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Anadolu Agency: News in English, 00-08-02Anadolu Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: The Anadolu Agency Home Page at <http://www.anadoluajansi.com.tr/>Anadolu AgencyANADOLU AGENCY NEWS 02 AUGUST 2000 Wednesday CONTENTS
[01] TURKEY-PRESS SCANThese are some of the major headlines and their brief stories in Turkey's press on August 2, 2000. The Anadolu Ajansi does not verify these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.HURRIYET (LIBERAL)ISTANBUL DGM FILES A LAWSUIT AGAINST CAKICIThe Istanbul State Security Court (DGM) Chief Prosecutor's Office filed a lawsuit against Alaattin Cakici, a notorious mafia boss who was extradited to Turkey by France, and his 10 men regarding the armed attack on Karagumruk Sports Club in Fatih district of Istanbul on March 26, 2000. The indictment sought imprisonment terms from 360 years to 450 years to Cakici with charges of ''forming a crime organization and inciting murder'' in accordance with the Article 1 of the Law no: 4422 and Article 448 of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK). CEM-PAPANDREOU SUMMIT POSTPONED MILLIYET (LIBERAL)FOREST COLLAPSESA big collapse occured in Kizilyar Forest on Ekincik Mountain in Tosya township which is situated on North Anatolian Fault Line. The North Anatolian Fault Line had led to the deadly earthquake which hit Turkey on August 17, 1999. By this collapse, ten thousand tons of soil eroded and thousands of pine trees collapsed. Now, there is a cavity which can be seen kilometres away from the spot, on the mountain. Scientists said that this erosion cannot be the indicator of a possible earthquake. THEY WERE CAPTURED WITH 200 KG HEROIN SABAH (LIBERAL)NUMBER OF TURKCELL SUBSCRIBERS INCREASES TO 8 MILLIONNumber of subscribers of Turkcell increased 48 percent to 8 million since the beginning of 2000. Thus, Turkcell became the Global System For Mobile Communication (GSM) operator which has the biggest growth in Europe. Turkcell ranks at the sixth place in the European list of subscribers and sales. HIGHER MILITARY COUNCIL DECIDES TO DISMISS 40 PERSONNEL CUMHURIYET (LEFT)TYKHE'S MOSAIC STOLENThieves stole a part of the magnificent sports mosaic which was in the gymnastics hall belonging to the Roman era that was unearthed during excavations carried out in ancient Akmonia site in Usak province in the Aegean Region. As the goddess of destiny, Tykhe could not resist to her own destiny, the mosaic was stolen. The mosaic was 7.5 metres in width and symbolized sports matches as volleyball, boxing and wrestling. GURTUNA RECEIVES U.S. CONSUL GENERAL RADIKAL (LEFT)TURKISH VESSEL SINKS OFF-SHORE ITALYA Turkish vessel ''Hasat'' carrying truck containers sank off-shore Italy. The captain and 22-person crew of the 8,921 gross ton-vessel were rescued by a Dutch-flagged ship. Sources said that a fire broke out early on Tuesday in Hasat which was 135 meters in length and was carrying containers from Marseilles to Piraeus while it was 150-200 nautical miles east of Sicily. Sources said the reason for the fire had not been known yet. NEW U.S. AMBASSADOR TO TURKEY TAKES OATH ORAL: ''INFLATION WILL DECREASE TO ONE-DIGIT NUMBERS IN 2001'' YENI BINYIL (LIBERAL)TURKISH LEATHER AND FASHION FAIR TO BE OPENED IN MOSCOWThe Turkel Fair Organization and Osmanbey Textiles Businessmen's Association will open a Turkish Leather and Fashion Fair in Moscow, Russia between August 10-12. Turkel's Chairman Korhan Yazgan staged a press conference in Moscow, saying that almost 30 Turkish companies would attend the fair. Yazgan said they expected the fair would increase the interest of Russians in Turkish textile products. 5 MILLION U.S. DOLLARS SENT TO TRNC TURKIYE (RIGHT)DEMIRALP AND ERCEL'S CALL FOR PRIVATE SECTORTreasury Undersecretary Selcuk Demiralp said that there is a significant demand revival in economy. Demiralp noted that they see that the private sector continues to increase prices by benefitting from this revival. Central Bank Governor Gazi Ercel said that the intentions of the private sector companies for setting prices are the continuation of habits in the past, and these affect the program negatively. TEXTILE SECTOR WORKERS IN MOSCOW ZAMAN (CONSERVATIVE)ONE HEZBOLLAH MEMBER RELEASEDTrial of 105 suspects who are members of the terrorist Hezbollah organization, was held at the Diyarbakir State Security Court (DGM) no: 2. The court delegation decided to release one of the suspects from prison, and adjourned the hearing. The indictment prepared by the Diyarbakir DGM Republican Chief Prosecutor's Office, sought capital punishment to two suspects in accordance with tthe Article 146 of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK). TURKISH LAWYER BRINGS A SUIT AGAINST KOUCHNER [02] HIGHER MILITARY COUNCIL STARTS ITS SECOND DAY WORKSANKARA - The Higher Military Council started its second day meeting on Wednesday.General Huseyin Kivrikoglu, the Chief of General Staff, is presiding the meeting which started at 09:00 a.m. at the General Staff Headquarters. The second day works are expected to end later in the day. Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit will host a dinner in honor of the Higher Military Council members. [03] PRINCIPLES DOCUMENT OF U.S. REPUBLICAN PARTY SAYS SOLUTION ON CYPRUS SHOULD NOT TURN BLIND EYE TO WISHES OF TWO SIDESWASHINGTON D.C. - The U.S. Republican Party's document of principles said on Wednesday that a solution on Cyprus should not turn a blind eye to wishes of two sides.The document that Republican Party issued prior to the presidential elections that would be held in November, included issues which closely concerned Turkey. The document supported efforts of finding a solution to Cyprus question by peaceful methods and requested all concerned sides to respect to wishes of nations living on Cyprus. Observers think that the Republican Party, thus, emphasized the importance of the ideas of Turkish Cypriots. The Armenian lobby of the Republican Party which exerted efforts to include a paragraph about so-called ''Armenian genocide'' in the document, could not reach its target. Sources close to Republican Party said that despite the efforts of Armenian lobby, the inclusion of a paragraph on so-called genocide in the document was rejected. [04] IN FIRST SEVEN MONTHS, 310 MILLION U.S. DOLLARS OF AGRICULTURAL AND ANIMAL PRODUCTS EXPORTED FROM GAPGAZIANTEP - The exports of agricultural and animal products from the Southeastern Anatolia Project (GAP) region in the first seven months of 2000 increased 1.4 percent to 310 million 337 thousand U.S. dollars.In the same period last year, the region exported 305 million 943 thousand U.S. dollars of agricultural and animal products Officials at the Southeastern Anatolia Exporters' Union, told the A.A correspondent on Wednesday that in the first seven months of the year, they exported 178 million 538 thousand U.S. dollars in textiles; 50 million 368 thousand U.S. dollars in grain-cereals; 22 million 292 thousand U.S. dollars in dried fruits, 57 million 867 thousand U.S. dollars in fresh fruits and vegetables, and 1 million 272 thousand U.S. dollars in livestock. [05] FOREST FIRES IN MUGLAMUGLA - Fires which broke out yesterday in forested areas near Karacahisar and Yilanli villages in Milas township of Aegean Mugla province were extinguished on Wednesday.Fire-fighting teams and local residents participated in efforts to put out the fires. A total of five hectares of forested area was burnt down to ashes in the fires. Meanwhile, a fire broke out in forested area near Sogutlu village in Fethiye township of Mugla province at about 08:30 p.m. on Tuesday. The fire was taken under control partly. Strong winds in the region complicated efforts to take the fire under control completely. [06] STATE PLANNING ORGANIZATION: -''TURKEY HAS THE BIGGEST NATIONAL INCOME AND POPULATION AMONG CANDIDATE COUNTRIES TO EU''ANKARA - Turkey has the biggest gross domestic product (GDP) among candidate countries to the European Union (EU) with its GDP of 175.8 billion ECU.In one of its reports, the State Planning Organization gave broad place to data of the Eurostat, the European Distributors of Statistical Software. According to the report, Hungary is the country in which compulsory education starts at the youngest age among candidate countries. Compulsory education starts in Hungary at the age of five and last for 11 years. Number of female students is higher than number of male students in universities in almost every candidate countries. Number of male students is higher than number of female students in Czech Republic. Turkey is the most populous country among candidate countries with its population of 63.5 million. Poland and Romania follow Turkey in the list. Turkey has the biggest GDP among candidate countries to the European Union (EU) with its GDP of 175.8 billion ECU. Poland came on the second place with its GDP of 140.2 billion ECU and Czech Republic came on the third place with its GDP of 50.1 billion ECU. The report said that economic development in Turkey was overshadowed when a massive earthquake devastated Turkey's industrial heartland last year. Turkey's GDP is expected to increase by 5 percent in 2001 as a result of reconstruction efforts in the wake of last year's quake disasters, and positive effevts of economic stabilitiy program. Candidate countries to the EU were determined as 2 group + Turkey. Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Poland, Slovenia and the Greek Cypriot side take place in the first group while Bulgaria, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Romania and Slovakia take place in the second group. [07] BALKAN PARTNERSHIP 2000 PROGRAMME TO BE HELD IN SALONICAISTANBUL - ''Balkan Partnership 2000'' programme which aims at reconstruction of Balkan countries by help of economic and commercial cooperation, will be held in Salonica, Greece between November 9 and 10.The Economic Development Foundation (IKV) said on Wednesday that 127 companies from Greece, Albania, Bulgaria, Macedonia and Romania are chairing the programme. Representatives of companies functioning in construction, food, pharmacy and hospital equipment sectors, will participate in the program. Almost 150 companies from Turkey, Germany, Austria, Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Britain, Italy and Israel will join the programme under visitor company status. The programme targets at providing new technical, financial and commercial cooperation opportunities for companies. [08] TAM'S PROPOSAL TO STRUGGLE WITH XENOPHOBIA IN GERMANYISTANBUL - Prof. Dr. Faruk Sen, the Director of the Turkey Researches Centre (TAM) proposed the use of 1 percent of the income that will be gained from tne UMTS-mobile phone licence tender in Germany in the struggle with xenophobia.Sen sent a letter to German Minister of Treasury Hans Eichel about the issue, TAM noted and Sen stressed that the extreme rightist tendency particularly seen in former Eastern German states takes ''the right to exist'' from foreigners and Germans. Sen said in his letter that 1 percent of the income which is expected to be around 20 and 100 billion German marks can be used in the struggle with extreme rightists and xenophobia in Germany. [09] TURKEY-IRAN SIGN PROTOCOLS ON NATURAL GAS (1)ANKARA - Turkey signed protocols with Iran to buy natural gas from Iran on Wednesday.Turkey will start to buy natural gas from Iran as of 30 July 2001 by the pipeline which is still being constructed. Gokhan Yardım, the Director General of BOTAS ad Iranian Deputy Oil Minister Mohammed Nejat signed the protocols in Ankara. [10] 120 KG POWDER HASHISH SEIZED IN KAYSERIKAYSERI - Security forces seized 120 kilograms of powder hashish in central Kayseri province on Wednesday.Sources said that acting on a tip-off, security forces raided the house of Asir Erol in Sakarya neighborhood in Kayseri, confiscating 120 kg powder hashish and devices used in production of powder hashish. Sair Erol who was detained said that he was a drug-addict person and he had been convicted of this crime for 5-6 times. Erol said he had produced powder hashish for himself as he did not enough money to buy illicit drug, and that he did not want to sell this 120 kg of powder hashish. Officials said the market value of the powder hashish was 150 billion Turkish Liras. The interrogation of Asir Erol is under way. [11] ELEVEN BANKS DECREASE TL DEPOSIT INTEREST RATESANKARA - Eleven banks decreased Turkish lira (TL) deposit interest rates as of August 2 within framework of the developments in the economy.The TL deposit interest rates of some banks are as follows: 1-Month 3-Month 6-Month 12-Month Name of Bank percent percent percent percent --------------- ------ -------- ------ ---------- T. Is Bankasi 30 29 29 29 (x) Akbank 31 31 32 32 (xx) Yapi Kredi Bankasi 30 30 29 29 (xx) Emlak Bankasi 33 32 32 31-TEFE+2 Halkbank 28 28 27 26 Vakifbank 28 28 27 26-TEFE+2 Garanti Bankasi 32 32 31 31 (xx) Pamukbank 28 28 27 26 Osmanli Bankasi 29 29 28 28 Disbank 28 30 31 32 Sekerbank 32 32 30 30 TEB 28 28 30 30 Esbank 31 30 29 29 Finansbank 31 31 35 35 Etibank 31 30 29 28 Toprakbank 29 28 27 26 Interbank 33 32 30 29 Iktisat Bankasi 32 32 31 29 Sumerbank 35 35 34 33 EGS Bank 33 33 32 32 Bank Ekspres 29 29 28 27 Yurtbank 30 29 28 28 Alternatifbank 25 32 35 35 Turkbank 32 32 30 30 Korfezbank 27 24 25 25 Denizbank 28 28 28 27 (x) : Interest rate for deposits from 2 billion up to 60 billion TL. (xx): Interest rate for deposits up to 2 billion TL. TEFE: Wholesale Prices Index [12] ''ENTERPRISE'' SHIP HAS TO GIVE ONE MILLION DOLLAR AS A GUARANTEE TO PASS THROUGH STRAITSCANAKKALE - The Bahamian-flagged ship namely ''Erterprise'' which was not permitted to pass through the Straits as it didn't take the necessary security measures, should deposit one million dollar as a guarantee and take the necessary security measures to pass through the strait.As the lenght of the ship, which is loaded with 192,554 tons of iron ore, is more than 300 meters, it has to take security measures under the Straits Regulations. These conditions have been conveyed to the ship officials. The ship was on its way from Australia to Constanta port of Romania. Officials said that the flag of the ship was Bahamian not Romanian, as it was ealier stated. Enterprise which waits offshore Bozcaada since 16 July, should be accompanied by five tugboats and one fire boat and guided by a pilot captain. If the ship fulfils the conditions requested, the traffic in Canakkale and Istanbul Straits will be closed in two ways during its passage. [13] PROXIMITY TALKS ON CYPRUS -DE SOTO CONTINUES HIS CONTACTSGENEVA - The second stage of the third round of the proximity talks on Cyprus continues in Geneva city of Switzerland on Wednesday.Alvaro De Soto, the U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan's Special Representative to Cyprus met with Rauf Denktas, the President of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) on Wednesday morning. Denktas said after the meeting that ''everything is going well, we will meet again tomorrow.'' De Soto will also meet with Glafcos Clerides, the Greek Cypriot leader today. The second stage of Geneva talks is expected to end on August 4. [14] FM DEPUTY SPOKESMAN DIRIOZ: ''TURKEY WILL CONTINUE ITS PLANNED SUPPORT TO TRNC TO OVERCOME LATTER'S ECONOMIC DIFFICULTIES''ANKARA - Huseyin Dirioz, the Deputy Spokesman of the Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday that Turkey will continue its planned support to the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) to overcome the latter's economic difficulties.Speaking in a weekly press briefing, Dirioz said that they closely monitor the inner political and economic developments in TRNC. Dirioz noted that Turkey will continue its existing support to TRNC to overcome its economic difficulties, adding ''we expect the creation of a suitable atmosphere in TRNC to give an order to the country within their own democratic structure and understanding.'' Upon another question, Dirioz noted that ''giving an order'' means overcoming the problems. [15] 18 KG OF HEROIN SEIZEDANKARA - Ankara Security Directorate's Narcotics officials confiscated 18 kilograms of heroin.Sources said on Wednesday that narcotics officials disguised as buyers and left for southeastern Gaziantep province upon invitation of drug smugglers. Officials detained five people and confiscated 18 kg heroin while those people were trying to sell the heroin. Investigation is under way. [16] 3.7-MAGNITUDE QUAKE OCCURS OFF-SHORE CYPRUSLEFKOSA - A mild earthquake measuring 3.7 on the Richter scale happened early on Wednesday off-shore northwestern Cyprus.The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) Meteorology Department said that the earth tremor had happened at 08:30 a.m. The Department said the epicenter of the quake was in the sea, off-shore northwestern Cyprus.
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