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Turkish Press Review 96-05-20Turkish Press Review Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs <http://www.mfa.gov.tr>CONTENTS
TURKISH PRESS REVIEWMONDAY MAY 20, 1996Summary of the political and economic news in the Turkish press this morning[01] MAY 19 CELEBRATED THROUGHOUT TURKEYMay 19, Youth and Sports Day, marking the beginning of the War of Independence, was celebrated throughout the country yesterday. In the morning, Turkish leaders including President Suleyman Demirel, Parliament Speaker Mustafa Kalemli, Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz, Constitutional Court President Yekta Gungor Ozden, General Staff Chief Ismail Hakki Karadayi, Deputy Prime Minister Nahit Mentese, True Path Party Chairwoman Tansu Ciller, Welfare Party Chairman Necmettin Erbakan, Nationalist Movement Party Chairman Alparslan Turkes and high ranking government and military officials visited Anitkabir, the mausoleum of Ataturk. Following a moment of silence and the singing of the national anthem, the president laid a wreath. /All papers/[02] CROWDS CHEER DEMIREL DAY AFTER ASSASSINATION ATTEMPTCrowds filling the May 19 stadium at the Youth and Sports Day celebrations yest erday chanted "Demirel, Turks are proud of you" a day after a lone gunman tried to assassinate President Suleyman Demirel in the northwestern industrial city of Izmit. Demirel's bodyguards wrestled the white-bearded attacker to the groun d when he pointed a pistol at the president who was opening a shopping centre i n zmit. A single bullet slightly wounded a Milliyet newspaper photographer and the president's security director Sukru Cukurlu when the would-be-killer, 48-y ear-old Ibrahim Gumrukcuoglu, was pushed to the ground. "The attacker said in h is statement that he wanted to protest against the agreement between the Turkis h Republic and Israel" Interior Minister Ulku Guney told a press conference on Saturday. Turkish leaders held a security summit under the chairmanship of Pres ident Demirel on Saturday night.Meanwhile, Israeli President Ezer Weizman extended his best wishes for a quick recovery to President Demirel. According to a statement from Israeli officials, Weizman phoned Demirel on Saturday evening and wished him well. /All papers/ [03] ATATURK PEACE AWARD TO UNICEFPresident Suleyman Demirel has presented the 1996 Ataturk International Peace A ward to Ion Gorita, UNICEF representative to Turkey. Demirel said that this awa rd has been given to UNICEF for the 50-year contribution it has made to childre n in the world. He also presented a TL 500 billion cheque to Gorita. /Hurriyet/[04] 64 PKK MILITANTS KILLEDTurkish troops killed 57 militants of the PKK terrorist organization in the Sason district of Batman and the Cakirpinar village of Bitlis. Bodies of seven mil itants were found near the Iraqi border. "A clash began with a group of around 150 PKK militants. We killed about half of them but have recovered only 64 bodi es so far" Batman's governor Salih Sarman told reporters. Three village guards were killed and four injured in the engagement which started on Saturday in Bat man's mountainous Sason district and continued overnight. Sarman said he believ ed it would finish soon. /Hurriyet/[05] TURKISH DAY MARKED IN NEW YORKTurks marched in New York over the weekend in the 15th annual celebration of Turkish Day in that city. The significant characteristic of this year's march was that representatives of the Melunjas, a group reportedly of Turkish origin liv ing in the US, and a group of Native Americans participated in the march with t heir national outfits. US President Bill Clinton has sent a message on the occa sion of Turkish Week congratulating the Turks living in the US. In his message, Clinton said that the Turkish people and culture had contributed a lot to Amer ica's becoming strong.Turkey's Ambassador to Washington Nuzhet Kandemir, Turkey's Permanent represent ative to the UN, Huseyin Celem, Turkey's Consul- General in New York Fuat Tanla y and Turkish-American Associations' Federation Chairman Sevket Karaduman parti cipated in the march along Madison Avenue, which was decorated with posters of Ataturk and Turkish flags. Groups from the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, Turkestan, Azerbaijan and Chechnya also marched on Turkish Day. Around 20,000 Turks attended the march. /Hurriyet/ [06] GONENSAY OFF TO WASHINGTONForeign Minister Emre Gonensay flew to Washington yesterday to discuss delays i n US arms deliveries to Turkey, the future of Operation Provide Comfort (OPC) a s well as tensions between Turkey and Greece. Gonensay said he would be discuss ing the extension of the OPC mandate. He stated that he would brief his America n counterparts on Turkey's efforts to solve the disputes with Greece. He also s aid he would raise the issue of Caspian oil and its delivery to the West throug h Turkey. Gonensay said Turkey and the US have agreed to enhance their partners hip relations and serve the interests of regional and global peace. "I am happy to say the political will to maintain relations at the very highest level betw een Turkey and the US exists in Washington" he concluded. Gonensay will meet US Secretary of State Warren Christopher, Secretary of Defence William Perry and Security Adviser to US President Bill Clinton Anthony Lake. /Cumhuriyet/[07] OCALAN GIVES UP HIS DEMAND OF FORMING A SEPARATE KURDISH STATEIn an interview released yesterday, leader of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) Abdullah Ocalan emphasized that the PKK had given up its hope of for ming a separate Kurdish state and would instead be satisfied with broad autonomy for Kurds under Turkish rule. "It is very difficult to realize a Kurdish state. Other states in the Middle East would oppose this" he told the German daily Die Welt. He held up Germany as a model. "If a free state of Kurdistan in Turkey could have as much autonomy as, for example, Bavaria in Germany, then we would no longer have to wage our battle that has claimed so many victims" he said. He denied he had ever declared war on Germany or that he considered the country his enemy despite its ties with NATO partner Turkey. "The Germans are an admirable people. They have temporarily taken in more than half a million Kurds. To declare war on Germans would be biting the hand that helps us" he added. He proposed fostering a dialogue between Kurds and Germans to boost confidence betwee n the peoples. /Cumhuriyet/[08] TURKEY UNDER MISSILE THREATAccording to a report circulating in the US, Turkey is under a missile threat from neighbour countries like Syria and Iran. A report prepared by the "Coalition Against Nuclear Threat" under the heading "The Last Fifteen Minutes" says that many of the missiles in silos in Iran and Syria are a threat to Turkish cities. Armed with conventional and chemical warheads, the missiles constitute a serious threat to Turkey's security. The Coalition group also points out the growing proliferation of nuclear warheads in its report. /Milliyet/[09] YOUNG TURKS PROFIT THE USPresident of the Union of Turco-American Associations, Nuri Sabuncu said over the weekend that young Turkish businessmen and investors are looking more and mo re to the US for profit and business.Young Turkish businessmen are being seen in increasing numbers in the textile, commercial, construction and other areas where both they themselves and the US can benefit mutually from their skills. Many of the young entrepreneurs stress that it is much easier to start a new business in the US than in Turkey where burocracy stifles initiative. /Sabah/ [10] GERMAN FAIRS WILL PROMOTE TURKEYUp-coming trade fairs in Germany will go a long way towards promoting Turkey, say officials in the German-Turk Chambers of Trade and Industry. Fairs to be held in Cologne and Dusseldorf especially will provide opportunities for a large p articipation by Turkish businessmen and companies.On average, every year nine million people visit the fairs held in Germany, and the Turco-German trade and industrial associations want to make the most of the promotion opportunities available. /Sabah/ [11] TURKISH FLAG BURNT IN GREECEA crowd of Greek and Armenian trouble-makers burnt the Turkish flag in front of the Turkish Embassy in Athens over the weekend. The crowd of about three hundred shouted slogans and distributed tracts about the aims of the "Black Sea Greeks" who wanted to commemorate the "massacre of the Pontius Greeks." The crowd dispersed without getting too close to the Embassy. A similar demonstration in Thessalonica also made a lot of noise but broke up without causing any damage to the Turkish Consulate there. /Sabah/[12] GREECE WANTS TO ARM AGAINST TURKEYGreek Foreign Minister Theodoros Pangalos said on Sunday that it was essential that Greece armed itself against what it perceived as a threat coming from Turkey. "We have to make sure that we have both air and sea superiority over Turkey " said Pangalos.The minister added that Greece had no time for office generals -but instead needed "rambo-style" military men who would lead the action to turn the Aegean Sea into a "Greek lake." Most of what Pangalos said revolved around the Kardak islands issue which has driven a deep wedge between Turkey and Greece over the question of sovereignty in the Aegean. /Cumhuriyet/ [13] DENKTAS: GREEK CYPRIOTS DELAY DISCUSSIONSTurkish Republic of Northern Cyprus President Rauf Denktas, who has arrived in Ankara for personal health checks noted that hopes of joining the European Unio n have stimulated Cypriot Greeks to abandon discussions for finding a solution to the Cyprus question. Denktas stressed that disagreements could be solved onl y through discussions based on mutual goodwill, and added that a delay in initi ating bilateral talks would cause only losses for both sides.Check-up results have shown that Denktas is speedily recovering and is now enjo ying good health, are strengthening hopes that the president will soon be sitti ng again at his desk. /Cumhuriyet/ [14] TURCO-BOSNIAN DEFENCE COOPERATIONLast Friday, Bosnian Deputy Defence Minister Hasan Cengic and an accompanying d elegation completed a five-day visit to Turkey. Cooperation in the defence indu stry was one of the most important issues on the agenda of discussions. Cengic has expressed the Bosnian desire to initiate long-term defence cooperation with Turkey. During the visit, the Bosnian delegation visited some Turkish defence industry facilities such as ASELSAN, MKE, TUSAS and TAI, as well as some privat e companies.Observers draw attention to the fact that 60 percent of former Yugoslavia's def ence industry facilities were located in Bosnia and note that Bosnia used to pr oduce fighter planes and other military equipment. Existing opportunities for b ilateral defence cooperation are expected to bring benefits to both countries. /Cumhuriyet/ Turkish Press Review Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |
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