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Turkish Press Review, 00-09-22Turkish Press Review Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs <http://www.mfa.gov.tr>22.09.00Summary of the political and economic news in the Turkish press this morningCONTENTS
[01] TURKEY HARSHLY WARNS THE US ON THE SO-CALLED ARMENIAN GENOCIDE BILL[02] FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE COLUMNS...[03] PRESIDENT SEZER RECEIVES NEW US AMBASSADORPresident Ahmet Necdet Sezer received newly appointed United States Ambassador W. Robert Pearson at the Cankaya Presidential Palace yesterday. Presenting his credentials to Mr. Sezer, Mr. Pearson said, "I will be honored to represent my country in your country." Foreign Ministry Deputy Undersecretary Sencer Ozsot was also present at the meeting. Mr. Pearson visited Anitkabir, Ataturk's mausoleum, after his meeting with President Sezer. /Cumhuriyet/[04] CABINET MEETINGYesterday, the Council of Ministers held a meeting presided over by Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit. After the 3.5-hour meeting, Premier Ecevit held a press conference with Deputy Prime Ministers Devlet Bahceli and Mesut Yilmaz. Stressing that the Government gives great importance and priority to the preparations for the full EU membership, Mr. Ecevit said that during the meeting, they had discussed the studies of the Human Rights Coordinator High Board, and, especially, the documents on human rights, democracy and superiority of law had been evaluated and they had decided to accept those documents as reference. Premier Ecevit also said that the energy problem, faced by Turkey, had also been discussed and the Council of Ministers had been fully briefed on the situation of the energy sector by the authorities from the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources. /Turkiye/[05] TURKEY HARSHLY WARNS THE US ON THE SO-CALLED ARMENIAN GENOCIDE BILLThe US House of Representatives' International Operations and Human Rights Sub-Committee accepted the so-called Armenian genocide bill by a majority of votes yesterday. The bill is expected to be taken up in the International Relations Committee. Turkey harshly reacted to the approval of the bill. "The approval of the bill will constitute a significant obstacle in the normalization of bilateral relations between Turkey and Armenia. The approval will not contribute positively to the attempts aiming to achieve peace and stability in the Caucasus. In addition, it is clear that the acceptance of the bill will seriously damage the bilateral relations with the US. Therefore, we hope that during the discussions to be held on the issue, the House of Representatives will act with commonsense and decide not to approve the bill by taking the possible negative consequences into account." said the Foreign Ministry's written statement. /Cumhuriyet/[06] A LEGAL SOLUTION TO SO-CALLED ARMENIAN GENOCIDERetired Ambassador Gunduz Aktan said that the most rational solution to the question of the so-called Armenian genocide can be achieved through arbitration. The Subcommittee of US House of Representatives approved the Bill on the issue, yesterday. Answering a question "How should act Turkey from now on related to the issue", Mr. Aktan said that it would be wrong to leave the issue to the evaluations of historians. Mr. Aktan said, " Armenian historians are very influential on this issue and made their views accepted by the western public opinion. However, accepting the claims is not a solution, as it is contrary to historical facts. To accept a crime that was not committed by our ancestors would be wrong. The problem can only be solved by legal procedures. Armenians have not considered to apply to the International Court of Justice until now, since the Court cannot approve the so-called genocide. A peaceful solution can only be achieved through arbitration. The parties should submit their views and proofs to the arbitrators and the arbitrators would give a fair decision./Milliyet/[07] DENKTAS' STATEMENT ON TURKEY'S ROLE IN TRNCThe President of Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) Rauf Denktas met United Nations special representative to Cyprus Alvaro de Soto yesterday. After the meeting, Mr. Denktas stated that Turkey did not govern the TRNC. Speaking at the hearing against Turkey in the European Court of Human Rights, Mr. Denktas said, "Asserting that Turkey governs the TRNC is a big mistake. Turkey protects and supports the TRNC as it is justified in certain agreements. Turkey gives full support to us. Therefore we feel ourselves powerful enough to engage in discussions with the Greek-Cypriots. It's no use to sue Turkey, because we rule our own state and they protect us." /Cumhuriyet/[08] FOREIGN MINISTRY'S STATEMENT ON THE TRNCStating that the Greek-Cypriot administration did not have the right to sue Turkey at the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) for the Cyprus issue, the Foreign Ministry pointed out that the only address for the Greek-Cypriots is the Turkish Republic of the Northern Cyprus. Spokesman of the Foreign Ministry said, "This is the fourth lawsuit brought by the Greek Cypriots to the European Court of Human Rights concerning the Cyprus issue. Therefore, Turkey decided to waive its right to defend itself in accordance with the regulations of the ECHR. /Turkiye/[09] VERHOFSTADT'S STATEMENT CONCERNING FEHRIYE ERDALBelgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt and the Belgian Minister of the Interior Antoine Duquesne made statements about Fehriye Erdal during the conference about the 'Future of the European Union (EU)' which was organized by the European Political Center at the Pale Palais D'Egmont, Belgium. Turkish Ambassadors to NATO and the EU and the Turkish businessmen were also invited to this conference. Verhofstadt said, "The fact that Fehriye Erdal was not extradited to Turkey should not be considered as a hostile attitude towards the Turkish Government and Turkish State. The Belgian Government is considering the issue as a legal trial. This should not be regarded as a political problem." Meanwhile, Duquesne said, "If a development occurs concerning the issue, the Turkish press will be the first to hear that. This is a very sensitive issue, which is discussed by the Belgian Government very carefully." /Sabah/[10] FULL EU MEMBERSHIP NEGOTIATIONS MAY START AT THE END OF 2001Foreign Minister Ismail Cem said that the target date for the start of the full EU membership negotiations will be the end of 2001, after he met the representatives of the European Parliament and EU Commission in Brussels. Mr. Cem said, "We should do our best in order to start this process as soon as possible. If we can adapt ourselves to the norms of the Union, we can apply for the full membership negotiations in 2001. /Milliyet/[11] ERCEL: THE MOST SUCCESSFUL CENTRAL BANK GOVERNORThe economic journal "Global Finance" has elected the Governor of Turkish Central Bank Gazi Ercel the most successful governor of the year. Also another economic journal "Euromoney" had granted Ercel the same award a while ago. Mr. Ercel will get his awards at the ceremonies to be organized by the fore-mentioned journals in Prague and in London. Mr. Ercel will deliver speeches at the ceremonies and talk about Turkish economy, the stabilization program and monetary and exchange rate policies. Ercel will also participate in the conference entitled "The Possible Risks in Developing Markets" organized by Deutsche Bank along with the Central Bank Governors of Brazil, South Korea and Mexico. /Milliyet/[12] DEMIREL: "TURKEY HAS A BRIGHT FUTURE CONCERNING ENERGY"Ninth Turkish President Suleyman Demirel attended a ceremony during which Turcas 2 fuel oil tanker was launched to the sea and said, "Turkey will turn out to be an energy terminal station in three or four years and Turkey has a bright future concerning the issue. Turkey will have a second bridge with the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline. The important role of petroleum and natural gas will continue. Turkey is also determined to take place among the best 10 economies in the world." /Sabah/[13] ITALIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY UNDERSECRETARY TO VISIT TURKEYItalian Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Umberto Vattani is scheduled to come to Turkey to hold contacts with his Turkish counterpart Faruk Logoglu on Sept. 25. According to the Turkish Foreign Ministry, they will discuss issues such as bilateral relations between Turkey and Italy, the European Union and regional issues. /Turkish Daily News/[14] STATE MEDAL TO YASARGILPresident Ahmet Necdet Sezer presented Prof. Gazi Yasargil with the State Distinguished Service Medal. During the ceremony, President Sezer said, "Prof. Yasargil introduced new methods to the neuro-surgery." President Sezer also recalled the fact that Prof. Yasargil was elected the 'man of the century in the neuro-surgery'. President Sezer added, "Turkey is proud of Prof. Yasargil, who pleased our people with his success." Meanwhile, Prof. Yasargil thanked President Sezer and said that the medal was the most valuable present he had received. /Aksam/[15] DIPLOMATIC STATUS FOR THE IMF BUREAUCRATSThe government has granted diplomatic immunities to the officials who will work at the representative office of the IMF in Turkey. The representatives will stay in Turkey in order to monitor the implementation of the economic stabilization program. The representatives will not have the judicial immunities which is usually granted to the ambassadors, but they will be exempted from taxes. /Milliyet/[16] FOREIGN EXCHANGE RESERVES INCREASEThe Turkish Central Bank's foreign exchange reserves increased by $ 572 milion between Sept 8-15. The foreign exchange reserves, which were $ 23.9 million on Sept. 8, reached $ 24.6 billion on Sept. 15. /Turkiye/[17] TURKEY'S AND ISRAEL'S BIGGEST FABRIC COMPANIES MERGETurkish Guney Industry and Israeli Polgat Textiles, which are among the biggest fabric companies in their countries, merged. 55 percent of the shares of the new company, Guney-Polgat Company, which was established as a result of the merger, belong to the Guney Industry and 45 percent of its shares to the Polgat Textiles. Head of Baser Holding Textile Group, which owns the Guney Industry, Bulent Baser said, "We are planning to enter the United States market. With this new merger Turkey will take advantage of the Customs Union with the European Union and Israel will benefit from its Free Trade Agreement with the US." /Hurriyet/[18] STOCK INVESTORS APPROACH 2 MILLIONThe number of Turkish stock market investors rose by approximately 1 million over the past year, according to the data from the Istanbul Stock Exchange (IMKB) Settlement and Custody Bank (Takasbank). Accounts with Takasbank numbered 1,967,153 on Sep. 15, of which 1,356,824 were holding share certificates. On Sep. 20 of last year, 882,492 accounts were open and 563,132 of them were active. Falling interest rates and massive public offerings such as those by state-owned refinery Tupras and mobile operator Turkcell this year attracted individual investors in particular to the Turkish stock exchange. /Turkish Dailly News/[19] THIRD SOUTHEASTERN ANATOLIA PROJECT (GAP) FAIRThe Southeastern Anatolia Project (GAP), which is the biggest project of the Republic of Turkey with an investment of 32 billion dollars, will promote the region's potential during the 'Third GAP Fair' between 13 and 17 October. GAP Fair has been previously visited by 300,000 people. Head of the GAP Council of Fair Organizations, Ayten Genc, said, "More than 200 foreign and Turkish investors are expected to attend the GAP Fair this year. We have been working on the organization of this fair for more than five years with a huge budget. I believe that we will reach our goal with this fair. Our only aim is to bring the investors and the people living in the region together. /Sabah/[20] RUSSIAN AWARD FOR ISTANBUL STATE THEATREDuring the 'Brest Bellaja Vezka 2000 Festival', the Istanbul State Theatre received the Special Award with the play entitled 'Yemenimin Uclari', which was staged last year. 'Yemenimin Uclari' was deemed worthy of this award due to the fact that it reflected the problems of ethical values stemming from modernization. This festival was attended by the theatre groups from China, France, Russian Federation, Lithuania, the US and Ukraine between 9 and 13 September. /Sabah/[21] LAODICEA TO BE UNEARTHEDLaodicea, the largest ancient city in Denizli will be unearthed by a joint study of Venice University, Pamukkale University and Denizli University. The site is being investigated before the excavations which are expected to start next year. It is said that the ancient city was full of the ruins of the Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine and Seljuk periods. /Hurriyet/[22] FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE COLUMNS...[23] HOW TO STOP THE ARMENIANS BY H.MESUT HAZAR (TURKIYE)Columnist H.Mesut Hazar writes on the acceptance of the so-called Armenian Genocide Resolution at a subcommittee in the House of Representatives . A summary of his column is as follows:The efforts to pass a resolution from the US Congress on the so-called Armenian Genocide were accelerated. The first session on the subject was held last week at the subcommittee last week. Yesterday, the subcommittee decided to send the resolution to the International Relations Committee. The resolution is expected to be sent to the Congress after being accepted there next week. This dangerous gamble played by furious Armenian militants and their accomplices will succeed if the Turkish Government and the TGNA, which have to issue declarations, do not intervene and the so-called Armenian Genocide Resolution will be accepted. The American Congress goes into recess on October 6, as elections will be held in November. The elections will renew the members of the House of Representatives and a new President will be elected. The Republicans and Democrats are fighting for a majority of the seats in these elections. The November Elections are expected to pass in a highly competitive manner. The Republicans may lose the slim majority of seats they have in the House of Representatives and that is why this resolution which has been waiting at the sumcommittee and was not expected to be floored in the Congress this legislative year, suddenly was taken into the agenda. House of Representatives Speaker Hastert, met the representatives of the Armenian church and community in California last week. Hastert promised the Armenians to send the resolution to the Congress. Thus the process began and it was understood during the sessions at the subcommittee that both the subcommittee chairman Christopher Smith and the pro-Armenian deputies delivered speeches in favour of the resolution in line with the promises they made and sent messages to their constitutents. They did not care what the specialists had to say or the sagacity to listen to historical facts. Therefore, Turkey has to act with determination on the issue. Measures can be taken to stop the the Armenian hold over the US Congress but these should be implemented as soon as possible. Actions speak louder than words, and we have to act instead of talking about them." Turkish Press Review Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |
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