TRKNWS-L Turkish Daily News (April 25, 1996)

From: TRKNWS-L <trh@aimnet.com>

Turkish News Directory

CONTENTS

TURKISH DAILY NEWS / 25 April 1996

[01] Parliament to investigate Ciller

TDN Parliament Bureau

ANKARA- Delivering a major blow to DYP leader Tansu Ciller with potentially destructive effects on her career as well as the fate of the governing center-right coalition, Turkish Parliament on Wednesday backed a motion by the Islamist opposition for an investigation against her over alleged irregularities in the issue of government contracts.

The motion, tabled by the pro-Islamic Welfare Party (RP) was passed by 232 votes to 179 in the 550-seat assembly in the secret vote in which many deputies from the Motherland Party (ANAP) of Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz apparently voted in favor of the investigation.

Coalition's leftist allies stayed away to support the shaky partnership despite their earlier militancy and despite their election promises of vanguarding the drive against corruption.

Both Yilmaz and Ciller stayed away during the vote.

It was noteworthy, however, that some DYP deputies such as Cavit Caglar, Necdet Menzir and Refaaddin Sahin were also absent from the voting.

After the unexpected vote, Industry Minister Yalim Erez from Ciller's True Path Party (DYP) and one of the closest aides of the former prime minister, said his party's competent bodies would meet and decide on the future of the coalition. He did not say whether the DYP executives would meet immediately.

"But as a minister, it will be very difficult for me to put a signature on anything," Erez said, reflecting his party's anger at the coalition partners for not rallying behind Ciller in the face of the Islamist onslaught. He described the move as "a political execution."

RP leader Necmettin Erbakan avoided comment on the result, confining himself to observe that the members of parliament had "done their duty."

State Minister Imren Aykut from ANAP counselled the DYP to take the outcome in its stride, recalling the former probes initiated by DYP against her party's ministers. "They had made us suffer in the past. Everybody has to be accountable. Now it's their turn," she told reporters.

The parliamentary inquiry crowns with success the RP's recent strategy of undermining the coalition by driving a wedge between its wings through motions for the inquiry of alleged irregularities and corruption.

After the probe into Ciller's alleged responsibility for the breach of regulations in the issue of contracts by the electricity distribution company TEDAS, the Parliament is to vote, on May 9, on another RP motion for an inquest into the privatization of state shares in an automotive concern.

Ciller, also under threat of further probes into her controversial wealth, made headlines last week by buying a new farm in a Turkish Aegean resort in a suspect deal.

The RP's destabilizing campaign found fertile ground, for despite their 40-day-long government partnership, the rival conservative parties were still seething against each other over past feuds and personal rivalries between Ciller and Yilmaz.

The RP, led by veteran Islamist Necmettin Erbakan, begrudges its isolation from power by the two mainstream conservative parties although it emerged strongest party in Dec. 24 elections, jolting Turkey's secularist establishment. The country's influential armed forces were widely believed to have engineered the last minute rapprochement between ANAP and DYP.

Under the coalition protocol which set out rules for the five-year partnership, Ciller was to take over the rotating premiership from Yilmaz at the end of the year to head the government until 1998.

But the probes have put Ciller's plans in jeopardy since they entail her possible indictment by the Supreme Court, which may bar her premiership.

The Parliament will decide on referring the charges to court after a 15-person commission of inquiry studies the allegations and presents its report within four months. The Ciller opponents, however, have to muster 276 votes in the parliament to send Ciller to the Supreme Court.

The blow is also likely to weaken Ciller in the DYP in which she faces a strong challenge from political adversaries.

The embattled DYP leader, however, has made clear already that she would not bow silently to her threatened fate.

Despite her earlier vitriol against RP's Islamism and repeated vows never to enter a partnership with Erbakan, she surprised opponents earlier in the week with a public statement voicing her readiness to set up an alternative coalition with the RP if the partnership with ANAP falls over its failure to defend her.

Before the vote, RP Parliamentary Group Deputy Chairman Sevket Kazan denied the allegations that his party had presented the probe to demolish the ANAP-DYP government.

"We have given this motion to clear the politics and clear Ciller from all charges if she is innocent. The fact that Ciller will become prime minister after 10 months does not interest us in any way," Kazan said.

Kazan, however, focused on reports of the wide influence Ozer Ciller, the former prime minister's husband, has allegedly wielded in the issue of state contracts.

Ali Riza Gonul, a leading DYP official, dismissed the RP charges as flimsy and lacking documentation.

[02] Ankara says West avoiding oil price spree

ANKARA- Turkish officials see the failure of the oil-for-food talks between Iraq and the United Nations on Tuesday as a partial indication of Western concerns for the world oil markets.

A senior Turkish petroleum official said that the primary motive behind the intervention of Britain and the United States in the talks was to prevent a sudden plunge in world oil price.

"We have known for quite some time that something wrong would happen during the negotiations. This is not unexpected at all.

The reason is that neither the United States nor Britain is prepared to see plummeting oil prices at the moment," said one senior official at Turkey's state pipeline company Botas. He asked not to be identified.

He said: "The West would somehow cite reasons, perhaps good reasons, to turn the talks into deadlock. Those who block the talks have financial motives for doing so." Oil climbed back towards its recent highs on Wednesday after a frustrated Iraqi negotiator sharply criticised the oil-for-food talks at the United Nations.

Benchmark North Sea Brent crude was up 22 cents at $20.45 a barrel on the London futures market at 1045 GMT, after having gained around half a dollar earlier.

The head of Iraq's team at the U.N. talks, Abdul Amir al-Anbari was strongly critical on Tuesday of proposed changes to a U.N. plan that would allow Iraq to sell some oil for humanitarian reasons.

He must now decide whether to continue the talks or whether they should be recessed or broken off entirely.

Iraq has been under stringent U.N. sanctions since invading Kuwait in August 1990. But the "oil for food" scheme would enable it to sell $2 billion of oil every six months in order to buy food, medicine and other humanitarian goods to help those worst hit by the effects of the embargo.

Showing his frustration, al-Anbari blamed late intervention by the United States and Britain for the stalemate.

"They changed 22 paragraphs (out of 58)," he said on Tuesday.

"They didn't change the name. They kept it as `memo of understanding,' but I would suggest they change it to `memo of misunderstanding."

[03] Yilmaz plays down bomb scare

ANKARA- Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz on Wednesday played down rumors that he was the target of a Muslim extremist group.

The rumors, reported by some private TV channels, came in the wake of a recent denial of earlier reports that the radical Hizbollah organization had sent a hit-squad to assassinate Tansu Ciller, Yilmaz's predecessor as prime minister and his current coalition partner.

In line with previous assessments, the semiofficial Anatolia news agency considers the reports that the Islamist terrorist organization Hizbollah would carry out a bomb attack on Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz and True Path Party (DYP) Chairwoman Tansu Ciller as speculation.

Yilmaz brushed aside the rumors as he addressed a ceremony for the presentation of the Motherland Party's (ANAP) mayoral candidates for the upcoming June 2 local by-elections.

In reply to a question about the reported Hizbollah threat, Yilmaz said "As you see I am alive." The room, however, had been searched earlier by specialists using metal detectors.

The report of the plot, which was sent to the National Intelligence Organization (MIT) by a foreign intelligence organization, was relayed to Yilmaz with the assessment that "research carried out in this regard has led to the conclusion that it is a fabricated news report." However, it was suggested that necessary measures should be taken because of the importance of the people allegedly targeted.

Meanwhile, Interior Minister Ulku Guney said his office was checking all such tips and was taking all necessary protective measures.

Guney said one of the primary missions of his ministry was to protect statesmen, and that therefore he and his colleagues carefully evaluated all sorts of warnings and took precautions to protect the dignitaries concerned and their relatives.

[04] Turkey, IMF agree lower inflation most crucial goal

WASHINGTON- On the second day of his contacts in Washington with International Monetary Fund (IMF) officials, Ufuk Soylemez, state minister and the IMF's Turkey governor, told Turkish journalists that the Turkish delegation was in Washington, not to ask for a new standby arrangement from the IMF, but to participate in the IMF's annual interim committee meetings. In the meanwhile, he chose to make the most of the opportunity by coming together with Stanley Fisher, IMF deputy managing director, to present the new ANAYOL minority coalition government's program as well as express its determination to pass a series of new structural reforms (in banking, social security, insurance, privatization, etc.), Soylemez explained.

"We are not here to ask for a standby but to express our mutual intentions. A standby, if and when it happens, will evolve out of the consultations between our government and the IMF mission that will visit Turkey in May," he said. "If we agree on realistic terms, the necessary conditions for a standby may develop. I don't think a standby possible before the end of May.

A few of the themes that S"ylemez repeatedly emphasized during his talks with Turkish journalists are as follows: 1. Contrary to popular belief, the previous standby arrangement which started in 1994 actually worked nicely until September 1995 when talks of an early election upset the balance. "But such things are normal in a democracy," he explained to the IMF. "And now we are back on track. " 2. The Turkish economy showed a remarkable resilience to come back from the 1994 crisis and set an OECD record with a growth rate of 8.5 percent in 1995. "Turkey is the only country in the world which can pull off such a comeback and the IMF is aware of that," he said.

3) The Turkish state mechanism is functioning without a hitch. All high-level appointments have been made, and the government's budget has been approved by Parliament. "Our determination is half of the solution" to Turkey's economic problems, Soylemez emphasized.

Inflation

During his meeting with Fisher, Soylemez said inflation and the budget deficit were two top issues that they concentrated on. "We reviewed the most recent figures on the budget deficit and inflation rate mentioned in our government program. We both agreed that inflation was the most important criterion in judging the health of the Turkish economy, he said.

"We believe that inflation is the most important problem in Turkey, With such high rates of inflation it is impossible to have sustained growth and economic stability. Fisher agreed with that view." "We explained to Fisher our views on lowering inflation, realizing structural reforms, reducing budget deficits and lowering interest rates. The IMF said they will support the measures we are planning to adopt in that regard," Soylemez said. The ANAYOL government aims to lower inflation to 65 percent by the end of 1996.

Meeting with Curtis

Soylemez also met with U.S. Deputy Secretary of Energy Charles Curtis, who will be visiting Turkey in June. "We especially discussed built-operate-transfer (BOT) projects and other energy infrastructure investment projects in Turkey with Mr. Curtis," he said. The Baku-Ceyhan oil pipeline issue was not raised, Soylemez said. "We will take up that issue when Curtis visits Turkey," he added.

Soylemez attended a breakfast on Tuesday hosted by the American-Turkish Council, as well as a lunch hosted by Kemal Dervis, vice president of the World Bank.

Reform laws

Soylemez, who said he was focusing on the full part of the half-full glass, mentioned that drafts for such structural reforms as banking, insurance and capital market laws were ready to be submitted to the Turkish Parliament. "The standards we bring in are very close to those of the European Union," he said, adding that such comprehensive measures could not help but create a positive image and market confidence.

Telecom sell-off

While commenting on the telecommunication privatization, Soylemez said two precious years and billions of dollars in revenues had been lost and over 10 other countries were opening up their telecommunication companies for privatization. He said the telecommunications law would be ready for 1997. "I expect a total privatization revenue of about $4 billion in 1997," he said.

Summers

After meeting on Monday with U.S. Deputy Secretary of Treasury Larry Summers, Soylemez said: "We discussed the general aspects of the Turkish economy with Mr. Summers. We also exchanged views on and explored cooperation opportunities regarding the formation of the Middle East and Northern Africa Development Bank." TDN learned that oil pipelines were among the other topics that Soylemez discussed with Summers.

Full confidence

Expressing full confidence in the present state of the Turkish economy, the state minister said: "Yesterday, we had another bid for internal borrowing in which we asked for TL 90 trillion and we received bids totaling TL 250 trillion. In January, we could borrow for only two or three months. Now we are dealing with six-month maturities. At every borrowing, we were able to lower the interest rate. We raised $75 billion in Japanese bonds. Right now we are evaluating the offers of eight, nine different international banks for external borrowing. All these show that there is a lot of confidence out there for the Turkish economy. During my meetings with IMF and U.S. administration officials, I got net signals that they trust our government. They trust Turkey."

Project credits

Commenting of how Turkey can get the most out of IMF project credits, Soylemez gave the following example: "These credits must be appropriate for Turkey's conditions. Otherwise we can't use them. For example, Turkey in the past received credits for 500 computers. But we could not find 500 operators to use these computers. Or, in the past, we promised to change the laws as required by certain projects, and then we couldn't do it. We should not promise what we can't deliver. We will usher in a new discipline to the management of such credits." The Turkish delegation was scheduled to meet with representatives of various international credit rating agencies in New York City yesterday.

[05] Amb. Kandemir Warns US House Members on 'Armenian resolution'

By Ugur Akinci
Turkish Daily News

WASHINGTON/ANKARA- In a letter he sent to the 435 members of the U.S. House of Representatives, Turkish Ambassador Nuzhet Kandemir expressed "the vehement opposition of the Turkish government and the Turkish people," as well as Turkish Americans, to the House Concurrent Resolution 47 commemorating the alleged "Armenian genocide."

Meanwhile, the April 24 "Genocide Day" witnessed verbal and physical attacks against Turkey and its missions despite Armenia's professed efforts to improve ties with Turkey.

In Tehran, Armenians staged demonstrations against Turkey and some groups threw paint on the gate of the Turkish embassy although Iranian police officially banned a march on the embassy grounds, Turkey's Anatolia news agency reported. In Athens about 300 Armenians staged a similar demonstration and burned a Turkish flag in front of the Turkish embassy.

In strasbourg, Armenian Parliament Speaker Babken Ararktsian, addressing the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, accused Turkey and Azerbaijan of stunting the development of his country by enforcing a blockade. Despite its embargo against the Caucasus neighbor because of its ethnic war against Azerbaijan, Turkey has opened an air corridor to Armenia, allowing supplies from the West to go through. Ankara has also pledged to open a customs gate to Armenia pending progress in the peaceful settlement of its Nagorno-Karabakh dispute with Azerbaijan, with whom Ankara has close ethnic and cultural bonds.

In his letter to the U.S. lawmakers. Kandemir said the Turks were very sensitive regarding the concurrent resolution for the following reasons: "a) it forces the Republic of Turkey to accept a crime it had not committed; b) it is a historically unproven claim; and c) Armenian terrorists have claimed scores of innocent lives in over 250 separate attacks in 20 countries including the United States."

"Turkey categorically rejects the claim of Armenian groups that genocide was perpetrated against the Armenians during the First World War," he said.

After reminding the representatives of the long history of Turkish-Armenian friendship within the Ottoman Empire, Kandemir noted that the resolution in question "is not merely a symbolic gesture. It will not satisfy the Armenian Americans who have repeatedly announced that its passage is only the first step in realizing other goals. The aim is to obtain from the U.S. Congress a moral pretext for reparations and territorial claims against Turkey."

"Passage of this resolution would also vindicate the terrorism," the Turkish ambassador continued. "Congressional validation of such a murderous pretext through the passage of such resolutions will serve to justify terrorism, especially since the U.S. was the first location of the assassination of Turkish diplomats."

The passage of this resolution "would not solve any problems but rather create an unnecessary strain on Turkish-U.S. relations as well as Turkish-Armenian relations," Kandemir said. He noted that "Turkey was among the first countries to recognize an independent Armenia and it is to the benefit of both countries not to have a deplorable obstacles stand in the way of improving bilateral relations."

"Genocide is the most serious charge which can be made against a nation and its people. It is inconceivable that the United States Congress would validate a claim of genocide which is disputed by scholarly experts on the subject," Kandemir said and asked House members to the resolution. which is said to have 150 sponsors in the House.

Ambassador's letter preceded a "special order" the Congress was scheduled to hold April 24 after the close of legislative business to commemorate the "Armenian Genocide" and censure Turkey for not admitting the reality of the "genocide" that allegedly took place between 1915 and 1923.

Turkey says during the inter-ethnic conflicts that followed World War I not only Armenian subjects of the Ottoman Empire but 2.5 Muslim and Turkish subjects also died under civil-war conditions. Five years ago a panel of sixty-nine U.S. historians have signed a statement published in major US dailies that more research was needed on the issue of "Armenian Genocide" and that it was far from being an established fact.

The effort to have US Congress vote this year on "Armenian Genocide Resolution," that is, H. Con, Res. 47, is led this year by such members of the US Congress as David Bonior (D - MI); Peter Blute (R - MA); Frank Pallone Jr. (D - NJ); and John Edward Porter (R - IL).

Bonior sponsored a similar resolution last year when the long-time champion of the issue, i.e. Sen. Bob Dole (R) of Kansas, announced his presidential aspirations and thus preferred to stay above ethnic issues to appeal to a maximum constituency. This year Dole continues his abstinence from sponsorship. Porter, on the other hand, is known for his vociferous support for every known anti- Turkish measure that has passed through the Congress. The resolution reportedly has 150 co-sponsors.