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Turkish Press Review, 98-08-13
From: Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs <http://www.mfa.gov.tr>
13.08.98
Summary of the political and economic news in the Turkish press this morning
CONTENTS
[01] PRESIDENT DEMIREL VISITS FLOOD DISASTER AREA
[02] TURKEY EXTENDS CONTRACT WITH PATTEN BOGGS
[03] FOREIGN EXCHANGE RESERVES UP
[04] 51 COUNTRIES TO PARTICIPATE IN IZMIR FAIR
[05] [HAVELSAN GETS NATO AQAP 150 QUALITY CERTIFICATE
[06] TURKISH SOLDIERS OFF TO ALBANIA
[07] MINISTER GURDAL: "INCREASE IN TOURISM REVENUES"
[08] TOURISM INCOME INCREASES
[09] KOHL: "GERMANY SUPPORTS TURKEY"
[10] ANKARA ASKS KDP NOT TO ATTACK TURKMENS
[11] THY TO RECEIVE NEW AIRBUS AIRLINERS
[12] TREASURY: "S AND P TRUSTS TURKEY"
[13] DUFF AND PHELPS RATE TURKEY
[14] $20 MILLION SYNDICATION CREDIT FOR EGS BANK
[15] TURKISH DIPLOMAT IN WORLD PRESS
[16] PKK TERRORISTS SET TWO CARS ABLAZE
[17] CENTRAL BANK PRESS RELEASE
[01] PRESIDENT DEMIREL VISITS FLOOD DISASTER AREA
President Suleyman Demirel yesterday paid an inspection visit to
the flood disaster area in Trabzon. Demirel was briefed about the
disaster by Trabzon Governor Ismet G. Civelek, but adverse
weather conditions prevented the president from travelling to
Beskoy, the town hit worst by the flood. In a short speech
Demirel addressed the families of the flood victims. "We have
always compensated for damage, the state has the power. All the
government officials are working hard to bring life here back to
normal."
A rescue team has begun search operations to find missing people
in Beskoy. Heavy rains have obstructed the operations. The
number of missing people has been announced as 43; 12 bodies
have so far been found. /Hurriyet/
[02] TURKEY EXTENDS CONTRACT WITH PATTEN BOGGS
Turkey has extended its contract with Patten Boggs, a US law
firm, for three months. In line with a one year contract signed
on 15 September 1997, Patten Boggs has been conducting lobbying
activities for Turkey in the United States. Patten Boggs's
responsibilities are: to advise Turkey on legal and economic
issues, to contribute to Turkey's international business
relations, to represent Turkey in legal issues, and to elevate
Turkey's relations with the US administration and US public.
Turkey has paid two million dollars to the firm and will pay 500
thousand dollars more for the additional three month period.
/Hurriyet/
[03] FOREIGN EXCHANGE RESERVES UP
Central Bank foreign exchange reserves rose again to over 26
billion US dollars, increasing by 595 million dollars in the
first week of August. /Hurriyet/
[04] 51 COUNTRIES TO PARTICIPATE IN IZMIR FAIR
276 companies from 39 different countries will participate in the
67th Izmir Fair. Many domestic companies will also be represented
at the fair. The number of countries participating in the fair
will be 51 with countries which will only join the International
Folk Dances Festival and the 4th International Art Days Festival.
/Hurriyet/
[05] [HAVELSAN GETS NATO AQAP 150 QUALITY CERTIFICATE
Air Electronic Industries A.S. (HAVELSAN) has been awarded the
NATO Quality Guarantee Requirements for Entry Improvement
(A-QAP150) certificate. Following the application of HAVELSAN on
March 1998, NATO officials examined the criteria of all the
documents of the HAVELSAN application and made the award. This is
the first time that the AQAP 150 certificate has been given to a
company in Turkey. /Milliyet/
[06] TURKISH SOLDIERS OFF TO ALBANIA
A Turkish unit which will participate in "Cooperative Assembly-98
Partnership for Peace Training Exercises" under the NATO umbrella
in Albania departed from Foca harbour yesterday. Southern Region
Navy Commander Bulent Alpkaya said that the aim of the exercise
is to ensure peace and security in Albania and Macedonia with the
support of NATO. /Milliyet/
[07] MINISTER GURDAL: "INCREASE IN TOURISM REVENUES"
In the first half of 1998, the number of tourists coming from
European countries that are members of the Organization for
Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) decreased by 7.5 %
while the number of tourists from Eastern European countries
increased by 23.8 %, said Tourism Minister Ibrahim Gurdal on
Wednesday.
He added that tourism revenues had increased 15.6 % over the last
year, reaching $ 808 million. /Sabah/
[08] TOURISM INCOME INCREASES
According to a survey on foreign visitors made by the State
Institute of Statistics (DIE) and the Tourism Ministry,
$999,430,000 in income was obtained by the tourism sector during
the first three months of this year. /Cumhuriyet/
[09] KOHL: "GERMANY SUPPORTS TURKEY"
German Chancellor Helmut Kohl said on Wednesday during a press
conference at which the Christian Democratic Union and the
Christian Social Union announced a joint election programme that
Germany and Turkey were old friends and could not be split apart.
"Turkey is a promising country and it has great importance both
from an economic and strategic point of view. We are on the side
of Turkey," said Kohl. The chancellor, however, defended the
current German citizenship law, which is being criticized by the
two million Turks living in Germany for not allowing them to have
dual German and Turkish citizenship. /All papers/
[10] ANKARA ASKS KDP NOT TO ATTACK TURKMENS
At a press conference yesterday in Ankara, Mustafa Yaycili, a
member of the board directors of the Turkmen Front and chairman
of the Iraqi National Turkmen Party, accused the Kurdistan
Democratic Party (KDP), led by Massoud Barzani, of trying to
eliminate the Turkmen tribespeople from northern Iraq. He warned
that if the international community does not take any measures
against KDP attacks, the outcome could be tragic.
Meanwhile Turkish Foreign Ministry deputy spokesman Sermet
Atacanli confirmed that a group of KDP peshmerges had attacked
Turkmen settlements in Arbil. He acknowledged that KDP officials
in Ankara had been invited to the Foreign Ministry to discuss the
issue and were asked to stop the attacks. /Cumhuriyet/
[11] THY TO RECEIVE NEW AIRBUS AIRLINERS
As part of its plans to expand its fleet, Turkish Airlines (THY)
is getting ready to purchase a second package of five Airbus
A340-300 passenger planes. In addition, a contract between Airbus
Industries and THY includes an offset deal that will open the way
for Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) to manufacture component
parts for Airbus. Under the offset agreement for procurement of
the new airliners, TAI will start manufacturing component parts
worth $ 11 million for each Airbus plane in the Turkish fleet.
Although each A340-300 model costs around $ 125 million THY will
purchase the planes at an earlier agreed price of between $ 95
million- $ 105 million. /Sabah/
[12] TREASURY: "S AND P TRUSTS TURKEY"
A written statement from the Treasury Undersecretariat said
yesterday that international institutions and investors trusted
Turkey and that is why Standard and Poor credit rating company
has increased Turkey's credit grade from "stable" to "positive".
It quoted: "During a period in which the credit grades of many
countries have been down-graded to "stable" or "negative" because
of the financial crisis in Asian markets, the trust of
international institutions and investors in the Turkish economic
programme and Turkey's financial performance has also been
confirmed by Standard and Poor". /Sabah/
[13] DUFF AND PHELPS RATE TURKEY
Duff and Phelps (D and P), a US credit rating company, will
disclose its new credit rate for Turkey today. It is reported
that the credit rate will be increased. D and P representatives
noted yesterday that Turkey's Staff Monitoring Agreement with the
International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the government's economic
stability programme, which aims to reduce the rate of inflation,
were positive developments. /Sabah/
[14] $20 MILLION SYNDICATION CREDIT FOR EGS BANK
The EGS Bank has set-up new syndicated credits worth $20 million
from international markets. A written statement by EGS Bank noted
that following a first syndicated credit worth $25 million in
September 1997, total credits received by the EGS Bank from
international markets amounted to $45 million. An agreement
regarding the new credit facility organized by the Bank of New
York was signed yesterday in Istanbul. /Sabah/
[15] TURKISH DIPLOMAT IN WORLD PRESS
The world press has given wide coverage to the death of Turkish
diplomat Zeki Kuneralp, regarded as one of the architects of
Turkish-British political relations in the 1970s. The Times,
Daily Telegraph, the Independent and Herald Sun newspapers
praised Kuneralp (84), who died on July 26, 1998. /Sabah/
[16] PKK TERRORISTS SET TWO CARS ABLAZE
Members of the PKK terrorist organization, stopping cars
travelling on the Erzurum-Bayburt highway, robbing the passengers
and making PKK propaganda, later set ablaze two cars. It is
reported that operations to capture the terrorists are continuing
in the region. /Sabah/
[17] CENTRAL BANK PRESS RELEASE
Turkey's Central Bank and the government's multi-faceted plan to
lower the nation's annual inflation rate is already showing good
results, the Central Bank says. "The new figures, especially the
wholesale price index (WPI), demonstrate that we have made a good
start towards reaching our immediate goal of cutting the annual
inflation rate to half of what it was in 1997, by the beginning
of 1999" says Gazi Ercel, Governor of the Central Bank. "Once we
achieve that level, and the effects of other reforms begin to be
felt, public confidence should rise dramatically. This will all
combine to help Turkey achieve a 10-precent inflation rate in
2000, and reach the ultimate target of single-digit inflation
sometime in 2001". /All papers/
END
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