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Anadolu Agency: News in English, 01-02-10Anadolu Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: The Anadolu Agency Home Page at <http://www.anadoluajansi.com.tr/>Anadolu AgencyANADOLU AGENCY NEWS 10 FEBRUARY 2001 Saturday CONTENTS
[01] TURKEY-PRESS SCANThese are some of the major headlines and their brief stories in Turkey's press on February 10, 2000. The Anadolu Ajansi does not verify these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.HURRIYET (LIBERAL)IMF TO COME TO TURKEYThe International Monetary Fund (IMF) delegation will come to Turkey almost one week before the earlier scheduled date for the sixth review. Treasury Undersecretary Selcuk Demiralp and the IMF delegation have continued telephone diplomacy for a long time to change the date of the sixth review. Demiralp had expressed his concerns that the sixth review might be interrupted due to the G-20 meeting if the IMF delegation had come to Turkey on February 15. PROGRAM WILL NOT HAMPERED IF TELEKOM IS NOT SOLD MILLIYET (LIBERAL)SHE IS AN ANGEL NOWTurkey lost one of its 12 women pilots. Gok, whose F-5A warplane crashed near Ermenek township of central province of Karaman during training flight, became the first Turkish female pilot killed in plane crashes. Her dead body could be found after hours. Gok's mother, who lost her daughter, was burst into tears. CINAR ALSO PREFERS VEHICLE WITHOUT ARMOUR SABAH (LIBERAL)IT'S FIRST TIME THAT A WOMAN PILOT DIES IN A PLANE CRASHAyfer Gok, a woman pilot in the Konya Third Main Jet Base, took off the base on Friday noon. There were also two more F-5 planes flying in the air. Gok's plane crashed into the mountains when testing manoeuvres to escape from the enemies over Karaman. The pilot of the second F-5 plane said that Gok jumped out of the plane but she could not survive. G-20 MEETING ON FEBRUARY 18 CUMHURIYET (LEFT)ECONOMIC BESIEGE TO THE GOVERNMENTA summit took place in Prime Ministry building on Friday with the broad participation of concerned ministers and officials. Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit headed the summit. The officials briefed the goverment about the issues which they wanted from the government. Evaluations have been made regarded with the fund which the exporters requested to be formed. INTEREST INTENSIFIED ON BAKU-CEYHAN Turkey said this was a very important step for the realization of the project. Turkey envisages the project to be completed in 2004. A very critical meeting will take place in Astana by the end of this month regarding participation of Kazakh oil to the project. If Kazakhstan participates in the project, the pipeline will start from Aktau city of this country and will reach Ceyhan over Baku and Tbilisi. RADIKAL (LEFT)50 KG HEROIN SEIZED IN ONE OPERATIONDrugs having a market price of almost 600 billion Turkish liras (TL) were seized in an operation in Ankara. Twelve people who were claimed to be members of a gang were captured. Efforts are underway to capture 14 other people. Fifty kilograms of heroin and 20 kilograms of hashish were confiscated in the operation. SUGAR FACTORIES TO BE PRIVATIZED TURKIYE (RIGHT)THERE IS HASTE IN IMFThe International Monetary Fund (IMF) delegation was concerned following the works of the government regarded with tax debts, and meeting of the coalition leaders with the leading names of the business world. Carlo Cottarelli, the Turkey Desk Chief, decided to change the date of his scheduled visit to Turkey and arrived in Turkey. FEAR FOR DROUGHT ZAMAN (CONSERVATIVE)FOREIGN MINISTER CEM SAYS TURKEY LOSES ITS CONFIDENCE IN FRANCEForeign Minister Ismail Cem said that Turkey lost its confidence in France. Speaking in a meeting on ''New Ways in Foreign Policy'' held by EBSO foundation, Cem criticized the adoption of the resolution on the so-called genocide on the Armenians by the French parliament. Cem said, ''France acted unjustly towards Turkey, this made Turkey very uneasy. We can't rely on such a country in issues of security and strategy. This is up to France.'' GIANT DEFICIT IN BALANCE OF PAYMENTS -PUBLIC WORKS AND HOUSING MINISTER AYDIN IN U.S. Aydin, accompanied by Prime Ministry Chief Adviser Ahmet Vefik Alp, will attend the introduction of a program for developed wood construction technologies which was prepared by the U.S. Agriculture Department and a group of U.S. companies. The program will be introduced in a fair held in Atlanta between February 9 and 11. Aydin, Alp and a delegation comprised of representatives of construction sector will visit the fair and see different models. -TURKISH FILM PRESENTED WITH JURY SPECIAL AWARD This film was presented with the jury special award on Friday night. Nuri Bilge Ceylan, the director of the film, told A.A correspondent that he did not expect to be presented with an award because there were many good films in the festival but that he was very pleased. Ceylan said that this award was the 11th international award presented to his film ''May Boredom.'' May Boredom had been granted Golden Bear award which was the biggest award in the Berlin Film Festival last year. -TREMOR IN TOKAT Bogazici University Kandilli Observatory and Seismology Institute said the quake, measuring 3.7 on the Richter scale, occurred at 09:08 local time. The institute said the epicenter of the quake was Tokat Erbaa. -AYDIN, MINISTER OF PUBLIC WORKS AND HOUSING, Aydin, who will attend a construction fair in Atlanta city of Georgia state of the U.S., met with the representatives of the U.S. companies who took place in ''U.S. Wood Products Construction Program,'' project, which will be promoted in the fair. Responding to the questions of Turkish reporters in Atlanta, Aydin said they worked on various projects for the usage of Eximbank loan, worth of one billion U.S. dollars, which the U.S. government opened to Turkey following the quake. Aydin said, ''our aim is to solve shanty towns problem in Turkey. Our financial sources are not sufficent at the moment. We could not benefit from the Eximbank loan as there was not project. We are looking for projects to use this loan. We will be able to construct approximately 100, 000 houses with this one billion U.S. dollars loan.'' Aydin said quake-resistant wooden buildings are mostly discussed among the projects that have been discussed with the U.S. companies. He said everybody, who was interested in the construction sector, understood the importance of wood, and that they wanted to bring such kinds of houses to Turkey. Aydin said Istanbul, Kocaeli, and Adapazari are the most appropriate places to start these projects. Ahmet Vefik Alp, the Prime Ministry Chief Consultant, who accompanied Aydin, said the American type wooden houses were resistant to fire and insects, noting that they were not demolished in quake. Alp said there were two million shanty houses, noting that, ''the shanty houses in Istanbul, Izmir, Ankara and Adana should be cleared. We should convince those people to live in modern houses.'' The U.S. Agriculture Department also supports the wooden house project. Aydin will meet with the officials of the U.S. Agriculture Department, and sign an agreement for a training program for the Turkish architects and engineers. The U.S. First Renaissance Ventures, Wickes International companies and APA- The Engineered Wood Association support the project. Aydin will proceed to California afterwards completing his contacts in Atlanta. -DEPOSIT INTEREST RATES OF BANKS (percent) Name of Bank 1-Month 3-Month 6-Month 12-Month --------------- ------- ------- ------- -------- Citibank 48 44 43 40 Demirbank 38 33 30 25 Disbank 43 45 46 47 Emlak Bankasi 46 44 37 32 Esbank 45 42 41 41 Etibank 40 40 40 40 Finansbank 46 44 35 34 Garanti Bankasi 45 45 43 43 (x) Halkbank 44 42 37 35 Iktisat Bankasi 42 41 38 36 Is Bankasi 38 38 40 41 Kocbank 38 39 43 44 Osmanli Bankasi 42 42 40 40 Oyakbank 52 54 45 41 Pamukbank 40 40 35 35 Sumerbank 35 28 28 25 Sekerbank 40 41 36 36 TEB 45 45 42 39 Toprakbank 47 45 41 39 Vakifbank 37 36 33 30 Yapi Kredi Bankasi 32 32 37 37 (x) Ziraat Bankasi 32 32 31 30 (x): The interest rate applied until 2 billion Turkish liras (TL) -LOAN INTEREST RATES OF BANKS . (percent) . Consumer Motor-Vehicles Real Estate . ---------- -------------- ----------- -------------- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- Demirbank 6.50 6.50 5.75 5.75(xx) 5.75 Disbank 9.50 9.50 7.50 7.50 7.50 7.50 Emlak Bankasi 6.00 6.00 5.50 5.50 5.50 5.50 Esbank 6.25 6.25 6.00 6.25(xx) 6.00(XX) Etibank 4.50 4.50 4.00 4.00 4.00 4.00 Finansbank 6.50 6.50 5.00 5.00 5.00 5.00 Garanti Bankasi 5.75 5.75 5.25 5.25 5.25 D Iktisat Bankasi 8.75 8.75 8.50 8.50 8.50 8.50 Is Bankasi 5.75 5.75 5.25 5.25 5.25 5.50 Interbank 5.25 5.25 4.25 4.25 4.25 4.25 Kocbank 6.95 6.95 5.65 5.65 5.65 Osmanli Bankasi 8.50 8.50 5.95 5.95 5.95 5.95 Pamukbank 5.60 5.60 5.25 8.25 5.25 5.25 Sekerbank 5.90 5.90 5.75 5.75 6.00 Vakifbank 6.00 6.00 6.00 6.00 6.00 6.00 Yapi Kredi B. 5.25 5.25 5.00 5.00(xx) 5.25 Ziraat Bankasi 6.05 5.95 5.95 5.95 - (x) : Interest rate for 12-month maturity loan. (xx): Interest rate for 18-month maturity loan. -TURKISH-GEORGIAN RELATIONS Selahattin Akyurt, the Artvin Governor, and Colonel Husmen Akdeniz headed the Turkish delegation, and Tengiz Kontzolidze, the Batumi Border official, chaired the Georgian delegation. Speaking to reporters following the meeting, Artvin Governor Akyurt said there were border violations from time to time between the two countries. ''We have decided to prevent the border violations from now on. Turkish fishermen sometimes passed from Sarp region and entered to Georgian territories while fishing. However, there is not much violation. Our fishermen who got commercial permission are exceptional. These can not be regarded as border violation as they got official permission.'' Akyurt said Turkey will do its best in this respect, noting, ''we will fulfil our duties. Georgian delegation thinks the same. We will do our best to improve our friendship.'' Tengiz Kontzolidze, the head of the Georgian delegation, said they were pleased over discussing the border problems, noting that, Turkey and Georgia, the two neighbouring countries, would sove the border problems and work together to improve friendship. -JAPANESE GOVERNMENT TO ESTABLISH JAPANESE LANGUAGE LABORATORY IN KAYSERI Officials told A.A correspondent on Saturday that within the framework of the note on cultural exchange which had earlier been discussed by Foreign Minister Ismail Cem and his Japanese counterpart Yohei Kono, a Japanese Language Laboratory will be established within the scope of the Erciyes University's Japanese Language and Literature Department. The laboratory which costed 41 million Japanese yens, will be opened by a ceremony in which Shigeo Takenaka, the Japanese Ambassador to Turkey; and Erciyes University Rector Zeki Yilmaz. The cultural donation provided by the Japanese government for 14 projects since 1983 has reached 626 million 900 thousand Japanese yens so far. -PRIME MINISTER ECEVIT: When a journalist reminded that allegations were brought onto the agenda in Greece regarding so-called genocide on Greeks during the War of Independence and when recalled the decree regarded with announcing September 14 as the genocide day, Ecevit said, ''nobody with the slightest bit of sense could ever take these claims seriously. It is a historical fact known to all how much the Greeks have used oppression and cruelty during their occupation in Anatolia'' When asked if Turkey will have an initiative against Greece on the issue, Ecevit said, ''it is nothing to be taken seriously. Probably some sensible people in Greece will take this bizzare thing off the agenda.'' When a journalist recalled that a comprehensive meeting took place on Friday with the participation of ministers responsible for economy and with economy officials, and asked, ''what kind of concrete measures will be taken, and how this will take place without making concession from the stability program,'' Ecevit said, ''we are obliged to find a way to materialize this. As I always say, Turkish society is dynamic. Turkish entrepreneurs are also dynamic. To this end, we should reconcile stability with a dynamic economic structure. We will find a way for this.'' When a journalist said some parliamentarians from the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) did not sign the decree that was opened to give back citizenship to world famous Turkish poet Nazim Hikmet, Ecevit said, ''we have talked with Devlet Bahceli. There is not a difference of opinion between us.'' -GREEK ALLEGATIONS OF SO-CALLED GENOCIDE Referring to the statement that Foreign Minister Ismail Cem made in a private news channel, an official of the Foreign Ministry said that Turkey thinks these allegations are not serious. The official reminded that the minutes of the Lausaunne Treaty confirmed that the behaviours of the Greeks who occupied Anatolia violated the principles of the international law and said that Turkey does not consider these allegations as serious but closely follows this issue. Ioannis Corantis, the Greek Ambassador to Turkey, was summoned to the Foreign Ministry on Friday night and gave information to Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Faruk Logoglu. Greek Culture Minister Evangelos Venizelos and Deputy Interior Minister Costas Caiserlis prepared a decree on so-called genocide and submitted this decree to Greek President Costis Stephanopoulos. -PREPARATION FOR TOURISM ACTIVITIES IN HALFETI Muzaffer Dilek, the Governor, told A.A correspondent that Halfeti, which was one of the most important centers of the ''silk road,'' was a tourism center. Pointing out that some parts of Halfeti township remained under the waters of Birecik Dam, Dilek said citizens who lived in regions which remained under the waters, were settled in Karaotlak region, which is seven km away from the township. Dilek said people of Halfeti earned their living with fishing from river before, adding that new projects were underway for those people to make fishing in lake. ''We should make use of the tourism potential of the township which is full of history. To this end, we are implementing lake tourism in Birecik Dam lake. Tours will be staged to Zeugma ancient city and Rumkale with sea boats. Thus, Halfeti will be the new center of tourism,'' Dilek noted. -TURKISH SKIING NATIONAL TEAM DUE TO FINLAND Faruk Guler, the Chairman of the Skiing Federation and Erciyes Tourism Investors Union, told A.A correspondent on Saturday that eight skiers and two trainers will go to Finland on February 13. Guler said that the group will return to Turkey on February 25. Their target is to increase their FIS point before the 2002 Olympic Games, Guler noted. Guler added that the International Alpine Skiing Championships which was planned to be held in Erciyes Skiing Center between February 17 and 18 were cancelled due to inadequate amount of snow. FIS Nordic World Ski Championships are among the biggest winter sports events in Finland. -STATE MINISTER KECECILER: Addressing a ceremony staged for the opening of automation system which has been put into practice in Antalya Customs Directorate, Kececiler briefed about the automation system and position of customs in Turkey. Kececiler said Antalya Customs was the 23rd customs gate that started automation system, noting that thus more than 80 percent of the customs in Turkey have been automated. He said proceedings were speeded up and the mistakes reduced to the minimum level with the system. Kececiler said the longest exports procedures could be completed within 24 hours due to the system, adding that customs gates were very important in order to be ready for the EU. -GREEK SHADOW PUPPET THEATRE PERFORMED FOR QUAKE SURVIVOR CHILDREN The Greek shadow puppet theatre actors and actresses introduced the Greek shadow puppet theatre and explained the similarities between the Greek shadow puppet theatre and Karagoz shadow puppet theatre. Mehmet Alcinkaya, the director of the Social Center which was constructed in Sirintepe district of Izmit by the aid organization Kessa Dimitra, said that the Greek aid organization continued to organize activities in the center after the center was established. Alcinkaya noted that some other teams will perform shows in the center in the following months.
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