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TRKNWS-L Turkish Press Review (October 26, 1995)
From: hristu@arcadia.harvard.edu (Dimitrios Hristu)
Subject: TRKNWS-L Turkish Press Review (October 26, 1995)
CONTENTS
[01] AMENDMENT OF ARTICLE 8 ADOPTED
[02] EURO PARLIAMENT MEMBERS VISIT TURKEY
[03] THIRTY-NINE MILITANTS KILLED IN CLASHES IN S.EAST AND IRAQ
[04] OPERATION IN BELGIUM
[05] IRAQI DEPUTY FM IN TURKEY
[06] US REPUDIATES "APO" LETTER
[07] PATRIARCH: "ISLAMIC WORLD NEXT GREAT FRONTIER"
[08] HISTORIAN LEWIS BRINGS OUT NEW BOOK ON MIDDLE EAST
[09] 60 TURKISH OBSERVERS
[10] IRANIAN BLOW TO THE DUBLIN PROCESS
[11] KARELIAN REPUBLIC OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION INVITES TURKISH BUSINESSMEN
[12] US AID TO TURKEY
[13] TOURISTS RUSH TO PAMUKKALE
[14] UNICEF MEETING STARTS IN ANKARA
TURKISH PRESS REVIEW
THURSDAY OCTOBER 26, 1995
Summary of the political and economic news in the Turkish press
this morning
[01] AMENDMENT OF ARTICLE 8 ADOPTED
The draft bill calling for the amendment of Article 8
of the Anti-Terrorism Law, which bars freedom of expression,
was endorsed by the Parliamentary Justice Commission yesterday.
The Parliamentary Justice Commission passed the bill, prepared
by the Tansu Ciller-led minority government, at its afternoon
session after a morning session ended in deadlock.
/Cumhuriyet/
[02] EURO PARLIAMENT MEMBERS VISIT TURKEY
Seventeen German Christian Democrat members of the European
Parliament (EP) will visit Turkey. According to the Turkish
Democracy Foundation, some of the members of the EP and the
head of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation Professor Gunter
Rinsche will arrive in Ankara today to be received by Parliament
Speaker Ismet Sezgin. The other members of the group will arrive
in Turkey on October 17. The group will speak at the "Giant
Steo to Europe: Customs Union Conference" which will be held
on October 28 in Istanbul. In the meantime, the three members
of the Franco-Turkish Interparliamentary Friendship Group, an
arm of the French Senate, will visit Turkey to meet with the
group's Turkish branch, which is led by Mumtaz Soysal. The
French group will also visit Foreign Minister Coskun Kirca.
[03] THIRTY-NINE MILITANTS KILLED IN CLASHES IN S.EAST AND IRAQ
Eighteen militants of the PKK terrorist organization were killed
during military operationsd and a female militant surrendered
in the southeast. Officials from the Diyarbakir-based emergency
rule region said that eight militants were killed in the rural
areas of Diyarbakir's Dicle district, five in Bitlis' Bayramalan
district, three in Sarpkoy village of Tunceli's Nazimiye district
and two in Batman's Kozluk district. The militants' weapons were
seized. A female member of a leftist group surrendered in
Tunceli's Ovacik district. 25 rifles, eight hand grenades, a
bazooka, ammunition and illegal documents were seized during
military operations in Diyarbakir, Batman, Hakkari, Mardin,
Siirt, Sirnak and Van in the Southeast.
Also, Voice of the Iraqi Kurdistan Democratic Party (IKDP)
reported that IKDP peshmerges killed 21 terrorists and captured
six of them at the end of the clashes in and around Batufa,
Bagova and Sersing regions.
Meanwhile, as a result of an attack on the residence of the
Aydemir family in Mus, one child and three adults were
killed. /Sabah/
[04] OPERATION IN BELGIUM
Security units in Anvers, Belgium carried out a large scale
operation the previous day and arrested two separatists who
extorted money. Spokesman of the Anvers Police, Lamine said:
"We know that the PKK have been extorting money and carrying out
illegal activities in the Anvers region for a long time. It is
known also that the money extorted is used to secure weapons
for the terrorist organization and arms smuggling". /Cumhuriyet/
[05] IRAQI DEPUTY FM IN TURKEY
Iraqi Deputy Foreign Minister Saad Abdel-Majid El-Faissal
met his Turkish counterpart Onur Oymen yesterday for talks
focusing on northern Iraq and a UN embargo on Baghdad, the
Foreign Ministry said. Foreign Ministry Deputy Spokesman
Nurettin Nurkan said the Iraqi and Turkish delegations
discussed bilateral issues. Nurkan said Turkey, which mounted
a 35,000-man six-week military incursion into northern
Iraq in March, was still staging small-scale attacks against
the PKK terrorist organization there. "But there is no intention
of large scale operations inside Iraq at the moment" he said.
[06] US REPUDIATES "APO" LETTER
A letter allegedly written by PKK (Kurdistan Workers' Party)
leader Abdullah "Apo" Ocalan and sent to the White House, as well
as to several Congressional leaders, has been repudiated both by
senior White House and State Department officials. The letter,
dated October 13, was published in Turkish newspapers and the
Arabic daily Al Hayat a week ago. When asked for his reaction
to the letter at a press briefing at the Foreign Press Centre,
Ambassador Robert Pelletreau Jr., Assistant Secretary of State
for Near Eastern Affairs, told Turkish journalists that:
"We consider the PKK to be a terrorist organization. And I think
that's a sufficient answer to (your) question".
[07] PATRIARCH: "ISLAMIC WORLD NEXT GREAT FRONTIER"
"The last great frontier was Eastern Europe, where free
enterprise is now taking root. But the next great frontier
is the Islamic world, and the path to that world begins in
Turkey" said Greek Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew yesterday.
Addressing a closed meeting of the Chief Executives
Organization's International University, the patriarch
dwelt on the theme of crossroads, not just between civilizations
in geographical terms, but as one of the great moments in time
when a "window of opportunity has opened for peace,
reconciliation and unity". Pointing out that the inhabitants
of Turkey are living proof that different cultures and different
faiths can coexist in peace, Patriarch Bartholomew briefly
outlined the history of the Christian Church in Anatolia before
going on to note the many places around the world where peace
has been achieved. He suggested that Turkey's entry into the
EU's customs union would promote the cause of East-West unity
by defusing tensions and bringing about greater global
understanding. He added that the second Habitat Conference
sponsored by the UN this coming year could also help make
a difference, as could Istanbul's bid for the Olympics in 2004
if it is accepted.
[08] HISTORIAN LEWIS BRINGS OUT NEW BOOK ON MIDDLE EAST
Saddam Hussein faced the world's armies beacuse he was a threat
to the international community's energy sources and was willing
to disrupt international order, says well-known historian Bernard
Lewis in his new book entitled "Middle East". Lewis evaluates
historical, political, economic, social, religious and
intellectual developments in the Middle East from the birth of
Christianity to the present century. In his book, he emphasizes
the important role of the Ottoman Empire and Turkey in
Middle Eastern history and also mentions Turkey's secular and
democratic dimensions.
[09] 60 TURKISH OBSERVERS
Following an agreement between Israel and Palestine related to
be widened autonomy in the West Bank for Palestenians, Turkey
announced that she would send 60 military observers to the
region for the Palestanian Council elections. It was reported
that a 460-delegation from different countries would follow the
elections. /Cumhuriyet/
[10] IRANIAN BLOW TO THE DUBLIN PROCESS
It is reported that Iran's recent decision to send the Badr
brigade of Hakim, who is known to be a grgreat opponent to the
Iraqi regime, to Northern Iraq will spell the end of the Dublin
process. Diplomatic sources drew attention to Tehran's efforts
to make its weight felt in the region.
Nurettin Nurkan, Foreign Ministery Deputy Spokesman in his
weekly press meeting said that Turkey hoped for peace and
stability in Northern Iraq to be established as soon as
possible. He added that Turkey was in favour of the Dublin
process.
Iraqi National Congress (INC) leader Dr.Ahmet Celebi will be
expected to pay his second visit to Ankara within the next
week. /Cumhuriyet/
[11] KARELIAN REPUBLIC OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION INVITES TURKISH
BUSINESSMEN
Foreign Minister of the Karelian Republic of the Russian
Federation Valery Shlyamin visited Turkey. Shlyamin said that
they wanted to increase trade relations with Turkey.
Turkish constructors, for the first time, won a bid to
construct a hospital in Karelia. Also, Turkish construction
companies have been invited to bid for the $ 25 million
construction of the Karelia airport.
For the last three years, Karelia has expected a $ 8 million in
exports to Turkey and is desirous of increasing this to $ 38
million by the end of 1995. /Milliyet/
[12] US AID TO TURKEY
The US Congressional Conference Committee debated on Tuesday 180
amendments related to the Foreign Aid Appropriations Act,
including some important ones on Turkey. At the end of the
session, Turkey got $33.5 million in Economic Support Funds
(ESF), and was spared the sharp comments on human rights
insisted upon by John Edward Porter, Turkey's number-one human
rights critic in the US Congress. Nurettin Nurkan, Deputy
Spokesman for the Foreign Ministry, in a written statement on
Wednesday welcomed the developments in the US Congress as
"pleasing in terms of Turkey-US bilateral relations".
/All papers/
[13] TOURISTS RUSH TO PAMUKKALE
At least 1.15 million foreign and local tourists have visited
the "White Paradise" in Denizli's Pamukkale in the first nine
months of the year, the Anatolia news agency reported yesterday.
Kazim Bayram, Denizli tourism director, said that Pamukkale
receives visitors not only in high season, but for 365 days
a year. He said that 650,000 foreigners and 500,000 local
tourists have visited the white paradise so far this year.
[14] UNICEF MEETING STARTS IN ANKARA
A meeting, entitled "1997-2000 Collaboration Programme between
the Turkish Government and UNICEF" started in Ankara. Dr.Aytun
Cinay, Undersecretary of the Health Ministry, said that issues
related to women and children have priority due to their problems
and social standing in Turkey. Cinay said that the country's
strategy on the issue will be determined at the meeting.
Bener Cordan, Undersecretary of the Education Ministry, said that
UN and its organizations should stay out of political
struggles when making decisions about countries.
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