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Voice of America, 99-08-29
CONTENTS
[01] KOSOVO-AMBASSADOR (L) BY TIM BELAY (PRISTINA)
[02] TURKEY-QUAKE FAULT (L) BY SCOTT BOBB (ISTANBUL)
[03] TURKEY SUNDAY (L) BY SCOTT BOBB (ISTANBUL)
[04] FRANCE-BANKS (L-O) BY JULIAN NUNDY (PARIS)
[01] KOSOVO-AMBASSADOR (L) BY TIM BELAY (PRISTINA)
DATE=8/29/1999
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
NUMBER=2-253232
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: Richard Holbrooke, the veteran Balkan
troubleshooter, has returned to Kosovo in his new role
as U-S Ambassador to the United Nations. Tim Belay
reports from Pristina that Mr. Holbrooke's first stop
was the village of Orahovac where local residents have
been blocking a main highway for the past week to keep
Russian peacekeepers away.
TEXT: Albanians living in Orahovac say they will not
let the Russian troops in because they believe Russian
mercenaries helped the Serb side during the war in
Kosovo. Mr. Holbrooke said, (Sunday) in Pristina, he
was surprised by how strong the villagers' emotions
were running.
// HOLBROOKE ACT //
They raised the issue of the Russians and began
to recount all sorts of stories about Russian
advisors . during the war, and they knew for a
fact Russians had been there. Now these are not
items that I can substantiate or not, but what
struck me . was their passion on the subject.
// END ACT //
General Mike Jackson, commander of the NATO-led
peacekeeping mission in Kosovo, says the alliance has
to take the villagers' complaints seriously.
// JACKSON ACT //
I fear we may have a situation where beliefs are
rather more awful than the actual facts. I
refer here to the emotion and the difficulties
which the local Albanian population have there,
regarding alleged Russian mercenaries.
// END ACT //
Mr. Holbrooke says he believes NATO peacekeepers will
eventually resolve the standoff. He says he is
confident they will also be able to end tensions in
Mitrovica, where Serbs and Albanians have clashed
almost every day since the war ended.
Mr. Holbrooke's three-day visit to Kosovo ends Monday
when he goes to Sarajevo to visit another NATO
peacekeeping mission. He told reporters there are
important differences between the two operations.
/// SECOND HOLBROOKE ACT //
History I believe will record Bosnia and Kosovo
as a single historical event . Now there are
some core differences in Bosnia. NATO is
implementing an agreement that was forged in
Dayton, and here (Kosovo) there is no political
agreement yet.
// END ACT //
General Jackson says the task of protecting ethnic
Serbs and other minorities in Kosovo is complicated,
but he says the province is becoming safer.
// SECOND JACKSON ACT //
The serious crime rate continues to go down. I
do hope and believe that the security situation
is stabilizing and that those members of the
Serb population of Kosovo who have felt
frightened may begin to feel that their place
really is here.
// END ACT //
General Jackson says the mass exodus of ethnic Serbs
from Kosovo has stopped and small numbers of Serbs who
had fled are beginning to return to the province.
(SIGNED)
Neb/tb/dw
29-Aug-1999 11:20 AM EDT (29-Aug-1999 1520 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
[02] TURKEY-QUAKE FAULT (L) BY SCOTT BOBB (ISTANBUL)
DATE=8/28/1999
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
NUMBER=2-253220
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: Leading experts say most of the 13-thousand
deaths recorded so far in Turkey's devastating
earthquake last week could have been avoided. They
charge that a lack of enforcement of building codes
and cost-cutting by contractors were responsible for
more than 90 percent of the destruction. Correspondent
Scott Bobb reports from Istanbul.
TEXT: The chairman of the Earthquake Engineering
Department at Istanbul's Bosphorous University,
Moustafa Erdik, says electronic monitoring shows that
although the ground motion of the earthquake was one
of the strongest this century, the structures that
were built correctly, like roads and bridges,
withstood its force. He says the damage was directly
linked to poorly constructed buildings.
///ERDIK ACT///
Although we see lots of damage in the area,
that damage is due to structural
deficiencies rather than the size of the
ground motion.
///END ACT///
Professor Erdik says many of the buildings that
collapsed were residential apartments more than four
stories high. In addition, in many of them, the walls
on the bottom floor had been removed to make shops. He
says these factors weakened the structures.
The leader of a U-S team of earthquake specialists
that has been assessing the quake, Les Youd, says most
of the damage was due to poor quality construction and
a lack of enforcement of building regulations.
///YOUD ACT///
If the buildings had been built in
accordance with the building code, and
Turkey's had a good code since 1975, these
buildings would not have fallen down. This
is a tragedy that didn't need to happen.
///END ACT///
Professor Youd notes a similar earthquake in
(Northridge) California five years ago caused about
the same amount of damage as in Turkey last week. But
he says only 60 lives were lost, rather than
thousands, because most buildings were built to code.
He says making a building earthquake-proof costs an
additional five percent.
///REST OPT///
Professor Youd also notes there have been nearly one
dozen earthquakes in this part of Turkey in the past
60 years. And he warns that the epicenter of the
quakes has been moving west toward Istanbul and its
12-million inhabitants.
///YOUD ACT///
Unfortunately, now they're at the door. So
the next one is likely to break much closer
to Istanbul and the similar kind of shaking
would cause similar kinds of damage in
Istanbul. But the size of the community is
so much larger that the damage would many
times dwarf what we're seeing in this
earthquake.
///END ACT///
Experts say in order to avoid another tragedy, the
government must strengthen public structures. And
although they acknowledge it will be difficult to
reinforce the thousands of private residential
buildings in Istanbul, enforcing the building code on
new buildings will help over time. (SIGNED)
NEB/SB/DW/JO
28-Aug-1999 11:14 AM EDT (28-Aug-1999 1514 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
[03] TURKEY SUNDAY (L) BY SCOTT BOBB (ISTANBUL)
DATE=8/29/1999
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
NUMBER=2-253235
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: In Turkey, officials say the death toll from
the earthquake is approaching 14-thousand (ED'S:
13,895) with more than 27-thousand injured and
thousands more unaccounted for. Correspondent Scott
Bobb reports from Istanbul that relief efforts
continue to build nearly two-weeks after the disaster.
TEXT: Relief officials concerned by unhealthy
conditions in the camps after a week of rain, are
using gravel, wooden pallets, and even blankets to dry
out the soaked tents of the homeless.
U-S troops from ships offshore began setting up
hundreds of watertight tents. And a visiting team from
Japan promised to send one-thousand prefabricated
houses used after the earthquake in Kobe (Japan) five-
years ago.
The U-N Children's Fund sent latrines, showers, and
water purification tablets. UNICEF spokeswoman
Margherita Amodeo says sanitation is a major concern.
/// AMODEO ACT ///
We are really doing a big push to get the
hygiene part well under control until the
government sets up its more permanent services
/// END ACT ///
The official said UNICEF this week will establish play
zones in tents for the homeless children. The head of
the UNICEF assessment team, Rune Stuvland, says these
play tents are to help children overcome the shock and
trauma of their experience.
/// STUVLAND ACT ///
Priorities now are, from the psychological point
of view are, one, to help normalize life as much
as you can. Meaning that in the tented camps
and other places to create some recreational
activities, to support some play activities, so
that children can start to process their
experiences through the normal developmental
tasks
/// END ACT ///
Mr. Stuvland says psychologists also need to train
other professionals, like teachers and health workers,
to provide psychological support to the most
traumatized.
/// REST OPT ///
The head of a special task force of the Turkish
Psychological Association, Nail Sahin, says 100
specialists were sent to the area (Sunday). He says
the sheer number of victims poses the first great
challenge. He says the second will be to provide
long-term psychological support.
/// SAHIN ACT ///
We have to set up a system that can continue to
provide these services for some years to come.
This is a major disaster. And the number of
people left homeless is estimated to be 600-
thousand at the moment. And you can imagine the
range of destruction and the magnitude of the
task we are facing.
/// END ACT ///
More then 60-countries responded to Turkey's call for
help. One of the most noted was Greece, whose
relations with Turkey historically have been strained.
The Greek deputy foreign minister has been touring the
region and said relations with Turkey are improving,
after Turkey welcomed Greek assistance. (SIGNED)
Neb/sb/dw/RAE
29-Aug-1999 12:28 PM EDT (29-Aug-1999 1628 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
[04] FRANCE-BANKS (L-O) BY JULIAN NUNDY (PARIS)
DATE=8/28/1999
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
NUMBER=2-253219
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: After a marathon 11-hour meeting -- winding up
six months of attempted takeover bids -- France's
banking authorities ruled Saturday against a merger of
three leading banks. Had it been approved, the merger
would have created the world's largest bank. Julian
Nundy reports from Paris.
TEXT: The committee governing French banking, headed
by the governor of the Bank of France, made a decision
that is generally being hailed as the right one.
The committee ruled that the B-N-P bank, one of
France's main retail banks, cannot keep the 37 percent
of shares it accumulated during its hostile bid to
take over a rival, the Societe Generale.
The six-month battle, depicted as one that would
change the face of French banking, ended in victory
for no one.
The original plan was for a friendly merger between
the Societe Generale and Paribas, a bank specializing
in corporate accounts and foreign exchange
transactions. That was in February.
Then, apparently fearing that his bank stood to lose,
B-N-P chairman Michel Pebereau launched a hostile
takeover bid of both Societe Generale and Paribas.
The bank committee decision means that B-N-P has
gained control of Paribas -- the bank it did not want
and lost out in its bid for outright control of
Societe Generale -- the bank it coveted. The final
result nonetheless means France now has the world's
third largest bank with B-N-P's takeover of Paribas.
//OPT//
When the results of the bids were announced two weeks
ago, B-N-P insisted it had effective control of
Societe Generale.
But the Bank of France-led committee decided otherwise
and has told B-N-P it cannot take up the offers of
Societe Generale shares it received during six months
of bidding.
//END OPT//
Banking analysts welcomed the committee's ruling,
saying this respected the will of the markets. So did
labor unions, saying the decision should save
thousands of jobs.
Even B-N-P's chairman said the decision showed that
the French state is no longer as interventionist as it
used to be and had now allowed the markets to decide.
And the chairman of Societe Generale welcomed the fact
that his bank is keeping its independence.
However, for some -- including a leftwing faction in
France's Socialist-led coalition government that
criticized the authorities' final ruling -- Societe
Generale is now ideal prey for a foreign bank
(takeover). They say Societe Generale is unlikely to
keep its independence for long. (SIGNED)
NEB/JL/DW/JO
28-Aug-1999 10:39 AM EDT (28-Aug-1999 1439 UTC)
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Source: Voice of America
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