Anadolu Agency: News in English, 98-05-25

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From: The Anadolu Agency Home Page at <http://www.anadoluajansi.gov.tr/>

25 MAY 1998

CONTENTS

[01] DEATH TOLL IN HATAY PROVINCE INCREASES TO EIGHT AFTER FLOOD

[02] TURKEY AND THE US TO STAGE AN OPERATION IN THE EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN BETWEEN MAY 26-29

[03] TURKEY-PRESS REVIEW (1)

[04] TURKEY-PRESS REVIEW (2)

[05] BOMB ATTACK ON ISTANBUL BUS TERMINAL - BOMB LEFT IN FRONT OF CAGLAR TRAVEL AGENCY EXPLODES - ONE PERSON INJURED

[06] 27TH REGULAR CONVENTION - DENIZ BAYKAL RE-ELECTED AS LEADER OF THE CHP - BAYKAL WIN 875 VOTES OF THE 1,169 PARTY DELEGATES

[07] PRIME MINISTER YILMAZ: ''TURKEY LOST NEARLY 100 TRILLION TURKISH LIRAS IN WESTERN BLACK SEA REGION'' - ''WE AIM TO HAVE 8 PERCENT INFLATION FOR THE SECOND QUARTER OF 1998''

[08] TURKEY-PRESS REVIEW (3)

[09] TURKEY IN BRIEF - MAY 25, 1998

[10] EU COUNCIL OF MINISTERS' MEETING STARTS

[11] NAMI CAGAN, MINISTER OF LABOR IN GERMANY - CAGAN: ''I BELIEVE MY VISIT WILL CONSTITUTE A STEP FOR DIALOGUE''

[12] SEVKI YILMAZ, FORMER RP DEPUTY, SENTENCED TO TWO YEARS FOR INSULTING THE PARLIAMENT

[13] STATE MINISTER GUREL: ''OUR POLITICAL RELATIONS WITH EU ARE ALMOST THE SAME TODAY AS ON THE MORNING OF DECEMBER 14''

[14] PROJECT FOR TUBE TUNNEL IN ISTANBUL - OZDEN, UNDERSECRETARY OF THE TREASURY: ''WE PLAN TO OPEN A TENDER FOR PROJECT IN JUNE''

[15] ARMENIAN CRISIS IN RELATIONS WITH FRANCE - THE ARMENIAN DRAFT AT THE FRENCH PARLIAMENT ON TUESDAY

[16] INCREASE IN IMPORTS OF MOTOR VEHICLES CONTINUES

[17] WATER TRANSFER TO THE TRNC WITH BALLOONS TO START IN MID-JUNE

[18] DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER SEZGIN: - ''CAPTURE OF ATTACKERS WHO SHOT AND SERIOUSLY INJURED BIRDAL, WILL BRING TO LIGHT SEVERAL OTHER INCIDENTS'' - ''DEPLOYMENT OF S-300 MISSILES TO THE GREEK CYPRIOT SIDE WILL BE MADNESS''

[19] PRIVATIZATION OF THE TURKISH TELEKOM - SEVEN COMPANIES TO SUBMIT THEIR BIDS ON TUESDAY FOR BEING MEDIATOR CONSULTING COMPANY

[01] DEATH TOLL IN HATAY PROVINCE INCREASES TO EIGHT AFTER FLOOD

The dead bodies of Sinan Ugur (43) and his daughter Zeliha Ugur (10) were found in the Asi River. These people were lost on May 21. Gulcan Keskin (32), her children Mehmet Keskin (12) and Hasan Keskin (4), and Feride Korkmaz (35) drowned in the flood in Antakya, and Maime Gulenc (22) and Halit Kahraman (51) died in Samandag County of Antakya Province.

Meanwhile, the Antakya-Samandag motorway, which was partly destroyed by the flood, will be reopened to traffic on May 26.

[02] TURKEY AND THE US TO STAGE AN OPERATION IN THE EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN BETWEEN MAY 26-29

The Secretariat of the General Staff said that the Turkish Naval Forces and the Sixth Fleet of the US Navy will participate in the operation in the Mediterranean with two destroyer-frigates, one submarine, one helicopter and two marine patrol aircraft. The operation will be staged between May 26- 29.

The operation will start on Tuesday with the navigation conference at Aksaz.

[03] TURKEY-PRESS REVIEW (1)

(Derived from the Newsspot of the Turkish General Directorate of Press and Information.)

FLOODS CAUSE ENORMOUS DAMAGE
The recent heavy rainfall has caused flooding in several western Black Sea region towns, killing 16 people during the past three days. Troops used rubber boats and helicopters to evacuate 953 people from the outlying villages in the region. Moreover, the rising waters flooded thousands of houses and destroyed bridges, roads and railway lines. As a result of the floods, eight people are still missing. President Suleyman Demirel, who visited the flooded areas in the western Black Sea region, said that trust in the state should be ensured. Demirel noted that the flooding had caused material damage worth 200 trillion TL in the region. Demirel, Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz, Hasan Gemici, the Minister of State and Yasar Topcu, the Minister of Public Works visited Karabuk and Bartin and were briefed by Cemal Ayman, the Governor of Karabuk and Fatih Eryilmaz, the Governor of Bartin.

Eryilmaz said that they had warned the local people of more heavy rainfall, and added, that 78 percent of Bartin was flooded with water levels reaching four meters at one point. Telephone communications with nearby cities were cut off and transportation was impossible. Military units, officials and volunteers are working in the area. /All papers/

ROMANIAN PRIME MINISTER TO VISIT TURKEY
The Romanian Prime Minister Radu Vasile will attend a conference with the Cambridge Energy Reserve Associates (CERA), the private energy think-tank which is hosting the ''Tale of Two Seas'' meeting on the Caspian Sea and the Black Sea in Istanbul. He will meet with President Suleyman Demirel and Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz. /Hurriyet/

HRA CHAIRMAN BIRDAL IDENTIFIES ASSAILANTS
Following the arrest of six suspects who allegedly attacked Akin Birdal, the Chairman of the Human Rights Association (HRA), who is still in hospital, has identified the suspects, Bahri Eken and Kerem Deretarla, who attacked him. They were later taken to the site of the incident to reenact the assault at the HRA offices in Ankara. The suspects will be questioned further by the police in Ankara on May 25. Meanwhile, the Voice of Germany (VOG) radio said that the capture of the assailants in a period of 10 days, who attacked the HRA Chairman Akin Birdal, was of great importance for Turkey's image. /All papers/

ECEVIT VISITS SOUTHEAST ANATOLIA
Bulent Ecevit, the Deputy Prime Minister and Chairman of the Democratic Left Party (DSP) said that there were obstacles for directing investments into southeast Anatolia's most needy regions and that the state should overcome these difficulties by taking additional measures. Ecevit is continuing his visit to the Southeast with the aim of examining the implementation of investment incentives. Ecevit said that a six-hour meeting with the region's governors had been very helpful in determining what hardships are faced in implementing measures taken by the government. Ecevit noted that regional governors viewed the government's incentive measures as ''very positive''. /All papers/

SECURITY FORCES KILL 23 PKK TERRORISTS
The Turkish security forces killed at least 23 terrorists of the PKK terrorist organization in several clashes near the eastern town of Van and the southeastern towns of Tunceli and Siirt over the weekend. A written statement from the Emergency Rule Region said that a terrorist also surrendered to security forces near Van. According to the statement, the security forces killed 11 PKK terrorists in the outlying regions of Van, Siirt and Tunceli Provinces yesterday. On Saturday, the deaths of an additional 12 PKK terrorists, killed in a three-hour firefight with security forces in Van, were also reported. /All papers/

[04] TURKEY-PRESS REVIEW (2)

(Derived from the Newsspot of the Turkish General Directorate of Press and Information.)

ENERGY CONFERENCE IN ISTANBUL
Istanbul will host an important conference on energy between 27-29 May. Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz will deliver an opening speech at the conference to be attended by many high-level officials from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Romania, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, the Ukraine, Uzbekistan and the US including Federico Pena, the US Secretary of Energy, and Senator Chuck Hagel. During the conference, important issues such as the Baku-Ceyhan oil pipeline and the Turkmen natural gas pipeline will be discussed. /Sabah/

TURKISH-KAZAKH COOPERATION
Ilhan Ildeniz has been elected the chairman of the Kazakh-Turkish Businessmen's Association, which aims to bring together Turkish businessmen in Kazakhstan, contribute to the development of the economies of both countries and to provide professional, technical and social cooperation between the businessmen of the two countries. Ilhan Ildeniz said in a speech that the Turkish visa department will assist Turkish companies with visa formalities who are bringing investments and trade which will help Kazakhstan. /Sabah/

MILLER IN CYPRUS
Thomas Miller, the US Special Coordinator to Cyprus will visit Cyprus today. Miller, who will meet with the Turkish Cypriot President Rauf Denktas and the Greek Cypriot Leader Glafcos Clerides, will mainly discuss the Russian-made S-300 missiles to be deployed by the Greek Cypriot Administration. /Sabah/

SEAWOLF EXERCISE IN AEGEAN
The Turkish Naval Forces will hold the SeaWolf'98 (Denizkurdu), one of the year's largest annual naval exercises, in the international waters of the Aegean Sea and the eastern Mediterranean between June 3 and 26. A written statement from the Turkish General Staff over the weekend said that a briefing will be given on May 28 at the Navy's Golcuk headquarters. /All papers/

ATV REPORTER ATTACKED
Adnan Gerger, a reporter from the private television channel, ATV, was attacked and beaten-up by three unidentified assailants and was hospitalized due to serious injuries on his face received during the attack. The reporter was cornered by the attackers who pursued him with a car and broke his nose. /All papers/

INCREASE IN FOREIGN TRADE
According to the Undersecretariat of Foreign Trade, Turkey has realised 380.2 billion US dollars in imports and 627.4 billion US dollars in exports with the US during the first two months of this year. It has also been announced that there was a 9.2 percent increase in trade volume between the two countries in the same period of last year. Textiles, ready-to-wear clothing, tobacco, foodstuffs, iron and steel are some of the goods that the US imported from Turkey. /Cumhuriyet/

TURKISH-ISRAELI AGREEMENT
A new agreement which foresees the prevention of double taxation and tax evasion between Turkey and Israel was published yesterday in the Official Gazette following approval by the Council of Ministers. /Cumhuriyet/

STATE ALLOCATIONS FOR THE SOUTHEAST
The state has allocated almost one quadrillon TL for investments in east and southeast Anatolia over the last five years. According to the State Planning Organization, the total for investments in 27 districts in east and southeast Anatolia comes to 1.9 billion US dollars. It has also been announced that the largest share of new investments has gone to Diyarbakir. /Hurriyet/

[05] BOMB ATTACK ON ISTANBUL BUS TERMINAL - BOMB LEFT IN FRONT OF CAGLAR TRAVEL AGENCY EXPLODES - ONE PERSON INJURED

It was reported that an unidentified person left the bomb in the flowerpot in front of the office at 12.30 a.m. on Monday.

Vedat Eker (30) working at the office was wounded when shrapnel hit his leg after the explosion.

The windows of the office were broken and there was a minor damage to a passenger bus parked near the office.

The investigation related to the incident is underway.

[06] 27TH REGULAR CONVENTION - DENIZ BAYKAL RE-ELECTED AS LEADER OF THE CHP - BAYKAL WIN 875 VOTES OF THE 1,169 PARTY DELEGATES

A total of 875 of 1,169 party delegates voted for Baykal at the Convention. The number of blank votes was 294.

Addressing the Convention, Deniz Baykal said, ''we held a convention that is an example for Turkey and of which everybody will be proud with its technology, aesthetics, political essence and content.''

Baykal said that the Convention was very important for the CHP and also for the political life in Turkey.

Pointing out that Turkey is seeking a new method, democracy, social justice and contemporary state of law, Baykal said that their duty is to meet the requirements of the whole country.

[07] PRIME MINISTER YILMAZ: ''TURKEY LOST NEARLY 100 TRILLION TURKISH LIRAS IN WESTERN BLACK SEA REGION'' - ''WE AIM TO HAVE 8 PERCENT INFLATION FOR THE SECOND QUARTER OF 1998''

Addressing the state-run channel TRT-1, Prime Minister Yżlmaz stated, ''there is very significant damage to the infrastructure of the cities and croplands. The citizens have expectations from the state and we will try to overcome their difficulties. The needs of the citizens have been met to a considable extent. Electricity has been restored to all regions except for several isolated places.''

Responding to a question on the economy, Prime Minister Yżlmaz said that the government reached its target for the first quarter of 1998 concerning inflation, adding that the government aims to decrease inflation to 8 percent for the second quarter of 1998. Yżlmaz stressed that inflation will definitely decrease to 50 percent at the end of this year.

Asked about the tax law, Yżlmaz stated that Turkey can't continue to have half of her economy unregistered, adding that we are planning to decrease the tax portions with the new law. ''The most important aim of the tax regulation is to register the economy,'' Yżlmaz said. Prime Minister Yżlmaz added, ''our target is adoption of the draft law on tax reform by the Parliament during the first half of June.''

Noting that the Law on the Wholesale Food Market is the other important draft law which aims to decrease inflation, Yżlmaz said that Turkey aims to have an inflation rate like the ones in the European Union (EU) countries in 2000.

Yżlmaz stressed that the foreign exchange reserves of Turkey have increased by 60 percent and have exceeded 25 billion US dollars during his term in office.

Responding to another question about the Republican People's Party (CHP), Yżlmaz said that the CHP assumed an important mission, which isn't seen very often in Turkish politics. ''the CHP will become stronger, when it continues to extend support to the government without bargaining and in a stable manner. If the CHP sometimes withdraws its support and other times extends support to the government, then it will lose its reliability and support,'' said Yżlmaz.

Prime Minister Yżlmaz said, ''if any political party acts in the same manner like the Welfare Party (RP), which was closed by the Constitutional Court, then the Turkish judicial organs will act in the same manner and it can ban that party.''

Responding to another question asked about whether or not the attack against Akżn Birdal, the Chairman of the Human Rights Association, is a part of Susurluk scandal, Yżlmaz said that the state can't commit a crime in a legal order and the attack against Birdal is carried out by a gang.

''Is there any possibilty that Turkey can join the EU,'' asked the correspondent and Yżlmaz said ''we will join the EU if this is to our benefit.''

Noting that he told his European counterparts before the Luxembourg Summit that if Turkey was kept outside of the EU enlargement process, then this would cause important consequences in Turkish-EU relations, Yżlmaz said that the EU made two important mistakes at the summit. ''The EU both isolated Turkey from the mechanism that would carry Turkey to the EU membership and it also decided to start full membership negotiations with the Greek Cypriot side, which is contrary to the 1959-1960 Treaties,'' he added.

[08] TURKEY-PRESS REVIEW (3)

(Derived from the Newsspot of the Turkish General Directorate of Press and Information.)

TURKEY REPORT TO IPI
The 47th meeting of the General Council of the International Press Institution (IPI) will be held today in Moscow. Sami Kohen, the Chairman of the National Committee, presented a report on Turkey at the Executive Board meeting held on Saturday. The report, which was the most detailed national committee report presented at the meeting, revealed recent developments in the Turkish press and gave a general overview of the country. At the end of the meeting it was decided to set up a fund to help journalists facing legal action in different parts of the world. /Milliyet/

BIR IN ISRAEL
Cevik Bir, the Deputy Chief of General Staff, went to Israel on Saturday to hold contacts within the framework of bilateral military agreements between Turkey and Israel. Bir, who will start his official contacts today, is expected to meet with the Israeli Minister of Defense, the Chief of General Staff and other senior military officials. /Milliyet/

KUANGYI: ''TURCO-CHINESE RELATIONS ARE AT A GOOD LEVEL''
In a special report to the Milliyet daily newspaper, Yao Kuangyi, the Chinese Ambassador to Turkey, said that although political relations between Turkey and China were at ''very good levels'', economic relations were only increasing slowly. He added, ''The trade volume between the two countries is very unsatisfactory compared with political relations. China is a huge market and Turkey has only a 2 percent share in the market. We want more Turkish businessmen to go to China. There will be more cooperation between Turkey and China especially in three sectors; energy, construction and textiles.'' /Milliyet/

ERDOGAN IN TOKYO
Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Mayor of Metropolitan Istanbul, went yesterday to Tokyo. Erdogan will attend a World Metropolitans Forum which will start today. /Milliyet/

TURKISH BOXERS RANK THIRD
Ramazan Phaliani, won a gold medal, while Nurhan Suleymanoglu and Ercument Arslan won silver medals during the 32nd Boxing Championship held in Belarus.

As a team, the Turkish boxers ranked third during the championship. /Hurriyet/

[09] TURKEY IN BRIEF - MAY 25, 1998

Cholpan Boyekova, the Chief Prosecutor of Kyrgyzstan; Dilde Beyshenova, the Consul General of Kyrgyzstan in Istanbul and several Turkish officials attended the ceremony.

ISTANBUL - Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Mayor of Istanbul, left on Sunday for Osaka, Japan, to participate in the ''Metropolitans Summit'' in which environmental problems will be discussed.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan will return to Turkey on May 28.

ISTANBUL - The 80th anniversary of the foundation of the Republic of Azerbaijan was celebrated on Sunday with a ceremony organized at the Muammer Karaca Theatre in Istanbul by the ''Young Intellectuals Movement'' group established by the Azerbaijani students studying in Turkey.

The Republic of Azerbaijan was founded on May 28, 1918 with the name of the ''Azerbaijan Democratic Republic'', but Soviet Russia put an end to it in 1920.

Azerbaijan became an independent state in 1991.

ANKARA - The Turkish tourism agency Oger Tours prepared a television programme on ''Turkey Journal'' for the German tourists, it was reported on Sunday.

The programme will be broadcast by the DTPA News Agency in both Turkish and German.

BOLU - A total of 38 settlements and 621 houses are still inundated in Bolu Province affected by the flood disaster, it was reported on Sunday.

The Bolu Governor's Office said that a total of 68 streams overflowed, 52 bridges were totally destroyed and the roads to 80 settlements were closed to traffic due to the flood destruction, adding that 12 settlements and 589 houses were evacuated.

It said that a total of six people drowned in the flood.

Meanwhile, the Governor's Office tries to take the necessary measures against epidemics and that it has asked for 200 doses of typhoid fever vaccine and ten kg of chlorine.

[10] EU COUNCIL OF MINISTERS' MEETING STARTS

The EU seems tense about the fact that the Turkish-EU Association Council meeting, which was foreseen to be held on the same day, won't be held. The press, which is observing the meeting, gives attention to the issues of the ''Turkish-EU relations'' and the ''negative effects of Greece within the EU'' in Brussels.

The Council of Ministers is expected to discuss the relations with Turkey in detail during the meeting.

Addressing a briefing held to inform the press before the meeting, the EU Term Presidency Spokesman said that ''the 14 EU countries will launch efforts to overcome the very serious and negative point reached by putting pressure on Greece.''

The Spokesman stressed that the Greek veto should be lifted in order to free the financial cooperation for Turkey, giving the message that the ''14 countries have also worked on other formulas.''

On the other hand, Greece threatens the EU by saying that she will apply to the judiciary organs if her veto is overcome by distorting the EU legal rules.

While Turkey welcomes the isolation of Greece due to the recent developments and pressure of the 14 countries on Greece by proposing different formulas, she still expects to see ''concrete results.''

If positive and constructive results are obtained at the EU Council meeting today, then the Turkish-EU Association Council meeting can be held on June 8 in Luxembourg.

Meanwhile, the European press accuses Britain of ''not bringing any concrete and new proposals to Turkey and of not overcoming the unconstructive attitude of Greece.''

[11] NAMI CAGAN, MINISTER OF LABOR IN GERMANY - CAGAN: ''I BELIEVE MY VISIT WILL CONSTITUTE A STEP FOR DIALOGUE''

Addressing the press conference he held at the Cologne Airport, Minister Cagan said that he believes his visit will constitute a step for dialogue between the two countries.

Pointing out that a total of 2.1 million Turkish citizens are living in Germany, Cagan said, ''our citizens living in Germany have several problems stemming from both Turkey and Germany. Our Ministry pays attention to most of these problems. However, I'm sorry to say that there has been a definite stagnation in the relations between the Labor Ministries of Turkey and Germany in recent years.''

Cagan said that they decreased the one-day borrowing price from 2.5 US dollars to two US dollars that the Turkish citizens living abroad are paying to the Social Security Administration and to the other social security organizations.

Nami Cagan will meet with Norbet Blum on Monday.

[12] SEVKI YILMAZ, FORMER RP DEPUTY, SENTENCED TO TWO YEARS FOR INSULTING THE PARLIAMENT

Hamdi Yaver Aktan, the Chief Prosecutor said that the Rize Court sentenced Sevki Yżlmaz to two years in a session held on May 22 under Article 159 of the Turkish Penal Code. Yżlmaz was found guilty of insulting the Parliament in his speech broadcast on a local television channel in Rize in 1994.

Sevki Yżlmaz had told the television channel, ''I declare all the members of the Parliament who hand over Southeastern Turkey, who let our young people be shot and who feed the terrorist PKK, as traitors.''

Sevki Yżlmaz is still abroad.

[13] STATE MINISTER GUREL: ''OUR POLITICAL RELATIONS WITH EU ARE ALMOST THE SAME TODAY AS ON THE MORNING OF DECEMBER 14''

Addressing a speech at the meeting with the members of the Committee, Gurel said that if the EU changes its discriminatory attitude against Turkey, the latter will revise her own status.

''The Turkish-EU relations concerning politics, is almost the same today as on the morning of December 14,'' Gurel said.

Recalling that his mission is to provide the coordination between the state units, which are concerned with the EU, Gurel described the document on the ''Strategy to Improve Turkish-EU Relations'' prepared by the Coordination Committee as the ''first effort of the Turkish government.''

Gurel said that this document searches the problematic areas and the method of their solutions concerning the Turkish-EU relations, adding that Turkey was contented with making preparations in response to strategies which were proposed to Turkey in the past till this document was prepared.

Gurel stressed that the pre-condition to improve the existing relations between Turkey and EU depends on the fulfillment of obligations by the EU towards Turkey.

Pointing out that the Strategy document prepared by the European Commission hasn't been formalized and hasn't been submitted in an entirety, Gurel said that the document prepared by the Coordination Committee proposes establishment of a ''Consultation Mechanism.''

Gurel said this mechanism, which is foreseen to be set up, tries to realize the participation of Turkey in the common decisions of the EU, adding that this document will gain a political identity by its submission to Prime Minister Mesut Yżlmaz and Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit.

[14] PROJECT FOR TUBE TUNNEL IN ISTANBUL - OZDEN, UNDERSECRETARY OF THE TREASURY: ''WE PLAN TO OPEN A TENDER FOR PROJECT IN JUNE''

Sureyya Yucel Ozden told the A.A correspondent that nearly 30 bids were submitted and that the preparations for the tender are continuing, adding that there is a 168-volume project and feasibility study.

Pointing out that they are carrying out the last studies for the built- operate-transfer model and the credit model, Ozden said that they will specify a method open to all kinds of proposals in the construction process.

Noting that they decided to lay the foundation this summer of the tube tunnel that has been planned to be built as a tube railway and will cost 1 billion 250 million US dollars, Undersecretary Ozden said that the capacity of the tunnel will be 100 thousand passengers per hour and the number of the railways will be three, adding that the tunnel part will be constructed within four years and rails will be laid within two years.

[15] ARMENIAN CRISIS IN RELATIONS WITH FRANCE - THE ARMENIAN DRAFT AT THE FRENCH PARLIAMENT ON TUESDAY

The draft will be discussed separately by the French Parliamentary Commission of Foreign Relations and the Chairmenship. A vote will be held on Friday to decide whether or not the draft will be taken onto the agenda of the Parliament.

The draft law, which was prepared with the initiatives of Rene Rouquet, a French Socialist parliamentarian, foresees the recognition in France of the so-called Armenian genocide.

Prime Minister Mesut Yżlmaz and Hikmet Cetin, the Speaker of the Parliament, expressed the uneasiness of Turkey about the draft law by sending letters to their French counterparts last week.

Yżlmaz and Cetin stressed in their letters that the existing good relations between Turkey and France would be damaged, if the draft law were recognized.

Meanwhile, Sonmez Koksal, the Turkish Ambassador to France has been taking initiatives to prevent the adoption of the draft.

[16] INCREASE IN IMPORTS OF MOTOR VEHICLES CONTINUES

The Automotive Industry Association (OSD) data showed that the imports of automobiles in the January-April 1998 period increased 19 percent to 28,539 compared to the imports in same period last year which was 24,037.

The imports of automobiles from the European Union (EU) countries increased by 39 percent while the expectation of a ''boom'' in the imports of automobiles from the Far Eastern countries didn't happen. The imports of the automobiles of South Korean origin increased by only two percent due to the economic crisis.

The imports of the automobiles from the Eastern Bloc countries decreased by six percent.

The Turkish industry produced 57,969 automobiles in the first four months of 1998.

The increase in the imports of light commercial vehicles (minibuses and vans) in the same period was 36 percent. The number of the imported light commercial vehicles increased to 16,479.

[17] WATER TRANSFER TO THE TRNC WITH BALLOONS TO START IN MID-JUNE

Responding to the questions of the A.A correspondent, Dogan Altinbilek, the General Director of the State Water Works (DSI) said that they will give the start for the transfer with a ceremony which will also be attended by President Suleyman Demirel, adding that two more balloons will come from Norway, in addition to the existing balloons.

''There is a second 10 thousand cubic meter balloon in Norway. There is a possibility to bring it to Turkey, and that the number of balloons would increase to three. The balloons can be transported to Turkey within 9-10 days. All of the balloons will come from Norway,'' Altinbilek said.

Pointing out that the water transfer project had been delayed after the first trial, Altinbilek said that the postponement was stemming from the approval of an international organization for the construction of a Sea Platform in Kumkoy, TRNC.

Noting that this request came from the Norwegians, Altinbilek said that the products will be automatically insured during the loading and unloading.

''The work on the platform will finish in the near future. Then we will fill the balloon and send it. Then the real operation to the TRNC will start. I hope the water transfer with three balloons will begin in the winter. We will deliver 7 million cubic meters of potable water to the TRNC annually. However, I assume we can't reach this amount this year. This project was prepared to relieve the years of drought in the TRNC,'' he added.

[18] DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER SEZGIN: - ''CAPTURE OF ATTACKERS WHO SHOT AND SERIOUSLY INJURED BIRDAL, WILL BRING TO LIGHT SEVERAL OTHER INCIDENTS'' - ''DEPLOYMENT OF S-300 MISSILES TO THE GREEK CYPRIOT SIDE WILL BE MADNESS''

Responding to a question of journalist about the news claiming that the S- 300 missiles have been deployed on the Greek Cypriot side, Sezgin stated that this isn't true, ''this means madness and it's also contary to the principles of the mind,'' Sezgin added.

Meanwhile, Oltan Sungurlu, the Minister of Justice said the same day that the attackers, who shot and injured Birdal were captured, but it isn't possible to say that the incident has been fully solved. ''We don't know who is behind the incident and whether or not it has any connections. We also don't know whether or not the attack is connected with the Susurluk scandal,''Sungurlu said.

[19] PRIVATIZATION OF THE TURKISH TELEKOM - SEVEN COMPANIES TO SUBMIT THEIR BIDS ON TUESDAY FOR BEING MEDIATOR CONSULTING COMPANY

The Privatization Administration Board (OIB) said that the name of the consulting company will be announced after the evaluation of the bids this week.

The draft law foreseeing the establishment of an ''independent arranging organization'' should be approved by the Parliament by the end of September 1998 for the privatization of the Turkish Telekom in the fourth quarter of the year.

In accordance with the concerned law, only a 49 percent share of the Turkish Telekom will be privatized.

Ten percent of these shares to be privatized will be given to the Postal Service free of charge. Five percent of the company will be sold to the workers of the company and 20 percent to the consortium including the Telekom operators. A total of 14 percent of the company shares will be opened for public sales in the domestic and foreign capital markets.

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