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Turkish Press Review, 97-12-17Turkish 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 MINISTER17.12.97Summary of the political and economic news in the Turkish press this morning. [01] PRIME MINISTER YILMAZ TO U.S.Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz and a 200-member Turkish delegation will go to the U.S. today. During his visit Yilmaz will meet President Bill Clinton, Presidential Aide Al Gore, Secreteries of State, Defense, Treasury, Energy and Trade and also the chairmen of the IMF and the World Bank. Yilmaz will also visit Turkish-American Associations.It is expected that Yilmaz will discuss the Baku-Ceyhan oil pipeline, textile quotas and plane purchases from Boeing. Mesut Yilmaz and the delegation will return home on 21 December. /Hurriyet/ [02] TURCO-EGYPT RELATIONSTurkish and Egyptian military delegations met yesterday during Turkish Chief of Staff, Ismail Hakki Karadayi's visit to Egypt. At the meeting, bilateral military relations, Turco-Israel relations and regional developments were discussed. After the meeting, Turkish and Egyptian military officials announced that they always welcomed bilateral agreements as contributions to the Middle East process. /Milliyet/Sabah_[03] EUROMONEY, TURKEY BETTER THAN OTHER EU CANDIDATESFinancial magazine "Euromoney" says Turkey is in a better position than other EU candidates according certain economic criteria. The Euromoney report said that the Turkish risk rating was in a positive trend but that some EU candidate economies have been suffering increasing political risks. Among ten countries classified as "emerging markets", Turkey came third. /Sabah/[04] GERMAN SOCIAL DEMOCRAT LEADER IN ANKARAVisiting German Social Democrat Rudolf Scharping said he sympathized with Turkey's disappointment over the European Luxembourg Summit declaration saying that Turkey shouldn't be kept in a waiting room but also shouldn't react angrily to the EU's response but continue its European perspective. Scharping, the leader of the Federal Parliamentary group of the German Social Democrat Party (SDP), is in Ankara as the guest of the Republican People's Party (CHP), addressed the CHP parliamentary group on Tuesday saying that it was impossible for Europe to leave Turkey out because Turkey was a very important country, including being an element of stability in its region.Scharping was yesterday received by President Suleyman Demirel. /All papers/ [05] 182 PKK TERRORISTS KILLED IN NORTHERN IRAQAccording to a statement released by the Office of the General Staff, a military operation started on 5 December in northern Iraq has been a sucess. The operation, launched to stop attacks against civilians in northern Iraq and to prevent the re-organization of the PKK in the region, successfully ended on 15 December, said the report. It was also stated that 182 terrorists had been killed and that military equipment, weapons and food had been seized. /Sabah/[06] MOSCOW, ANKARA PROCEED TOWARDS BETTER RELATIONSDuring the visit of Russian Prime Minister Victor Chernomyrdin, grounds for deeper mutual respect and broader cooperation were laid but with a large number of agreements being signed by the two countries. Apart from a natural gas agreement worth $ 13.5 billion, Turkey and Russia signed economic cooperation deals as well as agreements for more cooperation as in a number of areas including energy, coal and electricity.Turkish officials announced that trade volume between Turkey and Russia was worth 10-12 billion dollars per year and this figure increased to 20 billion dollars with the inclusion of cross-border 'suitcase trade'. The two sides stated their hope that political problems between the two countries, such as Chechnya and the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), would not have a bad effect on bilateral relations. During a meeting between President Suleyman Demirel and the visiting Prime Minister agreement was reached on broader cooperation and mutual respect. Demirel also reminded Chernomyrdin that Russian President Boris Yeltsin had earlier promised to visit Ankara. A date for Yeltsin's visit to Ankara will be scheduled in Moscow. Completing his visit, the Russian Prime Minimster yesterday left Turkey. /All papers/ [07] TURKEY ACTS IN HARMONY WITH CUSTOMS UNION AGREEMENTSA decrease in customs rates for "sensitive goods" imported from EU member-countries to Turkey will enter into effect on January 1, 1998. The move is designed to help harmonize Turkish regulations with Common Customs Tariffs agreed upon between Turkey and the EU within the framework of the customs union agreement. This is the second decrease in customs rates for EU goods, following a similar implementation that came into effect at the beginning of this year. /Hurriyet/[08] STATE MINISTER EYUB ASIK IN CUBAState Minister Eyub Asik will begin today an official visit to Cuba on the invitation of the Cuban government. Minister Asik will chair a meeting of the Turco-Cuban Joint Economic Commission, and will sign an agreement for bilateral cooperation. The minister will be received by Cuban leader Fidel Castro and will present to him a letter from Prime Minister Yilmaz. During his contacts with Cuban officials, Asik will discuss opportunities for cooperation in the production of Cuban cigars in Turkey. /Hurriyet/[09] CLINTON VOICES SUPPORT FOR TURKEYIn his last press conference for 1997, US President Bill Clinton emphasized the strategic importance of Turkey, and pointed out that Turkey should not be estranged from the West. "We should exert every effort to bind Turkey to the West," the US president declared. He added that the US will also work to help Turkey and Greece resolve bilateral disagreements. /Hurriyet/[10] TOURISM BOOMMore than nine million foreign tourists visited Turkey in the first eleven months of this year. Tourism entrepreneurs are rejoicing, because the number of tourists coming to Turkey for their holiday increased by nearly 13 percent in comparison to the previous year. Tourism Ministry statistics reveal that Germans are the largest group of foreign tourists who paid visits to Turkey in the January-November period this year. Next on the list are tourists from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and Britain. /Hurriyet/[11] CYPRUS WARNING TO NATOTurkish Foreign Minister Ismail Cem stated that the results of the European Union (EU) summit were not sufficient from the Turkish standpoint. In Brussels for a NATO meeting, Cem said: "The EU leaders presented a third-class train ticket to Turkey during the Luxembourg summit. Either the EU could not competely understand the importance of the issue or followed a wrong path deliberately". Cem blaimed the EU for not accepting the responsibility for turning conflict into reconciliation, thereby missing the opportunity for today. Cem noted that if the EU started full membership negotiations with Greek Cyprus, Turkey would put into implementation a "partial integration" plan with the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC). Some foreign ministers attending the NATO meeting stated that they understood the anxiety of Turkey but also called on Turkey to review its decision.Meanwhile, members of the Greens Group at the European Parliament said: "The EU has implemented a double standard with regard to Turkey. We understand the reaction of Turkish Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz. Christian Democrats have noted that they do not want the Turkish-EU dialogue to be severed. /Cumhuriyet/ [12] XANTHI MUFTI GETS 80 MONTHS IN PRISONThe Mufti of Xanthi as elected by the West Thracian Turkish minority, Mehmet Emin Aga, has been sentenced with a total of 80 months in prison following cases involving eight separate charges. A statement issued by the Turkish Foreign Information Department called on Greece to abide by the obligations in bilateral and multi-lateral agreements and to respect the contractual rights of muftis elected by the West Thracian Turkish minority. /Cumhuriyet/[13] TRAINING CAMP NEAR ATHENSA modern camp in which members of the PKK terrorist organization are being trained has been discovered in Greece. According to the confessions of three university students arrested by Edirne police during preparations to carry out a bombing operation, a training camp has been set up 45-kilometers north of Athens. /Milliyet/[14] ANNAN CALLS FOR NEW APPROACHESWhile the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) declared that inter-communal talks for a solution on the divided island "have died" due to the EU membership invitation to Greek Cyprus, United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan has called for new approaches to be adopted in dealing with the problem, but has overlooked TRNC demands for talks to be held on the basis of equality for both sides. In a brief report to the UN Security Council on Monday, Annan urged leaders of the Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities to begin a sustained process of negotiations as soon as possible. /Milliyet/END Turkish Press Review Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |
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