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Turkish Press Review, 96-07-09Turkish Press Review Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs <http://www.mfa.gov.tr>CONTENTS
TURKISH PRESS REVIEWTUESDAY JULY 9, 1996Summary of the political and economic news in the Turkish press this morning[01] PARLIAMENT SAYS 'YES' TO COALITIONThe Parliament yesterday nodded its assent ton the Islamist-led government, supporting the coalition between Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan's Welfare Party (RP) and Tansu Ciller's centre-right True Path Party (DYP). The coalition was backed by 278 deputies in the ballot, while the secularist parties opposing the partnership could muster 265 "No" confidence votes. One deputy abstained. /All papers/[02] GOVERNMENT ACTS TO EASE FOREIGN FEARSForeign Minister Ciller, representing the the new pro-Islamic government led by the Refah (Welfare) Party of Necmettin Erbakan, will set forth today to ease the fears of foreign countries about Turkey's future.Ciller will first of all meet with foreign ambassadors today, and then begin initiatives to clarify the position with countries with close ties to Turkey. One country that will benefit from the new programme will be Israel: Foreign Ministry officials say that mutual benefits coming from agreements will not be influenced. /Milliyet-Cumhuriyet/ [03] ISSUE NOT WATER BUT TERRORAnkara has made it plain that the real issue between Turkey and Syria is not the question of water distribution, but rather, Syrian support for terrorism.Speaking to foreign journalists during his usual weekly press meeting, Foreign Ministry spokesman Omer Akbel said that Ankara was ready to cooperate with Syria to solve the water problem at the technical level "at any time." Akbel stressed however, that the real problem was the lack of security between the two countries stemming from Syria's continued and open support of terrorism. /Milliyet-Cumhuriyet/ [04] ANKARA PRAISES BALKAN MEETINGAnkara welcomed the outcome of the meeting of Balkan foreign ministers held in the Bulgarian capital Sofia last weekend. Turkish Foreign Ministry Spokesman Omer Akbel told journalists yesterday that the ending of conflicts heralded a new era for the region. "We hope that full cooperation and good neighbourly relations will now prevail in the Balkans" he said. "We are happy to contribute to this process".Akbel added that in the past Turkey had supported these meetings but circumstances had prevented their being held for the past six years. Previous meetings were held in 1988 in Belgrade, and in 1990 in Tirana. Akbel expressed particular support for the final communique's emphasis on the continuing fight against terrorism. /Milliyet/ [05] ANKARA REPEATS DIALOGUE CALL TO GREECEBoth Turks and Greeks expressed a wish for better relations at the Balkan countries meeting in Sofia last weekend. Turkish Foreign Ministry Spokesman Omer Akbel told the weekly press conference for foreign media that Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Onur Oymen and Greek Foreign Minister Theodoros Pangalos had met and both sides had said that they wanted relations to improve.Akbel said: "Oymen reiterated the position of the Turkish government on the bilateral disputes we have, and emphasized our willingness to start a peaceful dialogue". Akbel added however that no date had been set for a further meeting of the two foreign ministers, as such a meeting would require a government decision. /Milliyet/ [06] EU FOCUSES ON TURCO-GREEK DISPUTESItalian Foreign Minister Lambero Dini said that the EU will be concentrating on solving the Turco-Greek disputes. Dini, speaking at a press conference evaluating Italy's term presidency of EU, said that because of the Greek veto the EU could not go ahead with the MEDA project for Mediterranean countries and this was damaging to the EU and the countries concerned.Dini pointed out that some had proposed that the International Court of Justice be brought in to help solve the problems between Greece and Turkey but now it would be necessary to learn the ideas of the new Turkish government on the subject. /All papers/ [07] TURKSAT-1C TO BE LAUNCHED TONIGHTThe communication satellite Turksat-1C will be launched from French Guiana tonight. The satellite will be capable of serving a wider area than previous satellites due to its high technical qualities. The satellite has two coverage areas; Turkey-West and Turkey-Central Asia, and will support a total of 16 channels.The launch of Turksat-1C, which was built to replace Turksat-1A which was lost after a defect in its number two engine, can be watched live from Turksat Main Ground Control Centre. Transportation Minister Omer Barutcu will watch the launch of the satellite at Golbasi. /Hurriyet/ [08] ISRAEL SUPPORTS TURKEY AGAINST SYRIAN TERRORISMBenjamin Netanyahu, new Israeli Prime Minister, has attacked Syria for harbouring terrorist groups. "We will make great efforts to encourage the international community to oppose this Syrian policy" Netanyahu said in a June 26 interview with the Yediot Aharonot newspaper. Under the headline "We will mobilize the world against Syrian terrorism", Netanyahu called Syria a centre of terrorism against Turkey and Jordan.In later interview with the Jerusalem Post on June 28, the leader of the right-wing Likud party denied that he was proposing a policy of containment. Rather, he said: "We are simply not going to play by Syrian rules" which he defined as "lashing out with terrorism 360 degrees...against Turkey and against Jordan and increasingly against us". In the Post interview he warned Syria that a political price would be exacted unless Damascus took action. /All papers/ [09] BRITISH ENVOY STARTS FRESH MEETINGS ON CYPRUSBritain's envoy on the Cyprus issue, Sir David Hannay, started a fresh round of consultations on the island yesterday, his second visit in five weeks. Hannay, who is on the island until Thursday, will have meetings with leading figures in the Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities. Speaking after a two-hour meeting with Greek Cypriot leader Glafkos Klerides, Hannay insisted on keeping the contents of his discussion private.Hannay was expected to travel to the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) last night for talks with TRNC President Rauf Denktas. /All papers/ [10] 24 MILITANTS KILLED IN THE SOUTHEASTTwenty-four militants of the PKK terrorist organization were killed by security forces in the rural areas of Tunceli, Hakkari, Diyarbakir, Batman and Elazig. Five militants surrendered to the security forces in Bingol, Diyarbakir, Sirnak and Tunceli. In total, 94 militants were caught and arrested during operations aimed to prevent the activities of the separatists in settlement areas. In a statement released by the Emergency Rule Region Governorship, it was said that the separatists will not be given the chance to disturb the people of the region and that security operations will continue. /Cumhuriyet/[11] JOINT MILITARY EXERCISE STARTS IN BULGARIATurkish troops are participating for the first time in joint military exercises in a Warsaw Pact country. The joint manoeuvres are being held in Belene, Bulgaria by troops from seven countries including Turkey, Bulgaria, the US, Greece, Romania, Moldavia and Malta. The exercises, called "Joint Determination '96" and scheduled to end on July 12, were organized within the framework of "The Partnership Plan for Peace" by NATO's Southern Europe Commander, General Layton Smith. The aim of the exercises is to promote military collaboration and consensus among NATO countries and potential NATO members.Military teams worked on rescue and recovery missions for natural disasters such as floods and earthquakes. The Turkish forces were praised for their good performance in the exercise. /All papers/ [12] AUTO INDUSTRY GROWS 5 % IN JUNETurkish automotive output rose five percent in June to 30,949 units from a year ago, the Association of Turkish Automotive Industry (OSD) said. Total motor vehicle output rose 16 % to 163,966 units in the first half of 1996, it said. Car production, leading the way with 19,988 units in June, was up five percent to 110,637 units in the first six months, the OSD said. Bus production showed the highest increase with 216 % in the first half year, followed by a 62 % rise in minibus and a 61 % rise in truck output.The OSD said six months car sales rose eight percent from the same 1995 period. The share of imported cars in the domestic market soared to 19.6 % in the first six months from seven percent in the first half of 1995. The OSD said car imports from the EU made up 60 % of the total imports in the first six months, after Turkey's customs pact with the EU went into effect in January. /All papers/ [13] TURKISH TRADE OFFICIALS CAUTIOUS ON NEW IRAQI MARKETTurkey's senior trade officials yesterday voiced caution on possible business deals Turkish companies might obtain from Iraq as part of the oil-for-food deal between the UN and the Baghdad administration. "It would be wrong to expect miracles from this first contact" Foreign Trade Undersecretary Nejat Eren said in reference to the visit of a Turkish trade mission. A Turkish delegation, containing several state economists and private company representatives were in Amman yesterday en route to Baghdad, to hold trade talks with the Iraqi administration.Eren also said that besides the representatives from private sector, officials from the Energy Ministry, the state pipeline company Botas, oil refiner Tupras, and oil producer TPAO would spend efforts to develop natural gas and oil projects. Eren noted that Eximbank and the Turkish Central Bank would also contribute to develop banking activities between the two countries. /Sabah/ [14] "TURKEY WILL REMAIN LOYAL TO ALL INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENTS SIGNED"National Defence Minister Turhan Tayan said that the new coalition government, like all previous Turkish governments, would remain loyal to all international agreements signed by Turkey. "Our government is aware of the fact that these agreements are a necessity for Turkey," Tayan noted in a meeting with NATO Military Committee Chairman General Klaus Naumann. /Cumhurriyet/[15] CYPRUS DELEGATION OFF TO RUSSIAIn an initiative to ease the situation with Russia, a delegation yesterday went to Moscow to talk about Cyprus developments węth Russian officials. Ankara has for some time been uneasy about Russian attitudes concerning Cyprus, and Turkish Foreign Ministry officials hope that the visit of the delegation will lead to an improvement in relations.Ankara is concerned that Russia so obviously favours the Greek side, and seems disposed towards using the Cyprus issue against the interests of Turkey. The delegation wants to show the Russians just what is involved and ease the tension through constructive dialogue. /Milliyet/ [16] NEW THY-SWISSAIR DEALTurkish Airlines (THY) and Swissair have come to an agreement about cooperating on weekend flights. Flight schedules have been adjusted for Saturdays and Sundays and representatives said yesterday that passengers will benefit considerably from the agreement. /Cumhuriyet/[17] FREE TRADE AGREEMENTSAfter a free trade agreement with Israel, Turkey is preparing to sign similar agreements with some Central European countries. Discussions with Romanian, Hungarian and Czech officials are going on, and meetings with Polish officials will start today. /Cumhuriyet/[18] NASRETTIN HOCA AWARDS DISTRIBUTEDThe 23rd International Nasrettin Hoca Festival has ended, and awards have been distributed to the winners of the festival competitions. The Nasrettin Hoca Great Prize was presented to Edip Tasnadi from Hungary and Omar Santana from Spain won the Best Cartoon Prize. The festival has been held for 37 years, but only 23 years ago was it organized at an international level. /Milliyet/[19] US WARNS ATHENSDuring a recent meeting with Greek Foreign Ministry officials, George Brown, Undersecretary at the US Embassy in Athens, expressed US anxiety over the increasing tension in Cyprus. In a note presented to the Greek side, the US representative warned that the presence of Greek soldiers in Cyprus and the flights of Greek military planes over Northern Cypriot airspace could easily escalate and result in a hot conflict. Brown harshly criticized the Greek-Greek Cypriot joint defence doctrine. He noted that flights of Greek fighter jets in Northern Cypriot airspace had forced the Turkish side to undertake new security measures, and asked Greece end its hazardous activities. /Milliyet/END Turkish Press Review Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |
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