Anadolu Agency: News in English, 01-12-13

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ANADOLU AGENCY

NEWS

13 December 2001

Thursday

CONTENTS

[01] TURKEY-PRESS SCAN

[01] TURKEY-PRESS SCAN

HURRIYET (LIBERAL)

''I ACCEPTED THIS DUTY FOR A TEMPORARY TIME''
State Minister Kemal Dervis gave the messages that he could quit his office soon. Visiting Felicity Party (SP) leader Recai Kutan, Dervis defined himself as a ''technician'' not as a ''politician'' and said that he would not become a politician.

MILLIYET (LIBERAL)

OSMANLI'S BUILDING NOW BELONGS TO OYAK
Garanti Bankasi, which merged with Osmanli Bankasi, sold the building of Osmanli Bank in Maslak district of Istanbul to OYAK Group in return for 35 million U.S. dollars. Garanti Bankasi will hand over the building to OYAK Group at the end of this month.

SABAH (LIBERAL)

DO NOT OVERSHADOW HOPES
The deputies harshly reacted to the words of President Ahmet Necdet Sezer targeting at the government and the parliament. Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit said he hoped that there would not be any behaviour which would overshadow the hope inspiring process. Deputy Prime Minister Devlet Bahceli said that he did not find president's talking about internal policy issues continuously and bringing them into the agenda as correct.

CUMHURIYET (LEFT)

CHINESE AND SOUTH KOREAN DELEGATIONS IN IZMIT
The delegation comprised of the Chinese and South Korean businessmen who wanted to undertake the construction of Kartepe Winter Sports Center and dwelling projects in Izmit province continued their contacts. Kocaeli Chamber of Commerce Chairman Huseyin Zeytinci said that Turkish and foreign investors were interested in their province.

RADIKAL (LEFT)

PARLIAMENT IS HARDWORKING
The parliament forgot about the 19-day holiday to pass the reform laws which were given as a promise to the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The parliament decided not to have a 19-day long Ramadan Feast and new year holiday. The General Assembly will convene on December 19 and 20 following the feast. Tobacco Law and the law on tax exemption in quake zone will be passed before the new year.

TURKIYE (RIGHT)

AYCELL TO SAY ''HELLO'' ON FRIDAY
The fourt GSM operator of Turkey, Aycell, will start commercial activities on Friday. Cell phone users will speak with a better voice standard with Aycell's GSM 1800 character. A news conference will be held on December 14 in which Aycell Executive Board President Vedat Karaaslan and Aycell Director General Mehmet Ekinalan will participate.

ZAMAN (CONSERVATIVE)

U.S. DELEGATION TO COME TO ANKARA TO GIVE INFORMATION
A U.S. delegation which held high-level contacts in Northern Iraq will come to Ankara on Thursday and inform the officials about the results of their visit. The delegation headed by Ryan Crocker, a top-official in charge of the Middle East affairs of the U.S. Department of State, will come to Turkey today to inform the Foreign Ministry following their contacts in Northern Iraq.

-CHINA NATIONAL TOURISM ADMINISTRATION CHAIRMAN ARRIVES IN TURKEY
ISTANBUL - China National Tourism Administration (CNTA) Chairman He Guangwei arrived in Turkey on Thursday as the official guest of Tourism Ministry.

He Guangwei and the accompanying delegation will sign a memorandum of understanding with Tourism Minister Mustafa Tasar on giving Turkey the status of ''official tourist route'' on December 14.

Thus, Turkey can have the opportunity to make official promotion campaigns in China.

-TRNC REPRESENTATIVE IN WASHINGTON D.C. RESPONDS TO BOB DOLE:
-''TRNC IS NO MORE FICTITIOUS THAN BOB DOLE HIMSELF''
WASHINGTON D.C. - Ahmet Erdengiz, the Representative of Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) in Washington D.C, responded to former U.S. senator and presidential nominee Bob Dole, who defined TRNC as ''fictitious'' by saying, ''TRNC is no more fictitious than Bob Dole himself.''

Dole had defined TRNC as ''fictitious'' in a letter he sent to the editor of The Washington Times.

Erdengiz said in his response to Doyle which was published in the same newspaper that TRNC governed a defined territory and population under a democratic dispensation.

''TRNC satisfies all the requirements for a state under international law, '' Erdengiz noted.

Erdengiz stated that United Nations (U.N) Security Council resolutions characterized the Turkish and Greek Cypriots as politically equal peoples of the island.

Responding to Dole who defined the Cyprus Peace Operation as ''occupation of the island'', Erdengiz noted that Athens Court of Appeals approved the Cyprus Peace Operation of 1974 as a legal act to save the Turkish Cypriots.

Erdengiz reminded the readers about the statement of Greek terrorist Nicos Sampson who told an Athens newpaper in 1981 that ''if Turkey had not intervened in the situation, they would not only declare enosis (union with Greece) but also massacre the Turks in Cyprus.''

TRNC Representative Erdengiz said that TRNC ''would not disappear'' and added that TRNC President Rauf Denktas and Greek Cypriot leader Glafcos Clerides decided to hold direct talks on December 4 and had a dinner in TRNC on December 5.

-PRIME MINISTER ECEVIT DUE TO LAEKEN TO ATTEND EU SUMMIT
ANKARA - Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit will go to Laeken, Belgium, on Friday to attend the European Union (EU) summit.

Sources said that Ecevit will leave for Belgium on Friday evening and attend the EU summit on Saturday.

Ecevit will hold bilateral contacts during the summit and the working meal.

Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit will return to Turkey on Saturday evening.

Ecevit will be accompanied by Foreign Minister Ismail Cem, his wife Rahsan, and some bureaucrats from the Prime Ministry and Foreign Ministry.

-STATE MINISTER DERVIS SAYS REDUCTION OF ADDITIONAL LOAN TO 7 BILLION U.S.
DOLLARS IS OUT OF QUESTION
ANKARA - State Minister Kemal Dervis said on Thursday that reduction of additional loan to 7 billion U.S. dollars was out of question.

Dervis visited Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Deniz Baykal.

Responding to questions of reporters, Dervis said, ''reduction of additional loan is out of question. We will continue to receive all the loans as announced. We will make our own payments. Then, IMF will recommend 10 billion U.S. dollar additional loan to executive directors.''

Upon a question on talks with IMF, Dervis said that the contacts were under way and that the IMF delegation could make a statement before it departed from Turkey.

He could make a statement together with the Central Bank Governor and Treasury Undersecretariat in coming days or weeks, Dervis noted.

Upon a question on sua sponte retirement, Dervis said that this was not the issue of today.

-ISRAELI AMBASSADOR SAYS LASTING PEACE BETWEEN ISRAEL AND PALESTINE IS OF
VITAL IMPORTANCE FOR REGION
IZMIR - David Sultan, the Israeli Ambassador to Turkey, said on Thursday that lasting peace between Israel and Palestine was of vital importance for the region.

Sultan visited Aegean Region Chamber of Industry (EBSO) Chairman Kemal Colakoglu.

Responding to questions of reporters if Turkey could have a role in ensuring lasting peace between Israel and Palestine, Sultan said that the role that Turkey had undertaken was very important and that Turkey had given messages to both of the sides.

Sultan noted that terrorism should be ended for a permanent friendship in the region.

There were many problems at the moment, Sultan said, but that they had positive thoughts for the future.

-MOUNTAINEERS TO CLIMB TO 10 MOUNTAINS IN TURKEY DUE TO UNESCO'S
DECLARATION ON 2002 YEAR AS ''INTERNATIONAL YEAR OF MOUNTAINS''
ANTALYA - United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) declared 2002 year as ''International Year of Mountains''.

Mountaineers will climb to 10 mountains in Turkey on behalf of Turkish presidents due to UNESCO's declaration.

Mountaineering Federation Chairman Alaattin Karaca said in a statement on Thursday that there would be many activities around the world because of ''International Year of Mountains''.

Karaca stated that Mountaineering Federation Environment and Ecology Board Chairman Prof. Kazim Yildiz would work in the committee which was formed for these activities on behalf of Turkey.

Karaca said that mountaineers would climb to 10 mountains in various cities on behalf of Turkish presidents beginning from Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the Founder of Turkish Republic.

According to the program, below is table showing the mountains which would be climbed, the dates of these climbs and the name of the presidents.

Date (2002) Mountains Presidents

------------ -------------- ------------
Jan 19-20 Erzurum, Palandöken Cemal Gürsel

Feb 09-11 Bursa, Uludağ Celal Bayar

Mar 02-03 Isparta, Davraz Süleyman Demirel

Apr 20-22 Van, Süphan Mt. İsmet İnönü

May 18-20 Kayseri, Erciyes Kenan Evren

May 31 Jun 2 Erzincan, Esence Dağı Cevdet Sunay

Jun 21-23 Antalya, Kızlar Sivrisi Fahri Korutürk

Jul 06-08 Niğde, Demirkazık Ahmet Necdet Sezer

Aug 03-07 Artvin, Kaçkar Mt. Turgut Özal

Aug 25-31 Ağrı, Ağrı Mt. Mustafa Kemal Atatürk

-TURKEY TO PARTICIPATE IN THE CONVENTION
BRUSSELS - The presidents of the EU countries who will attend the Laeken summit will decide on the structure of the platform which will be named the ''Convention'' and the EU's future and reforms will be debated at this platform.

One government and two parliament representatives from each country will take place in the Convention which is expected to start its activities early next year.

EU Term President Belgium, during Gand summit, had stated that there was some reluctance regarding the participation of Turkey in the Convention which is the only candidate country which hasn't yet started membership negotiations.

Some countries are against Turkey's participation, some are proposing partial or limited participation while others support Turkey's full participation in the Convention.

European Parliament General Council, during a meeting in Brussels, stated that all candidate countries should be represented at the Convention.

The EU Commission doesn't want to discriminate against Turkey and warns that excluding Turkey from the Convention would lead to certain troubles.

Turkish diplomatic sources stated that a discrimination against Turkey would negatively affect Turkey's relations with the EU. The same sources said that Turkey's participation was not related to other issues on the agenda and it cannot be turned into a bargaining matter.

Belgium, on Wednesday, said that Turkey should participate in the Convention under equal circumstances with other candidates. Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt's advisor Peter Moors declared that his country was going to propose Turkey's equal participation in the Convention although until recently Belgian Foreign Minister Louis Michel made statements that were against Turkey's participation.

-ECHR ACCEPTS ERBAKAN'S APPLICATION TO APPEAL
STRASBOURG - European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has decided to discuss the application of the outlawed Welfare Party (RP) executives who appealed at the Grand Chamber.

The delegation of five judges of the ECHR on Wednesday night approved the transfer of the case to the Grand Chamber. The RP's application will be debated one more time at the Grand Chamber which is formed by 17 judges.

The third department of ECHR had announced in July that Turkey had not violated human rights.

The executives of the RP, Necmettin Erbakan, Sevket Kazan and Ahmet Tekdal, had applied to the court in 1998 and claimed that Turkey violated 11 articles of the European Declaration of Human Rights.

The ECHR decided to examine the RP's application on Oct. 3, 2000.

The Strasbourg Court listened to the lawyers of the Turkish government and the RP on Jan. 16, 2001. The judges of the ECHR had asked questions to the lawyers to understand if the RP was a pro-sheriat political party or not.

-TURKISH AND GREEK TEAMS COOPERATE ON COASTAL SECURITY
ATHENS - Greek coast guard teams at Kos island prevented the entrance of a fisherman's boat carrying 80 foreigners, who want to proceed to Greece illegally, to Greek territorial waters with the help of Turkish coast guard teams.

Greek Naval Commerce Ministry announced Thursday that the Greek teams informed the Turkish teams when they detected the boat. Later the Turkish coast guard boats immediately went to the area and brought the boat back to the Turkish coast.

-CEM'S VISIT TO PAKISTAN AND AFGHANISTAN OFFICIALLY ANNOUNCED
ANKARA - Foreign Minister Ismail Cem's visit to Pakistan and Afghanistan was announced officially by the Foreign Ministry on Thursday.

If the weather conditions allow, Cem will go to Pakistan's capital Islamabad on Monday and he will proceed to Afghanistan's capital Kabul on Monday.

Cem will convey Turkey's best wishes to the Afghan nation during Ramadan holiday. He will also attend the opening of the Turkish Embassy in Kabul with Mufit Ozdes who was appointed to Kabul as the Turkish ambassador and Foreign Ministry Afghanistan Coordinator Aydemir Erman.

-JAPANESE SENATOR YAMAMOTO TO VISIT ISTANBUL
TOKYO - The youngest member of the Higher Board of Japan, Kanaya Yamamoto, who is a good friend of Turkey, is getting ready to promote Turkey in her country.

30-year old Yamamoto, who is fluent is Turkish, will have a series of contacts in Istanbul on Dec. 13-15 in order to make more Japanese tourists visit Turkey.

Yamamoto was sent to Turkey to learn Turkish during her post at the Japanese Foreign Ministry and took Turkish classes for one year. She did her masters studies in international relations at Istanbul University for two years. Yamamoto told the A.A that she was grateful to Turkey and she wanted to form a bridge between Turkey and her country.

Yamamoto said she was disappointed by the decrease in the number of Japanese tourists visiting Turkey after Sept.11 attacks and U.S. operation in Afghanistan.

Yamamoto said that she felt debtful to Turkey, therefore she contacted the Turkish Embassy in Tokyo and the embassy officials scheduled a number of contacts for her.

''I'll meet with Tourism Minister Mustafa Tasar and Istanbul Security Director Hasan Ozdemir in Turkey,'' she said. ''Once Turkish authorities confirm that Turkey is a safe country, I will go back to my country and explain this in Japan. I want to help Turkey which is going through a difficult time. I know that the Turkish nation love the Japanese people. Japanese people should get to know the Turkish nation more closely.''

''Modern Turkey should be a model for countries like Afghanistan in the 21st century,'' Yamamoto continued. ''European countries cannot be a model for countries like Afghanistan. Only a country like Turkey which treasures cultural values can constitute a model for Afghanistan. In January, an Afghanistan summit is expected to take place in Japan and I'm planning to discuss all these at the summit.''

During her visit, Yamamoto, will also visit the earthquake survivors who live in the villages set up by the Japanese in Izmit. Since she was in charge of Kobe region in Japan, Yamamoto said she witnessed the suffering of people who were hit by an earthquake and that she also wanted to share the problems of Turkish quake victims.

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