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Turkish Press Review, 96-08-12Turkish Press Review Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs <http://www.mfa.gov.tr>CONTENTS
TURKISH REVIEWMONDAY, AUGUST 12, 1996Summary of the political and economic news in the Turkish press this morning. [01] CYPRUS TURNED INTO A BATTLEFIELDIn developments that have been described as "playing with fire" both Greece and the Greek-Cypriot community on Cyprus, have done their best to stir up trouble by bringing in German and foreign motorbike riding trouble-makers to storm the border between the two communıties on the island.Fully aware of the Greek plan to stir up violence and trouble, the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), and the UN peace forces on the island took every precaution to prevent and explosion of violence and national distrust. A spokesman for the UN peace force said that "we tried to do everything we could to stop the demonstration, but we failed." When finally matters got out of hand, both Turkish and UN security forces had to move in after giving fair warning to the bikers determined to create tension, trouble and more ill-feeling between the Cyriot Turks and Greeks. During clashes between Turkish youths and the hooligans on motorbikes, one Greek-Cypriot youth was killed. Thirty others, twelve of whom were Turks, were injured. Some reports put the number of injured as high as 47, noting that the imported demonstrators, inflamed by Greek-Cypriot propoganda went from bad to worse in their violent efforts to cross the border into the TRNC. Failing in their fight to cross the border, the demonstrators set fire to the areas around the so-called "green line" border between the two communities. In some areas of the border, the fanatics were repulsed with difficulty. Only the large numbers of Turkish youths waiting to take action served to stop the bikers who numbered into the hundreds. Those who watched the attacks of the Greeks and Greek-Cypriots also claim that PKK terrorist infiltrators also helped the demonstrators. Noting the increasing risk of further violence, President of the TRNC Rauf Denktas said yesterday that it was impossible to imagine what could have happened if the Turkish armed forces had not been present. Ankara too has issued warnings to the world to the effect that the international community bears some responsibility for what is going on in Cyprus. /All papers/ [02] ERBAKAN'S AIM: TO TRANSFORM TURKEY INTO A 'MUSLIM JAPAN'Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan says he does not want Turkey to turn its back on the West and says on the contrary that while Turkey should preserve its Muslim identity and national values it should also promote modernism and innovation.Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan arrived in Iran on Saturday as the first stop of a tour of five moslem countries and was met by First Vice-President Hassan Habibi and other Iranian officials including Oil Minister Gholamreza Aghazadeh at Tehran's Mehrabad airport. Turkey and Iran are expected to sign a memorandum of understanding to seal a $20 billion natural gas agreement. Erbakan and Habibi will also sign a memorandum of understanding for further economic projects, including a number of trade and power deals. Turkish Energy Minister Recai Kutan said that the trade volume between Iran and Turkey could be expected to be raised from $950 million to $2 billion and regional cooperation will be strengthened within the framework of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO). He added that Turkey would also buy electricity from Iran. State Minister Abdullah Gul said that they had discussed with Iranian National Bank authorities about supporting the banking system in Iran. On the second day of his visit, Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan met with Iranian President Ali Ekber Hasimi Rafsancani and they decided to cooperate in the struggle against the Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK). It was reported that Rafsancani accepted Erbakan's suggestion to hold a summit between Turkey, Iran, Syria and Iraq to solve regional problems. Turkish Justice Minister Sevket Kazan and Education Minister Mehmet Saglam flew to Baghdad on Sunday. /All Papers/ [03] PARLIAMENT SPEAKER IN CHINAParliament speaker Mustafa Kalemli currently visiting Beijing met Chinese National People's Parliament Speaker Qiao Shi. During the meeting the sides said the two countries, which had enjoyed good ties for years despite the geographical distance, decided to improve trade relations. Parliament speaker Kalemli invited Qiao to Turkey and later Qiao hosted a dinner in Kalemli's honor.Kalemli also met with Chinese Nation People's Parliament deputy speaker Tian Jiyun within the framework of his contacts in Beijing. "Economic and trade relations should be improved between Turkey and China. Cooperation between our two parliaments would help relations to improve," said Kalemli. Jiyun for his part said economic, cultural and political relations between the two countries should be improved. /All Papers/ [04] RUSSIAN DEPUTY FOREIGN MINISTER VISITS TURKEYWhile Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan is abroad for a chain of visits to various Far East countries, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Victor Pasavaluk is expected to pay a working visit to Turkey. This visit will play an important role, because Turco-Russian relations have been cool for a long period because of the political instability in both countries after their national elections. During the visit, Pasavaluk is expected to discuss the future of Turco-Russian bilateral relations. /Cumhuriyet/[05] MED-TV RESUMES BROADCASTSMed-TV, sponsored by the PKK terrorist organization, will resume broadcasts. Med-TV Director Ilhan Kizilhan noted at press conferences held on August 14, in London and Brussels, that details about the broadcasts would be given in the near future. Med-TV has been closed for 45 days as a result of Turkish efforts on the grounds that the channel was spreading PKK propaganda. /Milliyet/[06] PKK SHIFTING CAMPS TO IRANAs Israili Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu hasinitiated a hard foreign policy course against Syria, known for its support for international terrorism, and has forced Syria to give some concessions. Faced with the prospect of having its camps closed, the PKK has started to shift its forces from Syria-controlled Libya to Iran. Specialists note that this development could speed up the process of reapproachement between the PKK and Iran, that has also been accelerated by an Iranian operation against Mesut Barzani's Kurdish KDP Party. /Hurriyet/[07] TURKISH WARSHIPS IN NAVAL EXERCISE IN BULGARIAN BLACK SEA WATERSWarships from eight nations including the United States and Russia gathered off Bulgaria's Black Sea coast on Saturday to take part in Briz 96, a humanitarian and peace-keeping naval exercise.In a statement the Bulgarian defence ministry said Italy, Greece, Turkey, Ukraine and Romania were also participating in the exercise, which lasts until August 16./All Papers/ [08] POLL SHOWS AZERBAIJANIS SAY TURKEY IS ITS BEST ALLYA public opinion poll taken in Baku showed that Azerbaijanis think that Turkey is its most trustworthy ally, the Anatolian news agency reported.[09] TURKISH AGRICULTURISTS TO TOUR USThe U.S. Department of Agriculture is hosting the presidents of seven new Central Anatolian Project farm cooperatives on a three-week study of irrigated farming in the United States. The group of cooperative presidents from Sanlıurfa's Harran Plain left on Saturday for the University of California in Los Angeles to study irrigation, marketing, farm cooperatives, and fruit tree and citrus crop production./All Papers/[10] GEORGIAN FM COMMENDS TURKISH-GEORGIAN RELATIONSGeorgian Foreign Minister Irakli Menagarisvili said that Georgia's relations with Turkey should be a model for every country. Speaking to the Anatolia news agency, Menagarisvili said that Georgia supported Turkey's peace policy in Caucasia and Georgia. He stressed the importance of their relations with Turkey, which is a corridor between Central Asia and Europe.[11] DEMIREL BLAMES DISINFORMATION ABOUT TURKEY IN EUROPEAN MEDIAPresident Suleyman Demirel told French daily Le Figaro that Turkey was very much irritated by the image given to Turkey abroad and that the situation in prisons were caused by terrorists' control of the jails. "All the democratic institutions you have, Turkey also has. We have free elections, and a parliament," said Demirel.He noted that Turkey was the sole secular democracy among fifty-three Islamic states and the only democracy in the real sense of the word in its region. "It is not easy to combat disinformation. We must be patient and I hope, one day, we will really be understood," Demirel said./All Papers/ [12] TALKING TURKISH IN GERMAN PUBLIC SCHOOLSFor the first time, first and second grade students in Germany can study Turkish in public schools, the Anatolian news agency reports. Nearly 80 students , both Turkish and German, attend the Turkish-German European Primary School.END Turkish Press Review Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |
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