TRKNWS-L Turkish Press Review (May 29, 1995)

From: hristu@arcadia.harvard.edu (Dimitrios Hristu)

Subject: TRKNWS-L Turkish Press Review (May 29, 1995)

CONTENTS

  • [01] DEMIREL IN HONG KONG

  • [02] FOREIGN MINISTERS GATHER FOR NATO MEETINGS IN HOLLAND

  • [03] US DELEGATION COMING TO ANKARA

  • [04] GOLHAN BLAMES UN FOR BOSNIA

  • [05] CONSULTATIVE BODY SET UP FOR TURKISH AND CENTRAL ASIAN WORKERS

  • [06] MINISTER JOINS CULTURE AND ARTS CONFERENCE IN TURKMENISTAN

  • [07] ARMENIAN ORGANIZATIONS DONATE TL 485 MILLION

  • [08] WORLD TEXTILE CONGRESS ENDS ON POSITIVE NOTE

  • [09] SEVEN TERRORISTS KILLED

  • [10] SOLINGEN VICTIMS COMMEMORATED

  • [11] EUROPEAN UNION (EU) LIFTS THE CUSTOMS DUTIES ON IRON AND STEEL PRODUCTS FROM TURKEY

  • [12] 37,000 TURKISH EMPLOYERS IN GERMANY

  • [13] TURKS IN THE SECOND PLACE

  • [14] BAKU-CEYHAN PIPELINE PROJECT

    •

    WITH THE COMPLIMENT OF

    DIRECTORATE GENERAL OF PRESS AND INFORMATION

    TURKISH PRESS REVIEW

    MAY 29, 1995

    Summary of the political and economic news in the Turkish

    press this morning.

    [01] DEMIREL IN HONG KONG

    President Suleyman Demirel, who is in Hong Kong on the second leg of his trip, first visited the Hong Kong Airport, which is being constructed at Chek Lopkop Island.

    Demirel also met with journalists and and said that he wanted a "speaking" Turkey. He listed four important points to which he attached the utmost importance; these were an independent media, an independent judiciary, an end to state monopoly, and Turkey as an institutionalized state.

    President Suleyman Demirel noted that things he saw and places he visited in China and Hong Kong impressed him greatly. He added that it would be highly beneficial if those governing the state would come to visit these countries. /Sabah/

    [02] FOREIGN MINISTERS GATHER FOR NATO MEETINGS IN HOLLAND

    Foreign Minister Erdal Inonu is expected to go to Holland today to attend meetings of the North Atlantic Council (NAC) and the North Atlantic Cooperation Council (NACC) on May 30 and 31 respectively. Turkey will put the Bosnia crisis high on its list of priorities during meetings. It is understood that Turkey wants to add an article on the struggle against terrorism to the joint communique from the NAC, which will be released at the end of the meeting. Inonu will have meetings with his Canadian, Slovenian, Polish and Greek counterparts. The foreign ministers of the 16 NATO member countries will attend the NAC meeting. The NACC meeting will be held with the participation of representatives of 42 countries.

    Inonu stated that the UN and NATO should act determinately against the aggressor in Bosnia. Expressing his sorrow for the death of the Bosnian Foreign Minister Irfan Ljubijankic, Inonu said: "We strongly condemn the massacre of innocent Bosnian civilians by Bosnian militant Serbs". Pointing out that the Bosnian Serbs were responsible for these inhuman attacks, Inonu added: "We denounce the holding of the UN peace force members as hostages and military attacks directed by the Pale administration". Inonu will give three messages to international public opinion:

    -Effective measures must be taken to stop the ultra-nationalist Serbian attacks in Pale. In this regard much befalls NATO, which is the most effective organization.

    -For a lasting solution to the Bosnian problem, moderate Serbs, who want peace and to live together with the Bosnians, must be encouraged and contacted.

    -As Serbia closed the border to the Bosnian Serbs and isolated them, this made the Bosnian Serbs take a stand against the Serbian administration. This is a positive development. So, a discrimination must be made between the Bosnian Serbs and Serbia. /Hurriyet/

    [03] US DELEGATION COMING TO ANKARA

    A US delegation headed by Eric Newson, acting assistant secretary of state responsible for political and military affairs is expected to arrive in Ankara tomorrow. The issues of US security aid and bilateral security relations will be reviewed during two days of discussions. The US Embassy said that this visit was a continuation of previous talks. A delegation headed by US President Bill Clinton's Near East Advisor, Mark Parris, also visited Ankara last week to discuss matters such as northern Iraq and Operation Provide Comfort, which is known in Turkey as Poised Hammer. /Hurriyet-Cumhuriyet/

    [04] GOLHAN BLAMES UN FOR BOSNIA

    Defence Minister Mehmet Golhan blames the UN for the current situation in Bosnia-Herzegovina, the Anatolia news agency reported yesterday. The war in Bosnia would not have reached this stage if the UN had taken necessary measures in the past, Golhan said during his visit to the Turkish unit in Zenica, which is deployed under the umbrella of the UN Peacekeeping Force (UNPROFOR). "I hope the latest agrressions targeted against innocent civilians can be a reason for the international community to take more effective measures" he said. Golhan also said that Turkey had at all times wanted the UN to take more effective measures and brought to the agenda the lifting of the embargo imposed on the Bosnians. /Sabah/

    [05] CONSULTATIVE BODY SET UP FOR TURKISH AND CENTRAL ASIAN WORKERS

    A Council of Eurasian Workers' Union has been established to function as a consultative body for Turkish, Russian and Central Asian Republic workers, the Anatolia news agency reported on Friday. Salim Uslu, Chairman of the pro-Islamic Turkish Labour Unions Confederation, talking to the agency, said that the council's goals were to transfer information between the countries and discuss regional issues.

    [06] MINISTER JOINS CULTURE AND ARTS CONFERENCE IN TURKMENISTAN

    Culture Minister, Ercan Karakas, has gone to Turkmenistan for the sixth reunion of the Turkish Culture and Arts Joint Management Organization (TURKSOY), the Anatolia news agency reported on Friday. Karakas, who spoke to members of the Turkish media at Istanbul Ataturk Airport, announced that a 35-letter common denominator latin alphabet for the Turkish- Speaking Republics was one the main issues on TURKSOY's agenda. The minister also stressed that the organization, which aims to promote Central Asian culture, would do better with more support from all of its members.

    [07] ARMENIAN ORGANIZATIONS DONATE TL 485 MILLION

    Armenian groups in Istanbul have donated TL 485 million to the Mehmetcik Foundation, the Anatolia news agency reported on Friday. The money was handed over to Istanbul Governor Hayri Kozakcioglu by Ara Araciyan, director of the Armenian hospital in Istanbul's Yedikule District. The Mehmetcik Foundation helps members of the security forces injured in the struggle against PKK terrorists in the Southeast.

    [08] WORLD TEXTILE CONGRESS ENDS ON POSITIVE NOTE

    The 76th World Textile Congress, held in Istanbul, ended with a gala dinner and fashion show for the over 300 clothing and textile manufacturers and academicians who came from 34 countries to attend the three-day meeting. Okan Oguz, Chairman of the Istanbul Textile and Ready-to-Wear Exporters Union (ITKIB) and the Turkish Exporters Assembly (TIM) pointed out that the delegates in some way represent one out of every four people in the textile sector around the world. Oguz stressed that the sector was the locomotive of Turkey's economy. In the first four months of this year ITKIB exported $2 billion worth of textiles. Oguz said: "Turkey occupies second place in textile exports to the European Union after China. While China ranks first with $4.2 billion, Turkey's exports have reached $3.3 billion". /Milliyet/

    [09] SEVEN TERRORISTS KILLED

    The authorities have announced the death of seven terrorists and the surrender of two others during clashes in Diyarbakir, Siirt, Bitlis and Tunceli. One of the two terrorists who took advantage of the repentance law to surrender has been identified as a foreigner. /Hurriyet/

    [10] SOLINGEN VICTIMS COMMEMORATED

    The five members of the Genc family whose house had been razed by racist Germans two years ago in Solingen and who had died in the blaze, were commemorated in a ceremony held at the Turkish Embassy yesterday. The non-participation of the North Rhine Westphalia officials who had been invited, was viewed with regret. An official from the German Foreign Ministry, Parliamentarian Cem Ozdemir from the Greens Party and the father and the mother of the five children who died in the fire, participated in the ceremony. In his address on the occasion, Turkish Ambassador to Bonn Onur Oymen said that they had trust in German justice and added: "It is neccessary to commemorate this occasion so that they will be no more Solingens". /Cumhuriyet/

    [11] EUROPEAN UNION (EU) LIFTS THE CUSTOMS DUTIES ON IRON AND STEEL PRODUCTS FROM TURKEY

    Turkey's chances to sell its iron and steel products to Europe have increased. The last stage has been reached in the respective free trade agreement. Within three years, the customs duties will be fully lifted. /Sabah/

    [12] 37,000 TURKISH EMPLOYERS IN GERMANY

    Recep Keskin, one of the few businessmen awarded the "merit of honour" by Germany, has come to Izmir accompanied by 16 Turkish businessmen. Stating that there were 37,000 Turkish businessmen in Germany, associate professor Recep Keskin, Head of the Association of Turkish Businessmen and Industrialists (ATIAD) said: "We earn DM 40 billion in one year. This money henceforth will be spent on culture and art in Turkey." Attending the Esme Festival with ten German bankers and artists from Dulmen and Gommern, Keskin said that the best carpets in the world were being woven in Turkey and particularly in Esme. He also said that Turkey and Germany knew that they should unite their cultural and social activities and should get to know each other's arts better.

    [13] TURKS IN THE SECOND PLACE

    On the other side, the "Voice of Germany" has announced that the number of foreigners who became employers in Germany has averaged 220,000 and that 30,000 of them were Turkish businessmen. Foreigners who own their own place of employment work mostly in the fields of catering and hotel services. Foreigners own one fourth of the hotels and restaurants in Germany. /Milliyet/

    [14] BAKU-CEYHAN PIPELINE PROJECT

    In a conference held in Baku, the Baku-Ceyhan pipeline project prepared for transporting Caspian oil was put forward and this attracted attention as the "most economical and safe project put forward". Turkey has stated that she was ready to finance the pipeline, charge a minimum transport fee, buy a part of the oil and guarantee the security of the pipeline. Necdet Pamir, Head of the Transportation and Marketing Group of the Turkish Petroleaum Company (TPAO) said that the oil to be produced in the region would average 80-100 million tons a year according to estimates for the 2000s and the transport of such a quantity would be impossible via present systems and especially through pipelines over Russia and from ports. Pamir added that at a most optimistic estimate the maximum yearly transport of oil through Russia would be only 40-50 million tons. An alternative route would definitely be needed for balance of 40-50 million tons per year. Pamir also said that Turkey had submitted the most attractive price for oil transport.

    Terry Adams, Head of the Operation Company of the International Consortium (AIOC) in his turn explained the present situation in regard to transportation of oil and the main export oil pipeline. /Sabah/

    END

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