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Turkish Press Review 96-06-07Turkish Press Review Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs <http://www.mfa.gov.tr>CONTENTS
TURKISH PRESS REVIEWFRIDAY JUNE 7, 1996Summary of the political and economic news in the Turkish press this morning[01] LOOKING FOR A NEW GOVERNMENTTurkey's 53rd government since the founding of the Republic came to an abrupt end yesterday when Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz presented his resignation to President Suleyman Demirel.Now the search is on for a new coalition, one that will perhaps include four of the leading parties. Yilmaz has 45 days in which to set up a new government formula, after which the country will go to the polls again if he fails to achieve a working arrangement. Today President Demirel will personally meet with party leaders including pro-Islam Welfare Party (RP) leader Necmettin Erbakan. Again feeling is running high about letting Erbakan into a new coalition government. On the other hand, more and more people think that the Welfare Party could no worse than the other parties to date. During his meeting with the party leaders, Demirel will be looking for a suitable mix, one that will put government on a firm foundation. The fact that Demirel will first meet with Erbakan has caused many to wonder just what is going on behind the scenes in the Ankara political areana. Although Erbakan is not the flavour of the month in political circles, it is a fact that he is in the strongest position of all the parties. One new formula that seems to be figuring prominently is a coalition between the ANAP (Motherland) Party led by Mesut Yilmaz and the main parties on the left. Yilmaz wants to reinforce his party with 30 members of parliament from the left- if he can do that, says Yilmaz, he can save the government. DSP party leader Bulent Ecevit is deeply involved in new negotiations by means of which it is hoped that the left will be united enough to meet the terms of a coalition deal. Prime Minister Yilmaz has also spoken with CHP party leader Deniz Baykal. Following his talks with Baykal, Yilmaz again affirmed that he was not about to form a coalition with Erbakan. He also said that he would consider letting another ANAP party member assume the position of prime minister. Although the other party leaders on the left agree with Yilmaz that Erbakan should be kept out, again it has to be said that his party probably holds the key to the next coalition government. /All papers/ [02] TURKEY REJECTS US AIDThe US House of Representatives, bowing to pressure from the Armenian-American lobby voted 301 to 118 on Wednesday to stop President Bill Clinton from sending economic aid to Turkey on the grounds that Ankara is blocking the flow of humanitarian aid to Armenia. Reacting almost immediately to the move by the House of Representatives blocking the $25 million Economic Support Fund (ESF), the Turkish Ambassador in Washington announced that Turkey had decided not to accept the amount in question. Ambassador Nuzhet Kandemir said the refusal, which is said to be the first of its kind in the annals of Turkish-US relations, was decided by him in accordance with the authority delegated by Foreign Minister Emre Gonensay. "If both of the anti-Turkish amendments are accepted, you are authorized to reject the ESF assistance" Gonensay reportedly told Kandemir during a phone conversation they had on Wednesday. Kandemir's letter explaining Turkey's decision was delivered to Secretary of State Warren Christopher and House Speaker Newt Gingrich by hand on Wednesday evening. "The substance of the US-Turkish relationship is based on mutual interests and common values, and not foreign aid" Kandemir said.Meanwhile, a joint written statement issued by political party groups in the Turkish Parliament said: "It is impossible to accept these decisions taken in the US House of Representatives against Turkey which made sacrifices during the Cold War period for defence and always cooperated with the US, which still deploys forces in our territory. Friendship and alliance between Turkey and the US have suffered a great blow". /Cumhuriyet/ [03] DENKTAS HOPEFUL ABOUT NEW UN APPOINTEEPresident Rauf Denktas of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) expressed hope yesterday that a new UN representative for Cyprus would be able to solve the deadlocked issue of the island's division. Denktas spent over an hour in talks on the Cyprus problem with UN Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali, in Istanbul to attend a UN conference on human settlements. "We hope his new representative, to whom we shall give all the help we can, will finally succeed in finding a solution with us for what seems to be an intractable problem" Denktas said in a statement to journalists following the meeting. Denktas said he hoped Ghali would be able to bring the two sides together after the UN chief meets Greek Cypriot leader Glafkos Klerides in Geneva on June 11.Ghali described yesterday's talks with Denktas as constructive and expressed optimism about the appointment of the new UN Cyprus representative. "We hope that his presence will help us to maintain the dialogue between Denktas and Klerides and that the UN will be able to continue to negotiate to find a solution to this problem" Ghali said. He reminded reporters that Hang Sung-Joo, a former South Korean foreign minister, had been appointed recently as the new UN Cyprus representative. In another meeting following the one with Denktas, Ghali met with Turkish Foreign Minister Emre Gonensay. In a statement afterwards, Gonensay said that they had discussed general, global topics and the need to reform the UN system. He described the meeting as having been extremely constructive. Ghali himself praised the contributions which Turkey made to the UN and thanked the Turkish people. Among the topics which were discussed at the closed-door meeting were; the UN embargo on Iraq; Cyprus; Habitat II; Turkey's geopolitical importance; and Turkey-EU and Turkey-Russian relations. /Cumhuriyet/ [04] TURKISH GENERAL: "TURKEY SHOULD PROMOTE ITS SECULAR MODEL"General Cevik Bir, second in command in the Chief of Staff, in an interview with the Washington Post newspaper, said that Turkey should promote its secular model to Bosnia and the Central Asian countries.Cevik Bir said that there are 2,000 officers from Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan who are now being trained in Turkish military schools and academies along with 190 Bosnian soldiers already well-advenced in their training. General Bir stated that Turkey's goal and policy was to present secular Turkey as a model to other developing countries. /Hurriyet/ [05] HABITAT BRINGS TANGIBLE RESULTS WITH ACTION PLANMany thousands of words are being spoken at the Habitat II conference, and specific, direct results are not expected until next week, with the issuance of the "Habitat Agenda", the "global plan for action" for implementing the plans. Also possible is an "Istanbul declaration", which is being drafted for consideration during the "high-level segment" next week, in which heads of state and government will participate. This does not mean that the "spirit of Habitat" has already had no practical effect. Several items of work carried out in preparing the conference have been finalized in the past few days and announced during the meetings. /All papers/[06] TURKISH INDUSTRY GROWS 6.1 % IN JANUARY-APRILTurkey's industrial production rose 6.1 % in the first four months of the current year, official figures reveal. The State Institute of Statistics (DIE) said the manufacturing sector grew by 5.4 % in January-April, while the mining sector grew by 1.8 %. Energy output rose by 12.2 %. In April, the manufacturing sector grew by 3 %, while the mining sector expanded by 4.2 %. Energy output rose by 9.2 %. /Hurriyet/[07] US TO SYRIA: "WE WILL STAND BY TURKEY"US State Department Spokesman Nicholas Burns has made it clear that when push comes to shove, the US would certainly choose its NATO ally Turkey over Syria, a country still on Washington's list of nations supporting international terrorism. Burns commented on the issue in the context of rising Turkish-Syrian tension over Syria's support for the PKK terrorist organization. "There's awareness at the State Department of rising tensions between the two countries, Burns admitted. But "these are issues that we normally deal with through diplomatic channels" he added. "We would hope that Syria and Turkey could have a normal relationship" Burns said, despite the fact that "We are concerned that there is terrorism directed against Turkey that emanates from Syria. We've made that clear to the Syrian government, that we are concerned about that"."And I think it's useful to remember that Turkey is a NATO ally of the US, and we have an excellent relationship with Turkey" Burns continued. "And we'll stand by Turkey" he said. /Cumhuriyet/ [08] ICEM MEETINGThe International Chemistry, Energy, Mine and General Service Workers' Federation (ICEM) Chairmanship and Administrative Board meeting has started in Izmir. ICEM represents 20 million members in 403 unions active in 113 countries. The chairmen had a meeting on the first day, presided over by ICEM Chairman Hans Berger and Secretary-General Victor Thorpe, to which the press was not admitted. The Administrative Board, which comprises 38 union representatives from various countries, will be meeting today. Every representative will be talking about the problems in their own country and will ask for support in solving these problems. /Cumhuriyet/[09] TOURISM MINISTRY PROMOTES TURKEYThe Tourism Ministry has printed about 14,800,000 publications in 1996 to promote Turkey in which the country's natural and thus far historical treasures as well as the various activities available for tourists are emphasized. Ministry officials said that they had invited 23 members of the media from European, American and Far Eastern countries this year to promote Turkey. /Cumhuriyet/[10] SEA WOLF 2-96Sea Wolf 2-96, one of the planned maneuvers of the Turkish Naval Forces, started this morning with the departure of ships from their bases and ports in Golcuk, Istanbul and Marmaris. Sea Wolf 2-96, which will take place in international waters and air space of the Aegean and East Mediterranean, will last for 22 days. /Cumhuriyet/[11] IFAD PRESIDENT VISITS TURKEYFavzi El Sultan, president of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), a UN agency that promotes agricultural development, has come to Turkey to attend Habitat II and visited Ankara yesterday to pay an official visit to Forestry Minister Nevzat Ercan. The IFAD gives financial support to rural development projects, basically in third world countries. Its headquarters is in Rome, and Turkey has been a member of the agency since 1977. /All papers/[12] MORE AEGEAN TENSIONSA disabled Turkish yacht, registered in Bodrum but needing help in the ill-fated Kardak rocks region of the Aegean Sea was towed yesterday by another Turkish yacht to the small Greek port of Kilimli (Kalimnos). Greek residents on the island however reacted strongly to the arrival of the Turkish owned yachts, and demanded that the yachts should fly the Greek flag.Later reports from the Governor of the Mugla region noted however that the Turkish yachts refused to submit to the Greek demands. /Cumhuriyet/ [13] PIPELINE DELEGATION RETURNSA delegation of experts from the BOTAS government affiliated pipeline administration has returned from Baghdad in Iraq where talks have been going about the overland Kirkuk-Yumurtalik pipeline. This pipeline will be reactivated after lying idle for six years following the Gulf war and the imposition of an embargo against Iraq by the UN.Now that Iraq and the UN have reached agreement on restricted oil sales from Iraq, Turkey and Iraq want to get the pipeline operative again once techical problems have been resolved. /Cumhuriyet/ [14] REUTERS PRAISES FILM ON HAZEREFENReuters News agency has published a comprehensive news-commentary on a controversial film "Istanbul Beneath My Wings". Reporting that the film traces Hazerefen Ahmet Celebi's first flight across the Bosphorus, Reuters has stated that a record 325,000 people watched the film in the first 75 days after release at cinemas across Turkey. Reuters also added that the film has led to dispute about whether or not the film presents a false view of Turkish history. /Sabah/[15] DANGER AT THE BORDERAccording to "Stern" magazine published in Germany, Syria has established top secret chemical military facilities near the city of Halep on the border between Turkey and Syria. The factory, set up under the ground, has been traced from satellite photos, and CIA officials claim that it represents a deadly threat for Turkey and Israel. The strategic location of the military facilities gives Syria the opportunity to "asphyxiate" Turkey in toxic gas without using any long-range missiles, but by simple cannon fire with poison gas loaded shells. Syrian officials have not denied the existence of the factory, and have stated that they had the right to resort to any measures to protect themselves. /Hurriyet/[16] GREECE-PKK COOPERATION DEVELOPINGAccording to the INAF news agency, Greek Deputy Parliamentary Speaker Panayotis Sguridis had a meeting in South Cyprus with a representative of PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan. There are claims that Sguridis has asked the PKK terrorist organization to sabotage the Kirkuk-Yumurtalik pipeline newly opened with UN permission. Sguridis has also assured the terrorists that Greece will continue its support for the outlawed organization. /Hurriyet/[17] CROSS BORDER OPERATIONS IN SYRIAHaving asked Syria to stop its support for terrorism with a strongly-worded note submitted on January 23, 1996, Turkey has twice initiated cross-border operations in the territory of its southern neighbour. With a National Security Council decision taken at a meeting in January, Turkish security forces pursuing PKK terrorists, have penetrated five to ten kilometres into Syrian territory. Some Syrian newspapers have tried to establish a connection between these cross-border operations and recent bombimg incidents. Foreign Ministry Deputy Spokesman Nurettin Nurkan has denied the claims. Nevertheless, Foreign Ministry officials have stated that cannon fire opened by Turkey against PKK terrorist infiltrating across the Turco-Syrian border was indeed followed by clashes between Turkish and Syrian security forces. Intelligence sources draw attention to the fact that these developments have not been immediately reported by the Syrian press, because news about PKK terrorist trying to penetrate into Turkish territory from Syria, and related clashes between Turkish and Syrian security forces would only expose Syrian support for terrorism, strongly denied by the Syrian government. /Cumhuriyet/[18] AMERICANIZATION TRENDS IN THE TURKISH ARMYIn its latest issue, the French foreign policy magazine "Le Monde Diplomatique" has published an article on recent developments in the Turkish army. An article titled "An army caught between Kemalist heritage and American alliance" says that since the 1940s, with Turkey's entrance into the NATO alliance, the Turkish army has gradually assumed more American characteristics, while at the same time Kemalist influences have still remained strong. /Milliyet/Turkish Press Review Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |
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