Anadolu Agency: News in English, 00-09-10

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ANADOLU AGENCY

NEWS

10 SEPTEMBER 2000 Sunday

CONTENTS

[01] TURKEY-PRESS SCAN

[02] PRESIDENT SEZER RETURNS TO TURKEY (1)

[03] TRNC PRESIDENT DENKTAS ARRIVES IN NEW YORK

[04] NATO'S SEARCH AND RESCUE MANEUVER CONTINUES IN MERSIN GULF

[05] TRNC PRESIDENT DENKTAS' STATEMENT TO A.A

[06] CENTRASBAT-2000 MILITARY EXERCISE -TURKISH TROOP LEAVE FOR KAZAKSTAN

[07] NUMBER OF MOTOR VEHICLES EXCEEDS 6.8 MILLION

[08] STATE MINISTER ONAL: ''2001 YEAR BUDGET FIGURES MAY BE LOWER THAN THE 2000 YEAR BUDGET FIGURES''

[09] SECOND GOLDEN HORN WORLD UNIVERSITIES FOLK DANCES COMPETITION

[10] STATE MINISTER ONAL: ''TAX RETURN IS A VESTED RIGHT. IT WILL BE REPAID IN 2001''

[11] NUMBER OF EXPORTER AND IMPORTER COMPANIES INCREASES AS OF FIRST FOUR MONTHS OF 2000

[12] MODERNIZATION OF RAILWAYS -23 RAILWAY ENGINES TO BE PURCHASED FOR ANKARA-ISTANBUL LINE

[13] PARLIAMENT SPEAKER AKBULUT LEAVES FOR CROATIA

[14] SECOND ECONOMY SUMMIT (1) -STATE MINISTER TOSKAY: ''EXPORTATION IS EXPERIENCING ITS MOST CRITICAL PERIOD''

[15] HEALTH MINISTER DURMUS LEAVES FOR DENMARK

[16] FIRST OF FIVE AMERICAN COUPLES DUE IN TURKEY

[17] SECOND ECONOMY SUMMIT (2) -STATE MINISTER ONAL: ''AT LEAST 5.5 PERCENT GROWTH IS FORESEEN IN ECONOMY IN 2000''

[18] NATO MILITARY COMMITTEE MEETING -GENERAL KIVRIKOGLU, CHIEF OF GENERAL STAFF, IN ATHENS

[19] SECOND ECONOMY SUMMIT (3) -LABOR AND SOCIAL SECURITY MINISTER OKUYAN: ''SSK WILL EITHER RECEIVE LESS FINANCING SUPPORT FROM TREASURY OR BALANCE ITS EXPENSES AND INCOME IN SEPTEMBER''

[20] RAYNSFORD, BRITISH MINISTER OF STATE FOR PUBLIC WORKS AND HOUSING, IN YALOVA

[21] SECOND ECONOMY SUMMIT (4) -TOBB CHAIRMAN MIRAS: ''ECONOMIC CIRCLES SHOULD GIVE THE MESSAGE THAT THEY SUPPORT THE STABILITY PROGRAM IN ORDER TO DECREASE INFLATION''

[22] CENTRASBAT-2000 MILITARY EXERCISE STARTS

[23] SECOND ECONOMY SUMMIT (5) -TREASURY UNDERSECRETARY DEMIRALP: ''THE PRIMARY BUDGET SURPLUS WAS 5 QUADRILLION TURKISH LIRAS AS OF END-JULY''

[01] TURKEY-PRESS SCAN

HURRIYET (LIBERAL)

TOBB SENDS LETTER TO BELGIUM ABOUT FEHRIYE ERDAL
The Union of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Maritime Trade and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey (TOBB) Chairman Fuat Miras criticized Belgium's attitude towards Fehriye Erdal, one of the suspects of assasination of businessman Ozdemir Sabanci, saying, ''despite the convention on struggle against terrorism, we believe that the patronizing attitude towards terrorists will support terrorism.'' Miras sent a letter to Federation of Belgian National Chambers of Commerce and Trade Chairman Guido Peleman, saying that Belgian's indulgent attitude towards Erdal deeply upset the Turkish business circle.

MILLIYET (LIBERAL)

KUTAN: ''THE MOST SERIOUS ISSUE IS ECONOMY''
Recai Kutan, the leader of the Virtue Party (FP), said, ''fundamentalism is not the most serious issue of Turkey. I think Turkey's most serious issue is economic difficulties.''

SABAH (LIBERAL)

TURANLI OF TURKEY WINS GOLD MEDAL
IN 26TH BALKANS YOUTH CHAMPIONSHIPS
Tufan Turanli of Turkey won gold medal at the 26th Balkan Youth Championships in Kastoria, Greece. In men's 2,000-meter single sculls, Tufan Turanli left behind his Yugoslavian, Greek, Romanian, Bulgarian and Macedonia opponents. Tufanli finished the course in 7 minutes 30 seconds. In men's double sculls, Akin Saatci and Osman Evrensen on Turkey won silver medal.

CUMHURIYET (LEFT)

''SAUDI DESTRUCTION'' IN BALKANS
Chamber of Architects Chairman Oktay Ekinci applied to the Foreign Ministry and the State Ministry in charge of Culture and Foundations to stop works of the Saudi aid teams which destroy the Ottoman buildings which suffered damage in the war in Kosovo with the pretext of ''repair'' and construct buildings which ''symbolize Arab culture'' instead of those Ottoman buildings.

PREPARATION FOR BAZOOKA ATTACK
The Tarzans operation revealed that Tarzans gang leader Iskender Gurler who was killed by the Smurfs gang was in connection with Abdullah Catli who was killed in the traffic accident in Susurluk and True Path Party (DYP) deputy Sedat Bucak. Mehmet Bilir, the former Mayor of Kirikhan from the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) who shielded Catli for some time was detained. Turgay Gurler, the brother of the Iskender Gurler became the head of the Tarzans gang and prepared a plan to kill Smurfs gang leader Mehmet Sirin Aksoy and his brother Ali Aksoy with bazooka attack. Aksoy brothers are currently in prison. A police officer who was involved in the Tarzans gang's illegal actions was dismissed.

RADIKAL (LEFT)

Chiefs of General Staff of 19 NATO allies will participate in the meetings. The main issue on the agenda of the Military Committee meetings would be evaluation of the situation in the Balkans, and the participants would also exchange opinion on NATO's force plans, sources said.

YENI BINYIL (LIBERAL)

BRITISH SUPPORT TO RECONSTRUCTION OF YALOVA
Public Works and Housing Minister Koray Aydin said that the master plan prepared by Britain for quake-stricken Yalova province would undertake an important role in reconstruction of this province. The memorandum of understanding on Reconstruction Implementation Plan for Yalova was signed by Aydin and Nick Raynsford, the Biritish Minister of State for Public Works and Housing. Aydin said that Britain showed great sensitivities to rehabilitation of the quake-stricken region, and prepared a master plan for Yalova within this framework. He added that the estimated cost of the master plan would be 850 million U.S. dollars.

TURKIYE (RIGHT)

BALIKESIR AROUSED
Aftershocks occurred yesterday following the 4.6-magnitude earthquake in Savastepe township of Balikesir on Friday. Some of the residents spent the night in the streets.

TAX RETURN CONTINUES
Treasury Undersecretary Selcuk Demiralp said that the news which was published two days ago saying, ''the IMF does not want payment of tax return'' was not true. ''At this stage, such a thing is out of question,'' he said.

ZAMAN (CONSERVATIVE)

[02] PRESIDENT SEZER RETURNS TO TURKEY (1)

Yildirim Akbulut, the Speaker of Parliament, and Yahya Gur, the Governor of Ankara, welcomed President Sezer at the Esenboga Airbort.

President Sezer had held bilateral talks during the United Nations Summit with more than 20 heads of state and government including U.S. President Bill Clinton, President Jacques Chirac of France, President Vladimir Putin of Russian Federation and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder. He had also met with Kofi Annan, the Secretary General of the United Nations.

President Ahmet Necdet Sezer said on Sunday, ''in my speech which I delivered at the United Nations General Assembly, I pointed out that I considered the trust in people's will and the respect for law as important values. I also stressed that the state of law could only be made dominant with these values.''

President Sezer staged a press conference at the Esenboga Airport in Ankara after his arrival from New York, the U.S., where he attended the United Nations Millennium Summit.

Addressing the press conference, President Sezer said, ''in my speech which I delivered at the United Nations General Assembly, I pointed out that globalization promised new opportunities for the humanity, but we should display careful attention not to make the rich richer and the poor poorer. I also pointed out that I considered the trust in people's will and the respect for law as important values, because the state of law could only be made dominant with these values.''

Sezer told reporters, ''I said that we should make civil society play a more important role in protecting democracy against all extremist movements and fanaticism, and enlarging democracy's limits. I noted that democratization and economic development were parallel processes. I stressed that we should prioritize education of the youth.''

''In my speech, I emphasized that the United Nations should be further strengthened in regard to provide economic and social aid, and to prevent and stop clashes,'' said.

Recalling that he had also attended a round table meeting within framework of the United Nations Millennium Summit, President Sezer said, ''in my speech which I delivered at the round table meeting, I emphasized that we should subject the United Nations to a reform that will make it more transparent, and equip it with means that are necessary to protect peace and stability. I said that we needed a developed organization to overcome all difficulties. I noted that poverty was the main reason of instability in the international community. I underlined importance of allocating more sources to social and economic programs, and supporting developing countries' efforts.''

''I stressed that the most influential method against threats against security was to strengthen basis of democracy. I said that supremacy of law, improvement of human rights, transparency in administration and independent jurisdiction were indispensable elements of this strategy,'' he said.

President Sezer said, ''the declaration which was signed by participating heads of state and government at the end of the summit envisaged to prioritize the issues of peace, security, disarmament, development and eradication of poverty, protection of environment, human rights, democrasy, protection of the poor and strengthening the United Nations.''

Recalling that he had held bilateral talks with heads of state and government of 24 countries, President Sezer said, ''I had the opportunity of laying foundation of future cooperation relations by meeting with these leaders. The talks were very useful in regard to taking up bilateral issues and exchanging opinions on regional problems. I am very pleased with coming together with the Turkish people living in the U.S. who make a valuable contribution to promotion of Turkey. Also I met with representatives of the Jewish community in the U.S.''

[03] TRNC PRESIDENT DENKTAS ARRIVES IN NEW YORK

The fourth round talks will start on September 12, and are expected to continue till the first week of October.

U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan at a press conference on last Tuesday, gave the signal for the probability of the start of talks on the essence of the Cyprus issue, and said that they had encouraged the sides to this end.

Annan also stated that it was the time to hold talks on the essence of the issue.

TRNC President Denktas had made a statement in Lefkosa, stressing that they had not reached that level yet.

With this respect, the fourth round of talks are expected to be held in an intractable atmpsphere.

Denktas is expected to hold a meeting with Foreign Minister Ismail Cem in New York on Monday.

Sources said that Ismail Cem would meet with U.N. Secretary General's Special Representative to Cyprus Alvaro de Soto the same day, explaining the Turkish side's opinion once again.

[04] NATO'S SEARCH AND RESCUE MANEUVER CONTINUES IN MERSIN GULF

The Turkish Naval Forces is hosting the training exercise.

NATO Allied Press Information Center (APIC) said on Saturday that the maneuver which had been cancelled on Thursday due to bad weather conditions continued the same day.

In Saturday's stage, the rescue of the personnel of a sunk submarine was exercised under the conduct and command of Captain Ibrahim Aydin from the Turkish Naval Forces.

TCG Gemlik Frigate, TCG Hizirreis, TCG Sakarya and TCG Anafartalar submarines, TCG Yildiz assault boat, TCG Akin Rescue Ship, TCG Kemer submarine survey ship, TCG Isin rescue ship and four coast guard boats participated in the rescue exercise.

ITS Anteo rescue ship and ITS Prini submarine of Italy also participated in the stage.

The USS Dallas submarine couldn't attend the exercise stage due to a technical failure in its power system.

[05] TRNC PRESIDENT DENKTAS' STATEMENT TO A.A

Responding to questions of the A.A correspondent, President Denktas who came to New York to attend the fourth round of proximity talks, referred to statement of Glafcos Clerides, the leader of Greek Cypriot administration, who claimed that the United Nations Security Council would become a part of the process in case of a failure at the proximity talks.

Denktas said, ''the United Nations Security Council has to listen to us. If it takes a decision not to recognize our existence, we will not recognize this decision as we did not recognize previous ones. If the Security Council becomes a part of the process, a decision which accepts facts on the island will be taken instead of a decision which accuses us as Clerides hoped.

Stressing that the atmosphere was not ready yet for face-to-face talks, President Denktas noted, ''we announced that we would not escape from the comprehensive negotiations by submitting a 30-page document to the United Nations. This document explains our opinions in detail. The United Nations cannot have a hesitation about the Turkish Cypriot side's desire.''

He emphasized, ''I hold a face-to-face talk with Clerides if the TRNC is recognized and if the Greek Cypriot side accepts that it is not the government of the Turkish Cypriot side. The Greek Cypriots are trying to deceive the world. The United Nations should put pressure on the Greek Cypriot side instead of putting pressure on us.''

When asked, ''what will happen if Al Gore, the presidential candidate of the Democrat Party, wins the elections in November and Richard Holbrooke, the Permament Representative of the U.S. to the United Nations, is appointed as the secretary of state?'' President Denktas said, ''I do not want to talk about probabilities. But if Holbrooke is appointed as the secretary of state, he will evaluate relations between Turkey and the U.S. in a better way. And he will see the fact that relations do not pave the way to give Cyprus to the Greek Cypriots as a gift. Holbrooke is a well- experienced and reliable diplomat. He well-knows that the Turkish Cypriots would never give up their independence and state. Therefore, we are not concerned about the issue.''

[06] CENTRASBAT-2000 MILITARY EXERCISE -TURKISH TROOP LEAVE FOR KAZAKSTAN

The Centrasbat-2000 will be exercised within framework of the NATO- Partnership for Peace exercises.

The troop is composed of 11 officers, 8 non-commissioned officers and 15 privates.

NATO allies Turkey, the U.S. and Britain, and Partnership for Peace members Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Uzbekistan, Russia and Ukraine will participate in multi-national military exercise.

The Turkish troop will return to Turkey on September 34.

[07] NUMBER OF MOTOR VEHICLES EXCEEDS 6.8 MILLION

Motor vehicles in Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir account for 36.7 percent of total number of vehicles in Turkey.

According to the data of the State Institute of Statistics (DIE), there are 1 million 253 thousand 161 motor vehicles in Istanbul, 754 thousand 927 those in Ankara and 488 thousand 7 those in Izmir.

In Istanbul, there are 981 thousand 117 automobiles, 18 thousand 874 minibuses, 20 thousand 26 buses, 139 thousand 632 small trucks and 30 thousand 340 trucks.

In Ankara, there are 599 thousand 85 automobiles, 13 thousand 3 minibuses, 12 thousand 369 buses, 68 thousand 667 small trucks and 28 thousand 400 trucks.

In Izmir, there are 314 thousand 351 automobiles, 9 khousand 255 minibuses, 8 thousand 901 buses, 62 thousand 33 small trucks and 17 thousand 150 trucks.

Automobiles take the first place with 61.5 percent among all motor vehicles.

[08] STATE MINISTER ONAL: ''2001 YEAR BUDGET FIGURES MAY BE LOWER THAN THE 2000 YEAR BUDGET FIGURES''

Speaking to the A.A correspondent, Onal said that the Financial Sector Adjustment Loan (FSAL) that would be extended to Turkey by the World Bank should be in October in accordance with the meeting schedule of the World Bank.

''When a World Bank delegation has visited us recently, I told them that we wanted to immediately legalize the KHK on public banks and they were pelased with that. However, we couldn't fulfil this due to political developments. If we had legalized the decree in question immediately, we would have signed the 750 million U.S. dollars FSAL together with Wolfensohn in Prague. However, the draft law on granting three public banks autonomous structure will be legalized in coming days. The FSAL will be presented to the World Bank Executive Board in October,'' he said.

Onal said that there was a target for a non-interest surplus in question for the 2001 year budget, and the expenses would be cut in the most possible way and any real expenditure wouldn't be increased to this end.

Stressing that there would be a decrease in interest expenditures in 2001, Onal said that the 2001 year budget amount could be lower than the 2001 year budget figures.

[09] SECOND GOLDEN HORN WORLD UNIVERSITIES FOLK DANCES COMPETITION

Azerbaijani, Bulgarian, Palestinian, Turkish Cypriot, Lithuanian, Egyptian, Hungarian, Macedonian and Jordanian folk dances groups participated in the competition.

Folk dances groups of the Khazar University of Azerbaijan, the South-West University of Bulgaria, the Bet Lehem University of PalEstine, the Near- East University of Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), the Vilnius University of Lithuania, the Debrecen Agricultural Sciences University of Hungary, the St. Kliment Ohridski University of Macedonia, the Ainshams University of Egypt, the Yarmouk University of Jordan, and Gazi, Harran, Akdeniz and Uludag universities of Turkey performed folk dances of their countries.

Bulgaria and Turkey came on the first place in the style branch of the competition while Egypt came on the second place and Lithuania came on the third place.

In the authentic branch of the competition, Lithuania came on the first place while Turkey and Hungary came on the second place and Bulgaria came on the third place.

The TRNC won the ''Best Costume Award'', Jordan won the ''Best Music Award'', and Palestine won the ''Most Attractive Group Award''

Meanwhile, Azerbaijan was presented the Jury Special Award.

[10] STATE MINISTER ONAL: ''TAX RETURN IS A VESTED RIGHT. IT WILL BE REPAID IN 2001''

Speaking to reporters prior to the Second Economy Summit in southern Antalya province, Onal said that there was not any problem in payment of tax return in 2001, and the future of this implementation would become clear after several works.

Responding to a question, Onal said that luxury consumption tax could be considered in order to decrease the consumption. ''If luxury consumption tax is possible, it will be beneficial to legalize it in October.''

[11] NUMBER OF EXPORTER AND IMPORTER COMPANIES INCREASES AS OF FIRST FOUR MONTHS OF 2000

According to the Foreign Trade Undersecretariat (DTM) data, the number of importer companies increased to 25,948, and the number of exporter companies rose to 16,233 in the January-April period of 2000.

The number of the importer companies was 24,234 and the number of exporter companies was 15,777 in the same period of 1999.

The total exports in the first four months of 2000 increased 2.4 percent to 8 billion 636 million 776 thousand U.S. dollars. The total amount of exports in the same period of 1999 was 8 billion 433 million 37 thousand U.S. dollars.

The total imports in the first four months of 2000 increased 36.4 percent to 15 billion 543 million 400 thousand U.S. dollars. The total amount of imports in the same period of 1999 was 11 billion 393 million 847 thousand U.S. dollars.

[12] MODERNIZATION OF RAILWAYS -23 RAILWAY ENGINES TO BE PURCHASED FOR ANKARA-ISTANBUL LINE

The international tender for the purchase of 23 electric main line railway engines will be held on September 12.

The decision on the purchase of such railway engines was taken within framework of the adjustment with the European Union norms and standards.

The purchase of the railway engines which will cost almost 50 million U.S. dollars will be financed by the loans that will be obtained form abroad.

The new railways engines will be operated in the Ankara-Istanbul line of which modernization will be finalized in coming years.

[13] PARLIAMENT SPEAKER AKBULUT LEAVES FOR CROATIA

Addressing journalists at the Esenboga Airport in Ankara prior to his departure, Akbulut said that the issue of strengthening interparliamentary cooperation among Southeast European countries would be discussed at the summit.

He told reporters, ''Zagreb Declaration will be issued at the end of the summit which will focus on the issues of providing democratization, security and stability in the region and accelerating the integration process between regional countries and Europe.''

The summit will start on September 12 with a speech which will be delivered by Zlatko Tomcic, the Speaker of Croation Parliament.

Akbulut will address the summit on September 13.

He will hold bilateral contacts with his Southeast European counterparts.

Akbulut is expected to return to Turkey on Thursday.

Parliament Speakers of Turkey, Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Greece, Italy, Hungary, Macedonia, Moldova, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and Switzerland will be in attendance at the meeting.

Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Canada, Lithuania, Latvia, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and Britain will be represented at the deputy premiership or ministerial level.

Representatives of the European Parliament, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Mediterranean, the Council of Europe and the West European Union will also attend the meeting.

[14] SECOND ECONOMY SUMMIT (1) -STATE MINISTER TOSKAY: ''EXPORTATION IS EXPERIENCING ITS MOST CRITICAL PERIOD''

Speaking at the ''Second Economy Summit'' which started the same day in southern Antalya province and will last for three days, Tunca Toskay said that the interest rates were decreasing, and also the Treasury would feel this decrease.

Noting that inflation was an issue which was mostly discussed in Turkey and they were receiving question whether or not the targets would be achieved, Toskay said, ''however, the point we reached should be considered as the lowest inflation rate in last decade. Because, inflation decreased below 50 percent.''

''Today, a trend decreasing below all the rates has started as of 2000. Public should believe in the decreasing trend. Because, public had the opinion that the inflation can't be decreased. We thank the Union of Turkish Chambers and Commodity Exchanges and Turkish Exporters' Assembly for the 'Turkey Overcomes Inflation' campaign,'' he said.

Noting that 1999 had ended with a 6.4 percent shrinkage in economic growth, Toskay said the growth rates in first and second quarters of 2000 had indicated that they would approach the desired growth rate.

Stating that this could be understood from the capacity utilization rate and growth in manufacturing industry, Toskay said that the main form of the importation didn't change in 2000.

Stressing that exports increased 4.5 percent and imports rose 36 percent in 2000, Toskay said that the increase in imports was affected by the oil and natural gas prices.

Recalling that exports remained stuck on 27-28 billion U.S. dollars for years, Toskay said exportation was experiencing its most critical period.

''Turkish lira's gaining value and the balances in the Euro-U.S. dollar parity increases the effect. Figures are very important for a country which makes 50 percent of its exports to Europe. There are measures to be taken. Those effects should be decreased. We are working on this. We are working on several measures without damaging the economy,'' he added.

(To be continued)

[15] HEALTH MINISTER DURMUS LEAVES FOR DENMARK

Addressing journalists at the Ataturk Airport in Istanbul prior to his departure, Durmus said, ''the meeting will focus on the issues of nourishment action plan for European region, evaluation of health program in Europe, and program budget for 2002-2003 period.''

Noting that a special session on quake disaster would be held within framework of the meeting, Durmus told reporters, ''a special session will be held on the issue of natural disasters like the one at the 49th WHO Regional Committee Meeting in Florence, Italy, last year. We will deliver a speech at the session about the devastating quake disaster in Turkey in 1999. We will share our experiences with the international public opinion.''

Durmus added that he would hold bilateral contacts with Gro Harlem Brundtland, the Director General of World Health Organization (WHO), Marc Danzon, the Regional Director of WHO to Europe, and health ministers of several countries.

Durmus and accompanying delegation are expected to return to Turkey on Friday.

[16] FIRST OF FIVE AMERICAN COUPLES DUE IN TURKEY

Releasing a statement, the Culture Ministry said on Sunday that 238 thousand people visited the Culture Ministry's site at Yahoo between April 10-16, 2000.
Five couples who will be hosted in Turkey, have been choosen among the visitors of the site.

Sherry and John Alexander Fish will come to Turkey on Monday for a one-week holiday.

The couple will spend their first day of their holiday in Istanbul.

They will visit the Misir Bazaar, the Sadberk Hanim Museum, the Istanbul Strait, Camlica Hill, the Beylerbeyi Palace and Uskudar district.

They will proceed to Ankara on Wednesday.

Culture Minister Istemihan Talay will receive Sherry and John Alexander Fish.

Later, the couple will be hosted in Cappadocia.

They will return to Istanbul on Saturday to visit the Haghia Sophia, the Yerebatan Palace, the Sultanahmet Mosque, the Topkapi Palace and the Suleymaniye Mosque.

Sherry and John Alexander Fish will depart from Turkey on September 18.

[17] SECOND ECONOMY SUMMIT (2) -STATE MINISTER ONAL: ''AT LEAST 5.5 PERCENT GROWTH IS FORESEEN IN ECONOMY IN 2000''

Speaking at the ''Second Economy Summit'' which started the same day in Kemer township of southern Antalya province and will last for three days, Onal said that one of the most important factors of the medium-term disinflation and macroeconomic stability programs was to affect the dynamic which determine the basic economic indicators and to bring them from a point of balance to another point of balance.

''In order to fulfil this, the strict monetary and financing policies should be carried out simultaneously,'' he said.

Onal said that the public finance balance should be granted a sound structure in long-term, the external balance should be strongly supported by continuing the efforts for integration with the global economy, and the ''investment-savings'' balance should be provided by reaching the influent use of sources in order to settle the balance and stability in the basic macroeconomic indicators.

Onal said that basic economic indicators like prices, interest rates and foreign exchange currency should not be deviated more from the world markets, and the influence and productivity in production should not be lower than those in rival countries which produces same goods and services in order to make the balances lasting.

Onal said that the economic program which had been put into practice at the beginning of 2000 was not a classical stabilization program but a disinflation program.

Onal stressed that the most important difference of this program from the similar programs was that it gives the opportunity to an effective struggle against inflation without a cut in production and employment.

(To be continued)

[18] NATO MILITARY COMMITTEE MEETING -GENERAL KIVRIKOGLU, CHIEF OF GENERAL STAFF, IN ATHENS

The NATO Military Committee meetings and Military Committee tour will take place in Athens and Istanbul between September 10-16.

Ali Tuygan, the Turkish Ambassador to Greece, and Greek General Staff officials welcomed General Kivrikoglu at the airport.

Following a committe meeting which will be presided by Italian Admiral Guido Ventroni on September 11 and a military exercise that will be staged in the Aegean Sea on September 12, the meetings will continue.

Chiefs of General Staff of 19 NATO allies will participate in the meetings.

The meeting's part in Greece will end after a short visit of the participants to Salonica on September 13.

The meetings of the NATO Military Committee were earlier planned to be held in Turkey and Greece in 1999 but they were later postponed to 2000 after the devastating earthquakes in both countries.

[19] SECOND ECONOMY SUMMIT (3) -LABOR AND SOCIAL SECURITY MINISTER OKUYAN: ''SSK WILL EITHER RECEIVE LESS FINANCING SUPPORT FROM TREASURY OR BALANCE ITS EXPENSES AND INCOME IN SEPTEMBER''

Speaking at the ''Second Economy Summit'' which started the same day in Kemer township of southern Antalya province and will last for three days, Okuyan said that the social security reform foresaw recovery in next five years, and the deficits of all social security organizations were estimated to be totally overcome in 2050.

''There was such a social security system that the laws which were legalized by the previous governments for the sake of popularism and some more votes in the elections created deficits which increased every year,'' he said.

Noting that the deficit created in the budget by the social security organizations had been 3.7 quadrillion Turkish liras (TL) as of the beginning of 2000, Okuyan said that the amount allocation from the budget to investments in throughtout Turkey was 2.5 quadrillion TL.

Stressing that those amounts proved the importance of the social security reform, Okuyan said, ''we see that the deficits in the SSK have been shrunk at an unexpected amount as of the first eight months of the year. This happened as a result of some factors. The premium amounts were increased and collection was accelerated. Expenses were taken under control. In the first eight months of 1999, SSK obtained 1 billion 943 million U.S. dollars support from the Treasury. In the same period this year, it got only 656 million U.S. dollars financing support.''

''SSK did not receive financing support from the Treasury in June, July and August 2000 for the first time in last eight years. It will either receive less financing support from Treasury or balance its expenses and income in September,'' he added.

(To be continued)

[20] RAYNSFORD, BRITISH MINISTER OF STATE FOR PUBLIC WORKS AND HOUSING, IN YALOVA

Raynsford came to quake-stricken Yalova province to hold several contacts.

Nihat Ozgol, the Governor of Yalova, and Yakup Kocal, the Mayor of Yalova, informed Raynsford on the massive earthquake disaster which devastated northwestern Turkey on August 17, 1999, and reconstruction works in the wake of the disaster.

Ozgol said, ''15,769 buildings collapsed while 13,570 others suffered damage in the quake. There are nearly 36 thousand buildings in Yalova which will be destroyed in coming days. We erected tent-cities in 38 centers to meet quake survivors' need for shelter. Later, we have started construction of permanent housing units in three different regions. We aim at putting into practice the education, health and infrastructure projects as soon as possible.''

Meanwhile, Raynsford said in his part that the British government and the British Quake Consortium had been interested in the quake disaster since the very beginning.

Noting that there were good relations between Turkish and British governments, Raynsford stressed that his country would support infrastructure, education and health projects in the quake-stricken region.

Expressing his satisfaction with local official's determination in development of education and tourism in Yalova, Raynsford said that both the British government and the British Quake Consortium had adequate information about reconstruction of Yalova.

Stressing that they would support the sysmological and geological works in the quake-stricken area, Raynsford added that they could also support infrastructure, solid waste, potable water, liquid purification, education and health projects in the province.

[21] SECOND ECONOMY SUMMIT (4) -TOBB CHAIRMAN MIRAS: ''ECONOMIC CIRCLES SHOULD GIVE THE MESSAGE THAT THEY SUPPORT THE STABILITY PROGRAM IN ORDER TO DECREASE INFLATION''

Speaking at the ''Second Economy Summit'' which started the same day in Kemer township of southern Antalya province and will last for three days, TOBB Chairman Miras said that the sacrifices which the whole Turkey was bearing, should gain a meaning and the economic circles should give the message that they were supporting the government's stability program in order to decrease the inflation.

Miras, ''with this respect, we think it appropriate to form an Economic Program Follow-Up Committee.''

Stressing that they would continue to extend every kind of support to the government in disinflation program, Miras said that important progress had been recorded in the stability program in the first eight months of the year.

''Structural reforms and legalization of necessary laws are very important developments,'' he said.

''We find the financial policy that is being followed within the framework of the stability program very successful. There was an important decrease in the general budget deficit. However, the public expenses reform has still not been adopted,'' he said.

Miras said that the TOBB attributed great importance to consistent and influent implementation of the stability program and settlement of macro balances.

''Especially rapid continuation of privatization including the public banks is very important. The real interest rates should be decreased to draw foreign capital into Turkey, increasing the economic growth and recovery, expanding the employment number and decreasing unemployment,'' he said.

(To be continued)

[22] CENTRASBAT-2000 MILITARY EXERCISE STARTS

Kayseri First Commando Brigade's Airborne Troop which is participating in the Centrasbat-2000 military exercise, staged a successful airborne exercise.

NATO allies Turkey, the U.S. and Britain, and Partnership for Peace members Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Uzbekistan, Russia and Ukraine are participating in multi-national military exercise.

General Naci Bestepe, the Chairman of Operation Department of Land Forces Commandership, and Staff Colonel Ihsan Kadayifci will join the exercise as observer.

[23] SECOND ECONOMY SUMMIT (5) -TREASURY UNDERSECRETARY DEMIRALP: ''THE PRIMARY BUDGET SURPLUS WAS 5 QUADRILLION TURKISH LIRAS AS OF END-JULY''

Speaking at the ''Second Economy Summit'' which started the same day in Kemer township of southern Antalya province and will last for three days, Demiralp said that all of the economic stability programs which had been implemented by the previous governments failed to bring results.

Noting that the economic stability program which had been put into practice at the beginning of 2000 was a totalitarian program, Demiralp said that the desired targets could easily be achieved within three years if the economic stability program which included financial discipline and structural reforms was implemented without concession.

Stating that the economic realizations in the first eight months of 2000 were positive, Demiralp said, ''inflation is the reason for the failure in a strong economic growth in Turkey. The final target of the economic stability program is to decrease the inflation to one-digit numbers within three years. Macroeconomic imbalances created high chronic inflation. Financial discipline was destroyed. Several measures which aim at decreasing public expenses and increasing public revenues were taken to provide financial discipline. As a result, the primary budget surplus became 5 quadrillion TL as of end of July. The surplus is expected to be 6 quadrillion TL as of end of August. The state had provided the expenditure discipline within framework of the revenues.''

Demiralp said that the average of interest rates of Treasury remained below 35 percent in 2000 while the average interest rate in 1999 was 106 percent.

Demiralp said that the interest item in the 2000 year budget was 21.5 quadrillion TL, and the amount in question would be 15 quadrillion TL in the 2001 year budget.

Noting that a successful period was experienced in external borrowing, Demiralp said that the economic program foresaw a 6 billion U.S. dollars foreign borrowing for 2000 but they had already reached 7.1 billion U.S. dollars in the first eight months of 2000.

Stating that the economic growth rate target was 5.5 percent, Demiralp said that he believed the economic growth rate would be 6-7 percent at the end of the year.

Demiralp added that privatization activities were being carried out successfully. ''Privatization of Turkish Telekom is important for prestige and economic

contribution.''

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