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TRKNWS-L Turkish Press Review (October 19, 1995)
From: hristu@arcadia.harvard.edu (Dimitrios Hristu)
Subject: TRKNWS-L Turkish Press Review (October 19, 1995)
CONTENTS
[01] PARLIAMENT ELECTS SEZGIN AS NEW SPEAKER
[02] BAYKAL RECEIVES SUPPORT FOR CUSTOMS UNION DEAL
[03] AMB.KANDEMIR REBUKES NYT FOR EDITORIAL
[04] OYMEN VISITS AUSTRIA
[05] KIRCA STAYS IN ANKARA
[06] MILITANT SAYS HE WAS TRAINED IN ARMENIA
[07] TRADING AT FREE ZONES CLIMBS 44 %
[08] SIGNS OF HOPE FOR JOURNALISTS
[09] THE HEROIC TURKISH NATION
[10] TURKISH OIL DEAL VICTORY
[11] DUBLIN PEACE PROCESS STAGNATING
[12] NEW PLANS FOR BOSNIA PEACE
[13] AZERBAIJAN INDEPENDENCE DAY
[14] TURKISH BAKERY FIRE-BOMBED IN MUNICH
[15] 3RD EUROPEAN DRUG ADDICTION AND AIDS SYMPOSIUM
WITH THE COMPLIMENT OF
DIRECTORATE GENERAL OF PRESS AND INFORMATION
TURKISH PRESS REVIEW
OCTOBER 19, 1995
Summary of the political and economic news in the Turkish press
this morning.
[01] PARLIAMENT ELECTS SEZGIN AS NEW SPEAKER
Turkish Parliament yesterday elected Ismet Sezgin, a former
interior minister from the True Path Party (DYP) as its new
speaker. Sezgin, 67, defeated his closest rival Ertekin
Duruturk with 230 votes to 158 in the fourth round vote held at
the 450-seat legislature. He was elected in a run-off between
the two leading candidates after none of the initial five failed
to muster the required 300 votes in earlier rounds. The new
speaker has succeeded Husamettin Cindoruk. In Turkey,
Parliament speakers are traditionally elected from among
candidates from the largest party in the legislature.
/Milliyet/
[02] BAYKAL RECEIVES SUPPORT FOR CUSTOMS UNION DEAL
Deniz Baykal, leader of the Republican People's Party (CHP),
yesterday urged the socialist group in the European Parliament
to back Ankara's planned customs union with the EU. "We are
expecting to see the socialist group's backing for Turkey's
customs union deal and I hope we will get this support" Baykal
told a news conference in Brussels where he held talks with EU
and European Parliament (EP) officials. Claudia Roth, leader of
the Greens' group in the EP, addressing the news conference with
Baykal, said she believed the customs union would strengthen
democracy in Turkey. Roth urged Turkey to take concrete steps
toward more democratization, adding: "Once these are done, the
customs union will be a first and important step toward Turkey's
full membership in the EU". Pauline Green, leader of the
socialist group in the EP, also meeting with Baykal, said the EP
was aware that the customs union was of vital importance for
Turkey. Catherine Lalumiere, leader of the radical group in the
EP, said later after a meeting with Baykal that she hoped
efforts by Prime Minister Tansu Ciller to set up a new coalition
government with the CHP would be successful. Baykal also met
with Chief of the Turkish Desk in the European Commission Hans
Van den Broek. Baykal is expected to return to Turkey this
afternoon. /Hurriyet-Sabah-Cumhuriyet/
[03] AMB.KANDEMIR REBUKES NYT FOR EDITORIAL
Nuzhet Kandemir, Turkish Ambassador to Washington, sent a stiff
letter to the New York Times on Tuesday, rebuking the points
made in NYT editorial entitled "America Arms Turkey's
Repression" published on October 17. A commentator of Turkish
American affairs said the editorial, rapping Turkey's usage of
US arms against Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) terrorists, was
timed to coincide with President Suleyman Demirel's visit to the
US- who was originally expected to be in Washington on October
17. Kandemir, in his reply to the NYT, said there was no "war"
as such, and the $320 million in the Foreign Military Financing
given to Turkey in financial year '96 is not a handout, but
rather a loan issued at current market rates which Turkey will
repay in full with interest". Kandemir told the NYT that the
PKK was not a "romantic- sounding 'Kurdish guerilla group' -but
rather a vicious and ruthless Marxist-Leninist... terror
organization". He said the Turkish fight was aimed against the
the PKK but never against "our citizens of Kurdish origin" as
the NYT alleged. Kandemir said: "There are a lot of deputies
of Kurdish origin in the Turkish Parliament. There is no
discrimination based on ethnic, religious and cultural
background. And we have no intention of Islamic expansion". "I
continue to fully hope that the dictates of professionalism and
fairness will motivate the New York Times to speak the truth
about Turkey in the future" Kandemir concluded.
/Hurriyet-Milliyet/
[04] OYMEN VISITS AUSTRIA
Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Onur Oymen starts today a
two-day visit to Vienna for political consultations with his
Austrian counterpart. The talks will focus on bilateral
relations and international issues and Oymen will also meet with
business circles, the Foreign Ministry said. Vienna was the
setting of the last meeting of the so-called Kurdish
"Parliament-in- exile", but, unlike the case with the
Netherlands, bilateral relations suffered no adverse blow. /All
papers/
[05] KIRCA STAYS IN ANKARA
Foreign Minister Coskun Kirca will stay in Ankara rather than
accompany President Suleyman Demirel on his visit to New York
for the 50th anniversary celebrations of the UN. Due to
domestic political reasons, Kirca will seek to postpone his
visits to Paris and Dublin where he was scheduled to hold talks
on the Turco-European Union customs union, the Foreign Ministry
(FM) said yesterday.
Meanwhile, Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ambassador Omer Akbel, in
a press conference yesterday, said that the Demirel-Clinton
meeting would likely be held at the earliest possible time.
Demirel is expected to meet with the Azeri and Armenian
Presidents in New York. It is reported that Azeri President
Haydar Aliyev will come to Istanbul on October 20 and address a
press conference at Ataturk Airport. Akbel noted that FM
Undersecretary Onur Oymen will accompany President Demirel on
his visit to the US. /Cumhuriyet/
[06] MILITANT SAYS HE WAS TRAINED IN ARMENIA
Abdulhalit Ralikci, a militant of the PKK terrorist organization
who was captured after being wounded on Mount Ararat during a
military operation last week, said yesterday that he was trained
in Armenia before he entered Turkey. The militant was shown to
the press yesterday in Igdir state hospital in eastern Turkey.
Ralikci said that after he was injured the other militants
escaped and left him alone on the mountain, and that he had been
taken to the hospital by the soldiers in the military operation.
[07] TRADING AT FREE ZONES CLIMBS 44 %
Trading at Turkey's six free zones jumped 44 % to $2 billion in
the January-September period of the current year, the Foreign
Trade Undersecretariat said yesterday. The same figures showed
that last year's trading volume stood at TL 1.395 billion. The
General Directorate for Free Zones, a department at the Foreign
Trade Undersecretariat reported that 17 % of the total trade
volume came from "exports from Turkey to the free zones", 33 %
from "imports from the zones to Turkey", 31 % "imports from
abroad to the zones" and 19 % "exports from the zones abroad".
In the same period, of the total trade volume, 14 % was with the
EU members, 14 % with the CIS, 6 % with OECD members, 50 % with
Turkey and 16 % with other countries. In sectoral distribution
of the total trade volume industrial products had 73 %,
agriculture 25 % and the mining sector 2 % shares. A total of
844 new firms were launched in the free zones in the first nine
months, of those 679 were Turkish and 165 were foreign firms.
The free zones office also said that the Erzurum-Eastern
Anatolia free zone will open soon. /Cumhuriyet/
[08] SIGNS OF HOPE FOR JOURNALISTS
There are indications that the two Turkish journalists being
held by the Serbs in Bosnia will soon be released. Anatolia
news agency reporter Ali Kocak and Hurriyet newspaper journalist
Munire Acim have been detained by the Serb forces despite the
fact that they were carrying out their proper duties as
journalists.
According to reports, the Serbs will release the two journalists
at midday this coming Saturday. The two will likely be handed
over to UN peace force representatives. Pressure for their
release has been exerted by the Turkish government, US
officials, Bosnian representatives and other groups. /All
papers/
[09] THE HEROIC TURKISH NATION
In a recent editorial, the noted Washington Times said that
Turks were a nation of heroes. In the same editorial, writer
Amos Perlmutter spoke out against the demeaning attitudes of the
powerful Greek and Armenian lobbies, but wrote in support of
Turkey's heroic past, and the positive developments seen in
Turkey today.
Writer Perlmutter commented on the way Turkey has shown itself
to be a strong ally of the west, in Korea, and in other areas of
political and military cooperation-including the recent gulf
war. /Cumhuriyet-Milliyet/
[10] TURKISH OIL DEAL VICTORY
According to "Time" and "Newsweek" magazines, the decision of
the Western-led consortium of 11 oil companies to use two
pipelines to carry Azeri offshore crude from the Caspian Sea to
Western markets could be evaluated as a plan leading to a break
in Russia's stranglehold on the oil wealth of Azerbaijan.
Jeological researches indicate that Caspian oil reserves are
almost equal to Arabian peninsula oil reserves. The magazines
note that the deal of the century annoyed the Russians and
resulted in a victory for Turkey and the American oil companies.
/Sabah/
[11] DUBLIN PEACE PROCESS STAGNATING
After the failure of the second Dublin summit, the US has
prepared a new proposal for bringing peace to Northern Iraq.
Nevertheless, the new proposal was met with objections from
Celal Talabani, leader of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan.
Talabani opposed the discussion of Turkish security problems
related to the struggle against the PKK terrorist organization
during the summit, and demanded a meeting devoted only to peace
in Northern Iraq and reestablishment of local administration in
the region. On the other hand, Turkey says that the PKK issue
definitely must be included in the agenda of the next meeting.
/Hurriyet/
[12] NEW PLANS FOR BOSNIA PEACE
New plans are afoot to keep the fragile peace in Bosnia.
Although agreements have been signed, sides agree that the US
brokered peace agreement will have to be strongly policed by a
beefed up NATO peace force.
Top US officials including Warren Christopher have already
recommended that a force of at least sixty thousand troops will
be needed in Bosnia to maintain a strong peace. There are
further indications that Turkey will have a larger role to play
in the region if the peace force recommendations go ahead.
/Hurriyet/
[13] AZERBAIJAN INDEPENDENCE DAY
President Suleyman Demirel sent a celebration message to Azeri
President Haydar Aliyev on the occasion of Azerbaijan's
Independence Day. According to a statement from the
Presidential Palace, Demirel said in his message that Turkey
will continue to support the struggle of the Azeri people for
independence. /All papers/
[14] TURKISH BAKERY FIRE-BOMBED IN MUNICH
A firebomb was thrown at the door of a Turkish bakery in the
southern German city of Munich early on Wednesday. No one was
injured in the incident although damage caused by the firebomb
has been estimated at over DM 20,000, according to officers from
Munich's fire department. /All papers/
[15] 3RD EUROPEAN DRUG ADDICTION AND AIDS SYMPOSIUM
The 3rd European Drug Addiction and AIDS Symposium organized by
the Bakirkoy Psychotic and Neurological Illnesses Hospital's
Alcohol and Drug Addiction Treatment Centre (AMATEM) will take
place in Istanbul between October 23-26. The symposium,
organized with President Suleyman Demirel's support, will cover
different aspects of drug addiction, its treatment and AIDS.
The symposium will be attended by Health Minister Dogan Baran,
AMATEM founder DYP Istanbul Deputy Yildirim Aktuna, more than
200 foreign scientists and many psychiatrists, psychologists,
pharmacologists, infectious illnesses and social help experts,
foreign and domestic press members and representatives from
voluntary institutions.
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