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Turkish Press Review, 96-06-19Turkish Press Review Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs <http://www.mfa.gov.tr>CONTENTS
TURKISH PRESS REVIEWWEDNESDAY JUNE 19, 1996Summary of the political and economic news in the Turkish press this morning[01] DEMIREL URGES RECONCILIATION IN MOSTARPresident Suleyman Demirel, visiting the ethnically divided city of Mostar yesterday, urged its Moslems and Croats to co-exist peacefully again as they have for hundreds of years. "From our hearts and minds we must throw away hate and replace it with friendship and love. Now there will be Mostar elections where the people of Bosnia should serve as an example to the whole world" Demirel said in a speech in Moslem-controlled east Mostar. Demirel announced Turkish financial support for projects to rebuild the Ottoman "Old Bridge", which was a cultural monument on UNESCO's world heritage list, and the war-ruined core of ancient Mostar in southwest Bosnia. /Hurriyet/[02] TUDJMAN VISITS TURKEYCroatian President Franjo Tudjman will come to Turkey today as the official guest of Turkish President Suleyman Demirel. Cooperation agreements in military, tourism, science, technology and Higher Education will be signed between Turkey and Croatia. Furthermore, a protocol regarding a bureau to be opened in Zagreb by the Turkish Cooperation and Development Agency (TIKA) will be signed. It is reported that Tudjman will request Turkey's support for Croatia's membership in NATO and the EU. /Sabah/[03] TGNA EXTENDS MANDATE OF PROVIDE COMFORTA draft decision on the extension of the Provide Comfort mandate for a month more was approved at the Turkish Grand National Assembly yesterday. Following discussion on the decision, Welfare Party (RP) and True Path Party (DYP) deputies proposed an open vote. The decision was accepted by 257 votes against 195 following the voting of 453 deputies. One vote was counted invalid. /Sabah/[04] TURKISH BANKERS UNION JOINS EUThe Turkish Union of Bankers has joined the European Union (EU) by becoming a correspondent member of the European Banking Federation. The Turkish Union of Bankers is not as yet a "full" member of the federation but is now in line for benefits shared by member banks.Newly joining countries have to stay as a correspondent member for at least three months. There are currently eleven other countries sharing this status with Turkey. /Sabah/ [05] FLORENCE DIALOGUE DEAL FOR TURKEY AND GREECEIn a move to improve ties between Turkey and the European Union (EU), especially in connection with strained relations between Turkey and Greece, the upcoming EU troika meeting in Florence, Italy, will put forward a "Florence formula."The formula to patch up the quarrel between Turkey and Greece relies mainly on new dialogue between the two countries. By inviting Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz to the EU summit, Italy has added weight to the formula, and observers see the invitation as an important part of the process. /Cumhuriyet/ [06] ANKARA SOON TO BREAK THE ICE WITH EURO PARLIAMENTOn the eve of a Joint Parliamentary Commission meeting, between deputies from Turkey and the European Parliament, scheduled for June 24-26, Euro MPs on Monday convened in Strasbourg to make their final preparations. The meeting, which is to take place in Turkey later this month, will officially break the ice between Ankara and Strasbourg, the seat of the European Parliament.A vice president of the European Parliament, Peter Dankert -an MP from the Netherlands, said that they had convened to make an evaluation of their scheduled trip to Turkey for the last time. The joint commission is expected to refer to essential issues such as the enlargement process of the European Union, the Intergovernmental Conference, and the customs union deal, signed between Turkey and the EU. /All papers/ [07] TURKSAT 1C SATELLITE TO BE LAUNCHED ON JULY 9Ilhami Aygun, the director of the Turksat Programme, revealed that the Turksat 1C satellite will be launched on 9 July by the Arianespace Space Transport Company. Argun said at a press conference, at which Arianespace officials also met with Turkish press members, that Turksat 1C will be launched together with the Arapsat 2A satellite from the Kourou Space Station in French Guyana. It is planned that the satellite will remain in orbit for 10 years. For the first two years of this period, the satellite will be under the joint control of Turkish Telecom and Aerospatiale. After this Turkish Telecom will take over sole responsibility for the satellite.Meanwhile, a joint company which Turkish Telecom, with a 51 % share, will set up with Aerospatiale, with a 49 % share, will begin to sell satellites in the coming years. The joint-venture called "Turksat International" will meet satellite orders from other countries in addition to Turksat 2. Aygun said that the company would begin to operate at the end of this year. /Hurriyet-Sabah/ [08] GREEK-ARMENIAN MILITARY PACTA military cooperation accord signed between Greece and Armenia yesterday has elicited angry responses from Ankara. The agreement was signed in Athens between Greek Defence Minister Gerassimos Arsenis and Armenian Defence Minister Vasken Serkisyan at the Greek Defence Ministry. After the signing, Arsenis said Greece would be the first country to post a military attache to Armenia. He added that Greece was today also developing its military ties with Bulgaria, Romania, Albania, Egypt, Syria and Israel. Armenian Defence Minister Serkisyan for his part said that the preparations for the accord with Greece had been continuing for over two years. Greek Foreign Minister Theodoros Pangalos, also commenting on the accord, said that they were interested in establishing a "defence forum" between the two countries. He added that they wanted Iran, Syria, certain Arab countries and Georgia to be included in this forum.Turkish Defence Minister Oltan Sungurlu said yesterday that such a development posed no threat to Turkey's security. "Turkey is in a position to cope with much bigger countries. But we are still bothered by our neighbours establishing such relations among themselves. I don't know the reasons for Greece's wanting to be in the Caucasus, but this also has to be accepted. Greece does not have a friendly attitude towards Turkey". /Hurriyet/ [09] US STATE DEPARTMENT SAYS GAVDOS IS GREEKThe US Administration announced on Monday that Gavdos is Greek. State Department Spokesman Nicholas Burns told the press "We have been assured by the Turkish government that the Turkish government, when it raised objections to the NATO exercise taking place south of Crete, only meant to raise technical questions. The Turkish approach had nothing to do with the sovereignty of Gavdos. Gavdos is Greek and Greece has sovereignty there. People who live on Gavdos are Greek citizens. We are very pleased to see the Turkish government come forward and clarify the situation".Meanwhile, Greek-Cypriot leader Glafkos Klerides, who is on an official visit to Washington, told journalists on Monday that one should discuss the Cyprus issue directly with the Turkish military and Turkish President Suleyman Demirel in the absence of a strong government in Turkey. /Hurriyet/ [10] ARAB LEAGUE WARNED NOT TO BE ANTI-TURKISHJust prior to the Arab League summit in Cairo on 21 June, Ankara has warned Arab countries about taking any decision regarding the waters of the Euphrates River. Turkish Foreign Minister Emre Gonensay has sent letters to his Arab counterparts, setting forth the potential damage any anti-Turkish decision would have. In his letter, Gonensay also emphasized that such a decision would give the impression that an Arab front against Turkey had been created.Turkish ambassadors in Arab capitals have been working to prevent any decision against Turkey and have explained the Turkish view about the water issue to the respective Foreign Ministers. Arab ambassadors in Ankara held a mini-Arab summit yesterday. Arab ambassadors traditionally come together but yesterday's meeting was especially important as it came directly after Gonensay's letter to Arab foreign ministers. The Arab League summit will be held on Saturday in Cairo. All countries in the Arab world, with the exception of Iraq, will participate in the meeting. Meanwhile, Turkish Parliament Speaker Mustafa Kalemli postponed his official visit to Cairo which was due to be held between 23-28 June. On the other hand, the Arab League is planning to send a "goodwill delegation" to Ankara for the development of relations with Ankara following the summit in Cairo. The delegation consisting of two or three Arab foreign ministers will meet with Turkish Foreign Ministry officials. /Sabah-Cumhuriyet/ [11] SEA WOLF-2/96 EXERCISEThe fourth segment of the ongoing Sea Wolf-2/96 military exercise which has been taking place off the coasts of Cyprus and Syria ended on Tuesday as the preparations for the three-day Toros-1/96 military exercise, which starts today in the international waters and airspace of the eastern Mediterranean and Northern Cyprus, started. Under the command of Adm.Selim Dervisoglu, Seawolf rehearsed submarine defence strategies. Training in tactics for surface, submarine and air defensive warfare was carried out in the international waters of the Eastern Meditterranean Sea. In addition, ship-to-ship transfers were practiced. Seawolf-2/96 is expected to be completed on June 28. /Cumhuriyet/[12] TURKISH-DUTCH LAND TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION CONVENETurkish-Dutch Land Transportation Commission convened yesterday to evaluate measures to develop landway transportation between the two countries. Deputy Director General of Land Transportation of the Transportation Ministry Ertugrul Nurcan Bingul headed Turkish side and Transportation Director General of Dutch Transportation and Public Affairs Henrick Fabius headed the Dutch delegation during the meeting which took place in the Transportation Ministry. Development of landway transportation and regular passenger transporation will be discussed during the meeting which will last for two days. A protocol will be signed today concerning the issues taken up during the meeting. /All papers/[13] POLICE RAID ISTANBUL PKK ARMS CACHEWorking in cooperation with Romanian and Bulgarian security forces, Istanbul police teams found and confiscated arms, ammunition and explosives hidden in safe houses belonging to PKK hit squads. Seven members of the PKK terrorist organization were arrested in city-wide operations yesterday. /Milliyet/[14] ANTI-DRUG TEAMS IN BIG HEROIN HAULIn a nation-wide strike against drug smugglers and distributors, the Turkish Narcotics Department arrested two men in Ankara carrying thirty kilos of heroin for the market in and around the capital. Over in Istanbul anti-drug teams picked up another ten kilos on its way to Europe.Police raids led to the confiscation of another fifteen kilos of heroin in Gaziantep and Hakkari, while five more was grabbed on its way to Antakya. The total of 60 kilos of heroin had a street value running into the hundreds of thousands of dollars. Total drug hauls to date are reported to have a total value of 724 million dollars. /Sabah/ [15] IRAQI OIL TO FLOWFollowing an agreement between the UN and Iraq on limited oil sales, the first oil to flow through the Yumurtalik-Kirkuk overland oil pipeline will begin to move at the end of this month. About one million barrels of Iraqi oil will be delivered from Yumurtalik to world markets. The UN fears that Iraq will actually sell more oil than the agreed amount and at a lower price.The UN will appoint experts and inspectors to the region to control the amount of Iraqi oil moving through the pipeline and to ensure that the oil is sold at world prices. /Sabah/ [16] TURKEY PREPARES FOR CONGRESS TOURISMTurkey has launched efforts to gain a share in the $250 billion congress tourism market. Tourism officials say that congress centers should be built in Izmir, Ankara and Antalya. Pointing out that Turkey, with an unequalled cultural and historical richness as well as unrivalled natural beauty had a huge potential for congress tourism, officials said that Turkey should complete current infrastructural work as soon as possible. /Sabah/Turkish Press Review Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |
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