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TRKNWS-L Turkish Press Review (October 24, 1995)
From: hristu@arcadia.harvard.edu (Dimitrios Hristu)
Subject: TRKNWS-L Turkish Press Review (October 24, 1995)
CONTENTS
[01] GENERAL ELECTIONS ON 24 DECEMBER
[02] DEMIREL FOCUSES ON CUSTOMS UNION
[03] KIRCA SENDS MESSAGE TO CLAES
[04] GERMAN MAGAZINE FOCUS
[05] 11 PKK MILITANTS KILLED
[06] GERMANS OF TURKISH ORIGIN ELECTED IN BERLIN
[07] MEETING ON THE CUSTOMS UNION
[08] ISLAMIC SUMMIT IN ANKARA
[09] HEAVY BLOWS DEALT TO THE PKK
[10] EFES ASSESSED FOR "EUROPEAN MUSEUM OF THE YEAR AWARD"
TURKISH PRESS REVIEW
TUESDAY OCTOBER 24, 1995
Summary of the political and economic news in the Turkish press
this morning
[01] GENERAL ELECTIONS ON 24 DECEMBER
Prime Minister Tansu Ciller submitted to the Parliament
Speaker the proposal for elections on December 24 that the
True Path Party (DYP) parliamentary group had prepared. This
proposal was taken up by the Parliamentary Constitution
Commission without delay.
[02] DEMIREL FOCUSES ON CUSTOMS UNION
President Suleyman Demirel, who went to New York for the 50th
anniversary of the UN, received EU's Commissioner in charge of
external relations, Hans van den Broek yesterday. At the
meeting, Turkish-EU relations and the customs union were
taken up.
President Demirel and his wife Nazmiye Demirel attended the
reception which US President Bill Clinton and his wife
gave for the heads of states the previous evening. At the
luncheon on the first day of the UN summit, Demirel sat
at the same table with Clinton and UN Secretary-General Boutros
Ghali. In a short meeting with Clinton, Demirel noted that
he had to postpone his Washington visit due to internal
political developments. Expressing his understanding, Clinton
said that he hoped this visit would be realized as soon as
possible. In a press conference yesterday, Demirel said:
"President Clinton mentioned his support on every issue and
I expressed my satisfaction for their support in transportation
of Caspian oil to the West, struggle against terrorism and
customs union issues". Demirel added: "Racism will become one
of the biggest problems in the future. There are 6,000 different
languages in the world. Is the world going to hoist 6,000 flags
or will it succeed to live in union under the banner of
human rights?"
President Demirel met separately with Azeri President Haydar
Aliyev and Armenian President Levon Ter Petrosyan at the
Turkish House in New York yesterday. In a statement after the
meetings, Demirel said that their aim was to attain peace
in the Caucasus. Stressing that there was no mediation between
the sides, Demirel stated that Turkey helped the Organization
for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Minsk Group
in finding a solution to the problem. During his separate
meetings, it was noted that Demirel asked both Azeri President
Aliyev and Armenian President Petrosyan to exert neccessary
efforts to ensure peace in Karabakh. Also, conditions for
cooperation on pipeline projects to transport Azeri oil to the
West was another subject discussed during separate meetings.
In New York an agreement on a transportation and communications
project was signed between Turkish President Suleyman Demirel,
Deputy President of Macedonia and Speaker of the Parliament
Stoyan Andov, Bulgarian President Jelyu Jelev and Albanian
President Sali Berisha. The project envisages to link the
Adriatic Sea to the Black Sea. The West-East Motorway (WEM)
project will link Istanbul to Rome through Bulgaria, Macedonia
and Albania. It was announced that the project would be financed
by the World Bank, the European Investment Bank and America.
On the other hand, Turkish, Croatian and Bosnian presidents,
who came together at the Turkish House, issued a joint
declaration confirming the territorial integrity, sovereignty
and independence of Bosnia. The declaration noted that the
Bosnian-Croatian Federation constituted a "model" for the
future and extended full support for Turkey's membership into
the "Extended International Contact Group". /All Papers/
[03] KIRCA SENDS MESSAGE TO CLAES
Foreign Minister Coskun Kirca has sent a letter to Willy Claes,
who has just resigned his post as NATO secretary-general after
getting entangled in a corruption scandal. Kirca congratulated
Claes on his excellent "performance" during his two years in
office and extended his best wishes for the future, Foreign
Ministry Deputy Spokesman Nurettin Nurkan said yesterday.
Nurkan said that Turkey will not nominate a candidate for the
now-vacant post. Nurkan added that informal talks on Claes'
successor had already started in Brussels. /All Papers/
[04] GERMAN MAGAZINE FOCUS
The German monthly magazine, Focus, claimed that Minister
Klaus Kinkel and former environment minister Klaus Topfer have
not fulfilled their promise to Amasya's Mercimek district to
construct walls for the cemetery and the water purification
facility. The two ministers had attended the funeral in
Turkey of the victims of the Solingen, Germany fire in 1993
and pledged to help the villagers. The present Environment
Minister Angela merkel said that if a written request was
received from the town, the ministry would allocate
approximately DM 80,000 for the village.
[05] 11 PKK MILITANTS KILLED
Eleven militants of the PKK terrorist organization were killed
in overnight clashes in the southeast, security officials said
yesterday. The emergency rule governor's office in Diyarbakir
said in a statement that soldiers had killed three PKK militants
in Sirnak's Silopi district, three in rural areas of Bingol,
Tunceli and Diyarbakir's Kulp district. Four PKK militants
surrendered in Tunceli, Batman's Sason and Hakkari's Semdinli
districts. Another 21 militants were captured during military
operations in the rural areas of Bingol, Diyarbakir and Sirnak.
Spokesmen from the Adiyaman governor's office said that three
militants were killed in the rural area of Yaylakonak township.
/Hurriyet/
[06] GERMANS OF TURKISH ORIGIN ELECTED IN BERLIN
Three German citizens of Turkish origin were elected to the
German State Assembly in elections held in Germany's Berlin
state on October 22. According to the statement of the High
Election Board of the State, Ismail Hakki Kosan, Riza Baran and
Giyasettin Sayan were elected as deputies. Kosan said that
he will continue his work for election rights for foreigners
living in Germany. Speaking at a press conference, Helmut
Kohl, Chairman of the Christian Democrat Party, said that it
has become the biggest political party after the elections and
voiced his pleasure at results. /Cumhuriyet/
[07] MEETING ON THE CUSTOMS UNION
Turkish Employer Trade-Union Confederation (TISK) and Turkish
Industrialists and Businessmen Association (TUSIAD) will attend
a meeting of European Employers in Valencia, Spain. The two-day
meeting aims to determine the Mediterranean policies of the
European Union (EU) countries. /Cumhuriyet/
[08] ISLAMIC SUMMIT IN ANKARA
President Suleyman Demirel, in a message to a conference opening
yesterday on the coordination of religious affairs in Central
Asia, the Caucasus and the Balkans, said that Islam remained a
firm reality which encourages societies in brotherhood,
friendship and solidarity. In his message to Nuri Yilmaz,
the Head of the Directorate for Religious Affairs which organized
the conference, Demirel said that societies which had similar
cultures and religions had found the opportunity to embrace each
other after the collapse of the Eastern bloc. He added that
Turkey had warmly welcomed this opportunity and was making
continous efforts to ensure that this solidarity among these
people and nations was beneficial, not just to Turkey itself but
to the world at large. /Sabah/
[09] HEAVY BLOWS DEALT TO THE PKK
In a press conference held yesterday, Foreign Ministry Deputy
Spokesman Ambassador Nurettin Nurkan said the establishment of
a lasting peace and security in Northern Iraq was very important
for Turkey and noted that terrorist activities in the region
should be brought to an end. Nevertheless, Turkey is not
planning to undertake a military operation in the region,
Ambassador Nurkan stressed. He further pointed out that
PKK terrorists should not be allowed to find a sanctuary on
Syrian territory and noted that Syria and Turkey should respect
each other's territorial integrity.
On the other hand, German security officials said that the PKK
organization, suffering heavy losses in Turkey and Northern
Iraq, has begun to send its most dangerous members to Germany.
It is noted that presently in Germany there are 7,500 PKK
terrorists, ready to initiate even the most brutal of terrorist
attacks. /All papers/
[10] EFES ASSESSED FOR "EUROPEAN MUSEUM OF THE YEAR AWARD"
Efes Museum in Izmir's Selcuk district is competing for the 1996
European Museum of the Year (EMYA) award and has received a visit
from Jean Faviere, who is preparing a report to aid the
competition's jury members in their deliberations. A total of
69 European museums are competing for the award./All Papers/
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