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TRKNWS-L Turkish Press Review (January 9, 1996)From: TRKNWS-L <trh@aimnet.com>Turkish News DirectoryCONTENTS[01] PROCESS STARTS, ALL EYES ON PRESIDENT DEMIREL[02] CILLER THANKS PERES FOR CUSTOMS UNION[03] FIREBOMBS AGAIN HIT TURKISH TARGETS IN GERMANY[04] US COMMERCE SECRETARY POSTPONES VISIT TO TURKEY[05] ANKARA ASKS WASHINGTON TO EXERT PRESSURE ON SYRIA[06] TURKISH FOREIGN INVESMENT PERMITS BOOM IN 1995[07] ANKARA RAISES THE QUESTION OF ASI RIVER[08] ANKARA "BOSNIA STRATEGY" MEETINGTURKISH PRESS REVIEWTUESDAY JANUARY 9, 1996Summary of the political and economic news in the Turkish press this morning[01] PROCESS STARTS, ALL EYES ON PRESIDENT DEMIRELToday President Suleyman Demirel will officially launch the process for seeking a solution to the government crisis. Demirel will meet separately for 45 minutes with the leaders of each of the five political parties which have members in Parliament. During these meetings the president will determine whether or not a coalition capable of winning a vote of confidence in Parliament can be formed. A day after the meetings, Demirel is expected to give the assignment to form the government to one of the party leaders. The new Parliament held its first session yesterday, at which the newly-elected deputies were sworn in. Thus, although the 20th legislative term has officially begun, Parliament will have to wait for another 10 days before it beings to operate. Candidates for speaker and deputy speaker have a 10-day deadline to declare their candidacy. Parliament will convene again on January 19 for the election of the new speaker and the members of the speaker's council.This also marks the beginning of the 45-day time-limit to form the new government. If no government is formed within this period, the president will appoint a prime minister to form a temporary election government leading to new elections 90 days later. Meanwhile, ambassadors showed much interest in the swearing-in ceremony. Especially, US Ambassador Marc Grossman and Russian Ambassador Vladimir Kuznetsov, in addition to the ambassadors of Greece, Britain, Italy, Belgium, Algeria, Pakistan, Palestine, Azerbaijan and Yemen also closely followed the ceremony. /All papers/
[02] CILLER THANKS PERES FOR CUSTOMS UNIONPrime Minister Tansu Ciller will send a message of thanks to her Israeli counterpart Shimon Peres for his contribution to Turkey's bid to join the CU. It is reported that the message will also appeal to Israel to make pressure Syria not to support terrorism. In a press conference yesterday, Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ambassador Omer Akbel said that Undersecretary Ambassador Onur Oymen would pay a visit to Israel and convey Ciller's message to Peres. /Cumhuriyet/
[03] FIREBOMBS AGAIN HIT TURKISH TARGETS IN GERMANYArsonists hit Turkish targets in Germany for the fourth consecutive night, police said yesterday. One firebomb gutted a storey of a house containing a Turkish youth group in Singen, on Lake Constance in southern Germany. Another burned out a Turkish travel agency in the central German city of Darmstadt. The fires caused property damage but no injuries. Militant Turkish prisoners on Sunday released six prison officials they had taken hostage in Istanbul last week, but rioters were still holding other people they seized on Friday. Most of the prisoners involved in the protests are on trial or serving time for links to the Revolutionary People's Liberation Party/Front (DHKP-C), a leftist group blamed for a series of attacks in Istanbul. Supporters of the Marxist prisoners ran riot in Istanbul and clashed with police on Sunday.Cem Ozdemir, a member of Germany's parliament whose parents are Turkish, singled out supporters of the banned left-wing extremist group "Dev Sol" for attacks in Germany. "I think that one can neither allow this kind of war by proxy in Germany nor express understanding for it" he told German radio. /All papers/
[04] US COMMERCE SECRETARY POSTPONES VISIT TO TURKEYThe US Embassy in Ankara announced yesterday that, just before the impasse between President Clinton and the Republican-controlled Congress was settled on Friday, Secretary of Commerce Ron Brown decided to postpone his visit to Turkey, planned January 17-20, because there were no funds to support it. The spokeswoman pointed out that it was unclear whether the solution to the budget crisis, temporary and conditional as it was, provided any funding for a rescheduled visit by Brown. For that reason, no new dates had been set, and she declined to speculate publicly on when it might take place. /Hurriyet/
[05] ANKARA ASKS WASHINGTON TO EXERT PRESSURE ON SYRIAAnkara appealed to the US yesterday to exert pressure on Syria to urge that country to end its support of terrorism. When US Ambassador to Ankara Marc Grossman paid a visit to the Turkish Foreign Ministry to announce the postponement of the visit of US Secretary of Commerce, he met with Undersecretary Onur Oymen and Deputy Undersecretary Temel Iskit. While Foreign Ministry Spokesman Omer Akbel described the visit as "routine", Ankara took the opportunity to voice its criticism of Syrian escalation of the water problem. Grossman said that the questions of water and terrorism were not linked in any way, but Syria sought to shift the focus to the water question in order to hide its involvement in terrorism. Turkey noted that Syria should abandon its support of terrorism in order to become a partner in the Middle East peace process. /Milliyet-Cumhuriyet/
[06] TURKISH FOREIGN INVESMENT PERMITS BOOM IN 1995Turkey's foreign investment permits reached an all-time high of $2.938 billion at the end of 1995, official figures revealed yesterday. Treasury statistics said foreign investment permits had almost doubled from $1.485 billion in 1994. There was also a noticeable increase in the permits given in December last year, according to Treasury Undersecretariat figures. Permits reached $1.081 billion in December. The total amount of permits issued in the first eleven months last year stood at $1.856 billion. Permits in December were issued by $394.5 million for investment, $323.8 million for growth, $63 million for capital increase, and $299.7 for portfolio investments. Of the total investments, $13.5 million was in agriculture, $1 million in in mining, $1 billion in manufacturing, and $64.2 million in the services sector. The actual foreign capital inflow was at $1.250 billion last year, a figure which stood at $830 million in 1994. Of the total permits last year, $1.837 billion were issued for the OECD countries, $70.3 million were for Islamic countries, $19.8 million for Eastern European countries and $2.5 million issued for other countries.Holland registered in first place with $559.3 million followed by France with $476 million, Germany with $392.1 million, Switzerland with $327.7 million and Japan with $283.8 million. The number of foreign capital firms operating in Turkey reached 3,161 by the end of last year. Of the total firms, 2,214 are operating in services, 818 are in manufacturing, 79 in agriculture and 44 in the mining sectors. /Sabah/
[07] ANKARA RAISES THE QUESTION OF ASI RIVERTurkey now aims to to turn the tables against Syria by bringing the issue of the Asi River (Orontes), where Turkey is the downstream country, into the water conflict that has escalated over the last few months. "It is our intention to raise the question of the Asi River whenever the water question rises" Foreign Ministry Spokesman Omer Akbel said in a press conference yesterday. "The question of the Asi will inevitably be brought up by the Turkish side in any water forum between Turkey and Syria". Turkey's three-stage plan for solving the water problem, which has been on the table since 1984 but categorically rejected by Iraq and Syria, refers to the Asi River as part of the water resources of the countries involved, but the reference is indirect. "For a long time, Syria refused to make any reference to the Asi River, but we will bring it up in negotiations and will continue to do so" Akbel added. /Cumhuriyet/
[08] ANKARA "BOSNIA STRATEGY" MEETINGYesterday a "Bosnia Strategy" meeting was held in Ankara as part of Turkey's efforts to share in the rebuilding of war-battered Bosnia-Herzegovina. The meeting yesterday was part of initial efforts to secure Turkey's participation in the huge reconstruction programme that is expected to follow in the wake of the war.Representatives from both the public and private sectors attended the meeting during which ways of speeding up infrastructural work were discussed. To maintain close contact with developments in Bosnia, offices will opened in Sarajevo and Tuzla. First estimates indicate that reconstruction work will come to at least ten billion dollars. Despite the chance of high profits, western companies are not rushing in. They see the region as a "high risk work area" and are holding back. Turkey however, is up among the front-runners, and wants to take advantage of its traditional ties to the region. /Milliyet/ |
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