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Turkish Press Review, 98-11-06Turkish Press Review Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs <http://www.mfa.gov.tr>06.11.98Summary of the political and economic news in the Turkish press this morningCONTENTS
[01] RUSSIAN OFFICIALS IN TURKEYRussia's first deputy foreign minister, Alexander Avdayev, reiterated Moscow's guarantees to Turkey concerning reports of a separatist leader seeking refuge in that country. Avdayev arrived in Ankara yesterday and will have talks with Foreign Ministry Deputy Undersecretary Faruk Logoglu today.Meanwhile, the Russian Foreign Ministry yesterday said that the government would evaluate the Duma's request to offer political asylum to leader of the PKK terrorist organization Abdullah Ocalan, according to procedures. Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Vladimir Rakhmanin however said that the Kurdish problem should be resolved on assumption of the territorial integrity of Turkey, but called on Ankara to avoid the use of force and respect the right of Kurds. Russian Interior Minister Sergei Stepashin, however, insisted Russia would not give shelter to Ocalan. "I know President Boris Yeltsin's stance, and political asylum will not be granted to any terrorist" Stepashin told reporters during a visit to Strasbourg, France. /All papers/ [02] SUMMIT AT PRESIDENTIAL PALACEPresident Suleyman Demirel received Parliament Speaker Hikmet Cetin and Chief of General Staff Gen.Huseyin Kivrikoglu separately yesterday at the Presidential Palace. During the meetings, the extradition of the leader of the PKK terrorist organization Abdullah Ocalan from Russia was taken up. /Milliyet/[03] PASOK MPs INVITE OCALAN TO GREECEMore than 100 parliament deputies yesterday invited a Kurdish separatist terrorist to visit Greece. The open invitation to Abdullah Ocalan, leader of the PKK terrorist organization, was signed by 109 deputies in the 300-member unicameral parliament. Nearly all are members of the governing Pan-Hellenic Socialist Party (PASOK), and include two deputy house speakers, two former ministers and two former deputy ministers. /Milliyet/[04] COUNCIL OF STATE REMOVES ISTANBUL MAYOR FROM OFFICETurkey's administrative court yesterday removed Istanbul Mayor Recep Tayyip Erdogan from office, ruling that he no longer meets the qualifications for elective office. Erdogan is facing a 10-month prison sentence. The Council of State, the supreme administrative court, said Erdogan could no longer serve as a mayor because of the conviction. /All papers/[05] ANKARA PARTLY SATISFIED WITH EU REPORTTurkey expressed satisfaction yesterday with a European Union (EU) Commission report mentioning Turkey as the 12th full membership candidate, but at the same time remained cautious over how the assessments in the report would actually influence Turkey-EU relations in the future. Foreign Minister Ismail Cem, on an official visit to Brazil, released a written statement in which he underlined that the "EU Commission's definition of Turkey as the 12th candidate for full membership has opened the way for improvement in bilateral relations. Relations will gain momentum after this stance on the part of the EU materializes at the level of heads of state and government" Cem emphasized.Meanwhile, the representative of the EU Commission in Ankara, Ambassador Karen Fogg, expressed optimism over the influence that the report might have in breaking the deadlock in Turkey-EU relations. "Despite the disappointment, there is still the energy and intention to build this relationship. The statement of the Foreign Ministry is a very positive indication" Fogg told a press conference. /All papers/ [06] 14 PKK MEMBERS KILLED IN SOUTHEASTTurkish security forces killed 14 members of the PKK terrorist organization in operations in the Southeast, the Anatolia news agency reported. Eight terrorists are also said to have been captured alive, a statement by the regional officials said. The operations took place in the southeastern provinces of Bingol, Mardin, Mus, Tunceli, Diyarbakir and Siirt. Officials said that the operations are still ongoing.[07] TURKISH-BULGARIAN PRIME MINISTERS PLEDGE CLOSER TIESThe prime ministers of Turkey and Bulgaria met in Istanbul yesterday and called for closer political, economic and cultural relations between the two countries. Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz and his Bulgarian counterpart Ivan Kostov opened an exhibition, visited the Bulgarian Hospital in Istanbul and took a yacht cruise on the Bosphorus. Bulgarians are expected to work at the Bulgarian Hospital, serving Istanbul's 2,500 ethnic Bulgarians. The leaders also signed an agreement that will allow Turkish contractors to bid for contracts in Bulgaria and permit Bulgaria to sell electricity to Turkey.Turkey and Bulgaria also signed an agreement in energy and infrastructure projects. Turkish Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz and his Bulgarian counterpart Ivan Kostov signed the agreement. Later they attended a luncheon organized by the Foreign Economic Relations Council in honour of the Bulgarian Prime Minister. /Sabah/ [08] FRENCH COURT TO ANNOUNCE CAKICI DECISION ON DEC.3Gathering yesterday to discuss an application made by Turkey related to the extradition of Alaattin Cakici, a court in southern France declared that the decision will be announced on December 3. Cakici has been officially charged with committing six crimes. /All papers/[09] BIDDING FOR THIRD BRIDGE ON BOSPHORUSBidding preparations for the third bridge on Bosphorus has come to its final stage. The bidding process will start soon for the structure which is to be constructed under the build-operate-transfer method. The bridge is estimated to cost $700 million and after being operated by the contractor company for 14 years, will be transferred to the General Directorate of Highways. Officials from the Directorate stated that an underground channel is not an alternative, the Anatolia news agency reported.[10] COOK WARNS GREEK CYPRIOTSBritish Foreign Minister Robin Cook has wanted Foreign Minister of the Greek Cypriot Administration Yannakis Kasulides to give up their plans to purchase S-300 missiles from Russia. The British Foreign Ministry Spokesman said that Cook met with Kasulides yesterday in London and noted that Cook had expressed his concern over the armament in the region. Cook recalled that London supported UN initiatives to ease the tension in Cyprus. /Milliyet/[11] TURKISH AND AZERI OFFICIALS TO MEET IN ISTANBULTurkish and Azerbaijani officials of energy sector will meet to discuss bringing into life the Baku-Ceyhan pipeline project which will carry Caspian oil to Western markets in Istanbul today. During the meetings in which the officials of the two countries will participate, the 'post government agreement' will be on the agenda, the sources said. To this aim, a delegation headed by Valek Aleskerov, Chairman of Foreign Investments Department of SOCAR, Azerbaijani National Oil Firm, arrived in Istanbul yesterday, the Anatolia news agency reports.[12] BOMB EXPLODES AT COURT OF JUSTICE IN ISTANBULThere was a great panic when a bomb exploded on the third floor of the Court of Justice building in Istanbul yesterday. One civil servant was wounded. An illegal terrorist organization DHKP-C assumed the responsibility of the attack. Istanbul Governor Erol Cakir, who made investigations at the Court of Justice building, said: "It is a treacherous attack". /Milliyet/[13] TURKISH ESCOBAR CAPTUREDYasar Avni Musullulu (Karadurmus), who has a nickname 'Sari Avni' and has been searched with Interpol's red bulletin since 15 years throughout the world, was captured yesterday in the Altinoluk district of Balikesir. Musullulu was later brought to Istanbul. /Milliyet/[14] BILICAN TO VISIT GERMANYInterior Minister Kutlu Aktas has said that Chief of Security Necati Bilican and an accompanying delegation will visit Germany on November 10. Bilican will meet with German officials on the extradition of Metin Kaplan, leader of the radical fundamentalist terrorist group. Meanwhile, German Federal Prosecutor's Office has started an inquiry against Metin Kaplan and his organization, so-called Caliphate State. /Milliyet/[15] 57 PEOPLE TAKEN INTO CUSTODYIt is reported that 57 members of the illegal Hizbullah organization have been taken into custody as a result of operations carried out by members of the department for struggle against terrorism of Diyarbakir Security office. /Milliyet/[16] WEIZMAN RETURNS TO HIS COUNTRYIsraeli President Ezer Weizman, who was supposed to pay a three-day official visit to the Greek Cypriot Administration, returned to his country without completing his visit because he was disturbed with the continuous complaints of Greek Cypriots over Turkey. Weizman, who returned to Israel two days ago without making any official statement, did not accept a proposal of joint military cooperation with the Greek Cypriot Administration. Weizman said that a joint military cooperation between Israel and the Greek Cypriot Administration was out of the question. Weizman told Greek Cypriot officials during his visit that Turkey as a secular and democratic country had an important location in the region. /Milliyet/[17] BLACK SEA ISSUES A DISTRESS CALLEnvironment Minister Imren Aykut stated that the ecology of the Black Sea is on the verge of collapse. "The present conditions are having repercussions on the economies of the countries bordering the Black Sea" Aykut said at a meeting in Istanbul. Regional meetings have begun one year in advance to prepare for the 7th Economic Forum, which will be organized by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in 1999.Aykut said that an important amount of sea transportation was made through Turkey's straits. She indicated that the Bosphorus Straits was one of the most crowded, geographically challenging, and dangerous passages in the world, the Anatolia news agency reports. [18] KURDISH LEADERS TO MEET IN ANKARALeader of the Kurdistan Democtaric Party (KDP), Mesut Barzani continues with his contacts in Ankara. During his visit to the Information Service of the Chief of General Staff yesterday Barzani evaluated the struggle against PKK terrorist activities and recent developments in northern Iraq with Turkish military officials.According to Foreign Ministry officials, two Kurdish leaders, Mesut Barzani, who is still in Ankara and Celal Talabani, leader of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), will meet in Ankara at the weekend. Same sources announced that Talabani would be asked to stop extending support to the PKK terrorist organization. /Cumhuriyet/ [19] TURKEY TO CONTRIBUTE MILITARY HARBOUR IN ALBANIADuring the civil war last year in Albania, Pasha Military Harbour was highly damaged. A delegation of Turkish Naval Commander paid a visit to Albania within this week. During the visit Turkish military delegation met with President Recep Meydani and at the end of the meeting Turkey promised to extend $ 21 million to Albania for the re-construction of the historical Pasha Military Harbour. /Sabah/[20] FINAL DECISION IN OIL PIPELINE ROUTE IN DECEMBERTurkey will be in a key position in transferring the Central Asian oil to the world markets in the 21st century. Turkey will not allow oil tankers through the Straits and that it insists on Baku-Ceyhan Oil Pipeline with the support of the US. Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Georgia released a joint declaration last month announcing their support for the Baku-Ceyhan pipeline. During Azerbaijani President Haydar Aliyev's visit on 28-29 October to Ankara, Turkey and Azerbaijan signed an agreement on the construction of the Baku-Ceyhan route. The US Energy Secretary Bill Richardson, who attended the signing ceremony, said that the foundation of the construction of the oil pipeline would be laid within 18 months.Meanwhile, Charles Pitman, chairman of the Amoco Eurasia company which is the member of AIOC consortium, which will drill the Caspian oil, said yesterday in London that the final decision in selecting the main route would be given in December. /Sabah/ [21] CONGRESS TOURISM IN TURKEYTurkey has taken a serious step to attract the attention of the firms giving service in congress tourism. Within this scope first Turkish congress and visitors office, ICVB was established to improve congress tourism in Turkey. Inviting the chairman of the International Congress and Meetings Association (ICCA), Tom Hulton to Turkey, ICVB representatives organized a conference, "Socio-Economic Effects of Congress Tourism", in Istanbul.Tourism Ministry Undersecretary, Fermani Uygun said that Turkey aimed tourism in four season. He added that Turkey had not fully used its potential in congress tourism and that they wanted to increase the number of tourists who came to Turkey with the purpose of congress tourism. /Sabah/ [22] US ASKS RUSSIA THE EXTRADITION OF OCALAN TO TURKEYWashington has officially started initiatives for the extradition of PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan to Turkey. Spokesman of the US Secretary of State, James Rubin said yesterday in a press conference that they asked Russia to investigate whether Ocalan was in Russia or not and if so Moscow administration should immediately extradite him to Turkey. Evaluating Ocalan's being invited to Greece by a group of Greek parliamentarians, Rubin noted that no country should give a shelter to a leader of a terrorist organization. /Sabah/[23] HEAVY BLOW ON PKK BLACK SEA TEAMAs a result of investigations conducted by the Department of Struggle Against Terrorism of Istanbul police, 13 members of Black Sea team of PKK terrorist organization were seized. It was announced that the team was accused of six different bloody activities killing six and wounding two soldiers. /Sabah/Turkish Press Review Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |
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