Anadolu Agency: News in English, 01-05-06

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

06 MAY 2001 Monday

TURKEY-PRESS SCAN

These are some of the major headlines and their brief stories in Turkey's press on May 6, 2000. The Anadolu Agency does not verify these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

HURRIYET (LIBERAL)

Transportation Minister Enis Oksiz has said that a full agreement was reached on the Telekom bill during the meeting at the Prime Ministry on Saturday. Oksuz indicated that the bill would be presented to the Ministers Council in the shortest time possible. Representatives of the General Staff also attended the meeting.

TURK:''FORENSIC MEDICINE SHOULD ADVANCE IN TURKEY''

Speaking at a panel meeting on the problems of forensix medicine on Saturday, Justice Minister Hikmet Sami Turk said there were ongoing efforts to advance forensic medicine and to raise the standards to those of the EU. Turk indicated that Turkey was losing court cases at the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) only because of its shortcomings in this field.

MILLIYET (LIBERAL)

All the difficulties related to the bill on Turkish Telecom were overcome yesterday. The bill was important as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) asked Turkey to adopt the bill first without giving money to Turkey. A meeting was held in the Prime Ministry yesterday which lasted for five hours. Transportation Ministry Enis Oksuz said he had good news after the meeting. He said that all the problems about the issue were overcome.

TANTAN SPEAKS FOR THE FIRST TIME

Interior Minister Saadettin Tantan who has not spoken up until now about the tension between the gendarme and the Motherland Party (ANAP) said that ''such kind of debates are not useful for Turkey. The thing that matters is the fight with corruption. We started many operations against corruption and finished them, this is important.''

SABAH (LIBERAL)

State Minister Kemal Dervis who met with the representatives with the banking sector on Saturday in Istanbul, reached an agreement on most of the issues with the bankers. The banking law is one of the two bills that are required to get the IMF's financial aid to Turkey. After a one and a half hour meeting, Dervis told reporters that he would make a detailed statement on Sunday.

PEOPLE HAVE HIGH HOPES FOR DERVIS

Although Kemal Dervis says he isn't yet interested in politics, people shouted political slogans to him when he walked on the coast of Yenikoy. A group of people said they wanted to see him as the prime minister. A ten year old girl asked him to ''bring down the dollar rate a little more.'' Meanwhile a survey conducted among 1,356 people showed that Erdal Inonu is people's second preference after Dervis.

CUMHURIYET (LEFT)

Transportation Ministry Enis Oksuz said after the five hour meeting on Turkish Telecom bill that an agreement was reached in the meeting which was held in the Prime Ministry. The objections of the Transportation Ministry and General Staff were taken into consideration, he said.

END OF HOPE

Turkish coast guard found 500 immigrants hidden in a Turkish freighter (Lale-1) off Istanbul. Adem Karagoz, a coast guard officer, said the immigrants were mostly from Egypt, Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan. He said the coast guard, acting on a tip, found them when it searched the Lale-1 as it was anchored off Istanbul. The immigrants had boarded the ship Friday night. 192 of the immigrants are Turkish. They had paid 4,000 German Marks or 2,000 dollars per capita to go to European countries.

RADIKAL (LEFT)

Coast guard found 500 refugees from seven countries in a freighter off shores of Pendik. The refugees are coming from seven countries including Afghanistan, Syria and Iraq. The ship crew had different name tags prepared to deceive the coast guard but they were caught before they had the chance to use them. Later the refugees were taken to the gendarmerie headquarters.

TURK CALLS ON INMATES TO STOP DEATH FASTS

Justice Minister Hikmet Sami Turk said Article 16 of the Anti Terrorism law was changed and the inmates could get together during sports, educational, and cultural activities in prisons. Stressing that the political demands of the death fasters will not be accepted by any government official, Turk asked them to end their protests.

TURKIYE (RIGHT)

A full consensus was reached on the Banking bill during the meeting of State Minister Kemal Dervis with representatives of the banking sector in Istanbul yesterday. Dervis said after the meeting that the bill will be adopted within few days.

REFUGE HUNT IN MARMARA

The Turkish ship which was full of foreigners and which was stopped off Pendik, Istanbul was on the way to Europe. A total of 500 refugees were captured in the ship. The immigrants which were brought to Gebze are being questioned there.

ZAMAN (CONSERVATIVE)

Security Directorate General takes saving measures. The Directorate said yesterday that certain projects worth of 5 trillion Turkish liras were cancelled at the first stage.

CONTENTS

[01] TRANSPORTATION MINISTER OKSUZ SAYS AGREEMENT WAS REACHED ON PRIVATIZATION OF TURKISH TELECOM

[02] GUARD OF TERRORIST OCALAN SURRENDERS TO SECURITY FORCES IN GURBULAK BORDER GATE

[03] CAY:''TURKISH FREEDOM MOVEMENT SHOULD BE SUPPORTED IN BULGARIAN ELECTIONS''

[04] TURK-IS CHAIRMAN BAYRAM MERAL TO MEET WITH KEMAL DERVIS TOMORROW

[05] TURKISH TRAIN REACHES BAGDAD AFTER 19-YEAR BREAK

[06] JUSTICE MINISTER TURK VISITS E TYPE MAXIMUM AND MINIMUM SECURITY PRISONS IN SIVAS

[07] DEMIREL RETURNS HOME FROM NEW YORK

[08] TURKISH FOREIGN TRADE DELEGATION MEETS WITH IRAQI DEPUTY PREMIER AND FINANCE MINISTER AZZAWI

[09] DEMIREL RETURNS HOME FROM NEW YORK (2)

[10] STATE MINISTER DERVIS STAGES PRESS BRIEFING (1)

[11] STATE MINISTER DERVIS STAGES PRESS BRIEFING (3) -DERVIS:''THE GOVERNMENT AGREED TO ALLOW A BLOCK SALE OF UP TO 45 PERCENT OF TELEKOM SHARES TO A FOREIGN INVESTOR''

[12] STATE MINISTER DERVIS STAGES PRESS BRIEFING (2) -DERVIS SAYS IMF EXECUTIVE BOARD TO DISCUSS TURKEY'S ECONOMIC PROGRAMME ON MAY 15

[13] STATE MINISTER DERVIS STAGES PRESS BRIEFING (5) ''UNFORTUNATELY, IT IS NOT POSSIBLE TO TAKE BACK ALL THE LOST CASH OF BANKS LOST IN CORRUPTION''

[14] STATE MINISTER DERVIS STAGES PRESS BRIEFING (4) -DERVIS:''BANKING AND TELEKOM BILLS COULD BE PRESENTED TO PARLIAMENT BEGINNING OF THIS WEEK''

[15] STATE MINISTER DERVIS STAGES PRESS CONFERENCE (6) DERVIS:''FIRST TRENCH OF WORLD BANK CREDIT WILL BE AROUND 2.4 BILLION U.S. DOLLARS''

[01] TRANSPORTATION MINISTER OKSUZ SAYS AGREEMENT WAS REACHED ON PRIVATIZATION OF TURKISH TELECOM

Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Oksuz said that bureaucrats came together the same day in the Prime Ministry about the privatization of Turkish Telecom. Oksuz said that there are no problems on the bill.

Oksuz said that the concerned bureaucrats would continue to reduct the bill, adding that ''the concerns of both the Transportation Ministry and the General Staff have been reflected to the bill.''

Upon a question, Oksuz said that the bill would be submitted to the Council of Ministers in the shortest time possible, adding that representatives of the General Staff also participated in the meeting.

[02] GUARD OF TERRORIST OCALAN SURRENDERS TO SECURITY FORCES IN GURBULAK BORDER GATE

Agrı Security Director Ahmet Pek told A.A correspondent on Sunday that Abdulhalim Esıyok, the PKK militant surrendered to security forces after entering Turkey from the border gate in Dogubayazıt township at the Turkish- Iranian border.

Pek said that Esiyok (22 years old) confessed the police that he joined the terrorist organization PKK when he was 13 years old. Esiyok also said that he was also the guard of Ocalan, the head terrorist, adding he felt regret for the things he did.

The interrogation of the suspect continues.

[03] CAY:''TURKISH FREEDOM MOVEMENT SHOULD BE SUPPORTED IN BULGARIAN ELECTIONS''

Speaking at a meeting held by the Bulgarian Turks Culture and Solidarity Association, Cay said there was a strong anti-propaganda against Turks in the world today.

Cay said that the cruelty against Turks in Bulgaria reached an unbearable point in 1985 and 1986 after the decisions taken by the Bulgarian Communist Party in 1970s and about 100,000 Turks fleed to Turkey. The cruelty against Turks decreased after Bulgaria adopted democracy in 1990s, Cay said but pointed out that Turkish is still not taught at Bulgarian schools despite the law passed by the Bulgarian Parliament. The Turkish text books sent by Turkey to Bulgaria are not distributed to Turkish children, he also said.

Cay stated that the freedom movement of the Turks should be supported in the Bulgarian elections.

Labor and Social Security Minister Yasar Okuyan also said his ministry was working to make improvements in the lives of Turks living in Bulgaria.

[04] TURK-IS CHAIRMAN BAYRAM MERAL TO MEET WITH KEMAL DERVIS TOMORROW

The government is expected to present Meral new proposals regarding the collective bargaining agreements at tomorrow's meeting. Turk-Is Chairmanship Board will convene on May 8 and assess the government's proposals and later it will give an answer to the government about the issue.

Meral told the A.A that they made progress in the earlier talks with government officials and that he hoped that the debates would finalize at the negotiation table. He remarked that Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit, deputy prime ministers Devlet Bahceli and Mesut Yilmaz also wanted to reach an agreement as soon as possible. Meral said the wage increase they demanded was not an extreme figure but a very moderate one.

Meral drew attention to the price increases in basic food items and fuel oil and said the purchasing power of public workers decreased significantly due to the price increases.

Turk-Is wants the government to raise wages 25 percent in the first six months and add a five points of prosperity rate to the wages. It is demanding a wage increase equal to the inflation rate for the second, third and fourth six-month periods.

[05] TURKISH TRAIN REACHES BAGDAD AFTER 19-YEAR BREAK

Turkısh Republıc State Raılways (TCDD) General Dırector Vedat Bılgın, a number of offıcıals who were on the traın were met by Foreıgn Trade Undersecretary Kursat Tuzmen and Iraqı offıcıals at the Baghdad traın statıon.

Bılgın told reporters that hıs offıce's goal was to ıncrease the trade volume between Turkey and Iraq.

[06] JUSTICE MINISTER TURK VISITS E TYPE MAXIMUM AND MINIMUM SECURITY PRISONS IN SIVAS

Turk who came to E type maximum security prison in the morning got information from Nadir Ozkardas, the chief prosecutor. Turk met with inmates and listened to their problems.

Turk who also visited the minimum security prison and talked to women prisoners who weave Sivas carpets there.

[07] DEMIREL RETURNS HOME FROM NEW YORK

Demirel told reporters that the committee finalized its works by April 30. ''The committee formed by Israel, Palestine, Egypt, JOrdan and the United States presented a report to the U.S. state secretary to be given to the U.S. president. The report contains very important proposals to maintain peace in the Middle East. As commitee members, we carried out an objective study,'' Demirel said.

[08] TURKISH FOREIGN TRADE DELEGATION MEETS WITH IRAQI DEPUTY PREMIER AND FINANCE MINISTER AZZAWI

Iraqi Deputy Premier and Finance Minister Hikmat Mizban Ibrahim al-Azzawi

met with the delegation first.

Giving information to Al Azzawi about the new economic programme of Turkey, Undersecretary Tuzmen stressed that it was to the interest of the two countries to further improve the bilateral commercial relations.

The Iraqi minister who said that Iraqi government carefully monitored the implementation of the recent economic programme in Turkey and found it positive, added that further improving the economic relations with Iraq will help in overcoming the economic difficulties of Turkey.

[09] DEMIREL RETURNS HOME FROM NEW YORK (2)

Speaking at Esenboga Airport, Demirel said that the Commission completed its report and submitted it to U.S. Secretary of Defense Colin Powell. The report was later given to the U.S. President.

Demirel said that there are measures stated in the report which will end the clashes between Israel and Palestine.

''The sides' showing interest in these measures will help in re- installation of the peace in the Middle East. The report has been prepared in a just and unbiased way. It looks at the future. It aims at ending the incidents, rather than finding faults. The Middle East Peace Process is the most important international issue of the last 50 years. Our Commission worked with good will and finished its report and made its suggestions,'' Demirel said.

When reporters asked him if Cavit Caglar, a famous businessman and former minister who was jailed, would be acquitted, Demirel said that ''I am not a judge. This question has to be asked to judges. If people are not patient enough to wait for the manifestation of the justice, there is no need for justice then. We must wait in patience and calmly. The crime has to be proven. You should let everybody to defend himself/herself. This should be the case in civilized countries.''

[10] STATE MINISTER DERVIS STAGES PRESS BRIEFING (1)

Staging a press briefing in the Treasury Undersecretary, Dervis talked about the economic programme.

Noting that he announced the outlines of the economic programme which aims at re-transition to strong economy on April 14, Dervis said that they particularly talked about the structural change, but they couldn't announce the fiscal balance and macro targets as the foreign finance was not clear. Dervis said that their work on the issue continues in an intensive way and pointed out that they have almost provided the sources they requested from abroad which would support the economic programme.

''A definite decision on the issue has not been taken. But I believe that we will provide an important financial source to Turkey upon the proposal of the IMF Managing Director Mr. Kohler. After this foreign support is made clear, we will give the last form to the monetary and finance policy,'' Dervis said.

Dervis pointed out that the whole economic programme would be submitted to the press this week.

''There are many technical issues, thus it is better to distribute the programme in written form. We will hold very technical meetings with Treasury Undersecertary and other friends particularly about the macro economic programme, monetary policy, foreign exchange rate policy and financial policy. We will hold certain part of these meetings with academicians, friends who represent various sectors of the society and with press, too. Thus we will try to give more information about the technical dimension of the programme,'' he said.

Dervis pointed out that the letter of intent sent to IMF is a summary of the economic programme written in English. ''There are no secret issues on the letter of intent. It will be made public. But it has to be officially distributed at the IMF Executive Board first. We will make it public after the talks start in the IMF Executive Board. There will be no part of the programme which will remain un-announced. Many wrong news was published in the newspapers about this issue last week.''

(to be continued)

[11] STATE MINISTER DERVIS STAGES PRESS BRIEFING (3) -DERVIS:''THE GOVERNMENT AGREED TO ALLOW A BLOCK SALE OF UP TO 45 PERCENT OF TELEKOM SHARES TO A FOREIGN INVESTOR''

The state will keep a golden share which will guarantee

that we keep control in areas important for our national

security, Dervis said.

Responding to a question about the financial aid that Turkey will receive from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank, Dervis said he didn't want to release too many details on the matter. ''Stand-by agreement's conditions are favorable, its maturity term could be as long as five years. Therefore Turkey will pay it in three to five years instead of 18 months. This is a big advantage for us.''

[12] STATE MINISTER DERVIS STAGES PRESS BRIEFING (2) -DERVIS SAYS IMF EXECUTIVE BOARD TO DISCUSS TURKEY'S ECONOMIC PROGRAMME ON MAY 15

Speaking in the press briefing, Dervis said that the Executive Board of the World Bank has also decided to adopt a policy which would support the contributions and decisions of the IMF on the issue.

Dervis said that the proposal which would be submitted to the IMF Executive Board foresees providing an amount nearly 15 billion dollars for the coming nine months in 2001 to Turkey. ''As you know 10 billion dollars of this amount is new and the remaining 5 billion dollars was a source which was foreseen within the 2000 programme. However this fact has to be known: both 5 and 10 billion U.S. dollars were proposed to extend support to this programme. Thus it depends on the programme and its implementation. This proposal will be submitted to the IMF Executive Board which will give its decision on May 15. Certainly the IMF administration extends support to this programme,'' he said.

Dervis said that if the IMF Executive Board gives a positive decision, a source will be then provided which will help in the Turkish economy to re- grow in summer. Dervis said that the source is a suitable one for Turkey in respect of its date of maturity and cost.

''It will help in decreasing the real interests and increasing the business opportunities and employment. I would like to stress that the foreign source is important, yet the main secret of the success depends on the implementation of the economic programme and our work. And foreign source will support our work,'' he said.

(to be continued)

[13] STATE MINISTER DERVIS STAGES PRESS BRIEFING (5) ''UNFORTUNATELY, IT IS NOT POSSIBLE TO TAKE BACK ALL THE LOST CASH OF BANKS LOST IN CORRUPTION''

''There is no exact figure but it is possible to take back a certain amount of this lost cash,'' Dervis said and added that the state and the Savings Deposit Insurance Fund must work hard to get some of this money bank from the former bank owners who were involved in corruption.

Responding to a question on special finance institutions, Dervis said there was a separate activity on these institutions and they were working to finalize these works in the shortest time possible.

[14] STATE MINISTER DERVIS STAGES PRESS BRIEFING (4) -DERVIS:''BANKING AND TELEKOM BILLS COULD BE PRESENTED TO PARLIAMENT BEGINNING OF THIS WEEK''

The two bills will open to signature at the Ministers' Council tomorrow.

Dervis said the banking bill had two basic goals and that one of them is to make it easier and quicker to punish those who illegally use banks' resources. The new arrangement gives more authority to the state to expedite measures, Dervis said and added that he thought the bill will be supported by the people.

The second goal of the bill is to help the restructuring of the banking sector. ''The banking sector could be a strong sector which could provide financing to the real sector and thus help economy. The Turkish banking sector is a good sector despite all the problems we have faced. It must be restructured and made into a strong sector,'' Dervis said. He also added that Istanbul must become a financial center for Eastern Mediterranean region.

The goal of the Turkish Telecom bill is to make this sector develop in the most effective way and operate with the least cost, said Kemal Dervis and added that bringing new source for this sector will be very beneficial for the whole economy.

The sector should be open to competition and it should have a modern administration, said Dervis and added that ''there are certain important dimensions which concern our national security and defense in the telecommunication sector.'' The state will keep a golden share which will guarantee that we keep control in areas important for our national

security, Dervis said.

''This is the same also in other countries and it was also stated in the bill which we prepared. We discussed this issue with the General Staff and the description and function of the golden share will be clear in the new law. There has never been a difference of opinion on the issue. But we described the golden share with the contribution of the experts charged by the General Staff during the studies we had in the last two days,'' said Dervis.

Dervis noted that the other dimensions of the Telecom law are related to administration, the right to give licence, to provide competition and to undertake foreign investment.

''Our target is to create a sector which grows fastly by the contribution of the foreign investment, which makes profits, which operates with a reasonable cost and which will carry the economy to the 21st century. This has to be done without losing time,'' he said. Dervis said that after these bills are adopted by the parliament, it will be the last stage for the implementation of the programme.

''We must be very careful, we have not come out of the crisis yet. Workers, tradesmen, civil servants and employers are still in a very difficult position. It is not possible to overcome these difficulties before the economy starts to grow again. Turkish economy has a very strong potintial and in fact it does not deserve the difficulties we have today.''

''This success will be the success of everybody in Turkey and the success of Turkey. We are in the beginning,'' said Dervis and noted that ''we must implement this programme.''

[15] STATE MINISTER DERVIS STAGES PRESS CONFERENCE (6) DERVIS:''FIRST TRENCH OF WORLD BANK CREDIT WILL BE AROUND 2.4 BILLION U.S. DOLLARS''

Responding to a question on Turkey's letter of intent for the IMF, Dervis said both the prime minister and deputy prime ministers suported the letter which was sent to the IMF last Friday.

Speaking about the collective bargaining agreements, Dervis said the government must support the public workers. ''However, the state pays the wages of public workers and there isn't enough resource. Therefore the negotiations should continue within the limits of the state's resources. A fair solution will be found by taking into consideration the situations of workers and civil servants. I'm hoping that an agreement will be reached in the coming days. I hope we both satisfy the public workers and prevent inflation. We're also working to make improvements in the job security,'' Dervis said.

Upon a question, State Minister Kemal Dervis said that the amount of the credit to be provided by the World Bank has increased in a considerable extent.

Noting that the World Bank officials said that the Bank would increase its credit volume this year, Dervis said that this will be within the framework of the general programme. Dervis stressed that they expect the first part of this new structural adjustment loan to be released in June and its second part to be released in December. Dervis indicated that the loan of the Bank would be around 2,4 billion dollars, adding that the loans of the Bank to certain sectors would also continue.

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