Anadolu Agency: News in English, 01-09-19

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ANADOLU AGENCY

NEWS

19 SEPTEMBER 2001

Wednesday

HURRIYET (LIBERAL)

A protest was staged when State Minister Kemal Dervis was delivering a speech at a meeting in London, Britain. The British police which only watched the members of the organization who entered into the hall one after the other in 20 minutes, did not detain the protestors.

ECEVIT: ''SUPPORTING THE U.S. IS A RESPONSIBILTY AND DUTY OF HUMANITY''

Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit said that some West European countries shelter terrorists and this is a shame of humanity. Ecevit said, ''the U.S. was among a few countries which supported us. To this end, it is a duty and responsibility of humanity to help and assist this country and do our best.''

WIN A POINT GALATASARAY!

Galatasaray soccer club, which started the Champions League with 3 points, will take on PSV Eindhoven in the Netherlands tonight. Fenerbahce started the Champions League very bad in Istanbul last night. Barcelona beat Fenerbahce 3-0 in yesterday's match.

MILLIYET (LIBERAL)

State Minister Kemal Dervis said that Turkish lira (TL) will gain 7-8 percent in value in 2002. Speaking at a conference organized jointly by the Foreign Economic Relations Board (DEIK) and Turkish-British Business Council, Dervis said that the growth rate target for 2002 which has been set as 4-5 percent is a realistic target. Dervis noted that 3-4 billion U.S. dollars is expected to be obtained from privatization next week.

KONCA KURIS' MURDERERS CAPTURED

Haci Bayancik and other four members of the terrorist Hezbollah organization who were captured in operations staged in southern Adana province and central Nigde province were revealed to kill 15 people, including writer Konca Kuris and Nesim Malki assassination suspect Mehmet Sumbul, after their interrogration. Bayancik, Fadil Sani, Mehmet Veysi Ozel and Remzi Kacar confessed that they committed the murders.

SABAH (LIBERAL)

Turkish citizen Zuhtu Ibis was on the 103th floor of the World Trade Center when the plane hit the building. He called his wife just after the terrorist attack on the twin towers of the World Trade Center and said, ''I am O.K. and I am going down. I am hanging down now because they called us to evacuate the building.'' but he could not achieve this. Ibis was a computer engineer.

PANIC IN IMRALI

Osama bin Laden also hit the constitutional amendment package. Government partners now have a tendency to postpone the abolition of capital punishment. Last week's terrorist attacks in the U.S. changed the atmosphere in Ankara. The provision of the constitutional amendment bill of 37 articles which foresees limitation of capital punishment only with terrorist crimes has been re-opened to discussion following the terrorist attacks in the U.S. The Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) was the party which brought this amendment firstly onto the agenda. MHP asked for the suspension of the regulation which limits capital punishment with only terrorism or state of war. True Path Party (DYP) leader Tansu Ciller extended support to MHP by saying, ''capital punishment cannot be abolished in such a time.'' These shocking developments caused head terrorist Abdullah Ocalan to panic, who was hoping that the capital punishment would be abolished.

TECIMER'S MARRIAGE GAME

It was revealed that Aysegul Tecimer, who was wanted in Turkey for smuggling historical works of art, married Moroccan businessman Hussein Kazadi to prevent her extradition to Turkey. Now, Tecimer is living in a luxurious villa in Marrakech, Morocco.

CUMHURIYET (LEFT)

Professor Ahmet Kasim Han from the Bilgi University History Department said that the war would take place on the Afghan territories. Han said, ''if the United States won't use chemical weapons, it is impossible for it to achieve something with bombardment. Americans can't understand. However, they had sent 1 million rifles to Afghanistan in 1980s. As one of the merciless ironies of the history, fire will be opened at Americans with those rifles.''

''F-TYPE'' PROTEST IN LONDON

State Minister Kemal Dervis encountered verbal attacks for two times while he was speaking at a conference in London, Britain. A person who was disguised as a reporter and protested F-type prisons walked toward Dervis by chanting slogans in English. The militant who shouted ''traitor'' at Dervis was silenced and taken out of the hall by the participants. The second protester was prevented before his attempt.

RADIKAL (LEFT)

A new protest was staged in front of the Prime Ministry building yesterday. This time, two men set a car which they only bought to stage this protest, ablaze in front of the Prime Ministry building and protested the government. Two partners namely Ramazan Ertac, 33, and Aydemir Aydin, 32, who became indebted poured gasoline on the car and set it ablaze. Two protestors were detained.

FOGG SAYS TURKEY HAS NOT REACHED THE LEVEL OF MEMBERSHIP NEGOTIATIONS

EU Turkey Representative Karen Fogg said that Turkey, as a candidate country, has not yet reached the level of negotiations. Speakinge at a conference on Turkey-EU relations held by the Political and Social Research Foundation, Fogg stated that most EU candidate countries had gross national products much lower than the EU average and that they came from very different cultures. Fogg said Turkey is going through a much more complicated period compared to the past and there are Copenhagen criteria which it has to meet. Fogg said that there are other political criteria and that all candidate countries should have an operating democracy. Fogg noted that the third one is the economic criteria while the fourth criteria is the harmony between countries within the EU.

TURKIYE (RIGHT)

An Awacs, many war planes, tanker, cargo and passenger planes took off from Incirlik Base in southeastern Adana province yesterday. Some of the planes which took off did not return to the base.

TUSIAD'S TOUR TO SWEDEN

A delegation of the Turkish Industrialists' and Businessmen's Association (TUSIAD) will go to Stockholm, Sweden, to hold several contacts and attend cultural activities between September 24-25. TUSIAD Executive Board Chairman Tuncay Ozilhan will head the delegation which will go to Sweden. The delegation will visit Swedish Foreign and Foreign Trade Ministry undersecretaries on September 24 and hold a meeting in Utriske-politiska Institutet, one of the leading think-tank organizations in Sweden. On September 25, the delegation will meet with Swedish Companies Confederation SA and exchange views about the current situation of Turkish economy, investment and cooperation opportunities.

NEW TARGET OF FOREIGN TRADE: MIDDLE EAST

Onder Yavuz, the Secretary General of Uludag Exporters' Association, announced that a delegation will be sent to Syria and Lebanon on September 30. Yavuz said, ''Middle Eastern countries at the same time leaves the door of Africa ajar. These countries have some agreements which include mutual tax reduction with the African countries. Turkey can make use of this advantage.''

ZAMAN (RIGHT)

Privatization of main oil distributor Petrol Ofisi and Turkish Oil Refineries (TUPRAS) which the Privatization Administration Board is planning to offer to global markets, is being delayed due to attacks in the United States. The board is waiting for the stop of fluctuations in the world economy.

TENSION IN MARKETS REDUCES

The tension which reduced in international markets with the effect of decrease in interest rates, positively reflected in Turkey. The U.S. dollar which gave back what it had taken two days ago with panic, reduced below 1.5 million U.S. dollars.

DARK NIGHT

Fenerbahce gave a bad start to Champions League first stage last night. Fenerbahce which could not play any good and enterprising football was defeated by Barcelona 0-3. Besides, the power failure at the stadium for 23 minutes damaged both Feberbahce's and Turkey's prestige.

CONTENTS

[01] LABOUR MINISTER OKUYAN LEAVES FOR BELGIUM

[02] IMF SOURCES SAY POSTPONEMENT OF TURKEY'S DEBT NEXT YEAR IS POSSIBLE

[03] SEVEN A310-300 TYPE AIRBUS PASSENGER PLANES OF THY PUT UP FOR SALE

[04] VURAL MEETS WITH WORLD BANK'S REPRESENTATIVE IN TURKEY

[05] 45TH EUROPEAN QUALITY CONGRESS BEGINS IN ISTANBUL

[06] TOURISM MINISTER TASAR DENIES CLAIMS RESERVATIONS HAVE BEEN CANCELLED

[07] STATE MINISTER DERVIS DEPARTS FROM LONDON

[08] THY PLANS TO SELL THREE AIRBUS PLANES IN 2002 AND FOUR OTHERS IN 2003

[09] TURKISH CONSULATE IN NEW YORK PREPARING WEBSITE TO CONVINCE

[10] FINANCE MINISTER SAYS IT IS ECONOMY'S BASIC TARGET TO ACHIEVE GROWTH

[11] SECURITY FORCES CAPTURE 182 AFGHANS WHO ENTER TURKEY ILLEGALLY

[01] LABOUR MINISTER OKUYAN LEAVES FOR BELGIUM

European Union (EU) Term President Belgium and European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions jointly organized the conference.

Prior to his departure, Okuyan told reporters that during the Lisbon, Nice and Stockholm summits of the EU Council, it was stressed that the quality of labour is the main element in development and improvement of European social model.

Okuyan said that round-table meeting will be held on the first day of the conference within this framework while the main item of the agenda of the second day will be how the quality indicators will be used in monitoring working life in different aspects.

Also, the participants will exchange views about recent developments in the EU regarding the arrangements in working life in context of rehabilitation of working quality, flexibility of business markets, and efforts to enable a strong balance between working and private lives of individuals, Okuyan noted.

Okuyan said that he will inform the other participants about Turkey's view and initiatives regarding these issues.

Not only the quantity but also the quality of labour should be improved, Okuyan stressed and noted that the views which will be expressed at the conference will shed light on the initiatives that have been launched in Turkey.

Okuyan said that he will hold bilateral contacts with the labour ministers of EU member countries, particularly that of Belgium, and added, ''during my contacts, especially with the Belgian Labour Minister, I hope that we can debate the possible discriminative implementations that our citizens are exposed to and unemployment issue which has reached a wide-spread dimension among our teenagers who have grown up in Belgium. I will also hold a meeting with the non-governmental organizations of the Turkish people living in Belgium.''

[02] IMF SOURCES SAY POSTPONEMENT OF TURKEY'S DEBT NEXT YEAR IS POSSIBLE

IMF sources in Washington D.C. told the A.A on Wednesday that 7.5 billion U.S. dollars of the 19 billion U.S. dollars of package which had been allocated to Turkey since December of 1999, were composed of Supplemental Reserve Facility (SRF) loans.

Recalling that some countries' SRF loan debts had earlier been postponed within framework of SRF mechanism rules, IMF sources said that the same implementation for Turkey was ''feasible and possible''.

Sources said there was not any important obstacle in front of this issue but it depended on the decision of the IMF Executive Directors Board.

There is also 2002 year budget among the basic issues discussed during the works on the 10th review of the IMF program, which continue between the Turkish and government and an IMF delegation in Ankara.

Turkey earlier conveyed its request for postponement of repayment of 5 billion U.S. dollars to the IMF in order to lessen this year's foreign debt burden.

Within framework of the SRF mechanism, repayment of these loans can be extended up to 2.5 years.

Sources said that the IMF Board would probably decide to postpone Turkey's repayment in its next month meeting. At the meeting, the Board is expected to approve 3 billion U.S. dollars of new loan tranche.

[03] SEVEN A310-300 TYPE AIRBUS PASSENGER PLANES OF THY PUT UP FOR SALE

The planes will be put up for sale by bidding method.

Those who are interested in the auction can see the aircraft at Istanbul's Ataturk Airport beforehand.

Information can be gained and applications can be made at Turkish Airlines General Management Building at Ataturk Airport.

Three of the A310-300 planes to be sold were produced in 1988, two in 1989, one in 1990 and one in 1991.

[04] VURAL MEETS WITH WORLD BANK'S REPRESENTATIVE IN TURKEY

Following the meeting, Chhibber told reporters that the meeting was very beneficial and they debated the privatization of Turk Telekom and rehabilitation of railways.

Chhibber said that Vural has a professional approach toward the matters and that right steps in privatization of Turk Telekom and rehabilitation of railways have been taken.

They will extend necessary support to these two matters, Chhibber noted.

Asked about possible effects of last week's terrorist attacks in the U.S. on Turkey's economy, Chhibber said that growth in global economy can slow down, however, it is too early to comment on the possible effects at the moment.

Vural later met with Guiseppe Farina, the General Director of GSM operator Aria.

[05] 45TH EUROPEAN QUALITY CONGRESS BEGINS IN ISTANBUL

President Ahmet Necdet Sezer sent a message to the congress while State Minister Ramazan Mirzaoglu delievered a speech at the congress.

Sezer said in his message that Turkey, which has chosen reaching modern world criteria as its target, has to make right and realistic plans and to put to implementation new structures which will help Turkey cope with global competition.

Sezer noted that quality should be given priority in all the policies to be followed from economy to education, from industry to service sector and to public management.

This will accelerate Turkey's development process and have a role in accomplishment of modernization steps, Sezer added.

Speaking at the congress, State Minister Ramazan Mirzaoglu offered condolence messages to the U.S. people and harshly condemned those who staged these attacks and supported them.

Mirzaoglu said that terrorism can no way coincide with Islam, the meaning of which is peace and noted, ''I would like to state that all the civil nations should be in solidarity against terrorism. I would also like to note that Turkey, which has suffered much from terrorism, will be in solidarity with all the countries. I would like to stress that double standards should not be implemented against terrorism and everybody should stand by against terrorism.''

The world market which narrowed due to globalization led to merciless competition among people, Mirzaoglu said.

Mirzaoglu noted that the key to be superior in competition is the quality and that the companies have started to produce high-quality goods and services to be superior over their rivals.

In parallel with these developments, Turkish companies also realized the importance of quality and started to make high-quality production and consumption.

Mirzaoglu expressed belief that Turkey will overcome current problems by exerting efforts as a whole and by increasing high-quality goods and services production in the possible shortest time.

[06] TOURISM MINISTER TASAR DENIES CLAIMS RESERVATIONS HAVE BEEN CANCELLED

Tasar told the A.A correspondent that only the American people, who have booked for hotels in Turkey, asked for the cancellation of their reservations following the terrorist attacks in the U.S. and that this demand is very natural.

''I met with officials of the Turkish Hoteliers' Association regarding these cancellations and I asked the officials to give the advance payments of American tourists back. The association debated the matter and decided to give the money back,'' Tasar said.

Tasar continued, ''there is not any cancellation of reservations. New reservations have been made since September 14.''

The possibility of an operation against Afghanistan will not affect reservations to Turkey at the moment, Tasar said and went on saying, ''if an operation is launched, this may affect Turkey's tourism. But, we are working to take measures at the moment. We will explain that Turkey is far away from the intervention point.''

Tasar added, ''to this end, I wrote a letter to the U.S. Ambassador. The crisis desk at the Tourism Ministry is following the developments and reflections of the terrorist attacks in the U.S. We are still sensitive toward the matter and we will determine our strategy in line with the developments.''

[07] STATE MINISTER DERVIS DEPARTS FROM LONDON

Dervis had held several contacts and attended the conference jointly organized by the Foreign Economic Relations Board (DEIK) and Turkish- British Business Council.

Prior to his departure, Dervis met with three columnists of Financial Times at a breakfast at the Landmark Hotel.

Dervis did not make any statement following the meeting while Financial Times columnists said that they saw that Dervis was very determined and that they had positive expectations about the future of Turkish economy.

[08] THY PLANS TO SELL THREE AIRBUS PLANES IN 2002 AND FOUR OTHERS IN 2003

Faik Akin, THY Promotion and Public Relations Chief, said on Wednesday that THY Executive Board decided to sell seven Airbus 310-300 type passenger planes a month ago and that the auction would be held on September 12, 2001.

Akin noted that THY planned to sell three of the planes in 2002 and four others in 2003.

THY does not think of purchasing new planes by the income from the sale of these planes for the time being, Akin added.

[09] TURKISH CONSULATE IN NEW YORK PREPARING WEBSITE TO CONVINCE

Turkish Consulate's Attache Office in charge of Promotion has sent a letter to a number of tourism institutions including the Turkish Association of Travel Agents. In the letter, it was stated that the Consulate was preparing a website which shows that Turkey is a safe place to spend a vacation. The website also indicates that the Turkish nation was very saddened by the recent terrorist attack against the United States.

The Consulate will organize a meeting this week with tour operators and Turkish American associations.

The Consulate also stated that Turkey would definitely participate in the IT&M fair in October and ASTA Congress in November in the United States.

[10] FINANCE MINISTER SAYS IT IS ECONOMY'S BASIC TARGET TO ACHIEVE GROWTH

Speaking to reporters, Oral said that the eight-month budget figures had displayed a realization beyond the targets.

Recalling that 4.3 quadrillion TL tax had been collected in August and this amount meant a 42.1 percent increase compared to August 2000, Oral said that non-interest expenditures coincided with the program targets.

Noting that the non-interest surplus which had been 8.3 quadrillion TL at the end of July 2000 rose to 10.2 quadrillion TL at the end of 2000, Oral said that they would achieve the end-year 2001 non-interest surplus target of 11.4 quadrillion TL.

Oral said that those figures had put forward that 2001 year budget targets would be achieved and there would not be any deviation from the targets.

''Financial policies and budget balance constitute the most important part of the economic program. Since the beginning of 2001, there has not been any deviation and there have always been positive developments,'' he said.

''Protection of budget balances and a sound budget structure are of vital importance. Positive process of budget balances is very important for the economy,'' he said.

Oral said that 2002 year budget was being prepared and that the Higher Planning Council (YPK) would give the final shape to macro economic figures.

''Production and growth in the economy are very important. The productive economy does have sound products. The productive economy solves problems. Allowing the economy to achieve growth again is one of the most important targets in our works on 2002 budget,'' he said.

''Macro works on 2002 budget continue at technical and political level. Besides, talks with the IMF on the 2001 budget results and 2002 budget continue,'' Oral said.

Responding to a question, Oral said that there had not any problem occurred in the 2001 year tax revenues, and that works on 2002 tax collection were under way.

When asked what kind of things could be done to increase production in 2002, Oral said, ''works of the economy management are transparent. However, financial balances, budget balances are very important. There may be more serious problems in the economy if there is any deviation from these balances. Many things are hampered if there is not production and growth. New problems occur. So, it if economy's basic target to achieve growth again and allow the Turkish lira to gain in value.''

[11] SECURITY FORCES CAPTURE 182 AFGHANS WHO ENTER TURKEY ILLEGALLY

Officials told A.A correspondent that the Afghans, who were feared that the U.S. would attack on their country, wanted to sneak into Greek islands.

The officials said that 29 Iraqis and 2 Iranians have been detanied since that day.

Fourteen foreigners of Iraqi, Pakistani and Sierra Leonean origins have been captured in Izmir's Cesme, Selcuk, Menderes, Urla and Seferihisar townships, the officials also said, adding that measures have been taken to fight illegal immigration.

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