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Turkish Press Review, 96-08-08Turkish Press Review Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs <http://www.mfa.gov.tr>CONTENTS
TURKISH PRESS REVIEWTHURSDAY AUGUST 8, 1996Summary of the political and economic news in the Turkish press this morning[01] BOSNIAN PRESIDENT VISITS ANKARABosnian President Alija Izzetbegovic met with President Suleyman Demirel on Wednesday in Ankara. Demirel thanked the Balkan leader for the warm welcome the Bosnian people had given him during his visit to Bosnia in May. Demirel said events in the past few years in Bosnia had been a disgrace for humanity and that the inhuman treatment of the Bosnians during the war had caused serious damage to the psychology of the Bosnian nation. "Turkey will always support the reconstruction of Bosnia-Herzegovina" Demirel said. Demirel noted he thought that the elections scheduled for September 14 would be an important step for Bosnia-Herzegovina. Demirel said he hoped the Dayton Peace agreement would be carried out soon. "All sides should strive for mutual understanding" the president said, calling it a first step to constructing peace. "Our wish is the integration of the Balkan countries with Europe. We believe that it will be accomplished step by step" Demirel said. He added that Turkey would give $20 million in aid to Bosnia-Herzegovina and noted that there was still a fund in the name of Alija Izzetbegovic to be used for the reconstruction of the Mostar Bridge. He said Turkey would continue to help Bosnia.In his speech to the press, Alija Izzetbegovic said that he was also very pleased with the meeting and added that he would inform Demirel of the current situation in Bosnia-Herzegovina. "The agreement on the operation of the joint institutions between the Croatians and Bosnians that was signed on August 6 is very important for us" Izzetbegovic said. He said Turkey had made invaluable contributions to the foundation of the Bosnian Federation Army and he thanked Turkey for this. Izzetbegovic said they were pleased with the military aspects of the Dayton Peace Agreement but not happy with the issues regarding the civilian aspects of the agreement. After their meeting, Demirel gave a lunch in honour of the Bosnian president. /Milliyet-Cumhuriyet/ [02] ANKARA: "WE DO NOT MAKE INVESTMENTS, WE TRADE"US State Department Spokesman Nicholas Burns told Turkish journalists on Tuesday that Washington will be watching Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan's visit to Iran "very carefully". On his first foreign visit since assuming office last month, Erbakan is to leave Ankara on Saturday and visit other Muslim countries, such as Malaysia and Indonesia as well as Iran. "The Turkish government has stated that it wants to establish good relations with Muslim countries like Malaysia and Indonesia" Burns acknowledged. But regarding Iran: "We have been very clear in our view that Iran should be isolated. We are very skeptical that anything good can come out of this visit" Burns said.Turkish Foreign Ministry Deputy Spokesman Ambassador Nurettin Nurkan said that the new US sanctions were against "investment" in Libya or Iran in excess of $40 million a year. "No Turkish company or person has invested in excess of $40 million a year in Libya or Iran" Nurkan said. He added: "Turkey is a neighbour with Iran and wants to develop its bilateral relations within the framework of mutual interests and respect for their own regimes". In a special statement to the Anatolia news agency, Iran's charge d'affaires in Ankara, Celaleddin Namini Mianaci, disclosed that the agreement being dicussed would begin in 1998 with the sale by Iran to Turkey of two billion cubic metres of natural gas a year, growing to ten billion cubic metres by the year 2010. Lasting 23 years, the agreement would involve the sale of $20 billion worth of gas, Mianaci reportedly told Anatolia. Meanwhile, Turkish State Minister Abdullah Gul gave the message that the accord to be signed with Iran would not be affected by the US decision to impose an embargo on Iran . Noting that the Turco-Iranian natural gas accord also involved Turkmenistan, he said that "political resolve" was being displayed on the issue. He also said that talks would be held with various US delegations. On the other hand, the activities of the PKK terrorist organization will be on the agenda during Erbakan's visit to Iran. Interior Minister Mehmet Agar said that Erbakan would request from the Iranian government that PKK settlements along the border should be destroyed. Meanwhile, German Ambassador to Ankara Dr.Hans-Joachim Vergau pointed out that Germany viewed Turkey's decision to visit Iran as its own free choice and said: "We do not want to intervene in Turkey's initiatives. We also pursue a policy of good relations with neighbouring countries". /Cumhuriyet-Sabah/ [03] ERBAKAN TO IMPROVE TRADE WITH FAR EASTERN COUNTRIESPrime Minister Necmettin Erbakan will boost trade relations with the Far East during his first visit abroad to Iran, Pakistan, Malaysia and Singapore, scheduled to start on August 10. The Joint Economic Commission (KEK) meeting to be held with Iran in the beginning of next year has been moved to an earlier date upon Erbakan's request. Turkey also plans a Joint Economic Commission this year with Malaysia. The KEK meetings with Indonesia and Pakistan are scheduled for the second half of October and the beginning of next year respectively. /Sabah/[04] SECURITY FORCES KILL 24 PKK MILITANTS IN THE SOUTHEASTTwenty-four PKK militants were killed in clashes with security forces in the Southeast on Tuesday. Meanwhile, a terrorist in Diyarbakir and one in Van surrendered on the same day. On Wednesday, 23 members of various illegal organizations were arrested by security forces in the region. /Cumhuriyet/[05] POLICE ATTACKED IN BAHCELIEVLERA gun fight between police and three attackers yesterday at 5.30 a.m. in Bahcelievler left one of the three assailants wounded and captured while one police officer and two private citizens were also wounded. Police are continuing to search the area to find the two other attackers. /Cumhuriyet-Milliyet/[06] ISRAEL PREPARED TO FUND TURKISH F-4 JET UPGRADEIsrael's Treasury is prepared to lend $457 million to Turkey to finance a deal with Israel Aircraft Industries to upgrade the Turkish Air Force's fleet of F-4 Phantom jets, a Treasury spokesman said yesterday. Earlier this year Israel's parliamentary Finance Committee agreed to provide guarantees for $410 million in bank financing. But Israel's commercial banks are reluctant to take on the risk for the remaining part of the $57 million in financing, the Treasury spokesman said. The Treasury has decided that if an agreement with the banks is not reached soon, it will ask the Finance Committee to cancel its decision concerning the loan guarantees and instead approve a direct loan from Israel's Treasury to Turkey's Treasury.The $600 million ugrade deal is considered very important both for Israel's defence industry as well as the advancement of Turkish-Israeli relations. State-controlled Israel Aircraft Industries reached an agreement with Turkey in 1995 to upgrade 54 McDonnell Douglas F-4 jets. The five-year deal to upgrade the fighter bombers will involve installation of advanced avionic systems, including radar and electronic warfare and navigation systems. /Milliyet/ [07] MEDA COMMISSION CONVENES IN DECEMBERThe Turkish projects to be financed by the MEDA fund, extended to Turkey by the European Union, will be submitted to the MEDA commission for approval. The commission, consisting of 15 representatives of the EU member countries, will convene in December to evaluate the projects. The MEDA fund was established with the aim of improving cooperation between the EU and Mediterranean countries. Its budget for the 1996-2000 period is ECU 4.6 billion. Turkey is expected to take a a share of the MEDA 1996 resources amounting to ECU 50-70 million. /Cumhuriyet/[08] "NEIGHBOUR COUNTRIES SUPPORT PKK"Former State of Emergency Region Deputy Governor and Chief Finance Inspector at the Interior Ministry, Ozcan Erdogan, has prepared a report on the problems in Southeastern Turkey. The report was submitted to President Demirel and to major political party leaders. The report dwells in detail on the aid extend by some neighbouring countries, namely Syria, Iraq, Iran and Greece, to the PKK terrorist organization. Erdogan also proposes some solutions to the problems: bringing an end to the state of emergency, reviewing the role of the Provide Comfort multinational force stationed in the region, and replacing the regular army forces employed in the region to fight the terrorists with specially trained security personel, professional in the ensuring of domestic security. /Cumhuriyet/[09] THY CONNECTS GEORGIA TO THE WORLDTurkish Airlines (THY) has set up a new international flight: Istanbul-Tbilisi-Istanbul. With two flights weekly to Tbilisi, THY has become the first Western airlines company to connect Georgia with the world. During the last four years, THY has managed to increase its passenger carrying capacity from 2.5 million to 10 million passengers yearly. At the same time, the THY fleet planes, with an average age of 3.1 years is the youngest commercial fleet in the world. /Milliyet/END Turkish Press Review Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |
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