Anadolu Agency: News in English, 01-06-07

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ANADOLU AGENCY

NEWS

07 JUNE 2001 Thursday

CONTENTS

[01] TURKEY-PRESS SCAN

[02] FOREING MINISTRY STARTS COMMUNICATION IN DIGITAL

[01] TURKEY-PRESS SCAN

HURRIYET (LIBERAL)

FRENKEL: ''REMEMBER THIS IS YOUR LAST BULLET''
Former Israeli Central Bank Governor Jacob Frenkel has said that the new economic program was Turkey's ''last bullet'', therefore it had to use it well. ''The harmony between Kemal Dervis and the Central Bank is excellent. I wish it was the same in Israel. The team is also very professional. They are also speaking very openly about the economic program. I'm very much impressed by Dervis's team,'' he said.

He also indicated that the economic program which is very comprehensive should be explained well to public.

MILLIYET (LIBERAL)

SEZER WELCOMED WITH WHITE PIGEONS IN DIYARBAKIR
Sezer visited Diyarbakir yesterday as a part of his South East Anatolia visit. Diyarbakir Mayor from People's Democracy Party (HADEP) Feridun Celik and a group of other party members welcomed Sezer at the entrance of the Air Forces Commandership and released white pigeons symbolizing peace.

During their visit to Diyarbakir, Sezer's wife Semra Sezer called on people to support the National Education Campaing.

SABAH (LIBERAL)

TOURISM MINISTER MUMCU:''WE SURPASSED GREECE IN TOURISM, NOW WE ARE
COMPETING WITH SPAIN''
This year's tourism figures are proving the words of Kemal Dervis right who said tourism and export sector were going to be the two most successful sector of 2001. Last week, Antalya Airport hosted 33,000 tourists in one day and this number is expected to increase. Tourism Minister Erkan Mumcu said about 13 million tourists could visit Turkey this year bringing 10 billion U.S. dollars of cash. He also indicated that Turkey's success caused panic in Greece and Spain which started lowering down their prices.

CUMHURIYET (LEFT)

DISK Chairman Suleyman Celebi who commented on the dismissal of former Interior Minister Saadettin Tantan said that the government looks bothered by the level the Interior Ministry has reached in its combat against corruptions. A number of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and some people also said that Tantan lost his post because of his determination against corruption.

ECEVIT:''DON'T GET ME INVOLVED IN THESE MATTERS''
When asked to comment on Interior Minister Saadettin Tantan's dismissal and his resignation from the state ministry post he was appointed to, Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit said ''Don't get me involved in these matters.'' Ecevit told reporters that there won't be a change in the ministers in his own party. He said that he valued Tantan and he wished him success in his future life.

RADIKAL (LEFT)

COTTARELLI BLAMES GOVERNMENT FOR ECONOMIC CRISIS
Former IMF Turkey Desk Chief Cottarelli, in his response to Prof. Boratav's article which blamed the IMF for the economic crisis that appeared in the Financial Times, said that the government was the first to blame for the economic crisis. Cottarelli said the economy was always under the control of the government. Cottarelli said the government which was very succesful in the beginning of the previous program later faced serious problems such as the tripling of oil prices, increasing in interest rates in international borrowing.

TURKIYE (RIGHT)

ZAMAN (CONSERVATIVE)

[02] FOREING MINISTRY STARTS COMMUNICATION IN DIGITAL

The system will allow the Foreign Ministry personnel to prepare texts and notes more easily and send them to their co-workers in other countries through e-mail. The system will also allow employees to have easy access to any document in the archieve.

The system is currently being used only in the Foreign Ministry Headquarters in Ankara, later it will start to be used in foreign branches.

Confidential documents will not be included in the system due to security reasons.

-PARLIAMENT PASSES RADIO AND TELEVISION BILL
ANKARA - Parliament General Council on Wednesday passed the bill proposing changes in the Radio, Television and Broadcast Law.

According to the bill, TV and radio broadcasts will obey the supremacy of law, the main principles of the Constitution, main rights and freedoms, national security and moral values. The bill bans any broadcast that is against the independence and the indivisibility of the Turkish Republic,and Ataturk's principles and reforms. The broadcast cannot encourage society to violence and separatism and it will respect the family and moral values of the Turkish nation. People's privacy cannot be violated.

Programs cannot attack a certain individual and a person cannot be declared guilty before he or she is announced guilty by the court. All political parties and groups will be given equal opportunity.

The new law also bans TV contests to which people participate through the telephone as well as the prizes given at these contests.

The posts of new Supreme Board of Radio and Television (RTUK) members will be over when new members are appointed. New RTUK members will be expected to study a minimum of four years of university and work in a public or private institution for at least ten years. They will be required to be over 30 yearas and have the necessary experience and qualities.

Political parties, associations, workers unions, professional organizations, foundations, cooperatives,business partners, export, import and marketing groups will not be allowed to set up a TV channel or radio station. One person or a capital group could not have more than 50 percent of hte shares if the average annual rating of that TV channel is over 20 percent. If the shares exceed 50 percent, it will brought down through public sale of shares.

A TV channel violating these laws will be asked to openly apologize by the Higher Council. If the TV channel fails to apologize or repeats the same violation, the broadcast of that particular program will be stopped. The fines brought for violation of RTUK's principles are between 125 and 250 billion TL for national TV channels and between 5 and 100 billion TL for local TV channels. The fines for radio stations will be half of this amount.

The new law also brings regulations for internet crimes. According to this, the punishments given for causing a person mental anguish or financial loss through incorrect news will be also valid for crimes that are committed through the internet newspapers, bulletins and various imagery.

The Parliament General Council worked thirteen and a half hours on the last day of the debates to pass the bill.

-BUSH INSISTS ON NOT USING WORD ''GENOCIDE''
WASHINGTON - Armenians who booed U.S. President George Bush when he visited California are again enraged at Bush for not using the word ''genocide'' in the letter he wrote to the Armenian lobby.

A commentary written by Harut Sasunyan which appeared in the Armenian publication California Courier, stated that Republican Party Member George Radanovich who presented the so-called Armenian genocide bill last year to the U.S. House of Representatives asked the president to recognize the genocide in the right manner.

Sasunyan stated that Bush, in the letter he wrote in response to Radanovic's letter on May 18 insisted on not using the word genocide.

Bush had made the Armenians in the United States furious when he didn't use the word genocide during his commemoration speech he gave on April 24. Bush, during his election campaign, had promised to recognize the sufferings of the Armenians and now he is accused for not keeping his promises by the Americans of Armenian origin.

-ECONOMIST SONMEZ SAYS ECONOMIC CRISIS WORSENED UNBALANCED
INCOME DISTRIBUTION IN TURKEY
ANKARA - Economist Mustafa Sonmez has said that after the economic crisis the difference between the the richest one percent of the society and the poorest increased 236 times.

In his book ''The unfair income distribution in Turkey'', Sonmez wrote that Turkey is one of the five countries with the worst income distribution and added that the situation even worsened after the crisis.

According to Sonmez's research, before the crisis, the income of the richest one percent of the society was equal to the income of 45 percent. After the crisis, the difference between the richest and the poorest grew 236 times.

Three thirds of the Turkish families have incomes between 32 million and 500 million TL.

The income distribution is even more unfair in Istanbul where the difference between the incomes of the richest and the poorest is 322 times.

In his comments, Sonmez wrote that the previous IMF program disrupted the balances making things very difficult for people with low income and that February's economic crisis was a big blow for the working class.

Sonmez also claimed that the Letter of Intent presented to the IMF beginning of May ignored the income distribution therefore it would end with a fiasco.

-KAZAKH-TURKISH JEC PROTOCOL SIGNED
ASTANA - State Minister Abdulhaluk Mehmet Cay has said that Aktau-Baku- Ceyhan oil pipeline which will transport Kazakh oil to the world markets will definitely be realized.

Kazakh-Turkish Joint Economic Commission (JEC) meeting ended today with the signing of a protocol between Cay and Kazakh Deputy Prime Minister Imangali Tasmagambetov. Cay said the protocol was an important step for the development of commercial and economic relations between Turkey and Kazakhtan. Through the protocol, the two sides agreed to maximize the support to the private sector, continue the cooperation in standardization and free regions, increase the existing cooperation in energy, industry and contracting sectors and create new opportunities.

Responding to reporters' questions, Cay said the Baku-Ceyhan pipeline has been changed to Aktau-Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan and that the project will definitely be implemented despite all obstacles. Besides its economic value, Cay said the project was also very important for its security aspect.

According to the protocol KEK third term meeting will be held in Ankara this year. Cay will travel to Almati in the afternoon.

-NATO DEFENSE MINISTERS MEETING STARTS
BRUSSELS - The spring term meetings of NATO member countries' defense ministers started in Brussels on Thursday morning.

National Defense Minister Sabahattin Cakmakoglu represents Turkey in the meetings.

Firstly the Nuclear Planning Group (NPG) came together.

Defense ministers of NATO countries and countries which make cooperation with the Alliance will come together on Friday within the scope of the European-Atlantic Cooperation Council.

The most important part of the meetings will be U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's explaining the new U.S. defense strategy and the nuclear defense shield to NATO defense ministers.

The issue of European Security and Defense Identity (ESDI) will also be taken up in the defense ministers meeting. Officials said that they don't expect a concrete development on the issue.

The ministers will also discuss the situation in the Balkans, security issues, relations with Yugoslavia and defense budget.

-SECURITY FORCES KILL FIVE TERRORISTS IN HAKKARI
DIYARBAKIR - Security forces killed five terrorists including three who were of Syrian origin in an operation they launched in eastern province of Hakkari.

The Emergency Governor's Office said on Thursday that security forces had clashed with terrorists while they were patrolling around rural area in Hakkari.

In the clash, security forces killed five terrorists.

Operations are under way in the region.

-DIPLOMACY TO HAVE BUSY DAYS IN JUNE
ANKARA - Turkey's membership process to the EU and its accession to the European Security and Defense Policy (ESDP) are among the most important issues that will be taken up in the important meetings that will be held in June.

The EU summit which will be held in Goteborg, Switzerland on 15-16 June, will be the first important meeting for Turkey with the EU leaders following the announcement of the National Programme.

Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit and Foreign Minister Ismail Cem who will represent Turkey in the summit, will inform the EU about the progress Turkey recorded in the membership process to date. ESDP will also be taken up in the meeting.

The Association Council meeting that will be held in Luxembourg on June 26 is another important meeting for Turkey in respect of Turkey-EU relations. State Minister and Deputy Premier Mesut Yılmaz, Foreign Minister Cem and Secretary General for EU Volkan Vural will participate in the meeting in which the progress recorded in the reforms Turkey promised to undertake in the national programme will be discussed.

NATO Summit will be held on June 13 and Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit is expected to come together for the first time with the U.S. President George W. Bush.

Prime Minister Ecevit will receive Austrian Prime Minister Wolfgang Schussel who will come to Turkey for an official visit between 21-22 June.

Israeli Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Avi Gil will come to Ankara on June 20 following the visit of Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Faruk Logoglu to the region.

Logoglu suggested both sides in the Middle East to put into practice the Mitchell report as soon as possible. Logoglu stressed that the main principle is to restart peace negotiations, adding that Turkey is ready to extend all sorts of assistance about the issue and to host a meeting when the time comes. Before hosting his counterpart in Turkey, Logoglu will visit Baghdad, Iraq in the first half of this month.

Foreign Minister Cem will come together with his Greek counterpart George Papandreou in the second half of June in Aegean. The meeting between the two foreign ministers which was planned to take place in Marmaris-Rhodes last year, is planned to take place in Kusadası-Samos this year.

Cem is expected to spend the last part of June in Mali, an African country to attend the 28th meeting of the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC).

Turkey will also host Macedonian President Boris Trajkovski and Belgian Deputy Premier and Foreign Minister Lois Michel.

Trajkovski who postponed his visit to Turkey last month due to the clashes in his country, will come to Turkey on June 27. The recent developments in Macedonia and the region will be taken up in the meetings.

Michel, the Belgian Foreign Minister will have contacts in Ankara on 20-21 June. Belgium is important for Turkey in respect of its relations with the EU as Belgium will take over the EU term presidency from Sweden.

Preasident Ahmet Necdet Sezer will pay an official visit to Romania between 21-22 June.

-TRNC PRIME MINISTER EROGLU SUBMITS LIST OF NEW CABINET
TO TRNC PRESIDENT DENKTAS
LEFKOSA - Dervis Eroglu, the leader of the National Unity Party (UBP) and Prime Minister who was designated by TRNC President Rauf Denktas to form the new governemnt, signed the coalition protocol with Democrat Party on Wednesday and submitted the list of the new cabinet to Denktas on Thursday.

Denktas said that he accepted the new cabinet, adding that he hoped the cabinet could work in harmony.

Denktas said that the coalition has to work in TRNC without feeling that they are a coalition, stressing that there is a lack of confidence in the country and it is the mission of the new government to overcome this lack of confiderce. Denktas stated that he is ready to help the government in all issues.

Eroglu said in his part that they will come together with State Minister Sukru Sina Gurel on Friday and discuss the economic issues with him. Before that meeting, they will convene the cabinet for the first time, Eroglu said.

The economic package which was earlier prepared will be revised due to changing conditions, Eroglu said, adding that the views of the UBP and the Democrat Party (DP) with which they formed the coalition are similar on the Cyprus issue.

DP leader Salih Cosar said in his part that they will try to prepare a new economic programme.

The ministers of the cabinet are as follows:

-State Minister in Charge of Economy and Deputy Premier: Salih Cosar

(DP)

-Foreign and Defense Minister: Tahsin Ertugruloglu (UBP)

-Finance Minister: Mehmet Bayram (UBP)

-Interior, Rural Affairs and Housing Minister: Mehmet Albayrak (UBP)

-National Education and Culture Minister: Ilkay Kamil (UBP)

-Forestry and Agriculture Minister: Irsen Kucuk (UBP)

-Public Works and Transportation Minister: Salih Miroglu (UBP)

-Labour, Social Security, Youth and Sports Minister: Ahmet Kasif (DP)

-Health and Social Assistance Minister: Mustafa Arabacıoglu (DP)

-Tourism and Environment Minister: Serdar Denktas (DP).

-TURKEY AND CHINA DETERMINED TO DEVELOP RELATIONS
BEIJING - Chief of General Staff Huseyin Kivrikoglu who is continuing his visit in China had a meeting with President and Central Military Commission Chiarman Jiang Zemin on Thursday.

Jiang Zemin said he believed that Kivrikoglu's visit would deepen the relations between the Turkish and Chinese armies. Drawing attention to the historical roots of Turkish-Chinese friendship, Jiang Zemin said

the two countries cemented their relations since diplomatic relations started between Turkey and China 30 years ago.

The Chinese president indicated that friendly relations between Turkey and China which are located on the two ends of Asia would bring peace and

stability to the region and that the favorable conditions existed to achieve this result. He also thanked Turkey for adopting the ''single China'' principle and supporting China in international affairs.

Kivrikoglu also said that these two countries which are built on old civilizations played an important part in the preservation of regional and world peace. He underlined that Turkey was ready to support the cooperation between two countries and armies and emphasized that Turkey would continue to support the ''single China'' principle.

Kivrikoglu also met with Chinese Chief of Staff Fu Quanyou in Beijing. Both Kivrikoglu and Fu said they were pleased about the cooperation between Turkey and China in many fields. Quanyou stated that Turkey and

China which are both developing countries share similar views in certain international matters. He said his government wanted to continue working with Turkey for the preservation of world peace and stability.

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