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TRKNWS-L Turkish Press Review (March 11, 1996)From: TRKNWS-L <trh@aimnet.com>Turkish Press Review DirectoryCONTENTS[01] DEMIREL TO ATTEND CAIRO ANTI-TERRORISM SUMMIT[02] NO CHANGE IN CYPRUS POLICY[03] IRANIAN AGENT INVOLVED IN MURDERS[04] TURKEY CONDEMNS THE HIJACK[05] PKK MILITANTS CLASH WITH GERMAN POLICE[06] PKK MILITANTS AMBUSH TURKISH PATROL[07] IRAQI OIL MINISTER WINDS UP VISIT TO TURKEY WITH AGREEMENTS[08] OYMEN: "WE HAVE CONSENSUS WITH THE US ON ALL ISSUES"[09] TURKEY'S AUTO INDUSTRY EXPORTS JUMP TO $201 MILLION[10] TOURISM MINISTER IN GERMANY[11] ATHENS BARGAINING WITH EUTURKISH PRESS REVIEWMONDAY MARCH 11, 1996Summary of the political and economic news in the Turkish press this morning[01] DEMIREL TO ATTEND CAIRO ANTI-TERRORISM SUMMITPresident Suleyman Demirel will add Egypt to his tour of Israel and Palestine, in order to represent Turkey at an anti-terrorism summit. Demirel will visit Israel and Palestine on March 11-14 and go to Egypt on March 13. He will stay only a day and then go back to Israel. On Thursday, the Turkish president will continue to the autonomous territories. While in Gazza, he will meet with President Yasser Arafat. The official agenda of the international meeting hosted by Egyptian President Husnu Mubarek, is to discuss ways to preserve the peace process in the Middle East. After four suicide attacks inside Israel by Islamic suicide bombers, Arafat himself called for an international conference to combat terrorism.While Demirel is in Israel, he will meet with Israeli President Ezer Weizmann, Prime Minister Shimon Peres and make a speech at the Knesset. He will also receive an honorary title at Hebrew University. Demirel will use the opportunity to stress the Turkish concern with Syrian support of the PKK terrorist organization and to repeat that Syria must abandon its sponsoring of terrorism to become a reliable partner in the Middle East peace process. Demirel is also expected to talk about developments regarding the Manavgat Potable Water Project. Demirel visited Friday the Manavgat Falls, whose water Israel wants to buy, ahead of his visit to Israel. During Demirel's visit, five agreements consisting of a free trade agreement, mutual encouragement of investments, prevention of double taxation, and on economy and security issues will be signed between Turkey and Israel. The Customs Union Agreement signed with the EU foresees Turkey signing free trade agreements with third countries with which the EU has agreements in five years time. /Hurriyet-Milliyet/
[02] NO CHANGE IN CYPRUS POLICYCoalition Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz said over the weekend that there would be no change when it came to Cyprus. During a reception yesterday at Parliament, Yilmaz spoke with former Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) Prime Minister Dervis Eroglu and confirmed that his government would continue with current Cyprus policy.Yilmaz said that Turkey wanted to continue its dialogue with the TRNC and maintain stability on the island, lending its support to defending the just case of the TRNC. Yilmaz also commented on other situations regarding the island, and Eroglu thanked Yilmaz for his efforts this far for economic development in the TRNC. /Sabah-Hurriyet/
[03] IRANIAN AGENT INVOLVED IN MURDERSAccording to top level security officials light has been shed on the murders of Cetin Emec, journalist Mumcu and Ucok. Information has reportedly been supplied about the involvement of an Iranian SAVAMA (secret services) agent.Police investigation is still continuing, but a major suspect involved in the murders has claimed that he was given a weapon and details of how to carry out the murders by an Iranian. So far police officials are sure that this new light agrees with and clarifies statements taken earlier. /Milliyet/
[04] TURKEY CONDEMNS THE HIJACKTurkey condemned the hijacking of a Turkish Cypriot airliner which ended on Saturday when a 20-year-old Turk seized the plane with a fake pistol to publicize the Chechen cause surrendered in Germany. "Turkey condemns this plane hijacking action in the strongest terms" the Foreign Ministry said in a statement. "Those who take part in these kinds of terror actions should be brought to justice" it said. The incident was the second hijacking in two months by Turks protesting at Russia's crackdown on separatist Chechen rebels. /All papers/
[05] PKK MILITANTS CLASH WITH GERMAN POLICEMilitants of the PKK terrorist organization clashed with German police during a march in celebration of International Women's Day on March 8. Twelve policemen and several protesters were wounded during the clashes, Bonn police chief Dierk Schnitzler said. "During the women's march some PKK militants started attacking the police with sticks and stones. The police responded with tear gas" Schnitzler said. He said 30 militants had been arrested and several houses and cars in the area had been damaged. The police chief said that PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan, in an earlier statement, had launched a war against Germany after the German government decided to close PKK branches. /All papers/
[06] PKK MILITANTS AMBUSH TURKISH PATROLMembers of the PKK terrorist organization killed three Turkish soldiers and four government-paid village guards in a clash in a mountainous area near the eastern city of Malatya. According to emergency rule region governor's office, a group of PKK militants ambushed the Turkish military patrol and killed the seven men, one of them a lieutenant. Operations have been stepped up in the region to capture the militants. /Milliyet/
[07] IRAQI OIL MINISTER WINDS UP VISIT TO TURKEY WITH AGREEMENTS SIGNEDIraqi Oil Minister Amir Mohammad Rasheed wound up a week long visit to Turkey after declaring at a press conference in Ankara that his talks had been very constructive and that they wanted bilateral relations to resume. Rasheed said he had signed protocols with Turkish officials, one for the reopening of the Kirkuk-Yumurtalik (Iraqi-Turkish) oil pipeline and the other for cooperation on energy projects. The two countries have reached an agreement to put the pipeline into service in the wake of a UN decision, he said, adding there was no problem regarding the security of the pipeline.Rasheed and Turkey's new Energy Minister Husnu Dogan signed two memorandums of understanding, one of which said that the sides would "carry out all technical preparations" for the opening of the twin pipeline that will carry Iraqi oil to the Turkish Mediterranean port of Ceyhan. The same memorandum says that the Turkish market will have priority for the supply of foodstuffs for the Iraqi people. The other memorandum focuses on energy cooperation after the embargo against Iraq is lifted. It envisages the building of a natural gas pipeline that would carry Iraqi gas to Turkey, and cooperation in the electricity sector and oil sector. After their talks in Adana and Ankara, the Iraqi delegation drove from the Turkish southeastern province of Sirnak to northern Iraq, a region controlled by Mesud Barzani's Kurdistan Democratic Party and Celal Talabani's Patriotic Union of Kurdistan. /All papers/
[08] OYMEN: "WE HAVE CONSENSUS WITH THE US ON ALL ISSUES"Visiting Washington for a series of meetings with administration officials, Turkish Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs Onur Oymen told Turkish journalists "I am happy to report to you that we have a consensus with the US on all issues". Oymen had previously met with US Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott, Undersecretary for Political Affairs Peter Tarnoff, Assistant Secretary for European Affairs John Kornblum, Deputy Secretary of Defence Jan Lodall, and others. "For example, we have the same views on terrorism. We both think that the Middle East peace process cannot be accomplished if terror continues" Oymen said, with an oblique reference to Syria's support for such terrorist groups as the PKK. "All parties must quit regarding terrorism as a political tool in the Middle East. The US officials had consensus with Turkey on that point" he said.The US administration guaranteed that measures would be taken "to prevent the Provide Comfort force from creating a convenient atmosphere for the PKK" in northern Iraq. Upon the contacts in Washington, the Turkish government decided to propose an extension of the Provide Comfort mandate to the Turkish Parliament. In his speech in Parliament yesterday, Mesut Yilmaz recalled the claims that Provide Comfort supported the establishment of a Kurdish state in northern Iraq and therefore they were trying to re-construct the Provide Comfort. Yilmaz stated that Turkey would continue to exert efforts for the protection of Iraq's territorial integrity. The mandate of the Provide Comfort international force expires on 31 March. /Hurriyet/
[09] TURKEY'S AUTO INDUSTRY EXPORTS JUMP TO $201 MILLIONTurkey's total automotive industry exports increased by a significant 53 % in the first two months of 1996, compared with the corresponding period of 1995, and reached $201 million, industrial sources revealed. Turkey's auto industry exports were $131.3 million in the January-February period of 1995. The largest receipts from foreign sales in the first two months of this year came from the component industries, whose exports were $81.3 million. The tire industry earned revenues of $33.6 million while battery exports reached $4.6 million over the same period. In the main industry, car sales brought in revenues worth $62.7 million in the January-February period of 1996, up 195 % from only $21.2 million in the same period of 1995. /All papers/
[10] TOURISM MINISTER IN GERMANYTourism Minister Isilay Saygin went to Germany on Friday to attend the 30th Berlin Tourism Fair, the Anatolia news agency reported. Officials from the ministry said that Saygin visited the Turkish desk at the fair, and awarded plaques to the five tourism operators who brought the most tourists to Turkey in 1995. Saygin also visited some TV stations and travel writer Horst Schwartz. The minister will return to Turkey on Monday.
[11] ATHENS BARGAINING WITH EUAthens has let it be known that it will lift its veto against European Union (EU) aid to Turkey, if the EU meets two conditions demanded by Greece. The Greek government wants the EU to force Turkey into stating that it will observe international rules that also affect the Aegean Sea, and also that the EU Association Council meeting planned for March 25 in Brussels will issue a joint statement against Turkey. /Hurriyet/ |
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