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Turkish Press Review, 97-07-24Turkish Press Review Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs <http://www.mfa.gov.tr>CONTENTS
TURKISH PRESS REVIEWTHURSDAY, JULY 24, 1997Summary of the political and economic news in the Turkish press this morning. [01] GOVERNMENT SENDS "PRESS AMNESTY LAW" TO PARLIAMENTA draft law proposed by the government to suspend trials and sentences for criminal acts committed by responsible editors in the press has been sent to Parliament, the Anatolia news agency reported. The bill prepared by the Ministry of Justice calls for the suspension of sentences for crimes committed up to July 12, 1997 by editors who are at present held responsible for other journalists' writings. The same law will also affect editors who are currently serving prison sentences.[02] FOREIGN MINISTRY: D-8 WILL CONTINUEForeign Ministry Spokesman Omer Akbel said at a weekly press conference on Wednesday that Turkey will continue to support the Developing Eıght (D-8) organization as a part of Turkish foreign policy. Akbel pointed out that the new government's Foreign Minister Ismail Cem had emphasized the importance of regional organizational efforts. "The issue of how D-8 should function is on our agenda," Akbel said.[03] TURKEY: EU HAS NOT MET OBLIGATIONSForeign Ministry Spokesman Omer Akbel has accused the European Union of failing to fulfill its obligations to Turkey regarding the customs union. At a press conference yesterday Akbel stressed that although Turkey was striving to obey the provisions of the agreement, the EU was not sticking to its promises, and urged the Union to undertake steps for resolving the problems.In a statemnet yesterday, State Minister Isın Celebi said that Turkey was suffering losses from the customs union agreement set up with Europe. He added that imports from EU countries have increased from 47 percent last year to 54 percent in 1997. At the same time Turkey's exports to EU countries have dropped from 51 percent of overall exports in 1995 to 49 percent this year. /Milliyet/ [04] TURKISH BUREAUCRATS: CYPRUS AND INTEGRATION WITH EU ARE TWO SEPARATE ISSUESAccording to specialists from the Turkish Foreign Ministry and the Undersecretariat for Foreign Trade, the Cyprus issue and Turkey's drive for integration with Europe are two issues to be kept separate from each other. "The EU may use the prospects of granting EU full membership to Turkey as a trump card in forcing Turkey to make concessions in the Cyprus issue," the bureaucrats said. /Cumhuriyet/[05] HARSH REPLY TO GREECEGreek Ambassador to Ankara, Dimitros Nezeritis was summoned to The Foreign Ministry to explain Speaker of the Greek Parliament, Dimitris Reppas statement: "A step towards the independency of Cyprus will be accepted as "casus belli" for Greece". Nezeritis also said that Turkey would take every necessary step on the issues regarding the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC)./Sabah/[06] FOREIGN MINISTRY PROGRESSES ON HUMAN RIGHTS ISSUESThe Foreign Ministry officials announced yesterday that they were cooperating with related ministries on human rights issues and that progress was marked in this respect. Last week Foreign Ministry official Ismail Cem said at a press conference that they were working on an improvement strategy for human rights.[07] BURNS: IT IS TIME TO RESOLVE PROBLEMS IN THE MEDITERRANEANUS State Department Spokesman Nicolas Burns said that the new government set up in Turkey would boost stability in the country. "We are looking forward to improving further our relations with Turkey," Burns said. He added that with a stable government established in Turkey and a strong government in Greece, now it was the right time to act for resolving problems in the Medıterranean.Within the same framework, in an article on Turkey-Greece relations, the New York Times daily newspaper voiced optimism about prospects for resolving problems between the two countries. According to the paper, the agreement reached between Turkish and Greek officials at a recent NATO summit in Madrid gave hopes that the two countries could resolve disagreements with respect to a number of issues of bilateral importance. /Cumhuriyet, Sabah/ [08] NSC MEETING IN ISTANBUL TOMORROWA meeting of the National Security Council (NSC) headed by President Suleyman Demirel will be held in Istanbul tomorrow. It is reported that the basic theme of the meeting will be religious foundations which support reactionary actions, and other Islamic institutions. /Cumhuriyet/[09] ANNIVERSARY OF LAUSANNE TREATY CELEBRATEDThe 74th anniversary of the Lausanne Treaty, which constitutes the foundation of the independent, democratic and secular Republic of Turkey, is being celebrated with various activities in Istanbul. /Cumhuriyet/[10] OYMEN IN BELGRADEForeign Ministry Undersecretary Onur Oymen, who paid a one-day visit to the New Yugoslavia, met with Foreign Minister Milan Milutinovic and his Deputy Rodoslav Bulayic. Noting that they had a very beneficial meeting for the development of relations between the two countries, Oymen said that Turkey wanted peace and stability in the Balkans. /Milliyet/[11] NO SANCTIONS AGAINST TURKEYIt is reported that the Turkish-Iranian natural gas agreement, which was signed during the Welfare Party (RP) and True Path Party (DYP) coalition government and drew reaction from the US, will not be sanctioned. The Clinton administration said that Turkey's purchase of natural gas worth $23 billion via Iran within 20 years' time will not be subject to sanctions, because the natural gas belongs to Turkmenistan. /Milliyet/[12] SEUL MAYOR IN ANKARASeul Mayor Il Kwoon Moon and his accompanying delegation, in Ankara as the guests of Ankara Municipality, visited the Ankara Municipality yesterday. During the visit, a programme of exchange was signed between the municipalities of Ankara and Seul. /Milliyet/[13] TURKISH STUDENT SUCCESSSalih Cubukcu came first at the International High Shool Chemistry Olympic championship organised in Montreal, Canada. Jason Chen from the U.S. was second and Babak Bayazi from Ireland become the third./Milliyet/[14] YENIBOSNA POLICE STATION IN ISTANBUL ATTACKEDUnidentified people opened fire on the Yenibosna police station in Istanbul. No casualties or injuries were reported. Further, the Welfare Party (RP) building in Fatih, Istanbul was bombed. Reports say there was a lot of damage. Police have started investigation into both incidents.Other incidents include a separatists attack in the Dereyanı district of Semdinli, Hakkari when two village guards were killed. Operations have been intensified to find the terrorists./Sabah/ [15] FIRE IN THE AEGEANA fire started in Acipayam district of Denizli last night and 50 hectares of pine forest was damaged. As a result of another fire in Yatagan, Mugla, six hectares of pine forest was also damaged. There were fires recorded in Datca and Fethiye.As a result of the fire started last Monday in Antalya, 222,000 trees have been were damaged and live-stock has been lost. The cost of the damage was announced as TL five trillion. /Hurriyet, Sabah/ [16] KAZAK STOCK-SHARES IN ISTANBUL STOCK EXCHANGEThe stock-shares of the biggest private bank of Kazakistan, JSC Kazakommertsbank, will be sold on the in Istanbul Stock Exchange (IMKB). JSC Kazkommertsbank shares will be first to be activated in the International Market. Chairman of the International Capital Market, Imre Gencer, announced that the transactions would be started on 25 July with U.S. dollar values. Gencer added that conducting such an operation in Turkey, which had been applied in Europe and America for many years, would present an alternative to Turkish investors. The operation will help Istanbul to become the financial center of the region, said Gencer./Hurriyet/[17] EUROMONEY GIVES TOP MARKS TO GARANTI BANKThe economic Euromoney magazine said in its July issue that Garanti Bank was the best bank in Turkey. Garanti Bank is the only Turkish bank with a "B" rating from Standard and Poor's and is the fourth largest bank in Turkey.[18] BURSA BECOMES WORLD'S AUTOMOTIVE CENTREAutomobile producer Tofas will undertake a huge investment drive worth 262 million dollars. As a result of this move parts produced in Tofas Bursa facilities will be exported to Fiat factories in Morocco, India, South Africa and China, and Turkish car exports will greatly increase. Within the frawework of an agreement signed last month in Italy by Tofas and Fiat officials, additional facilities for the production and exportation of Tofas cars will be constructed in Bursa. The new facilities are scheduled to start production by the end of 1998. /Sabah/[19] TURCO-KOREAN JOINT FLIGHTSTurkish Airlines and the Korean airlines company Asiana have signed an agreement for cooperation. According to the provisions of the agreement, the two companies will hold joint flights twice weekly starting on August 1. /Hurriyet/END Turkish Press Review Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |
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