Anadolu Agency: News in English, 01-03-20

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ANADOLU AGENCY

NEWS

20 MARCH

2001 Tuesday

CONTENTS

[01] TURKEY-PRESS SCAN

[02] G7 COUNTRIES EXTEND SUPPORT TO TURKEY

[01] TURKEY-PRESS SCAN

HURRIYET (LIBERAL)

NAZIM AND VERA REUNITE
Poet Nazim Hikmet's wife Vera Tulyakova died of cancer in Moscow yesterday. She had been treated for cancer for a year. Tulyakova's daughter Anna told her mother was going to be cremated and her ashes would be buried next to Nazim Hikmet's tomb. Two weeks before her death, Tulyakova had told Hurriyet that her biggest wish was to see the Turkish government to restore Nazim Hikmet's Turkish citizenship before she died.

Hikmet and Tulyakova met in 1955 and married in 1959. They lived a big love although Tulyakova was 23 years old and Hikmet was 53 when they first met.

MILLIYET (LIBERAL)

BOSSES WARN GOVERNMENT
The Istanbul Chamber of Industry (ISO), the Association of Turkish Industrialists' and Businessmen (TUSIAD) and Confederation of Turkish Employers' union (TISK) issued a joint statement and requested the government to extend full support to the economic program prepared by State Minister Kemal Dervis. The statement added that the private sector was also fully aware of its responsibilities in the implementation of the program.

SABAH (LIBERAL)

183 LAWS TO BE AMENDED
The parliament will work very hard in order to prepare for EU membership. The national programme foresees amendments in 94 laws and adoption of 89 new laws. Turkey has to take also nearly 4,000 administrative measures. The parliament will have a very busy agenda in short term, meaning in one year.

CUMHURIYET (LEFT)

PEARSON:''SPIRIT OF 1919 STILL LIVES''
U.S. Ambassador in Ankara Robert Pearson said that his country was ready to extend help to Turkey to overcome its economic troubles. Speaking at an energy conference, the U.S. ambassador said the Turkish government in 1998 took an initiative to liberalize its energy sector which was an important reform. Pearson said the ''spirit of 1919'' was still alive which Turkey needs today to recover its economy.

TURKISH SCIENTISTS FIND CHEAP AND EFFECTIVE VACCINE FOR FOOT-AND-MOUTH
DISEASE
Turkish scientists at the Marmara research center developed a cheap and effective vaccine for the foot-and-mouth disease which caused plagues all around Europe. Last experiments on the vaccine are being carried out currently. Scientists said they could produce enough vaccine for all animals in Turkey if they had the fund to work at the laboratories, adding that they were the first scientists in the world who found such an effective and cheap vaccine against the disease.

RADIKAL (LEFT)

NATIONAL PROGRAMME ANNOUNCED FINALLY
The government approved the National Programme for the Adoption of Acquis (NPAA) during the cabinet meeting yesterday and it was announced finally. There is no promise in the programme for the right to be educated or to broadcast in mother tongue. The programme says that ''the official language, and the language of education is Turkish, but this does not restrict citizens using a different language or dialect in their private lives.''

TURKIYE (RIGHT)

DERVIS:''WE AGREED WITH THE IMF ON FRAME AGREEMENT''
State Minister Kemal Dervis who had a meeting with Treasury, Central Bank and State Planning Organization officials, said that his team agreed with the IMF on the frame agreement. ''We will clarify the economic measures in the first week of April. I believe that we'll present the letter of intent to the IMF Executive Council in the second half of April,'' Dervis told reporters. The state minister pointed out that the inflation rate in the next two months would be high but it will be brought down to two percent monthly in fall. He also claimed that the inflation would be ''much lower than 20 percent'' next year.

ZAMAN (CONSERVATIVE)

[02] G7 COUNTRIES EXTEND SUPPORT TO TURKEY

The joint statement was released by the Department of the Treasury of the U.S. on behalf of G7 countries which is comprised of the U.S., Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and Canada.

The statement said the program should be carried out with a long term political determination to achieve success.

The statement said they were pleased with the recent statements of the Turkish authorities on the frame of a new sound economic reform program which is supported by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank.

Noting that this program was focused on maintaining a sustainable public finance and low inflation rate through implementing healthy financial and monetary policies, the statement said they welcomed the inclusion of comprehensive and urgent plans into the program to bring a solution the problems in the banking sector with the support of IMF and the World Bank.

The long term political determination of the Turkish authorities to implement the program carries importance for the success of the program. We would continue to extend support to the efforts exerted, the statement added.

The statement said restoration of confidence in the markets and constant contributions of the private sector was important for Turkey to recover.

-CULTURE MINISTER TALAY:''NEVRUZ HOLIDAY IS A CULTURAL ASSET
OF THE TURKISH NATION''
ANKARA - Culture Minister Istemihan Talay has said that the Nevruz holiday was a cultural asset of the Turkish nation which had its roots in the Central Asia.

Talay held a press conference in Ankara on Tuesday and addressed to students coming from eastern and south eastern provinces.

The culture minister said Nevruz which will be observed on Wednesday had been celebrated for thousands of years in a wide geography extending from the Central Asia to Europe.

The people have been celebrating Nevruz, but the state officially recognized the holiday in 1991 and held celebration activities through the Culture Ministry since then, Talay explained.

People's Cultures Research Development Center Director Seyhan Livanelioglu said the organization was hosting two students from 15 eastern and south eastern provinces during Nevruz celebrations. The students will participate in a number of cultural activities including plays and opera performances.

-GRANDCHILDREN OF ANZACS VISIT CANAKKALE
CANAKKALE - Young people from New Zealand and Australia, who are the grandchildren of Anzacs, came to western Canakkale province to see the places where their ancestors had fought during the First World War, sources said on Tuesday.

Those young people, who came the province by trucks, visit the places where their ancestors had landed at the Gelibolu peninsula during the war.

Lorin Critchley, the organizer of the tour, said many Australian and New Zealander young people wish to visit those places adding that many of them saved money for this purpose.

Critchley added that many tourists from Australia and New Zealand would come to Canakkale this year.

-INFLUENCE OF FLOATING EXCHANGE RATE SYSTEM TO MEDICINE SECTOR
ANKARA - Health minister Osman Durmus said on Tuesday that a certain adjustment would be made in prices of medicine by considering the reflection of floating exchange rates in February and March to the coming months. Durmus was speaking about the indefiniteness in prices of medicine caused by recent economic crisis.

Durmus had a meeting with the Executive Board Members of Medicine Employers Union and the concerned bureaucrats to discuss the reflections of economic crisis on medicine sector and the measures that could be taken.

Responding to the questions of reporters following the meeting which was closed to the press, Durmus said they reviewed the situation in medicine sector following the financial crisis.

Recalling that State Statistical Institute determined the prices of the imported medicine and local medicine production since 1999, Durmus said the prices were determined in three months arrangements in accordance with the Wholesale Prices Index. Durmus said thus the medicine sector was prevented from being negatively effected by the financial increases.

Pointing out that ''artifical financial crisis,'' experienced in Turkey recently, affected all the sectors, Durmus said all sectors together with low income citizens, had to share this financial burden.

''Increasing prices in medicine sector directly brings burden to the Treasury. Our local medicine industry has been supported so far to stand still against the European Union (EU) medicine industry. Local medicine industry will continue to be supported by the end of 2001 against the inflation. However, by making this, the citizens and the state should also be protected,'' Durmus said.

-EU COMMISSION: ''WE NEED TIME TO EXAMINE THE DOCUMENT IN DETAIL''
BRUSSELS - Jean Christophe Flori, one of spokesmen of the European Union (EU) Commission, said on Tuesday that they need time to put forward their reaction to approval of National Program by Turkish government and its presentation to the EU.

Responding to questions of journalists at a daily routine press conference, Flori said that they received the National Program.

Flori said that they needed time to examine the document in detail.

Noting that Foreign Minister Ismail Cem was expected to meet with Guenter Verheugen, the EU Commissioner for enlargement, on March 25, Flori said that they might stage a press conference following the meeting.

-TREASURY SELLS 2.9 QUADRILLION TURKISH LIRAS
NOMINAL-VALUED THREE-MONTH BONDS
ANKARA - The Treasury Undersecratariat held an auction on Tuesday to sell three-month bonds.

In this auction, Treasury sold 2 quadrillion 926.1 trillion Turkish liras (TL) nominal-valued bonds while the total bid had become 7 quadrillion 391.4 trillion TL and the net sale became 2 quadrillion 189.3 trillion TL.

The annual simple interest rate became 124.99 percent and the annual composite interest rate became 193.71 percent.

Treasury will repay 3 quadrillion 281.9 trillion TL in domestic borrowing on March 21, 2001.

-YILMAZ, DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER AND LEADER OF ANAP:
''WITH THE NATIONAL PROGRAM, WE MAKE PROMISE NOT ONLY
TO THE EU BUT ALSO TO OUR PEOPLE''
ANKARA - Mesut Yilmaz, the deputy prime minister and leader of the Motherland Party (ANAP), said on Tuesday that with the National Program which was approved on Monday they made a promise not only to the European Union (EU), but also to the people. Addressing the ANAP group meeting, Yilmaz said implementation process of the National Program would be an exam, and noted that real supporters and so-called defenders of the Republic, democracy, contemporary life style of the free market economy, and supremacy of law, will be revealed in this process.

Recalling that Council of Ministers on Monday approved the National Program which is an important turning point on the way to the EU full membership, Yilmaz said that Turkey took one of the most important steps of its history with the National Program.

Yilmaz said, ''the National Program, which was revealed at the end of a long and difficult period, is a text combining Turkey's determination to be a full member of the EU and its national sensitivities. This National Program is a product of both an internal agreement and a foreign agreement. The non-government formations, as well as the public institutions, contributed a lot to the formation of the program.''

Yilmaz said the state and the nation, which seemed as enemy or alternative to each other as a result of a historical distortion, came together in the perspective of this National Program.

Pointing out that the progress that was recorded in the EU process today, when globalization was a fact that can not be denied, was an expression of the determination of Turkey to act together with the world, Yilmaz said, ''it is a realistic program basing on lasting and strong basis. The short and medicum term targets that were put forwared in the program will help Turkey to get rid of the crisis atmosphere stemming from Turkey's structural problems.''

Yilmaz said they were planning to complete the program long before and to result short term targets of the program to a great extend till now, yet noted that unfortunately the conditions of the country did not allow this.

Yilmaz said, ''Turkey has come to the actual and important turning point of the EU full membership today with a delay which has a heavy cost. We target coming to a level which we may start full membership negotiations soon.''

Pointing out that the pledges that were committed in the National Program should be completed within a year to realize the target of starting full membership negotiations, Yilmaz said medium term commitments should be fulfilled soon.

Yilmaz said nobody has the right to push the people to pessimism, hopelessness, fright and uneasiness, adding that, ''duty of those who has responsibility and authority is to contribute to the steps that will lead the society to tranquility and hapiness.''

Yilmaz said the National Program was a contract and a promise regarding the road for being a full membership of the EU, and stressed that,''the core of what we pledged to our people is to provide them to have a contemporary living in a first class country and as a real citizen. We promise a full freedom in everywhere of the country. We make them a promise to provide them a freedom that they will walk in the streets without being afraid. We promise that the justice will not be delayed, and equality of opportunity will be provided, and that unjust and extraordinary taxes would not be taken.''

Yilmaz said the National Program is a promise for a series of freedom extending from business life to thought and from political life to belief and culture. He said the National Program was the most advanced, serious and realistic step that was taken since Turkey's application to the EU.

-NEVRUZ: THE OLDEST FESTIVAL OF THE WORLD
-NEVRUZ IS BEING CELEBRATED BY HUNDREDS OF COMMUNITIES
ON EARTH SINCE 5 THOUSAND YEARS
-FESTIVAL OF NEVRUZ, ON MARCH 21 WHEN THE NIGHT AND THE DAY
HAVE EQUAL LENGTH, IS CELEBRATED BY MANY COMMUNITIES ON EARTH,
INCLUDING TURKS
ANKARA - Nevruz, the World's oldest festival which is celebrated by festivities under various names in many communities, is being celebrated in the Turkish World as ''the exit of Turks from Ergenekon'' and ''the start of the new year in Turkish calendar with 12 animals'' since 5 thousand years.

Some accept this day when the night and the day are equal as the day God created Earth, some as the day Prophet Noah stepped on Earth after the Flood. Some accepts it as the day first human-being is created, and some as the messenger of Spring.

Nevruz which means ''New Day' in Persian, is called ''Noruz'', ''Navrız'', ''Ergenekon'', ''Bozkurt'', ''Çağan (Chaghan)'', ''Mart Dokuzu (Nine of March)'', ''Ulusun Ulu Günü (Holy Day of Nation)'', ''İlk Yaz Yortusu (First Summer Easter)'', ''Yengi Gün (New Day)'', ''Köklü Marta (Rooted March)'', ''Sultan Nevruz'', ''Mart Bozumu (End of March)'' in various Turkish communities on Earth.

Following the ancient Huns, the Yakuts, the Uigur Turks, the Kazan Turks, the Tunguz Turks, the Nogay Turks, the Tatars, the Kyrgyzs, the Kazakhs, the Uzbeks, the Tajiks, the Azerbaijanis, the Turkmens, the Sahas, the Cuvases, and the Gagauzes have been celebrating the Nevruz for centuries in a huge geography from the Central Asia to the Balkans.

The Nevruz is being celebrated in Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, and Tajikistan as a ''national feast''.

-SADNESS IS CONSIDERED AS DISGRACE
During such a special day which is celebrated in the whole Turkish World in an atmosphere of great enthusiasm, sadness is considered as the biggest disgrace. Even those who lost their beloved ones, are expected to be joyful.

Overall dwellings are cleaned for the Nevruz which is believed to be the day when everyone's fate is determined and the day when all diseases, evil, misfortunes, and troubles dissappear.

Various games are played, and special meals are cooked to mark the Nevruz.

After eating the meal together, people exchange greetings with each other for a happy new year. Then, they visit graves of their beloved ones. Those who offended to each other, are reconciled. People extend a helping hand to the poors, the forlorns, and the elderlies. Young people wishing their dreams to come true, jump over a Nevruz Fire.

-EXIT FROM ERGENEKON
In accordance with a common belief in the Turkish World, Nevruz is considered as the day when the Gokturks departed from Ergenekon and gained their independence.

In Ergenekon Epic of Ebulgazi Bahadir Khan's famous work named ''Secere-i Turk'', it was told that the Turks who had to live in a valley surrounded by high mountains for 400 years, left the valley when spring started, returned to their homeland, and gained their independence. Therefore, March 21 symbolizes the independence day. During Nevruz celebrations, especially the Turks living in Central Asia, read out Ergenekon Epic to express the importance of Nevruz to the new generations.

According to another belief, March 21, the beginning of the 12-animal Turkish Calendar, symbolizes refreshment of the nature, and beginning of spring. Snowdrops which bloom in these days, are called as ''Nevruz Flower''. Babies who are born in Nevruz, are given the first name of Nevruz.

-COLORS OF NEVRUZ
Yellow, red, and green have been considered as the Colors of Nevruz for centuries. The ancient Turks attributed different meanings to these colors.

According to them, green symbolizes ''vitality, freshness, and youth'', yellow symbolizes ''sovereignty'', and red symbolizes ''God, protecting spirit, home, peace, independence, and freedom''.

During ancient shamanic ceremonies, a rope decorated with green, red, yellow, and white cloths, is believed to guide the shaman to the heavens.

The ancient Turks also use green to express the east, white for the west, red for the south, black for the north, and yellow for the center.

Red, yellow, and green were used by the Turks from Seljuk period to Ottoman Empire in flags to symbolize the sovereignty. These colors were used also in organizations and military uniforms of the Ottomans. A flag with three crescents embroidered with yellow thread in a green oval shape on a red ground, was used as the sultanate flag.

-NEVRUZ IN THE OTTOMAN PERIOD
Nevruz which was celebrated by Turkish communities for hundreds of years, shaped various traditions during the Ottoman period.

The sweets cooked in the palace and called ''Nevruziyye'' were presented to the leading members of the communities, and the people. Later, gold-dusted and red-colored Nevruz sweets were also distributed to the people.

-BELIEFS WHICH REACH TODAY
Some beliefs which managed to reach today regarding the Festival of Nevruz are as follows:

-God created the Earth on the day of Nevruz when the night and the day were equal.

-The mud of Prophet Adam who is considered to be the Father of Humanbeings, was molded on a Nevruz day.

-Prophet Adam and Eve first lived in Heaven, but after they ate the forbidden fruit, Prophet Adam was sent to the Serendib Island and Eve to Jeddah. God forgave them who regretted what they did, and brought them together on Arafat on a Nevruz day.

-Nevruz, is the day Prophet Noah first stepped on Earth after his ship landed on Ağrı Mountain (Mount Ararat).

-Prophet Yousuf who was thrown into a pit by his brothers, was saved by a merchant on a Nevruz day.

-Prophet Moses saved his followers by dividing the Red Sea into two on a Nevruz day.

-Prophet Younus who was swallowed by a dolphin, was left to the shore on a Nevruz day. (Yunus means dolphin in Turkish).

-When God created the humanbeings, all stars in the universe had gathered under the Aries. God then ordered all stars to go to their firmaments on a Nevruz day.

-DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER BAHCELI:
-''NEVRUZ IS TRIED TO BE DEGENERATED AND
TURNED INTO A DAY ON WHICH SEPARATIST TERRORIST
VIOLENCE IS EXHIBITED THE MOST''
ANKARA - Deputy Prime Minister Devlet Bahceli said on Tuesday that Nevruz is tried to be degenerated and turned into a day on which separatist terrorist violence is exhibited the most.

Bahceli issued a message conceerning the Nevruz in which he said that the Nevruz, which has been celebrated in Anatolia and other Turkish lands for thousands of years, is tried to be converted into a day of violence.

''But, the common sense and the culture of our nation have not permitted this intention to reach target,'' Bahceli said.

Bahceli emphasized that the cultural values are the main elements which set up the nations and that the nations can maintain as long as they continue their civilization and culture.

The Turkish nation, which has the biggest culture and civilization and which is one of the oldest nations in the world, has preserved the cultural heritage so far, Bahceli said.

Bahceli continued, ''our nation, which has preserved and improved its language, customs and traditions, beliefs, literature and fine arts, has established many states in different parts of the world during its history. The Turkish nation, which has existed in the world during the history, has a unique cultural heritage today.''

Drawing the attention that one of the cultural heritage of the Turkish nation is Nevruz, Bahceli emphasized that this day is celebrated as a day which symbolizes unity, peace and solidarity in the Turkish cultural geography.

Love, respect and solidarity among the people are given priority on this day, Bahceli said.

Bahceli said, ''on this day, which was the day leaving the Ergonekon and which was celebrated as a feast for centuries under the name 'Sultan Nevruz', we wish that the unity and solidarity of our nation and the global peace will exist until eternity.''

Bahceli wished that Nevruz, which means the new day on which the sun enters into the Aries in Turkish mythology and which is the symbol of peace, brotherhood and spring, will be considered as a feast.

''I celebrate Nevruz Feast of all the Turkish world and our nation and wish that this will be a milestone in new hopes and beauties in our society,'' Bahceli added.

-PRIME MINISTER ECEVIT RELEASES A MESSAGE TO MARK NEVRUZ
ANKARA - Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit released a message on Tuesday to mark Nevruz which will be celebrated tomorrow.

In his message, Prime Minister Ecevit said, ''Nevruz is an expression of fertility in nature in the spring. Nevruz has been celebrated in the Turkish world for centuries in an atmosphere of peace, tolerance and friendship.''

Noting that Turkish people considered social diversities as an important asset, Prime Minister Ecevit said that Nevruz made a valuable contribution to development of national unity.

-DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER YILMAZ'S NEVRUZ MESSAGE
ANKARA - Mesut Yilmaz, the state minister and deputy prime minister who also acts as the leader of the Motherland Party (ANAP), said on Tuesday that Nevruz was celebrated with enthusiasm for thousands of years, noting that, ''the message we had to get from Nevruz is that we should strongly protect our historial, cultural and social ties more than ever.''

Yilmaz, who issued a message due to Nevruz Festival, said Nevruz was a sign of unity in Turkey.

Yilmaz said, ''Nevruz is an important festival which people, living in a wide geography extending from Central Asia to the Middle East, and from Anatolia to the Balkans, celebrate with enthusiasm for thousands of years.''

ANAP leader said Nevruz was a sign of Turkey's unity and integrity, and an expression of the links between people and the territory people live on.

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