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Anadolu Agency: News in English, 00-09-24Anadolu Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: The Anadolu Agency Home Page at <http://www.anadoluajansi.com.tr/>ANADOLU AGENCYNEWS 24 SEPTEMBER 2000 Sunday CONTENTS
[01] TURKEY-PRESS SCANThese are some of the major headlines and their brief stories in Turkey's press on September 24, 2000. The Anadolu Agency does not verify these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.HURRIYET (LIBERAL)CLINTON:''I AM SORRY''Ankara's harsh reactions which came in the wake of the approval of the Armenian bill created panic in Washington, D.C. Clinton's spokesman said, ''the President and the administration are very upset about the developments.'' The bill regarding the so-called genocide on Armenians is used as a political tool prior to the elections in the United States in November. Turkey's first boycott against the United States came when it excluded the U.S. firm Litton from a project. Litton was planned to provide the computer equipment of King Cobra Ah-1Z helicopters. DSI:''POWER OUTAGES IS INEVITABLE'' MILLIYET (LIBERAL)ONAL STRESSES GOVERNMENT'S DETERMINATION IN PRAGUEState Minister Recep Onal who got together with IMF Chairman Horst Kohler told him that the Turkish government is determined to fully implement the disinflation programme. Onal also stated that Turkey is trying to meet the economic criteria to join the European Union. Kohler said he was very much impressed by the GAP project and the increase in agricultural productivity. EU DELEGATION INSPECTS DEREKOY AND KAPIKULE BORDER GATES SABAH (LIBERAL)IMF CHAIRMAN KOHLER:''TURKEY ON THE RIGHT TRACK''IMF Chairman Host Kohler who had a meeting with State Minister Recep Onal who is in charge of economy gave some positive messages during the meeting. ''You are on the right track,'' Kohler told Onal. Kohler also asked Onal questions on four different fields which were current deficits, effect of oil prices on the disinflation programme, the government's determination, and the reasons for the insufficient amount of foreign capital in Turkey. Onal said he would invite Kohler to Turkey despite Kohler's heavy schedule. TURKEY COMES 16TH IN ECONOMIC CREATIVITY CUMHURIYET (LEFT)ANKARA'S TARGET: YEREVANAfter the bill on so-called genocide on Armenians is put to vote by International Relations Committee on Thursday, Turkey will decide on the measures it will take against Armenia and the United States in a National Security Council's meeting on Friday. Sources said that Foreign Ministry and General Staff officials could convene before this meeting to discuss the measures. Sources said that the Foreign Ministry would develop a more strict policy towards Armenia while it would follow a more moderate policy towards its NATO ally and strategical partner United States. TURKEY CAN APPOINT AMBASSADOR TO IRAQ RADIKAL (LEFT)FIRST REACTION TO U.S.Turkey started to retaliate against the bill on so-called genocide on Armenians which was approved by a House of Representatives subcommittee. In case of approval of the bill by a higher committee, sanctions to Armenia and United States will be decided on a National Security Council meeting on September 29. Ankara has taken its first step against the U.S. administration. The decree on appointment of Mehmet Akad who is serving as Undersecretary of the Turkish Embassy in Britain, as the Turkish Ambassador to Iraq was submitted to Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit. Sources said that Prime Minister Ecevit would approve the decree. CLINTON ADMINISTRATION IN DESPERATE STRAITS YENI BINYIL (LIBERAL)TURKEY'S U.S. DILEMMAThe United States is trying to prevent any possible sanctions Turkey can impose after the bill regarding the so-called genocide on Armenians was approved at the House of Representatives. The U.S. administration is seeking for a nice gestures to calm down Ankara. For this purpose, the U.S. administration will give Arrow anti-balistic rockets to Ankara in January 2001. The Arrow rockets have been developed by the United States and Israel and they have been successfully tested in Israel recently. The only condition of the United States is that Turkey can use the rockets only for defense purposes. FORMER AMBASSADOR KANDEMIR SAYS ALL TURKISH CITIZENS IN THE U.S. TURKIYE (RIGHT)PENTAGON WARNSThe draft law on so-called genocide on Armenians, which was approved by the House of Representatives International Operations and Human Rights Subcommittee, will be put to vote by International Relations Committee on Thursday. The world ignores the massacres committed by Armenians against Turks in Anatolia. Armenian gangs backed by French invader forces burned Turks to death in ovens in Kozan township of southern Adana province in 1918. United States Deputy Secretary of Defense Walter Slocombe started to act as a result of Turkey's determined position and sent a letter to House of Representatives Speaker Dennis Hastert saying, ''we feel concern that approval of the resolution will have serious negative effects on our interests in the region and efforts for peace and stability.'' POWER OUTAGE TO CONTINUE FOR THREE YEARS EARTHQUAKE IN ESKISEHIR TURKISH DJ'S RECORD ZAMAN (CONSERVATIVE)ENERGY SHOW AT PARLIAMENTMembers of Parliament are fighting with light bulbs instead of encouraging investments. MPs who are expected to take decisions to solve the increasing energy crisis gave the start for the job with turning off lamps. The Parliamentary Secretariat General made an announcement to its personnel asking them to obey the saving measures in parliamentary buildings. According to these measures which are expected to be an example to the country, the offices and corridors will be lightened if it is necessary, there will be no lightening in lunch breaks, the number of light bulbs in chandeliers will be decreased and lamps of toilets won't be turned on unnecessarily. There is e need for a 2.5 billion U.S. dollars investment annunally to overcome the energy crisis. DANGER OF SO-CALLED GENOCIDE [02] KONRAD ADENAUER FOUNDATION TURKEY BRANCH CHAIRMAN: ''HELSINKI DECISIONS CANNOT BE TAKEN BACK''BERLIN - A panel discussion on ''Turkey-Germany Relations After Helsinki'' organized by Konrad Adenauer Foundation's Turkey branch continued in Berlin also on Saturday.''Helsinki decisions cannot be taken back,'' Wulf Schonbohm, the foundation's Turkey branch chairman said at the meeting. Noting that Helsinki decisions created a new perspective, Schonbohm said ''our responsibility will be to support Turkey in every field.'' Responding to some criticisms against Turkey, Charge d'Affaires in the Turkish Embassy in Berlin Hakan Okcal said the Turkish goverment is supporting the Turkish citizens who are interested in becoming German citizens. Okcal also said Turkey wants these people to become well adapted to the German society. Turkey Research Center Deputy Chairperson Cigdem Akkaya said Turkish citizens in Germany play an important role in Turkey's EU membership process. [03] TURKS LIVING IN U.S. START SIGNATURE CAMPAIGN TO BLOCK BILL'S APPROVAL AT A HIGHER COMMITTEEWASHINGTON - Turkish citizens living in the United States launched a signature campaign to prevent the approval of the bill on the so-called genocide on Armenians at the International Relations Committee which is a higher committee.The signatures that are collected at the Assembly of Turkish-American Associations (ATAA), the Federation of Turkish-American Associations, and the Turkish Forum will be presented to the Congress on Monday. ATAA also called on the Turks living in this country to show their reactions by telephoning and sending letters to the Congress members. The bill on the so-called Armenian genocide will be discussed at the House International Relations Committee this week. It is almost certain that the bill will be approved at this committee since a majority of the committee members are supporting the bill. The bill had been approved last Thursday at the House International Relations and Human Rights subcommittee. The bill urges the U.S. administration to familiarize the U.S. State Department Personnel and other government personnel about the so-called genocide of Armenians committed by Turks beginning of last century. The bill also urges the U.S. President to make an official statement about the genocide on April 24 every year to commemorate the deaths. [04] EU INTERIOR AND JUSTICE COMMISSION MEMBERS VISIT KAPIKULEEDIRNE - European Union Interior and Justice Commission's members visited Edirne's Kapikule Border Gate on Saturday.Edirne Deputy Governor Necati Senturk briefed the delegation members about the border gate. Patrick Sinonnet who is in charge of relations with Turkey in the EU Commission said they are carrying out inspections in the 13 EU candidate countries. He said their visit aims to compare Turkey's and EU's customs laws and added that they are collecting information about operation of police, and fight against crimes at border gates. When a reporter asked Sinonnet about his impressions, he said ''we didn't come here to make criticism.'' Noting that they will prepare reports on Turkey, Sinonnet said these reports will be kept confidential and they will be presented to Turkish authorities. Senturk briefed the delegation members about combat against drug smuggling and organized crime at Kapikule, forgery in documents and international immigration. The delegation also has experts from Britain, Germany, Greece and France. [05] SYRIAN INTERIOR MINISTER DUE IN TURKEYANKARA - Syrian Interior Minister Mohammad Harba and his delegation will pay a visit Turkey between September 26-29, 2000.A written statement released by the Interior Ministry on Sunday said that Turkish and Syrian delegations would mainly discuss security matters. Authorities would also focus on development of cooperation between the two countries, it said. Harba, during his stay in Turkey, will visit Deputy Prime Minister Husammettin Ozkan. Harba and his delegation will also have several contacts in Ankara and Istanbul before they leave Turkey on September 29. [06] C-130 CARGO PLANES MODERNIZATION PROJECTANKARA - Seven military cargo planes will be modernized and granted intercontinental flight capacity.Sources said on Sunday that the works on the seven C-130 cargo planes avionic modernization project (Erciyes Program) that the Defense Industry Undersecretariat had placed in prior projects list in previous years had reached the final stage. The Undersecretariat invited fourteen companies to the renovation tender which aimed at granting these seven cargo planes of the Air Forces intercontinental flight capacity. Within scope of the project which will be financed by equity capital of the Defense Industry Undersecretariat, air traffic and flight indicators of these cargo planes will be renovated and their systems will be modernized. Within scope of the project, software, software modification and integration capability will be transferred. After the recent invitation to the companies which are interested in the tender, a supplementary period of 45 days has been given to those companies regarding the renovation program in question. In accordance with this, those companies will submit their bids on October 16, 2000, and the company to win the tender will be announced by the end of 2000. The modernization project will be implemented at Air Forces Commandership's air-base in Eskisehir province in central Anatolia. Israel Aircraft Industies Limited, Rockwell-Collins, Radom Aviaton System Limited, Marshall Aerospace, Memphis Internatýonal Inc, Lockheed Martin Aircraft and Logistics Centers, Singapore Technologies Aeerospaca, Honoywell, Casa, Mae Systems, Thomson-CSF International, Albit Systems Ltd, Sogerma and Certified Aircraft Parts Inc are expected to bid for the project. [07] PRECIPITATION IN SOUTH EAST AND EASTERNREGIONS DROPS IN LAST TWO YEARSANKARA - A 20 to 35 percent drop in precipitation was observed in the last two years in south east and eastern regions of Anatolia. State Meteorology Directorate General said on Sunday that they also observed a 12 percent decrease throughout Turkey in 2000. Seyfullah Celik from the State Meteorology General Directorate Weather Forecast Department said the reason for the decrease in precipitation was that low pressure lines did not enter Turkey from the Mediterranean in the last two years and the precipitation generally occurred in the northern parts. Celik also noted that the temperatures this summer were over seasonal averages and this increased evaporation. ''We lived the hottest days of the last century,'' Celik said. Celik said they are expecting precipitation at normal levels in September, October and November in Turkey and one or two degrees increase in the temperatures. He stated that they are not expecting drought in any of Turkey's regions. [08] EUROPEAN QUALITY AWARDS TO BE GIVEN IN ISTANBUL ON SEPTEMBER 27ISTANBUL - European Quality Awards will be given in Istanbul on September 27.The winners will be announced at the ''Forum of Excellence'' which will be organized at Lutfi Kurdar International Congress and Exhibition Hall in Istanbul. The European Foundation of Quality Management (EFQM) will organize the event. Arcelik, Eczacibasi Vitra and Marmara University's Engineering Faculties are among the candidates. ''Management of Differences'' will be the theme of this year's forum. Interactive workshops and an exhibition will also be parts of the forum. Turkish companies have won six awards since 1995 in the competition. [09] TURKEY-ARMENIA RELATIONS AND GENOCIDE RESEARCH CENTER OPENED IN ERZURUM UNIVERSITYERZURUM - A ''Turkey-Armenia Relations and Genocide Research Center'' has been founded in Ataturk University in Erzurum.Deputy Director of the Center Dr. Erol Kurkcuoglu said on Sunday that their goal in opening this center was to make various documents showing Armenian cruelty accessible to all people in the world. Noting that they have carried out several studies on this subject, Kurkcuoglu said they want to make better use of these researches. Since the Erzurum University is located in a region where the Armenian cruelty took place, the university carries out the most comprehensive research on this subject among other Turkish universities, he noted. Kurkcuoglu said they did excavations in various villages in eastern Erzurum and Igdir provinces and organized panel discussions and conferences about their findings. During the excavations, they obtained important data which will be used in the Turkey-Armenia Relations and Genocide Research Center, he said. ''We had a very strong foundation on this matter but we were not organized, '' he went on to say. ''This is why we set up this center. We don't want anyone to use Turkey-Armenia relations and the genocide to use as a political tool. We want to shed light on the history through our documents. We have many documents which we obtained from Russian, Ottoman and Armenian archieves,'' he said. The Research Center will organize conferences which will be attended by Turkish and foreign scientists. The official opening of the center will take place on October 4. [10] TURKEY-U.S. COMMERCIAL RELATIONSANKARA - Besides its domination over life style, consumption habits, television and motion-picture sectors, the United States has significant economic investments in Turkey.According to the information compiled from the Treasury and Foreign Trade Undersecretariats, a total of 26 billion 754.7 million U.S. dollars of foreign capital inflow had been permitted as of end of June, 2000, and 3 billion 41.2 million U.S. dollars of this inflow belonged to the United States while France had a share of 5.3 billion U.S. dollars and Germany haa a 3.5 billion U.S. dollars stake. According to the Treasury Undersecretariat's Foreign Capital Directorate General data, a total of 1 billion 202 million U.S. dollars of foreign capital inflow had been permitted in the first half of 2000, and 30.6 million U.S. dollars of this amount belonged to the United States. As of end-June 2000, a total of 5,129 foreign capital companies were operating in Turkey, and 318 them were American-rooted companies. As of the same date, total capital of foreign capital limited companies in Turkey reached 2 quadrillion 220 trillion Turkish liras (TL) while 1 quadrillion 178 trillion 963 billion TL of this amount belonged to foreign capital companies. The share of foreign capital in total capital of foreign capital limited companies is 53.12 percent. The total capital of Turkish companies which set up partnerships with American companies is 264 trillion 460.3 billion TL, and 57.36 percent or 151 trillion 685.6 billion TL of this capital belongs to American companies. The share of American companies in total capital of foreign companies is 12.87 percent. As of end-June 2000, the U.S. became the second country with which Turkey mostly traded. According to the statistics, in the first half of 2000, total exports from Turkey was 13 billion 353.4 million U.S. dollars, and 1 billion 489 million U.S. dollars of those exports were made to the U.S. In the January-June period of 2000, exports to the U.S. increased 26.44 percent when compared to same period of 1999. In the same period last year, total exports from Turkey to the U.S. was 1 billion 177.6 million U.S. dollars which was equivalent to 9.2 percent of total exports from Turkey. In the first half of 2000, a total of 25 billion 24.2 million U.S. dollars imports were made, and 1 billion 962 million U.S. dollars which was equivalent to 7.8 percent of total imports were made from the U.S. With this amount of imports, the U.S. ranked second after Germany. Imports from the U.S. increased 40.22 percent in the first half of 2000 when compared to same period of 1999. In the first half of 1999, 7.6 percent of total imports had been made from the U.S. The U.S. considers Turkey one of the ten rapidly growing and emerging markets in the world and Turkey attributes great importance to foreign trade with the U.S. Total imports from U.S. in 1999 had been 3 billion 80 million U.S. dollars while total exports to this country from Turkey had been 2 billion 436.6 million U.S. dollars. In 1998, total exports from Turkey to the U.S. had been 2 billion 233.3 million U.S. dollars while total imports from this country had been 4 billion 53.7 million U.S. dollars. [11] FP LEADER KUTAN LEAVES FOR BRUSSELSISTANBUL - Virtue Party (FP) leader Recai Kutan told reporters prior to his departure for Brussels that his party ''genuinely wanted Turkey's full membership to the European Union (EU).''Kutan said that he would have contacts with Belgian government authorities, EU representatives and NATO Secretary General in Brussels. When they visited the United States last year, Kutan said that their slogan was ''know about us through asking us,'' and their visit to Brussels would also have a similar purpose. When asked whether or not he was going to Belgium to seek for support regarding amendment to Article 312, Kutan said they would express their views on this article and the closure of the Welfare Party (RP) if they were asked any questions on these matters by the Belgian authorities. [12] INDUSTRIAL INFRASTRUCTURE IN GAP REGIONGAZIANTEP - A total of 405 factories are operating in organized industrial zones (OSB) in five provinces in the Southeastern Anatolia Project (GAP) region.GAP Regional Development Management Directorate data shows that two OSBs in Gaziantep, one OSB in Sanliurfa and one OSB in Mardin have been finalized. Although the construction of OSBs in Diyarbakir and Kilis is under way, some factories have started production. The data shows that 136 enterprises in Gaziantep-1 OSB, 107 enterprises in Gaziantep-2 OSB, 49 factories in Mardin OSB and 83 factories in Sanliurfa OSB started production. Twelve factories in Diyarbakir OSB, fourteen factories in Gaziantep-3 OSB, and four others in Kilis OSB started production. A total of 30 thousand people were employed at these OSBs. In the scope of investment program, construction of Adiyaman OSB, Batman OSB, Diyarbakir OSB, Gaziantep-3 OSB, Gaziantep-4 OSB, Nizip OSB, Kilis OSB, Siirt OSB and Sanliurfa-2 OSB was foreseen. With the finalization of construction of these OSBs, the number of factories will increase to 121 and number of employed people will reach 97 thousand. Meanwhile, eighteen small industrial zones consisting of 5,514 business places were finalized in the provinces and townships in GAP region, and 33 thousand people were employed. There are 19 projects consisting of 4,527 business places in the investment program. With the finalization of these projects, 37 small industrial zones with 10, 041 business places will be opened, and 60 thousand people will be employed. [13] FRENCH PRIEST WITH DONKEY CARRIAGE ARRIVES IN NEVSEHIRNEVSEHIR - Priest Jean Grenapin who started travelling from the French city of Larochelle on February 27 with a donkey carriage arrived in Nevsehir province in central Anatolia on Sunday.Grenapin's final destination is Israel. The 60-year old priest told the A.A correspondent that he travelled 5,115 kilometers and did not face any dangerous situation on the way. ''God was my biggest sponsor and helper,'' Grenapin said. He stated that Turkish people offered him help in everything since the moment he entered the country. Some people fed his donkey while others shared their food with him, he said. Grenapin said he sometimes found it difficult to travel in Turkey due to the land's hilly structure. ''My biggest dream in my youth was to go on such a trip, now I am doing that,'' he said. ''Despite my old age, I started feeling very young during this trip.'' Grenapin said he was going to Israel only to worship there and he was expecting to reach this country by the end of this year. Grenapin will pass from Nigde, Adana, Hatay, Syria, Lebanon and Jordan before he reaches his final destination. The French priest will return to his home with a ferry early in 2001. [14] 187 HOUSES AND WORK PLACES FLOODED IN ISTANBUL DUE TO HEAVY RAINSISTANBUL - A total of 187 houses and work places were flooded due to heavy showers in Sariyer and Kagithane districts of Istanbul on Sunday.The rains started at midnight and lasted for three hours. In the meantime, a total of 143 traffic accidents were reported both in Anatolian and European sides of the city during the rains. Seven of these accidents resulted in injuries while others caused material damage. Meteorologists said they were expecting the rains to continue also on Monday and Tuesday.
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