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TRKNWS-L Turkish Press Review (May 3, 1996)From: TRKNWS-L <trh@aimnet.com>Turkish Press Review DirectoryCONTENTS[01] DEMIREL TO VISIT IRAN[02] FIRST GUEST OF PM YILMAZ[03] EGYPT FM IN ANKARA[04] JAPANESE FM VISITS TURKEY[05] CLINTON EXPRESSES 'OPTIMISM' FOR CYPRUS ACCORD IN 1996[06] PKK CONFIRMS XULAM IS A 'PKK FRIEND'[07] IMF COMMITTEE ON THE WAY[08] FEWER ACCIDENTS IN THE BOSPHORUS[09] PKK GETTING RICH FROM DRUG SMUGGLING[10] TURKISH PROJECTS IN BOSNIA LIFTING OFF[11] CALL FOR MORE US INVESTMENT IN TURKEYTURKISH PRESS REVIEWFRIDAY MAY 3, 1996Summary of the political and economic news in the Turkish press this morning[01] DEMIREL TO VISIT IRANTurkish President Suleyman Demirel will visit Uzbekistan between May 7-9. It is reported that Demirel will go to Meshed, Iran before he goes to Uzbekistan. Demirel has accepted the invitation of Iranian President Hasimi Rafsancani. Meanwhile, Imamali Rakhmanov, president of Tajikistan, will pay an official visit to Turkey as President Suleyman Demirel's guest on May 5-8. A statement from the Foreign Ministry indicated that improvements in bilateral relations since Demirel's visit to Tajikistan last September would be reviewed. New opportunities of cooperation will be sought and regional and international issues will be evaluated. In its statement, the Foreign Ministry noted that with Demirel's visit last September the two countries made negotiations at the presidential level for the first time since Tajikistan gained its independence. /Cumhuriyet/[02] FIRST GUEST OF PM YILMAZThe first guest of Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz will arrive in Turkey next week. South Korean Prime Minister Lee Soo Sung will come to Turkey for an official visit between May 9-12. During the visit, views will be exchanged on international problems which interest the two countries and opportunities to develop economic relations will be examined. /Hurriyet/[03] EGYPT FM IN ANKARAEgyptian displeasure over the signing of a Turco-Israeli military training accord ended during the visit of Egyptian Foreign Minister Amr Moussa on Thursday. Moussa, who held a press conference after his talks with Turkish President Suleyman Demirel and Foreign Minister Emre Gonensay, said that he was satisfied by Turkey's assurances that the accord was "not a military or a strategic pact" that would upset the balances in the volatile Middle East. "(We were told that) it was an agreement like any other military training agreement Turkey has signed with other countries" Amr Moussa told journalists. The Egyptian minister admitted that there had been "some misunderstandings" in the way the accord had been explained to Cairo. Demirel noted that many Arab countries, especially Egypt, Jordan and Palestine, had close relations and made agreements with Israel and pointed out that Turkey had no policy that would harm its neighbours. A message from Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak was delivered to President Suleyman Demirel by Moussa. Moussa said that the message was a detailed one which took up bilateral and regional issues, as well as making a reference to Mediterranean cooperation.The Egyptian foreign minister was received at the airport by his Turkish counterpart, Emre Gonensay, and Egyptian Ambassador to Turkey, Mahdi Fathullah. The Turkish and Egyptian foreign ministers agreed that it was important to have a common approach to regional problems at a time when important developments were happening in the region. The two ministers evidently were referring to the Israeli operation "Grapes of Wrath" against the Hizbollah bases in south Lebanon last week and the establishment of a cease-fire over the weekend. /Milliyet/ [04] JAPANESE FM VISITS TURKEYAccompanied by a 23-member delegation, Japanese Foreign Minister Yukihiko Ikeda arrived in Istanbul yesterday on a two-day official visit aimed at expanding Turkish-Japanese economic ties. "Turkey plays a key role in the changing world order and Japan aims to assume not only an economic role but also a political role in the new world order" Ikeda, in Turkey as the guest of Foreign Minister Emre Gonensay, declared in an arrival statement. In addition to holding bilateral talks with his Turkish counterpart, Ikeda is expected to have an audience with President Suleyman Demirel, visit Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz and Foreign Minister Emre Gonensay. Speaking on the same occasion, Sarik Tara, president of the Turkish-Japanese Friendship Council and chairman of the construction company Enka, said the visit would help foster closer ties between the two countries. The Japanese government is providing a $350 million loan to help finance a thermal energy plant in Bursa. The power plant will be constructed within three years. Ikeda will go to Ankara today for official meetings. Furthermore, a credit agreement is expected to be signed between the two countries. Ikeda will leave Turkey on May 4. /Hurriyet/[05] CLINTON EXPRESSES 'OPTIMISM' FOR CYPRUS ACCORD IN 1996President Bill Clinton expressed optimism in a report to Congress that a settlement could be reached in Cyprus in 1996. Stressing that his administration hopes "to be able to launch" a new Cyprus initiative this summer, Clinton said: "If the two communities possess sufficient political will to make the tradeoffs required for an intercommunal agreement, we believe it should be possible to arrive at a fair and just solution". The American president said attaining a settlement in Cyprus "requires the active support of Turkey and Greece". Clinton noted that the planned American initiative on Cyprus was delayed because of "unavoidable events".The American initiative was originally expected to be launched last February by former Assistant Secretary of State Richard Holbrooke. But Holbrooke and his "big push" for reunification of the island were sidetracked earlier in the year when Greece and Turkey nearly came to blows over the ownership of a rocky islet -"Kardak" in Turkish, "Imia" in Greek- in the Aegean. Clinton said the groundwork for a new Cyprus initiative by his administration was complete. "In this respect, in March I had a useful session on Cyprus with Turkish President Demirel who expressed his government's desire to be helpful" he said. Clinton stated that US Ambassador to Nicosia, Richard Boucher, met with Greek Cypriot leader Glafkos Klerides on February 5. The report also noted that Turkish Cypriot President Rauf Denktas was ready for direct talks with Klerides. Klerides will be visiting Athens on Monday for talks on Cyprus with Greek President Kostis Stephanopoulos before the two officials make separate trips to the US. Stephanopoulos flies to Washington on Tuesday for talks with US President Bill Clinton on Greek-Turkish relations and Cyprus. Klerides is expected to meet Clinton in Washington in June. /Cumhuriyet-Milliyet/ [06] PKK CONFIRMS XULAM IS A 'PKK FRIEND'Abdullah Ocalan, leader of the PKK terrorist organization has admitted that Kani Xulam, a Kurdish activist arrested in Washington on April 13 on passport fraud charges, is a friend of the PKK. Xulam, who worked for the American Kurdish Information Network (AKIN), was arrested for adopting three false identities since 1986 and posing as a US citizen to obtain a US passport. During a MED TV broadcast on April 26 which Ocalan made by telephone from an unidentified location, he said Xulam was "a PKK friend who has been residing in the US for 25 years, and has always held a false passport given to him by the US" -according to the text of the broadcast translated into English by the US Foreign Broadcast Information Services (FBIS). Court records claim that Xulam took up residence in the US in 1986, not in 1971 as suggested by Ocalan. Ocalan claimed that Xulam's arrest was "as significant to us as cutting off a single strand of hair. The Turkish state, however, regards it as a great blow to the PKK". /Sabah/[07] IMF COMMITTEE ON THE WAYA committee from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will arrive in Turkey on the fifteenth of this month. The government is now readying the package it will present to the committee. The draft bill has to be presented to the Council of Ministers within ten days.The package will include a number of measures that first of all will affect consumers. Valued added tax (VAT) will go up, as will tax on other vital consumer goods including fuel, drinks and tobacco. Goods produced and sold by the state-run Economic Enterprises (SEEs) will also be subject to increases. Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz is expected to make a statement to the public about the package proposals on Monday, May 6. /Cumhuriyet/ [08] FEWER ACCIDENTS IN THE BOSPHORUSThe new set of rules brought into operation on July 1, 1994, for vessels navigating the Bosphorus Straits, has made the vital but dangerous waterway a safer place. The "Straits Charter" -controversial when first brought into effect- has proved its value by reducing the number of collisions and accidents involving vessels of all sizes using the straits.The new rules for the straits were particularly criticised by the Russians who for centuries have looked longingly at the straits as the perfect connection with warmer warmer waters so vital to Russian economic interests. Turkey has however, confirmed that it is determined to keep the new charter in full effect to protect the straits and maintain the higher levels of safety outlined in the charter. /Cumhuriyet/ [09] PKK GETTING RICH FROM DRUG SMUGGLINGAccording to the claims in the 109 page "White Book" issued by the Defence Ministry, the terrorist PKK organization has grown rich on the proceeds of its drug smuggling operations. The White Book actually outlines the progress of the modernization of the Turkish Armed Forces, but also includes details on ties with European allies, PKK developments and related subjects. According to the White Book report, the PKK profits by something like five billion DM a year from its drug operations. /Cumhuriyet/[10] TURKISH PROJECTS IN BOSNIA LIFTING OFFTurkey-US initiatives in Bosnia have started to get going in the areas of military training and development especially among the Bosnian moslem forces. Training programmes will start coming into full effect in June with more equipment and facilities. Although there is reportedly some delay in the provision of heavy equipment, this is not going to negatively affect training programmes. /Milliyet/[11] CALL FOR MORE US INVESTMENT IN TURKEYTurkish Ambassador to Washington, Nuzhet Kandemir, has sent out a call to US businessmen to make more investment in Turkey. During a speech he made at Utah State University, Kandemir said that Turkey was the key to stability and prosperity in the region around Turkey and that Turkey itself was ripe for more US investment. /Milliyet/ |
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