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Turkish Press Review, 01-06-08Turkish 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 morning08.06.2001CONTENTS
[01] SEZER IN SANLIURFAPresident Ahmet Necdet Sezer was in Sanliurfa yesterday on his third stop of his visit to Southeastern Anatolia provinces. Addressing the academicians and students from the Harran University, the President mainly pointed to the importance of the fighting against corruption. He said, "Corruption disturbs all segments of the society. To get rid of this disease is only possible by bringing up citizens having high ethic values and making administration transparent." Later, Mr. and Mrs. Sezer made observations at Ataturk Dam and Harran region. Before leaving for Ankara, they also visited touristic sites in Sanliurfa. /Turkiye/[02] EP DELEGATION MEETS WITH JUSTICE MINISTER TURKEuropean Parliament (EP) delegation visiting Turkey to examine F-type prisons met with Justice Minister Hikmet Sami Turk. Calling on Turk to meet with inmates and their relatives, the delegation will announce the results of its observations. The delegation, including Turkey-EU Joint Parliamentary Commission Co-Chairman Daniel Cohn-Bendit, EP-Turkey rapporteur Alen Lamasur and EP Parliamentarian Ozan Ceyhun, visited Kandira and Sincan F-type prisons and Kecioren Children's Penitentiary. Ceyhun stated, "We are here to collect information about ongoing death fasts and to determine future steps to solve the problem." The delegation met with Turk yesterday evening. /Cumhuriyet/[03] EU SUPPORT FOR FEMALE ENTREPRENEURSEuropean Commission will establish educational centers to support female entrepreneurs in Ankara, Bursa, Corum, Denizli and Icel. The project aims at encouraging and supporting entrepreneurship among Turkish women. The project is expected to create new self-improvement opportunities for Turkish women. Commission had put out a tender to finance the project. /Cumhuriyet/[04] EROGLU PRESENTS NEW CABINET LIST TO PRESIDENT DENKTASDervis Eroglu, the leader of the National Unity Party (UBP) and Prime Minister, who was designated by Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) President Rauf Denktas to form the new government, signed the coalition protocol with the Democrat Party (DP) on Wednesday, and submitted the list of the new Cabinet to Denktas on Thursday. Denktas said that he had accepted the new Cabinet, adding that he hoped the Cabinet could work in harmony. Denktas said that the government had to work in the TRNC without feeling that they were a coalition, stressing that there was a lack of confidence in the country and it was the task of the new government to overcome this lack of confidence. Denktas stated that he was ready to help the government on all issues. /Turkish News/[05] ROZBORA AND JERAPKOVA ON CYPRUSCzech Republic's and Slovakia's Ambassadors to Southern Cyprus, reacted against Turkish Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit's "friendly separation of Czech model" suggestion, which he mentioned for the solution of the Cyprus problem. Representatives of the Czech Republic and Slovakia, defended that the conditions of Cyprus are different from those of the Czechoslovakia and that this suggestion cannot be accepted. Slovakian Ambassador, Dusan Rozbora, answered the questions of daily 'Hurriyet' and said, "Right lessons should be taken from the history. A suitable thing for a certain country does not necessarily have to be appropriate for another country. The separation of Czechoslovakia cannot set an example for Cyprus." Meanwhile, the Czech Ambassador, Vera Jerapkova, said, "We do not agree with Ecevit. There is no similarity between Czechoslovakia and Cyprus in terms of history and political conditions. The best solution for Cyprus is a federation, bi-communal, bi-zonal with two regions and two societies, in which two nations can live together in peace." /Hurriyet/[06] BUSY SCHEDULE WITH MOSCOWIgor Ivanov is the first Russian Foreign Minister who has visited Turkey for the last nine years. Therefore experts evaluate Ivanov's visit as an important opportunity for reviewing bilateral relations between Turkey and Russia. Additionally, Ivanov's visit is regarded as a preparation for Russian Head of State Vladimir Putin's forthcoming visit to Turkey. The Russian Minister will travel to Istanbul to meet with Turkish businessmen after completing his contacts in Ankara. Among the issues to be discussed during the meeting between Foreign Minister Ismail Cem and his Russian counterpart are Chechnya, stability in the Caucasus, economic relations, Iraq, Blue Stream project and opportunities for a strategic partnership between the two countries. /Cumhuriyet/[07] TURKEY INVITES ARMENIANS FOR NEGOTIATIONSFollowing the efforts of the Turkish Industrialists' and Businessmen's Association(TUSIAD), Istanbul Chamber of Trade invited Armenian Union of Businessmen and Industrialists to Turkey. Moreover, the government entered a dialogue with Yerevan. A high-level bureaucrat from the Foreign Ministry met with David Hovhanissian from the Armenian Foreign Ministry. But, negotiations recessed upon the insistance of the Armenian side for establishing an unconditional diplomatic relation and for focusing on the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh issue. The Foreign Ministry announced they are exploring the ways for continuing the negotiations. /Milliyet/[08] TURKISH STORES IN MACEDONIA PLUNDEREDThe deputy head of the Turk Democratic Party "Manastýr" branch, Isa Ibis, said Macedonian nationalists attacked houses of Turks to get revenge of the soldiers killed by the Albanians in "Manastir". Also a group of nationalists in "Resne" set 5 stores on fire causing the damaging of the mosque as well. The adviser to Resne Mufti, Hafiz Suleyman, confirmed the incidents and called the government to provide their security through the Macedonian radio. /Milliyet/[09] TURKISH GENERALS TO VISIT GEORGIAA delegation from the Turkish General Staff is set to pay an official visit to Georgia on Friday, June 8. As Prime-News told by the Georgian Defense Ministry, the head of main operative service of the Turkish General Staff Koksal Karabay, head of education and structural services of the General Staff Melih Tunca, chairman of the coordinating council for Turkish military cooperation in Azerbaijan Zeki Durlanik and other officers from the Turkish General Staff will visit Georgia. Members of the Turkish delegation will visit those military bodies in Georgia that have been in received Turkish government grants. Issues of military cooperation between the two countries are to be discussed during the visit. /Turkish News/[10] KIVRIKOGLU IN BEIJINGChief of the General Staff, Gen. Huseyin Kivrikoglu, on an official visit to People's Republic of China, continued his meetings with Chinese authorities. Yesterday, he was recieved by President Jiang Zemin and Chief of the General Staff, Gen. Fu Quanyou. /Turkiye/[11] NUCLEAR DEFENSE SHIELD PROJECT ON THE AGENDA OF NATO MEETINGNATO member countries' spring term meeting began yesterday in Brussels. One of the most important parts of the meeting will be US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld's speech on the Nuclear Defense Shield Project. National Defense Minister Sabahattin Cakmakoglu represents Turkey at the meeting. Another significant issue to be discussed during the meeting is the European Security and Defense Policy (ESDP). /Cumhuriyet/[12] SECURITY FORCES KILL FIVE PKK TERRORISTSSecurity forces have killed five separatist terrorists in recent clashes in an area close to the country's border with her southern neighbour Syria, local security officials said on Thursday. No Turkish military casualties were reported in the fighting that took place late on Wednesday in the mountains. /Turkish Daily News/[13] NEW THREAT FOR STRAITSThe Russian Parliament's Lower House Duma approved to bury of the nuclear waste coming from the West in Russia. Concern over the danger in the Turkish straits has increased as they are on the path of the transportation of the waste from Europe. Russia is planning to earn about $20 billion in 10 years with the transport of nuclear waste of 20 thousand tons. /Turkiye/YARDIM: "WE PLAN TO BECOME THE TRANSPORTATION COUNTRY OF 21ST CENTURY" Participating in the petroleum and natural gas exhibition in Baku, Turkish pipeline transportation company (BOTAS) Chairman Gokhan Yardim said their goal was to make Turkey the "European-Asian Energy Corridor of the 21st Century." Yardim, who addressed the conference that was organized as part of the exhibition, said Turkey, which has the biggest economy in its region and the most active energy market, is a candidate to become a transportation country of the 21st century. Yardim gave detailed information on the Baku-Ceyhan project, stating that he did not expect a problem to arise on the financing of the project. /Turkish Daily News/ DGPI MARKS 81ST ANNIVERSARY A delegation from the Directorate General of Press and Information (DGPI) paid a visit on Thursday to Ataturk's Mausoleum on the occasion of their 81st anniversary. After laying a wreath at the mausoleum, DGPI Director General Aydin Sezgin signed the Visitors' Book. His message read: "Great Ataturk, the Directorate General of Press and Information that you have founded when you were fighting to create a modern Turkish state is marking its 81st year today. The Directorate General will continue on working within the targets you have shown. May you rest in peace." On the occasion of DGPI's anniversary, President Ahmet Necdet Sezer, Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit, Parliament Speaker Omer Izgi and True Path Party (DYP) Chairwoman Tansu Ciller sent messages of congratulation. /Turkish News/ [14] PARLIAMENT PASSES NEW LAW ON RADIO-TV REGULATING BOARDParliament passed the law regulating the establishment and function of radio stations and television channels on Wednesday. The law sets new rules in the foundation and structuring of the media organizations. The law overhauls the structure of the Supreme Board of Radio and Television (RTUK) as well. Supervision of national and local radio and television boradcasting will be carried out by the RTUK. The law stipulates that political parties, unions, foundations and local administration units, such as municipalities, will not be able to establish radio or television channel. /Turkish News/[15] ECONOMY DISCUSSED AT THE SUPREME PLANNING COUNCILPrime Minister Bulent Ecevit said during the Supreme Planning Council's meeting yesterday, general situation of the economy was discussed. Stressing the decline in the inflation rate and the increase in exports as promising, Ecevit said, "If the economic program is carried out correctly, a re-growing process can be achieved afetr the second half of the year." /Turkiye/[16] DERVIS TO GO TO FRANKFURT AND NEW YORKDuring the Supreme Planning Council (YPK), State Minister Responsible for Economy, Kemal Dervis, said Turkey gave importance to debt swap and that the Treasury would be relieved concerning the structure of domestic loan term and interests this way. Dervis added, "The support extended to Turkey is not enough. We should also ensure financial assistance from foreign private institutions. I will go to Frankfurt and New York and request support." /Sabah/[17] TOBB MEETS DERVISTurkish Union of Chambers and Stock Exchanges (TOBB) Executive Board Director, Fuat Miras and a delegation of the TOBB Industry Chambers Council headed by Chairman Kemal Colakoglu, visited State Minister for Economy, Kemal Dervis, yesterday. /Turkiye/[18] KAHKONEN'S DEPARTURE POSTPONEDInternational Monetary Fund's (IMF) Chief to Turkey, Juha Kahkonen, and an accompanying office delegation will stay in Turkey more. According to a previous plan, the delegation was to leave Turkey following the press conference yesterday. However, the IMF delegation will spend the weekend in Turkey because they could not manage to complete their work. It was stated that the IMF delegation attaches importance especially to the banking sector and public financing, and that they also want to see if some of the structural changes, as stated in the letter of intent, have been made. /Sabah/[19] KIEKENS MEETS WITH BANKING DIRECTORSThe International Monetary Fund (IMF) European Executive Director, Willy Kiekens, met with Ass. Prof. Ekrem Keskin, Secretary General of the Turkish Union of Banks, in Istanbul yesterday. Following the one-hour meeting, Kiekens refrained from replying to questions regarding grain prices and civil servants salary increases, he said, "I do not want to comment on these topics. The IMF delegation is still working with government officials in Ankara. On Monday, a press conference will be held with the participation of State Minister Kemal Dervis. I do not want to declare anything until then." /Turkiye/[20] CHHIBBER: "NO NEED TO HURRY ABOUT THE TOBACCO LAW"World Bank Turkey Director, Ajay Chhibber, said World Bank is not worried about the prices of grain and salaries of public workers, which were determined higher than the amount specified in the Letter of Intent given to the IMF. Chhibber said the negotiation on the $1.1 billion portion of $4 billion support to be extended to the banking sector will be completed soon. "But, there are more steps to be taken, such as the liquidation of Emlakbank, public borrowings administration law. The credit will be given following the approval of these laws," said Chhibber. Agricultural reform credit worth $600 million will be taken up in World Bank at the end of this month, but the law on tobacco, which is the pre-condition for the credit, is not required to be immediately implemented according to Chhibber. A transitional period of one or two years may be applied to fully transfer to the new system. /Milliyet/[21] FINAL DAY IN SWAPPrivate consultation companies, which are preparing a report on swap implemented by the Treasury, will complete their works today. Salomon Smith Barney and Morgan Stanley, which are giving free advice regarding financial issues, are working on specifiying the estimated amount, due date and interest rate of swap-transformation of TL state bonds to long-term foreign currency based bonds. /Milliyet/[22] POSITIVE SIGNAL FROM MOODY'S TO COMPANIESThe credit rating company Moody's announced that it may give higher grades to companies than the grades of their countries. Moody's said it is examining the financial situation of 38 companies in 13 countries, including Turkey, with a possibility to increase their grades. Vakif Bank with a B1 grade is one of the companies under re-examination. /Milliyet/[23] OZTRAK: "NO STATE BANK WILL BE LEFT"Treasury Undersecretary, Faik Oztrak, said, "In the middle term, there will be no state banks left." Addressing a panel Oztrak said, "We cannot talk about the future of the state banks, but only the future of Ziraat and Halkbank can be mentioned.. After the completion of the program, in the middle term, there will be no state banks." /Turkiye/[24] OZINCE: "STATE BANKING IS NECESSARY"Turkish Is Bank Director General, Ersin Ozince, said he does not believe state banks' responsibility in banking sector has ended. Expressing the importance of the state banks' activities, Ozince said, "If state and private banks do not put capital in the banking sector, we cannot carry out banking activities efficiently." /Turkiye/[25] TURKISH MARKETS UP ON DEBT SWAP OPTIMISMTurkish bond yields fell on Thursday while the lira currency strengthened against the dollar and stocks rose on optimism over planned voluntary debts swaps to help the country resolve its financial crisis, analysts said. Turkish bankers want the government to swap unprofitable lira-based paper they hold for foreign currency denominated bonds. Senior bankers said on Wednesday details of the swap would be announced by the start of next week as Turkey seeks to implement a $15.7 billion IMF crisis rescue program. /Turkish News/UNDERSECRETARY EYES $30 BILLION IN EXPORTS Foreign Trade Undersecretary Kursad Tuzmen said that Turkey would exceed $30 billion in exports, a psychological barrier for export proceeds, for the first time this year and approach exports levels of developed countries. Tuzmen spoke to reporters after the convention of the World Economic Processing Zones Association (WEPZA) in London on Thursday. Tuzmen said the WEPZA provides a suitable environment for communicating with the World Bank and World Trade Organization (WTO) officials, and speak about Turkey's problems. He said that Turkey succeeded to increase its exports by 13.8 percent in the first five months of this year. /Turkish News/ AUTOMOBILE SALES INCREASES BY 33% Automobile sales increased by 33% in May when compared to the sales in April. 13,562 automobiles were sold in May, whereas 10, 195 were sold in April. Meanwhile, the highest numbers have been reached with the figures announced this year. /Sabah/ [26] ISTANBUL MAYOR FLIES FLAG ON WALL STREETIstanbul Greater City Mayor Ali Mufit Gurtuna is in New York to attend a special session at the UN called "Istanbul Plus Five" and has said is going to plant a flag pole behind the bull statue on Wall Street and then raise the Turkish flag. He also said he is going to present a petition he has written out to do this to the Mayor of New York. Gurtuna noted that there are two flag poles behind the bull and that while the United States flag flies on one of them, the Greek flag occasionally flies on the other. He said that Istanbul Greater City Municipality would foot the bill and that the Turkish flag would then fly alongside the Greek flag in a display of friendship. /Turkish Daily News/[27] TURKISH COMPANIES IN BULGARIATurkish businessmen are chaired to Bulgaria in order to make use of inexpensive manpower and, thus, Bulgaria became an important country for investments. 2,700 Turkish companies have been established in Bulgaria up to now and 1,000 of them are still active, whereas 1,000 are making productions. Other companies are carrying out commercial activities. /Hurriyet/[28] BORDER TRADE WITH IRAQ TO CONTINUE"After the conclusion of the transport tender, border trade between Turkey and Iraq will continue," State Minister Mehmet Kececiler said. He indicated that the border trade had never been interrupted and the halt at Habur checkpoint was due to the transport tender, the Anatolia news agency reported. Following the tender's conclusion today, the border trade will restart in 5 to 10 days. Kececiler indicated that there was no conflict between Turkey and Iraq concerning the trade border. "Iraq needs to buy medicine and food from Turkey and they give us crude oil in return," he continued. /Turkish Daily News/GRAIN BOARD SEEKS 20 MILLION US DOLLARS FOREIGN LOAN The Turkish Soil Products Office, (TMO) said on Thursday it would take out 200 million US dollars in foreign loans to finance part of its 2001/2002 grain purchase. "The 200 million US dollars loan will be based on asset-backed borrowing. The bids are about to be evaluated by the TMO," the board said in a statement. Details on cost and maturity of the loan were not disclosed. /Turkish Daily News/ HAZELNUT EXPORTS AMOUNT TO 587 MILLION US DOLLARS Turkish hazelnut exports amounted to 587 million US dollars in the first nine months of the 2000/2001 export season that opened on September 1, 2000, the Anatolia news agency reported yesterday. According to the Black Sea Hazelnut Products Exporters Union Turkey exported 177,612 tons of hazelnuts over the said period. In the corresponding comparable period of the previous export season 179,781 tons were exported and the receipts amounted to 625 million US dollars. /Turkish Daily News/ [29] EUROPEAN TEXTILE FIRMS CONVENE IN ISTANBULThe Union of the European Textile Industrialists' 2001 Congress was held in Istanbul. 100 delegations from 10 European countries participated in the four-day congress. Addressing the congress, Chairman of the Union, Koen Buyse, said, " Turkey is among the most important textile countries in the world. She will surmount the recent crisis soon and begin to re-grow. We also wish and support Turkey to be included in the EU as soon as possible." /Turkiye/[30] TURKEY IS THE MOST INEXPENSIVE VACATION SITEThe "Neu Kronen", a daily published in Vienna, stated that Turkey was the most inexpensive vacation site in the world. The paper said among 11 countries from Central Europe to Japan no country is more inexpensive than Turkey in terms of accommodation, food, souvenirs and services according to the research conducted. /Cumhuriyet/[31] FROM THE COLUMNS... FROM THE COLUMNS... FROM THE COLUMNS...[32] THREE VISITS BY MUSTAFA BALBAY (CUMHURIYET)Columnist Mustafa Balbay comments on the visits of US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld to Ankara and Incirlik, Turkish Chief of General Staff General Huseyin Kivrikoglu to People's Republic of China, and Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov to Ankara and Istanbul. A summary of his column is as follows:"US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld has created a certain unease in Turkey when she is mostly concerned over the developments on the Island of Cyprus. Rumsfeld had three important requests from Turkey before the NATO summit to be held in Brussels in June. Firstly, he requested Turkey's help to oust Saddam from power, secondly to enter a dialogue with Armenia, and finally to reach a compromise on the European Security and Defense Policy (ESDP). However, Saddam is the least of Turkey's concerns as she is more interested in the territorial integrity of Iraq. Turkey is not concerned over dialogue with Armenia but the policy followed by this country in line with her constitution and by the members of Armenian diaspora. Moreover, Turkey is not worried about EU forming a separate army based on ESDP but rather to have a say on developments in her region and to protect the interests of NATO. On these three points she tends to disagree with the US. Brussels summit may result in a knot instead of a solution of the problem. General Kivrikoglu's visit to People's Republic of China elevates the relations to the highest level on the military front, following the visits paid by all force commanders. Kivrikoglu was received by the Chinese President Jiang Zemin yesterday. On April 23 reception when we had asked Kivrikoglu if a new and special relationship was being formed with China, he had answered that the world was being shaped anew, strategic balances were reset. It should not be surprising if Turco-Chinese relations took off like a missile. Meanwhile, it should be mentioned that the heads of states of 'Shanghai Five' countries will hold their sixth summit in Shanghai. China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan are participating in the summit where Uzbekistan will attend as an observer. Russian Foreign Minister Ivanov's arrival will add a little of 'crisis-tension' and a little 'new opportunities-joint searches' to the relations with the US. Turkey's Iraq policy is not in contradiction with that of Russia. The 'smart sanctions' which created a certain unease in Turkey are also opposed by Russia. In the Caucasus there are both common and opposing views. Turkey has a strategic partnership with Georgia and Russia with Armenia. The US is pleased over the fact that Turkey is strengthening Georgia militarily within NATO standards whereas Russia is disturbed over the issue. Russia has a hand in the frequent crises occurring in Georgia. Baku-Ceyhan oil pipeline and the Blue Stream project are other issues bringing Turkey together or face to face with Russia. However, Deputy Foreign Minister Ivan Ivanov's statement in Moscow on May 23 gave the signal in search of new opportunities where he said, 'Turkey has an important role in the Caucasus. We have to enter into new ventures with Turkey.' However, it is not possible to solve all problems in the Caucasus with one visit. The result of these visits is that, Turkey is not a wing but a pivotal country. The important thing is not to take on the role, but to have the necessary power and intelligence to be able to perform it." Turkish Press Review Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |
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