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Turkish Press Review, 99-07-07Turkish Press Review Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs <http://www.mfa.gov.tr>07.07.99Summary of the political and economic news in the Turkish press this morningCONTENTS
[01] FROM THE COLUMNS..FROM THE COLUMNS..FROM THE COLUMNS..[02] SPECIAL KOSOVO[03] ITALY A 'FREE AREA' FOR TERRORISMDemonstrating 'solidarity' with separatist terrorists, Italy brought no charges yesterday against two groups of separatist terrorists who briefly occupied a Turkish commercial office and one room of the country's Foreign Trade Ministry in Rome. Ankara deplored the Italian 'tolerance' of terrorism, and in protest circulars distributed to the Italian Embassy in the Turkish capital and the Italian Foreign Ministry in Rome, Turkey described the Italian handling of the occupation and the freeing of the terrorists without initiating any legal proceedings against them as 'incompatible with international obligations'. The Turkish protest circulars stressed that the criminals should have been apprehended and brought to trial by Italy, warning that the government in Rome would be solely responsible if such incidents were repeated in that country.Turkey's Ambassador to Rome, Necati Utkan, said the separatist group that occupied the Turkish commercial office did not harm anyone and left the building peacefully. He added: "They wanted to create some propaganda". The Anatolia News Agency reported that Economic Counsellor Kadir Aslan, Commercial Counsellor Osman Dogangun and the office staff were taken hostage by the terrorists for about 50 minutes, until the arrival of the Italian police. News agencies reported that during the brief occupation, the separatists waved banners from the windows of the building in support of the PKK terrorist organization and called for an end to Italian arms sales to Turkey. /All papers/ [04] "PKK'S UNOFFICIAL CAPITAL CITY"Turkey's former Ambassador to Rome and Member of the Republican People's Party (CHP), Inal Batu, announced the Italian government holds responsibility for the terrorist activities against Turkey in Rome. He claimed that Rome is the unofficial capital city of the PKK. Stressing that Italian government used the PKK as a domestic political material, Batu said that Italy was competing with Greece in demonstrating an anti-Turkish attitude. /Milliyet/[05] ECEVIT: "IT IS DISCREDITABLE FOR ROME"Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit said that Italy was extremely flexible towards the PKK, even supporting it. Speaking about the Italian government's special session to discuss the Ocalan issue, he declared that this was very discreditable for Italy. Ecevit said that those terrorists who had occupied the Turkish Undersecretary of Trade and Economy's office in Rome had been encouraged by the flexible attitude of the Italian government. /Milliyet/[06] ROME PREPARES A TRAP FOR TURKEYDuring recent weeks Rome has stood up as the PKK protector. Now, the Italian government is preparing a five-article plan including a Kurdish confederation and an arms embargo in order to force Turkey into a difficult situation. According to the Italian DIRE News Agency, the Italian government had accepted five-article plan after it held a two-day session only to discuss the Ocalan and PKK issues. The plan is as follows: Every initiative will be taken to prevent Ocalan's execution and Ankara will be urged not to refuse the autonomy of the Kurdish minority. In return for these D'Alema would mediate to accelerate Turkey's European Union (EU) membership. The remaining articles are to limit the sale of arms and military technology to Turkey and to start initiatives in the UN Security Council to convene an international Kurdish conference. DIRE reported that the plan had also been voted on by the Foreign Relations department of the Italian Parliament on 29 June. /Milliyet/[07] DEMIREL PRAISES ROMANIAN EFFORTS AGAINST PKKPresident Suleyman Demirel expressed satisfaction with Romania's efforts to put an end to the presence of the PKK terrorist organization on its territory, and pledged improved economic relations. Romanian President Emil Constantinescu arrived in Turkey yesterday for a two-day official visit. Demirel welcomed his counterpart in an official ceremony at Cankaya Palace. Delegations from the two countries also held talks on the further improvement of mutual ties.In his speech, Demirel said: "Romania is Turkey's biggest trading partner in the Balkans and the Middle East. Turkey is the biggest foreign investor in Romania with some $1.2 billion. Our bilateral trade volume has reached $813 million and it is expected to exceed $1 billion in a short period of time". Demirel remarked that the Kosovo issue was another major topic in his talks with Constantinescu, and reiterated Turkey's support for Romania's integration with European structures, particularly NATO. Following the talks, the two sides signed an updated consular agreement and a protocol on social security cooperation. Later in the day, Demirel awarded Constantinescu with a State Order of Merit. Today, the two Presidents are scheduled to address a meeting of the Turco-Romanian Business Council in Istanbul. /All papers/ [08] ECEVIT HONOUREDRomanian President Emil Constantinescue, who is still in Turkey as the official guest of his Turkish counterpart Suleyman Demirel, decorated Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit with the greatest honour in his country, the "Romanian Star", because of his contributions to improve Turco-Romanian relations. After receiving the medal Ecevit said that receiving such a sign was a great honour and added he himself considered bilateral relations between the two countries as being important. /Aksam/[09] BAHCELI CRITICIZES EU STANCE ON OCALANDeputy Prime Minister Devlet Bahceli yesterday harshly criticized the EU's position on the sentence passed on the head of the PKK terrorist organization, Abdullah Ocalan, and called on it to revise its policies on Turkey. Bahceli at his party's Parliamentary Group said: "It is said that the execution of Ocalan will make Turkey's candidacy for full EU membership impossible. This position is tantamount to indirect protection of the terrorist organization, and shows that a non-serious and biased approach prevails in the EU's admission process".He pointed out that this stance on the part of the EU only damages its efficiency and credibility and offends the Turkish people. He also lashed out at EU authorities for not taking adequate measures to prevent PKK attacks on Turkish establishments in Europe. In comments on the recent G-8 and UN initiatives to push towards a Cyprus settlement under conditions rejected by Turkey and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), Bahceli vowed no concessions. "Everybody should realize that it is impossible for Turkey to accept any solution which is imposed contrary to its will and demands. Efforts towards a solution which are not supported or approved by our country cannot bear any fruit", Bahceli stressed. Meanwhile, during a speech the Chairman of the Motherland Party (ANAP) Mesut Yilmaz delivered at the Parliamentary Group meeting, Yilmaz asserted that the Cyprus issue should be regarded as a yardstick for measuring all other international problems. Yilmaz further stated that following the settlement of the Kosovo issue, all attention will be focused on other concerns that are closely related to Turkey, like the Cyprus issue and the Northern Iraq problem. Yilmaz said that every effort should be made to achieve the result sought by Turkey without placing the Cyprus issue high on the list of priorities that comprise the world agenda. /All papers/ [10] TWO DIE IN PLANE CRASHTwo people died when a private airplane crashed in Usak yesterday. The plane, which had departed from Isparta, crashed in the garden of a school. Aydin Turan (30) and Davut Serkan Ozdemir (26) died in the accident. /All papers/[11] ULUGBAY ATTEMPTS SUICIDEThe State Minister responsible for the economy, Hikmet Ulugbay, attempted suicide last night. Officials said that the health situation of Ulugbay who was later taken to Baskent University Hospital in Ankara was critical. /Cumhuriyet/[12] CHP GENERAL SECRETARY: TARHAN ERDEMTarhan Erdem was elected General Secretary of the Republican People's Party (CHP) yesterday. During a meeting of the Central Administration Council (MYK) to be held today, the Deputy Chairmen and the Deputy General Secretaries of the CHP will be determined. /Cumhuriyet/[13] HUMAN RIGHTS SEMINARThe sixth 'Human Rights Seminar' jointly organized by the Turkish Journalists' Association (TGC) and the National Committee of the 10th year of UN Human Rights Training will be held on Saturday at the Press Museum in Istanbul. Lecturers from Hacettepe University, Prof.Ionna Kucuradi and Assc.Prof.Harun Tepe, will attend the seminar. /Cumhuriyet/[14] IRTEMCELIK: "HUMAN RIGHTS ARE TURKEY'S HOMEWORK"The Minister of State, Mehmet Ali Irtemcelik, said yesterday that the protection of human rights and democratization were Turkey's homework. He pointed out that draft laws prepared by the Human Rights Supreme Coordination Council should be enacted as soon as possible. Irtemcelik remarked that they were initiating the establishment of an Ombudsman institution in Turkey. Irtemcelik evaluated the studies of the Human Rights Supreme Coordination Council yesterday. Irtemcelik stated that four draft laws prepared by the Supreme Council had been presented to the Turkish Grand National Assembly (TGNA). /Cumhuriyet/[15] SECRET DIPLOMACY IN BILATERAL RELATIONSIt has been claimed that a secret meeting was held between the Greek Foreign Minister, George Papandreu, and the Turkish Foreign Minister, Ismail Cem, prior to their meeting in New York on June 30. According to 'Eksusia' newspaper published in Athens, during this secret meeting between Papandreu and Cem, they decided to refrain from making statements which could cause problems between the two countries. Meanwhile, 'To Vima' newspaper, also published in Athens, claimed that the moratorium which envisages that military exercises wil not be held in the Aegean this summer has not been declared to the public due to Ankara's demand. /Cumhuriyet/[16] SOLAR ECLIPSE: TOURISM BOOSTA lecturer at the Astronomy and Space Sciences Department of the Science Faculty of the Aegean University, Prof.Serdar Evren, said that many people living in the Aegean region would go to Sinop, Diyarbakir and Elazig to watch the last solar eclipse of this millenium on August 11, 1999. /Cumhuriyet/[17] EKMEKCIOGLU TAKES HIS PLACE ON FCI EXECUTIVE COMMITTEEThe General Director of Yapi Kredi Factoring, Rengin Ekmekcioglu, has been elected to the Executive Committee of the Factoring Chain International (FCI). During the annual meeting attended by 150 delegates from 50 countries in Bangkok, Ekmekcioglu was elected to the nine-member FCI Executive Committee from among 16 candidates. Eighteen factoring companies from Turkey are also members of the FCI. /Hurriyet/[18] $40 MILLION FOR TEBA $40 million medium-term loan agreement has been signed between the Turkish Economy Bank (TEB) and the International Corporation (IFC). TEB will offer the loan to those firms which abide by environmental norms determined by the World Bank. /Hurriyet/[19] TURKISH WARSHIP TO VISIT BALTIC COUNTRIESTCG Yildirim, a frigate belonging to the Turkish Navy, will join the "Century of the Armada" between July 9-18, the Anatolia News Agency reports. The frigate will travel for two months and will be the first Turkish warship to visit the Baltic countries. It is hoped that the visit will strengthen and improve ties with these countries.[20] WORLD BANK AGRICULTURAL REFORM PROJECT TO BEGIN IN POLATLIA World Bank delegation will arrive in Turkey this weekend to look for opportunities for technical and financial support for Turkey's agricultural reform, the Anatolia News Agency reports. Agricultural reform is listed as the next step following a reform of the banking sector as part of the structural reforms suggested by the IMF.World Bank officials are expected to make a detailed examination of Turkey's agricultural structure and financing policies. Ankara's Polatli district was chosen as the pilot region for testing the new agricultural policies, and the project is due to start shortly. Officials said that Polatli was chosen because it is an agricultural centre and has a commodities exchange. Reforms in agricultural policy will be tested in Polatli and, based on the outcome, will be extended to the rest of the country. [21] DISPUTES BETWEEN THE SEPARATIST ORGANIZATIONSDue to the defence statements of the head of the outlawed PKK terrorist organization Abdullah Ocalan, who has been sentenced to capital punishment by the State Security Court, the outlawed leftist organizations have started quarrelling amongst each other. While the illegal MLKP blames Ocalan for being a coward, TKP_ML stated that the PKK should separate from the United Revolutionary Leftist Power Platform. During a panel which was held in Germany violent arguments occured between the two correspondents of 'Ozgur Gundem' newspaper which is a pro-PKK publication, Selim Firat and Hasan Oguz and the members of the MLKP and the TKP/ML. /Star/[22] 'PKK PROVIDED WITH MILITARY TRAINING IN EUROPE'According to a report prepared in 1998 by the Lower Saxony Department of the Institution to Protect the Constitution in Germany, the PKK has been provided with military and political training in Germany and in neighbouring countries. It is reported that there is strict military discipline in the PKK organization. It added that the training was three months long and after that terrorists were sent to take part in armed clashes in the mountains. the PKK has had 11,500 members in Germany, claimed the report. /Milliyet/[23] MILITARY OPERATIONS IN NORTHERN IRAQMilitary operations conducted by the Turkish Armed Forces and Iraqi Kurdistan Democratic Party (IKDP) 'peshmerges' against the PKK are still in progress in Northern Iraq. Also, the Turkish-Iraqi border is under strict protection in order to prevent PKK terrorists from fleeibg to Turkish territories. A crack-down has been launched in and around the Zap and Kesan camps and Dohuk and Zaho townships. /Milliyet/[24] TURKEY IS THE GREATEST IN THE MIDDLE EASTAccording to the U.S. "Wall Street Journal", the 57th coalition government is the most powerful government set up during recent years in Turkey. It said that Turkey has shown positive signals concerning the implementation of much-needed structural reforms. Mentioning Turkey as the "Greatest in the Middle East", it said that the government has already achieved structural reforms which encourage foreign capital investment in Turkey. /Aksam/[25] A TURK AT ABCWithin Peter Jennings' team, the famous "Anchorman" of the American ABC television channel is a Turk, Ali Aslan, from Afyon. Aslan is the only foreigner on Jennings' team presenting the programme, "World News Tonight" ABC every night. Completing his education in the U.S., Aslan worked with one of the stars of CNN, Larry King, for a while, then began to work with Jennings about six months ago as a producer and journalist. He has interviewed famous people such as U.S Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, Henry Kissinger, the pop group U2 and actor Tom Hanks. /Hurriyet/[26] DENKTAS: "AMERICA WILL GIVE CYPRUS TO GREECE"President of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) Rauf Denktas, who is still touring the Eastern Black Sea, said in his press conference in Macka that America aimed to give Cyprus to Greece. He added that the Greek lobby had been powerful in the US since 1955 and since that time they had been playing the same game. Denktas noted that the most important thing for them was Turkey's support. He stressed that they would never forget that Turkey had fought to save their lives. /Aksam/[27] WORLD BANK CREDITThe World Bank approved the credit of $ 253.5 million to the Turkish Eximbank. A large proportion of the money will be used to contribute to the Turkish export sector which has been negatively effected by the global economic crisis. According to the representatives of the World Bank, the credit will be opened with the usual interest rates and for the first three years there will be no back-payments. The remaining portion of the money will be aimed at the institutional development of the Eximbank Bank. /Aksam/[28] HIGHER CREDIT RATING FOR TURKISH BANKSForeign institutions have raised the credit rating of Turkish banks. Standard and Poors (S and P) evaluated the long and short-term credit rating in foreign exchange as 'B'. It reported that conditions are "stable". The same institution also gave 'B' to Turkey as a country grade. According to a written statement issued by the institution, Osmanli Bank will have the potential to benefit from the positive developments in transaction conditions in Turkey.Furthermore, Thomson Bankwatch gave the Turkish Industry and Development Bank (TSKB) AA in long-term TL transactions. /Milliyet/ [29] AGIAD IN MALAYSIAThe Anatolian Young Businessmen's Association (AGIAD) will pay a visit to Malaysia. The Chairwoman of AGIAD, Oya Erdogan, said they would attend the Malaysian Fair in November and that they would engage in preliminary research to decide what kind of products could be sold on the Malaysian market. Also, Aydogan noted that they wanted Malaysian businessmen, especially in the automobile sector, to invest in Turkey. She stressed that their aim was to attract the attention of foreign currency to Turkey and to make joint investments using foreign capital especially in the Turkish-speaking Republics. /Turkiye/[30] NEW CHAIRMAN FOR ZIRAAT BANKOsman Tunaboylu, the Deputy Undersecretary Responsible for Banks and the Treasury, has been appointed as the new Chairman of Ziraat Bank. The decision has already been sent to Cankaya Palace to receive the approval of President Suleyman Demirel. It is expected that the decision will be signed today. /Turkiye/[31] JAPANESE DONATION FOR TURKISH EDUCATIONThe Japanese Education, Science, Sports and Culture Deputy Minister, Kensaku Morita, will donate 1.5 million Japanese yen to the Turkish Education Foundation in order to improve education in Turkey and to strengthen Turco-Japanese relations. It is reported that it is the personal donation of the Deputy Minister. The agreement concerning the donation will be signed tomorrow by the Japanese Ambassador to Turkey, Atsuko Toyama, Icel Governor Senol Engin and the Chairman of the National Education Foundation in Mersin, Metin Memis. /Turkiye/[32] TOURISM MINISTER MUMCU TO CHINAMinister of Tourism Erkan Mumcu will go to the People's Republic of China today to attend the 2nd Turco-China Tourism Joint Commission Meeting. According to a written statement issued by the Ministry, Mumcu will discuss cooperation opportunities between the two countries and at the end of the meetings it is expected that a protocol envisaging cooperation in tourism will be signed. /Turkiye/[33] TURKISH FURNITURE DESIGNS IN CHICAGOMetin Kosan, one of the famous Turkish designers, exhibited the furniture designed by himself at the "Decorex World Furniture Fair" in Chicago. At the end of the fair he was given the "Great Award". The jury, set up by famous American interior designers, announced that Kaso had prepared the best designs and presented them in the most fantastic style and therefore they presented with him the Award. Kaso said for his part that for 33 years he had been working hard with his wife to promote Turkish products to the world and now they were very happy to have reached their target. /Sabah/[34] YALOVA RECEIVES TURNERYuksel Yalova, the State Minister, received Adair Turner, the Director-General of British Employers' Confederation, yesterday, the Anatolia News Agency reports. Yalova and Turner discussed how to improve the economic and commercial relations betwen Turkey and Britain and how to increase the British investments in Turkey.[35] FROM THE COLUMNS..FROM THE COLUMNS..FROM THE COLUMNS..[36] D'ALEMA'S LOVE FOR PKK -BY YALCIN DOGAN (MILLIYET)Yalcin Dogan, a columnist in the daily 'Milliyet' newspaper, says the following in his article today:"A party is changing its name; a left-wing party in the Italian government has added the word 'PKK' to its name and now calls itself "Rifondazione Communista-PKK". The Italian Prime Minister D'Alema's love for the PKK is even seen in cartoons in Italy. D'Alema adds a new failure to his list of failures every day but his fate depends on the course of the issue of the head of the PKK terrorist organization, Abdullah Ocalan. Turco-Italian relations are currently experiencing their worst period; this period began with the arrival of Kurds on the Italian coasts by ship. The words voiced by these Kurds, 'We have escaped from genocide', were widely covered in the Italian press. Ocalan, forced to leave Syria, finally found himself in Rome. In those days, the then Turkish Ambassador to Rome, Inal Batu, met D'Alema for several times. However, D'Alema was extremely furious and his real aim was to try Turkey not Ocalan. Ankara reacted harshly to this and D'Alema gave up on this adventure. D'Alema then sent Ocalan away, but he did not say to where he had sent him. Italian firms pressurized D'Alema. Turkey's boycott of Italian goods ended with the bankruptcy of 60 Italian firms. The common view among Italian businessmen and politicians was 'Relations will be worse'. Actually, this view became real and one of the most infamous incidents occurred yesterday when Italians occupied the Turkish commercial counsellor's building. Such a scandal cannot be over only through Ankara's reaction. Europe cannot stand by as a spectator, because this incident goes far beyond Turco-Italian relations and turns into a European problem". [37] STEOREOTYPE -BY RAUF TAMER (SABAH)Columnist Rauf Tamer analyzes the raid on the Office of the Turkish Trade Councillor. A summary of his column is as follows:"Yesterday, Office of the Trade Councillor was raided. Those who raided the office are supposed to be Italians sympathizing with the terrorist PKK organization. Can it be considered a coincidence that just at the same time the Ocalan affair was being discussed in the Italian Parliament? Why do 15-20 Italians think of taking action in favour of the PKK? Do they love the PKK or its leader? Why does this affair concern them? The Italian public has seen the true facts about Ocalan and nobody in Italy wanted to have Ocalan on their soil. They even did not want to set foot in the district in which he lived. Then, who are these young people? What kind of Italians are they? What are their political choices? These are not the first scenes we have witnessed. There have been foreigners sprinkled among the PKK demonstrators be it in Germany, Holland, the UK or other countries. They are young Germans, Dutch and English people. The same questions can also be asked of them. Where do they know Ocalan from and do they love him? They all support the same ideas like Greek youths. They do not care a bit about the PKK; their real aim is Turkey. This was proven by the fact that, during the occupation yesterday, the activists shouted slogans not in favour of the PKK but against Turkey. Now it is clearly understood that there is no Kurdish problem, but a Turkish problem. If you take a look at these Europeans you will see that they are all the same with their views of the world and their political ideologies. Not all Europeans have taken sides against us. As the Italian Prime Minister was concerned about his own situation, 10 or 15 of his followers were raiding our offices. This is high society in Rome, this the Italian lobby. They could not grant political asylum to Ocalan and now they are trying to go behind our back. " [38] * * *[39] SPECIAL KOSOVO[40] TURKISH SQUADRON IN KOSOVOThe Turkish frontier squadron to be stationed in Kosovo under the umbrella of the Kosovo Peace-Keeping Forces is continuing its preparations to set up a Headquarters in Dragas. The Commander of the squadron, Colonel Tarik Sevin said that after completing their preparations the remainder of the squadron will arrive to unite with them. He stressed that they would make every effort to be successful in maintaining peace in the region and to help regional people. /Turkiye/[41] ETHNIC CLEANSING IN SANJAK -BY YILMAZ OZTUNA (TURKIYE)Columnist Oztuna writes that the Kosovo crisis is far from over. A summary of his column is as follows:"Kosovo crisis is far from over. In fact, Yugoslavia as a whole lacks stability. Serbs have started ethnic cleansing, that is to say killing the Muslim population en masse in Sanjak; two-thirds of its population is made up of Muslim Bosnians. A Serbia without Sanjak will lose its ties with Montenegro as the province is located between Serbia, Kosovo, Montenegro and Bosnia-Herzegovina. An independence movement has also started in Montenegro, one of the two republics making up the Yugoslav Federal Republic. Montenegro has not forgotten its 40 years of independence. If it secedes from Yugoslavia, Serbia will not have any coastline as was the case in 1918. Vojvodina, to the north of Serbia, is also an autonomous region like Kosovo. At the time it was given autonomous status there was a large number of Hungarians there. Those who are not of Serbian descent in Vojvodina are protesting against the Serbian Administration. If blood is spilt between Serbs and Hungarians, Hungaria in the north of Vojvodina, and therefore Austria and Germany would intervene. However, in a State devoid of stability, the leader of Serbia, Milosevic, has not lost any of his power. If democracy were able to rule in the country, Yugoslavia would be a peaceful country with Montenegro, Sanjak, and Vojvodina. However, the probability of Serbs returning to Kosovo is not strong. " Turkish Press Review Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |
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