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TRKNWS-L Turkish Press Review (August 1, 1995)From: hristu@arcadia.harvard.edu (Dimitrios Hristu)CONTENTS[01] TURKEY AND GEORGIA OPEN SECOND BORDER CROSSING[02] CILLER ASSESSES CONSTITUTIONAL PACKAGE IN DER SPIEGEL[03] PKK A GROWING PROBLEM FOR GERMANY[04] PRIME MINISTER: "OUR TARGET IS ARTICLE 8"[05] ITALIAN FOREIGN MINISTER: "I APPRECIATE CILLER"[06] DONATION CAMPAIGN FOR BOSNIA[07] CHECHEN PM: "TURKEY WILL HELP US"[08] TWO CHILDREN DIE IN TERRORIST ASSAULT[09] TOURISM UP 59 % IN ANTALYA[10] TURKISH-SPEAKING WORLD YOUTH MEETS FOR THE FIFTH TIME[11] STATE MINISTER BAYKAL VISITS ISLAMABAD[12] UNDP REPRESENTATIVE CAIN COMPLETES HIS TERM[13] TURKISH HAND CRAFTS TO BE MARKETED IN FRANCEWITH THE COMPLIMENT OFDIRECTORATE GENERAL OF PRESS AND INFORMATIONTURKISH PRESS REVIEWAUGUST 01, 1995Summary of the political and economic news in the Turkish pressthis morning[01] TURKEY AND GEORGIA OPEN SECOND BORDER CROSSINGIn a ceremony attended by Turkish President Suleyman Demirel and his Georgian counterpart Eduard Shevardnadze, the Turkgozu bordergate on the Turkey-Georgia border in Turkey's Ardahan province was opened yesterday. Demirel, Prime Minister Tansu Ciller, Deputy Prime Minister Hikmet Cetin, Foreign Minister Erdal Inonu and a number of top Turkish officials met a Georgian delegation led by Shevardnadze at the Turkgozu bordergate. This lies about 100 kilometres inland beyond the first border crossing at Sarp on the Black Sea. "This post will serve as a gateway for peace in the region" Demirel said when he addressed the Georgians and Turks gathered at the border post. "We want to be friends with everyone in the region -with Greece, Iran, Syria and all the countries of the region" he said. "You are embracing the future here. Old historical barriers are lifting. One day, there will be no borders. You will be able to go directly to Central Asia. Central Asia is as close to Ankara as it is to here" Demirel added. Shevardnadze noted that the way was open to the hearts of both nations as far as he was concerned. He said: "I hope that natural gas and crude oil pipelines will pass through this land". Tansu Ciller said in her speech that the new border gate would soon drastically change the region. She pointed out that Anatolia had always served as the main highway between east and west. "In these days when Turkey is preparing for customs union with the EU, we will exchange our riches with Georgia and benefits will come to our region" Ciller said. She also referred to the serious problems existing in Azerbaijan, Chechnya and Bosnia. "I call from here to the whole world. We will continue our efforts to put a stop to this savagery even if we are left alone in doing so" Ciller added. Cetin announced that a third border crossing between the two countries would be opened in a few months. "We are not only friends but relatives" he said. Foreign Minister Erdal Inonu and his Georgian counterpart Alexandre Chikvaidze put their signatures to the protocol legalizing the opening of the border post. Georgian Prime Minister Otar Patsatsia for his part praised the efforts made by Demirel and Shevardnadze to promote good relations between the two countries. After the ceremony, Demirel and Shevardnadze, accompanied by their respective delegations, travelled by helicopter to the Georgian city of Borjomi for a three-hour working lunch. /Hurriyet-Milliyet/
[02] CILLER ASSESSES CONSTITUTIONAL PACKAGE IN DER SPIEGELPrime Minister Tansu Ciller said in a interview with Der Spiegel that it is the first time in Turkey for nearly a century that civilians have achieved constitutional amendments. Thus, Ciller said, the democratization process had been triggered. In reply to a question that some deputies at the European Parliament found the constitutional changes insufficient and that Turkey's entrance to the Customs Union depended on the realization of other reforms, Ciller said she had found such a debate wrong, noting that she and her colleagues would continue reforms with determination.
[03] PKK A GROWING PROBLEM FOR GERMANYAccording to reports from security units in Germany, the illegal Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) terrorist organization plans to target German police officials in a new terror campaign. The reports add that PKK terrorists will not hesitate to use weapons in confrontations with the police. In the meantime PKK violence against the Turkish community in Germany continues unabated with an increasing number of cases involving arson and attacks against individuals. German officials have now said openly that the matter has gone far enough. Having come to realize that the PKK is nothing more than a terrorist organization, the government is going to step up measures against PKK activity in Germany. Already Germany's famous GSG-9 unit of specially trained sharpshooters has been brought into action against possible PKK threats. Condemning the violence, German Foreign Minister Klaus Kinkel said that the full weight of the German legal system would be brought to bear against the PKK. "We can no longer tolerate this degree of violence in Germany" stressed Kinkel. Other German officials note that Germany is in a state of alarm over PKK terrorism, with politicians demanding that more action against the PKK must be taken. Turkish officials have reinforced the attitude of the Germans: Turkish Ambassador to Bonn, Volkan Vural, has also said that the Germans must exert every effort to bring down the PKK. This especially as Turkey has no conflict of interest with the Kurds. The PKK issue has grown to such proportions in Germany that every day the German press is full of news and commentary about the PKK menace. Leading national dailies and weeklies are full of reports about the problem and condemnation of the violence, describing it as "remote control terror" from origins beyond the German borders. /Milliyet-Cumhuriyet-Hurriyet/
[04] PRIME MINISTER: "OUR TARGET IS ARTICLE 8"In a statement to the Belgian daily newpaper 'La Libre Belgique', Prime Minister Tansu Ciller said that democratization reforms would be continued and that the government was determined to change Article 8 of the Terrorism Law. Ciller's statement was reported on the front page of the newspaper under the headline "Democratization will continue in Autumn in Turkey". In her statement, Ciller noted that it was the first time that a Turkish civilian government had made changes in the constitution since 1876, and added that democratization was being strengthened in Turkey. Prime Minister Ciller said: "Article 8 of the Anti-terrorism Law is preventing freedom of expression. The article causes journalists and writers to be punished - something which cannot be tolarated in democracy." /Hurriyet/
[05] ITALIAN FOREIGN MINISTER: "I APPRECIATE CILLER"Italian Foreign Minister Susanna Agnelli said that she "admired" Turkish Prime Minister Tansu Ciller. Agnelli, who attended the Mediterranean Forum Meeting in Tunisia, evaluted constitutional amendments in Turkey as a "success" for Ciller. Italian Foreign Minister Susanna Agnelli said: "I believe that Ciller can be successful in clinching customs union. She is very determined. Turkey is very lucky to have a woman prime minister." /Hurriyet/
[06] DONATION CAMPAIGN FOR BOSNIAUpon returning home after completing a three-day visit to Bosnia, Algan Hacaloglu, State Minister responsible for Human Rights, said at the Ataturk Airport in Istanbul that a "Turkish peace town" would be established within three months in Zenica. He added that his ministry would start a "humanitarian donation campaign" for Bosnia and added that it would be completed in one and half months. /Cumhuriyet/
[07] CHECHEN PM: "TURKEY WILL HELP US"Chechen Prime Minister Hasan Kazuyev has paid an official visit to Enver Tocoglu, the chairman of the Railworkers' union, Demiryol-Is. Kazuyev stated that Chechens will continue to fight to protect their independence and are confident that Turkey will help in all possible ways, as it had done throughout history. Kazuyev added that he and his delegation, who have been in Turkey for a week, wish to meet Turkish Prime Minister Tansu Ciller before they leave, the Anatolia news agency reported.
[08] TWO CHILDREN DIE IN TERRORIST ASSAULTA group of terrorists launched an attack on the Uzumkiran settlement camp near the southeastern province of Hakkari on Sunday night, killing two children and wounding one. Security officials said that the clashes between the terrorists and the village guards lasted almost an hour. Meanwhile, eleven terrorists were killed in a security operation in five Eastern cities -Hakkari, Bitlis, Bingol, Batman and Tunceli. In a separate operation, two terrorists were captured alive in the cities of Siirt and Van. Another 11 terrorists who were captured in Bitlis and Mus were detained by the authorities. /Hurriyet/
[09] TOURISM UP 59 % IN ANTALYASaim Cotur, governor of the Mediterranean city of Antalya, has said that the city is having a very successful tourist season. He said that 886,000 tourists had arrived at Antalya airport since the start of 1995, a 59 % increase over 1994. Russians tourists make up the majority of the newcomers, according to Cotur. /All papers/
[10] TURKISH-SPEAKING WORLD YOUTH MEETS FOR THE FIFTH TIMEThe fifth Turkish-speaking World Youth Camp and Congress will start today in Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan. Officials from the Turkish Hearths, a nationalist organization, said that the aim of this congress was to create cultural awareness and union of Turkish-speaking societies throughout the world, the Anatolia news agency reported. Two hundred and fifty delegates will represent the different Turkish- speaking states and societies at the congress which ends on August 6.
[11] STATE MINISTER BAYKAL VISITS ISLAMABADA group of deputies headed by State Minister Aysel Baykal has gone to the Pakistani capital of Islamabad to attend the first meeting of women deputies from Islamic countries. Before departure, Baykal said the Islamabad meeting would concentrate on women's place in Parliament and society as a whole, bearing in mind the Islamic concepts of equality and toleration. The delegation is expected to return on August 5. /All papers/
[12] UNDP REPRESENTATIVE CAIN COMPLETES HIS TERMEdmund Cain, the representative of the UN's Development Programme, as well as the UN's Population Fund, has completed his term in Turkey and was given a farewell ceremony by the Health Ministry yesterday. Omer Yildiz, the deputy undersecretary of the ministry, said that the joint projects carried out by the UN and Turkey had been very beneficial for Turkey. He added that the programmes for maternal and child health and family planning were being implemented in the 40 cities considered to be the most important for development. /All papers/
[13] TURKISH HAND CRAFTS TO BE MARKETED IN FRANCETurkish hand crafts will be sold in big shops and boutiques in France, following agreement between the National Natural History Museum, one of the biggest museums of France, and Turkey. According to the agreement, the Turkish Tourism Ministry Working Capital Administration will market Turkish hand crafts to sales outlets throughout France. /Cumhuriyet/END |
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