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Turkish Press Review, 98-03-31Turkish Press Review Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs <http://www.mfa.gov.tr>31.03.98Summary of the political and economic news in the Turkish press this morningCONTENTS
[01] CEM TO VISIT PAKISTAN AND TURKMENISTANTurkish Foreign Minister will pay official visits to Pakistan and Turkmenistan between April 1 and 4, the Anatolia news agency reported yesterday. The Foreign Ministry said in a written statement that Ismail Cem and the Pakistani officials would exchange views on bilateral and regional issues and discuss opportunities to further strengthen the relations between the two countries during Cem's visit to Pakistan on April 1-2. The statement said that Cem would pay an official visit to Turkmenistan on April 3-4 upon an invitation from Turkmen Foreign Minister Boris Shihmuradov.[02] CEM RETURNS FROM LEFKOSATurkish Foreign Minister Ismail Cem, in Lefkosa on a working visit, said: "The acceptance by the EU of the Greek Cypriot administration as being competent to negotiate on behalf of the whole of Cyprus not only constitutes an open violation of international law and a denial of reality, is the first step towards a dangerous escalation in the eastern Mediterranean". "We once again call upon the EU to evaluate its future steps very carefully before it is too late and before the Greek Cypriot administration paves the way towards another war on the island" he added.Directly addressing the Turkish Cypriot people, Cem underlined: "We want you to stay independent. We realize that if you are to establish a federation with (Greek Cyprus), it can only be realized with your independent and equal political status. If you are left with no other alternative, you must remember that the possibility of integrating and the decision to integrate with Turkey is always yours". "Any provocation or aggression directed against you will be treated as directed towards us and any provocation or aggression against us will likewise be treated as directed towards you" Cem stressed. Cem returned to Ankara yesterday afternoon, together with the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) delegation due to take part in a Turkey-TRNC Association Council meeting in the capital. /All papers/ [03] IMPORTANT MESSAGES FROM ARMENIA TO ANKARATwo candidates, who are competing to be the head of state in Armenia, have sent very important messages to Turkey. While Kocaryan has pointed out that a new period will begin in relations with Turkey, Demirciyan has noted that Turkey should immediately open the border gate with Armenia and end the economic embargo. Kocaryan further noted Turkey's importance in Armenia's foreign policy and said: "Let's wait for a few days. After getting elected as the head of state, there will be some changes in Armenian policy regarding Turkey". Demirciyan, for his part, said: "We are ready to cooperate with Turkey. If Turkey lifts the economic embargo, it will be an important step in the normalization of bilateral relations". /Sabah/[04] A MILESTONE IN THY'S FUTURE"Turkish Airlines (THY) is the fastest growing airline in Europe" declared the airline's board chairman, Cem Kozlu. "And this agreement is a milestone in THY's future" he said. Kozlu was speaking at a signing ceremony yesterday in Zurich, Switzerland. "This agreement will bring THY into an alliance which has more than 400 airplanes and flies to nearly 500 destinations in Europe". The new agreement has been reached between THY and Switzerland's Swissair, Belgium's Sabena, Portugal's TAP, France's AOM and Austrian Airlines. The six airlines will be cooperating with each other as "The Qualiflyer Group".Among its many features, the cooperative agreement includes joint flight numbers, exchanging passengers and using tickets issued by one airline on any of the other airlines' flights. /Sabah/ [05] YOUNG PEOPLE FROM BLACK SEA REGION GATHER IN ISTANBULA student exchange programme (AIESEC), which has been activate since 1948, will host young people from member countries in Istanbul in order to contribute to to the development of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC). The opening of the congress to be attended by young people from 12 countries including Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, Georgia, Azerbaijan and the Russian Federation will be made on Wednesday by Chairman of the BSEC Business Council, Nihat Gokyigit. The congress is expected to last until 4 April. /Sabah/[06] ANNAN CANNOT FIND A SOLUTION TO CYPRUS PROBLEMIn a statement to Le Figaro newspaper, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan gave details of his meeting with Turkish Cypriot President Rauf Denktas in Geneva on Saturday. Annan stated that Denktas said during the meeting that the Greek Cypriot demand to be a full EU member would cause difficulties in finding a solution to the Cyprus problem, and added that he wanted equal treatment for both sides. Annan said that the UN was determined to continue with the goodwill mission for seeking a solution to the Cyprus issue. /Sabah/[07] TURKISH CYPRIOT PLANE HIJACK ATTEMPT FAILSAn attempt to hijack a Turkish Cypriot Airlines plane on a flight from Girne northern Cyprus to Ankara by a Turkish man who claimed he was carrying a hand grenade ended in failure yesterday when the pilot realized that the attacker was actually unarmed. The man tried to divert the Boeing 727 to Bonn, Germany, shortly after it took off from Ercan Airport in northern Cyprus.The pilot, realizing the bomb was a fake, said there was not enough fuel to fly to Germany and asked to land at Esenboga Airport, where police teams easily detained the hijacker. /Sabah/ [08] TURKISH AND GREEK STUDENTS CALLING FOR FRIENDSHIPIn a seminar organized by a student group from Marmara University, students and academics from Turkey and Greece called for friendship between Greece and Turkey. Speakers stressed that all the problems existing in Turkish-Greek relations stemmed from political ineptitude and that Greek and Turkish people actually had friendly feelings for each other. The speakers also complained about the history books which are used for the history courses in these countries, by saying that they intensified the current unfriendly atmosphere by including exaggrated narratives about the conflicts between the two countries. /Hurriyet/[09] BOTAS PLANS NEW PIPELINE TO RUSSIABOTAS, the official Turkish oil transportation board declared yesterday that it was planning to extend the pipeline between Russia and Turkey in order to increase the transportation capacity for Russian natural gas. By the construction of new pipelines, capacity of natural gas transportation will increase to 10.5 billion cubic metres a year. /Hurriyet/[10] GERMAN "FOCUS" MAGAZINE NOTES CHEAP LABOUR FORCE IN TURKEYFocus, a German magazine with a high circulation, included a worldwide labour market survey in its latest issue. Evaluating the results of this survey, it was noted that the Turkish labour force is cheaper than that of many countries and this fact could reduce production expenses. /Milliyet/[11] KYRGYZSTAN PARLIAMENTARIANS IN TURKEYA group of Kyrgyzstan parliamentarians, headed by Abdigani Erkebayev, Kyrgyzstan Parliament Speaker, have arrived in Turkey on the official invitation of Hikmet Cetin, Turkish Parliamentary Speaker. The delegation will also be received by President Suleyman Demirel and Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz. /Cumhuriyet/[12] TURKISH FOREIGN MINISTRY CRITICIZES PANGALOS' ATTITUDEForeign Ministry Spokesman Ambassador Necati Utkan said yesterday that Greek Foreign Minister Theodoros Pangalos had been active in "blackening, slandering and insulting" Turkey during his recent U.S. visit.Utkan also noted that Turkey's calls to Greece for renewed negotiations without any preconditions, have so far met with no response. /Cumhuriyet-Hurriyet/ [13] "PRIVATIZATION EFFORTS HIT TARGETS"Ugur Bayar, Chairman of the Privatization Administration (OIB), announced yesterday that although they had targetted $ 234 million in income from privatization for the first three months of this year, in fact they had brought in $ 239,8 million. Evaluating the first quarter of the year, Bayar said that they had reached their targets both in figurative numbers and project bases. He also added that for the second quarter they had already started the bidding process which was expected to yield $ 1.5 billion. /Cumhuriyet/[14] U.S. DEFENSE SECRETARY TO VISIT TURKEYU.S. Defense Secretary William Cohen, will visit Turkey with a Pentagon delegation between 17-18 April. The American delegation will visit Incirlik base in Adana on the first day of the visit and on the second day they will hold contacts in Ankara.It is expected that defense issues including Turkey's purchase of selling of F-15 aircrafts and three new frigates will be on the agenda of the meetings. /Cumhuriyet-Milliyet/ [15] TURKEY PUTS ITS MARK ON EU ENLARGEMENT SUMMITThe official process of the European Union (EU) enlargement programme started yesterday in Brussels. In his opening speech, EU term chairman British Foreign Minister Robin Cook stressed again that Turkey was European and that Ankara's EU membership would be evaluated on an equal basis with other candidates.In his speech, Greek Deputy Foreign Ministry, Yorgo Papandreu said that the result of the Luxembourg summit had been very constructive for Turkey but that Turkey had it wrongly. The President of the EU Commission, Jacques Santer said for his part that the only negative side of the summit in Brussels was the issue of Turkey's membership. /Cumhuriyet/ [16] YUNUS EMRE-EMINESCU LOVE AND PEACE SYMPOSIUMA Yunus Emre-Eminescu Love and Peace Symposium will be held today by the Eurasia Friendship, Culture, Arts and Tourism Committee. Yunus Emre and Moldovian national poet Eminecu's poems on peace and human love will be read out at the meeting. The Turkish Eurasia Committee and the Molivia and Romania Authors Union will also sign a protocol to ensure peace and friendship in the Balkans during the symposium. /Cumhuriyet/[17] TURKISH BUSINESSMEN IN ISRAELAmir Hayek, the Chairman of the Israeli Export Institution said on Monday that they attribute great importance to the Southeast Anatolia Project (GAP) and they will visit Turkey soon to evaluate joint investment in the GAP with Turkish businessmen, reported the Anatolia news agency. Addressing a meeting where 28 Turkish businessmen and 50 Israeli businessmen participated, Hayek stated that they favour improvement of trade with Turkey.Bedrettin Karaboga, the Chairman of the Consultation Council of Southeatern Industrialists' and Businessmen's Association (GUNSIAD) said that the infrastructure for investments in the field of agriculture and industry has been completed in the GAP region. Turkish Press Review Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |
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