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Anadolu Agency: News in English, 01-05-02Anadolu Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: The Anadolu Agency Home Page at <http://www.anadoluajansi.com.tr/>Anadolu AgencyANADOLU AGENCY NEWS 02 MAY 2001 Wednesday CONTENTS
[01] TURKEY-PRESS SCANThese are some of the major headlines and their brief stories in Turkey's press on May 2, 2000. The Anadolu Agency does not verify these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.HURRIYET (LIBERAL)THAT SENTENCEIn my opinion, Mesut Yilmaz, the deputy prime minister and the leader of the Motherland Party (ANAP), prosecutor Talat Salk listened to cassette tapes in which telephone conversations were recorded together by the officials of the Interior Ministry, Energy Ministry and the gendarmerie. But, he did not include the sentence saying ''as long as that minister is in office, we cannot continue to do whatever we want'' into the indictment. Yilmaz also claimed that illegal procedures were made when the cassette was listened. ''LET'S LIFT IT'' ECEVIT FEARED OF TWO RESIGNATIONS FROM DSP AMBASSADRESS TO ARAB COUNTRY MILLIYET (LIBERAL)DERVIS: ''TURKEY WILL DEVELOP WITHOUT INFLATION''State Minister Kemal Dervis informed representatives of international investment and finance organizations in New York, the U.S. He stressed, ''our new program takes its power from people's cofidence and support. 65 percent of our people support the new economic program.'' He noted, ''we will continue to act as a bridge between the West and the East as a modern and Muslim country.'' ''WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO SAY?'' SABAH (LIBERAL)POLITICS INHERITED FROM FORMER POLICIANS ENDS''As of May 1, 2001, the public banks are prevented from being charged of duties which will cause duty losses.'' By this statement of the Treasury, a new era has started in Turkey and the policies like former president Suleyman Demirel's policies, relegated to the pages of history. From now on, the politicians cannot try to gain the votes of people by giving promises based on state's budget. The duty losses of the public banks started in 1984. The amount of duty losses of the public banks has reached 18 quadrillion Turkish liras (TL) so far. IT WAS MILDER THAN EXPECTED This year's festival was different from the former years because this was the first time that the gays attended the rally together with the workers. But, they opened placards for ''liberalization of gays'' rather than ''the nation.'' CUMHURIYET (LEFT)COLD WAR IN GOVERNMENTDeputy Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz thinks that the accusations regarding the corruption in energy tenders are ''ordinary'' but the method of investigation is ''extraordinary.'' Yilmaz, who gave the message that they will protect former Energy and Natural Resources Minister Cumhur Ersumer, accused the gendarmerie forces and the prosecutor and criticized the indictment in his speech. Deputy Prime Minister Devlet Bahceli, who gave the message that he will not support the interrogation motion given by the Virtue Party (FP) against Ersumer, targeted at the Motherland Party (ANAP) but in a hidden way. Bahceli said that the income of the political parties should be controlled. Bahceli noted that ministers should be directly tried in some crimes. Bahceli added that leaders are acquitting each other. NO TO CORRUPTION TURKISH HOTEL AWARDED FLYING BROOM FOR FOURTH TIME RADIKAL (LEFT)GOVERNMENT CANNOT AGREE ON THREE CRITICAL LAWSKoray Aydin, the Public Works and Housing Minister from the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), is against the Public Tender Law while Transportation Minister Enis Oksuz from the MHP opposes to the Telekom Law. The Banking Law is opposed by the leading businessmen. ASSOCIATION OF BANKS: ''YOU SHOULD ALSO PARLIAMENT VISA FOR ARTICLE 16 TURKIYE (RIGHT)MASSACRE PREVENTEDFive members of illegal Turkish Workers and Peasant Army (TIKKO) who were planning to shoot a police helicopter during the May Day celebrations, were captured. A great deal of weapons including two anti-tank electronic guided missiles and two flame throwers were seized in the operation. Istanbul Police Chief Kazim Abanoz stressed that anti-tank electronic guided missile was a military weapon. PEACEFUL MAY DAY CELEBRATIONS ZAMAN (CONSERVATIVE)TREASURY TO CLOSE DEBTS OF PUBLIC BANKS WITH CASH AND BOND ISSUANCESTreasury announced that the practice to assign public banks with duties which result in losses was ended as of May 1, 2001 and all accumulated duty losses at public banks would be dealt with in the first half of May. Treasury said that the losses at the public banks which had been accumulated until May 1 would be completely closed with cash and bond issuances by mid-May. Officials estimated the total losses at the end of 2000 at 30 billion U.S. dollars. MSB: ''FOUR F-4 FIGHTERS REPAIRED, 11 MORE ON THE LINE'' KARAKUS AND OZCAN RESIGN FROM DSP -186.5 MILLION U.S. DOLLARS OF AGRICULTURAL, ANIMAL AND INDUSTRIAL In the same period last year, the region exported 177 million 660 thousand U.S. dollars of agricultural, animal and industrial products. Officials at the Southeastern Anatolia Exporters' Union told the A.A correspondent on Wednesday that in January-April period of 2001 they exported 4 million 35 thousand U.S. dollars livestock; 32 million 940 thousand U.S. dollars grain-cereals; 14 million 440 thousand U.S. dollars dried fruit; 117 million 598 thousand U.S. dollars textiles; and 17 million 554 thousand U.S. dollars fresh fruits and vegetables. -U.S. PRESIDENT BUSH TO ASK FOR TURKEY'S SUPPORT Bush is expected to send U.S. Deputy State Secretary Richard Armitage, National Security Deputy Advisor Stephen Hadley adn Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz to Europe and Asia to brief the government officials in these countries about the United States' stance on the missile system. These officials will seek for the support of the countries they will be visiting. Besides Turkey, the U.S. officials will visit Japan, South Korea, China, Singapore, Australia, India, Britain, France, Germany, Denmark, Poland, the Netherlands, Canada and the NATO Headquarters in Brussels. Bush wants to test the waters in these countries regarding the U.S. plans to form a missile defense system. The United States wants the cancellation of the Antibalisticc Missile (ABM) agreement claiming that it is out out of date. With its present state, the agreement doesn't allow the United States to form a missile defense shield. Russia, on the other hand, is strictly opposing to any possible change in the ABM agreement. Russia and China are claiming that a new missile defense system might lead to a new armament competition. Bush had a telephone conversation on Tuesday with Russian President Vladimir Putin where he repeated his earlier views and said the agreement should be revised. The United States has 7,295 nuclear missiles against Russia's 6,094 nuclear missiles. The U.S. administration wants to pull this number down to 1,500 in both countries. -TURKEY TO HOST WORLD MINING CONGRESS NEXT YEAR Related with the decision taken in the World Mining Congress held in Morocco between April 17 and 20, Rifat Kont, the chairman of Turkish National Committee of the World Mining Congress, told A.A correspondent on Wednesday that Turkey was chosen as the country to host the next meeting of the International Organizing Committee (IOC) of the World Mining Congress. Kont said that in this context, the 82th International Organizing Committee meeting will be held in southern Antalya province in November 2002. More than 100 representatives from 50 countries will attend the meeting in Turkey, Kont noted. Kont added that this meeting is of vital importance for Turkey. The environment, privatization initiatives, the privatization in Turkey, and marble mining will be debated in the meeting. Geological techniques and other statistical data will also be discussed in the meeting. Ninty representatives from 26 countries attended the last IOC meeting which was held in Morocco in April. Kont represented Turkey in the meeting in which environment, people and labour security were discussed. Zeki Yavuzturk, a former minister, and members of the Executive Board of the Black Sea Copper Enterprises (KBI) were also in attendance at the meeting. -PRIME MINISTER ECEVIT DUE TO SPAIN Airplane carrying Prime Minister Ecevit, his wife Rahsan Ecevit, Foreign Minister Ismail Cem and bureaucrats from the Prime Ministry and the Foreign Ministry will take off from Ankara's Esenboga Airport at 11:00 a.m. on Thursday. At the first day of his visit to Spain, Prime Minister Ecevit will hold a tete-a-tete meeting with Aznar. Following the meeting, interdelegationary negotiations will be held. Later in the day, Prime Minister Ecevit and his Spanish counterpart Aznar will stage a joint press conference. Prime Minister Ecevit and his wife will partake in a dinner to be hosted in their honor by Spanish Prime Minister Aznar. At the second day of his visit to Spain, Prime Minister Ecevit will pay a visit to Loisa Fernanda Rudi, the Speaker of Spanish Parliament. Ecevit will be received by King Juan Carlos of Spain at the Zarzuela Royal Palace. He is also scheduled to attend the Turkish-Spanish Business Council meeting the same day. Prime Minister Ecevit's contacts in Spain are expected to focus on further improvement of political, economic, commercial and cultural relations between the two countries, relations between Turkey and the European Union (EU), and other regional and international problems. Ugurtan Akinci, the Turkish Ambassador to Spain, will host Prime Minister Ecevit and his wife at the residence. Prime Minister Ecevit and accompanying delegation will leave Spain for Turkey after visiting Ren Sofi Museum. -U.S., JAPAN AND GERMANY TO PROVIDE EXIMBANK LOAN TO TURKEY Officials of the U.S. economic sources told A.A correspondent on Wednesday that in addition to the loan of almost 600 million U.S. dollars which was planned to be extended to Turkey during the administration of former U.S. President Bill Clinton, 1 billion U.S. dollar Eximbank loan can be provided. The officials said that State Minister Kemal Dervis had a meeting with American Eximbank President James Harmon and that the Eximbank sources were discussed in this meeting. Reminding that the trade volume between Turkey and the U.S. reached 6.5 billion U.S. dollars, the officials noted that 3 billion U.S. dollar of this figure is comprised of Turkey's exportation. The officials also said that the U.S. may lift the quotas applied to Turkey in ready made clothes and textile rather than waiting for 2005. The U.S. does not limit and restrict the Eximbank loans for Turkey, the officials noted. The officials emphasized that the 600 million U.S. dollar loan can be allocated for construction sector and that the new 1 billion U.S. dollar can be used by all the sectors. The U.S. loan will not only be used for only importation as before but can be used for Turkey's exportation to the U.S., the officials said, noting that deliberations are underway regarding this issue. Besides the American Eximbank, the American Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) can also be more active in Turkey this year, the officials stated. The officials pointed out that the American Eximbank grants loan, the interest rate of which is 85 percent below the total cost of the project, to the businessmen who import from the U.S. and who carry out projects which are considered as economical by the Eximbank. Meanwhile, Japan can grant 1 billion U.S. dollar loan to Turkey this year within the framework of the American Eximbank loan. Japan can enable Turkey use this loan with suitable conditions through the Overseas Economic Cooperation Fund (OECF). Officials also said that Japan does not limit or restrict the loan for Turkey like the U.S. Also, a similar Eximbank loan can be provided from Germany this year. Within the framework of all these new foreign finance possibilities, private Turkish banks will not face any problems in accrediting in foreign countries. The officials said that especially the import of investment products has an important place in the exportation of Turkey. As the importation finance possibilities are broadened, the exportation will increase, the officials noted. The officials stated that thus, the burden on the Eximbank will decrease. Thus, this year's exportation can reach 30 billion U.S. dollars, the officials added. -ANAP CHAIRMANSHIP COUNCIL CONVENES The ANAP Chairmanship Council convened at the ANAP headquarters under the leadership of Yilmaz, the leader of the ANAP. Responding to questions of journalists prior to the meeting, Akarcali said, ''the Turkish Armed Forces is one of the institutions protecting democracy and law in Turkey. Yilmaz's statements should not be misunderstood. In fact, people who do not want to stand difficulties of politics, and people who consider themselves distinguished, damage the democracy, politics and law the most. Such people have always been blackening politicians, and putting pressure on deputies and political parties. I think that Yilmaz gave this message.'' ''Yilmaz's statements were response and rebellion of a politician against those who are trying to become dominant by putting pressure on politicians, '' he added. -STATE MINISTER DERVIS ARRIVES IN GERMANY Derya Kanbay, the Turkish Consul General in Frankfurt, welcomed Dervis at the airport. Dervis is scheduled to come together with Rolf Breuer, the Chairman of Executive board of Deutschebank, and Juergen Stark, the Deputy Governor of German Central Bank, at a luncheon. He is expected to return to Turkey later in the day after staging a press conference. -TERRORIST ERDAL TO STAND TRIAL TOMORROW The first hearing of the lawsuit was heard on March 15, and the hearing was adjourned till May 3 upon request of lawyers of Erdal. Erdal, one of suspects of assasination of Ozdemir Sabanci, the Chairman of Automotive Group of Sabanci Holding, Haluk Gorgun, the Director General of Toyota-Sa, and Nilgun Hasefe, a secretary, on January 9, 1996; was captured in Belgium on September 26, 1999, with a false identity card arranged in the name of Nese Yildirim. Belgium rejected Turkey's request for exradition of Erdal due to presence of capital punishment in Turkish laws. Belgium did not accept Erdal's request for political asylum. Erdal has been under house arrest after being imprisoned for one year. She is waiting for her trial on charges of crimes she committed in Belgium such as possessing unlicenced weapons, joining activities of criminal organizations, and using false identity card. Belgian government did not shed green light to trial of Erdal on charges of crimes she committed in Turkey despite insistent requests of Turkey, and suspended the file claiming that it was waiting for opinions of judicial circles. Fernand Schmitz, the lawyer of the Sabanci family, filed a lawsuit against Erdal. The Council of State will take a decision about trial of Erdal on charges of crimes she committed in Turkey. If the Council of State accepts trial of Erdal in Belgium, it will be decided whether or not the lawsuit will be taken up with the trial at the Bruges Court. Schmitz defends that Erdal should be tried by a separate court within framework of European Convention for Struggle Against Terrorism. Lawyers of Erdal are expected to request the court tomorrow to adjourn the hearing to a further date. -DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER YILMAZ: Following the ANAP Chairmanship Council, Yilmaz told reporters that nothing happens by declarations but everything happens by signing the documents. When a reporter reminded him about the words of Justice Minister Hikmet Sami Turk that jurisdiction should not be made a tool of politics, Yilmaz said, ''I also defend the same thing. I say that jurisdiction should not intervene in the politics.'' Asked about his evaluations over the words of Deputy Prime Minister Devlet Bahceli who said that the immunity of deputies should be limited, Yilmaz said, ''it is not enough to express views on this issue. The motion for a constitutional amendment is waiting at the Office of the Parliament Speaker. We call on the parties to sign this motion and to help us reach the necessary number.'' -FOREIGN MINISTRY SPOKESMAN DIRIOZ SAYS CONTACTS Responding to a question related with the U.S. annual report on terrorism which said that there is still a camp of the terrorist organization PKK in Iran, Dirioz said, ''our contacts with Iran continue in the normal course. These is not any change.'' Dirioz noted that the report is being evaluated, adding, ''after the evaluation, our views about the contents of the report will become definite.'' -TURKEY WELCOMES CONSULTATIONS ON MISSILE DEFENSE SYSTEM Responding to questions of reporters on what Turkey's attitude may be towards this new missile system, Huseyin Dirioz, the spokesman of the Foreign Ministry, said that an evaluation on this issue may be made after the project is totally examined. Dirioz said that a delegation from the U.S. will come to Turkey to have consultations on the issue. ''We welcome this. We are ready for such consultations and we think such consultations will be beneficial,'' Dirioz said. Upon a question saying that the U.S. may extend support to Turkey for the European Security and Defense Policy depending on Turkey's approach towards the missile system, Dirioz said that connecting this issue with the European Security and Defense Policy is out of question. Dirioz added, ''our attitude towards the European Security and Defense Policy is being carried out within its own principles and mentality. It does not have any connection with other issues.'' -FOREIGN MINISTRY: ''WE ARE CONVEYING THE FOREIGN REACTIONS Responding to questions on contacts and statements of Daniel Cohn Bendit, the co-president of the European Union (EU)-Turkey Joint Parliamentary Commission (JPC), regarding the death fasts, Dirioz said, ''he was foreseen to visit Turkey at the beginning of June. He came to Turkey before this foreseen visit. He met with officials of other ministries rather than having direct contacts in the Foreign Ministry.'' ''He expressed his views when departing. These views will be evaluated by the interlocutors. The Justice Ministry will determine the initiatives regarding this issue,'' Dirioz added. -SUPREME COURT OF APPEALS CRIMINAL DEPARTMENT ANNULS The Supreme Court of Appeals announced its decision about imprisonment verdict given by Manisa High Criminal Court about 10 policemen. The Supreme Court of Appeals Criminal Department no: 8 annulled the imprisonment verdict about the policemen, saying, ''rejection of request of suspects' for additional term to prepare their defense after the Prosecutor explained his opinion about merits of the case, was contrary to the Article 251 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CMUK). Therefore, it was decided to annul the imprisonment verdict against the policemen.'' Suspect policemen will be re-tried by the Manisa High Criminal Court. Manisa High Criminal Court acquitted the policemen in a lawsuit filed against them on charges of torturing 15 teenagers who were detained on December 26, 1995, during operations against illegal Revolutionary People's Liberation Party-F ront (DHKP-C). The Supreme Court of Appeals Criminal Department no: 8 annulled the verdict by pointing out that the policemen tortured the teenagers. During the second trial process, Manisa High Criminal Court insisted on acquitting the policemen. But the verdict was annulled once again by the Supreme Court of Appeals. At the third trial, Manisa High Criminal Court sentenced suspects Engin Erdogan, Fevzi Aydog, Musa Gecer, Mehmet Emin Dal and Ramazan Kolat to 9 years and 2 months in prison, suspect Turgut Demirel to 5 years in prison, suspect Halil Emir to 10 years and 10 months in prison, suspect Levent Ozvez to 10 years in prison, suspect Turgut Ozcan to 5 years and 10 months in prison, and suspect Atilla Gurbuz to 8 years and 4 months in prison. Meanwhile, 15 teenagers who were tried by the Izmir State Security Court (DGM) on charges of being a member of the illegal organization, were acquitted. -FOREIGN MINISTRY: ''WE HAVE BEEN SHARING OUR VIEWS Speaking at a weekly press conference, Huseyin Dirioz, the Deputy Spokesman of Foreign Ministry, said, ''as you know, the Middle East peace process has been continuing. We have been contributing to peace process by sharing our views with the sides instead of acting as a mediator.'' -FOREIGN MINISTRY: Huseyin Dirioz, the spokesman of the Foreign Ministry, told the weekly press conference that Macedonia is experiencing a period in which it takes serious steps ''to base the relations among the ethnic groups on a stronger ground.'' Dirioz added, ''by depending on the understanding to respect Macedonia's territorial integrity and borders drawn by international agreements, we support the peaceful efforts exerted by the Macedonian authorities and the international community for the solution of the question as soon as possible and we continue our contributions to this end.'' -ISTANBUL TO HOST 17TH MEETING OF MONITORING COMMITTEE OF COMCEC Releasing a statement, Undersecretariat of State Planning Organization (DPT) said on Wednesday that the meeting would be held under the chairmanship of Turkey. A delegation headed by State Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Devlet Bahceli will represent Turkey at the meeting at the Marmara Hotel. Delegations from Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Palestine, Syria, Iran, Burkina Faso, Qatar, Pakistan, Kuwait, Indonesia and Uganda will attend the meeting. The meeting is expected to focus on the issues such as developments in implementation of Economic Cooperation Action Plan and relations with the World Trade Organization (WTO). Meanwhile, the meeting of Experts Group for Acceleration of Implementation of OIC Economic Cooperation Action Plan will be held in Istanbul between May 6 and 7. Experts from 53 countries and international organizations will be in attendance at the meeting to be presided by Akin Izmirlioglu, the Undersecretary of the DPT. -FOREIGN MINISTER CEM DUE TO SWEDEN A statement of the Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday that Cem will go to Nykobing upon the invitation of Swedish Foreign Minister Anna Lindh. The statement said that Cem will attend the working lunch of the foreign ministers of European Union (EU) member and candidate states within the framework of the unofficial meeting of the foreign ministers. The foreign ministers will express their views about the future of the EU in line with the realities in their countries in the meeting. The participants will exchange views about the themes of the conference which was foreseen to be held in 2004. Meanwhile, the EU made ''http://europa.eu.int/futurum'' web-site available to help nation express thair views. The Turkish Foreign Ministry has launched initiatives to enable Turkish non- governmental organizations and citizens to express their views in this web- site. The Foreign Ministry is thinking of preparing a similar web-site in Turkey to overcome the deficiencies and want the non-governmental organizations and citizens often express their views about the future of the EU. The web-site which is thought to be developed in Turkey will ask the views of the people about what the balance of the share of authority between the state and the EU should be, and what the status of the charter on fundamental rights which was adopted in the Nice Summit should be. -FOREIGN TRADE UNDERSECRETARY TUZMEN: Tuzmen said that exports increased by 17.3 percent to 2 billion 545.6 million U.S. dollars between April 1 and 30. Speaking at a meeting in which electricity and electronics sector was taken up, Tuzmen said, ''agricultural exports increased by 8.2 percent to 1 billion 436.4 million U.S. dollars between January 1 and April 30. In the same period, exports of livestock increased by 8.7 percent to 61 million 639 thousand U.S. dollars. Exports of forestry products increased by 17.6 percent to 154.1 milion U.S. dollars.'' ''Exports of vegetable and fruits increased by 7.1 percent to 1 billion 220.6 million U.S. dollars, and exports from industrial sector increased 12.5 percent to 8 billion 227.6 million U.S. dollars. Exports of processed oil products increased by 12 percent to 697 million 956 thousand U.S. dollars, and exports of industrial products increased by 13 percent to 6 billion 342.3 million U.S. dollars. Meanwhile, exports from mining sector increased by 8.8 percent to 168 million 59 thousand U.S. dollars,'' he added. -IMF EXECUTIVE BOARD PLANS TO DEBATE TURKEY'S LETTER OF INTENT ON MAY 8 Sources told the A.A correspondent on Wednesday that the IMF Executive Board was expected to approve supplementary financial source of 8 billion U.S. dollars on May 8. State Minister Kemal Dervis for Economy and Central Bank Governor Sureyya Serdengecti submitted Turkey's letter of intent to the IMF. The letter focused on performance criteria. Turkish and IMF officials determined new performance criteria such as net domestic assets and budget in Washington D.C. The new letter of intent is composed of 30 pages. The letter gave broad place to ways to liquidate duty losses of banks which were transferred to the Saving Deposits and Insurance Fund (SDIF) and of public banks. The World Bank Executive Board will hold a separate meeting, and approve supplementary financial source of 2 billion U.S. dollars. The officials said that an important part of the 14.3 billion loan from the IMF and the World Bank will be allocated for the banking sector. The sources stated that the letter of intent said that a solution will be found to the privatization of the banks transferred to the SDIF and the public banks within this year. The letter of intent noted that firstly economic stability and growth will be ensured and than the inflation targets will be kept. Meanwhile, sources said that if the drafts laws on Banking Act and the Telekom Law are adopted before the IMF Executive Board meeting, the meeting can be postponed. The sources said that 6 billion U.S. dollar portion of the financial aid is expected to be used in May and June when the repayment of debts are high. The rest of the loan will be released if the IMF delegations thinks that Turkey keeps the performance criteria in the visits it will pay to Turkey every one or three months.
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