A PROBLEM
Foreign Ministry warned politicans that the US will lift security aid.

ZAMAN (CONSERVATIVE)

YEN� Y�ZYIL (LIBERAL)

PRIME MINISTER YILMAZ: ''WE ARE STRATEGIC PARTNER OF THE US''
Prime Minister Yilmaz said his visit to the US was very beneficial, adding that ''US supported us on our attitude regarding EU issue.''

F�NANSAL FORUM (ECONOMY)

[02] TURKISH PRESS REVIEW

(Derived from Newsspot of Turkish Directorate of General Press and Information)

YILMAZ: ''US FIRMS HAVE REDISCOVERED TURKEY
Summarizing both his meeting with former President George Bush in particular, and his four-day visit to Washington, in general, Turkish Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz said the top two issues of his visit had been the big interest US firms had shown in doing business in Turkey's interests with senior administration officials. ''We had a very nice meeting with Mr.Bush'', Yilmaz said. ''I informed him about the meetings I had in Washington. I also shared with him what our expectations were regarding our relationship with the United States, as well as the European Union (EU). He said he was not a US president anymore. But he would do all he could because he was a friend of Turkey. 'In the energy area, I have also some connections. I have some contacts in the Congress as well, as in the the Republican Party', for example, Bush said,'' Yilmaz told the Turkish press. Yilmaz said that they also discussed Iraq with Bush during their closed-to- the-press meeting. ''We discussed Iraq's future. Bush told me he was a hard- liner in that regard. 'I don't believe adopting a soft approach will yield any results. The more pressure put on Saddam, the easier it will be to get some results', Bush said. He also thinks that the EU has committed a very big mistake'', add Yilmaz, echoing what Mr.Bush himself said earlier to the Turkish press. /All papers/

SPY ROW BETWEEN TURKEY AND GREECE
Greek Ambassador to Ankara Dimitrios Nezeretis met yesterday with Foreign Minister Deputy Undersecretary Inal Batu ''to convey Athens' protest'' over the latest espionage row between Turkey and Greece which has so far cost Greece one of its attaches. Earlier, Ankara confirmed it has asked the Greek military attache in Istanbul, Efstratios Haralambous, to leave the country on grounds of engaging in activities not in line with his official duties, or, as the press reported, for espionage with the PKK terrorist organization. /All papers/

MASSACRE ON ISTANBUL-EDIRNE HIGHWAY
Six people were found shot dead yesterday in a bus on a parking lot on the Istanbul-Edirne highway. The bus was travelling from the Polish capital of Warsaw to Istanbul. There are speculations that the people were involved in money laundering and were carrying money to be delivered to Sami Hostan, a key figure in the Susurluk corruption scandal. /All papers/

KARADAYI: ''WE ARE DETERMINED TO DEFEND SECULARISM''
In a message released on the 67th anniversary of the murder of Lieutenant Kubilay by religious extremists in 1930, Chief of the General Staff, General Ismail Hakki Karadayi, voiced his commitment to the secular and democratic regime in Turkey. He stressed that the Turkish Armed Forces were determined to defend secularism. /Sabah/

NSC MEETING
The National Security Council (NSC) will convene for its last meeting this year. During the meeting that will be chaired by President Suleyman Demirel, decisions that emerged from the EU Luxembourg Summit, latest developments in relations with Northern Cyprus and the fresh Turco-Greek crisis that flared up when a Greek Consulate official was caught as he was trying to find out secret information about Turkish military facilities are issues high on the agenda of the meeting. A recent sweeping-up operation in Northern Iraq against the PKK terrorist organization will also be discussed in detail. /Milliyet/

COUNTDOWN FOR TURKEY-US-ISRAEL MANEUVRES
On January 5-9, Turkey, Israel and the US will stage joint military maneuvres in the Eastern Mediterranean. The ''Reliant Mermaid'' maneuvres will include search and rescue training operations. /Milliyet/

NEW TURKISH AMBASSADOR IN ATHENS
New Turkish Ambassador to Athens Ali Tuygan presented yesterday his letter of credentials to Greek President Kostis Stefanopoulos. Tuygan, who was given a warm reception by the Greek President, vowed to work for improving relations between Turkey and Greece. /Milliyet/

IMF DELEGATION TO TURKEY IN JANUARY
At the end of recent meetings in Washington it was decided that an IMF delegation will visit Ankara in January for technical discussions. It was also announced that meetings will be continued between the Turkish and IMF delegations in February and March. /Hurriyet/

ZIRAAT BANK OFFICE IN BULGARIA
As a result of initiatives taken by the Istanbul Chamber of Trade (ITO), Turkish Ziraat Bank will open a branch in Bulgaria. Chairman of the Executive Board of ITO, Mehmet Yildirim said that there were almost 600 Turkish firms in Bulgaria and these companies needed a Turkish bank to facilitate their activities. He added that ITO had been closely following economic developments in Bulgaria which was taking steps towards a full market economy. /Hurriyet/

[03] TURKEY IN BRIEF - DECEMBER 23, 1997

Sezgin during the meeting said that guest minister and he will take up bilateral and regional issues, adding that Turkey will cooperate with Albania in every field.

DIYARBAKIR - Habur Border Gate Civil Administration Director and Sirnak Deputy Governor Orhan Guldibi said on Tuesday that the crisis between the US and Iraq has ended and thus 1,027 trucks have transported nearly six thousand tonnes of fuel since December 27, 1997. ''There is not any problem in the border gate now,'' he said.

ANKARA - Council of Ministers on Tuesday approved the ''Sea Transportation Agreement'' signed between Turkey and Turkmenistan on October 26, 1994 in Ashkabat.

The agreement, which foresees the improvement in the commercial sea transportation between two countries within the framework of equality and mutual benefit and contribution to the improvement of international maritime sector within the framework of navigation-free principles, was published in the Offcial Gazette on Tuesday.

ISTANBUL - Police on Tuesday captured 24 Northern Iraqis in Beyoglu district in Istanbul on grounds that they had entered Turkey illegally.

Northern Iraqis will be transferred to Beyoglu Administration of Justice after the investigation.

ANKARA - Council of Ministers on Tuesday approved the project agreement titled ''Improvement of State Statistics Institution's (DPT) Research and Statistics-Analyzing Capacity in International Migration'' signed between Turkey and United Nations Population Fund.

DPT and UN Population Fund will set up a statistics-system to analyze and to provide data regarding international migration and will set up a data- base for international migration statistics in accordance with the decision published in the Official Gazette on Tuesday.

ANKARA - Turkish and Polish Foreign Ministries on Tuesday signed a ''Cooperation Programme between 1998-2000'' in Warsaw within the framework of Article 19 of the ''Cooperation Agreement In Science, Culture and Education'' signed between Turkey and Poland in Ankara on October 24, 1990.

The programme foresees further cooperation between two countries in science, technology and education fields.

CANAKKALE - A mild quake shook Aegean Sea on early Tuesday.

Bogazici University Kandilli Observatory officials told A.A correspondent that the quake with a preliminary magnitude of 4.1 struck at 11:05 a.m., adding that the epicenter of the quake was Aegean Sea.

[04] TURKEY-EU - EU COUNTRIES' EXPORTATION TO TURKEY RISES BY 236,9 PERCENT BETWEEN 1988-1996 - TURKEY'S EXPORTATION TO EU COUNTRIES INCREASES BY 114,6 PERCENT IN THE SAME PERIOD

EU's exportation to Turkey had rapidly increased compared to exportation to other countries, according to the statistics announced in the book titled ''Research On Turkey's Exportation Performance to EU Member Countries Between 1988-1996'' published by Foreign Trade Undersecretariat.

EU countries' exportation to Turkey had increased especially after 1993. Turkey's exportation to EU member countries decreased by 8,2 percent while EU member countries' exportation to Turkey increased by 27 percent in 1993.

Turkey's importation from EU countries reduced by 23,1 percent in 1994 with the effect of crisis and its exportation to EU countries rose by 13,1 percent in 1994.

EU countries' exportation to Turkey increased by 60,6 percent in 1995 and by 26,4 percent in 1996. EU countries' importation from Turkey rose by 21,5 percent in 1995 and by 1,7 percent in 1996.

EU countries' total exportation between 1988-1996 rose by 74,3 percent while the increase in these countries' exportation to Turkey in the same period reached to 236,9 percent.

According to the statistics announced in the book, the developments in Turkey's and EU's foreign trade index, if 1988=100 is accepted, are as follows:

. EU COUNTRIES'
. --------------
. Total Import. Turkey's Share

. Import. From Turkey In EU's Import.

Year Index Index Index

------ ------- --------- --------------
1988 100.0 100.0 100.0
1989 108.7 116.7 107.4
1990 131.3 144.3 110.0
1991 133.6 144.0 107.9
1992 139.1 156.4 112.5
1993 119.0 142.2 119.6
1994 133.7 167.0 125.0
1995 159.3 210.8 132.3
1996 161.1 214.6 133.3
.

. EU COUNTRIES'
.

. Total Export. Turkey's Share

. Export. To Turkey In EU's Export.

Year Index Index Index

------- ------- --------- -------------
1988 100.0 100.0 100.0
1989 107.4 100.5 93.6
1990 128.3 158.3 123.4
1991 128.7 163.6 127.1
1992 136.0 169.8 124.9
1993 124.8 215.8 172.9
1994 141.1 166.0 117.6
1995 171.4 266.6 155.5
1996 174.3 336.9 193.3

[05] TURKEY-ISRAEL - TURKISH-ISRAELI MILITARY DIALOGUE MEETING HELD

Israeli Embassy in Ankara told a statement that the meeting was held to negotiate ongoing activities and direct studies regarding next term.

During the meeting, the sides found the opportunity to exchange views on regional security issues. Turkish side was headed by Deputy Chief of General Staff Cevik Bir and Israeli side was headed by Defense Industry Chief Adviser David Ivry.

[06] TURKEY-GREECE - GREECE TO EXPEL A TURKISH DIPLOMAT

Turkey's Ambassador to Athens Ali Tuygan was summoned to Greek Foreign Ministry in the afternoon and the Turkish military attache who was assigned in Salonica Chief Consulate was asked to leave the country.

Turkey said on Monday it had asked a Greek diplomat to leave the country for spying. It said ''One of the administrative officials in the Greek consulate in Istanbul was found engaged in activities incompatible with his status and was asked to leave Turkey within seven days.''

The last reciprocal expelling was realized between Turkey and Greece in 1990. Turkey's Chief Consul to Komotini Kemal Gur was expelled reciprocally with Greek Chief Consul to Istanbul Ilias Kilis.

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