TRKNWS-L Turkish Press Review (June 16, 1995)

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

Subject: TRKNWS-L Turkish Press Review (June 16, 1995)

CONTENTS

  • [01] TURKEY HAS TO JOIN THE CUSTOMS UNION

  • [02] TIES WITH KAZAKHSTAN GROWING STRONGER

  • [03] CILLER PROMISES TO ATTACK INFLATION

  • [04] TURKEY REAFFIRMS SUPPORT FOR MACEDONIA

  • [05] 36 MILITANTS KILLED, 3 CAPTURED AND ELEVEN SURRENDER

  • [06] ANKARA MAKES LUKEWARM STATEMENT ON NUCLEAR TESTING

  • [07] LSE CONFERENCE ON TURKEY DEBATES CUSTOMS UNION ISSUE

  • [08] OSCE GROUP RESUMING TALKS ON KARABAKH

  • [09] DENKTAS URGES POLICY REASSESSMENT

  • [10] INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S COMMISSIONS ASSOCIATION HOLDS MEETING

  • [11] EMPLOYERS' SPOKESMAN MEETS WITH ILO GENERAL DIRECTOR

  • [12] SULEYMAN DEMIREL REVIEWS "SEA WOLF-95"

  • [13] BODRUM MUSEUM GETS HONORABLE MENTION IN SWEDEN

  • [14] TURKEY-IMPORTANT ISSUE IN THE US

  • [15] NEW PACKAGE OF MEASURES FOR TRNC

  • [16] ISRAEL BARGAINS FOR TEXTILE QUOTAS

    •

    WITH THE COMPLIMENT OF

    DIRECTORATE GENERAL OF PRESS AND INFORMATION

    TURKISH PRESS REVIEW

    JUNE 16, 1995

    Summary of the political and economic news in the Turkish

    press this morning.

    [01] TURKEY HAS TO JOIN THE CUSTOMS UNION

    Leading officials in the European Union agree that Turkey must get into the customs union without delay. Both French President Jacques Chirac and EU chief Jacques Santer say that "Turkey's membership in the customs union is most important."

    Top officials point to the economic benefits to all the sides concerned, but also they stress that democratization and other issues are involved. Regional issues that include Central Asian and Balkan countries are also occupying the EU member countries- which also recognize the vital role that Turkey is playing. /Hurriyet/

    [02] TIES WITH KAZAKHSTAN GROWING STRONGER

    The general view is that President Demirel's visit to Kazakhstan has done much to strengthen ties between Turkey and that country. Cooperation in various sectoral areas has been put on a more solid basis, with new agreements for new investment in trade, agricultural and education.

    Agreements to avoid double taxation especially in view of the growing number of construction projects, and agreements from the Kazakh side to guarantee investments will do much in the future to develop ties. /Cumhuriyet/

    [03] CILLER PROMISES TO ATTACK INFLATION

    Prime Minister Ciller has promised an autumn assault on inflation. According to the Prime Minister, measures now being taken will bring inflation down to under 80 percent during this coming autumn.

    Speaking at a meeting for industrialists arranged by the Ministry for Trade and Industry, Ciller yesterday spoke about competition and the need to get into the customs union. She noted that reducing inflation was one vital way to restore industrial potential on a competitive basis. /Sabah/

    [04] TURKEY REAFFIRMS SUPPORT FOR MACEDONIA

    Ankara is expected to reaffirm its political and economic support to Macedonia during the first prime ministerial visit from this Balkan republic to Turkey. Prime Minister Branko Crvenkovski starts today a three-day visit that is expected to create unease in Greece, which tries to prevent diplomatic relations with Macedonia. Turkish diplomatic sources told the Anatolia news agency that Ankara would use the visit as an opportunity to express its concern over the establisment of blocs in the Balkans. While in Ankara, the Macedonian premier will meet with his Turkish counterpart Tansu Ciller, President Suleyman Demirel and Parliament Speaker Husamettin Cindoruk.

    [05] 36 MILITANTS KILLED, 3 CAPTURED AND ELEVEN SURRENDER

    Thirty-six militants of the PKK terrorist organization were killed, three were captured during Turkish military forces' operations and eleven surrendered in the southeastern part of Anatolia. Security officials said that 23 militants were killed in Tunceli's Hozat district and their weapons were confiscated. The Turkish army has stepped up its operations agains the PKK since Monday, when 18 soldiers were killed in a PKK ambush in the town of Tunceli, in the east of the region. Officials said that the terrorists killed were those who killed the 18 soldiers. They also stated that two militants were killed in Diyarbakir's Lice district, two were killed in Batman's Kozluk district and another in Tunceli's Nazimiye district and all their guns were confiscated. Eight terrorists who attacked a military car were also killed in (Bitlis-Diyarbakir Highway) Agackopru. Three militants were captured in Batman and three hand grenades and three pistols were confiscated, security officials said. A total of eleven PKK militants surrendered in Diyarbakir's Kocakoy and Lice, Hakkari's Semdinli and Yuksekova, Van's Catak, Tunceli's Nazimiye districts and in central Bitlis, security officials said. /Milliyet-Cumhuriyet/

    [06] ANKARA MAKES LUKEWARM STATEMENT ON NUCLEAR TESTING

    Yesterday, Ankara renewed its wish that the French decision to resume nuclear testing would have no adverse effects on the negotiations for a Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT). Making a very toned-down statement a day after the French declaration to resume nuclear testing, Ankara expressed understanding of the French decision. "The French side has explained to us the reasons behind this decision" Omer Akbel, the Foreign Ministry Spokesman, said in a written statement of response. Ankara has actively supported the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, which was indefinitely extended in May and is involved in the negotiations on CTBT. It has also consistently condemned China which continues nuclear testing and conducted a nuclear test last May.

    [07] LSE CONFERENCE ON TURKEY DEBATES CUSTOMS UNION ISSUE

    The participants of a conference organized at the London School of Economics (LSE) yesterday agreed that Turkey's integration into the customs union would bring fundamental changes in many aspects of life in Turkey, the Anatolia news agency reported yesterday. The conference was organized by the Turkish society at the university to debate Turkey's current economic, political and social position. Ozdem Sanberk, Turkish Ambassador to London, gave the opening speech at the Conference, saying that Turkey was one of the stable countries in its region. He also stated that in evaluating Turkey, its links with other regional countries and its effect on the area should also be considered. "Turkey wants to use its potential in peace and stabilization of the area. Turkey does not want to compete with the others but to cooperate" Sanberk said.

    [08] OSCE GROUP RESUMING TALKS ON KARABAKH

    The Minsk group, formed by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) to help find a settlement for the Nagorno-Karabakh dispute between Azerbaijan and Armenia, was due to resume talks in Helsinki yesterday. The group's members include diplomats from Azerbaijan, Armenia, Turkey, Russia, the US, France, Italy, Germany, Belarus, Sweden and Finland. The Anatolia news agency quoted Vardan Oskanian, the Armenian representative in the Minsk group, as saying in Yerevan before leaving for the meeting that the group had achieved some political progress and that he was hopeful the two sides could agree soon on a peace deal.

    [09] DENKTAS URGES POLICY REASSESSMENT

    Rauf Denktas, the president of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) , called for a reassessment of the Cyprus question with Turkey. "Cyprus is being taken onto Greece's lap through (a proposed membership with) the EU" Denktas said at a dinner for Aydan Karahan, Turkish Ambassador to the TRNC. "Only the Turkish nation and the government can stop this". Denktas' call for a reassessment came on the eve of a scheduled visit of Turkish Foreign Minister Erdal Inonu to the TRNC between June 23-24. Denktas said that he planned to visit Ankara himself as well. He noted that the EU efforts had undermined all the negotiations on the Cyprus question. The EU does not want to know the facts of the Cyprus case, they only want to implement a plan they have formulated before-hand, Denktas said. Meanwhile, European Union (EU) Foreign Ministers officially ratified the decision to start the full membership-negotiations for the Cypriot Greek administration and Malta. /Cumhuriyet/

    [10] INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S COMMISSIONS ASSOCIATION HOLDS MEETING

    The International Post, Telephone and Telegraph Federation's (PTTI) Women's Commission's Association General Council meeting started in the Izmir resort of Cesme yesterday, the Antaolia news agency reported. PTTI Chairman Curt Persson, in his opening speech, said that they had 250 member countries and all needed support regarding working life.

    [11] EMPLOYERS' SPOKESMAN MEETS WITH ILO GENERAL DIRECTOR

    Refik Baydur, executive board chairman of the Turkish Confederation of Employers' Unions (TISK), met with Michel Hansenne, general director of the International Labour Organization, at an ILO conference in Geneva, the Anatolia news agency reported yesterday. Officials from TISK said that Baydur and Hansenne exchanged ideas. Anatolia reported that the World Bank has given Turkey a $100 million loan to tackle the problems of unemployment and retirement after privatization.

    [12] SULEYMAN DEMIREL REVIEWS "SEA WOLF-95"

    President Suleyman Demirel reviewed the third stage of "Sea Wolf-95," the Turkish Naval Forces military exercises in both the international waters and air zones in the Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean which began on June 10, the Anatolia news agency reported yesterday. Adm.Guven Erkaya directed the military exercise. Gen.Ismail Hakki Karadayi, the chief of general staff; Adm.Vural Beyazit, commander of Naval Forces; Gen.Hikmet Bayar, commander of Land Forces; and Halis Burhan, commander of Air Forces, reviewed the exercises. The ships of NATO's Mediterrannean Naval Forces (STANAVFORMED) will participate in "Sea Wolf-95" military exercises after completion of the exercise "Cooperative Rescue 95," which was to begin in the Black Sea yesterday. NATO members Greece, Turkey, Italy and the Netherlands plus Bulgaria and Romania, both members of the Partnership for Peace program, will participate in "Cooperative Rescue '95".

    [13] BODRUM MUSEUM GETS HONORABLE MENTION IN SWEDEN

    The Museum of Underwater Archaeology in Bodrum has been given an honorable mention in a competition to find the "Best Museum of 1995". The winner of the competition, announced in the Swedish city of Vesteros, was Switzerland's "Olympic Museum", the Anatolia news agency reported yesterday.

    [14] TURKEY-IMPORTANT ISSUE IN THE US

    Stuart Einzenstat, US Ambassador to the European Union (EU), at a press conference held yesterday in Washington, said that Turkey's acceptance into the EU was the most important issue in this year's American foreign policy programme. Einzenstat noted that this issue had been discussed at the US-EU Summit in Washington. He pointed out that the European Parliament was aware of the importance of Turkey, and added that Turkey was expected to undertake consistent steps for improvement of its human rights record and democratic order. The ambassador stressed that the United States was exerting a lot of effort to make sure that Turkey was admitted into the EU. /Sabah/

    [15] NEW PACKAGE OF MEASURES FOR TRNC

    Negotiations regarding the establishment of new economic infrastructure for the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) began yesterday in Lefkosa between delegations from Turkey and the TRNC. Salih Cosar, TRNC Minister for Economy and Finance stated that they had discussed short and long term measures to be taken in order to close the deficit and overcome economic stagnation. Giving information about the contents of the package, Cosar said that value added tax (VAT) and real estate tax would be brought into effect on 1 September, 1995, at the latest in order to increase income, and that this income would be set aside for use by the municipalities of the cities. Cosar added that they would try to minimize public administration costs by braking employment in order to reduce expenses. /Cumhuriyet/

    [16] ISRAEL BARGAINS FOR TEXTILE QUOTAS

    A delegation comprising the administrators of the Textile branch of the Israeli Association of Industrialists and textile pruducers will come to Turkey on Monday. The delegation will try to iron out difficulties in regard to textile quotas in the negotiations regarding the Free Trade Agreement to be signed between Israel and Turkey. The Israeli delegation will primarily talk with representatives of the Foreign Trade Undersecretariat in Ankara, and then flying on to Istanbul will meet with representatives from the public sector. Stating their determination to make a high-level free trade agreement with Turkey, the Israeli government nevertheless wants to protect its textile sector against Turkish textile sector products, especially considering the great importance of the textile sector in the Israeli domestic economy. It is reported that the Israeli government has asked for a transition period regarding textile products. /Sabah/

    END

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