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TRKNWS-L Turkish Press Review (April 26, 1996)From: TRKNWS-L <trh@aimnet.com>Turkish Press Review DirectoryCONTENTS[01] JAPANESE FOREIGN MINISTER VISIT TURKEY[02] GONENSAY TO PARTICIPATE IN WEU MEETING[03] EU COMMISSIONER 'OPTIMISTIC' DESPITE BOTTLENECK[04] US REFUSES MEDIATION BETWEEN GREECE AND TURKEY[05] PRAISE FOR GONENSAY FROM PANGALOS[06] EU WATCHING TURKEY CLOSELY[07] NORTHERN IRAQ TALKS OVER[08] PRESIDENT DEMIREL TO RECEIVE AWARD FROM BOSNIA[09] TURKISH AMBASSADOR URGES GERMAN GREENS TO BE TACTFUL[10] TOP COURT MARKS 34TH ANNIVERSARY[11] CAUCASIAN TURKS MOURN DEATH OF DZHOKHAR DUDAYEV[12] TURKISH OFFICIALS MEET WITH IMF[13] GREECE BLOCKS TURKISH F-16STURKISH PRESS REVIEWFRIDAY 26 APRIL, 1996Summary of the economic and political news in the Turkish press this morning[01] JAPANESE FOREIGN MINISTER VISIT TURKEYJapanese Foreign Minister Yukihiko Ikedo will officially visit Turkey between May 2-4.Foreign Ministry deputy spokesman Nurettin Nurkan told a news conefrence that Ikeda is scheduled to meet Foreign Minister Emre Gonensay and will be received by President Suleyman Demirel and Prime Minister Mesut Y lmaz. /All papers/ [02] GONENSAY TO PARTICIPATE IN WEU MEETINGForeign Minister Emre Gonensay will participate in a Western European Union (WEU) meeting which will be held in Birmingham in Britain on May 7.Foreign Ministry deputy spokesman Nurettin Nurkan told a news conference yesterday that security and defense issues in Europe will be taken up during the WEU meeting and that Defense Minister Oltan Sungurlu will also participate in the meeting. Nurkan said the ministers would have the opportunity to bring up Turkey's full membership in the WEU during the meeting. /All papers/ [03] EU COMMISSIONER 'OPTIMISTIC' DESPITE BOTTLENECKEuropean Union Commissioner Hans van den Broek expressed the commission's determination to activate the Turco-EU customs union despite the present bottleneck between Turkey and Greece."Turkey is a very important partner both economically and politically. We are very much interested in Turkey's domestic developments, as well as the regional role Turkey can play," the EU commissioner said. According to Turkish officials, Turkey has given van den Broek three messages - first, a date for a postponed Association Council meeting should be determined as soon as possible; second, the EU must carry out its financial obligations toward Turkey and third, the EU must refrain from becoming a party to Turco-Greek relations. Acutely aware of these difficulties, Hans van den Broek has stressed in all his press statements since his arrival in Ankara that the European Union was aware of its obligations toward Turkey. "The customs union is working. We are facing certain difficulties but I believe these are temporary," van den Broek said, adding that the success of the customs union was important both for Turkey and the European Union. Today, the EU commissioner will meet with the ambassadors of the European Union and President Suleyman Demirel before he leaves Turkey. /All Papers/ [04] US REFUSES MEDIATION BETWEEN GREECE AND TURKEYUS Assistant Secretary of State John Kornblum said on Thursday that Washington would not play a mediating role between NATO allies Greece and Turkey, but would urge both countries to seek a solution to bilateral problems."As a friend of both Greece and Turkey, the United States can play a role to facilitate political contacts but will not play the role of mediator. I am not submitting any proposals on any issue," he told reporters after talks with Greek Foreign Minister Theodoros Pangalos. Kornblum, who arrived in Athens from Ankara on Wednesday, said he sensed a willingness on the part of Turkish Prime Minister Mesut Y lmaz to take positive steps towards Greece, "but we refrained from telling them what those steps should be." Kornblum, who also met Prime Minister Costas Simitis and Defense Minister Gerasimos Arsenis, said he felt there was a desire on both sides to improve relations. /All Papers/ [05] PRAISE FOR GONENSAY FROM PANGALOSThe Greek Foreign Minister Theodorus Pangalos is full of praise for his Turkish counterpart Emre Gonensay. Talking about ties between Turkey and Greece, Pangalos noted that Gonensay was an outstanding person and a good scientist.When he said these words yesterday, Pangalos was talking to US Foreign Department official John Kornblum and he added that recent proposals for talks from Gonensay were "positive." Pangalos said too that he was optimistic about a first real meeting at Bucharest next week. He said in fact that if he had not been sure that something good would result, he would not have accepted the idea of talks in the first place. Among the leading participants in the talks between Greece and Turkey looking for solutions to the issues involving the two countries, the general feeling seems to be that both countries are ready to take positive steps forward. /Sabah/ [06] EU WATCHING TURKEY CLOSELYEuropean Union (EU) parliamentarians are pleased with developments in Turkey, but are still watching closely to be sure that the good progress being made continues. EU parliamentarians have already said that Turkey has made, and is making, real advancement down the road to full democracy. Nevertheless, this progress must continue with positive developments in the so-called "Kurdish issue" and other vital areas. /Milliyet/[07] NORTHERN IRAQ TALKS OVERTalks to resolve the problems of northern Iraq are now over with mixed results. The talks, engineered by the US, have in fact done little to resolve the situation and ease the tension between the Kurdish factions in the region. Following the talks, which appear- ed to be going well right up to the last, the US delegation warned that the region faced serious difficulties if the factions still continued to reject peace proposals to stabilize the area.The terrorist PKK organization still remains a disrupting factor and the US representatives have stressed that point. /Cumhuriyet/ [08] PRESIDENT DEMIREL TO RECEIVE AWARD FROM BOSNIAPresident Suleyman Demirel has been offered an award by Bosnia President Alija Izetbegovic but the date when he will travel to Bosnia to receive it remains unclear.Demirel's commendatory award is for leaders who have "contributed the most for the achievement of peace in Bosnia-Herzegovina."/All papers/ [09] TURKISH AMBASSADOR URGES GERMAN GREENS TO BE TACTFULVolkan Vural, the Turkish ambassador to Germany, met with two members of the German Greens Party on Thursday to urge them to "take greater notice" of human rights developments in Turkey. Ambassador Vural, who met with Greens' spokesman Joschka Fischer and ethnic Turks Greens deputy Cem Ozdemir, said that some of the criticism coming from their party stemmed from a lack of fully understanding and appreciating Turkey's unitarian state structure. "Some of your criticism is used by certain groups to harm Turkey," Vural warned. /All Papers/[10] TOP COURT MARKS 34TH ANNIVERSARYTurkey's highest judicial body, the Constitutional Court, marked its 34th anniversary on Thursday, at a special celebration ceremony held in Ankara, the Anatolian news agency reported.Yekta Gungor Ozden, chairman of the court, who gave the opening speech at the ceremony, said that the impartial nature of the court was clear to all. Among those attending the ceremony were President Suleyman Demirel, Prime Minister Mesut Y lmaz, Parliament Speaker Mustafa Kalemli, and other high-ranking government officials. /All papers/ [11] CAUCASIAN TURKS MOURN DEATH OF DZHOKHAR DUDAYEVMany of the estimated five million Turks of Caucasian origin are in mourning since the confirmation by the Chechen separatist government of the death of Dzhokhar Dudayev, the rebel leader.The death of Dudayev, killed in a rocket attack by Russian forces trying to overcome resistance in the self-declared Chechen Republic has been protested throughout Turkey. Fazil Ozen, the chairman of the Caucasus Chechen Solidarity Committee said that in various cities memorial services will be held for Dudayev. /All Papers/ [12] TURKISH OFFICIALS MEET WITH IMFState Minister Ufuk Soylemez, as the IMF's Turkey coordinator, has completed his contacts in Washington with International Monetary Fund (IMF) officials.The visit of IMF delegation to Turkey for consultation meetings has been shceduled for May. Decisions regarding new forms of cooperation will be given by the Turkish government following the consultation meetings. Soylemez noted that IMF officials were ready to support monetary and financial policies aiming to reduce inflation rates, and added that during his contacts Turkey-World Bank relations were reviewed. /Hurriyet/ [13] GREECE BLOCKS TURKISH F-16SIn a written statement released yesterday, the Foreign Ministry protested Greek harassment against eight F-16 fighter planes of the Turkish Air Force. The F-16s, assigned to the UN-controlled International Peace Force (IFOR) were flying to Ghedi, Italy. The planes were blocked by Greek hunter planes in international airspace on April 23. "Greek harassment against planes assigned to support a NATO operation and belonging to a NATO member-country is harming the principles of friendship and solidarity in the alliance. It is clear that such attitudes will not contribute to finding a solution to bilateral problems," the statement said. /Cumhuriyet/ |
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