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Turkish Press Review, 96-09-30Turkish Press Review Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs <http://www.mfa.gov.tr>CONTENTS
TURKISH PRESS REVIEWMONDAY SEPTEMBER 30, 1996Summary of the political and economic news in the Turkish press this morning[01] NEW SEASON FOR PARLIAMENT OPENS ON TUESDAYParliament will start the second legislative year of the 20th term on Tuesday. Following a ceremony to be held in the Parliament grounds, the General Assembly will convene for the first session under the chairmanship of Parliament Speaker Mustafa Kalemli. Following President Suleyman Demirel's opening speech, Kalemli will also make a short speech. /Hurriyet/[02] DEMIREL UNDERSCORES IMPORTANCE OF SECULARISM AND DEMOCRACYPresident Suleyman Demirel, speaking up for Turkey's secular system, said over the weekend that this was the only system which guaranteed the people of this country their freedom to practice their religion without obstructions. "Let us appreciate the value of this well" Demirel told a gathering at the governor's office in Corum yesterday. Demirel said the most desirable thing was for peace and security to be established in the country by democratic means. He underlined that people in Turkey had been living together for a thousand years despite differences in religion or ethnicity."If religious beliefs are made the subject of abuse, then there can be no peace and harmony. If you allow religion to be used for the sake of dark ambitions, then there can be no peace and harmony" Demirel said. he added that differences in religion and origin did not exclude the possibility of everyone living under one flag. He said: "Turkey provided the best example in this respect. If fighting starts over differences in faith, then we will witness heart-rending scenes. Bosnia-Herzegovina is the example here. Democracy is the system that provides everyone with equal rights. If we live as brothers in unity and with virility, then we will establish our industry and we will complete our infrastructure" Demirel said. Demirel, who was on his second visit to Corum since this city was hit by an earthquake in August, was later declared an honorary townsman. /Hurriyet/ [03] THINK TANK ON AEGEAN PROBLEMIn a move to throw new light on Aegean issues, the Carnegie Endowment has set up a think tank to debate what can be done about Turkey-Greece relations.Former Foreign Ministers Emre Gonensay and Hikmet Cetin, Turkish Ambassador to London, Ozdem Sanberk, Necip Torumtay and Sarik Tara together with journalists and other professionals will attend the meetings. Greece too will be sending its own experts including George Papandreu -the son of Andreas Papandreu. It is also expected that top US officials attending the think tank meetings will include people like US State Department official for Europe and Canada, John Kornblum. /Milliyet/ [04] THREE POINT FRONT AGAINST TURKEYThe report from New York is that Greece, Armenia and Iran are setting up a three pronged front against Turkey. Diplomatic sources suggest that the three countries that share borders with Turkey are moving to set up an alliance designed to damage Turkey's foreign relations with other countries.Diplomats draw attention to the way that Greece especially has tried to make counter-moves against Turkey's own initiatives with neighbour countries- including Iran. Attention has also been drawn to the way Greece has recently signed military cooperation agreements with Armenia and set up similar cooperation pacts with Iran. /Milliyet/ [05] IRAN DENIES BORDER INFILTRATIONFollowing talks last week in New York between Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Ekber Velayeti and Foreign Minister Ciller, Iran has disclaimed Ciller's accusations that the Turkey-Iran border was being infiltrated.Turning down suggestions from Ciller that he "should come and see for himself", Vilayeti said that the border was in fact secure, and that where needed, the Iranian Foreign Ministry was doing what had to be done. /Hurriyet/ [06] ENERGY MINISTRY OFFICIALS TO BEGIN N.AMERICAN TRIPA Turkish team of officials led by Energy Ministry Undersecretary Ugur Dogan will fly to Washington today for talks concerning Ankara's plans to acquire at least one nuclear power plant. The delegation will later travel to Canada for similar talks. /All papers/[07] ANOTHER BLOW TO ARTIFACT SMUGGLINGIstanbul police seized Hellenistic artifacts dating back to B.C.300 as well Ottoman pieces from the 17th century, which were brought to Turkey from Iran to be sold. Police officers raided the Yenikoy flat of Alizadeh Gorbazi, an Azeri national, and seized a total of 158 historic pieces. Officials said that the police were carrying out an operation to capture Osman Eren, the man who brought the artifacts from Iran. The artifacts included coins, statuettes, vases, jewellery and seals made of clay, glass, gold, silver and other precious metals. /All papers/[08] RUSSIAN SHIP SINKS IN BLACK SEAA Russian-flagged passenger boat, the "Moldovia", sank during a storm off the shores of Inkum, a district of Bartin on Turkey's Black Sea coast, early on Sunday morning. Four of the 11 crew members are known to have survived and search and rescue operations are continuing. The body of one crew member has been recovered. The Bartin branch office of a local benevolent association has supplied a clothing aid for the rescued crew. It was reported that the captain of the Moldovia was the second captain of the "Avrasya", a vessel which was hijacked several months ago. /Sabah/[09] NATURAL GAS CENTRE TO BE BUILT IN ESENYURTNature Energy Production Industry and Trade Ltd. and its Dutch partner MEC will construct a natural gas conversion centre in Esenyurt, Istanbul and will produce electricity. It was reported that Nature obtained permission from the Undersecretariat of the Treasury to go ahead with the electricity project, to be carried out on the build-operate-transfer model. It is estimated that the project, with a total investment of over TL 14 trillion, needs foreign exchange worth $78 million. The firm will supply over TL 3 trillion of the funding of the project from its own sources, while receiving a foreign credit of TL 10 trillion. TL 6 trillion of the equipment expenses, which amount to TL 8.6 trillion, will be supplied from exports. /All papers/[10] BLACK SEA TRADE AND DEVELOPMENT BANK GETS APPROVALThe Official Gazette announced yesterday the approval by the Council of Ministers of the formation of the Black Sea Trade and Development Bank. The bank will provide the Black Sea Economic Cooperation organization with project finance. The agreement regarding the formation of the bank will take effect as soon as approval is obtained from each of the six founding members.According to the agreement, the foundation capital of the bank will be $1 billion (approximately TL 131.78 trillion) of 'special drawings right' (SDR), and the bank will be based in Salonika. The member countries of the organization are as follows: Turkey, Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Georgia, Greece, Moldova, Romania, Russia and Ukraine. The largest shareholders of the bank will be Turkey, Greece and Russia. The other founding members are Ukraine, Bulgaria and Romania. /All papers/ [11] CILLER SENDS MESSAGE TO YELTSINForeign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Tansu Ciller sent a message to Russian President Boris Yeltsin and wished him a quick recovery. Meeting in New York with Foreign Minister Yevgeni Primakov of the Russian Federation, Ciller asked the Russian minister to convey her "quick recovery" wishes to Boris Yeltsin who is expected to undergo open heart surgery in few weeks time.During the meeting, which lasted 45 minutes, Ciller and Primakov discussed bilateral, regional and international issues that concern the two countries. Primakov briefed Ciller about the health situation of Yeltsin as well and told her that the Russian President will turn over some of his duties and power to Prime Minister Victor Chernomyrdin. /All papers/ [12] TURKEY CONDEMNS USE OF FORCE AGAINST PALESTINIANSTurkey is concerned about any development which would harm the Middle East peace process and condemns the use of force against the Palestinians, according to a Foreign Ministry statement. In the statement Ankara evaluated the opening of the controversial archaeological tunnel near the al-Aqsa and Dome of the Rock mosques in Arab East Jerusalem as a negative development. It indicated that Jerusalem was a holy place for all religions and that it was necessary to refrain from any actions which would destroy the status quo there.The ministry said that since 1988 Israel had shown sensitivity about the opening of the tunnel but had now changed its stance, which was difficult to understand. Ankara called upon Tel Aviv to review its decision. /All papers/ [13] TURKEY REPAYS $659 MILLION FOREIGN DEBT IN SEPTEMBERThe Central Bank repaid $659.01 million of the foreign debt in September. The Central Bank paid $405.13 million in foreign debts owed by the Treasury, $115.54 million owed by State Economic Enterprises and $20.34 million owed by the Central Bank as a part of its regular operations. The bank paid a total of $6.684 billion of the foreign debt in the January 1-September 25 period. /All papers/[14] WORLD PHILATELIC EXHIBITION IN ISTANBULThe World Philatelic Exhibition, "Istanbul '96" opened on Friday in Istanbul and will continue until October 6 under the chairmanship of President Suleyman Demirel. It is the largest philatelic exhibition organized in Turkey since 1963, and the Federation of International Philately (FIP) Congress is also the first one of its kind held in Istanbul. /All papers/[15] TURCO-RUSSIAN DEFENCE TIES TRIPOfficials from the Foundation for the Development of the Turkish Armed Forces (TSKGV) are in Russia to search for ways to develop already existing cooperation in the defence industry, the Anatolia news agency reported. TSKGV officials, headed by President Gurhan Paker, are visiting arms factories in various places in Russia. The foundation will prepare reports on the prospects of establishing joint production facilities with Russia and other countries in Turkey.END Turkish Press Review Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |
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