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Turkish Press Review, 00-11-16
From: Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs <http://www.mfa.gov.tr>
16.11.00
Summary of the political and economic news in the Turkish press this morning
CONTENTS
[01] MELIH FERELI TO ATTEND "WHITE HOUSE CULTURAL AND DIPLOMACY
CONFERENCE"
[02] PRESIDENT SEZER IN JORDAN
[03] EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT APPROVES THE ARMENIAN BILL
[04] COALITION LEADERS' MEETING
[05] 17TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE FOUNDATION OF THE TRNC
[06] DELEGATION FROM ECHR VISITS OCALAN
[07] ECHR DOES NOT POSTPONE THE HEARING
[08] TURK: "INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY SHOULD COOPERATE AGAINST GRAFT"
[09] TURKEY PUTS FORTH A NEW PROPOSAL FOR BOSNIA
[10] COTTARELLI'S STATEMENT ON TURKISH ECONOMY
[11] MELIH FERELI TO ATTEND "WHITE HOUSE CULTURAL AND DIPLOMACY
CONFERENCE"
[12] TGNA PASSES THE LAW ON PRIVATIZATION OF STATE-OWNED BANKS
[13] IBAR ANNOUNCES ITS RESEARCH ON BANKS AND BANKING SYSTEM IN TURKEY
[14] TURCO-GREEK FRIENDSHIP
[15] BAKU-CEYHAN PIPELINE TO BE OPENED IN 2004
[16] MENICHETTI TO PROMOTE NEMRUT
[01] MELIH FERELI TO ATTEND "WHITE HOUSE CULTURAL AND DIPLOMACY
CONFERENCE"
[02] PRESIDENT SEZER IN JORDAN
After participating in the Islamic Development Organization
Summit in Qatar, President Ahmet Necdet Sezer proceeded to Jordan
yesterday to pay an official visit. President Sezer and Jordanian
King Abdullah headed the meetings between the two delegations.
During the meetings, the topics such as bilateral relations, the
Middle East peace process and trade with Iraq were discussed. Mr.
Sezer and King Abdullah also attended the Turco-Jordanian
Business Council's meeting. At a banquet in honour of Mr. and
Mrs. Sezer, King Abdullah decorated the Turkish President with a
medal, the first official one presented to him as the Turkish
President. /Turkiye/
[03] EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT APPROVES THE ARMENIAN BILL
The European Parliament approved a bill, which was enclosed with
the report titled, "Turkey's steps on the path of EU full
membership." The bill regarding the so-called Armenian genocide
passed the Parliament by 234 votes for, 213 votes against, with
93 parliamentarians abstaining. The phrase, included in the
European Parliament's resolution, says, "The European Parliament
calls on the Turkish Government and the Turkish Grand National
Assembly (TGNA) to increase their support for the Armenian
minority which forms an important part of the Turkish nation, and
within this framework, to officially recognize that Armenians
were subject to genocide before the establishment of the Republic
of Turkey." Stressing that Turkey's full EU membership
negotiations would not begin until Turkey reachs a full
compliance with the Copenhagen criteria, the decision also asked
for further developments in human and minority rights. /Turkiye/
[04] COALITION LEADERS' MEETING
The leaders of the coalition government met yesterday. During the
2.5-hour meeting, the so-called Armenian genocide allegations
included in the European Parliament's resolution was taken up.
Following the meeting, Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit issued a
statement, saying, "The European Parliament has no right to call
on the Turkish government and the TGNA regarding the allegations
without any scientific base. These kinds of actions may damage
the relations between Turkey and the European Union." /Turkiye/
[05] 17TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE FOUNDATION OF THE TRNC
The 17th anniversary of the foundation of the Turkish Republic of
Northern Cyprus (TRNC) was celebrated with various ceremonies
yesterday. Addressing the Turkish-Cypriots in a ceremony,
President Rauf Denktas emphasized that they established the state
after suffering many losses of lives. He said, "People, having no
state, are sentenced to being slaves." /Turkiye/
[06] DELEGATION FROM ECHR VISITS OCALAN
A delegation from the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR)
visited Abdullah Ocalan, the leader of the PKK terrorist
organization on Imrali island. The delegation asked questions
about his health condition in Imrali. They said, "Ocalan said he
was not treated badly since his capture. Nobody tried to get
revenge of what they have done." /Milliyet/
[07] ECHR DOES NOT POSTPONE THE HEARING
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) rejected Turkey's
proposal to postpone the hearing of Abdullah Ocalan which will
take place on Nov.21. Turkey wanted additional time from the
court, as the views of Ocalan's lawyers were submitted to Turkey
few days ago. Turkey has been working on the issue for the last
six months. Turkey's lawyers needed additional time to examine
the files prepared by Ocalan's lawyers. /Milliyet/
[08] TURK: "INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY SHOULD COOPERATE AGAINST GRAFT"
Justice Minister Hikmet Sami Turk said, bribery and graft are
great handicaps preventing the development of societies and erode
the cultural values. They also destroy the social order. Mr. Turk
said graft and bribery have transcended the national borders and
became an international phenomena. Mr. Turk said, "International
community should cooperate in fighting against graft and
bribery." /Cumhuriyet/
[09] TURKEY PUTS FORTH A NEW PROPOSAL FOR BOSNIA
Turkey announced that multiethnic and multicultural status of
pre-war Bosnia should be revived. Turkey's permanent
representative to the UN, Ambassador Umit Pamir, at the UN
general meeting on Bosnia, said, "This status should be achieved
without damaging the independence and territorial sovereignty of
Bosnia. This is a must for the stability in the Balkans. A
confidence should be built among Bosnians, Serbians and Croatians
for maintaining peace and stability in the region." /Cumhuriyet/
[10] COTTARELLI'S STATEMENT ON TURKISH ECONOMY
International Monetary Fund's (IMF) Chief of the Turkish Desk,
Carlo Cottarelli, who finished his observations in Turkey within
the framework of the stand-by agreement, said Turkey's additional
letter of intent will be evaluated by the Executive Board of the
IMF during the second half of this month and the second slice of
the loan to be given to Turkey amounting to 600 million dollars
will be released. During the press conference he held with the
Treasury Undersecretary Selcuk Demiralp, Cottarelli added, "We
have completed examining the third and the fourth period of
Turkey's economic programme. Our discussions here were mostly on
the economic policies for the year 2001. There have been greatly
important results in Turkey in 2000 and the inflation rate is at
its lowest level since 1986. The rate of the economic growth is
expected to be 7% this year." /Hurriyet/
[11] MELIH FERELI TO ATTEND "WHITE HOUSE CULTURAL AND DIPLOMACY
CONFERENCE"
Istanbul Culture and Art Foundation is preparing to represent
Turkey once more on the international platform. The General
Director of Istanbul Culture and Art Foundation, Melih Fereli,
will attend the 'White House Cultural and Diplomacy Conference'
as the only guest from Turkey on 28 November in Washington. US
President Bill Clinton and the US Secretary of State Madeleine
Albright will open the conference and they will chair the morning
session of the conference. The role of the culture in the modern
social diplomacy and the international relations, and the impact
of the cultural activities in establishing an effective and
successful foreign policy will be discussed during the
conference, which will be attended by many bureaucrats, leading
figures and representatives of the institutions from the world of
culture, art and press. /Hurriyet/
[12] TGNA PASSES THE LAW ON PRIVATIZATION OF STATE-OWNED BANKS
The Turkish Grand National Assembly(TGNA) ratified the draft law
on the autonomy of state-owned banks, Halkbank, Ziraat Bank and
Emlakbank, before they are privatized. The banks will be
initially restructured in a four and half years' time and then
privatized under the supervision of a board. Until the
privatization, three banks will be under the control of the
Treasury, instead of the related ministers. /Milliyet/
[13] IBAR ANNOUNCES ITS RESEARCH ON BANKS AND BANKING SYSTEM IN TURKEY
International Research and Auditing Company (IBAR) carried out a
research for analysing banks and the banking system in Turkey.
IBAR announced financial data regarding 36 Turkish banks out of
81 banks operating within the Turkish financial system. Isbank,
Pamukbank and Akbank are the leading three banks that made the
highest pre-tax profit in 1999. The head of the executive board
of IBAR, Selcuk Abac explained the report in a press conference
yesterday. Mr. Abac warned on the fact that speculations
seriously harm the banking system. Mr. Abac said, "Banks having a
fluctuating financial structure would be put under state control
immediately, but currently no such banks exist in the system."
/Cumhuriyet/
[14] TURCO-GREEK FRIENDSHIP
Greek Minister George Paschalidis made an explanation about his
visit to Turkey and said, "I express the Greek Government's
support for the two countries' businessmen. Minister Paschalidis
made a speech during the press conference that was organized to
promote the Greek Industry and Commerce Fair that will be opened
today and due to a delegation from the Thessalonika Chamber of
Commerce and Industry's visit to the Istanbul Chamber of Commerce
(ITO) and said that he was in Istanbul to extend political
support to the cooperation between the Turkish and Greek
businessmen. Paschalidis added, "100 Greek companies are expected
to participate in this fair and the participation of these
companies shows how we are enthusiastic concerning the
cooperation between the two countries." Meanwhile, ITO Chairman,
Mehmet Yildirim, said that he viewed the participation of the
Greek Minister as an indication of the political support. /Sabah/
[15] BAKU-CEYHAN PIPELINE TO BE OPENED IN 2004
Ambassador Elizabeth Jones, who was appointed the US President
Bill Clinton's Advisor Responsible for the Energy Resources in
the Caspian Region, made observations at BOTAS' Facilities in
Yumurtalik. Ambassador Jones was accompanied by the former
Advisor, Ambassador John Wolf, and the Undersecretary of the
Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources, Yurdakul Erguder, and
was briefed by the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan Pipeline's Project
Director Gokhan Bildalci and BOTAS Regional Director in Ceyhan,
Gurhan Unal. /Aksam/
[16] MENICHETTI TO PROMOTE NEMRUT
Huge statues, which take place at the peak of the Nemrut Mountain
in Adiyaman's district of Kahta and dates back to the period of
the Kommangene Kingdom, will be introduced to the world by the
British Burberrys Company's art director, Roberto Menichetti and
his friends. Producer and Director Alvaro Palanga said, We have
come to Turkey as guests to shoot a documentary to promote Turkey
abroad in a better way. We wanted to make this promotion with
Menichetti as we consider him to be the most effective person
concerning the issue. The filming includes the cities and
districts such as Adiyaman, Istanbul, Van, Sanliurfa,
Dogubeyazit, Kahta, Malatya, Kayseri, Nevsehir, Urgup, Goreme,
Avanos, Ankara and Batman. The photographs taken by Menichetti in
Nemrut and in other regions of Turkey will be published in
various magazines." /Cumhuriyet/
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