Prime Minister Tansu Ciller went to the US on Saturday. She will hold talks with President Bill Clinton in Washington
and meet with business leaders in New York and Houston, where she will participate in the Houston International
Festival, which this year features Turkey. Ciller and Clinton are expected to discuss the latest developments in
the Turkish military operation in northern Iraq. Ciller, who spoke to the Turkish press before leaving, said the
message she intended to give to Clinton on the matter is that "we are moving rapidly but will not retreat until our
targets are reached". On the current state of affairs in the area, Ciller said that Turkey was attempting to remedy
the situation in northern Iraq that had become a no-man's land due to fighting between Iraqi Kurdish groups. She
stressed that a withdrawal would then take place but warned that any attempt to revive terrorism would meet with another
Turkish operation. "It is only self-defence" she said, adding that border alterations were not being considered at
the present time. Ciller also announced that she would, as Azeri President Haydar Aliyev had requested, put the
Armenia-invaded Azeri territories on the agenda in Washington. Ciller also plans to point out that Turkey has
succeeded in reaching economic stabilization, something Mexico has been unable to do despite $60 billion in US aid.
Ciller stressed that the first matter she would tackle upon her return to the country was the modification of Article 8
in the "Anti-Terrorism Bill" which violates freedom of thought. "The determination we put into economic
development and fighting terrorism will also be put into the democratization process. Parliament will be working 24
hours a day" Ciller said. The beginning of Ciller's two-week visit coincides with a "Houston Chronicle" 30-page
Turkey special supplement published on the occasion of the Houston Festival. Turkish Ambassador to the US, Nuzhet
Kandemir, who wrote an article in the supplement, spoke of Turco-American historical, but mainly military cooperation.
Kandemir's article traces the collaboration of Turkey and the US "from the end of the Second World War to the Korean
War, to Kuwait, as well as all through the Cold War with the Soviet Union". "Turkey and the US have fought together for
freedom and democracy" Kandemir writes. Besides Kandemir's article, articles on the Turkish economy, tourism and April
23 Children Festival are included in the special supplement. /All papers/
Prime Minister Ciller, in the US for a round of talks with top US officials -including President Clinton, has already
revealed her views on a number of issues involving US-Turkey ties and regional problems. One of the major issues that
Ciller will take up with Clinton is the question of re-opening the air corridor to Armenia. Ciller will tell
Clinton that Turkey is ready to make a gesture in this connection, but that in return, Turkey will expect the US to
do something about making the Armenians withdraw from occupied areas in Azerbaijan. Talking to journalists, Prime
Minister Ciller touched on a number of important and sensitive issues including the withdrawal of Turkish
military forces from northern Iraq, democratization, improvements in human rights and the need for an electronic
surveillance system along the border between Turkey and Iraq. /Hurriyet/
Foreign Minister Erdal Inonu welcomed New Zealand Deputy Prime Minister, Foreign and Trade Minister Donald Charles
McKinnon who arrived in Ankara yesterday. When journalists reporting the arrival, pointed out that PKK leader Abdullah
Ocalan had called for a ceasefire, Inonu said: "We do not hold negotiations with terrorists". Kurdish separatist
leader Abdullah Ocalan has urged Turkey to call a ceasefire and negotiate a "political settlement" to the Kurdish
insurgency. Ocalan, in a statement received in Ankara on Saturday, also assured Western governments that his
Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) would not carry out acts of violence in Europe. During his stay in Turkey, McKinnon
will be received by President Suleyman Demirel, Deputy Prime Minister Erdal Inonu, State Minister for Economic
Coordination Aykon Dogan and Agriculture Minister Refaiddin Sahin. /Hurriyet/
Turgut Ozal, Turkey's eighth president and founder of the Motherland Party (ANAP), will be commemorated today on the
second anniversary of his death. ANAP and the New Party (YP), which was founded by defectors from ANAP, will hold
separate ceremonies to commemorate the late president. ANAP Chairman Mesut Yilmaz and other speakers will deliver
speeches at the ANAP headquarters where the founding members, the central executive board members, former and
current ANAP deputies will be present. A large screen film presentation showing Turkey under the late Ozal's rule is
expected to be shown. Yilmaz and other party executives will later go to Istanbul to visit Ozal's mausoleum there.
Ozal will be commemorated by the YP led by his brother Yusuf Bozkurt Ozal. YP executives will visit Ozal's mausoleum and
later attend a symposium on the "Commemoration of Turgut Ozal and the second Transformation Programme". /Cumhuriyet/
While the Turkish military operation in Northern Iraq continues, Turkey, Syria and Iran will meet in order to
negotiate solutions to current regional problems. Turkish Foreign Minister Erdal Inonu will meet his Iranian
counterpart Velayeti, and Syrian Foreign Minister Faruk El-Shara on 28 April, in Isfahan, Iran. The most important
subject on the agenda will be the Turkish military operation in northern Iraq. Inonu is going to ask both Iran and Syria
to take more effective measures against the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in their territories. /Sabah/
Eighteen Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) terrorists, who ambushed and killed 11 Turkish soldiers in the Hamambogazi
district, northern Iraq, were killed on last night. According to a statement from the Press and Information
Center of the General Staff, Turkish military forces pursued the PKK terrorists and killed them during a fierd
confrontation. /Hurriyet/
Instead of the daily agenda, this week the Turkish Grand National Assembly (TGNA) will celebrate the 75th anniversary
of its founding with various activities. Anniversary ceremonies ceremonies will begin on Thursday April 20. A
"National Sovereignty and Democracy Congress" will be chaired by President Demirel in the Motherland Party (ANAP)
Group Hall which was used as the Senate Hall in the early days of the TGNA. Parlamentarians will also make a visit to
Anitkabir, the Mausoleum of Ataturk. President Demirel, Husamettin Cindoruk, Tansu Ciller, Mesut Yilmaz, Yekta
Gungor Ozden and Press Council Chairman Oktay Eksi will give speeches during the congress. The congress will continue on
Friday with the participation of both local and foreign scientists. Cindoruk will accept the congratulations of
members of the TGNA on April 23 which is the opening date of the first Turkish Grand National Assembly. /Cumhuriyet/
Formalities regarding Turkey's customs union with the EU, planned to come into force in 1996, are continuing without
delay. Serge Abou, EU Director Responsible for Turkey will arrive in Ankara on Wednesday to have talks about the
technical aspects of the customs union agreement. It is expected that Abou will warn the Turkish authorities about
the result of studies regarding the adjustment of current laws held up because of the current inactivity of the
Turkish Grand National Assembly. Project credits promised by the EU will especially be discussed during the two-day
visit of Abou. The conditions of the credit transfers to Turkey from the European Development Bank and the
Mediterranean Fund will be discussed, and also EU expectations regarding democratisation and human rights in
Turkey are likely to be stated once more. /Hurriyet/
N.IRAQ
A ranking Turkish official met with Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Velayeti yesterday and gave him a written message
from Foreign Minister Erdal Inonu about the on-going Turkish military operation in northern Iraq. Speaking to the
Anatolia news agency, Ambassador Gun Gur, the head of the Africa and Middle East Department of the Foreign Ministry,
said he was satisfied with his contacts in Tehran. Gur told Anatolia that Iran, Turkey and Syria are the most interested
parties in northern Iraq and thus Turkey has been in very close contact with Tehran on the Turkish incursion into the
area. "Our foreign minister has had the chance to make direct contact with his Syrian counterpart. This was not
possible with Mr.Velayeti, since he was out of the country when the Turkish operation began, so Mr.Inonu preferred to
send an envoy and present a written message" he said. /Sabah/
Macedonia and Turkey signed a military cooperation agreement on Thursday which Turkish Defence Minister Mehmet Golhan
said paved the way for closer military ties. The agreement, signed by Golhan and his Macedonian counterpart Blagoj
Handziski, envisages formation of a joint committee of military experts as well as exchange of technological and
military information. Golhan, who arrived in Macedonia on Wednesday after signing a similar agreement in neighbouring
Albania, said Macedonia played an "important role for stability" in the region. /All papers/
A month long meeting on the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons begins today. Turkey will be rep- resented by
Permanent Representative to the UN, Inal Batu, because Foreign Minister Erdal Inonu has a very full schedule at
home. The conference, run by the United Nations organization will re-examine nuclear agreements made during
the past thirty years when nuclear power was in the hands of only a few leading nations. Now nuclear potential and even
nuclear capability is in the hands of many more countries -leading to a position of international anxiety. Ambassador
Batu will deliver a speech on April 24 that will state Turkey's position in this area of international concern.
/Cumhuriyet/
The vote for the election of a new president in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), has to go into a second
round because none of the seven candidates reached the more than 50 % needed for a majority vote. Although current
President Rauf Denktas showed up well with 40.4 % of the vote, which put him well ahead of the competition, it still
was not enough to keep him at the top. Observers say that it is unlikely that Denktas will vote in the second round.
After hearing the result, Denktas merely commented that "next time the people need think a little more seriously. I
have nothing more to say." Other candidates in the election for the presidency think that it is unlikely Denktas will
increase his vote in a second round. Most agree that any further progress in the position regarding the TRNC can only
be made with more cooperation with mainland Turkey. /Cumhuriyet/
A Turkish owned company in the US, "Fore Systems" has won a place among the "one hundred fastest growing companies in
the US" according to Fortune magazine. A report on the company, owned by Onat Menzilcioglu from Izmir, says that
his Fore Systems company is actually fourth on the list because of a huge 70 % share in specialised communications
and computer technology. /Hurriyet/
Reports from the economy front, noting the growth in real terms of the TL against other major foreign currencies,
indicate in- creases in the import and export markets. The latest figures for February show that imports grew by an av-
erage of 28 percent with a value of 2.2 billion dollars. Exports showed an increase of 20 percent, reaching a total
value of 1.4 billion dollars. One of the major reasons behind this substantial increase was the effort shown by
exporters to avoid losses coming from a shaky market. /Cumhuriyet/
Stating that Turkey had the potential for meeting all of the new expectations in the tourism sector, Irfan Gurpinar,
Minister of Tourism said: "Turkish turism will show an increase of 186 % over the next ten years according to a
report from the World Tourism Organization". Gurpinar noted that tourism possibilities in Turkey had expanded to 12
months a year, and said that while it was now possible to swim in Antalya, it was also possible to enjoy winter sports
in another region. Pointing out that tourism had shown an increase of 4 % in world tourism, and 8 % in Turkey,
Gurpinar said: "Turkey has achieved great increases during the past ten years and is expected to come first among the
OECD countries with an increase of 186 % during the next ten years. What Turkey has to do is to take care of the
environment and human needs. 500 million people are benefiting from tourism throughout the world and seven
million of them are coming to Turkey. Tourism is a sector with many possibilities. We are encouraging our harbour
authorities, who are sensitive to environmental issues to keep our coasts clean, by giving them blue flag, anchor and
dolphin logos." Visiting the Antalya Republican People's Party organization, Irfan Gurpinar held talks with RPP
deputies Deniz Baykal and Faik Altun. Gurpinar talked with people in the yacht marina and made a trip by boat. The
captain of the boat hoped that the Ministry of Tourism would provide credit for developing yacht tourism and preventing
concretization along the coast. /Sabah/
END