Anadolu Agency: News in English, 99-06-06

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

AA Daily

06 June 1999 Sunday

CONTENTS

[01] TURKEY-PRESS SCAN

[02] TURKEY-RUSSIA TRADE CENTER TO BE OPENED IN MOSCOW ON JUNE 23

[03] PRIME MINISTER ECEVIT: - ''EU IS A BIG ORGANIZITION, BUT IT SEEMS TO HAVE SURRENDERED TO GREECE''

[04] NATO'S AIR OPERATION AGAINST YUGOSLAVIA - ALBANIAN PRESIDENT VISITS TURKISH HUMANITARIAN AID TEAM, AND RED CRESCENT'S ELBASAN CAMP

[05] IMF SAYS ''BE TRANSPARENT''

[06] ILO CONFERENCE - TURKISH DELEGATION TO ADDRESS CONFERENCE THIS WEEK

[07] DIRECTORATE GENERAL OF RURAL AFFAIRS TO START INVESTMENTS IN WESTERN BLACK SEA IN NEAR FUTURE WITH WORLD BANK LOAN

[08] DERIVATION CEREMONY AT BIRECIK DAM - ERSUMER, MINISTER OF ENERGY: ''TURKEY IS OBLIGED TO TAKE GIANT STEPS IN ENERGY''

[09] ABKHAZIAN-GEORGIAN PEACE TALKS - ARDZINBA, HEAD OF STATE OF ABKHAZIA, AND ABKHAZIAN PREMIER BAGATSH ARRIVE IN TURKEY

[01] TURKEY-PRESS SCAN

HURRIYET (LIBERAL)

RELIGIOUS CEREMONY IN KAYSERI
A religious ceremony was held in the historical Surp Kirkor Lusavirich Church, one of the most holy places of the Armenian community living in Turkey, in central Kayseri province with the participation of Armenian community living in Istanbul.

MILLIYET (LIBERAL)

WE LOSE ''WEST'' BY A NECK
During the NATO Summit, German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder promised to President Suleyman Demirel that Germany will expend efforts for Turkey's full-membership to the European Union (EU).

The statement ''specification of Turkey's full-membership'' was included in the draft which was prepared for the summit in Cologne. Five countries supported Germany. Sweden backed Greece's veto.

SABAH (LIBERAL)

Date: March 21, 1999. The disgruntled deputies manage to have the parliament convene. Yasin Hatiboglu is the Speaker of Parliament. A row erupts. Hatipoglu pauses the session and proceeds to his office at parliament. Erbakan calls Hatipoglu on the phone, and says, ''carry on till the end.'' Over this instruction, Hatiboglu restarts the session but another row happens. There is another break. Erbakan calls once again and says, ''do not betray. Finalize the job.'' Hatiboglu again opens the session but the row does not stop. Hatiboglu delays the meeting and leaves the Parliament at about 20:00 local time. At 20:15 local time, Erbakan calls Hatiboglu on his mobile telephone in his car. Erbakan says, ''it would have been finalized if you could stand and have the session continued only for half an hour more.''

THEY DESERVE IT
Turkey won a victory yesterday in her struggle for going through the Euro 2000 Football Championship.

Turkey beat Finland 4-2 in Helsinki although she saw two goals in her nets in first 15 minutes of the first half.

CUMHURIYET (LEFT)

Ecevit said the Interior Ministry opened an investigation into the ''listening to telephone talks'' scandal, and Interior Minister Sadettin Tantan will reveal the real truth.

''ASSUME A FAIR ATTITUDE AGAINST TURKEY''
Evaluating the criticisms against Turkey at international platform during the process of capture of Abdullah Ocalan till his trial, Dr. Wulf Schonbohm, the Representative of Germany's one of the most important foundations, the Konrad Adenauer Foundation for Turkey, said Turkey has the right to expect more acceptance, respect and understanding within her problems.

RADIKAL (LEFT)

KING KERSEBLEPTES OF ODYRIS TO COME TO LIFE AGAIN
A king lived in Thrace thousands years ago, will regain his physical appearance with new technical opportunities. Prof. Dr. Ilter Uzel will overlay with fleshlike substance the skeleton of King Kersebleptes of Odyris who is thought to have lived 2,300 years ago.

King Kersebleptes will be displayed in Tekirdag Museum after being fleshed and dressed with his original cloths. King Kersebleptes who was found with two crowns symbolizing his kingship and priesthood; purple cloths and many rings in Harekattepe Tumulus in Tekirdag province, is thought to die at the age of 40 or 45 from blood-poisoning after suffering from an unknown disease for 10 years.

YENİ YÜZYIL (LIBERAL)

ONE SHOULD STOP THIS MASSACRE
Traffic accidents continued to claim lives at the weekend. Seven people were killed, and another one was injured in traffic accident that occured near Sivrihisar county of central Eskisehir province. In another traffic accident near Silivri, an automobile crashed with two lorries, killing five people.

TÜRKİYE (RIGHT)

Italian Prime Minister Massimo D'Alema did not deny this terrible fact. When reminded that PKK uses Italian made land mines, D'Alema said, ''Unfortunately, our industries sell weapons.''

EXPORT GLAD IN AUTOMOTIVE SECTOR
The exports from the Turkish automotive sector in the first five months of the year increased 38.9 percent to 988.2 million U.S. dollars. The Secretariat General of the Uludag Exporters' Unions said the exports of automobiles, which was 61 million 581 thousand U.S. dollars in the January- May 1998 period, rose to 240 million 739 thousand U.S. dollars in the same period this year.

ZAMAN (CONSERVATIVE)

[02] TURKEY-RUSSIA TRADE CENTER TO BE OPENED IN MOSCOW ON JUNE 23

The trade center will enable Turkish exporters to display their products from automotive to textile.

The center will be opened in the Cosmos Building in the VDNH that is the most distinguished exhibition area of Moscow.

The center is expected to further improve commercial relations between Turkey and Russia which were effected negatively from the global economic crisis.

Meanwhile communication offices within the structure of the trade center, will be opened in St. Petersburg, Rostov, and Kransodar in coming months.

The offices will carry on the marketing services for tourism sector in Turkey.

[03] PRIME MINISTER ECEVIT: - ''EU IS A BIG ORGANIZITION, BUT IT SEEMS TO HAVE SURRENDERED TO GREECE''

Speaking to journalists after 40-minute meeting, Ecevit said that the talks had focused on the latest developments both in Turkey and abroad.

Noting that he had informed President Demirel about the parliamentary works, and the constitutional change envisaging new arrangements in the structure of the State Security Courts (DGMs), Ecevit expressed hope over the constitutional change will be realized soon.

Referring to the European Union's Cologne Summit, Ecevit said, ''the EU is a big organization, but it seems to have surrendered to Greece.''

Ecevit added, ''It is a fact that the Cologne Summit could not meet our expectations. But we did not build high hopes on the issue. Although it was small, progress has been recorded on the issue of Turkey's candidacy. Germany, France, and Britain extended support to Turkey. But we could not receive the same support and understanding from several other EU countries. The EU is a big organization, but it seems to have surrendered to Greece. It is not clear whether several EU countries use Greece or Greece tries to use the EU against Turkey. This should be further evaluated.''

Prime Minister Ecevit told reporters that the issue of Kosovo crisis was also brought into agenda of the meeting.

Ecevit said, ''As everyone knows, Turkey has done her utmost to provide peace in Kosovo and in the Balkans. We also endeavoured to help those who were forced to leave their homes as a result of ethnic cleansing campaign in Kosovo. Everyone admits this fact. The latest developments in Kosovo are hopeful. We wish Kosovo to reach a lasting and fair peace as soon as possible.''

[04] NATO'S AIR OPERATION AGAINST YUGOSLAVIA - ALBANIAN PRESIDENT VISITS TURKISH HUMANITARIAN AID TEAM, AND RED CRESCENT'S ELBASAN CAMP

The General Staff Information Center issued a statement saying that according to the latest figures, there are 16,932 refugees in Turkey; 50 thousand in Serbia; 68,400 in Montenegro; 443,900 in Albania; 247,400 in Macedonia; 21,700 in Bosnia-Herzegovina, and 83,493 in other countries.

A total of 16,932 Kosovar refugees have entered Turkey from Istanbul, the Tekirdag-Corlu border gate, and from the Edirne-Kapikule border gate since the beginning of NATO air operation.

A total of 7,296 Kosovar refugees have been provided shelters in the Gaziosmanpasa Refugee Camp in Kirklareli province.

Turkey has provided shelters for more than 12 thousand Kosovar refugees in camps in Macedonia and Albania. Both camps have capacity to host 20 thousand refugees.

Red Crescent's convoy of five trucks carrying humanitarian aid worth of 120.5 billion Turkish Liras, is still waiting in Bulgaria due to a technical failure. The convoy is expected to leave for Macedonia later today.

Meanwhile, Albanian President Rexhep Mejdani, and a delegation formed by British and Turkish ambassadors to Albania, visited the Turkish Humanitarian Aid Team and the Red Crescent's Elbasan Refugee Camp later today.

[05] IMF SAYS ''BE TRANSPARENT''

The IMF sent the standards it determined regarding transparency in the financial system to the member countries.

Within this framework, several opinions and proposals, which will be essential principles of the Public Finance Administration Project supported by the World Bank, were also conveyed to Turkey. According to the IMF standards, establishment of a transparent financial structure is a prior and indispensable factor.

IMF said that the member countries should adopt financial transparency standards which are accepted in international field.

The IMF standards for a transparent financial structure are as follows:

''-Roles and responsibilites will be clear:

Thus clear definition of state organizations and definite separation of economy from other sectors can be provided. Thus this state's administrative and political authority and responsibilities can be revealed. The legal and administrative frame that the financial administration is dependent on, can be clearly underlined.

-Public opinion can easily reach information:

To provide this, the past, current and future information about public finance will be regularly announced to public. This situation will be also undertaken by the institutions responsible for economy.

-Clarity will be the principle in preparation, implementation and reportation of budget:

Within this framework, the financial policy targets, macroeconomic frame, budget policy and main financial risks should absolutely be included in the budget document. Similarly, the political analysis will be eased and accountability in the budget will be increased.

-Coherency of the system will be secured.''

IMF stressed that the state should set up an effective and disciplined structure which does not compensate from the financial principles.

The evaluation said that the establishment of the structure in question is the basic condition for a good administration.

Noting that productivity in public spendings will increase together with the financial transparency, IMF said that a reliance will be created in the market and the public borrowing can be realized with a less cost as a result of a transparent system.

Defending that transparency will conribute to removal of deviations in the economy, the IMF noted that tax privileges, fiscal activities and other non- budget transactions, which are all not transparent, contribute to financial instability.

Meanwhile, the officials at the Finance Ministry Directorate General of Accountancy said that they accelerated the activities for the establishment of a transparent financial structure within the framework of the Public Finance Administration Project.

[06] ILO CONFERENCE - TURKISH DELEGATION TO ADDRESS CONFERENCE THIS WEEK

Bulent Pirler, the Secretary General of the Confederation of Turkish Employers' Unions (TISK), will address the conference on Monday; Yasar Okuyan, the Minister of Labour and Social Security, will make a speech on June 8, and Bayram Meral, the Chairman of the Turkish Workers' Federation (Turk-Is) will address the conference on June 11.

The issue of ''Agreements on Protection of Child Labour and Motherhood'' is on the agenda of the 87th Conference which will continue till June 17 in Geneva.

The representatives of the Confederation of Revolutionary Workers' Unions (DISK) and the Hak-Is will participate in the conference as observers.

[07] DIRECTORATE GENERAL OF RURAL AFFAIRS TO START INVESTMENTS IN WESTERN BLACK SEA IN NEAR FUTURE WITH WORLD BANK LOAN

Like the State Water Works (DSI) and the Directorate General of Motorways, the Directorate General of Rural Affairs will start in near future its works to reconstruct motorways, bridges, and its other efforts.

The selection of the companies, which will undertake construction projects in Zonguldak, Kastamonu, Bartin and Karabuk provinces, and the surrounding counties and villages, will be made on Monday.

Important part of the financing of the infrastructural works, which are necessary for the Directorate General's ''Project on Urgent Reconstruction and Recovery'', will be met from the loan package obtained from the World Bank.

The infrastructural works were foreseen to be concluded within 180 or 330 days after selection of companies.

[08] DERIVATION CEREMONY AT BIRECIK DAM - ERSUMER, MINISTER OF ENERGY: ''TURKEY IS OBLIGED TO TAKE GIANT STEPS IN ENERGY''

Cumhur Ersumer attended the ceremony, which was held upon derivation of river bed in the Birecik Dam, and hydroelecteric power plant, Turkey's biggest dam and hydroelectric power plant constructed with the build- operate-transfer model.

Addressing the ceremony, Ersumer said Turkey's power can't be sufficient in such giant facilities, Ersumer said injecton of foreign capital into energy sector is an obligation.

Stressing that international fortification is the most important obstacle in front of the foreign capital, Ersumer said, ''some peope say thay they will overshadow Turkey's independence. If Turkey fails to realize international fortification by providing a constitutional change, then she can't reach these sources.''

Meanwhile, Farren Liter, the Austrian Economic Affairs Minister, said that Turkey has broad opportunities, and she is the center of attraction.

[09] ABKHAZIAN-GEORGIAN PEACE TALKS - ARDZINBA, HEAD OF STATE OF ABKHAZIA, AND ABKHAZIAN PREMIER BAGATSH ARRIVE IN TURKEY

Ardzinba and Bagatsh came to Turkey to attend the ''Abkhazian-Georgian Peace Talks'' which will continue in Istanbul till June 9 under supervision of a U.N. representative.

Foreign Minister Ismail Cem will address the opening remarks of the talks, which will be held between June 7 and 9 to contribute to solution of Abkhazia issue within the framework of the Geneva process under the supervision of the U.N.

The representatives of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), and the U.S., Germany, Britain, France and Russia are expected to attend the talks.

A.A

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