Anadolu Agency: News in English, 01-06-04

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

ANADOLU AGENCY

NEWS

04 JUNE 2001 Monday

CONTENTS

[01] TURKEY-PRESS SCAN

[02] TEN MEMBERS OF TERRORIST HEZBOLLAH ORGANIZATION CAPTURED

[03] STATE MINISTER AND DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER BAHCELI IN FRANCE

[04] DIYARBAKIR GOVERNOR SERHADLI: -''AN IMPORTANT PART OF ASSASINATION OF OKKAN HAS BEEN UNVEILED''

[05] EXPORTS FROM AUTOMOTIVE SECTOR INCREASES 49.6 PERCENT TO 1 BILLION 638 MILLION U.S. DOLLARS IN FIRST FIVE MONTHS OF 2001

[06] ENERGY AND NATURAL RESOURCES MINISTER CAKAN: -''IRAQ'S DECISION TO STOP CRUDE OIL SALES WILL NOT AFFECT TURKEY''

[07] LAST YEAR'S FAVORITE SPOT ZEUGMA SUFFERS FROM LACK OF ATTENTION

[08] U.S. DEFENSE SECRETARY RUMSFELD STARTS HIS CONTACTS IN ANKARA

[09] INTERNATIONAL FINANCE INSTITUTE: ''TURKEY'S SITUATION IS DIFFERENT FROM ECONOMIC CRISIS IN EASTERN ASIA''

[10] IKV CHAIRMAN TO ASSESS TURKISH-EU RELATIONS AT PRESS CONFERENCE ON JUNE 6

[11] TURKEY CONTINUE TO RECEIVE OIL ON TANKERS FROM IRAQ

[12] U.S. DEFENSE SECRETARY RUMSFELD MEETS WITH DEPUTY CHIEF OF GENERAL STAFF GENERAL BUYUKANIT

[01] TURKEY-PRESS SCAN

HURRIYET (LIBERAL)

INFLATION RATES FOR MAY ANNOUNCED
The State Institute of Statistics announced that the wholesale prices increased by 6.3 percent, and consumer prices increased by 5.1 percent in May, 2001. The annual inflation rate became 57.7 percent in wholesale prices, and 52.4 percent in consumer prices. The five-month inflation rate became 40.5 percent in wholesale prices, and 28.3 percent in consumer prices.

IRAQ TO BE DISCUSSED IN ANKARA
U.S. Secretary of State Donald Rumsfeld will hold a series of contacts in Ankara. The U.S.' smart sanctions plan is expected to brought onto agenda in his contacts. Rumsfeld will be received by Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit. He is scheduled to meet with Foreign Minister Ismail Cem, National Defense Minister Sabahattin Cakmakoglu, and General Yasar Buyukanit, the Deputy Chief of General Staff. Later in the day, he will visit Incirlik Base in southern province of Adana.

MILLIYET (LIBERAL)

FUEL PRICES INCREASE BY 3.2 PERCENT
Turkish fuel distributors raised the price of fuel by 2.16-3.25 percent depending on different grades and geographical locations. The move was the latest in a series of increases since a financial crisis in February forced Turkey to float the lira, which has since lost around 40 percent of its value against the dollar, pushing up the price of imported goods. According to this, price of unleaded oil increased to 1,049,000 Turkish liras (TL) in Ankara, and to 1,051,000 TL in Istanbul.

ECEVIT: ''IRAQ'S RESUMING OIL PUMPING TO TURKEY IS A GOOD DEVELOPMENT''
Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit said, ''Iraq halted crude oil exports to Turkey along the pipeline. Oil pumping resumed on Sunday. Iraq's resuming oil pumping to Turkey is a positive development.'' ''I hope that such halt would not occur again. Iraq's decision to stop crude oil sales would not have any direct effect on Turkey. But cessation of Iraqi petroleum sales could cause a rise in world oil prices. This would of course negatively affect the Turkish economy,'' he added.

SABAH (LIBERAL)

ECEVIT: ''YALOVA UNDERSTOOD THE SITUATION AND RESIGNED''
Responding to questions of journalists aboard the plane which was on the way from Ankara to southeastern province of Mardin, Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit said, ''a very unsuitable situation had arosen in respect of the government's harmony. For that reason the resignation of State Minister Yuksel Yalova can't be regarded strange. He also understood this and left his mission.''

CUMHURIYET (LEFT)

18 WEAPONS SEIZED AT HABUR BORDER GATE
A total of 18 weapons were seized in a lorry at Habur border gate near Silopi township of eastern province of Sirnak. Acting on a tip-off, Habur comstoms officials searched a Turkey-registered lorry which brought fuel oil from Iraq. Officials found the weapons in the secret part of the lorry. The driver of the lorry was taken into custody.

RADIKAL (LEFT)

TURKIYE (RIGHT)

PRIME MINISTER OF MONACO VISITS TOPKAPI PALACE IN ISTANBUL
Prime Minister Patrick Leclercq of Monaco visited Topkapi Palace with his wife. Leclercq participated in the reception held at the Ciragan Palace on Saturday evening within the framework of the celebrations held upon the 78th birthday of Prince Rainier III of Monaco. Speaking before the reception, Leclercq said that Monaco which was a small country had a dynamic economy. Noting that nearly six million tourists from Monaco visited Turkey every year, he said that Monaco wanted to set up good relations with Turkey.

IZGI:''I AM IN FAVOR A FREE PRESS''
The 24th General Assembly of the Parliament Reporters Association (PMD) was held at Anadolu Agency's (A.A) Conference Hall. Parliament Speaker Omer Izgi, who delivered a speech at the opening of the General Assembly, said that citizens had all kinds of freedoms in full democracies, and added, ''the press is one of the vital institutions of democratic systems, which help citizens enjoy their freedom to information fully. Throughout the history, press has been the pioneer of opening new venues and the sufferer of the pains along its efforts of lifting obstacles.''

ZAMAN (CONSERVATIVE)

[02] TEN MEMBERS OF TERRORIST HEZBOLLAH ORGANIZATION CAPTURED

Sources told A.A correspondent on Monday, ''acting on a tip-off, anti- terrorism teams launched an operation in an apartment in Fatih neighborhood of Diyarbakir on June 1. Ten members of the terrorist Hezbollah organization were captured in the operation. Security forces also confiscated five kalashnikov weapons, four handguns, ammunition, banned documents and false identity cards.''

They added that the weapons were used in assasination of former Police Chief of Gaffar Okkan and five other policemen on January 24, 2001, killing of three village guards and in killing of policeman Adem Bayrakci in 2000.

[03] STATE MINISTER AND DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER BAHCELI IN FRANCE

Speaking at the Fifth Congress of the Turkish Federation in French capital Paris, Bahceli said on Sunday, ''parliament of a country does not have the right to distort another country's history. Such an attitude will damage efforts to provide global peace and stability and contradict with universal values. Jeopardizing friendly relations and cooperation ties among the nations through such allegations stemming from racist feelings, is an attitude as negative and dangerous as distorting historical facts for the sake of a few votes. Our citizens living in foreign countries have a great responsibility in explaining incoherency of these ugly slanders against Turkey.''

Bahceli stressed that genocide had never been committed in any period of Turkish history.

State Minister Faruk Bal, Industry and Trade Minister Kenan Tanrikulu, and Ismail Hakki Cerrahoglu, Huseyin Kalkan, Mehmet Telek, Kursat Eser, Sevket Cetin and Oktay Vural, the deputies of the MHP, were also in attendance at the congress.

[04] DIYARBAKIR GOVERNOR SERHADLI: -''AN IMPORTANT PART OF ASSASINATION OF OKKAN HAS BEEN UNVEILED''

Holding a press conference, Serhadli said, ''acting on a tip-off, anti- terrorism teams launched an operation in an apartment in Fatih neighborhood of Diyarbakir on June 1. Ten members of the terrorist Hezbollah organization were captured in the operation. Security forces also confiscated five kalashnikov weapons, four handguns, seven hand-grenades, ammunition, banned documents and false identity cards.''

He said, ''as a result of criminal investigation, it was determined that

the weapons had been used in three separate attacks. These attacks were the assasination of Okkan and five other policemen on January 24, 2001, killing of a policeman on September 11, 2000, and killing of three village guards on December 16, 1996.''

Noting that the operations against the terrorist Hezbollah organization were under way in the province, Serhadli noted, ''an important part of the assasination of Okkan has been unveiled.''

[05] EXPORTS FROM AUTOMOTIVE SECTOR INCREASES 49.6 PERCENT TO 1 BILLION 638 MILLION U.S. DOLLARS IN FIRST FIVE MONTHS OF 2001

The Secretariat General of the Uludag Exporters' Unions said on Monday that the exports of automobiles, which was 1 billion 95 million U.S. dollars in the January-May 2000 period, rose to 1 billion 638 million U.S. dollars in the same period this year.

Meanwhile, exports from the Turkish automotive sector increased 89.6 percent to 398 million 105 thousand U.S. dollars in May of 2001.

In the same period last year, exports from automotive sector was 209 million 970 thousand U.S. dollars.

The figures in the automotive sector in the first five months of 2001 are as follows:

Name of Product Exports Difference

(Thousand U.S. Dollars) (percent)

---------------------- --------------------- ----------
Tractor........................... 15.816 -44.2

Bus-minibus-midibus............... 152.377 8.8

Automobile........................ 466.134 58.2

Lorry-truck....................... 128.704 1.070.7

Motor vehicles on special propose. 4.958 179.5

Towing............................ 920 111.7

Work machines..................... 11.882 22

Vessels-boats-ships............... 53.411 20

Aircraft-spacecraft............... 50.104 141.6

Railway vehicles.................. 731 100

Bicycle-motorcycle................ 7.823 12.4

Agricultural machines............. 2.595 -1.8

Tank-armoured vehicles............ 19.445 6.8

Towings on special purpose........ 63 -65

Automotive by-industry............ 723.430 40.2

-------- -----
TOTAL............................. 1.638.399 49.6

[06] ENERGY AND NATURAL RESOURCES MINISTER CAKAN: -''IRAQ'S DECISION TO STOP CRUDE OIL SALES WILL NOT AFFECT TURKEY''

[07] LAST YEAR'S FAVORITE SPOT ZEUGMA SUFFERS FROM LACK OF ATTENTION

Several beautiful mosaics and the sculpture of Mars, the god of war had drawn the attention of all archeologists to Zeugma which was flooded by the

waters of the Birecik Dam.

The mosaics that were excavated decorated many plates, magazine covers,

souvenirs, postcards and even some computer equipment.

The U.S. based non-profit Packtard Humanities Institute (PHI) had signed a protocol agreement on June 7, 2000 with South Eastern Anatolia Project (GAP) Administration to provide five million U.S. dollars for the rescue excavations on the areas which were flooded.

The money was spent under the coordination of GAP Administration for the restoration and conservation of the mosaics and frescoes that were rescued.

The protocol also envisaged cooperation for other future archeological

activities in the area.

However, during this year's talks between GAP Administration and the PHI no consensus was reached about next year's archeological works, nor any financial support was given.

The Culture Ministry has no existing excavation program for Zeugma. Nothing much is presently being done for Zeugma's fascinating nicely colored mosaics, the Mars sculpture and remains of houses which became a center of attention for Turkish and foreign tourists as well as archeologists last year.

Zeugma which was called as ''one of the seven wonders of the world'' by

the foreign press is now suffering from lack of attention.

According to the experts, Gaziantep Museum would surpass the mosaic museum in Tunisia if all the mosaics were excavated and displayed there.

The future of the museum also remains uncertain.

Museum Acting Director Kemal Sertok told the A.A correspondent that they had not received any information about the possibility of an excavation in the area from the Culture Ministry but added that he hoped a solution would be found for Zeugma.

[08] U.S. DEFENSE SECRETARY RUMSFELD STARTS HIS CONTACTS IN ANKARA

''Turkey supports the solution of the problems in the region through peaceful methods,'' said Cakmakoglu before meeting with U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld who came to Turkey for an official visit.

Noting that Rumsfeld knew Turkey well before he became the U.S. Defense Secretary, Cakmakoglu said that ''Turkey and the U.S. have rooted relations. The values which we share further strengthen our dependence towards each other.''

Cakmakoglu pointed out that Turkey regards the U.S. as an important partner in protection of the peace and stability, adding that they will take up bilateral relations, military issues including the defense industry, Northern Watch Operation, the Balkans, the Caucasus, the situation in the Middle East, enlargement of NATO and the European Defense and Security Policy (ESDI) in the meeting.

Rusmfeld said in his part that he came to Turkey as NATO parliamentary in 1960s and special representative of the U.S. President Ronald Reagan in 1970s, adding that he was pleased to be in Turkey which is a close ally and friend.

Rumsfeld recounted that the 50th anniversary of the Korean War is celebrated, adding that he had to mention the Turkish soldiers in this respect.

[09] INTERNATIONAL FINANCE INSTITUTE: ''TURKEY'S SITUATION IS DIFFERENT FROM ECONOMIC CRISIS IN EASTERN ASIA''

In a report which was consisted of the economic situation in developing countries, the IIF also covered the Turkish economy. According to the report, the South Korea's capacity to enter international capital markets had weakened seriously while Turkey still maintains an economic capacity which would allow it enter these markets easily.

The report said that Turkey has to pay eight billion U.S. dollars to the banks this year. Despite their financial troubles, the report said that big Turkish banks would not face any difficulties during this process.

There was a capital flow of 10.5 billion U.S. dollars last year to Turkey and about 13 billion U.S. dollars is expected to leave the country this year due to the economic crisis.

Regarding the privatization activities in Turkey, the report said investments worth of three billion U.S. dollars could start in Turkey through privatization efforts in 2001. This figure could increase to 4.3 billion U.S. dollars next year, the report remarked.

Turkey's foreign borrowing costs which was 800 points beginning of this year increased to 1000 points right after the February crisis but now it is down to 760 which is a better point than it was in the beginning of the year.

The report underlined that the Turkish officials should change and improve the banking system and maintain macroeconomic stability. It also said that the capital investments should be encouraged.

[10] IKV CHAIRMAN TO ASSESS TURKISH-EU RELATIONS AT PRESS CONFERENCE ON JUNE 6

The IKV stated that the economic crises which hit Turkey one after another overshadowed the EU issue.

Besides an overall evaluation of Turkish-EU relations, Eris will also focus on EU's financial aids to Turkey. He will give information about European Investment Bank's credit, the amount of EU financial aid, the fields where the credits will be used and the sectors which will benefit from the financial aid.

[11] TURKEY CONTINUE TO RECEIVE OIL ON TANKERS FROM IRAQ

An official from the Iraqi Oil Ministry said the Iraqi government decided to halt oil export from Mediterranean ports and the Persian Gulf but the decision excluded Turkey and Jordan. The decision to stop the oil export came as a protest to the ''smart sanct�ons'' project of the United States and Britain.

[12] U.S. DEFENSE SECRETARY RUMSFELD MEETS WITH DEPUTY CHIEF OF GENERAL STAFF GENERAL BUYUKANIT

Members of press were only allowed to take pictures during the meeting. According to the briefing note distributed to reporters about the meeting, Buyukanit told Rumsfeld that the General Staff was carrying out detailed studies regarding the European Security and Defense Identity (ESDI) since the issue was closely related to security and defense and these studies were debated at several national and international platforms.

The note continued as follows:

''The studies are carried out under the coordination of the Foreign Ministry and other institutions and we are defending our national interests at every platform. The basis of this approach is that Turkey which had numerous sacrifices for Europe's security for half a century should not be excluded from this structure in the future. The Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) believes that the decisions which were accepted unanimously at the Washington Summit on April 23-24, 1999 should be implemented under today's circumstances. The TSK has always displayed a constructive attitude at all platforms on this matter and it wants to continue the same position,'' the note continued.

''Turkey wants to fully participate in ESDI's peace time advisory mechanisms and military maneouvres and in the decision taking mechanism during crisis and military operations,'' the General Staff said.

''If the EU launches operations by using NATO capabilities in order to intervene in the crisis regions, it is obligatory for Turkey to take part in the decision taking and implementation process at all stages.

If the EU intervenes in the crisis regions without using NATO capabilities and if the crisis region is close to Turkey and if the security interests of Turkey are in question, assuring guarantee for Turkey's participation in the operation and her being in the decision taking mechanism, constitutes an indispensable element of our national interests.

The non-implementation of the crisis management activities which will be carried out within the scope of the European Security and Defense Identity in cases of conflicts to which any NATO ally country is a party, has great importance for us as Turkey is not a full member of the EU yet.

Turkish Armed Foces thinks that deviations from the basic views explained in the last four paragraphs will not only create weakness in respect of the European Security Arcitect, but also in respect of Turkey's national security.

It is considered that the solution proposals put forward by Turkey consitutute a fair interpretation of the Nice summit results within the scope of Washington decisions and they also constitute a basis of compromise which will satisfy all the sides. If this is not the case, it is thought that an acceptable balance between the Washington decisions and EU Nice decisions won't be installed. As a current development, as the Foreign Ministry explained to its counterparts during the NATO ministers meeting held in Budapest on May 29, 2001; the solution proposals conveyed to Turkey are far from meeting the right expectations of Turkey.

It is believed that similar rights acquired within the scope of the West European Union (WEU) without Turkey's being the EU candidate which constituted the basis of the European Securtiy and Defense Identity should be recognized to non-EU NATO counries within the scope of Washington decisions.

Turkish Armed Forces which has contributed to the European security and defense as an important and effective element of NATO for years, continues its resolved attitude in spite of the worrying attitude of the EU countries and it maintains its hope that positive developments will take place for solution of the issues which will satisfy all the sides in the near future, ''

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