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Turkish Press Review, 98-03-27
From: Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs <http://www.mfa.gov.tr>
27.03.98
Summary of the political and economic news in the Turkish press this morning
CONTENTS
[01] PM YILMAZ TO VISIT ROMANIA
[02] COHEN TO VISIT TURKEY IN APRIL
[03] CEM TO GO TO TRNC
[04] CLOCKS AHEAD ONE HOUR
[05] PRIVATIZATION OF IS BANK
[06] PKK FLAG IN ITALIAN PARLIAMENT
[07] FOREIGN MINISTRY STATEMENT ON OCALAN
[08] SILK ROAD REVIVED
[09] TOBB's SUCCESS CELEBRATED AT PRESIDENTIAL PALACE
[10] GSM LICENSE TRANSFERS FINALIZED
[11] US SUPPORT FOR BAKU-CEYHAN PIPELINE
[01] PM YILMAZ TO VISIT ROMANIA
Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz will pay an official visit to Romania
between April 2 and 3, the Anatolia news agency reported yesterday.
Yilmaz's visit to Romania will be the first Prime Ministerial-level
official meeting in 12 years. Prime Minister Yilmaz and his Romanian
counterpart are expected to exchange views on the recent developments in
the Balkans and on the international issues.
[02] COHEN TO VISIT TURKEY IN APRIL
US Secretary of Defense, William Cohen, will visit Turkey on 17-18
April. It is reported that during his visit, Cohen will convey a
message from US President Bill Clinton to Turkish President Suleyman
Demirel. It is expected that during Cohen's two-day contacts, defense
cooperation, recent developments in Kosovo and the Balkans, Bosnia,
Turkish-Greek relations will be taken up. /Hurriyet/
[03] CEM TO GO TO TRNC
Turkish Foreign Minister Ismail Cem will go to Lefkose on 30 March
to attend preliminary meetings of the Turkish-Turkish Republic of
Northern Cyprus (TRNC) Association Council. The first meeting of the
Turkish-TRNC Association Council to be attended by Turkish Cypriot
Ministers and Deputies will be held in Ankara on 31 March. Meanwhile,
Turkish President Suleyman Demirel will pay an official visit to the
TRNC in May. /Hurriyet/
[04] CLOCKS AHEAD ONE HOUR
The clocks will be set ahead one hour at 1 a.m. early Sunday for
summer time. With this implementation, it is expected that 500 million
kilowatt/hr of energy will be saved this year. /Hurriyet_
[05] PRIVATIZATION OF IS BANK
Head of the Privatization Administration, Ugur Bayar, held a press
conference yesterday evening and noted that 12.3 % public shares of the
Is Bank would be privatized. Bayar said that preliminary registration
for the sale would begin on 15 April. /Milliyet/
[06] PKK FLAG IN ITALIAN PARLIAMENT
A group of Italian parliamentarians from the Greens and Communist
Party hoisted PKK flag in the Parliament to protest the detention of an
Italian who had participated in the Newruz celebrations in Diyarbakir
last week. Alfredo Biondi, Speaker of the Parliament, described the
incident as a "funny propaganda demonstration". /Cumhuriyet/
[07] FOREIGN MINISTRY STATEMENT ON OCALAN
Foreign Ministry officials stated they sent a note to the Syrian
administration to hand over PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan to Turkey in
1996. The note said: "Turkey asks Syria to halt PKK activities within
its territories and judge those who attended these activities. Syria
should hand over Ocalan supporters to Turkey."
Turkish officials stressed that Syria should attach more importance
to the issue.
In their response, Syrian officials denied that PKK leader Abdullah
Ocalan was in Syria and added they announced PKK as an outlawed
organization.
Regarding Syria-Turkey relations, President Suleyman Demirel said
that Syria should not support PKK in no way at all; thus, Turkey and
Syria could resolve other problems between them through negotiations.
/Milliyet/
[08] SILK ROAD REVIVED
The bidding process for the construction of the Kars-Tbilisi
Railway, which is planned to follow what is known as the Silk Road, will
be completed on April 28, 1998. It was revealed that many foreign and
Turkish companies were interested in this project and were preparing
bids. The project is being carried out by the State Railways (TCDD) for
the Ministry of Transportation. /Milliyet/
[09] TOBB's SUCCESS CELEBRATED AT PRESIDENTIAL PALACE
Yesterday, a ceremony was held at the Presidential Palace due to
the achievement of the ISO 9002 certificate by the Turkish Union of
Chambers and Commodity Exchanges (TOBB).
During the ceremony, a multivision exhibition, illustrating Turkish
provinces in detail, was presented and a concert by a chorus of the
Turkish Radio and Television Corporation (TRT) was held. /Milliyet/
[10] GSM LICENSE TRANSFERS FINALIZED
Today the Ministry of Communications and Turkish communication
giants Turcell and Telsim will sign a GSM license transfer agreement for
the privatization of cellular phone services. $1 billion will be raised
from the agreement. Communication Minister Necdet Menzir said that this
was the biggest privatization step undertaken by the government so far.
/Sabah/
[11] US SUPPORT FOR BAKU-CEYHAN PIPELINE
US Ambassador to Ankara Mark Parris said that the Baku-Ceyhan
pipeline was the most suitable alternative for the transportation of
Azeri oil to world markets. Parris stressed that the project was to the
benefit of both Turkey and the other countries in the region. /Sabah/
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