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TRKNWS-L Turkish Press Review (May 8, 1996)From: TRKNWS-L <trh@aimnet.com>Turkish Press Review DirectoryCONTENTS[01] DEMIREL LEAVES FOR UZBEKISTAN[02] TURKISH MPs COME TOGETHER WITH EUROPEAN COUNTERPARTS[03] KALEMLI DEFENDS TURKEY ON HUMAN RIGHTS ISSUES[04] SOUTH KOREAN PM TO VISIT TURKEY[05] YILMAZ INVITES FOREIGN TEXTILE FIRMS TO INVEST IN TURKEY[06] US SUPPORTS TURKEY[07] TURKEY INTEGRATING FAST WITH THE GLOBAL ECONOMY[08] TURKISH FREE ZONES TRADING UP 48 %[09] THINGS LOOKING BETTER WITH ATHENS[10] NEW FRENCH CREDIT DEAL[11] TURKEY A NEW MEMBER IN UN COMMISSION[12] TURKISH COCA COLA PLANT IN KAZAKHSTANTURKISH PRESS REVIEWWEDNESDAY MAY 8, 1996Summary of the political and economic news in the Turkish press this morning[01] DEMIREL LEAVES FOR UZBEKISTANPresident Suleyman Demirel departed yesterday for a visit to Uzbekistan. "There is a fertile atmosphere for the enhancement of relations between Turkey and Uzbekistan. More than 60 accords have been signed in the past to set up the judicial framework" President Suleyman Demirel said before he departed for Tashkent. The president and his Uzbek counterpart Islam Kerimov plan to sign three more accords, including one to prevent double taxation and another to protect the environment. The third is a "lasting friendship and cooperation accord". Demirel said that 180 Turkish companies, some of which have entered into partnerships with Uzbek firms, were involved in projects in Uzbekistan. "They are contributing to the construction of Uzbekistan" Demirel said, adding that the volume of trade between Turkey and Uzbekistan had approached $200 million. "We are cooperating in a number of areas raning from transport to agriculture" he said.Demirel is being accompanied on this visit by State Minister Ayvaz Gokdemir, Culture Minister Agah Oktay Guner and Environment Minister Mustafa Tasar, as well as some university rectors and businessmen. Demirel and his accompanying delegation were welcomed by Uzbek President Kerimov. After initial talks, the two presidents came together at a banquet. Demirel and Kerimov will head meetings between the two delegations today. /Sabah/ [02] TURKISH MPs COME TOGETHER WITH EUROPEAN COUNTERPARTSIn a move toward the reactivation of the Turco-European Joint Parliamentary Commission (JPC), the co-chairmen of the two wings came together in Brussels yesterday. The JPC meetings were formally frozen a year ago, after Turkey stripped six former deputies of the pro-Kurdish Democracy Party (DEP) of their parliamentary immunity and charged them with separatism. However, the JPC had not met for two years before the freeze decision was taken. The JPC now meets with a different group of deputies altogether, since both the Turkish and the European Parliament have held new elections.The Turkish deputies are to meet with the chairmen of the political parties and groups in the European Parliament. Their schedule includes a meeting with Serge Abou, the EU Commission's director for east Mediterranean policy. The meeting will end today, after determining the agenda of the meeting with the full JPC which will take place in Turkey on June 20. /All papers/ [03] KALEMLI DEFENDS TURKEY ON HUMAN RIGHTS ISSUESTurkish Parliament Speaker Mustafa Kalemli received yesterday a delegation of the Turco-American Associations Assembly, and during their meeting complained about the West's "double standards". "Western countries have been misinformed on the subject of human rights violations in Turkey" Kalemli said. "It is not right for them to try to judge Turkey on the basis of lies or incorrect reports. Human rights violations take place in the US and Germany too". Committee members from certain countries were coming to Turkey to investigate human rights violations with the air of judges or prosecutors, he said, stressing that they received all kinds of assistance from the Turkish authorities despite that. /All papers/[04] SOUTH KOREAN PM TO VISIT TURKEYPrime Minister of South Korea, Lee Soo-Sung, is to visit Turkey on May 9. Soo-Sung will also visit Poland, Hungary and Romania between May 9-22. Soo-Sung will make negotiations on regional and international issues and on improving mutual relations. Soo-Sung will be the first South Korean prime minister who visited these countries. /All papers/[05] YILMAZ INVITES FOREIGN TEXTILE FIRMS TO INVEST IN TURKEYPrime Minister Mesut Yilmaz invited foreign textile firms to invest in the Turkish textile and clothing sector in his opening speech of the 12th World Apparel Convention, saying that they should take advantage of the fact that "Turkey has become a country of know-how transfer". Yilmaz pointed out that Turkey was among the very few self-sufficient countries in textile raw materials, saying that behind the success of the Turkish clothing industry lies the large quantity of high quality cotton production.Yilmaz outlined recent changes in Turkey's economic direction, pointing out that the new orientation of the Turkish economy to globalization leading to an open economy, shifting to an export orientation. One positive result of this shift, according to Yilmaz, was the fact that the Turkish economy continued growing during the world economy's recent bout with stagnation and recession. Turkey's leading exports are textile and clothing products, Yilmaz noted, and stated that Turkey ranks the second in the European textile trade and fifth among textile-exporting countries of the world. Yilmaz emphasized the importance of international cooperation in the textile industry, and marked the holding of the International Apparel Foundation's convention in Turkey as an important step towards developing the Turkish textile sector's international connections. Yilmaz reminded the foreign participants that 70 % of the foreign investment in the Central Asian republics was realized by Turkish firms, and invited the foreign textile industrialists to invest in machinery production in Turkey rather than trying to supply machinery for the Turkish textile industry. /Cumhuriyet/ [06] US SUPPORTS TURKEYUS State Department Spokesman Nicholas Burns has reiterated that the US supports Turkey's claims regarding the countries, especially Syria, which support the PKK terrorist organization. Burns said: "Syria ought to cease and desist from support for the PKK". Meanwhile, it is reported that the US Administration got very angry as Syrian head of State Hafiz Esad described the PKK and Hezbollah as national opposition activities at his meeting with US Secretary of State in Damascus. /Sabah/[07] TURKEY INTEGRATING FAST WITH THE GLOBAL ECONOMYThe World Bank said in a report that Turkey has integrated with the global economy "rapidly". In a report released on the global economy and developing countries, the bank said that the impacts of reforms in Turkey would be more perceptible in the future. The report defined the integration of the global economy as the concentration and widening of the commercial and financial relations. It also said that firms in developing countries were facing tougher competition as time goes on. The Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland were also listed among the countries "rapidly" integrating into the global economy. /Sabah/[08] TURKISH FREE ZONES TRADING UP 48 %The trading volume at free zones has increased by 48 % to exceed $1 billion in the first four months of this year. According to information from the Foreign Trade Undersecretariat, in the eight free zones the trading volume soared by 48 % to reach $1.064 billion in the January-April period of 1996 compared to the same period last year. In the first four months of the year, the trading volume increased by 39 % in the Mersin region, 266 % in Trabzon, 51 % in the Aegean free zone. It stood at 8 % in Istanbul-Ataturk Airport. The trading volumes at the newly-opened Erzurum-Eastern Anatolia and Mardin free zones came to $713.9 million and $468.5 million in the same period. /All papers/[09] THINGS LOOKING BETTER WITH ATHENSBoth Ankara and Athens are working to give more momentum to improving relations between the two capitals. In moves to develop relations between Greece and Turkey, both governments are making increased efforts in certain areas to lay a foundation for a new period of understanding.Described as a "honeymoon" period, this new effort to improve relations by both sides includes tourism, art and cultural agreements that are already yielding beneficial results. The press, theatre groups and tour operators are all showing new efforts to disperse the gloom of the past few months of diplomatic dispute involving the Kardak islets and other issues. Reports from Greece say that Greek Prime Minister Kostas Simitis is already preparing to make new investment in Thrace where the Turkish muslim minority is centred. There are even reports that a lifting of the Greek veto against Turkey is on the horizon following initiatives by Foreign Minister Emre Gonensay. /All papers/ [10] NEW FRENCH CREDIT DEALIt has been announced that Turkey has fixed a new credit deal with France for 300 million francs for four privatization projects and other developments. The credit has come from the French Treasury and the French Insurance Board (COFACE). The loan is for thirty years at 0.2 percent interest with no payments for the first ten years.Projects include railway signal developments, sewage treatment and hospital equipment schemes. French commercial and trade interests will be involved in the projects. /Sabah/ [11] TURKEY A NEW MEMBER IN UN COMMISSIONTurkey has been made a member of the UN sponsored Population and Development Commission. According to the Foreign Ministry, the decision was made during a May 3 meeting of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). Turkey will assume duties in the Commission next year. /Cumhuriyet/[12] TURKISH COCA COLA PLANT IN KAZAKHSTANA subsidiary of the Turkish Anatolia Group, Ephesus Investments will be setting up a Coca Cola bottling plant in Almati, Kazakhstan. The Turco-Kazakh partnership will produce 18 thousand litre bottles of coke and Fanta soft drinks every hour.The Anatolia Group has invested 15 million dollars in the project and plans to have the bottling plant operating within eighteen months. /Sabah/ |
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