Anadolu Agency: News in English, 99-03-13

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

AA Daily

13 March 1999 Saturday

CONTENTS

[01] TURKEY-PRESS SCAN

[02] PRESIDENT DEMIREL RETURNS TO TURKEY - DEMIREL: ''WE HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO DISCUSS HAVING COOPERATION IN THE STRUGGLE AGAINST TERRORISM''

[03] CONTACTS OF INDYK, THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR THE MIDDLE EASTERN AFFAIRS - A REGULAR POLITICAL CONSULTATION MECHANISM SET UP BETWEEN TURKEY AND THE U.S.

[04] TURK, MINISTER OF NATIONAL DEFENSE, RETURNS TO TURKEY - TURK: ''MY VISIT TO TUNISIA WILL BRING THE PEOPLE OF THE TWO COUNTRIES MORE CLOSER''

[05] KIVRIKOGLU, CHIEF OF GENERAL STAFF, IN BELGIUM - ''SHAPEX 99'' OPERATIONS ENDS

[06] GREEK PROSECTION: ''BRINGING OCALAN TO GREECE AND HIS BEING HOSTED HERE IS AN HOSTILE ATTITUDE AGAINST TURKEY''

[07] PURCHASE OF TURKMEN NATURAL GAS

[08] PRIME MINISTER ECEVIT: ''GOVERNMENT WILL HAVE ITS PLACE AT PARLIAMENTARY GENERAL COUNCIL IN CASE OF GENERAL DEBATE''

[09] PARLIAMENT CONVENES IN AN EXTRAORDINARY MEETING UPON CALL OF 116 DEPUTIES - MAJORITY REACHED

[01] TURKEY-PRESS SCAN

HURRIYET (LIBERAL) SOLDIERS' LESSON OF HUMANITY
Turkish security forces rescued an injured terrorist who was found injured in northern province of Tokat, while terrorists kill innoncent people. The terrorist is taken under medical treatment. Meanwhile the identitites of terrorists, who carry out terroristic activities in rural areas of the Black Sea region, have been determined one by one.

DAY OF FATE FOR PARLIAMENT
The parliament will convene in an extraordinary meeting today, if the number of ''unpleasent deputies'' supported by the Virtue Party (FP) reaches 184. The unpleasant deputies wish the abolishment of the elections, while the Virtue Party (FP) aims at changing Article 312 of the Turkish Penal Code.

MILLIYET (LIBERAL)

PREMIER SEEMS WORRIED
Premier Bulent Ecevit seems worried about the attempt of the ''unpleasent deputies'' in the parliament who wish to prevent the coming elections. ''If those deputies reach their goal, the influence of political parties on the parliament will decrease, and artificial parties can be formed. Such kind of an atmosphere in the parliament can mean crisis in the regime,'' Ecevit stressed.

SABAH (LIBERAL)

OCALAN REPORT SHAKES GREECE
The Prosecution in Greece which investigates the bringing of Abdullah Ocalan, the chief terrorist to Greece in an illegal way said in its report that his being hosted in Greece is an hostile attitude against Turkey.

CUMHURIYET (LEFT)

TURK, MINISTER OF DEFENSE, RETURNS TO TURKEY
Hikmet Sami Turk, the Minister of Defense who paid an official visit to Tunusia, returned to Turkey on Friday night. Turk said that his visit to Tunusia will improve the military cooperation between the Turkish Armed Forces and Tunusian Armed Forces.

RADIKAL (LEFT)

INDYK, THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR THE MIDDLE
EASTERN AFFAIRS, EASES THE UNEASINESS OF TURKEY
Martin Indyk, the U.S. Department of State Assistant Secretary for the Middle Eastern Affairs who came to Turkey to hold contacts about the developments in Iraq, tried to ease Turkey about the last bombardments to the Northern Iraq. Indyk claimed that the U.S. complies with her commitments concerning the protection of the territorial integrity of Iraq.

YEN� Y�ZYIL (LIBERAL)

A TOTAL OF 400 MILLION U.S. DOLLAR CREDIT FROM SPAIN TO TURKEY
The Spanish government will extend credit to Turkey in appropriate conditions within the framework of the ''Memorandum of Understanding on Economic and Financial Cooperation'' signed on January 13, 1998, it is reported on Friday.

Undersecretariat of Treasury said that Spain will give 400 million dollars of credit to Turkey to be used in financing projects between 1998-2001 and a donation of 10 million dollars to finance the feasibility studies.

T�RK�YE (RIGHT)

KILIC, COMMANDER OF AIR FORCES: ''THE LOVE FOR PKK WILL COST MUCH FOR
GREECE''
Ilhan Kilic, the Commander of the Air Forces, said that Greece has been living a forbidden love affair with the terrorist organization PKK and that the results of such affairs will cost much for Greece.

ZAMAN (CONSERVATIVE)

[02] PRESIDENT DEMIREL RETURNS TO TURKEY - DEMIREL: ''WE HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO DISCUSS HAVING COOPERATION IN THE STRUGGLE AGAINST TERRORISM''

Addressing a press conference on his arrival at the Esenboga airport, Demirel said that he was accompanied by a delegation of high-ranking officials including Metin Sahin, the Minister of Industry and Trade, and by Ahmet Tan, the Minister of Tourism in his visit to Romania.

Demirel said, ''this meeting process between the three leading countries of the Southeast Europe is a concrete cooperation initiative which aims at serving the regional peace, stability and welfare. We signed a declaration which foresees the establishment of a Free Trade Zone among the three countries. We also signed a Tripartite Tourism Agreement.''

Demirel added, ''when the Agreement on Struggling against Terrorism and Organized Crimes which was signed last year in the second summit held in Antalya is taken into consideration, the concrete results of our cooperation in three significant fields within a short time as three years come out. We also issued a joint statement which determines the stage of the tripartite cooperation mechanism between Turkey, Bulgaria and Romania.''

Stating that they exchanged views about the latest situation in Kosovo, Demirel said, ''we widely discussed the situation in Kosovo in our meetings. We emphasized the importance we attach to solving this issue peacefully by issuing a declaration which puts forward our joint stance in this issue which constitutes a threat to the regional peace.''

Noting that the other issue they discussed in the summit was Romania's and Bulgaria's will of participating in the enlargement process of NATO, Demirel said that ''Turkey supports these two countries in this issue from the beginning. A separate joint declaration which confirms our support is included in the conclusion reports.''

Demirel continued, ''we believe that this tripartite summit process which contributes to not only to the welfare and security of the Turkish, Bulgarian and Romanian people that unite in the target of creating an integrated, democratic, prosperous and peaceful Europe but also the regional peace and security, is a useful cooperation mechanism which constitutes an example for the other countries of the region.''

[03] CONTACTS OF INDYK, THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR THE MIDDLE EASTERN AFFAIRS - A REGULAR POLITICAL CONSULTATION MECHANISM SET UP BETWEEN TURKEY AND THE U.S.

The diplomatic sources said that the delegations of Turkey and the U.S. decided that the officials of the two countries should meet each other twice a year in the inter-delegationary meeting which was presided by Indyk and Ugur Ziyal, the Deputy Undersecretary of the Foreign Ministry.

It is revealed that the U.S. delegation did not ask Turkey for a special request about Iraq and that an evaluation meeting concerning the developments in Iran and Iraq and the Middle East Peace Process was made.

Stating that the operation rules within the ''Northern Watch Operation'' were not included in the agenda of the meeting, the diplomatic sources pointed out that the agreement on this issue was provided in military level before.

It is reported that Turkey drew the attention of the U.S. officials to the parametres about Iraq which she before put on the agenda.

The diplomatic sources listed the parametres of Turkey about Iraq as follows:

-protecting the territorial integrity, the political unity and sovereignty of Iraq,

-taking the decisions about the future of Iraq by the participation of all the Iraqi people,

-carrying out the operations within the framework of the Northern Watch by complying with some rules.

Noting that Turkey has some expectations besides these parametres, the same sources said that these are the participation of Iraq in the international community by complying with the resolutions of the United Nations (UN) Security Council and preparing opportunities to ease the problems of the Iraqi people.

Meanwhile, the diplomatic sources said that the U.S. showed Iraq as the reason of their bombing this country and that they reached the truth that the U.S. bombs Iraq within the legal defense as a result of their researches.

Recalling that the no-fly zones are applied for many years, the same sources pointed out that the reason of the U.S. aircrafts bombing Iraq is the difference in the stance of Iraq and Iraq's launching action towards the U.S. aircrafts.

Stressing that the approach of the U.S. against the cooperation of Turkey and Iraq will be the ''continuation of the sanctions'', the diplomatic sources noted that the U.S. officials are in favour of having a cooperation with Iraq within the scope of the UN Resolution rather than in the level of bilateral relations.

The same sources stated that the U.S. officials gave the signal that there can be some improvements in the application of the policy namely ''oil in return of food.''

Meanwhile, it is revealed that Turkey has not received a response from Iraq concerning the dossier which was submitted to Tareq Aziz, the Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister, during his visit to Turkey and which included the proof of the support that the Baghdad government gave to the PKK terrorism.

It is also revealed that Turkey had some evidence that the support given to the PKK terrorism by the Patriotic Union for Kurdistan (PUK) was not ended in the desired level and that she suggested PUK saying that they should persevere in the struggle against the PKK.

It is reported that Turkey did not welcome the will of Iraq and Syria about convening the joint tripartite committee and that she thinks that the suitable conditions for this have not occured yet.

Noting that the conditions for the activation of the latest demands of Iraq and Syria for the water issue should come out, the diplomatic resources underlined that they cannot accept a bargain like ''struggling against terrorism in return of water.''

[04] TURK, MINISTER OF NATIONAL DEFENSE, RETURNS TO TURKEY - TURK: ''MY VISIT TO TUNISIA WILL BRING THE PEOPLE OF THE TWO COUNTRIES MORE CLOSER''

Addressing a statement at the Esenboga Airport after he returned from his official visit to Tunisia, Turk said that they had an agreement in 34 separate issues in the fields like military training cooperation and defense industry.

Noting that his visit was not only a sign of the friendly relations of Turkish people towards the Tunisian people but also a sign of the importance which the Turkish people attribute to this country, Turk said, ''Tunusia regards Turkey as an important friend and an element of stability in the Middle East and Balkans within the framework of this traditional friendship. And, Turkey considers Tunusia as an important country which is an element of stability in her region.''

Turk added that Turkey and Tunisia share similar opinions about the global and regional problems.

[05] KIVRIKOGLU, CHIEF OF GENERAL STAFF, IN BELGIUM - ''SHAPEX 99'' OPERATIONS ENDS

The conferences and briefings of the military wing of the Alliance were completed in the operations held in NATO European Forces Commandership which is near Mons city of Belgium and to which Huseyin Kivrikoglu, the Chief of the General Staff, and Salim Dervisoglu, the Commander of Naval Forces, and high-ranking officials joined.

The military officials said that the reports concerning the changes and plans which arose from increasing the number of the NATO members from 16 to 19 by the participation of Poland, Hungary and Chech Republic in the Alliance were examined.

Noting that it would take ten to fifteen years for the new members to adapt NATO in military field, the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers, Europe (SHAPE) sources underlined that the military wing of NATO is readyy to adopt the plans which can be implemented in a way that they do not create any problems and deficiencies in military field in the enlargement process.

It is reported that the issues concerning the communication and dialogue with the ''partners'' which are in military cooperation with NATO within the framework of Partnership For Peace (PFP), besides the new members and the candidate members to NATO, were priorly discussed.

Gen. Kivrikoglu will return Turkey on Saturday.

[06] GREEK PROSECTION: ''BRINGING OCALAN TO GREECE AND HIS BEING HOSTED HERE IS AN HOSTILE ATTITUDE AGAINST TURKEY''

The full text of the report which was published in Greek newspapers, harshly criticized Andonis Naksakis, a retired admiral, who played a leading role in bringing the chief terrorist to Greece.

The report pointed out that the initiatives of Naksakis is an outcome of his hatred and hostility against Turkey, which is an ally of Greece, adding the possible reaction of Turkey to such kind of initiatives are well known.

''The view of Turkey which considers such kind of initiatives as casus belli is known. Such acts were not carried out by the approval of the Greek government and it is contary to the government's view that his bringing to the country is detrimental for the nation and he won't be granted political asylum. This act which put Greece into a difficult situation can also cause Turkey to stage an hostile initiative against Greece,'' noted the report.

Stressing that Naksakis and those who helped in bringing the chief terrorist to Greece put the peaceful relations between Turkey and Greece into danger, the Greek Prosecution also accused high ranking officials of the Greek intelligence service and police officers of protecting the guilty people who involved in Ocalan incident.

[07] PURCHASE OF TURKMEN NATURAL GAS

The Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources recalled that a framework agreement was signed by President Suleyman Demirel and Turkmen President Saparmurat Turkmenbas� on October 29, 1998 in Ankara about a pipeline between the two countries and purchase of natural gas.

The Ministry said that the new agreement signed on Friday included provisions about gas amount due to years and main articles of the contract.

The statement pointed out that the agreement which was composed of 12 articles included such provisions like the place where the natural gas will be given, the date of the sale of natural gas starts, daily gas amount, minimum annual gas amount, minumum payment, incomplete purchase, gas quality, including the formula which will determine the sale price in the contract, taxes, obligations and duration of the agreement.

The Ministry said that the duration of the agreement is 30 years and if the sides reach an agreement, the duration can be extended on the date when the agreement finishes.

[08] PRIME MINISTER ECEVIT: ''GOVERNMENT WILL HAVE ITS PLACE AT PARLIAMENTARY GENERAL COUNCIL IN CASE OF GENERAL DEBATE''

Responding to a question, Premier Ecevit said ''we will participate in the general debate, but we won't attend the roll call.''

When asked whether or not the resignation of the government can come to the agenda in order to prevent the initiation of postponing the general elections, Premier Ecevit said ''I don't think so, we didn't discuss this issue, yet the parliament has given me the mission of bringing Turkey to the general elections on April 18. It is not easy to give up this mission.''

[09] PARLIAMENT CONVENES IN AN EXTRAORDINARY MEETING UPON CALL OF 116 DEPUTIES - MAJORITY REACHED

Hikmet Cetin, the Parliament Speaker presides the meeting. The deputies wish to discuss the internal and external developments that took place after the capture of the chief terrorist.

After the counting, the necassary number for the meeting has been provided.

Hikmet Cetin said that the number of deputies who participated in the meeting is 226.

A.A

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