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Turkish Press Review, 97-06-13Turkish Press Review Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs <http://www.mfa.gov.tr>CONTENTS
TURKISH PRESS REVIEWJUNE 13, 1997Summary of the political and economic news in the Turkish press this morning[01] ERBAKAN TO HAND OVER PREMIERSHIP TO CILLER BY JUNE 18Turkish Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan and his coalition partner Tansu Ciller, and prospective coalition partner, leader of the Grand Unity Party (BBP) Muhsin Yazicioglu, met for four hours yesterday. True Path Party (DYP) Deputy Chairman, Hasan Ekinci, who also attended the meeting yesterday, said in a statement to the Hurriyet newspaper that Erbakan had accepted a handover of the premiership to Tansu Ciller on June 18. /Hurriyet/[02] CROWN PRINCE OF JORDAN IN ANKARAJordan Crown Prince Al Hassan bin Talal met with President Suleyman Demirel and Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan yesterday. Prince bin Talal, who is on his way to the US for talks with President Bill Clinton, passed through Turkey for a one-day working visit.Before his meeting with Demirel, Talal affirmed to reporters that Jordan had very good relations with Turkey and that he was here for direct consultations. He said that his country condemned terrorism, and noted that the current borders of the region should be maintained. He added that Jordan was pleased to hear that Turkey was supporting the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Iraq, which he said, was also exteremely important for Jordan. President Demirel, accompanied by Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Onur Oymen and head of National Intelligence Organization (MIT), Sonmez Koksal said that relations between Turkey and Jordan were always good and that Turkey was giving special importance to the Middle East peace process. /All papers/ [03] NATO DEFENCE MINISTERS MEETNATO defence ministers met yesterday to plot the future of the Western alliance as it prepares to expand into former communist Europe and adapt itself for new roles in a post-Cold War European security order. The meeting is the last one before a summit in Madrid in July 8-9 at which at least three former Warsaw Pact countries are expected to be asked to join NATO.Turkish Defence Minister Turhan Tayan met his new English counterpart George Robertson on early Thursday morning and in the afternoon he participated in a private meeting at which his French counterpart Alain Richard was also present. /All papers/ [04] TURKS, KAZAKHS TO SIGN CASPIAN DEALRecai Kutan, Turkish Minister for Energy, will travel to Kazakhstan on June 17 to sign an agreement concerning the transportation of Kazakh oil to world markets via the proposed Baku-Ceyhan pipeline to be constructed by Turkey. "If we agree with the Kazakhs, 10 million tons of Kazakh oil will carried via the Baku-Ceyhan pipeline. Both the Kazakh and Azerbaijani presidents have recently signed an agreement for the transportation of Kazakh oil to Baku. This agreement will probably increase the chance of our proposed Baku-Ceyhan pipeline" Kutan said. /Sabah/[05] STOYANOV TO VISIT TURKEY THIS MONTHBulgarian President Petar Stoyanov, who is to visit Ankara on June 23, said that his country has already closed the "communist book" and will never open it again. During Stoyanov's visit, a series of cooperation protocols between the two countries will be signed. Tourism, reciprocal defence issues, nuclear energy and the environment are the expected themes of those protocols. /All papers/[06] CULTURAL BASE READY FOR PRESIDENTIAL D-8 SUMMITA cultural agreement was signed yesterday by the Culture Ministers of the so-called Developing-8 (D-8) Moslem states, which will provide the framework for organizing cultural days every year in a different country of those belonging to the association. Three days before the presidential summit, the culture ministers of the D-8 Group met in Istanbul to seek cultural grounds on which economic cooperation could be built.The two-day ministerial meeting concluded in Istanbul yesterday with a joint declaration signed by officials of the eight member countries- Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Pakistan, Nigeria and Turkey. According to the joint declaration, the ministers of the D-8 Group agreed to increase bilateral and multilateral cultural exchanges; to organize annual academic meetings where issues of socio-economic equality will be discussed; and to protect cultural values. Meanwhile, Iranian President Ali Ekber Hashimi Rafsanjani and Foreign Minister Ali Ekber Velayeti will come to Turkey to attend the D-8 summit on Sunday. /Cumhuriyet/ [07] KDP ASKS TURKEY NOT TO WITHDRAW FROM NORTHERN IRAQThe Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) has insisted that Turkey remain and continue its incursion into northern Iraq against the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). The KDP said that some members of the PKK, who earlier escaped into Iran from the Turkish operation, have started to return to the border areas between northern Iraq and Iran with the assistance of the outlawed Hizbollah organization in an attempt to attack the KDP again in northern Iraq.KDP officials also said that peace and stability should be established in the region and damaged areas should be restored, adding that until an effective force is established and such aims are achieved, the Turkish Armed Forces should not withdraw from the region. The US administration has also stated that they support Turkey's operation against the PKK in northern Iraq. US State Department Spokesman Nicholas Burns said: "We support our ally's struggle against the PKK terrorist organization and we are sure that the Turkish Armed Forces will return home when the work is done". US Defence Secretary Cohen, who is currently in Brussels, also supported the operation. Cohen said: "The Turkish government has decided to enter northern Iraq to counter terrorist attacks. We believe that Turkey has no aim to occupy northern Iraq". /Milliyet/ [08] OPERATION IN BINGOL: 21 DEADIntensive operations deploying 2,500 soldiers are continuing in the districts of Adakli and Genc in the regions around Bingol. The Turkish security forces, who were faced with 35 PKK militants the previous day, killed eight terrorists. During the conflict, five soldiers died. During another operation yesterday, a further 13 militants were killed.On the other hand, PKK militants attacked a bus traveling between Kahramanmaras and Istanbul yesterday. Four people were wounded. /Milliyet/ [09] NEW CRISIS IN TURCO-LIBYAN RELATIONSA new crisis has flared up in Turco-Libyan relations as the result of an arrogant statement by Libyan leader Muammer Kadaffi. At a meeting later broadcast on TV, Kadaffi directed heavy accusations against Turkey and Turkish political leaders, ridiculing them. Foreign Minister Tansu Ciller condemned the ugly statement. /All papers/[10] MICHAEL LAKE OPTIMISTIC ABOUT TURKEY'S INTEGRATION WITH EUROPEEU representative in Turkey, Michael Lake, said that Turkey had "great chances" for joining the EU. In a speech at a Turkey-EU Joint Economic and Social Consultation Committee meeting, Lake remainded his listeners that Turkey was accepted as a part of Europe with increasing chances of joining the Union.Lake pointed out that European entrepreneurs were also positive about the future of Turkey. He pointed out that foreign investors were now investing not only in the big cities of Turkey, but also in the Anatolian provinces. /Hurriyet/ [11] REACTION AGAINST HANNAYTurkey has reacted against Britain's special Cyprus envoy David Hannay who has not been impartial towards the Turkish Cypriot and Greek Cypriot administrations in Cyprus. Foreign Ministry officials, who stated that it was impossible to accept the mediation of Hannay and other special envoys other than for their contribution to the efforts of the UN mission, will meet President of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) Rauf Denktas, who will come to Ankara today prior to inter-communal meetings to be held in New York. /Cumhuriyet/[12] AKKUYU NUCLEAR POWER PLANT BIDDING POSTPONED TO SEPTEMBERThe new date for the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant to begin accepting bids is September 4, 1997. The deadline for bidding was June 30, 1997. But in deference to a consortium including Westinghouse (USA), Mitsubishi (Japan) and the Raythorn-Enka companies (Turkey), the bid has been postponed. Officials said that they decided to delay the bid in order to provide the appropriate conditions for competition. /All papers/[13] TEXTILE QUOTAS ON THE MOVETextile quotas which are part of Turkish imports will be distributed among importers. According to an announcement by the Foreign Trade Undersecretariat, published in the Official Gazette yesterday, import quotas on textile products will be shared out. Importers who want to benefit from this arrangement must apply to the Foreign Trade Undersecretariat by June 27. Import licences prepared by the Foreign Trade Undersecretariat will be available until December 31, 1997. /All papers/END Turkish Press Review Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |