Anadolu Agency: News in English, 00-10-21

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ANADOLU AGENCY

NEWS

21 OCTOBER 2000

Saturday

CONTENTS

[01] TURKEY-PRESS SCAN

[02] STATE MINISTER GEMICI LEAVES FOR MOROCCO

[03] FINANCE MINISTER ORAL DUE TO CANADA

[04] TRNC PRESIDENT DENKTAS: ''GREEK PLANES ARE MAKING A DISPLAY

[05] PRESIDENT SEZER RETURNS TO TURKEY

[06] FOUNDATION OF KIRAZLIKOPRU DAM TO BE LAID ON OCTOBER 23

[07] KILLING OF THREE VILLAGERS IN HAKKARI

[08] WITHDRAWAL OF RESOLUTION ON SO-CALLED GENOCIDE ON ARMENIANS

[09] NARCOTICS OFFICIALS IMPOUND 57 KG OF HEROIN

[10] WITHDRAWAL OF RESOLUTION ON SO-CALLED GENOCIDE ON ARMENIANS

[11] ANALYSIS OF MOODY'S:

[12] ALVARO DE SOTO TO ARRIVE IN CYPRUS ON SUNDAY

[13] ENERGY AND NATURAL RESOURCES MINISTER ERSUMER MEETS SEPARATELY

[14] OPERATION AGAINST TERRORIST HEZBOLLAH ORGANIZATION

[15] PROF. DR. KISLALI COMMEMORATED IN FIRST

[16] OPERATION AGAINST TERRORIST ORGANIZATION IN HAKKARI

[17] FOUNDATION OF FARMER TRAINING CENTER IN BOZOVA LAID

[18] NATIONAL DEFENSE MINISTER: ''THE REPUBLIC OF TURKEY HAS BEEN ACCUSED

[19] PRESIDENT SEZER SENDS A THANK-YOU LETTER TO U.S. PRESIDENT CLINTON

[20] TURKISH POPULATION TO BE COUNTED IN SUNDAY'S CENSUS

[21] SECURITY FORCES INTERCEPT 21 ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS

[22] TURKEY: FROM FIRST CENSUS TO TODAY

[23] IMPROVEMENT OF BORDER TRADE BETWEEN TURKEY AND SYRIA

[01] TURKEY-PRESS SCAN

HURRIYET (LIBERAL)

ECEVIT SENDS THANK-YOU LETTER TO U.S. PRESIDENT CLINTON
Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit sent a thank-you letter to the U.S. President Bill Clinton for his contributions to the withdrawal of the resolution on so-called genocide on Armenians. Speaking to reporters, Ecevit said that this incident revealed the power of Turkey and the importance the U.S.attributes to Turkey. Ecevit noted that President Clinton had been very influential in withdrawal of the resolution.

MILLIYET (LIBERAL)

BABAYAN'S CONFESSION
Samvel Babayan, the former Defense Minister of so-called government designated in Karabakh, claimed that Armenia had sent weapons to the terrorist organization PKK. In his testimony, Babayan who was imprisoned on charges of attempting to assasinate Arkadi Gukasyan, the so-called president of administration in Karabakh on March 22, 2000, said that Armenia had armed the PKK.

RELATIONS WITH IRAQ TO BE MAINTAINED
Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit said that developing relations with Iraq were not related to the resolution on so-called genocide on Armenians which was withdrawn by Dennis Hastert, the Speaker of U.S. House of Representatives. Addressing a program on private TGRT Television Channel, Prime Minister Ecevit said that relations with Iraq would be maintained.

SABAH (LIBERAL)

YILMAZ ASSURES VERHEUGEN THAT TURKEY WILL STAY ON COURSE WITH EU
Deputy Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz told EU Commissioner for enlargement Guenter Verheugen that Turkey had no intention of veering from the course that it embarked upon following last year's Helsinki Summit, when he met him in Brussels. During a joint press conference, Verheugen said that they had evaluated the latest situation regarding Turkey-EU relations during their meeting. He said the Accession Partnership Accord which will be announced on November 8 is very important for both sides. Noting that he was pleased about the positive developments in Turkish-Greek relations, Verheugen said that Ankara's support was very important for reaching a solution in Cyprus. Yilmaz said at the meeting he focused on the financial cooperation and remarked that the EU should provide financial assistance to Turkey as it does to other EU candidates and fulfill its commitments in this area. Yilmaz told reporters that Verheugen had assured him that he would work to overcome certain technical problems.

CUMHURIYET (LEFT)

HEZBOLLAH INJURES POLICEMAN
Clash erupted between members of the terrorist Hezbollah organization and security forces in southeastern Diyarbakir province. A policeman was injured in his leg in the clash. Security forces captured Hezbollah members.

RADIKAL (LEFT)

UNITENTIFIED ASSAILANTS OPEN FIRE ON VILLAGERS
Unidentified assailants opened fire on villagers in Kavakli village in eastern Hakkari province, killing three of them and injuring another. A group of residents of Kavakli village who were forced to leave their village in 1995 due to security reasons, went to Kavakli to collect walnut and wood. Unidentified assailants opened fire on villagers with automotic rifles. Mehmet Kurt, Salih Orhan and Cevher Orhan were killed in the attack while Kemal Tekin was slightly injured.

YENI BINYIL (LIBERAL)

WHEN THE BOMB EXPLODES
Prof. Dr. Ahmet Taner Kislali, the former Culture Minister and a prominent journalist-writer was commemorated on the first anniversary of his assasination. Kislali lost his life when a bomb which was planted by Rustu Aytufan between windshild wipers of his automobile, went off on October 21, 1999. The ''Umut (Hope)'' Operation was launched by the Ankara State Security Court (DGM) to find murderers of journalist-writer Ugur Mumcu, and later covered 22 incidents including assasinations of Prof. Dr. Ahmet Taner Kislali, Prof. Muammer Aksoy and Dr. Bahriye Ucok.

RUSSIAN PRIME MINISTER KASYANOV DUE IN TURKEY
Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov of the Russian Federation will pay an official visit to Turkey between October 23-25 as guest of Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit. Prime Minister Kasyanov will meet with Prime Minister Ecevit on October 23. President Ahmet Necdet Sezer and Parliament Speaker Omer Izgi are expected to receive Prime Minister Kasyanov later in the same day. Prime Minister Kasyanov will proceed to northern Samsun province on Tuesday to visit construction site of Blue Stream Project. Bilateral relations will be discussed in detail during Prime Minister Kasyanov's contacts in Ankara.

TURKIYE (RIGHT)

MARKETS RELIEVED
Markets were relieved with the withdrawal of the resolution on so-called genocide on Armenians. The national-100 index at the Istanbul Stock Exchange (IMKB) increased to 14,059 as a result of increase in foreign stock exchanges and the government's decision to continue the supplementary taxes. Meanwhile, Chase Manhattan, a leading bank in the world, estimated that Moody's would upgrade Turkey's rating in 2-3 months. Chase said that the government's 42 quadrillion Turkish lira (TL) budget income target for 2001 would become 40.8 quadrillion TL. The bank found the national income and primary budget targets realistic.

ECHR ACCEPTS APPLICATION ABOUT RP
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) accepted the application about the closure case of the Welfare Party (RP).

YILMAZ PROMISES ADJUSTMENT
Deputy Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz who met with Guenter Verheugen, the EU Commissioner for Enlargement, said that Turkey did not have the intention to digress from the perspective it was given at the Helsinki Summit.

WINTER SETS IN EARLY
While the cold and showery weather continues to affect whole Turkey, it snowed on Ladik township of northern Samsun province.

ZAMAN (CONSERVATIVE)

ECEVIT: ''TURKEY'S POWER WAS UNDERSTOOD''
Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit said, ''withdrawal of the resolution proved Turkey's power and the appreciation showed by the U.S. to Turkey.'' President Ahmet Necdet Sezer said that they appreciated the sincere efforts of the U.S. administration.

TAX BOYCOTT
The government's decision to continue to collect supplementary taxes made the business world very angry. Istanbul Chamber of Commerce Chairman Mehmet Yildirim said, ''enterprises are about to pull their shutters down in order to pay these taxes. We won't pay these taxes.''

[02] STATE MINISTER GEMICI LEAVES FOR MOROCCO

Gemici will lead the Turkish side during the JEC meeting which will be held in Moroccan capital of Rabat between October 23 and 24.

Gemici and accompanying delegation are expected to return to Turkey on Wednesday.

[03] FINANCE MINISTER ORAL DUE TO CANADA

Issuing a written statement, the Finance Ministry said on Saturday that

Oral would attend the Second G-20 Finance Ministers' meeting and Central Bank

Governors' meeting in Montreal between October 24 and 25.

The meetings are expected to focus on the issues of problems in national policies and international methods stemming from globalization, and prevention of financial crisis with solution policies.

Finance Minister Oral is scheduled to hold a bilateral meeting with Lawrance Summers, the U.S. Secretary of Treasury, on October 24.

Selcuk Demiralp, the Undersecretary of Treasury, and Gazi Ercel, the Governor of Central Bank, will also be attendance at the G-20 meetings.

The statement noted that member countries to the G-20 formed two-thirds of world population.

The G-20 countries provide 85 percent of the world's gross national product (GNP).

The first of these meetings was held in Berlin, Germany, between December 14-15, 1999.

[04] TRNC PRESIDENT DENKTAS: ''GREEK PLANES ARE MAKING A DISPLAY

Stressing that they protested those flights, TRNC President Denktas said that such an attitude of the Greek planes could clog the peaceful paths.

The TRNC President briefed the officials of political parties on the latest developments about the Cyprus issue prior to the fifth round of proximity talks scheduled to start in Geneva on November 1.

Denktas said that the Baf airbase would be opened to operation and this would become a very important new development if the Greek planes landed at this airbase and spent the night there.

Stressing that the Greek Cypriot side and Greece were on a very wrong way, Denktas said, ''I want to reiterate that the Greek Cypriot side and Greece are on a very wrong way regarding armament and threatening attitudes. They can never win armament race. There is Turkey with 65 million population 40 miles away. It is not reasonable to continuously provoke Turkey and threaten the TRNC. We consider these foolish acts. As the Turkish side, we can give response to this, and many times more if it is necessary. Where does this escalation bring us? This brings us to escalation, and escalation leads to dangerous situations.''

Denktas said that the Greek Cypriots should give priority to compromise with the Turkish side instead of sabotaging the talks by giving priority to membership to the EU.

Noting that participation of the Greek warplanes in the ''Niciforos'' exercises was a provoking and unacceptable attitude, TRNC President Denktas said that they strongly protested such a ''plane adventure''. ''This is a display of power which can clog the peaceful ways.''

Denktas said that they would strongly protest the flight of the Greek warplanes over the Greek Cypriot side at the U.N. Secretariat General.

TRNC President Denktas added that they would leave for Geneva next week while U.N. Secretary General's Special Representative to Cyprus Alvaro de Soto would come to the island at the week-end.

[05] PRESIDENT SEZER RETURNS TO TURKEY

Addressing journalists at the Esenboga Airport in Ankara after his arrival, President Sezer said that he had held very beneficial meetings during his visits to these friendly countries.

Recalling that he had signed documents in Uzbekistan, the first leg of his tour, which would make an important contribution to further improve the relations between the two countries, President Sezer told reporters, ''we have exchanged opinion with the Uzbek officials on struggle against terrorism. Turkey will continue to support Uzbekistan in its struggle against terrorism.''

President Sezer said, ''during my visit to Turkmenistan, we have agreed in principle to sign an agreement in order to solve problems in economic and commercial relations between the two countries, and to further improve relations in every field. Technical works will be held to sign a commercial, economic and political cooperation agreement during Turkmen President Saparmurat Turkmenbasi's visit to Turkey in April 2001. This agreement will

put forward concrete steps to be taken till 2010. Energy issues were brought onto agenda of my meeting with President Turkmenbasi. We took up the Trans-Caspian Natural Gas Pipeline Project, an important part of the East-West energy corridor. I reiterated that putting into practice this project would be beneficial for Turkmenistan to reach both international and European markets.''

Referring to his visit to Kyrgyzstan, President Sezer said, ''I had held a beneficial meeting with President Askar Akayev of Kyrgyzstan. I had also held talks with Kyrgyz Prime Minister and Parliament Speaker. We harshly condemn terrorist attacks in Kyrgyzstan. During our contacts, we discussed measures to be taken in struggle against terrorism jeopardizing peace and stability in Kyrgyzstan. We signed a joint statement envisaging cooperation between the two countries in struggle against terrorism.''

''During my visit to Kazakhstan, Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev and I discussed bilateral relations and cooperation between the two countries. We stressed that bilateral trade volume which is currently about 400 million U.S. dollars, should increase up to 1 billion U.S. dollars as soon as possible. Turkey-Kazakhstan Joint Economic Commission will convene to determine measures to be taken to reach this target. Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline project was also brought onto agenda of our meeting. President Nazarbayev said that Kazakhstan would take part in technical works. Kazakhstan will contribute to the project by giving oil. A pipeline may be constructed between Akdag and Baku to this end. In that case, we may change the name of the project as Akdag-Baku-Tbilis-Ceyhan pipeline. We wish Kazakhstan would be a side of the inter-governmental agreement signed by Turkey, Azerbaijan and Georgia. We had also attended celebrations to mark 1500th anniversary of foundation of Turkistan, one of the oldest cities in Central Asia. I attended inauguration of Hodja Ahmet Yesevi Shrine which was restored by the Turkish International Cooperation Agency (TICA),'' he told reporters.

He noted, ''I believe that my visits would be beneficial to further improve and institutionalize our relations with the Turkish Republics in Central Asia in every field.''

President Sezer said that he had invited heads of state of four Turkish Republics in Central Asia to the Turkish Speaking Countries' Summit which would be held in Istanbul in April 2001.

Referring to withdrawal of the resolution on so-called genocide on Armenians, President Sezer said, ''we have opposed once again to efforts of some members of the U.S. House of Representatives to distort historical facts by exploiting domestic political conditions prior to presidential elections. We stressed that acceptance of Armenian allegations aiming at blackening Turkey by distorting historical facts, would play havoc with strategical partnership relations between Turkey and the U.S., and would interrupt efforts to provide peace and stability in the Caucasus. We asked the U.S. administration to expend efforts to prevent approval of the resolution by the U.S. House of Representatives full House. Withdrawal of the resolution is pleasing in regard to prevention of undesired developments in Turkey-the U.S. relations. I want to thank the U.S. administration, our Foreign Ministry, the Turkish Embassy in Washington D.C., and our parliament.''

[06] FOUNDATION OF KIRAZLIKOPRU DAM TO BE LAID ON OCTOBER 23

The State Water Works (DSI) said on Saturday that Deputy Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz was expected to attend the ceremony.

It said that the dam would prevent any flood in the city-center of Bartin province and almost one thousand hectares of arable field in Eastern Black Sea region.

It said that the dam and power plant would be constructed on the Bartin (Gokirmak) River and have a 2 million 200 thousand cubic meters volume.

DSI added that the dam would prevent any flood in Bartin city-center, irrigate 2 thousand 113 hectares of land in Bartin and produce 41 million kwh energy a year.

[07] KILLING OF THREE VILLAGERS IN HAKKARI

Officials told the A.A correspondent that Mehmet Kurt, Salih Orhan, Cevher Orhan and Kemal Tekin had gone to Kavakli village which was evacuated due to security reasons, to collect walnuts and wood.

A group of terrorists had opened fire on villagers with machine guns, killing Cevher Orhan, Salih Orhan and Mehmet Kurt and injuring Kemal Tekin, officials said.

Security forces have launched an operation to capture terrorists.

[08] WITHDRAWAL OF RESOLUTION ON SO-CALLED GENOCIDE ON ARMENIANS

Responding to questions of journalists, Crowley said that having regard to changing conditions in the region, it was not an appropriate way to develop an understanding regarded with what happened last century.

Crowley stressed that Hastert had taken the best decision in regard to national interests and the U.S.' support for setting up better relations between Turkey and Armenia.

U.S. President Bill Clinton sent a letter to Dennis Hastert, the Speaker of U.S. House of Representatives, on Thursday, and urged him in the strongest terms not to bring the resolution to the floor.

After receiving the letter, Hastert withdrew the resolution.

[09] NARCOTICS OFFICIALS IMPOUND 57 KG OF HEROIN

Acting on a tip-off, narcotics officials searched a lorry and confiscated 57 kg of heroin hidden in the vehicle.

The drug which had been brought from Iran would have been sold in Germany, officials said.

In the operation, seven people were taken into custody while the lorry and three automobiles were seized.

Officials told the A.A correspondent that the market value of the drug was nearly 500 billion Turkish lira.

A full investigation into the drug smuggling is under way.

[10] WITHDRAWAL OF RESOLUTION ON SO-CALLED GENOCIDE ON ARMENIANS

Releasing a statement, McCurdy recalled that the resolution had been withdrawn upon a request of U.S. President Bill Clinton and other U.S. administration officials.

McCurdy urged supporters of Turkey-the U.S. relations to prepare themselves as they could encounter the same issue again in the new congressional year which would start in January, 2001.

Recalling that many members of the Turkey-the U.S. Council played important roles in campaign against the resolution on so-called genocide on Armenians, McCurdy noted that their members together with other Turkish-American organizations, had informed the members of the Congress on the negative impacts of the resolution.

Meanwhile, the Assembly of Turkish-American Associations (ATAA) has launched a campaign to send thank-you message to U.S. President Bill Clinton and members of the U.S. House of Representatives who had played important roles in withdrawal of the resolution.

[11] ANALYSIS OF MOODY'S:

In its latest analysis, Moody's said that there was the possibility to upgrade Turkey's rating so all measures were under close monitoring.

Stressing that the measures taken in the economy were appropriate in general, the analysis said that the current deficit grew as the domestic demand had increased and the Turkish lira had gained in value so some measures should be taken to balance the demand.

Noting that there could be deviations from some of the macro targets as of the end of 2000, the analysis estimated that the average inflation in the consumer prices index (TUFE) could be about 18 percent in 2001.

Moody's estimated that gross national product (GNP) growth could be 5.6 percent in 2000 and 5.2 percent in 2001 while the GNP unemployment rate could be 7 percent in 2000 and 6.3 percent in 2001.

Moody's said that the rate of public sector's total debt in gross domestic product (GDP) could be 54 percent in 2000 and 45 percent in 2001.

The analysis said that current GDP deficit could be 4 percent in 2000 and 3.8 percent in 2001.

Meanwhile, international banking analysts told the A.A correspondent that Turkey deserved a higher rating, and that Moody's had positive outlook on the developments in Turkey and there was the possibility of upgrading Turkey's rating by Moddy's.

Analysts added that also Standard and Poor's had a positive outlook on the developments in Turkey.

[12] ALVARO DE SOTO TO ARRIVE IN CYPRUS ON SUNDAY

Alvaro De Soto will separately meet for two times President Rauf Denktas of the Turkish Republic of Norhthern Cyprus (TRNC) and leader of Greek Cypriot administration Glafcos Clerides.

TRNC President Denktas will receive De Soto on October 23 and 27. De Soto will meet with Clerides on the same dates.

Within the framewok of his contacts, De Soto will also meet representatives of some Turkish Cypriot and Greek Cypriot political parties.

De Soto who will hold a meeting with the ambassadors of the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council in Cyprus, is expected to stage a press conference after wrapping up his contacts.

De Soto will leave the island on October 28.

[13] ENERGY AND NATURAL RESOURCES MINISTER ERSUMER MEETS SEPARATELY

Releasing a statement, the Energy and Natural Resources Ministry said that the issues of the Blue Stream Project, additional gas transfer through western line and electricity energy transfer from Russia to Turkey were taken up during Ersumer's meeting with Gazizullin.

Addressing the meeting, Gazizullin expressed his satisfaction over the successful meeting of Turkey-Russia Energy Working Group between October 17 and 18.

Later, Ersumer received Qazi Humayun, the Pakistani Ambassador to Turkey.

At the meeting, Humayun conveyed Pakistani Oil and Natural Resources Minister's invitation to Ersumer to the Economic Cooperation Organization

First Energy Ministers' Meeting in Islamabad on November 8.

[14] OPERATION AGAINST TERRORIST HEZBOLLAH ORGANIZATION

Zengin was seriously injured when Hezbollah members had opened fire on security forces in an operation in Hatboyu Avenue in Baglar hamlet on Friday.

He was rushed to hospital for medical treatment, but could not be saved.

A funeral will take place in Diyarbakir at 05:00 p.m. on Saturday for Zengin.

[15] PROF. DR. KISLALI COMMEMORATED IN FIRST

A ceromony took place on Saturday in front of Kislali's house in Cayyolu district of Ankara.

Kislali's wife Nilufer Kislali, his daughter Altinay Kislali, Cankaya Mayor Haydar Yilmaz, Yenimahalle Mayor Tuncay Alemdaroglu, Hikmet Ulugbay, the former State Minister, representatives from the Republican People's Party (CHP), personnel of the Cumhuriyet newspaper, and members of the Kemalist Thought Association (ADD) were in attendance at the ceremony.

The participants observed a minute of silence out of respect to Prof. Dr. Kislali.

Addressing the ceremony, Onder Sav, the Secretary General of CHP, said, ''our wound has not been healed yet. It is still bleeding. Our pain and anger did not die down. We miss him everyday. Prof. Dr. Kislali was a symbol of enlightment and loyalty to the Republic.''

''We could not save distinguished people such as Muammer Aksoy, Bahriye Ucok, Ugur Mumcu and Ahmet Taner Kislali. These people were killed as they tried to remove scales from people's eyes. Prof. Dr. Ahmet Taner Kislali was not the last victim. A list was seized on the suspect who was arrested on charges of staging the bomb attack on Kislali. There were many names including myself, in the list. We do not take serious these threats. We will continue to advance on our way to enlightment,'' he stressed.

[16] OPERATION AGAINST TERRORIST ORGANIZATION IN HAKKARI

Officials at the Emergency Rule Region Governor's Office told the A.A correspondent that Cevher Orhan, Salih Orhan and Mehmet Kurt who went to the village to collect walnut and wood, were massacred by a group of terrorists.

They noted that security forces had launched an operation in the region to capture the terrorist.

In the operation, six terrorists were killed and their weapons were seized.

Operations are under way in the region.

[17] FOUNDATION OF FARMER TRAINING CENTER IN BOZOVA LAID

Speaking at the ceremony, Sanliurfa Deputy Governor Yalcin Bulut said that farmers would be trained at the center which would serve also the personnel of the public institutions and organizations.

Sanliurfa Agriculture Directorate Chairman Rustem Coskun said that the two- storey center would comprise a conference hall, a four-room guest-house, a club and a garage.

Coskun said, ''Bozova is positioned near the Ataturk Dam and Sanliurfa tunnels which are the giant projects of the Southeastern Anatolia Project. And this puts forward the importance of the center.''

[18] NATIONAL DEFENSE MINISTER: ''THE REPUBLIC OF TURKEY HAS BEEN ACCUSED

''The unreality of these very inaccurate and erroneous allegations which are full of mistakes should be explained to the world by the works of many Turkish authors,'' he said.

Cakmakoglu answered the questions of journalists during a ceremony held in Kucukcekmece district of Istanbul on the occasion of planting oak seeds.

When asked whether or not the resolution on so-called genocide on Armenians could be brought onto the agenda in the future, Cakmakoglu said that the Republic of Turkey had been accused by several countries with baseless allegations since its foundation.

Cakmakoglu said that the unreality of those very inaccurate and erroneous allegations which were full of mistakes should be explained to the world by the works of many Turkish authors on the issue.

When asked whether or not the relations with Iraq would be improved, Cakmakoglu said that there was a United Nations resolution on food and medical aid to Iraq with humanitarian purpose, and that the aid was actually being sent to Iraq on lorries in accordance with the U.N. resolution, and it currently started to be sent by planes.

Cakmakoglu said that the economic relations between Turkey and Iraq had been at the highest level before the Gulf crisis, and those relations suffered great loss after the Gulf crisis.

Cakmakoglu added that the relations between Turkey and Iraq did not have any connection with the resolution on so-called genocide on Armenians.

[19] PRESIDENT SEZER SENDS A THANK-YOU LETTER TO U.S. PRESIDENT CLINTON

The Presidential Press Center said that President Sezer sent a thank-you letter to U.S. President Bill Clinton after the resolution on so-called genocide on Armenians had been withdrawn from the U.S. House of Representatives full House's agenda.

In his letter, President Sezer said, ''I want to thank His Excellency and the U.S. administration on behalf of the Turkish nation for your determined and friendly attitude which has provided withdrawal of resolution no: 596 aiming at blackening our nation's history. I expressed my concerns about negative impacts of approval of resolution during our meeting in New York within framework of the United Nations Millennium Summit and during our telephone conversation. I also stressed that we expected your support.''

''You will always have a distinguished place in Turkish people's heart as a genuine and leading friend of Turkey as a result of your valuable contribution to withdrawal of the resolution which could damage good relations between our countries,'' he noted.

President Sezer added, ''Turkey attributes great importance to its relations with friendly and allied U.S. I am quite sure His Excellency shares my hopes that such unfortunate campaigns which could prevent further improvement of our relations, would not be repeated in the future.''

[20] TURKISH POPULATION TO BE COUNTED IN SUNDAY'S CENSUS

The curfew throughout Turkey will start at 07:00 a.m. and the ending-time of the curfew will be publicly announced by the governor's offices while the census will start at 08:00 a.m. at the latest.

On the day of census, everybody in Turkey including tourists will be counted while the Turkish citizens living abroad won't be included in the census.

The tourists joining tours to Turkey can continue their visit after they are counted at the airports or the hotels they are staying. The tourists who come to Turkey personally should stay inside during the curfew. Those who pass Turkey in transit won't be counted.

[21] SECURITY FORCES INTERCEPT 21 ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS

The immigrants including Indians, Pakistanis and Bangladeshis were taken into custody for violating the Turkish borders and the passport law.

Officials told the A.A correspondent that the illegal immigrants would be deported once the legal proceedings are completed.

[22] TURKEY: FROM FIRST CENSUS TO TODAY

65.3 million in Sunday's census.

A total of 14 censuses held in Turkey except for 1997's population calculation.

The first census was held in 1927 and the second one was held in 1935.

Since 1935, censuses have been held in each five years.

The Sunday's census is expected to count approximately 65.3 million Turkish people.

This means that Turkey's population increased by 384 percent compared to its population in 1927.

Between 1927 and 1935, Turkey's average rate of increase in population was 21.1 in a thousand.

This figure increased 28.5 in a thousand between 1955 and 1960.

The lowest rate of increase in population was 15 in a thousand recorded between 1990 and 1997.

Number of provinces was 63 in 1927's census. This number increased to 80 in 1997, and to 81 in 2000.

Number of townships which was 328 in 1927, increased to 849 in 1997.

Meanwhile, number of villages decreased from 39 thousand 901 to 36 thousand 699 between 1927 and 1997.

Number of municipalities increased from 460 to 2 thousand 835 in the same period.

While number of women was higher than men's in 1927, number of men was higher than women's in 1990.

In 1927, 24 percent of Turkey's population was living in cities. This figure increased to 65 percent in 1997.

[23] IMPROVEMENT OF BORDER TRADE BETWEEN TURKEY AND SYRIA

Kilic visited Iskenderun Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Addressing the meeting, Hulusi Kilic said, ''relations between the two countries have been further improving in border regions. We have eight border gates with Syria. We should benefit more from this opportunity. We should further improve our relations with Syria.''

Noting that there was an increasing demand in Syria for Turkish goods,

Kilic called on entrepreneurs to make investments in order to strengthen relations between Turkey and Syria, and to improve border trade between the two countries.

Recalling that Syria had provided visa facilities, Kilic added, ''we can reach an income of 2 billion U.S. dollars by improving border trade with

Syria.''

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