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Sunday, 17 November 2024 | ||
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Turkish Press Review, 98-07-03Turkish Press Review Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs <http://www.mfa.gov.tr>03.07.98Summary of the political and economic news in the Turkish press this morningCONTENTS
[01] PUBLIC WORKS AND HOUSING MINISTER PROMISES SUPPORT FOR QUAKE VICTIMSPublic Works and Housing Minister Yasar Topcu said yesterday that his ministry had made arrangements for financial aid to people whose houses were destroyed in an earthquake which killed 145 people, injured many and made thousands of people homeless in the southern cities of Adana and Ceyhan. Homeless people's rents will be paid by the housing ministry, said Topcu adding that they had already sent 1.5 trillion Turkish Liras to Adana region. /Hurriyet/[02] YILMAZ AND DEMIREL GO TO CYPRUSIn response to Greek and Greek Cypriot provocations demonstrated by their eagerness to bring warplanes to the island and to deploy S-300 missiles, Turkey is coordinating with the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus(TRNC). Within this context, Prime Minister Mesut Yılmaz will visit TRNC on 20 July and President Demirel on 23 July. Prime Minister Yılmaz will also attend the 1974 Peace Operation anniversary celebrations. President Demirel will officially start the project of carrying water to the TRNC with huge semi-submersible balloons towed from Turkey./Sabah/[03] AMERICAN JOURNALIST CALLS ON CLINTON TO INTERVENE IN CYPRUS ISSUEIn yesterday's issue of the New York Times newspaper, William Safire covers the issue of the tension in Cyprus created by the Greek Cyprus administration's plans to deploy Russian-made S-300 missiles. Safire called on US President Bill Clinton to appeal to Russian Head of State Boris Yeltsin against the sale of the missiles. /Hurriyet/[04] RUSSIAN WEEKLY CLAIMS GREEK-TURKISH CLASH LIKELY SOONA Russian weekly politics magazine, Vlast, commenting on the increasing tension in Greek-Turkish relations, claims that a war could break out between Greece and Turkey should S-300 missiles be deployed in the Greek Cyprus administration. The comment, headed "the 4th Panic War", adds that "both Greece and Turkey have involved Cyprus in their defence doctrines. They do not seem to be ready for any compromise on this issue." /Hurriyet/[05] KARADAYI RETURNS TO TURKEYChief of General Staff Gen.Ismail Hakki Karadayi, after completing an official visit to Finland, returned to Turkey yesterday. Karadayi visited Finland on June 30-July 2 as the official guest of Finnish Chief of General Staff Gen.Gustav Hagglund, the Anatolia news agency reported.A statement made by the Office of the Turkish General Staff said that Gen.Karadayi met with Finnish President Marti Ahtisaari and many other high-level officials. During the meetings, the development of military cooperation between the two countries, cooperation in the struggle against terrorism were mainly discussed and views regarding various security issues were exchanged. [06] FOREIGN EXCHANGE RESERVES UPCentral Bank foreign exchange reserves reached $26.7 billion on June 26. Meanwhile, according to data Turkey's international reserves increased by $238 million and rose to $36.338 billion.On the other hand, Turkey repaid $5.601 billion in foreign debts during the first six months of this year. According to Central Bank data, the Treasury repaid $4.298 billion, while the Central Bank $156.4 million and the Turkish Defense Fund repaid $135.8 million off the foreign debt. /Milliyet/ [07] GREEKS AND ARMENIANS THREATEN BANDERASA campaign has been launched by Greeks and Armenians against famous actor Banderas, who will depict Turkey's great leader Ataturk. The messages sent to Banderas include many insults against Ataturk, the founder of the Turkish Republic and it is reported that the messages mainly say: "If you want to stay as an esteemed actor in the movie sector, do not accept this role". /Milliyet/[08] PRESIDENT OF WEU ASSEMBLY VISITS TURKEYPresident of the Western European Union (WEU) Assembly, Luis Maria de Puig, visiting Turkey yesterday, met with Turkish Parliament Speaker Hikmet Cetin who said that Turkey's position within the WEU was contrary to international law. Cetin said that European countries which are already NATO members should be accepted into the WEU if they so choose, and that a consistent procedure needed to be implemented in order to avoid ambiguous situations, as in Turkey's case.Although Turkey is fullmember of NATO, it is excluded from the decision-making process within the WEU. Cetin insisted that the decisions taken in Maastricht about this issue should be reconsidered. He said: "Some see the WEU as a branch of NATO but a NATO member, Turkey, is not accepted as a full member in this organization, which is unacceptable". /All papers/ [09] SYRIA: "PKK IS A TERRORIST ORGANIZATION"Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Adnan Omran and an accompanying delegation have completed their contacts in Ankara. Omran was received yesterday by Foreign Minister Ismail Cem, who after the meeting said that they had discussed new solutions to solve the problems between the two countries.Foreign Ministry Undersecratariat Korkmaz Haktanir evaluated the 10-day visit of the Syrian delegation by saying that the Syrian side was making great efforts to improve relations between the two countries. He added that during the meetings the Syrian side had accepted for the first time that the PKK was a terrorist organization and stressed that Syria did not support the organization. They also expressed their worries about the water problem between Turkey and Syria, said Haktanir. Syria's accepting for the first time that the PKK was indeed a terrorist and separatists organization could be turning point in Turkey-Syria relations, noted diplomatic observers. /Cumhuriyet/Sabah/ [10] "S-300 MISSILES ARE NOT POLITICAL BUT ECONOMIC"Russian Ambassador to Ankara, Vladimir Vadim Kuznetsov, who has just completed his mission in Ankara, defended that Russian-made S-300 missiles being readied for the Greek Cypriot Administration in Southern Cyprus were not for attack but for defense only. He said: "The selling of missiles is completely for trade purposes. It has got nothing to do with politics. Every country including the Greek Cypriot Administration has the right to buy S-300 missiles." /Cumhuriyet/[11] "TRNC SHOULD BE RECOGNIZED"United Nations (UN) General Secretary special envoy to Cyprus, Diego Cordovez met yesterday with President of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), Rauf Denktas and leader of the Cyprus Administration, Glafkos Klerides. It is reported that Cordovez will hold a press meeting on Saturday after meeting again with Denktas and Klerides today.TRNC President Rauf Denktas said after the first meeting with Cordovez that the TRNC must be recognized if international talks are to continue. /Cumhuriyet/ [12] TANER CALLS ON FOREIGN BANKSState Minister Günes Taner, in a statement explaining the situation in Turkey to foreign bankers, called on them to also watch developments there referring to the "staff monitoring programme of the IMF". Taner noted that the IMF had studied the economic programme prepared, and agreed on the "staff monitoring programme". Taner added that the government had reached the targets aimed at, and now their job was to stabilize this improvement."/Sabah/[13] ECZACIBASI TO BUILD TILE PRODUCTION PLANT IN IRELANDA partnership agreement has been signed between Eczacıbası Tile Ceramics and Irish bath producer Qualceram PLC to produce tile ceramics in Ireland. The initiative will be called Vitra Ireland and the know-how and technology of Eczacıbaşı Vitra will be used in the tile plant south of Dublin./Sabah/Turkish Press Review Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |