Compact version |
|
Sunday, 22 December 2024 | ||
|
TRKNWS-L Turkish Press Review (January 19, 1996)From: TRKNWS-L <trh@aimnet.com>Turkish News DirectoryCONTENTS[01] CILLER: "THE FERRY WON'T PASS THROUGH THE STRAITS"[02] FIRST ROUND IN VOTE FOR PARLIAMENT SPEAKER INCONCLUSIVE[03] OPEN DOOR FROM ANAP TO RP[04] CHIRAC IN TURKEY IN OCTOBER[05] AKTAN: "OIC WILL CONTINUE TO HELP BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA"[06] BAYKAL EXPRESSES HOPE FOR A 'NEW BEGINNING' WITH ATHENS[07] ANKARA URGES IRAQ TO CHANGE POSITION ON UN'S LIMITED OIL SALE PROVISION[08] EP-TURKEY[09] THREE MORE LORRIES ILLEGALLY CARRYING WEAPONS[10] PKK SUFFERS HEAVY BLOW IN GERMANYTURKISH PRESS REVIEWFRIDAY JANUARY 19, 1996Summary of the political and economic news in the Turkish press this morning[01] CILLER: "THE FERRY WON'T PASS THROUGH THE STRAITS"Prime Minister Tansu Ciller said yesterday that the Eurasia ferry hijacked by armed Chechen fighters would not be allowed through to the Istanbul Straits.In a statement she gave to the CNN TV channel phone she said: "The ferry will be stopped before it arrives in Istanbul. Authorities will try to find a peaceful solution to the crisis." Ciller said: "I have told the Russian Prime Minister that Turkey will try to do everything to bring the situation under control. The event is related to recent developments in Chechnya. If there had been a peaceful solution to the Chechnya conflict, this would not have happened. We are trying to convince the hijackers to give themselves up to to the security forces. Whatever the reason may be, I condemn such events which threaten the lives of innocent people." According to international law, Turkey has the right to intervene in the situation, even if the ferry is off-shore. /Milliyet-Cumhuriyet-Sabah/
[02] FIRST ROUND IN VOTE FOR PARLIAMENT SPEAKER INCONCLUSIVEThe first round of voting in Parliament yesterday to elect the new Parliament speaker ended inconclusively as none of the candidates received the 367 votes required under the Constitution. Of the eight candidates running for the position, Mustafa Kalemli, the candidate from the Motherland Party (ANAP), received 156 votes, while the True Path Party (DYP) candidate Ismet Sezgin got 119 votes. Of the four Welfare Party (RP) candidates, Aydin Menderes got 66, Yasin Hatipoglu 52, Suleyman Arif Emre 23, and Recai Kutan 15 votes. Ali Talip Ozdemir and Oltan Sungurlu, both from ANAP, received 40 and 62 votes respectively. The second round of voting for the speaker will be held on Tuesday, and the third round on Wednesday and if necessary the fourth round will be held on Thursday. /Milliyet/
[03] OPEN DOOR FROM ANAP TO RPTrue Path Party (DY) Chairwoman and caretaker Prime Minister Tansu Ciller urged Motherland Party (ANAP) leader Mesut Yilmaz to shut the door on the Welfare Party (RP) in connection with the formation of a coalition government. Addressing her colleagues at the DYP parliamentary group meeting, Ciller said: "It is not enough just to say 'no' today. Pledges earlier made to the nation should be fulfilled, and thus no door should be left half-open". Noting that efforts to form a new government would gain momentum in the coming days, Ciller said that public opinion was expecting an ANAP-DYP coalition.Meanwhile, Yilmaz met Prime Minister-designate Erbakan yesterday, their second meeting since Erbakan received the mandate to form a government from President Demirel. Following the meeting, Yilmaz told the press that there was no way he could give a positive reply to the RP without first assessing other alternatives. But Yilmaz gave a message that the RP-ANAP coalition could be set up when the duty was given to him. Erbakan implied that he would return the mandate after the RP had discussed the situation for one last time. Yilmaz met Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Deniz Baykal following his meeting with Erbakan. /Milliyet/
[04] CHIRAC IN TURKEY IN OCTOBERIt has announced that French President Jacques Chirac will pay an official visit to Turkey in 1996. According to information from the Turkish Ambassador to Paris, Tansug Bleda, the visit may be in October when the 75th anniversary of the agreement signed on 21 October, 1921, between Turkey and France assuring Turkey's territorial integrity will be celebrated. /Milliyet/
[05] AKTAN: "OIC WILL CONTINUE TO HELP BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA"Ambassador Gunduz Aktan, Deputy Undersecretary of the Turkish Foreign Ministry, said yesterday that the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) had made significant contributions to the acceptance of Bosnia-Herzegovina as an independent and sovereign country. Aktan said that the Bosnia-Herzegovina crisis had been the biggest tragedy since World War II. Aktan spoke at an OIC Assistance Mobilization Group seminar on legal assistance to Bosnia and Herzegovina organized by the Aybay Foundation for legal studies under the auspices of the Turkish Foreign Ministry. Aktan stressed that the OIC's assignment had not ended yet and that it would continue to extend helping hands to Bosnia-Herzegovina during the peace period as well. Besides Bosnia- Herzegovina Deputy Justice Minister Ziyad Hasic and Bosnia-Herzegovina Foreign Ministry Chief Advisor Adnan Baslangic, experts from Bangladesh, Egypt, Iran, Jordan, Malaysia, Pakistan, the TRNC, Turkey, the EU, the European Council and the UN High Commissions are attending the two day seminar. /Cumhuriyet/
[06] BAYKAL EXPRESSES HOPE FOR A 'NEW BEGINNING' WITH ATHENSYesterday, the day Greece was due to elect its new prime minister to replace the seriously ill Andreas Papandreou, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Deniz Baykal sent "olive branches" in the direction of Athens and expressed his hope that a new page in relations between the two countries would begin. Baykal said that the decision by Greece's Prime Minister, Andreas Papandreou, to step down for health reasons had made a change in the administration in Athens inevitable. Baykal said that a new prime minister in Athens would "represent a new beginning" for Ankara in its ties with Greece. Baykal said that Turkey wanted good relations with Greece regardless of who was elected prime minister in that country. "If, within the context of such an understanding, the chance for a new beginning can be captured, then both Turkey and Greece will benefit" Baykal said. "We look to the future with this understanding and with hope" he added.Stressing the importance of cooperation between the two countries, Baykal said that his belief was that "There is no major problem preventing such cooperation". "The Aegean should not be seen as a sea that divides Turkey and Greece but as a sea which unites them. There are many fields of cooperation. I hope that in the coming period a political dialogue can be developed quickly between Turkey and Greece, that political contacts at every level can be revitalized, and that an environment of peace can prevail, and that the two countries can develop joint projects in this environment" he added. Citing tourism as a field in which the two countries can cooperate, Baykal called on Turkey and Greece to declare 1996 as "the Year of the Aegean". /Cumhuriyet/
[07] ANKARA URGES IRAQ TO CHANGE POSITION ON UN'S LIMITED OIL SALE PROVISIONTurkey is in favour of Iraq's changing its position concerning the limited amount of oil it is allowed by the UN to sell for humanitarian purposes, Turkish Ambassador to the UN, Huseyin Celem said yesterday. Celem, addressing a press conference in New York, noted that Turkey hopes for a change in the Iraqi position and for negotiations to start between Baghdad and the UN on this subject. Iraq, which is still the subject of a continuing UN embargo has nevertheless been allowed by the Security Council to export up to $2 billion in oil sales to enable it to purchase much-needed humanitarian supplies. Pointing out that the subject had both a "humanitarian" and an "economic" dimension, Celem said that it was Turkey's wish that Baghdad comply with UN resolutions and normalize the situation in the region. /All papers/
[08] EP-TURKEYDuring discussions at the European Parliament (EP) yesterday, Otto Von Habsburg, a German deputy, criticized claims about the cruelty of Turkish soldiers put forward by some European newspapers. Von Habsburg stressed that "the soldiers of Mustafa Kemal should not be slandered in such a way" and drew attention to the bloody activities of the terrorist PKK organization. /Cumhuriyet/
[09] THREE MORE LORRIES ILLEGALLY CARRYING WEAPONSIn operations in Sanliurfa, the police has found three lorries carrying explosives and weapons. According to police officials, the explosives and weapons were on the way to PKK camps in Libya. Another lorry loaded with explosives was detained on Tuesday at the Cilvegozu Border Gate in Hatay. /Sabah/
[10] PKK SUFFERS HEAVY BLOW IN GERMANYThe separatist PKK organization has suffered a heavy blow in Germany. Police there have arrested eight members of the illegal PKK organization, and has issued arrest warreats for 12 other people, suspected of participating in acts of sabotage. /Cumhuriyet/
|