Anadolu Agency: News in English, 00-09-02

Anadolu Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article

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

ANADOLU AGENCY

NEWS

02

SEPTEMBER 2000 Saturday

CONTENTS

[01] TURKEY-PRESS SCAN

[02] FIRE AT CORUM PRISON

[03] TURKISH WEEK IN HUNGARY

[04] MINISTER OF CULTURE TALAY LEAVES FOR ROME

[05] YEMENI TRADE MINISTER KUMAIM IN TURKEY ON MONDAY

[06] PARLIAMENT SPEAKER AKBULUT: ''WE DON'T APPROVE ATTITUDE OF BELGIUM REGARDING FEHRIYE ERDAL ISSUE''

[07] FOREST FIRE IN KESAN TAKEN UNDER CONTROL

[08] MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE GOKALP TO LEAVE FOR HUNGARY ON SUNDAY

[09] GAP EXPORTS AGRICULTURAL AND ANIMAL PRODUCTS WORTH OF 310,3 MILLION DOLLARS TO 93 COUNTRIES

[10] STATE MINISTER KECECILER IN ADANA: ''WHEN BAKU-TBILISI-CEYHAN PIPELINE STARTS TO FUNCTION, ADANA WILL BE ONE OF THE OIL TRADE CENTRES OF THE MIDDLE EAST''

[11] FOREIGN TRADE UNDERSECRETARY TUZMEN: ''TURKEY STANDS ON ITS FEET IN EXPORT MARKETS WITH ITS QUALITY''

[12] IMF-TURKEY MEETINGS TO LAST LONGER THIS TIME

[13] PRIME MINISTER ECEVIT GETS INFORMATION ABOUT VILLAGE-CITY PROJECT IN CAVDAR VILLAGE

[14] CLINTON-SEZER MEETING -CLINTON TO MEET WITH FEW LEADERS DURING U.N. MILLENNIUM SUMMIT

[15] 58 ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS CAPTURED IN BUYUKCEKMECE

[16] SUPPORT TO BAKU-CEYHAN PROJECT -ONE BARREL OF OIL BROUGHT TO BOTAS INSTALLATIONS IN CEYHAN

[17] TURKEY-GERMANY ECONOMY SYMPOSIUM HELD

[18] NICK RAYNSFORD, BRITISH SECRETARY TO VISIT TURKEY BETWEEN 9-13 SEPT

[01] TURKEY-PRESS SCAN

HURRIYET (LIBERAL)

CEM:CYPRUS AND AEGEAN CAN'T BE ISSUE OF BARGAINING
Foreign Minister Ismail Cem sent letters to the foreign ministers of 15 European Union (EU) countries, saying that ''Cyprus and Aegean can't be considered as issues of bargaining.''

MILLIYET (LIBERAL)

ARTICLE 7 FOR GULEN
Nuh Mete Yuksel, the Chief Prosecutor of the Ankara State Security Court (DGM) carries out the investigation about Fethullah Gulen, a sect leader according to Article 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Law. A total of 1633 institutions which are in connection with the sect can be closed and trillion liras of good can be seized within the scope of the investigation.

SABAH (LIBERAL)

BELGIAN GOVERNMENT'S DECISION
The Belgian government decided to try Fehriye Erdal, one of the suspects of Ozdemir Sabancı killing for carrying unregistered gun and for entering Belgium illegally. A house will be allocated for Erdal in Belgium and a suit against her will be filed.

CUMHURIYET (LEFT)

POLICE INTERVENTION IN SEPTEMBER 1 ACTIVITIES
Police intervened in the demonstrations that were held in Diyarbakır, Konya, Malatya and Van provinces upon the ''Peace Day.'' Ten people were injured, one of them seriously, and many people were taken into custody. The activities that were planned to be staged in Diyarbakır and Antalya upon ''Peace Day,'' were prevented due to security reason.

RADIKAL (LEFT)

450 HECTARES FOREST BURN
A total of 450 hectares of forest lands burnt in the fires that broke out in Kesan townships of north-western Edirne and Canakkale provinces. Officials said that the fire also affected 8,000 hectares of forest lands.

YENİ BİNYIL (LIBERAL)

RECORD IN CURRENT ACCOUNT DEFECIT
The current account deficit in the first half of 2000 increased by 53 folds compared to the same period last year. It increased from 103 million dollars to 5.5 billion dollars. The increase in imports seems to be the main reason of that.

TURKIYE (RIGHT)

GULEN TO BE TRIED AT ANKARA DGM NO. 2
Fethullah Gulen will be tried at Ankara State Security Court (DGM) No. 2 as a suit was filed against him. The prosecutor requests heavy imprisonment up to 10 years for Gulen, a sect leader.

ZAMAN (CONSERVATIVE)

120,000 PEOPLE APPLY TO GO TO MECCA FOR PILGRIMAGE
A total of 120,000 people applied to the Religious Affairs to go to Mecca, Saudi Arabia for Pilgrimage. This is a record in the number of the citizens who want to go to Pilgrimage. Last year the number was 80,000.

[02] FIRE AT CORUM PRISON

Prison officials said that the fire was started by the children in the ward, adding the fire was taken under control in two hours. Properties of the prisoners, 20 beds and 20 wardrobes burnt in the fire.

Acting Governor of Corum Ahmet Arabacı said that the children started the fire and the incident didn't have any political dimension.

[03] TURKISH WEEK IN HUNGARY

The Ministry of Culture said in a written statement on Saturday that Kutahya, which is the sister city of Pecs, which is in the borders of Baranya county, will participate in the ''Turkish Week'' celebrations with a 36-member team.

Istemihan Talay, the Minister of Culture said that he is very happy about the ''Turkish Week'' in Hungary, adding such kind of activities is an important step in improvement of the bilateral cultural relations between the two countries.

[04] MINISTER OF CULTURE TALAY LEAVES FOR ROME

Speaking at Ataturk Airport, Talay said that the Pope John XXIII, who worked in Turkey as the representative of Vatikan between the years 1935- 1944 had very close relations with all the statesmen and the Turkish nation.

Talay said that they will participate in the ceremony with a delegation from the Ministry, adding that ''Pope John XXIII talked very nicely about the Turkish people in the world saying that he was a friend of Turks. When he was the Pope, the then President Celal Bayar had visited him. We always regarded Pope John XXIII as one of us.''

Talay noted that a seminar will be staged in Istanbul in December 2000 which will tell the life of Pope John XXIII and the leading names of the Christian world will be invited to that.

Talay said that he will meet with Pope John Paul II and Vatican Prime Minister Sodano in Vatican, adding that he will give the book the Ministry of Culture prepared for Pope John XXIII to Pope John Paul II. Talay said he will invite Pope John Paul II to Turkey to further improve the good relations with Vatican.

''The visit of Pope John Paul II to a country whose citizens are mainly Moslem upon the Belief Year will contribute to the interreligious dialogue, '' Talay added.

Imren Aykut, a former minister; Rıdvan Cakır, deputy head of Religious Affairs; Mustafa Sarıgul, Sisli mayor and Vasken Bartın, Deputy Mayor of Sisli district of Istanbul accompany Talay in his visit.

[05] YEMENI TRADE MINISTER KUMAIM IN TURKEY ON MONDAY

The Yemeni Minister who will come to Turkey as the guest of State Minister Ramazan Mirzaoglu.

The Joint Committee meeting will start on September 5.

The guest Minister will also meet with National Education Minister Metin Bostancıoglu, State Minister Recep Onal, Health Minister Osman Durmus and Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Cumhur Ersumer.

The Yemeni delegation will leave Turkey on Sept 8.

[06] PARLIAMENT SPEAKER AKBULUT: ''WE DON'T APPROVE ATTITUDE OF BELGIUM REGARDING FEHRIYE ERDAL ISSUE''

''I told this to Belgian Parliament Speaker,'' Akbulut said in New York.

Following the U.N. Parliament Speakers meeting, Akbulut met with Belgium and Croatian Parliament Speakers namely Herman de Croo and Zlatko Tomcic.

Speaking in a press briefing he held for Turkish journalists, Akbulut said that ''we can't approve the free movement of a person who was involved in a murder and there can't be any legal justification for that. There can also be no legal justification for Belgium's not extraditing Erdal to Turkey. I told this clearly to the Belgian Parliament Speaker.''

Akbulut said that the Belgian Parliament Speaker reminded about the death penalty in Turkey for not extraditing Erdal, adding ''there is death penalty in Turkey, but the whole world knows that it is not executed in Turkey for 18 years. Besides there is a study going on in Turkey to abolish the deatüh penalty.''

Akbulut said he told Herman de Croo, the Belgian Parliament Speaker that Turkey expects sincerity from the EU countries while it wants to join the EU, pointing out that ''I told him that Italy extradited Agca and France extradited Cakıcı to Turkey and added that Erdal should be extradited to Turkey as soon as possible.''

''I think the Belgian Parliament Speaker is not also pleased with the thing they did,'' Akbulut noted.

Akbulut who will proceed to Cleveland on Monday, will have a check-up in Cleveland Clinic. Akbulut also told the press members that he had a heart surgery in 1993.

[07] FOREST FIRE IN KESAN TAKEN UNDER CONTROL

Forestry Ministry said in a written statement that the efforts to extinguish the fire continue, adding the fire has been effective in a land of 500 hectares.

Five workers who were poisoned by smoke were hospitalized. Their condition is fine.

Meanwhile the fire which broke out in Akcalı region of northwestern Canakkale province was taken under control in a field of 65 hectares and cooling efforts continue.

The statement noted that the burnt forest lands will be afforested within this year.

[08] MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE GOKALP TO LEAVE FOR HUNGARY ON SUNDAY

Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs said on Saturday that Gokalp will go to Hungary as the guest of Hungarian Minister of Agriculture and Regional Development Jozref Torgyan.

Gokalp will visit the 73th National Agriculture and Food Fair that is staged in Budapest.

During his visit, agreements foreseeing cooperation between the two countries in the fields of veterinary and plants will be signed.

Minister Gokalp will proceed to the Czech Republic on September 6.

[09] GAP EXPORTS AGRICULTURAL AND ANIMAL PRODUCTS WORTH OF 310,3 MILLION DOLLARS TO 93 COUNTRIES

The exports to 93 countries and 5 free trade zones were 305,9 million dollars in the same period last year.

Iraq, Italy and Syria were the countires to which GAP exported most of its products.

GAP region exported goods to Europe worth of 109,1 million dollars, the Middle East followed it with 77,8 million dollars, American continent countries followed them with 16,3 million dollars, the Turkish Republics followed them with 20,6 million dollars, the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) with 4,5 million dollars, Africa with 7,4 million dollars, Asia with 2,5 million dollars and other countries and free zones with 71,8 million dollars.

[10] STATE MINISTER KECECILER IN ADANA: ''WHEN BAKU-TBILISI-CEYHAN PIPELINE STARTS TO FUNCTION, ADANA WILL BE ONE OF THE OIL TRADE CENTRES OF THE MIDDLE EAST''

''Oil prices have to decrease, we attribute great importance to Baku- Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline in that respect. When the pipeline strats to operate, the status of Turkey will be very different,'' said Kececiler.

Kececiler welcomed the same day the motorbike group which brought the first oil barrel from Baku to Ceyhan symbolically.

The motorbike group which set out from Azerbaijan on August 22 came to Ceyhan township of southern Adana province.

The group headed by the American journalist Thomas Caufield Goltz is composed of eight Americans, six British, five Azerbaijanis, three Georgians, one Turk, one Norweigan, one Swiss and one German. They will give the barrel full of 159 litres of crude oil to officials in a ceremony in Yumurtalık, Adana.

Each motorcyclist represents one firm which has a share in the international consortium AIOC.

[11] FOREIGN TRADE UNDERSECRETARY TUZMEN: ''TURKEY STANDS ON ITS FEET IN EXPORT MARKETS WITH ITS QUALITY''

Responding to questions of A.A about the foreign trade defecit, Tuzmen said that when the mineral fuel and oil products are not taken into consideration, it is seen that the imports of this year are 4 percent lower than the imports in 1998 and the exports are 4,5 percent higher.

Tuzmen said that Turkey exported many goods to Iran, Syria and Iraq, however their value is not that much as these markets have been ignored for years.

Europe is the most important market for Turkey, he said noting that the imports are mainly undertaken in dollar, but the exports are carried out in Mark and EURO and this causes a great difficulty.

Tuzmen stressed that the oil products increased three folds in the last 18 months, adding that ''this is our bad luck.''

Tuzmen said that they expect 28 billion dollars of exports and 48 billion dollars of imports at the end of 2000.

[12] IMF-TURKEY MEETINGS TO LAST LONGER THIS TIME

Officials told A.A on Saturday that as the 2001 budget figures are not definite yet and as the meetings with the IMF will also continue after 12 September, the preparation of the Additional Letter of Intent will also continue in September.

Officials said that the third visit of the IMF to review the economic practices of Turkey is busy, adding that the 2001 year budget which will determine the macro economic programme is important and the budget has to become definite first.

The general principles are taken up in the meetings with IMF that will last till September 12, said officials adding that time is not sufficient to carry out detailed studies.

Officials noted that the meetings with IMF will also continue between 19-28 September in Prague, the capital of Czech Republic.

Following the approval of the Additional Letter of Intent by the IMF Executive Directors, nearly 300 million dollars part of the Stand-by credit will be given to Turkey.

[13] PRIME MINISTER ECEVIT GETS INFORMATION ABOUT VILLAGE-CITY PROJECT IN CAVDAR VILLAGE

Prime Ministry Undersecretary Selcuk Polat gave information to Ecevit about the project. Polat said that the project started on July 15, 2000 upon the instruction of Ecevit and Interior Minister Saadettin Tantan for preparation of such a project.

The project was submitted to the Prime Minister on August 21. The project aims at increasing the socio-economic life standarts, improving infra and supra structural services and making the population productive in Cavdar village and nine other villages.

[14] CLINTON-SEZER MEETING -CLINTON TO MEET WITH FEW LEADERS DURING U.N. MILLENNIUM SUMMIT

Diplomatic sources said on Saturday that the meeting of Clinton with President Ahmet Necdet Sezer shows the importance Clinton attributes to Turkey and the new President. Same sources said that Clinton will meet with 5-6 leaders including Sezer.

The attempts of bringing the bill on the socalled genocide on Armenians to the agenda of the U.S. House of Representatives, Turkish-Greek relations and the Cyprus issue come among the most important topics that are expected be taken up at Clinton-Sezer meeting.

President Sezer can tell Clinton that the adoption of the bill on the socalled genocide on Armenians will damage the Turkey-U.S. relations.

Sezer can also request from U.S. to extend financial support for Baku- Ceyhan pipeline. Another topic can be the helicopter project.

The American Bell helicopter firm had won the attack helicopter tender put out by Turkey. Meetings between the firm and Turkish officials will start at the end of this month and the U.S. President Clinton supports the project.

If the whole project is undertaken, totally 145 helicopters will be produced. The total cost of the project is 4 billion dollars. However the U.S. has to give export licence to the helicopter firm and the approval of the Departments of State and Defense and the Congress are also important.

The two leaders are also expected to take up the situation in Iraq and the Balkans.

The meeting between Sezer and Clinton has been planned to last half an hour on September 7 Thursday at the U.S. Permanent Representation to the U.N.

[15] 58 ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS CAPTURED IN BUYUKCEKMECE

Acting on a tip-off, gendarme teams captured 58 Iraqi and Palestinian people who hid in a shelter in Kavaklı hamlet.

The immigrants told the gendarme that they entered Turkey from Syrian border six months ago and wanted to go to Italy by ship to work there.

Gendarme teams said that they will deport the 58 foreigners.

[16] SUPPORT TO BAKU-CEYHAN PROJECT -ONE BARREL OF OIL BROUGHT TO BOTAS INSTALLATIONS IN CEYHAN

Speaking in the ceremony, Kemal Nehrozoglu, the Secretary General of the Presidential Office said that Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline project is the most important project of the 20th century to which Turkey attributes great importance.

''You brought one barrel of oil, we are here to bring the oil from now on, '' he said, adding that the Caucasusian and Central Asian countries are friendly countries.

State Minister Mehmet Kececiler said in his part that the oil prices of today are not just, adding the three fold increase in the price of oil in the last one year won't bring peace and happiness to the world economy.

The government launchs great efforts for the realization of this project, Kececiler noted.

Gokhan Yıldırım, the General Director of BOTAS (Pipeline Transportation Inc.) said that they signed an agreement worth of one million dollars with PLE firm to start constructing the pipeline before winter sets in.

Yardım said that Turkey has the position of undertaking leadership in the energy projects that are planned for the region as being the energy bridge and terminal of the future.

The Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan project is the most important step of the East-West transportation corridor planned to connect Southern Caucasus and Central Asia to Turkey and the Mediterranean, he stressed.

Turkish Petroleum INC. (TPAO) Director General Osman Demirag said that the pipeline is the safest route, adding they plan to join the Baku-Ceyhan project with 300 million dollars of investment.

Mehmet Aliyev, the Azerbaijani Ambassador to Turkey said that the project is very important for the Turkish world and all the oil of the region will be transported to Ceyhan in 2004.

Thomas Goldz, the leader of the motorbike group which brought to oil barrel said that they didn't face with any difficulty during their trip, adding ''we brought one barrel, but it is your mission to bring the remaining.''

[17] TURKEY-GERMANY ECONOMY SYMPOSIUM HELD

Turkish Research Centre (TAM) and the German Kondrad Adenauer Foundation organized the symposium in which Turkish and German economy circles showed great interest.

Faruk Sen, the TAM Director said that 55,200 Turkish enterpreneurs contributed to the German economy in 1999, adding this stems from the equal treatment of foreign enterpreneurs with German businessmen particularly in North Rhine Westphalia state of Germany where many Turks live.

Wulf Schonbohm, the Representative of Konrad Adenauer Foundation to Turkey said that he has been living in Ankara for 3,6 years and he was impressed by the potential of the Turkish enterprise.

[18] NICK RAYNSFORD, BRITISH SECRETARY TO VISIT TURKEY BETWEEN 9-13 SEPT

Nick Raynsford will visit Yalova, Ankara and Antalya provinces between 9-13 September. He will attend a meeting in which the British government will explain the results of its efforts for reconstruction of quake-hit Yalova. Raynsford will also have contacts about the regional development issue.

Britain-Turkey 2000 activities will also be staged on the same dates by the sponsorship of the British Council, British Embassy and Trade Partners UK.

Anadolu Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article