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Turkish Press Review, 99-11-02Turkish Press Review Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs <http://www.mfa.gov.tr>02.11.99Summary of the political and economic news in the Turkish press this morningCONTENTS
[01] FROM THE COLUMNS... FROM THE COLUMNS... FROM THE COLUMNS...[02] DIPLOMATIC TRAFFIC IN NOVEMBERDiplomatic traffic in Turkey is expected to speed up with the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Summit and the upcoming visit of US President Bill Clinton in November. The OSCE Summit will be held on November 18-19 in Istanbul. The functions of the OSCE in the next century will be clarified in the Istanbul Security Charter, which is expected to be signed by the Presidents present at the Summit. US President Bill Clinton will begin his official visit to Turkey on November 15 in Ankara.Meanwhile, Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit will make his second visit to Russia on November 4-5. Commercial relations between the two countries and the proposed 'Blue Stream' Project are expected to be discussed during his visit. It is also expected that Russia's military operations against Chechnya will be touched on, and a common declaration related to the fight against terrorism issued. /All papers/ [03] WARM SIGNALS CONCERNING EU FROM KUTANThe Leader of the Virtue Party (FP), Recai Kutan, has given out warm signals concerning the West in his visit to the US. Kutan said that they were expecting Turkey to become a full EU member. Kutan met members of the Turkish Students Associations' Assembly yesterday. /Aksam/[04] KAZAKHSTAN HONOURS DEMIREL'S BIRTHDAYKazakhstan's President, Nursultan Nazarbayev, sent a congratulatory message to Turkish President Suleyman Demirel, wishing him and his family peace, happiness and good health, the Anatolia News Agency reports. "Not only has Demirel strengthened the situation of the Republic of Turkey but he has also ensured Turkey's lasting peace and development", Nazarbayev's message read.[05] ANKARA GOVERNOR LEADS DELEGATION IN FRANCEYahya Gur, the Governor of Ankara and a former Interior Ministry Undersecretary, will pay a five-day visit to France accompanied by a 14-member delegation from the Interior Ministry, the Anatolia News Agency reports. During the visit the delegation will discuss issues such as local administrations' duties and responsibilities and the growth and development of local administrations and non-governmental organizations. The visit will end on November 6.[06] SOCIALIST SUPPORT IN HELSINKIThe European Socialist Party's EU Enlargement Committee, which held a meeting on October 28-29, has decided to support Turkey's EU candidacy. A statement issued by the Turkish Republican People's Party (CHP) said that the Deputy Chairman of the European Socialist Party and Swedish Deputy Prime Minister, Hjelm Wallen, had stated that Turkey should not be excluded from the EU and should become a candidate country. /Aksam/[07] POLICE CAPTURE IBDA-C MEMBERSIstanbul Police Chief Hasan Ozdemir announced that 14 members of the Islamic Great East Raiders Front (IBDA-C), an organization which aims to establish a state based on Islamic law, were captured in Istanbul yesterday. Ozdemir stated that those arrested were having meetings in the offices of 'Furkan' magazine which was closed by the Fatih Second Criminal Court, and were preparing to organize bomb attacks on November 6 on the anniversary of the founding of the Supreme Board of Education (YOK).Ozdemir also reported that the police had seized various documents relating to the organization, 13 hunting rifles and four bombs in the raid. He pointed out that it was as yet unclear whether or not the group was connected with the murder of Ahmet Taner Kislali who was murdered on October 21 when a bomb planted on his car exploded. /All papers/ [08] DEMAND FOR OZBEYOne of the key names involved in the murder of journalist-writer Abdi Ipekci, Yalcin Ozbey, has been officially named in an extradition request filed in Germany by Turkey. An accomplice of the assassin Mehmet Ali Agca, Yalcin Ozbey was sentenced to death by the martial court in Turkey under the martial law of that period. Following his extradition, the file on the Ipekci assassination will be opened up again. However, Ozbey denying the news on being arrested, said, "I have a legal free travel certificate from the U.S and I am dealing with trade out of Germany." /Hurriyet/[09] CAKMAKOGLU: TURKEY IS NOT EXPANSIONISTStating that Turkey doesn't have an expansionist policy against any other country, including Greece, the National Defence Minister Sabahattin Cakmakoglu said, "The solution of the issues existing between the two countries does not depend only on Ankara but also on Athens. Thanks to that, and respecting international agreements, Greece should reply to the goodwill of Turkey." During an interview with a journalist from 'Hurriyet', the Defence Minister, noting that in the Aegean Sea there are 1,754 islands, rocks and islets, said that there were many geographic formations whose sovereignty had not been granted to Greece in international agreements. Cakmakoglu pointed out the meaninglessness of Greece's behaviour in trying to establish settlements on these islets and playing with the status quo of the region. He also emphasized that our cooperation with Israel in military and defence areas doesn't target any other country and that Turkey has already invited the Arabian countries to join this cooperation. /Hurriyet/[10] OCALAN: A DANGEROUS TERRORIST IN THE WORLD'The Times' newspaper in its Millenium Magazine supplement published the photographs and outlined the characteristics of the 12 most dangerous terrorists in the world. The head of the PKK terrorist organization, Abdullah Ocalan, ranked third in the list. /Sabah/[11] TURKISH DELEGATION TO GO TO BELGIUMThe Justice Ministry has made an official application for the extradition of Fehriye Erdal, one of the assailants who killed Turkish businessman Ozdemir Sabanci and who has been captured in Belgium. If the Belgian Justice Ministry approves the application, a five-person delegation including the Istanbul State Security Court (DGM) Chief Prosecutor, Erdal Gokce, will go to Belgium this month. /Sabah/[12] JOURNALIST OKTAY KURTBOKE DIESJournalist and author Oktay Kurtboke, who played a crucial role in the development of the Turkish press, died in Istanbul yesterday. Kurtboke had been under treatment in intensive care. His funeral will take place in Istanbul on November 3. /All papers/[13] `WHITE STORM' IN THE AEGEANThe `White Storm-99' Tactical Manoeuvres, which is one of the manoeuvres envisaged by the Naval Forces' Command and planned by Naval Command, began yesterday. The manoeuvres, which are being dispatched and managed by the Battle Fleet Commander, Vice Admiral Metin Atac and the Assault-craft Fleet Commander, Vice Admiral Taner Ezgu, began yesterday with the departure of ships from Golcuk, Umuryeri, Aksaz and Foca. Battleships, assault-crafts, submarines and helicopters belonging to the Naval Forces and reconnaissance planes and bombers belonging to the Air Force will join together in the manoeuvres, whose initial stages will be observed by the Naval Commander Bulent Alpkaya. /Turkiye/[14] 'DO NOT VIEW TURKEY AS ONLY A WEAPONS MARKET''The Times' newspaper published in Britain has weighed up discussions concerning the sale of tanks from Germany to Turkey and pointed out the misguided stance of the EU countries which seem to prefer military relations instead of political relations with Turkey. The article written by Roger Boyes stated that even though Turkey was a leading country in purchasing weapons from Germany, Germany had not achieved much in its relations with Turkey. /Aksam/[15] EARTHQUAKE-HIT CITY HOSTS THREE PRESIDENTSThe earthquake-hit city of Kocaeli hosted three Presidents yesterday in what was a significant show of foreign support for the thousands of quake victims in this city. President Suleyman Demirel and his Bangladeshi counterpart Shahabuddin Ahmed went to Kocaeli yesterday a few hours before the plane carrying Azerbaijani President Haydar Aliyev landed in the city. Demirel and Ahmed, both of whom have recently witnessed a large-scale natural disasters in their respective countries -the earthquake in Turkey and the flood in Bangladesh- attended meetings in Kocaeli. Aliyev was welcomed by Demirel after the Bangladeshi President had departed from the city. Demirel stated that by the end of the month, 34,000 prefabricated houses will be made available to the quake victims. After attending the ceremony to mark the opening of Kocaeli University and visiting the quake-hit areas, Aliyev and Demirel travelled to Ankara together. /All papers/[16] TURKISH MINISTER OF ENVIRONMENT IN GERMANYTurkish Minister of the Environment, Fevzi Aytekin, went to Germany yesterday in order to attend the "5th Climate Change Agreement Conference". Minister Aytekin, during the press conference that was held in Ataturk Airport, said that during the meeting in Bonn, the negative effect of some gases on the climate system, including carbon dioxide, which constitute a danger to the atmosphere, would be discussed. /Cumhuriyet/[17] AID FROM GERMANY FOR AKUTThe municipality of Linz am Rhein and the Johanniter Association for the Prevention of Accidents in the German Federal Republic have donated the 10 thousand Deutsche Marks collected for the earthquake victims to the Turkish Search and Rescue Society (AKUT). The Mayor of Linz am Rhein, Adi Buchwald, delivered a speech during the ceremony, which was held in the German Embassy in Istanbul and which was also attended by the Ambassador, Geissler Kuss. Buchwald said that the aid campaign for the earthquake victims in Turkey had attracted great attention. Buchwald said, "We were able to seize the opportunity of meeting the AKUT team during their search and rescue efforts. Therefore, we decided to give 10 thousand of the 30 thousand DM collected by the public to AKUT", giving the cheque to the members of the AKUT team. In addition, the German delegation will go to Golcuk tomorrow and hand over a cheque for 34 thousand Deutsche Marks to the Mayor of Golcuk, Ismail Baris. /Turkiye/[18] GERMAN INVESTORS IN TURKEYThe German Consul-General in Izmir, Manfred Unger, stated that German investments in Turkey were increasing and said, "Germany trusts in the Turkish economy". Unger inaugurated the Unal Chemistry Company Ltd., the Turkish partner of the German Aral Petroleum and Mineral Oil Firm. /Aksam/[19] TREASURY RAISES $500 MLN IN DOLLAR BOND ISSUEThe Turkish Treasury on Friday raised $500 million from the current year's last foreign borrowing deal, the Treasury announced yesterday. In a written statement, the Treasury said that the five-year US-Dollar bonds carry an annual coupon payment of 11.875 %. Underwriters for the deal were US investment banks JP Morgan and Merrill Lynch. The Treasury had mandated them for the bond issue last week. The Treasury has raised $3.4 billion this year in several bond issues. /All papers/[20] GOVERNMENT LAUNCHES $63 MILLION WORTH OF TENDERSThe Turkish Forestry Ministry has launched international bidding worth $63 million, in the fight against forest fires, according to the Official Gazette. The Ministry has invited bids, at free-on-board (FOB) prices, in order to procure 127 bulldozers, worth an estimated $18.4 million. It has also invited bids for $15.1 million worth of radios. In a separate deal, the Ministry will buy 55 off-road vehicles for an estimated $13.8 milliom, 127 excavators for $13 million and various other items of equipment for $2.7 million. The bidding will take place on December 21, 22 and 24, according to the Official Gazette. /All papers/[21] `BLUE STREAM' PROJECTTurkish Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit is very likely to sign the additional protocol concerning the `Blue Stream' natural gas pipeline during his visit to the Russian Federation between 4th and 6th November. The U.S.A., Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan have reacted to the scheme that will provide Turkey with 16 billion cubic metres of gas before the year 2007. Turkey, who came between them, is planning to sign a certain agreement concerning Baku-Ceyhan during the OSCE Summit. Russia wants a new international document, the additional protocol, to be signed. This consists of the tax immunity agreement and the authorization of the Italian ENI Firm as the third party to the agreement, and will be discussed by the two countries' Parliaments. /Cumhuriyet/[22] IMF DELEGATION IN TURKEYA delegation from the IMF arrived in Ankara yesterday for what Turkish economic officials see as a final round of talks towards a stand-by agreement. The IMF delegation, led by Carlo Cottarelli, the IMF's director for Turkey, will meet Turkey's key economic bureaucrats as well as the Treasury, Foreign Trade and Finance Cabinet Ministers. /All papers/[23] GSM TENDERS TO BE COMPLETED SOONThe Council of Ministers yesterday decided to complete GSM tenders before the New Year. The tenders will be put out for a third mobile phone network. Turkish and foreign companies will be able to participate in the bidding. During the meeting, it was also decided that earthquake taxation and other additional allocations would be reviewed and transferred to the Turkish Grand National Assembly (TGNA) for consideration in the near future. /Milliyet/[24] 1 BILLION DOLLARS IN LOAN FROM WORLD BANKThe meetings between the World Bank and the IMF Financial Sector have come to an end. According to the result of these meetings, if the stand-by agreement is signed between the IMF and Turkey, then the World Bank will loan Turkey 1 billion dollars to be used for the structural changes that will be made in the Turkish financial sector. This loan will be used for the privatization of the public banks, the solution of the problems in banking and the removal of the State guarantee on deposits. /Turkiye/[25] RACE FOR TUNNELThe first concrete step has been taken concerning the scheme for a tunnel to be constructed in order to find a permanent solution to the problem of inner city communication in Istanbul, one of the most important metropolitan areas in Turkey with its population of more than 10 million. If the bidding is finished in the timeframe planned, the system will begin to be constucted in the year 2000. The Ministry of Communications, which received a loan of 12 billion 464 million Japanese yen from the Japanese OECF loan institution, has also begun to receive proposals from firms concerning the engineering and advisory services of the railway tunnel, which will be called the `Marmaray', and the Gebze-Haydarpasha-Sirkeci-Halkali Suburban line. The leading firms in the world have placed their proposals on the table for the advisory and engineering requirements of the `Marmaray' scheme, all of whose preparatory work before construction was finished some time ago by the Turkish Minister of Communications, Enis Oksuz, during his visit to Japan. /Turkiye/[26] SECOND FACTORY IN SOUTH AFRICAOne of the subsidiaries of the Zorlu Holding Company, Korteks, is getting ready to construct its second textile factory near Pretoria, in South Africa. The factory already established there is basically producing tulle curtains, however, with an additional investment its jacquard, loom, lace and curtain production will be increased. The Coordinator of the Zorlu Textile Group, Vedat Aydin, declared that they were planning to construct a second factory in the region in a year's time. /Hurriyet/[27] TURKEY SUPPLEMENT IN 'BUSINESS WEEK`The weekly American 'Business Week` magazine issued a 16-page supplement about Turkey in its last publication. In an article, it was stated that Turkey was one of the ten fastest-developing markets in the world and the advantages of investing there were pointed out. /Hurriyet/[28] ROUMELIAN TURKS UNDER THE SAME ROOFThe Federation of Roumelian Turks' 1st Ordinary Council Meeting was held in the Journalists' Community Congress Hall. Candidate for Chairman of the Federation, Taner Mustafaoglu, delivered a speech during the opening ceremony and said, "We want to gather Roumelian Turks under the same roof. We also want to create communication links between Greek, Bulgarian, Albanian and Crimean Turks. In addition, we will try to solve the problems of the Turks in the region. We will also construct the basis for the establishment of a Ministry of Foreign Turks." /Turkiye/[29] AWARD FOR TURKISH SCIENTISTTurkish scientist Dr.Ali Erdemir, who is conducting scientific research at Argon National Laboratory in Chicago in the US, has received yet another award. Dr.Erdemir who has made the most significant advances of the 20th century in tribology, received the American Mechanical Engineers' Union's 'New Invention Award'. On the website of the Argon National Laboratory, Dr.Erdemir's invention has been described as 'unbelievable'. /Aksam/[30] LONDON CONCERT IN AID OF EARTHQUAKE VICTIMSDue to the intervention of the Turkish Ambassador to London, Ozdem Sanberk, a concert in aid of the earthquake victims in Turkey will be held on 18th November. During the concert, which will be staged by London's Ottoman Palace Music Academy and be conducted by Emre Araci, a program on the theme of European music in the Ottoman Palace will be presented. Emre Araci is also conducting the London Academy's Palace Music group, which was established by him while he was studying at Cambridge University's Institute of the Ottoman Period, sponsored by the Turkish Economy Bank. Araci will stage a special concert for the Turkish Economy Bank in Istanbul's Ciragan Palace during the spring of the year 2000. /Cumhuriyet/[31] FROM THE COLUMNS... FROM THE COLUMNS... FROM THE COLUMNS...[32] DEMIREL-ECEVIT DIALOGUE - BY HASAN CEMAL (MILLIYET)Columnist Hasan Cemal writes on the interesting development in the dialogue between President Suleyman Demirel and Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit. A summary of his column is as follows:"This dialogue between President Demirel and Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit follows an interesting line. This is an important political exchange which is concentrated on stability. That is to say the dialogue between the two influences the coming political events. What a striking change! In the past their relationship was marked by the non-existence of dialogue. They were criticised for not agreeing on a common platform to save democracy. However, a change has begun to take place. Due to the coup d'etats they have seen and political bans they have experienced they have matured over time. They have agreed on the common denominator of helping Turkey to stay within the bounds of democracy. Therefore, their presence in the political arena is a positive regarding Turkey's stability. They can accelerate the steps which would open up Turkey's road both within the country and abroad. Their interesting dialogue can also be seen in the election of President. Prime Minister Ecevit believes that if the right to be elected for a second time can be granted to anyone, President Suleyman Demirel could be reelected for another seven years. This requires an amendment to the Constitution, that is the abolition of a sentence which bans reelection for a second time. The Prime Minister believes that reelection, and not an extension, is possible and the Parliament isbecoming aware of the possibility. One of the greatest responsibilities of the President is to preserve the balance between the military and civilian policy institutions. He also has an important function concerning foreign policy. In short, the reelection of Suleyman Demirel as President is a strong possibility due to the real policy assessments of Ecevit." [33] AS ECEVIT GOES TO MOSCOW - BY ILTER TURKMEN (HURRIYET)Former Ambassador Ilter Turkmen writes on Prime Minister Ecevit's impending visit to Moscow. A summary of his column is as follows:"During his impending visit to Moscow, the Prime Minister will conduct a series of intense negotiations. At present, relations between Turkey and Moscow are positive but mutual sensitivity and lack of confidence occasionally undermine them. There are also some problems which are waiting to be solved. Even though the extent of it may not be the same, the weakening of the State and the political instability seen in both countries are factors which strengthen lasting cooperation between the two. Even though it may seem controversial, the relations during the Cold War after the 1960s were much easier. There was a productive economic cooperation in place and the Turco-Soviet border was the calmest in the region. Following the end of the Cold War, no border was left on land between the two countries and as economic relations developed conflicts of interest and competition in the economic sphere began to be witnessed. Russia is engaged in a great fight in the Caucasus. The war with Chechnya is going on and is considered a threat to Dagestan. Russia is determined not to lose her control over the oil in the Caspian. Therefore, she is examining Turkey's policy towards the Caucasus closely. In fact, stability in the Caucasus is in both Russia and Turkey's favour. If they can launch a cooperation initiative which would cover the interests of both States, the solution of the conflicts in the region would be much easier. There are many countries who hope to gain by the tension in Turco-Russian relations. Even some US think-tanks are portraying certain scenarios which foresee a conflict as inevitable. However, our aim should be to establish a realistic balance between Turkey, and both the Caucasus and Central Asia, and lead them all in a spirit of regional cooperation." Turkish Press Review Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |
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