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Turkish Press Review, 99-02-11Turkish Press Review Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs <http://www.mfa.gov.tr>11.02.99Summary of the political and economic news in the Turkish press this morningCONTENTS
[01] AN INTERESTING VISIT BY BAGDAD TO ANKARA - BY HASAN CEMAL (MILLIYET)[02] IRAQI VICE PRESIDENT AZIZ TO VISIT ANKARAThe closest aid of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, Vice President Tariq Aziz, is arriving in Ankara on 15 February, reported the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Aziz will hold talks with Turkish officials, including Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit. It was also reported that the purpose of the visit is to improve bilateral relations between both countries. /Milliyet/[03] CROATIAN PRESIDENT VISITS TURKEYCroatian President Franjo Tudjman arrived yesterday in Ankara on a three-day official visit. After an official welcoming ceremony, Tudjman held a meeting with his Turkish counterpart, Suleyman Demirel, at the Presidential Palace. During the meeting the two leaders signed agreements concerning environmental protection, customs, and cooperation in both the judiciary and science. It was reported that they also discussed bilateral relations and regional issues. After the meeting Suleyman Demirel presented Franjo Tudjman with the State Sign of the Republic of Turkey. /Sabah/[04] PKK HITS SPAINAfter the autonomous Parliament of the Basque region allowed the Kurdish Parliament-in-exile to hold a meeting in their Parliament building, a wave of uneasiness was felt in Spain. The Spanish government drew attention to the fact that they would make every effort effort to prevent the decision from being acted on; however, the Basque Parliament insists holding to their the decision. The Spanish Minister of Interior Affairs, Jaime Mayor Oreja, said yesterday that the Madrid administration would do its best to prevent the meeting for the sake of democracy and the credibility of the Basque region. Meanwhile, the Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs evaluated the decision as a "horrific mistake" concerning economic and political relations with Turkey.ON the other hand, the Spanish Ambassador to Ankara, Jesus Atienza, was summoned yesterday to the Turkish Foreign Ministry. Atienza stressed that Madrid government had told the Basque Parliament that the decision was against Spain's foreign policy. He added that he would make every effort to ensure that Turco-Spanish relations would come to no harm as a result of the recent decision by the Basque Parliament. /Milliyet/ [05] EP REJECTS OCALAN'S DEMAND FOR REFUGEThe European Parliament (EP) has the proposal to discuss a bill to grant the right of political asylum to the PKK leader, Abdullah Ocalan, in any European country. The bill, prepared by the Greek representative, Alexandros Alavanos, and supported by the Communists, demanded that Parliament discuss the issue among other urgent questions on the agenda. It was reported that the same group had also attempted to hold a meeting of the so-called Kurdish Parliament-in-Exile in the European Parliament, which had not been adopted by the majority of the members. /Hurriyet/[06] HARSH CRITICISM OF GREECEForeign Ministry Spokesman Sermet Atacanli criticized Greek Minister of Foreign Affairs, Theodoros Pangalos's statement that they would not arrest Abdullah Ocalan if he arrived Greece. Atacanli said yesterday during a press conference that the statement went against international documents becuase Interpol had issued an order urging the arrest of Ocalan and also Turkey had put pressure on Greece. He added that Turkey hoped that the European Union (EU) would not be pushed into making a meaningless decision about Ocalan due to the pressure of Greek Parliamentary members. /Sabah/[07] ANKARA WARNS AGAINST S-300 MISSILESTurkey reiterated on Wednesday that it will not accept the deploymment of Russian-made S-300 missiles on the Greek island of Crete and stressed that such a move would create complications regarding NATO security. Referring to a recent Greek-Greek Cypriot agreement to deploy the missiles on Crete, a Foreign Ministry statement said that, "no threat to Turkey and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus will ever remain without a response. Turkey will continue to take all necessary precautions. The statement said that the S-300's deployment on Crete will constitute a new destabilization factor in the Eastern Mediterranean and Aegean regions. /Turkiye/[08] SET-BACK IN DUAL CITIZENSHIPThe German Minister of Interior Affairs, Otto Schilly, said that they would take until the Autumn to prepare a new Citizenship Bill instead of debating the Citizenship Reform concerning dual citizenship. Schilly added that the content of the Bill would be prepared so as to be easily accepted by the Federal Council. He noted that the bill would foresee that dual citizenship would be granted until the age of 23.It is reported that colaition partner Greens suffered a major blow after losing the by-election in Hessen. Therefore, party decided to take a step backward concerning the proposed dual citizenship law. /Milliyet/ [09] TEAMS AGAINST FUNDAMENTALISM IN POLICEPrime Minister Bulent Ecevit's decree concerning the fair organization of the elections is being implemented stage by stage. Very recently, among the directors posted to the Research, Planning, and Coordination Department of the General Directorate of the Security, screening committees of 20 members have been formed in order to monitor any possible fundamentalist or reactionary activities within the police itself. These units will report on the links between religious sects and police officials. In addition, the National Security Council (MGK) will hold a seminor on struggle against reactivism, to be attended by directors from the Ministry of the Interior. Meanwhile, it is reported that 2.5 million new voters will participate in the April 18 elections. /Hurriyet/[10] IMF'S POSITIVE STATEMENTThe Treasury Undersecretary, Yener Dincmen, said that after their meetings International Monetary Fund (IMF) representatives issued very positive statements concerning the Turkish economy. He added that with the confidence that the IMF had in the Turkish economy in the middle-long-term, foreign borrowing channels would be opened to Turkey. Dincmen noted that the significance of the IMF's assertion that it would extend financial aid to Turkey would create an extremely positive atmosphere in financial circles.Meanwhile, the IMF delegation's decision to "cooperate closely with the Turkish authorities to develop an agenda for the post-election period which could be supported by the Fund's resources" has had widespread repercussions in Turkey's business Acircles. /Sabah/ [11] WORKERS' OPPOSITION TO THE IMFThe adoption of the IMF's conditions in the Economic and Social Council (ESK) met with a strong opposition from trade unions and professional associations. Bayram Yildirim, the Chairman of the Petro-Is Union, pointed out that the appearance of public personnel representatives and other civil society organizations in the Council is also required in order to consider and resolve the problems faced by the wage earners; he said, "Therefore nobody could expect this Council to enact decisions on behalf of wage earners." Meanwhile, noting that the IMF makes policy decisions through all too brief visits and the government has failed to provide the production sector with concrete resources, Sinan Aygun, the Chairman of the Ankara Chamber of Trade and Commerce, said "Redundancies will be predominant." /Cumhuriyet/[12] "IMF SUPPORT WILL INCREASE TURKEY'S ATTRACTION"In the closing session of the "International Stock Exchanges Conference" organized by Euromoney in London, experts discussed where capital investments might penetrate in the near future. Martin Hillier, one of the organizers of the conference, said, "Financial support following the April elections is on the agenda of the meeting between the IMF and Turkey. This situation will unequivocally make Turkey one of the most attractive markets in which to invest." Hillier also noted that Turkish financial and capital markets are more organized and better structured than those of many other countries. /Hurriyet/[13] CILLER AIMS TO REACH 37 PERCENT IN ELECTIONSLeader of the True Path Party (DYP), Tansu Ciller, determined her party's target in the Elections as 37 percent of the vote by the end of 18 April. Ciller said that they would do their best to reach their target to be in to power at the end of the elections. She maintained that they would struggle with the system in Turkey instead of with individuals and they wanted to re-enliven the Democratic Party (DP). /Turkiye/[14] ARINC RESIGNS FROM DTPIzmir's Democratic Turkey Party (DTP) M.P. Turan Arinc resigned from his party yesterday. Due to his resignation the number of DTP deputies has decreased to 11 and the number of independent deputies has risen to 20. /Milliyet/[15] TURKISH KOC AND GERMAN MANNESMANN TO ESTABLISH PARTNERSHIPThe Turkish Koc Corporation will establish a new partnership in compliance with their strategy of cooperating with international companies. Koc Corporations Beldesa Shock-Absorber Company, established a firm with the Mannesmann Sachs AG Company form the German Mannesman Group. Koc Corporation and the Mannessmann Group both have 50 percent shares in Sachs Beldesan Industry and Trade Corporation. /Milliyet/[16] LIMITATION ON IMPORTED CARSThe Minister of Industry and Trade, Metin Sahin, announced that they would bring in new regulations concerning the import of cars. Sahin made a point of saying that, due to the low number of service stations and restrictions on the scope of legal criteria concerning imports, this would cause serious limitations on the amount of imported cars. He added that they were not against importing cars but that they aimed to lay down new rules to help the domestic car industry. /Sabah/[17] "TURKEY IS OUR STRATEGIC PARTNER"The Director of the Spanish Foreign Trade Institution, Eduardo Euba Aldape, said that the Spanish government announced that Turkey would be her strategic partner in 1999. He added that they believed that both Turkey and Spain have great potential in the fields of trade, investment and the transfer of technology. 300 Spanish firms involved in agriculture, production, electronics, energy, telecommunications, transportation and the services industry will attend the Expotechnia '99 Fair to be held in June in Istanbul, said Aldape. /Turkiye/[18] AKTAS FORESEES NEW INVESTMENTS IN ENERGY SECTORThe Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, Ziya Aktas, said at the Energy Summit in Istanbul that private and foreign investors would have to join forces with the government in carrying out new investments in the energy sector because, he added, Turkey's electricity demand would increase more than fivefold by 2020. Aktas noted that Turkey should spend $ 5 million on energy investments every year over the next 20 years in order not to be foced with energy shortages. /Turkiye/[19] NEW CHAIRMAN FOR YASEDFaruk Yoneyman was elected as the new Chairman of the Foreign Investment Association (YASED). Tevik Altinok, the Chairman of Koc Corporation's Financial Services Group, was also elected Vice-President. After the elections Yoneyman said that they targetted $ 5 billion foreign investment in 1999 in Turkey. /Turkiye/[20] SABANCI, "BUSINESSMAN OF THE YEAR"Turkish businessman Sakip Sabanci will be presented the "Award for the Businessman of the Year" on 20 February in New York. The award will be presented by the American School Friends Association in Turkey. AFter the ceremony, Sabanci will go to Los Angles to attend the opening of the Osmanli Calligraphy Art Exhibition in the County Museum on 25 February. /Milliyet/[21] 87 KG OF HEROIN SEIZEDIt was reported that the Istanbul Police Department had seized 87 kg of heroin, 10 kg of marihuana, 3.5 kg of hashish and 32 thousand tabs during four different operations yesterday. The total market value of the drugs is TL 3 trillion ($10 million). Concerning the drugs, the police arrested 25 persons, of which 10 are of foreign nationality. /Hurriyet/[22] TOURISM BOYCOTT OF ITALY ENDEDTalha Camas, the Chairman of the Turkish Travel Agencies Union, declared that due to Ocalan's departure from Italy, they have decided to end the tourism boycott of that country, which was in place for more than three months. Camas noted that the release of tension in Turco-Italian relations also has had repercussions in the tourism sector, while a mutual activation of tourist activities has already been initiated in recent days. /Hurriyet/[23] YILMAZ GUNEY'S "YOL" IN TURKEY AFTER 17 YEARS"Yol" (The Road), a world-renowned Turkish film directed by Serif Goren and based on the scenario written by Yilmaz Guney his term of imprisonment, is on display in Turkey after 17 years of exile. The gala showing of the film took place in Beyoglu Theatre last night, attended by many famous Turkish actors and artists. The film presents the lives of some prisoners who were allowed a week's probation. "Yol" was awarded the "Golden Palm" in the Cannes Film Festival as well as the Fibresci Prize. /Cumhuriyet/[24] FROM THE COLUMNS ... FROM THE COLUMNS ... FROM THE COLUMNS[25] AN INTERESTING VISIT BY BAGDAD TO ANKARA - BY HASAN CEMAL (MILLIYET)In his column in "Milliyet" Hasan Cemal looks into Turco-Iraqi relations. The summary of his column is as follows:"Iraqý Deputy Prime Minister Tarýq Aziz is the second most important man in Iraq after Saddam Hussein and he is expected in Ankara on February 15...This visit is not an ordinary diplomatic event. Aziz is the right-hand man of a regime the US has vowed to topple. Furthermore it comes at a time when US aircraft, using Incirlik base, are striking Iraq continually.... Does this show a change in Turkey's policy towards Iraq?...The impressions given by Ankara can be summarized thus: - There is no change in Turkey's policy towards Iraq. - Iraq is a neighbour of Turkey and therefore holding to the policy of dialogue , as it has done until today, would be proper. In the words of a Foreign Ministry circle, it would not become such a great state as Turkey to refuse a neighbour wanting to pay a visit. It should not be interpreted as a move against the US. - At the moment, Iraq is isolated among the Arab countries. Therefore, it may want to open out to the world through Turkey. Whatever it has to say will listened to, and if there are any, its messages will be relayed to appropriate adresses. - Then again Iraq might not act rationally... The priority seen by Washington is to topple the Saddam's regime. Ankara is more interested in the territorial integrity, and political union of Iraq. In other words Ankara is more interested in the state of affairs to follow after Saddam. Therefore, it wants the US to act more sensitively on this point and expects the US to share its views to a greater extent on the subject. The priorities may be different in relations between allies and friends but this not the end of the world." [26] WORLD STOCK EXCAHNGES AND THE IMKB - BY SALIH NEFTCI (HURRIYET)Prof. Dr. Salih Neftci, a columnist in the `Hurriyet' daily, reflects on the recent developmentS in world stock exchanges and their possible impact on the Istanbul Stock Exchange (IMKB). Neftci writes:"The world stock exchanges have experienced a serious and somewhat unexpected upward trend in past few months. However, this trend has recently begun to change. European and American bonds are show a deficit. Why? How can the IMKB respond to this development? American Internet firms have given very high returns to their investors over the last four months. Similarly, the South Korean stock exchange has become able to make a good recovery due to reasonable structural reforms of the financial system. Is there a departure from these trends now? We think that the rise in the Asian stock exchanges relies upon robust foundations. This is not to say that the Asian economies have entirely resolved all of their problems. Yet they have succeeded in stabilizing their systems. Their currencies have attained a great deal of competitiveness against other currencies. Our general conception is that, in the medium-term, the Asian countries will be able to enter into a trend of rapid growth. However, we cannot declare the same thing for Wall Street, especially for hi-tech and internet bonds, favoured predominantly by unexperienced investors. It may be expected that the overvaluation of such bonds may result in a serious revision of their prices soon. Under the current circumstances, there are no definite reasons to expect that the IMKB will be affected by the problems faced by Wall Street. At least, there may be some limited effect, confined to the interconnection between Wall Street and other major European stock exchanges. What should be considered by the IMKB in the first place is the rejuvenation of rapid economic growth in Asia. This will render Asian bonds quite attractive in the near future. For my own part, international capital investment will penetrate the Asian markets faster than is expected now. Consequently, the IMKB might be affected positively or negatively by this situation, depending on whether necessary structural reforms are implemented or not." Turkish Press Review Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |
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