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Turkish Press Review, 96-09-24Turkish Press Review Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs <http://www.mfa.gov.tr>CONTENTS
TURKISH PRESS REVIEWTUESDAY SEPTEMBER 24, 1996Summary of the political and economic news in the Turkish press this morning[01] AGREEMENT BETWEEN US AND TURKEY OVER IRAQTurkey and the US have reached agreement over ways to reduce the influence of Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein in northern Iraq. Foreign Minister Ciller, in New York for the 51st sessions of the UN, revealed yesterday that new agreements were in the air regarding the "hammer" multinational strike force stationed near Adana, and that perhaps it would also be used to provide more protection for the Turkmen people.Yesterday Ciller spoke with US Secretary of State Warren Christopher, and later spokesman Nicholas Burns announced that new agreements had been reached between the US and Turkey with regard to developments in Iraq. Burns added that Turkey had been persuaded to follow US policy on refusing to show any tolerance for the new moves of Saddam Hussein. /All papers/ [02] NEW STRIKE FORCE DEALAccording to a statement by Foreign Minister Ciller, the duties of the Provide Comfort multinational strike force stationed at Incirlik base near Adana will be extended to include measures to protect the Turkmen tribes in northern Iraq.So far, the so-called "hammer" rapid deployment force has only been involved in providing a protective umbrella over Kurds living in northern Iraq. But now it looks as though the brief of the force will be extended rather than reduced. /All papers/ [03] CILLER CALLS FOR HELP FROM IMFReports from New York note that Foreign Minister Ciller has also called upon the US administration to help Turkey in a number of economic areas. In this regard Ciller has suggested that the IMF could do more to ease the economic situation in Turkey.One of the matters that Turkey would like to see resolved involves Turkey's expected income from the UN food for oil deal with Iraq that looks rather shaky at the moment. In response to Ciller's demands, top level US officials yesterday declared that the US would put obstacles in the way of the application of the UN proposals. /Milliyet/ [04] TURKEY SIGNS NUKE TEST BAN TREATYTurkish Foreign Minister Tansu Ciller signed the Comprehensive Test ban Treaty (CTBT) yesterday. Despite protest from India, the UN General Assembly passed the treaty on September 11 with a vote of 158 for three against. The first signature was penned by US President Bill Clinton yesterday. Turkey was one of 16 other countries to sign the treaty. Japan, Austria and the Republic of Ireland were among the others supporting the CTBT.Ciller has yet to meet with her counterparts from Egypt (Amr Moussa), Italy (Lamberto Dini), and Russia (Yevgeni Primakov). Bilateral and regional problems will be tabled during these discussions. [05] 250 PKK TERRORISTS ENCIRCLED IN TUNCELISecurity forces have begun a large-scale operation against a group of 250 PKK militants encircled in the eastern province of Tunceli. The group of 250 PKK militants was discovered to be hiding in Kinzir Forest near Hozat in the eastern province of Tunceli, when a wounded PKK militant revealed the place of the group to the security forces.Officials said elite mountain troops backed by armoured vehicles, jets and Cobra helicopter gunships were closing in on the surrounded terrorists. There were no casualty figures available. The operation coincides with a visit by chief of general staff, Gen.Ismail Hakki Karadayi to the region. Meanwhile, the PKK has been weakened by measures taken in Turkey and Germany according to Cevdet Saral, a high-ranking officer in the police department's anti-terrorism branch. Saral told Focus magazine that if the PKK was made legal in Germany, attacks against Turkish nationals there would increase. Saral said Abdullah "Apo" Ocalan, leader of the PKK terrorist organization, had lost his control over the organization, adding that the PKK branches in Europe no longer took orders from Ocalan. Saral also noted that he had received information which indicated that German officials would not make the PKK legal. /Cumhuriyet/ [06] PKK KIDNAPS THREE TOURISTSPKK terrorists yesterday kidnapped two German and one Iranian tourist travelling from Diyarbakir to Van. Operations to rescue the tourists have been initiated. Meanwhile, on Sunday night a group of terrorists attacked security facilities in Bingol. While nobody was killed or injured in the clash between the terrorists and the security forces, material damage was severe. /Hurriyet-Milliyet/[07] TURKEY WARNS GERMANYTurkey has warned Germany about allowing the staging of a "Kurdish Festival" in Cologne last week which turned into a PKK demonstration. The Turkish Foreign Ministry noted that the German government should undertake measures to prevent the organization of similar undertakings in the future and demanded an equiry regarding the festival. German officials have since stated that support for PKK activities by the German government was out of the question, but pointed out that the structure of German laws restricted the government in banning similar meetings. /Milliyet/[08] TURKISH TRADE MISSION IN BEIJINGA Turkish mission headed by State Minister Ayfer Yilmaz is looking for possible ways to expand existing bilateral trade relations between Turkey and China. A 70 member Turkish mission, which includes representatives of companies from various sectors of Turkish industry as well as trade officials, arrived yesterday in Beijing.During the first round of contacts, Minister Yilmaz called for increased investments by Turkish companies in China. She also said that the current imbalance in bilateral trade which is not favourable to Turkey should be restored. Yilmaz pointed out that Turkish companies could perform well in China, with a population of 1.2 billion, was becoming one of the most important emerging markets in the world. Yilmaz said that the state was ready to do its best in order to help Turkish companies improve their efforts in this huge market. She also noted that $60 million worth of credits which had been allocated by Turkish Eximbank for exports to China have not been used yet by Turkish companies. Yilmaz also mentioned that Turkey needed to expand the scope of its traditional markets. Representatives of Turkish companies participating in the mission are to hold bilateral negotiations today with their Chinese counterparts. The main issues on the agenda are joint ventures and the possibility of future cooperation. The Turkish trade mission in China will stay there until September 28. /Cumhuriyet-Hurriyet/ [09] THREE TURKS IN GREEK PARLIAMENTFollowing the Sunday elections in Greece, three Turks, have for the first time, succeeded in winning places in the Greek parliament. Birol Akifoglu, Galip Galip and Mustafa Mustafa are now in a position to represent Turks living in Greece and Thrace, and they note that they will continue to protect and advance the rights of Turks within legal and democratic frameworks. /Cumhuriyet/[10] IRAQ SECURITY ZONE THREATENEDTurkey's plans for a "security zone" in Iraq are coming under a certain amount of pressure from the US which appears to favour diplomatic approaches rather than a more direct initiative from Turkey.US military build-ups in Kuwait have also put the Baghdad administration on the alert. Iraq Defence Minister El Tavra said yesterday that Iraqi forces were ready and prepared to defend the integrity of Iraq and that the Air Force was merely waiting for the command to repel any kind of intrusion. /Hurriyet/ [11] ANKARA WARY BUT OPTIMISTICAnkara is saying very little about the results of the weekend elections in Greece. Government representatives are cautious about commenting on what could result in the future when it comes to relations between Turkey and Greece.However, comments from Athens that improvement in ties was hoped for have been noted and there is a feeling of optimism in some quarters. Yet officials draw attention to the need for the new government to immediately begin new initiatives on the Cyprus issue. /Hurriyet/ [12] FTZs FORESEE FIRST EVER $3 BN TRADE VOLUME IN '96The total trade volume of the existing free trade zones (FTZ) in Turkey is projected to exceed $3 billion by the end of 1996, for the first time since their establishment. According to figures released by the General Directorate of Free Zones, the total trade volume of the eight FTZs operating in Turkey has already exceeded $2 billion for the January-July period of this year. The exact figure for the total trade volume was $2.027 million. Trade volume was $1.450 million for the corresponding period in 1995. /All papers/[13] TURKEY LEADS WORLD IN DEVELOPING TOURISMAt the Turkish tourism association's (TURSAB) 10th annual awards ceremony in Istanbul yesterday, 104 successful agencies received awards. The ceremony was attended by Minister of Tourism Bahattin Yucel and Deputy Tourism Minister Suha Uyar. "Turkey is the fastest developing country in tourism in the world" Uyar said, adding that income from tourism had increased to $5 billion.Tourism Minister Yucel also said that increasing the number of hotel rooms, currently at one million, the number of tourism flights, and the number of tourists, currently at 20 milllion, and increasing income from tourism to $15 billion was a reasonable aim. /All papers/ [14] TURKMENS WAITING FOR FOREIGN MINISTRY ACTIONForeign Ministry statements regarding the Turkmens in Iraq are pleasing, but the Turkmens are waiting for Turkey to back up its words with action. At a press conference yesterday, Mustafa Yaycali, leader of the Iraqi National Turkmen Party said that they were very pleased with Turkey's views and statements on the plight of Turkmens in Iraq but that they were waiting for action. There are approximately 3.5 million Turkmens in Iraq, mostly concentrated in Erbil, Kirkuk, Mossul and Talafar. In the past they have been subjected to campaigns of forced immigration and Arabization. /All papers/END Turkish Press Review Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |
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