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Turkish Press Review, 98-03-20Turkish Press Review Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs <http://www.mfa.gov.tr>20.03.98Summary of the political and economic news in the Turkish press this morningCONTENTS
[01] PRESIDENT DEMIREL ATTENDS NEVRUZ CELEBRATIONSThis week the Nevruz Spring festival is being celebrated all over Turkey. Within the framework of the celebrations, President Suleyman Demirel will light today the Nevruz bonfire in Bursa. Prime Minsiter Mesut Yilmaz, who was scheduled to participate in the festivities in Siirt, has had to cancel his programme because of bad weather. /Sabah/[02] CLASHES IN HATAYA group of 40 PKK terrorists attacked yesterday security forces carrying out operations in Hatay province. Six PKK terrorists and two soldiers were killed in the clashes. One soldier who has wounded has been hospitalized.At the same time, the trial of Eva Junke, a German national suspected of fighting together with the PKK terrorist organization, began yesterday in Van. Junke was caught during clashes between the Turkish Armed Forces and the PKK terrorist organization last September. /Sabah/Milliyet_ [03] ANNAN SENDS MESSAGE TO CYPRUSUnited Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan wants both sides living in Cyprus to continue their contacts and expressed his concern about the existing conflict on the island in a letter to President of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), Rauf Denktas and the Greek Cypriot leader, Glafkos Klerides, sent via his special Cyprus envoy Diego Cordovez who is carrying on meetings with both sides on the island. Cordovez and Denktas yesterday held a meeting which Mumtaz Soysal, Democratic Left Party Deputy, also attended as constitution counsellor to Denktas. In a statement after the meeting, Denktas maintained his stance on equality between both sides for starting a negotiation process. Special envoy Cordovez however tried to give optimistic messages saying that it had been a positive meeting and that he well understood the position of the Turkish side. /Hurriyet/[04] TURKISH AMBASSADOR BECOMES HEAD OF HUMAN RIGHTS COURTAmbassador Riza Turmen, who has spent 26 years in Foreign Ministry service and recently represented Turkey in the European Council, has been appointed as the president of the Human Rights Court of the European Council. Turkmen will take up his new post on November 1. He will keep this post for six years. /Hurriyet/[05] MEETING OF NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONSThe chairmen of the Confederation of Turkish Trade Union Workers and Employers (Turk-Is), the Confederation of Revolutionary Workers' Union (DISK), the Confederation of Turkish Employers' Union (TISK), the Turkish Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges (TOBB) and the Confederation of Turkish Tradesmen and Artisans (TESK) will convene in Ankara on March 24 to make a joint evaluation of the problems of the country, reports the Anatolia news agency.The Chairman of these non-governmental organizations will define the most serious domestic problems and then announce theid decisions in a joint communique to the public in a press briefing at the Turk-Is General Directorate in Ankara on March 25. [06] FOREIGN MINISTER CEM IN EGYPTForeign Minister Ismail Cem starts a three-day visit to Egypt today. During the visit Cem will be received by Egyptian President Husnu Mubarek and Prime Minister Kemal Garruzi and will meet with his Egyptian counterpart Amr Musa. The most critical topic on the agenda of the visit is the "Middle East Neighbourhood Forum", jointly declared by Turkey and Jordan. Cem will provide details on the Forum and ask for support.It is also expected that Ismail Cem will call for the support of the Eygptian administration to strengthen relations between Turkey and the Arab world. /Cumhuriyet/ [07] WASHINGTON REITERATES SUPPORT FOR TURKEY'S EU MEMBERSHIPIn another confirmation of its support for Turkey's European Union (EU) membership, Washington has said that the EU bloc should have very high-level relations with Ankara, and that factors based on religion and race should not be obstacles in achieving improved relations.In an interview with Europe magazine, US Assistant Secretary of State for European and Canadian Affairs, Marc Grossman, said that the US administration believed that "Turkey should be very strongly a part of Europe and that the EU should establish very high-quality relations with Turkey," the Anatolia news agency reported on Thursday. Grossman, who is also the former US ambassador to Ankara, underlined Turkey's European identity and said that the US genuinely believed that Turkey should become an EU member. He also said that the United States unquestionably supported Turkey's territorial integrity. [08] 'TURKISH FOREIGN POLICY A SUCCESS'Ertugrul Onen, the chairman of the Turkish Foreign Trade Foundation Executive Board said that the Turkish economy, which is based on the import-substitution model, had started to gain a liberal framework as of the early 1980s and had begun to expand abroad. Onen told the Anatolian news agency yesterday that the achievements of Turkish entrepreneurs in international markets had also increased in parallel with basic changes in the Turkish economy.[09] VERGAU: TURKEY HAS MISINTERPRETED EU LUXEMBOURG DECISIONSGerman Ambassador to Ankara Dr. Hans Joachim Vergau said that Turkey has misinterpreted the EU Luxembourg decisions. "We believe that Turkey has key strategic and political importance, and for this reason should be as close to Europe as possible," Vergau noted, adding that Turkey and Germany will continue to improve their economic and strategic cooperation. /Milliyet/[10] FOREIGN EXCHANGE RESERVES OVER $ 20 BILLIONCentral bank reserves continue to increase. Foreign exchange reserves reached 19.8 billion dollars on 6 March, an increase over the 18.3 billion dollars peak on 20 February.Meanwhile, Turkey has paid out 2.6 billion in foreign debts since January, 1998. /Milliyet/ [11] CAR PRODUCTION UPTurkish automobile production rose 40 percent in the first two months of 1998 to 38,029 units, up from 27,135 units over the same period in 1997, the Automotive Manufacturers' Association (OSD) reported on Thursday. Overall vehicle production was up 39 percent from the same period in 1997. The OSD said that a total of 61,995 vehicles were produced in Turkey in the January-February period of this year, compared to 44,449 in 1997.In the first two months of 1998, automobile sales in Turkey increased to 36,498 units, up 28 percent from 1997. /All papers/ Turkish Press Review Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |
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