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Turkish Press Review, 97-09-08Turkish Press Review Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs <http://www.mfa.gov.tr>CONTENTS
TURKISH PRESS REVIEWDIRECTORATE GENERAL OF PRESS AND INFORMATION,OFFICE OF PRIME MINISTER08.09.97Summary of the political and economic news in the Turkish press this morning[01] KALEMLI FLIES TO USParliament Speaker Mustafa Kalemli flew to the United States on Sunday at the invitation of the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Newt Gingrich. Kalemli is the first Turkish parliament speaker to officially visit the United States.Speaking at the airport in Istanbul before his departure, Kalemli said he would meet with the members and the speaker of the House of Representatives and the Senate during his three-day visit to the United States. Kalemli said that bilateral relations had, at times, been strained, pointing out that the developing of interparliamentary relations would help resolve issues between the two countries. He said that Washington however, backed Turkey in many areas, including the PKK problem in the Southeast and the oil pipelines from Caucasia. /Cumhuriyet/ Sabah_ [02] GEN. KARADAYI OFF TO BRUSSELSThe Chief of General Staff Gen. Ismail Hakki Karadayi flew to Brussels on Sunday to join the sessions of the 127th Military Committee Meeting. Karadayi will go to Canada and the United States following his trip to Belgium to participate in the next of the series of meetings. /Cumhuriyet/ Sabah_[03] TURKEY, ROMANIA JOINT MILITARY EXERCISETurkey and Romania are to take part in the Hazerfan-97 military exercise which will begin today in Erkilet, near the central Anatolia city of Kayseri. The maneuvers will be carried out under the umbrella of the Partnership for Peace concept and seven cargo military planes and a helicopter will join the exercise together with observers from Austria, France, Bulgaria, the Netherlands and Macedonia. The exercise, which will take place at the Turkish Air Force cargo base in Erkilet, is set to run until September 12. /Cumhuriyet/[04] PIPELINES, ARMENIA TOP FOREIGN MINISTER'S BAKU TRIP AGENDAForeign Minister Ismail Cem and State Minister Ahat Andican left for Baku on Sunday to discuss Turkish Projects for Caspian oil reserves, as well as bilateral and regional political issues.Talking to reporters at Esenboga Airport before their departure, Andican said their initial goal for the talks would be to strengthen ties between the two countries. Adding that the Baku-Ceyhan pipeline issue would have priority, Andican pointed out that other items on the agenda included the thorny issues of relations between Turkey and Armenia, and Armenia and Azerbaijan. /Hurriyet/ [05] CEM: 'EU SHOULD NOT DEMAND PRECONDITIONS'Angered by European Union pressure to take its bilateral problems with Greece to the International Court of Justice, Turkey reiterated Sunday that it will not accept EU preconditions."The EU should not make conditions based on an unjust Greek argument for its uncommitted promises," Foreign Minister Ismail Cem said at a news conference hours before his departure for the Azerbaijani capital. Cem said that Greece follows a double-standard as Athens has proposed to take the Kardak_Imia issue to court while earlier rejecting that possibility for another issue, the militarization of the Aegean islands in contravention of both bilateral and international agreements. Cem also declared that it was 'meaningless' for the EU to suggest a way of problem solving to Turkey which has earlier been rejected by Greece itself. The 'uncommitted promises' that he referred to concerned the promise of funds from the EU which have long been blocked by a Greek veto. /Cumhuriyet/ [06] DEMIREL VOICES SUPPORT FOR CODE OF ETHICS FOR POLITICIANSPresident Suleyman Demirel said he was favor of the implementation of a 'state ethics law' regulating the moral behavior of politicians. Demirel said ethics had become an important matter to politicians to regulate their behaviour. President Suleyman Demirel spent Sunday in the western Anatolian city of Bursa to attend the openings of various new facilities. He first attended the opening of a hospital for spastic children. The president also opened a new center for textile retail outlets and a housing complex for 15,000 families in Bursa. /Cumhuriyet/ Sabah_[07] SEGIN URGES DEVELOPMENT WITH ENVIRONMENTAL AWARENESSDeputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Ismet Sezgin urged the integration of environmental, social and industrial policies. Speaking at a seminar on "Industrialization in the Aegean Region and Sustainable Development," Sezgin stressed that Turkey should continue its development but with environmental awareness. He said that with the utilization of advanced technology, increased productivity, investment in personnel, and allocation of more funds to research and development, Turkey could achieve sustainable development and prevent possible damaging impacts of industrialization on the environment. /Sabah/[08] COHEN PRAISES TURKISH ROLE IN NATOU.S. Secretary of Defense William Cohen said in Florida that with Turkey's participation in NATO since 1952, the democratic wall in Europe had been strengthened. Speaking at a meeting in Florida, Cohen said that he did not agree with some circles which think that the enlargement of NATO will weaken the body's structure, saying that on the contrary, enlargement will strengthen NATO. /All papers/[09] ISRAELI DIPLOMATS VISIT GAP PROJECT AREAA group of Israeli diplomats currently visiting Turkey, left Ankara on Friday evening for the southeastern cities in order to gain detailed information about the Southeastern Anatolia Project (GAP). "There are Israeli private companies participating in some of the construction projects within the framework of the GAP project. We are interested in the project,"said the Israeli diplomats. Diplomats from various departments of the Israeli Foreign Ministry, invited by the Turkish Foreign Ministry's training center, also visited the plant of the Turkish Aerospace Industry (TAI) where F-16 fighter jets are being produced. /All papers/[10] SEZGIN EXTENDS OLIVE BRANCH TO GREECE OVER S-300 MISSILESFollowing heightened tensions between Greece and Turkey over Russian-made S-300 missiles which are expected to be deployed in Greek Cyprus, Defense Minister Ismet Sezgin on Friday extended an olive branch to Greece saying that disputes between Turkey and Greece should not be solved by arms, but rather should be solved by diplomatic initiatives and people. During his visit to Aydin, a town in the Aegean part of Turkey, Sezgin said that he also hoped that other countries, including the United States and the European nations, would support Turkey's stand against the Greek and Greek Cypriots' aggressive attitudes. /All papers/[11] JUSTICE MINISTRY WILL AMEND BROADCASTING LAWSThe Ministry of Justice has called the representatives of national radio and television stations to a meeting on September 18 in order to discuss the law regulating radio and television broadcasts, the Anatolia news agency reported.[12] HIGH BOARD OF HUMAN RIGHTS MEETS IN DIYARBAKIRHikmet Sami Turk, State Minister responsible for human rights, has pointed out that the southeastern region of Turkey has not developed as much as other parts of the country, the Anatolia news agency reported. Organizing a press conference after the eighth gathering of the High Board of Human Rights in Diyarbakir, Turk stated that such gatherings in the southeastern region confirmed the importance that the government gave to that region.[13] TURKEY-ROMANIA TOURISM PROTOCOL SIGNEDA tourism protocol between Turkey and Romania was signed at the end of the 13th meeting of the two countries' joint tourism commission meeting. Under the protocol on cooperation in that sector, investments, education, exchanges in experts and promotional materials, health tourism and exchanges of media representatives were among the subjects discussed. In 1996, 191,506 Romanian tourists visited Turkey and spent a total of $ 84.5 million. This was 1.50 percent of Turkey's total tourism income. /All papers/[14] ONUR OYMEN BECOMES ENVOY TO NATOForeign Ministry Undersecretary Onur Oymen has become Turkey's new envoy to NATO headquarters in Brussels. According to a Council of Ministers decree published in Saturday's edition of the Official Gazette, Oymen is replacing Ambassador Tugay Ozceri, also a former ministry undersecretary. Ambassador Ozecri is returning to the ministry. Oymen, on the other hand, was replaced a while ago by Ambassador Korkmaz Haktanir. /All papers/[15] SECURITY FORCES KILL 52 SEPARATISTSSecurity forces has killed 52 members of the PKK separatist organization in clashes over the last three days in southeastern Turkey, the emergency rule governor's office said on Saturday. In a written statement, the governor's office said 32 of the separatist terrorists were killed in fighting in Sirnak province, eight in Siirt, seven in Van province and five elsewhere in the region. /All papers/[16] HYUNDAI-ASSAN ANNOUNCE OPENING OF NEW PLANT IN IZMITHyundai-Assan cars presented their new models at a cocktail given at its stand in the Fair. The executive coordinator of Hyundai said, "We began our activities in Turkey six years ago as exporters and distributors. In order to be successful and permanent in this market we had to make investments. Because of this we decided to build a factory in Izmit which will begin operations in September." Erhan Gunsoy, the general manager of Hyundai-Assan said the opening ceremony will be on September 20th with the participation of President Suleyman Demirel. Gunsoy added that as a first step the vehicles that would be produced in Turkey would also be exported to the Middle East and the Turkish-speaking Republics. /All papers/[17] S-300 MISSILE TENSIONS ESCALATEToday's daily papers give extensive first-page coverage to the Cyprus S-300 missile issue that has led to fresh tensions in Turco-Greek relations. Milliyet daily newspaper reports that Greek Prime Minister Kostas Simitis, who a while ago tended to give a positive response to Ankara's attempts for improving bilateral relations, has made a sharp about turn.In a speech ưn Thessaloniki, the Greek prime minister delivered harsh threats against Turkey virtually clamouring for war. "Greece supports the deployment of the missiles on Cyprus", Simitis said, adding that every Turkish move to change the status-quo on the island would be perceived by Athens as a justification for war. With this statement, Greece is now calling for confrontation on the prime-minister level. Simitis claimed that the missiles were being deployed in Cyprus within the framework of the "Greek-Greek Cypriot joint defence doctrine" and claimed that the Greek Cypriots had the right to resort to any measures to ensure their security. /Milliyet/ [18] GLIDING CHAMPIONHIP IN ESKISEHIRThe First World Air Games Gliding Championship was opened on Saturday in Eskisehir with a ceremony. Glider pilots from 24 countries will participate in the contests. The championship will end on September 19. Turkey will host nearly 3,000 fliers from 60 countries within the framework of the air games sponsored by the Turkish Aviation Institution. /Sabah/[19] PKK TERRORISTS TRY TO SET UP IN BLACK SEA REGIONThe PKK terrorist organization that has suffered heavy losses in the cross-border operations recently staged by the Turkish Armed Forces, is now exerting efforts to infiltrate the Black Sea region. The PKK organization is cooperating with the outlawed DHKP-C and TIKKO leftist terrorist organizations. The PKK is planning to bring in illegal arms by sea, and spend the winter in the Black Sea region. According to a report prepared by Turkish intelligence officials, the PKK will try to use the Black Sea provinces of Turkey as a base for expanding its terrorist activities to the internal Anatolian provinces of Turkey. Security forces have begun a number of measures to ensure that order is not disrupted in the Black Sea region and that PKK terrorism will not gain a foothold. /Sabah/[20] AZERBAIJANI DEPUTY PM ABBASOV IN ANKARAAzerbaijani Deputy Prime Minister Abbas Abbasov arrived yesterday in Ankara for a surprise visit. In a meeting with Turkish Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz, Abbasov voiced Azeri anxiety over prospects that the Turco-Armenian border gate may be opened. During the meeting, Yilmaz stressed that Turco-Azeri relations had gained new momentum and added that further improvement of bilateral friendship was a top priority on the Turkish agenda. /Sabah/[21] IMF: INFLATION WILL DECREASEThe International Monetary Fund (IMF) has stated that inflation is showing a downward trend in developing countries including Turkey, and that this trend will continue in the future. According to data from "A Look at the World Economy" and "IMF International Statistics" prepared by the IMF, even though the inflation increases monthly in Turkey and other developing countries, it will continue to decrease on average in 1998. /Cumhuriyet-Hurriyet/[22] TANER VISITS GERMANYState Minister responsible for the economy, Gunes Taner, went to Frankfurt yesterday to meet with officials from banks and financial institutions. Noting that his aim was to explain the progress Turkey has achieved and the programme which Turkey wants to follow to officials of foreign banks and financial institutions, Taner said that Turkey had no problems in getting foreign credits. /Hurriyet-Milliyet/[23] WORLD EXPORTERS IN SILKROAD SUMMITTurkish exporters will host an annual meeting of the Confederation of International Foreign Trade Associations (CITHA). The "Silkroad Conference" organized by the Turkish Foreign Trade Association (Turktrade) will be opened with the participation of President Suleyman Demirel and Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz on 15 September. The conference, in which 80 representatives of export companies from 26 countries will participate, will last for two days. /Hurriyet/END Turkish Press Review Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |