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Turkish Press Review, 01-06-21Turkish Press Review Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: Turkish Directorate General of Press and Information <http://www.byegm.gov.tr>Summary of the political and economic news in the Turkish press this morning21.06.2001CONTENTS
[01] SEZER TO GO TO ROMANIAPresident Ahmet Necdet Sezer will go to Romania today to pay an official visit. Sezer will go to Bucharest upon the invitation of the Romanian President Ion Iluescu. During his visit, the relations between the two countries will be debated. /Sabah/[02] ILIESCU: "TURKEY IS OUR LAWYER IN NATO"Replying a question that, "what kind of influences there will be of both Turkey's and Romania's status of EU candidates upon the bilateral and multinational relations", Romanian President Ilo Ilýescu said, "Turkey and Romania will both have to face very similar criteria and then will be experiencing similar processes in order to become full EU members. Therefore, it is very natural that both countries share their experiences. Romania does not view Turkey as a rival in the EU accession period. Additionally, Turkey always wanted Romania to become a full NATO member. Turkey fully understands the requirements, threats and insecurity resources in the NATO's southeastern part. That is why I am hoping that Turkey would be a determined lawyer supporting Romania's full membership in the 2002 Prague Summit." Upon another question about the President Ahmet Necdet Sezer's visit which is expected to take place soon, Iliescu said "We will discuss the possible ways of cooperation and improvement of the bilateral relations between the two countries. There are many projects which can jointly be handled by Turkey and Romania as well as the ones currently being implemented. Additionally, Turkey and Romania should cooperate to create a regional energy market." /Cumhuriyet/[03] YILMAZ: "NO CONCESSIONS FROM CYPRUS"Delivering a speech at the European Parliament Foreign Affairs Commission meeting, State Minister and Deputy Prime Minister, Mesut Yilmaz, has forcefully emphasized that Turkey would make no concessions from the Cyprus issue." Replying the questions from the parliamentarians who alleged that Turkey occupied Cyprus and that there was only one state on Cyprus, Yilmaz said, "Whether you recognize it or not, there is a separate state in the northern part of the Cyprus. We want a permanent and just solution on the island. It is Greeks who are responsible for the current situation." Yilmaz also met with EU commissioner responsible for the Enlargement, Gunther Verheugen. Speaking after the meeting, Yilmaz said that Turkey would give no concessions from Cyprus. If certain circles think that making concessions from Cyprus is a price for Turkey's full EU membership, Turkey will never and ever pay such a price." /Cumhuriyet/[04] DENKTAS ASKS FOR EQUAL TREATMENT FROM THE UNThe Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) President Rauf Denktas said on Wednesday , that a ceremony would be held to mark the arrival of Slovakian soldiers for the United Nations Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP). The ceremony will be attended by Austrian and Slovakian Ministers. Denktas said that TRNC would not allow transit rights for the helicopters carrying the delegations if his government is not contacted regarding this matter. Denktas stated that the Slovakian soldiers came to the Island with the approval of the TRNC and Turkey, and the TRNC wants this to be in the Security Council's report, but the Security Council was intimidated by the Greek Cypriots to put this in the report. /Turkish News/[05] TURKEY WANTS TO INTENSIFY BLACK SEA COOPERATIONThe Black Sea Economic Cooperative Parliamentarians Assembly (KEIPA) general assembly meeting has begun at the Gulistan Palace in Baku yesterday. The meeting was opened with a message sent by President Haydar Aliyev. Aliyev stated that Azerbaijan formed its relations with neighboring countries on the principles of friendship, respect for territorial rights and non-interference in other countries' internal affairs. He drew attention to the importance of peace and stability in the region. The Term President and Turkey's Foreign Minister Ismail Cem also sent a message to the meeting. He pointed out that KEI was in the heart of Eurasia and that the economic development seen at the start of this millennium, had occured within this region.Cem said they wanted to intensify the cooperation between member states on matters such as commerce, energy, transport and agriculture during Turkey's term presidency. /Turkish Daily News/[06] TWO MORE BILLS ADOPTED IN THE TGNAA bill, regarding the restructuring of state banks, their duty losses and liquidation of certain funds, was adopted in the Turkish Grand National Assembly (TGNA) last night. Accordingly, Emlakbank will be liquidated, excess personnel in the state banks will be transfered to other state instutions, 15 funds will be liquidated and the Coucil of Ministers will have no right to establish funds. The new law also enables Vakifbank to be privatized. On the other hand another bill which foresees restructuring of the TEKEL and brings new regulations for beverages was also adopted in the plenary session of the TGNA. /Turkiye/[07] CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTIt was revealed that the ruling parties were planning to call the Turkish Grand National Assembly (TGNA) to an extraordinary meeting for the Constitutional amendment in September. Before the TGNA enters into summer session, the Plenary Session will decide that the Constitutional Commission will work during the summer as well. /Sabah/[08] EHRC WAITS FOR THE CONSTITUTIONAL COURT'S DECISIONThe European Human Rights Court (EHRC) decided on the closure case of the Welfare Party (RP), closed previously by the Constitutional Court. Reportedly, the Court will announce its decision during the first half of July not to affect the decision to be taken by the Constitutional Court on the closure case of the Virtue Party (FP). /Turkiye/[09] FOREIGN MINISTRY: "NO COMPROMISE ON THE ESDI"The Foreign Ministry Speaker Huseyin Dirioz said that, the news stating that Turkey and EU reached an agreement upon the European Security and Defense Identity (ESDI), which have been given coverage in the press recently, are incorrect. Dirioz said, "Our works on the ESDI are still continuing. What we hope is to reach a solution which would not harm Turkey's interests nor violate the decisions of Washington Summit. /Cumhuriyet/[10] SCHUSSEL TO VISIT TURKEYAustrian Prime Minister Dr. Wolfgang Schussel will pay an official visit to Turkey today. His visit is very important since Schussel will be the second Prime Minister from a EU country visiting Turkey after the Helsinki Summit. /Cumhuriyet/[11] IT IS NOW EASIER TO TRY ERRANT PUBLIC OFFICIALSParliament's Justice Committee approved on Wednesday, the changes to a bill regulating the trial of public officials. Governors will have the authority to allow investigations into district mayors and district municipality assembly members, the amendment says. Mayors of greater municipalities, principal mayors and assembly members of these municipalities can be tried only after the Interior Minister authorizes the investigation. By granting the authority to allow trials of junior level administrations to the local authorities, the bill is aimed at simplifying procedures in trials of public officials. /Turkish News/[12] GEN. OZKOK VISITS BULGARIATurkey's Land Forces Commander Gen. Hilmi Ozkok commenced his official visit to Bulgaria on Wednesday. On his first day, Gen. Ozkok met with Bulgarian Chief of Staff Gen. Miho Mihov and Land Forces Commander Gen. Kiril Tzevkov. Gen. Ozkok will meet with the Bulgarian Defense Minister Boyko Neov and visit the headquarters of the Balkan Peace Force in Plovdiv. He will also visit the Turkish brigade participating in the Sevenstars-2001 Military Maneuver which is being held in Bulgaria. /Turkish Daily News/[13] EARLY WARNING SYSTEM FOR TURKEYAs part of the agreement reached by Turkey, Israel and the US, early warning systems against missile attacks and a counter-missile system will be deployed in Turkey next year. It was stated that this system is a combination of Arrow or Arrow and American Pac-3 systems. Undersecretary of Israeli Defense Ministry, Amos Yaron, spoke to the Middle East News Agency and said, "We have been working on this issue for a long time. The cooperation will become formal in the year 2002. However, the timetable will be determined by the US." /Sabah/[14] ISRAEL'S MESSAGE OF CEASE-FIRE TO PALESTINE :"SUSTAIN A PERMANENT CEASE-FIRE"Israel conveyed the message that a permanent cease-fire should be agreed in Palestine via Turkey. Israel's message was relayed to the Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Faruk Logoglu by his Israeli counterpart Avi Gil. Gil said Turkey pursued a satisfactory policy over the Middle East. /Cumhuriyet/[15] TRANSPORTATION OF OIL THROUGH THE STRAITS IS A COMMON PROBLEM FOR ALLPointing out that one of the most important projects concerning the East-West energy corridor, Energy Minister Zeki Cakan, what must be taken in to consideration very seriously for Turkey is the transporting of oil through the Straits. Delivering a speech at the "The Story of Three Seas: Integration with World Energy" Conference, Cakan said, "How will million tons of oil be transported via the Straits? We have to take the threats concerning the pollution of the Straits into consideration. The responsibility is ours." /Cumhuriyet/[16] CAKMAKOGLU IN HAKKARIMinister of National Defense Sabahattin Cakmakoglu visited Hakkari yesterday. Visiting Hakkari Governor Orhan Isin, Cakmakoglu was informed about the problems of the province. Cakmakoglu praised the security forces for their contributions to the peace and stability in the region. /Cumhuriyet/PKK DISTRIBUTES BRIBES WORTH $3 MLN ACROSS EUROPE The PKK terrorist organization, which has lost much of its strength from blows due to the Turkish security forces, has established; one confederation in the United States and one in Europe , nine federations, 232 associations, 123 ERNK (people's fronts of the PKK) representations and establishments, 22 Kurdistan committees, 14 sports clubs, four public and culture houses, bureaus in 18 countries, and 26 academies and culture centers. They are carrying out propaganda by means of a television channel, 11 radio stations, 20 newspapers, six news agencies, three publishing houses, and various websites. The terrorist organization was said to be distributing substantial amounts of bribes in order to move more freely and comfortably, and having distributed such bribes adding up to a total of $3 million in its latest congress. /Turkish News/ [17] FAZILET PARTY TRIALFazilet Party's (FP) efforts to postpone the closing trial at the Constitutional Court turned out in vain. The Constitutional Court reached a decision on the FP deputy Seref Malkoc's postponement request yesterday. The Constitution decided that the grounds put forward by the FP are inadequate for a postponement. /Sabah/[18] BOOK ABOUT ARMENIAN ALLEGATIONSA book, entitled "The Armenians in the Late Ottoman Empire" which replies to the Armenian allegations was published. The book, prepared by the contributions of many Turkish and foreign academicians, will be promoted in a meeting on June 27 in the Turkish Grand National Assembly (TGNA). /Turkiye/[19] BROWNE: "BAKU-CEYHAN WILL BE REALIZED"The Head of the BP Group, Sir John Browne, stated that Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline would alleviate the burden of the Straits, and the Sah Sea Gas project would meet the energy demand of Turkey and the European countries. Browne has come to Istanbul to deliver a speech at the conference "The Story of Three Seas" which gathered the high-level officials of the companies, which are active in the energy sector, and government offificals from various countries. Browne said that the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan project was to be completed at the end of the year 2004. /Milliyet/[20] DERVIS TO VISIT DENIZLIState Minister Kemal Dervis will visit Denizli on Friday and then Izmir. Dervis will hold meetings with industrialists in both cities, and on Saturday visit the factories and then will hold a meeting with 100 industrialists from the Denizli Organized Industruial Region. Dervis will later proceed to Izmir. The Head of the Aegean Region's Chamber Of Industry, Atil Akkan, stated that there would be also a meeting with Dervis in July. /Milliyet/[21] TUZMEN TO VISIT ENGLANDThe Foreign Trade Undersecretary Kursad Tuzmen and a delegation of 40 businessmen left for Britain yesterday. The visit will end on June 23. Today representatives of the Turkish and British public and private sectors will attend a seminar, and in the afternoon mutual negotiations between Turkish and British firms will take place. /Turkish Daily News/[22] DOCTORATE FOR AKKAN SUVERThe Marmara Group Foundation Chairman Akkan Suver has earned an honorary doctorate from the Azeri Baku Tefekkur University for the success of the Marmara Group Foundation in civil society activities and the Eurasian Economic Summit that has been held for the past three years. /Turkish Daily News/[23] MIGROS IN TEHRANMigros, which has 447 shops in Turkey and 21 abroad, will also open new shops in neighbouring countries. The first Migros abroad was opened in Sofia and now others will open in Syria and Iran. The new shops are expected to open in Tehran and Damascus by the first half of 2002. /Milliyet/[24] URAL TO REPRESENT TURKEY IN POETRY FESTIVALSYalvac Ural, the writer of children books, will participate in the 32nd International Poetry Festival and 5th International Children's Poems Festival. The two festivals will be held jointly this year in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Yalvac Ural will represent Turkey in the festival. His books will be sold and exhibited in Rotterdam during the festivals. /Cumhuriyet/[25] MILLENNIUM'S FIRST SOLAR ECLIPSE READYThe first full solar eclipse of the new millennium will occur today. Istanbul University (IU) Science Astronomy and Space Science Department Director Prof. Adnan Okten and IU Observatory Research Center Director Prof. Turken Ozkan issued a joint statement saying that the shadow of the eclipse will fall over the South Atlantic Ocean at sun rise in the region. (12:32 p.m. Turkish Time) /Turkish News/[26] FVW: "DREAM-LIKE VACATION IN DREAMLAND"While Germany's the biggest tourism magazine the FVW promoted Turkey in the last week's edition by an article entitled, "Dream-like Vacation in Dreamland, the same magazine again gave coverage to Turkey in this week's edition. The FVW mentioned the significant increase in the number of tourists visiting Turkey by an article titled "Dream-like Increase to Dreamland". According to the report prepared by the FVW, the number of tourists who visited Turkey between January and March reached 555 thousand. The increase in the number of German tourists visiting Turkey is announced as 31.7 %. /Cumhuriyet/[27] IS BANK AMONG WORLD'S GIANTSIs Bank ranked 113th among the world's largest banks. In a list, "World's largest 250 banks with respect to equity capital", prepared every year by Euromoney Is Bank came 113th. Meanwhile, Yapi Kredi Bank came 158th, Akbank 222 and Garanti Bank 233th. /Turkiye/[28] AL-IMADI: "ESAD TAKES OZAL AS A MODEL FOR HIM"Muhammed Al-Imadi, the Syrian Minister of Economy and Foreign Trade, in Istanbul participating in the Turkish-Syria Business Council First Joint Meeting, said, "Bessar Esad is widening our horizons as Ozal had done for Turkey. Taking Ozal as an example to him, Bessar Esad encourages Syrian businessmen to deal in world markets." /Turkiye/[29] ITALIAN COMPANY WANTS TO PARTICIPATE IN BAKU-CEYHAN PIPELINE VENTUREThe Italian ENI Company, the World's 6th largest oil and gas company opened to the public and undertook the construction of pipes under the Black Sea in the Blue Stream venture and declared they also wanted to participate in the engineering studies of the Bakü-Ceyhan Oil Pipeline Project. Addressing the conference, "The Story of Three Seas: Integrating with World Energy",Vittorio Mincato, Chairman of the Executive Board of the ENI Company, said, "I am sure the participation of the ENI in the Baku-Ceyhan Project, will contribute to the implementation of it." /Turkiye/[30] SEVEN SHIPS IN KUSADASINoted and huge passenger ships of the world arrived to Kusadasi yesterday. Costa Atlantica, Splender of The Seas, Grander of The Seas, R.Five, Odysseus, Triton and R.Diamond came to the Kusadasi Port carrying foreign tourists and intensive measures were taken in order to prevent any disorder in the district. /Milliyet/[31] FROM THE COLUMNS... FROM THE COLUMNS... FROM THE COLUMNS...[32] A CALL TO THOSE LIVING IN ISTANBUL BY GULAY GOKTURK (SABAH)Columnist Gulay Gokturk comments on the transport of oil and nuclear waste through the Bosphorus. A summary of her column is as follows:"As if the lining up of Russian Kazakh and Azerbaijani oil tankers to pass through the Bosphorus is not enough, now we are faced with the threat of transporting hazardous chemical material via the same route. The danger of being poisoned from nuclear leakage has been added up to being burnt alive. The most beautiful city on the earth is going to become a 'Hell City'. According to data furnished by the Society of Peace With Nature, the volume of annual oil passage, which stands at 26,500.000 tons today, will reach to 76,5000.000 tons next year with the opening of the Tengiz-Kazakh oil pipeline. In other words The Turkish Straits will be used as an oil pipeline. Experts agree that this 304.km long waterway is one of the International routes with the highest risk of collision. This waterway which requires sharp turns of ships, and changes of route 12 or 13 times, with places where passage narrows down to 698 m., with its strong over and undercurrents, whirlpools, maelstroms, sudden and dense fogs is a nightmare for mariners. As if these are not enough, the Straits seem to be full of booby traps with the suspension bridges and high tension electrical air transport lines. To top them all, there is a traffic of boats working between the two coasts of the Straits carrying one million people, close to 15 thousand vehicles per day. Everyone wants to transport explosive, flammable and burning chemical material and nuclear waste, through this waterway, where natural conditions are hard and the traffic is heavy. It seems like passing an oil pipeline through the middle of Manhattan or the river Seine where people are wandering along the coasts. We have to ask New Yorkers what would they do, if they saw trucks carrying nuclear waste through the streets of Manhattan. At this point those living in Istanbul have to make a choice. They will either learn to live with the danger of being burnt alive, being subjected to radiation and or to say 'no'. Neither Montreux nor another agreement can envisage 13 million to live under such threats. The people of Istanbul have to forcefully make everyone aware that the Bosphorus is not an 'oil pipeline'. It is the time to show this fact to the administrators of the oil companies attending the 'Integration with the World energy Conference' in Istanbul." [33] MACEDONIAN TURKS ON PINS AND NEEDLES BY SAMI KOHEN (MILLIYET)Columnist Sami Kohen comments on the situation of Turks living in Macedonia. A summary of his column is as follows:Turks are also affected by the incidents, which erupted between Albanian militants and the army in Macedonia, and turned into an inter-communal conflict. Macedonian Turks are going through hard times and living in fear. Some Turks living in villages and towns, which are scene of actions by the Liberation Army (UCK) and the operations of the Macedonian Security forces are forced to migrate to save their skins. Turkish society, which lived comfortably in Macedonia, preserving its identity, both during the Yugoslav Administration and following the proclamation of independence, is concerned and restless for the first time. However, Turks are not targeted just because they are Turks. They are squeezed in between the actions of the UCK and the Macedonian counter attacks. The attacks by the Slav militants together with Albanians on Turkish businesses and houses have created concern among the Turks. This behavior by Slav militants has brought forward the Moslem identity of the masses, which stayed outside the majority in Macedonia. Thus, the 2.5 million Macedonian population is faced with the danger of being divided up between Orthodox and Moslem, Slavs and Albanians and Turks. This causes the greatest danger for the future of the country. It also creates a severe threat for the survival of the Turkish society, an important factor numbering close to 70.000. Therefore, the Macedonian government and security forces have to take precautions so that security of life and property of the Turkish population should not be disrupted. Macedonian leaders have given the required guarantee upon Turkey's recent initiatives on the issue. Now it is time for them to keep their promises. These promises should not only cover their security of life and property but also their political rights. At present there are meetings held to determine the new Constitution and the status of elements left outside the Slav (and Orthodox) majority. Next Monday, the representatives of the Macedonian Government and the Albanian parties will come together for official negotiations for the first time. However, the representatives of two Turkish parties are not invited to these negotiations. The Turkish society should also have a say in determining the political future of the country. It is the right of Macedonian Turks who are on pins and needles due to reasons beyond their control." Turkish Press Review Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |
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