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Turkish Press Review, 01-01-02
From: Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs <http://www.mfa.gov.tr>
02.01.01
Summary of the political and economic news in the Turkish press this morning
CONTENTS
[01] FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE COLUMNS
[02] CARGO SHIP SINKS OFF ANTALYA: 6 DEAD, 45 MISSING
[03] NEARLY 15 THOUSAND REFUGEES CAPTURED IN 2000
[04] 520 KG. HEROIN SEIZED
[05] TAI TO TAKE PART IN A400M PROJECT
[06] TURKEY'S PRIVATIZATION TARGET: $7.1 BILLION DOLLARS
[07] HALF OF THE BANKING SECTOR TO BE PRIVATIZED
[08] TURKS ALL AROUND THE WORLD
[09] IZMIRLIOGLU: "EU'S FISCAL SUPPORT FOR TURKEY IS ESSENTIAL"
[10] CITAK'S STATEMENT
[11] UNEMPLOYMENT FUND BUILDS UP QUICKLY
[12] FIRST BIDDING IN 2001
[13] SIS ANNOUNCES NUMBER OF TOURISTS VISITING TURKEY
[14] SPACE TECHNOLOGY IN AGRICULTURE
[15] RUSSIAN PAINTERS IN TURKEY
[16] GALATARAY'S SUCCESS
[17] FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE COLUMNS
[18] STARTING ALL OVER BY KENAN AKIN (TURKIYE)
[01] FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE COLUMNS
[02] CARGO SHIP SINKS OFF ANTALYA: 6 DEAD, 45 MISSING
A Georgian-flagged cargo ship sank off Kemer in Antalya after
slamming into rocks because of the storm yesterday. The ship was
carrying 10 crew and 73 passengers believed to be illegal
immigrants trying to enter Greece. 32 were saved from the ship
while 45 are still missing. Six bodies were recovered from the
sea. It was stated that the ship had sailed although it had
technical problems. /Cumhuriyet/
[03] NEARLY 15 THOUSAND REFUGEES CAPTURED IN 2000
14,853 refugees who wanted to enter Greece via Turkey were
captured in 2000. Recently, 134 refugees from nine different
countries have been seized by gendarmerie in Edirne. The refugees
will be deported. /Turkiye/
[04] 520 KG. HEROIN SEIZED
As a result of the joint operation by the Turkish and Greek
Police Forces 520 kilos of heroin were seized and four people
were arrested in Athens. Narcotics were found in two buses
destined to Italy and Spain. /Milliyet/
[05] TAI TO TAKE PART IN A400M PROJECT
The Turkish Aerospace Industry (TAI) will take part in the
international A400M project which foresees the production of 288
cargo planes. TAI authorities said Belgium, France, Germany,
Italia, Spain, Britain and Turkey came together to produce
military cargo planes and formed an Airbus Military Company. TAI
holds nine percent of the Company. /Turkiye/
[06] TURKEY'S PRIVATIZATION TARGET: $7.1 BILLION DOLLARS
Privatization will be one of the most important economic topics
of the year 2001 in Turkey. As a result of privatization, Turkey
has obtained $7.3 billion in 15 years. Turkey's privatization
target is $7.1 billion in 2001. Turk Telecom, Turkish Airlines,
Petkim, Erdemir and TUPRAS are expected to be privatized this
year. /Hurriyet/
[07] HALF OF THE BANKING SECTOR TO BE PRIVATIZED
Four state-owned banks and the banks currently under control of
the Deposit Insurance Fund (MSF) will be privatized this year.
Those banks comprise 41.8 % of the banking sector in Turkey.
Vakifbank, Ziraat Bank, Halkbank and Emlakbank include 34% of
assets of the whole banking system. Those banks control 38% of
the TL and foreign exchange deposit accounts and give 26% of
total credits. Eleven banks under the MSF control comprise 7.8 %
of the banking sector. In total, these fifteen banks give 33.9 %
of all credits and have a 53.6% share of all deposit accounts.
/Milliyet/
[08] TURKS ALL AROUND THE WORLD
According to the Ministry of Labour and Social Security's data,
3,457,158 Turks live in 38 countries including, Germany, France,
the Netherlands, Britain, Norway, Australia, the US, Southern
Africa, Japan and Canada. Among the Turkish citizens all around
the world 1,190,120 work in those countries and 282,877 are
unemployed. Turks live overwhelmingly in Western Europe. Germany
is the country having the highest number of Turks within its
borders. (2,107,426) /Cumhuriyet/
[09] IZMIRLIOGLU: "EU'S FISCAL SUPPORT FOR TURKEY IS ESSENTIAL"
The State Planning Organization (DPT) is preparing the National
Program in accordance with the Accession Partnership Document
presented by the European Union. DPT Undersecretary Akin
Izmirlioglu said the EU should support Turkey's efforts. The
basic criteria defining the EU's indiscriminative attitude will
be to implement fiscal support programs similar to the programs
applied to other candidate countries. Mr. Izmirlioglu said,
"Turkey is implementing the Customs Union without sufficient
fiscal support from the EU. However, Turkey expects the EU to
establish a fiscal program similar to the ones applied to other
candidates which meets the requirements of the full EU
membership." /Milliyet/
[10] CITAK'S STATEMENT
The Istanbul Gold Exchange (IAB) Chairman, Serdar Citak, stated
that using various means of financial investment would be
criteria for solving the financial crises easily. Citak added,
"If the IAB was more active, the financial crisis that started on
22 November would be solved easily. The important thing is to
create a financial supermarket. The more your basket is full of
different goods, the more your liquidity increases. /Hurriyet/
[11] UNEMPLOYMENT FUND BUILDS UP QUICKLY
An unemployment insurance fund set up on June 1, 2000 has
collected TL 269.3 trillion so far, the Anatolia news agency
reported yesterday. Employee and employer contributions account
for TL 181.9 trillion, state contribution for TL 72.8 trillion
and interest gains for TL 14.6 trillion of the total amount. "Two
percent of an employee's monthly gross salary is paid by the
employee and the state and 3 percent by the employer, as
contribution. The savings are invested in repo and deposits",
Turkish Labor Agency General Director, Necdet Kenar, said.
/Turkish Daily News/
[12] FIRST BIDDING IN 2001
The Treasury will hold the first bidding of 2001 on January 5.
The bidding will be held for 6-month and 14-month state bonds.
/Cumhuriyet/
[13] SIS ANNOUNCES NUMBER OF TOURISTS VISITING TURKEY
According to the State Institute of Statistics (SIS) data,
Germany was the country from where the highest number of tourists
came to Turkey. Britain and the Russan Federation followed
Germany. /Cumhuriyet/
[14] SPACE TECHNOLOGY IN AGRICULTURE
Chairman of Izmir Trade Exchange, Hasan Ozmen, stated that the
space technology used in the agricultural sector for Aegean
cotton began to yield positive results. He said, "We will work
for this technology to be used for other products apart from
cotton. We have determined sowing areas with the help of photos
taken by satellite and this increased the productivity of the
cotton sector." Mr. Ozmen, also said that an electronic trade
portal, which would include all the information concerning
cotton, would be established. He added, "We are also trying to
establish an international cooperation network. We will give
information about the cotton harvest, rain, flood, cotton bids
and prices on this portal." /Aksam/
[15] RUSSIAN PAINTERS IN TURKEY
Russian painters, Temuri Papiashvili and Amiran Danibegashvili
will exhibit their 40 paintings in "College" Art Galeria in
Istanbul. The exhibition will be open until Jan. 30th. /Turkiye/
[16] GALATARAY'S SUCCESS
Galatasaray was elected the 'Best Football Team of 2000' by a
survey on CNN's web site. A total of 8,534 people participated in
this survey all around the world. 54% of the participants voted
for Galatasaray. /Aksam/
[17] FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE COLUMNS
[18] STARTING ALL OVER BY KENAN AKIN (TURKIYE)
Columnist Kenan Akin writes on the developments and expectations
in the new year. A summary of his column is as follows:
"Turkey should not have entered the new year in pessimism and
instability. However, these are the facts. Unfortunately the
country has entered the new year under inconvenient
circumstances. Turkey does not deserve such a fate and it is not
the time to search for who is to blame in bringing the country to
such a dismal state. Coming altogether, we have to find ways out
from this situation.
Despite all unfavorable circumstances, those wishing 2001 to
bring stability to Turkey should meet, at least they should unite
on common denominators. First of all, we have to find ways to
base our economy on sound grounds. When there is stability, it
will be seen that there are many ways out. We have to start
everything anew in a sound manner on the first day of 2001.
Certainly, the unfortunate legacy of the past will hamper new
developments. However, we have to be able to erase the failures
of the past. We have to launch courageous initatives in
political, economic and social areas as of today.
Radical resolutions to be made and courageous will to be shown on
the first working day of the new century can be regarded as the
first steps of good intention. We have to start without waiting
for tomorrow, and every institution and establishment should
fulfil their obligations. It should never be forgotten that we
have the manpower and sources to be able to succeed in this aim."
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