Anadolu Agency: News in English, 01-07-30

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ANADOLU AGENCY

NEWS

30 JULY 2001 Monday

CONTENTS

[01] TURKEY-PRESS SCAN

[02] SPANISH GUITARIST BITETTI GIVES CONCERT IN EPHESUS ANCIENT THEATRE

[03] FOREST FIRE BREAKS OUT IN IZMIR

[04] GAP'S EXPORTS DIRECTED TOWARDS EUROPEAN COUNTRIES FROM MIDDLE EAST COUNTRIES AFTER CUSTOMS UNION DEAL

[05] BALANCE OF PAYMENTS -CURRENT ACCOUNT BALANCE RESULTS IN 319 MILLION U.S. DOLLARS SURPLUS IN JANUARY-MAY PERIOD OF 2001

[06] SECOND INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON RESPONSIVE MANUFACTURING TO BE HELD IN GAZIANTEP BETWEEN SEPTEMBER 26-28

[07] JAPAN READY TO EXTENT SUPPORT TO FOUNDATION OF KENDO SPORTS FEDERATION IN TURKEY

[08] BALANCE OF PAYMENTS -FOREIGN TRADE DEFICIT REDUCES BY 67.7 PERCENT

[09] IMKB RANKED 4TH IN LIST OF VALUE OF SHARE TRADING AMONG EMERGING MARKETS IN FIRST FIVE-MONTH PERIOD OF 2001

[10] TURKEY'S ANNUAL PRODUCTIVITY INCREASE DETERMINED AS 2.09 PERCENT IN INDUSTRY AND AS 0.87 PERCENT IN AGRICULTURE

[11] SCOUTING FEDERATION FORMS NATURAL DISASTER RESCUE TEAM

[12] SUPREME MILITARY COUNCIL TO TAKE UP POSITIONS OF HIGH RANKING MILITARY OFFICIALS BETWEEN 1-4 AUGUST

[13] OSMANLI BANKASI-KORFEZBANK MERGING -GENERAL ASSEMBLY MEETINGS PERTAINING TO TRANSFER OF KORFEZBANK HELD IN ISTANBUL

[14] TURKEY-IRAN PIPELINE PROJECT -TURKEY TO IMPORT 3.3 BILLION CUBIC METERS OF NATURAL GAS FROM IRAN

[15] FOREIGN MINISTER CEM IN EGYPT (1): -''TURKEY'S FRIENDLY RELATIONS ARE NOT ELEMENTS TO BE USED IN BARGANING TABLES''

[16] FOREIGN MINISTER CEM IN EGYPT (2) -FM CEM: ''TURKEY'S RELATIONS WITH ARAB WORLD FURTHER IMPROVED IN RECENT YEARS''

[01] TURKEY-PRESS SCAN

HURRIYET (LIBERAL)

WILL FISCHER'S MORALE BE ENOUGH FOR MARKETS?
Markets will assess the statements of Stanley Fischer, the IMF First Deputy Managing Director who gave positive messages last weekend about the economic programme that is implemented in Turkey. Fischer and IMF Turkey Desk Chief Juha Kahkonen also left Turkey for the U.S. Fischer had two clear messages for the market. One of them is the fact that the floating exchange rate system will continue, yet Central Bank can intervene with the market from time to time to deal with major instabilities. Secondly, the IMF Executive Board will probably approve the tranche of about 1,5 billion U.S. dollars for Turkey in August.

MILLIYET (LIBERAL)

HUMAN RIGHTS COURSES FOR GENDARME AND POLICE
Istanbul Human Rights Provincial Follow-Up Committee headed by Istanbul governor Erol Cakır will give courses for police and gendarme about the development of human rights concept, limits of human rights and its legal guarantees. An expert commission has been formed and the courses are expected to start next week. Gendarme will be trained at night upon the request of Istanbul gendarme command.

SABAH (LIBERAL)

DIVIDE IT INTO TWO, AND WE ALLOW IT TO PASS STRAITS
The Foreign Ministry put forward this formula for the 310-meter Chinese ship ''Varyag'' which is not allowed to pass the Straits. However, the Prime Ministry, General Staff and Maritime Undersecretariat which are absolutely against passage of this ship through the Straits did not welcome such a formula.

3.5 MILLION GERMANS TO COME TO TURKEY
Tour operators in Germany increased Turkey market which draws great interest by 100 percent. Turkey which experiences the gold era in tourism is breaking records one after another. Lastly, Turkey became the second mostly preferred country after Spain by the German tourists and 3.5 million German tourists will spend their holidays in Turkey this year.

CUMHURIYET (LEFT)

SAD END OF TURKISH LIRA
Turkish lira (TL) which has lost 49.4 percent in value against U.S. dollar since the beginning of the year became the currency which suffered the biggest decrease in value. The TL's loss in value between January 1 and July 25 is close to the total loss in value of currencies of all Latin American countries against U.S. dollar.

BAN ON TURKEY'S BLACK-BOX
The U.S. State Department said that confidential level of documents about Turkey, Greece, Cyprus, Indonesia, Malaysia and Philippines between 1964 and 1968 became less important between 1998 and 1999 but George Bush administration had prevented release of those documents.

RADIKAL (LEFT)

33 IMMIGRANTS CAPTURED
Security forces intercepted 22 Iraqi immigrants including one woman who entered southeastern Sanlıurfa illegally on Sunday. Four persons who promised to take them to Istanbul in return of money were taken into custody. Acting on a tip-off, gendarme captured the immigrants who entered the country with false passports. Also 11 illegal immigrants including two Turks were captured in northwestern Edirne province. Gendarme captured two Turks and nine Afghans in the controls they carried out in Edirne.

TURKIYE (RIGHT)

HIGH INTEREST RATES IN ANATOLIA FOR 4.000 YEARS
People living in Anatolia had suffered serious difficulties 4.000 years ago due to high interest rates and excessive borrowing. Prof. Dr. Tahsin Ozguc who heads an archaeological excavation in Kultepe-Kanis region between Kayseri Malatya said that the unearthed cuneiform writing tablets revealed that economic problems had been the most serious problem in B.C. 2000s. Noting that people of Anatolia which had rich gold and silver beds were depended on Mesopotamia regarding tin, cloth, perfume and jewels, Ozguc said that Assyrian trade colonies had brought nice cloths and tin and sold them in Anatolia for high prices. ''Assyrians marketed these goods with maturity for Anatolians who had difficulties in payment in cash and solf these goods to them for 200-300 percent interest rate.''

ZAMAN (CONSERVATIVE)

A SHINING OBJECT CLAIMED TO HAVE BEEN OVER EMET
A shining object was claimed to have appeared in the sky late on Saturday over Emet township of Kutahya. The shining object which was white and had a 50 centimeters diameter was seen over the Emet Security Department building. Witnesses said the object was seen in the sky for 10 seconds and later it disappeared by leaving a 4-5 meters of colorful trace behind.

WE HAVE RICH ZEOLITE RESERVES BUT...
Turkey has hundred billion U.S. dollars of zeolite reserve which is sued in energy, agriculture, environment and husbandry. While Iran and Greece obtain important amount of income from the mine, Turkey uses it as a fertilizer.

VURAL EXPECTED TO BE APPOINTED AS TRANSPORTATTION MINISTER
The name of Oktay Vural, a deputy from Izmir and deputy chairman of Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) Parliamentary Group, started to come forefront for the Transportation Ministry. Appointment of Vural as the new Transportation Minister is expected to be made tomorrow.

[02] SPANISH GUITARIST BITETTI GIVES CONCERT IN EPHESUS ANCIENT THEATRE

Nearly 300 persons listened the concert in which the guitarist played 19 songs composed by Hector Villa Lobos, Joaguin Rodrigo, Enrigue Granados, Ronald Dyens, Jorge Cardosa and Astor Piazzola.

The series of concerts in Ephesus Ancient Theatre are organized by the Cultural Ministry and Izmir municipality.

[03] FOREST FIRE BREAKS OUT IN IZMIR

Forest regional directorate officials said that the fire which broke out early in the morning, spreaded due to strong wind.

Officials said that three helicopters, 15 spraying vehicles and more than 100 persons were transferred to the region, adding that they requested a plane from Antalya Forest Regional Directorate to extinguish the fire.

The reason of the fire is not known, and the efforts to put out the fire continue.

[04] GAP'S EXPORTS DIRECTED TOWARDS EUROPEAN COUNTRIES FROM MIDDLE EAST COUNTRIES AFTER CUSTOMS UNION DEAL

According to the Southeast Anatolian Exporters Union (GAIB) data, the share of the GAP'S exports to Middle East countries among total exports which was 83,32 percent in 1992 decreased to 30,85 percent in the first half of this year.

The share of GAP exports to EU countries among total exports increased from 9,08 percent to 31,12 percent.

The shares of EU countries and the Middle East countires in total exports of GAP are as follows:

YEAR TOTAL EXPORTS MIDDLE EAST SHARE EU SHARE
----- ------------- ------------------- --------
1992 297,004 83.32 9.08
1993 334,787 76.36 3.08
1994 427,112 71.31 5.40
1995 396,286 54.18 12.48
1996 404,538 57.53 13.96
1997 649,365 52.02 14.97
1998 605,389 39.87 19.25
1999 577,735 29.38 24.13
2000 556,180 25.05 26.31
2001 (X) 295,074 30.85 31.12
(X)Figures of Jan-June.

Prof. Dr. Ismail Hakkı Ozsabuncuoglu, the Director of Gaziantep University EU Research Centre (GABAM) said that the change in GAP export's route was an expected development.

Ozsabuncuoglu said that the change in the route basically stems from the embargo imposed on Iraq by the U.N., adding that the embargo stopped the exportation to Iraq and other Middle Eastern countries via Iraq.

[05] BALANCE OF PAYMENTS -CURRENT ACCOUNT BALANCE RESULTS IN 319 MILLION U.S. DOLLARS SURPLUS IN JANUARY-MAY PERIOD OF 2001

Central Bank announced on Monday the main points related to the balance of payments developments in January-May period of 2001.

According to the statement, foreign trade deficit, which decreased by 67.7 percent in comparison with the same period of the previous year, realized as 2 billion 414 million U.S. dollars in January-May 2001.

The key factors underlying this development are; the increase of export revenues by 10.3 percent, the increase of shuttle trade by 18.7 percent and the decrease of import (CIF) expenditures by 16.5 percent, Central Bank said.

Meanwhile, net revenues from other goods and services, as well as unrequited transfers, decreased by 15.,9 percent, amounting to 2 billion 733 million U.S. dollars, the statement said.

As a result, the current account balance, which had recorded a deficit of 4 billion 234 million U.S. dollars in January-May 2000, resulted in a surplus of 319 million U.S. dollars in January-May 2001, the Central Bank statement said.

[06] SECOND INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON RESPONSIVE MANUFACTURING TO BE HELD IN GAZIANTEP BETWEEN SEPTEMBER 26-28

GAZU Rector's Office said that many Turkish and foreign scientists were expected to attend the three-day conference which would be held in southeastern province of Gaziantep between September 26-28.

In its web page, GAZU Rector's Office said, ''many manufacturing companies have been required to reduce the time to market of products with shorter life cycles, greater part variation, lower costs and higher product quality. This means that characteristics such as flexibility, responsiveness and reconfigurability are essential in order to change functional capabilities within a short period of time. The main goal of 'Responsive Manufacturing (RM)' is to achieve rapid, flexible and integrated development, manufacture and support of complex products within an extended and increasingly global supply chain. Responsive Manufacturing is also employed to counter the increase in unpredictability of market conditions and the need to reorganise manufacturing activities, enabling manufacturing enterprises to thrive under conditions of uncertainty.''

''The seamless integration of information to improve the speed of product realisation and concurrency of product and process development; the utilisation of intelligent manufacturing technology to improve competitiveness and speed of the product development; and the deployment of reconfigurable manufacturing systems to improve flexibility, optimise performance and improve the manufacturing system’s ability to cope with disturbances are considered as critical elements in achieving manufacturing responsiveness,'' it said.

''The 2nd International Conference on Responsive Manufacturing will provide an excellent opportunity for debating these issues. Both academia and industry are invited to present their papers dealing with state of the art research and future developments,'' it added.

[07] JAPAN READY TO EXTENT SUPPORT TO FOUNDATION OF KENDO SPORTS FEDERATION IN TURKEY

Naraoka said on Monday that if Kendo federation is founded in Turkey, Japan is ready to extend all sorts of support to Turkey.

Naraoka said that Turkish people were very interested in the Kendo show that took place in the Japanese Culture Centre in Ankara between 12-13 June this year.

[08] BALANCE OF PAYMENTS -FOREIGN TRADE DEFICIT REDUCES BY 67.7 PERCENT

Central Bank announced on Monday the main points related to the balance of payments developments in January-May period of 2001.

According to the statement, export (FOB) revenues, which had realized as 12.960 million U.S. dollars with the inclusion of shuttle trade amounting to 1.087 million U.S. dollars in January-May 2000, increased to 14.119 million U.S. dollars, with the contribution of shuttle trade of 1.290 million U.S. dollars in January-May 2001.

It said that import (FOB) expenditures, including gold imports of 783 million U.S. dollars, had realized as 20.442 million U.S. dollars in January-May 2000, and that as for January-May 2001, the same item decreased to 16.533 million U.S. dollars, of which 289 million U.S. dollars was gold imports.

The bank stated that the foreign trade balance resulted in a deficit of 2.414 million U.S. dollars in January-May 2001, decreasing by 67.7 percent compared to a deficit of 7.482 million U.S. dollars in January-May 2000.

In January-May 2001, tourism revenues increased by 14.8 compared to January- May 2000, realizing as 2.088 million U.S. dollars. Interest income increased by 31 percent compared to January-May 2000, realizing as 1.349 million U.S. dollars, while other goods and services income materialized as 3.380 million U.S. dollars, decreasing by 25.6 percent.

Interest expenditures increased by 32.2 percent, while the tourism and other services expenditures decreased by 12.9 percent and 35.4 percent respectively. As a result, the realizations in these items in January-May 2001 were recorded as 3.000, 678 and 2.074 million U.S. dollars, respectively.

During the same period, workers' remittances under the heading unrequited transfers materialized as 1.331 million U.S. dollars, decreasing by 27.8 percent.

The developments under capital movements (excluding reserves) for January- May 2001 are as follows:

Regarding direct investments, in comparison with the same period of the last year, non-residents' net direct investments in Turkey increased by 1.250 million U.S. dollars in January-May 2001, amounting to 1.927 million U.S. dollars, while residents' net direct investments abroad decreased by 458 million U.S. dollars, realizing as 318 million U.S. dollars. As a result, direct investments showed a net inflow of 1.609 million U.S. dollars.

Borrowings through bond issues in international capital markets under portfolio investments recorded net borrowings of 2.787 million U.S. dollars in January-May 2000 and net repayments of 169 million U.S. dollars in January-May 2001.

On the other hand, residents' security transactions abroad classified under security investments that had shown net purchases of 78 million U.S. dollars in January-May 2000, have resulted in net sales of 618 million U.S. dollars in January-May 2001.

As for non-residents' security transactions, net sales of 138 million U.S. dollars and 3.267 million U.S. dollars were recorded in January-May 2000 and January-May 2001, respectively.

Consequently, portfolio investments recorded a net inflow of 2.571 million U.S. dollars in January-May 2000 and a net outflow of 2.818 million U.S. dollars in January-May 2001.

Long-term capital movements resulted in a net inflow of 969 million U.S. dollars in January-May 2000 and in a net outflow of 1.333 million U.S. dollars in January-May 2001.

As for the sub-categories of this caption; long-term foreign exchange credit disbursements decreased to 4.243 million U.S. dollars, from 5.983 million U.S. dollars due to the decrease of 1.063, 352 and 325 million U.S. dollars in borrowings of the other sectors, banks and the general government, respectively.

Repayments increased to 5.589 million U.S. dollars, from 5.281 million U.S. dollars, in January-May 2001.

The last principal item under long-term capital movements, deposits with the Central Bank, which had increased in the amount of 267 million U.S. dollars in January-May 2000, have also increased in the amount of 13 million U.S. dollars in January-May 2001.

As for the assets side of short-term capital movements, loans extended realized as 85 million U.S. dollars and 128 million U.S. dollars in January- May 2000 and in January-May 2001, respectively. Banks' foreign exchange holdings with foreign correspondents, which had decreased by 915 million U.S. dollars in January-May 2000, also decreased by 645 million U.S. dollars in January-May 2001.

As for the liability side of short-term capital movements, in January-May 2000, an increase was observed in the amount of 1.357 million U.S. dollars while a decrease of 3.746 million U.S. dollars was recorded in January-May 2001. One of the principal items in this category, loans received by banks, which had shown a net disbursement of 809 million U.S. dollars in January- May 2000, recorded a net repayment of 1.942 million U.S. dollars in January- May 2001.

In addition, in trade credits, which is under the other sectors, a net disbursement of 744 million U.S. dollars was observed in January-May 2000 while a net repayment of 861 million U.S. dollars was realized in January- May 2001. As for the foreign exchange credits, which is also under the other sectors, a net repayment of 258 million U.S. dollars and a net disbursement of 219 million U.S. dollars were recorded in January-May 2000 and January-May 2001, respectively. As a result, in the periods indicated, loans received under the short-term capital movements-liabilities recorded a net inflow of 1.320 million U.S. dollars and a net outflow 2.562 million U.S. dollars, respectively.

FX deposit accounts, which had shown an increase of 37 million U.S. dollars in January-May 2000, recorded a decrease in the amount of 1.184 million U.S. dollars in January-May 2001, mostly owing to the decrease in non- resident banks' deposit accounts opened with the resident banks.

In line with the above stated developments, the official reserves, which had increased by 850 million U.S. dollars in January-May 2000, decreased by 1.353 million U.S. dollars in January-May 2001.

[09] IMKB RANKED 4TH IN LIST OF VALUE OF SHARE TRADING AMONG EMERGING MARKETS IN FIRST FIVE-MONTH PERIOD OF 2001

According to International Federation of Stock Exchanges (FIBV) statistics as of May 2001, Taiwan Stock Exchange ranked first in this list with a 270.4 billion U.S. dollars of share trading and it was followed by South Korea with a 162.4 billion U.S. dollars of share trading and by Hong Kong with a 110.3 billion U.S. dollars of share trading.

Share trading at the IMKB in the first five months of 2001 was 41 billion U.S. dollars.

Meanwhile, IMKB ranked first among the European stock exchanges with this 41 billion U.S. dollars of cumulative share trading in the January-May period of 2001.

Top 10 stock exchanges among the emerging markets according to share trading in the first five-month period of 2001 are as follows:

. Share Trading

Country (million U.S. dollars)

----------------------- -------------
1- Taiwan 270.431

2- South Korea 162.362

3- Hong Kong 110.337

4- Turkey (IMKB) 41.032

5- Brazil (Sao Paulo) 31.956

6- South Africa 31.455

7- Singapore 30.077

8- Mexico 22.064

9- Greece (Athens) 16.910

10- Portugal 13.383

[10] TURKEY'S ANNUAL PRODUCTIVITY INCREASE DETERMINED AS 2.09 PERCENT IN INDUSTRY AND AS 0.87 PERCENT IN AGRICULTURE

The highest annual productivity increase among the EU countries has been in Finland with 4.62 percent and the lowest one has been seen in Denmark with - 0.07 percent between the years of 1995-1999.

The study made comparisons between 15 EU countries and Turkey taking the years 1990-1999 as the basis.

The highest population increase is in Turkey when compared to EU countries and the lowest one was in Portugal with 0,13 percent.

The highest gross domestic product (GDP) increase has been in Ireland with 6,65 percent and the lowest one has been in Italy with 1,36 percent. The same ratio is 3,13 percent in Turkey.

If Turkey was a member EU, its share in EU total population would be 14,9 percent and its share in GDP would be 4,67 percent.

The population shares of Greece, Portugal and Spain are higher than their GDP shares in the EU.

If Turkey becomes a member of EU, it will be ranked the second in EU countries in respect of population and the sixth in respect of GDP.

Increase in GNP per capita has been 1,35 in Turkey between the years 1995- 1999. The lowest ones have been in Italy and Germany with 1,32 percent and the highest one has been in Ireland with 8,13 percent.

[11] SCOUTING FEDERATION FORMS NATURAL DISASTER RESCUE TEAM

Scouting Federation officials said that the name of the team was Turkish Scouting Federation Rescue Team (TIFAKE) and that the aim of founding such a team was to enable boy and girl scouts to actively join the search-rescue efforts following a natural disaster.

Noting that the infrastructure of the new unit had been finalized, officials said that the tem would be in cooperation with institutions and organizations like the civil defense, mountain climbing, trac and fire- brigade.

Scouting Federation Chairman Ibrahim Kurak said, ''as the scouts, we understood after the Marmara earthquake that we should do something. And we want to serve people by training our scouts who are at the age of 18 and over years of age.''

[12] SUPREME MILITARY COUNCIL TO TAKE UP POSITIONS OF HIGH RANKING MILITARY OFFICIALS BETWEEN 1-4 AUGUST

Generals, admirals, colonels of the Turkish armed forces will be promoted or retired according to the decisions of the Council.

Naval Forces Commander Admiral Ilhami Erdil and Air Forces Commander General Ergin Celasin will retire as of August 30 and new generals will be appointed to these posts.

The decisions taken in the Council will be made public after being approved by President Ahmet Necdet Sezer.

[13] OSMANLI BANKASI-KORFEZBANK MERGING -GENERAL ASSEMBLY MEETINGS PERTAINING TO TRANSFER OF KORFEZBANK HELD IN ISTANBUL

The draft contract for transfer of Birlesik Turk Korfez Bankasi Corp. to Osmanli Bankasi, arrangement of the contract according to the approval of Banking Regulatory and Supervisory Board and the General Board of the Bank, and authorization of the Bank Executive Board regarded with the signing of the contract were discussed at the extraordinary meeting.

Bilesik Turk Korfez Bankasi Corp held a meeting in Macka district at about the same hours with Osmanli Bankasi.

A statement is expected to be issued following the meeting.

[14] TURKEY-IRAN PIPELINE PROJECT -TURKEY TO IMPORT 3.3 BILLION CUBIC METERS OF NATURAL GAS FROM IRAN

Turkey-Iran Pipeline Project of 2 thousand 577 kilometers follows the route of Dogu Beyazit, Erzurum, Sivas, Kayseri, Ankara, Konya and Seydisehir.

The natural gas to be imported from Iran to Turkey will be distributed in 57 provinces. Works to distribute Iranian natural gas are planned to be concluded till 2003.

The 22-year natural gas trade agreement about transportation of annual 10 billion cubic meters of natural gas, was signed between Turkey and Iran in August of 1996.

The agreement envisaged Iran to start pumping natural gas to Turkey in 1999. Iran would import annual 3 billion cubic meters of natural gas, and amount of natural gas would increase to 10 billion cubic metres in 2005.

In accordance with the agreement reached between the sides, Pipeline Oil Transportation Inc. (Botas) will bear the property rights and risks of the natural gas after it is transferred to Turkish territories at the border gate between Turkey and Iran, and it will be measured in a metering station on the Iranian side.

Former BOTAS Director General Gokhan Yardim signed a memorandum of understanding with Iranian Deputy Oil Minister and National Gas Company Director General Muhammad Nejad during his contacts in Iranian capital Tehran in January of 2000.

In the memorandum of understanding, the sides decided to postpone beginning of transportation of natural gas to Turkey till July 30, 2001.

Within this framework, the contract period increased from 22 years to 25 years.

In accordance with the agreement, Iran would have started to import 9 million 132 thousand cubic metres of natural gas daily as of July 30, 2001.

Meanwhile, Turkey's natural gas demand has been currently met with four other agreements.

Two of these agreements were signed with Russia.

Other agreements were signed with Algeria and Nigeria.

[15] FOREIGN MINISTER CEM IN EGYPT (1): -''TURKEY'S FRIENDLY RELATIONS ARE NOT ELEMENTS TO BE USED IN BARGANING TABLES''

Cem met with Amr Moussa, the Secretary General of Arab League and former Foreign Minister of Egypt.

Cem became the first Turkish Foreign Minister paying a visit to the Arab League.

Addressing journalists following the meeting, Cem said, ''Turkey has been following a very clear policy about the Middle East. Turkey is a part of this geography.''

Responding to a question about relations between Turkey and Israel, Cem told reporters, ''we cannot give up a friend of us for the sake of another friend.''

Meanwhile, sources said that Cem had held a telephone conversation with President Yasser Arafat of Palestine yesterday about the escalating tension in the region.

If Arafat responds in the affirmative, Cem is expected to met with him tomorrow.

[16] FOREIGN MINISTER CEM IN EGYPT (2) -FM CEM: ''TURKEY'S RELATIONS WITH ARAB WORLD FURTHER IMPROVED IN RECENT YEARS''

Cem, the first Turkish Foreign Minister paying a visit to the Arab League, met Amr Moussa, the Secretary General of Arab League and former Foreign Minister of Egypt.

Cem spoke about Turkey's Middle East policy and relations with the Arab world following the meeting.

Noting that he had a fruitful exchange of opinion with Moussa, Cem said, ''Turkey's relations with the Arab world further improved in the recent years and approached to the activity it deserved.'' Cem pointed out that they focused on the requirement of stopping violence in the Middle East.

When asked about Turkish-Israeli relations, Cem said, ''we are at ease because we are covering a very open policy. Turkey's friendly relations are not elements that would be used in bargaining tables. We cannot give up a friend of us for the sake of another.''

Pointing out the confidence the Palestinian and Israeli side felt toward Turkey, Cem said Turkey was in an effort to benefit from this confidence to stop bloodshed in the region and to make the sides understand each other.

Moussa in his part described Cem's visit as an opportunity to discuss developments in the Middle East, and noted that Turkey, as it is a part of this geography, will be effected from the Palestinian-Israeli problem as well as the other countries.

Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Cem invited Moussa to Turkey.

Within the framework of his contacts in Cairo, Cem will take part in lunch that is hosted by Mousa in his honor, and meet Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher.

Cem is expected to meet Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Palestinian Head of State Yasser Arafat on Tuesday.

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