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Turkish Press Review, 96-10-15Turkish Press Review Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs <http://www.mfa.gov.tr>CONTENTS
TURKISH PRESS REVIEWTUESDAY OCTOBER 15, 1996Summary of the political and economic news in the Turkish press this morning[01] MACEDONIAN DEFENCE MINISTER ARRIVES IN TURKEYMacedonian Defence Minister Dr.Blagoy Hancinski arrived in Turkey for a three-day official visit yesterday at the invitation of his Turkish counterpart, Turhan Tayan. The Macedonian minister is hoping to enhance military cooperation between the two countries. During a welcoming ceremony at Ankara's Esenboga airport, the Turkish defence minister noted the current high level of relations between the two countries and pledged to strengthen them, especially in the fields of defence and technology. Hancinski praised the historical relations between the two countries, pointing out that Turkey was among the first countries to recognize the Macedonian Republic.Later, the Macedonian minister was received by Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Tansu Ciller. She voiced her hope that the two countries would become members of the European Union, saying that Turkey supports Macedonian efforts to become a member of the EU and NATO. During his visit, Hancinski will also meet with Deputy Chief of General Staff. Cevik Bir and will tour several defence industry firms. Hancinski is also expected to be received by President Suleyman Demirel. He will fly to Istanbul on Wednesday to visit military academies there. /All papers/ [02] SWEDISH DEPUTIES VISIT TURKISH PARLIAMENTAnders Bjork, deputy speaker of the Swedish Parliament and former chairman of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, said that Turkey should not feel depressed over the decisions of the Council of Europe and the European Parliament. Bjork, in Turkey to visit the head of the Turkish delegation to the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly -Uluc Gurkan- said that Turkey was over-reacting to the criticism.Gurkan noted that Turkey has made progress toward becoming Western and contemporary, emphasizing that Europe should take heed of Turkey's decisiveness. He said that European countries had double standards when it came to Turkey, drawing attention to the need for Europe to become aware that the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) is not involved in a struggle for freedom but is a terrorist organization. Gurkan pointed out that the PKK had opened offices in many European countries and had established good relations with parliaments. He said that it was not just to criticize Turkey's methods of dealing with terrorism. Bjork said he partly agreed with Gurkan's point on "double standards", adding that it was the rule of the game. Eva Zetteberg, chairman of the Swedish Left party parliamentary group, said that they regarded the PKK as a terrorist organization and accepted Turkey's struggle against terrorism. /All papers/ [03] KARADAYI FLIES TO CHINAChief of General Staff, Gen.Ismail Hakki Karadayi, is to fly from Malaysia to the People's Republic of China today to hold talks with Chinese officials on military issues. Gen.Karadayi will meet President Jiang Zemin, Defence Minister Chi Haotian and his counterpart Fu Quanyu. He will also visit a military academy and a naval base in Sangay. General Karadayi will return to Turkey on October 22. /Cumhuriyet/[04] KDP ENVOYS IN ANKARA, BLAME IRAN FOR SETBACKSenior officials from Mesud Barzani's Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) yesterday sought Turkey's help against what they described as "Iranian aggression against our people". Meeting with Turkish officials during a stopover here on their way to Washington, KDP politburo members Sami Abdurrahman and Nechirwan Barzani charged that 15,000 Iranian Pastaran (revolutionary guards) backed by heavy weapons including Katyusha rockets and mortars had taken part in an assault on the Kurdish city of Sulaymaniyah by the rival Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK). The Iraqi Kurdish officials said the Iranians crossed from six separate points on the border and had used the PUK militants remaining in Sulaymaniyah as "camouflage".The KDP envoys asked Turkey to keep supporting them before meeting with Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Onur Oymen and Deputy Undersecretary Ali Tuygan. They later left for Washington for talks with State Department officials. The KDP gained control of northern Iraq after its Baghdad-backed operation last month but on Sunday the PUK, led by Celal Talabani captured control of Sulaymaniyah, one of the main cities in northern Iraq. The PUK denied any Iranian support. Earlier Monday Turkey urged an end to the fighting between the rival Kurdish factions and asked other countries not to intervene. Foreign Ministry Spokesman Omer Akbel also noted that Turkey would continue to take the measures necessary to protect its economic interests and security. /Sabah-Milliyet/ [05] POLICE CAPTURE GREECE-TRAINED TERRORISTPolice captured a member of the outlawed Revolutionary People's Liberation Party/Front (DHKP/C) in the southeastern city of Kahramanmaras yesterday. According to the press office of the governor, Ali Okur, who has long been listed as a "wanted terrorist" by Turkey, was captured by police when he applied to the city's registration office for new identification. Okur, who was allegedly trained in Greece and been involved in anti-Turkish terrorist activities in Athens, said during questioning that he escaped from Turkey to the Greek Island of Meis. Okur said that he later entered a DHKP_C training camp near Athens. Police officials said that he had apparently returned to Turkey by swimming across the Meric River on August 19 and had planned to continue with illegal activities in Turkey. /All papers/[06] SHOT GREEK CYPRIOT WAS ARMEDThe Greek Cypriot "civilian" who was killed on Sunday by Turkish Cypriot sentries after he passed through the buffer zone and intruded on Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) territory, was "sufficiently armed" to attack Turkish Cypriot border guards, TRNC government sources said. "He was definitely equipped and armed enough to stage an attack" a top source said, adding that Turkish Cypriot police discovered a commando knife and a garrote wire on the dead Greek Cypriot, Petros Kakouli, aged 53.A post mortem examination at Famagusta State Hospital proved that Kakouli was killed while he was trying to escape. According to Famagusta State Hospital chief doctor Ozmen Ikibiroglu, Kakouli was shot twice in the back. He said the Greek Cypriot died because of damage caused to his heart by one of the bullets. Kakouli's body was handed over to Greek Cypriot authorities through the UN yesterday. TRNC President Rauf Denktas told BBC radio that the incident was "most unfortunate" but blamed Greek Cypriot intransigence for the continuing tension on the island. Denktas repeated his call for urgent direct talks between himself and Greek Cypriot leader Glafkos Clerides to defuse the tension. Sir David Hannay, Britain's special representative on the Cyprus problem, said yesterday after a 90-minute meeting with Greek Cypriot leader Clerides that "we condemn and we continue to condemn the killing" of any civilian. "Anything that can be done to make incidents like that less likely to happen would be thoroughly worthwhile" said Hannay, who arrived in Cyprus on Sunday night. /Hurriyet/ [07] GREECE SAID TO BE PREPARING NEW MILITARY DOCTRINE ON TURKEYGreece's new minister for defence, Akis Tsohatzopoulos, is said to be preparing to change his country's defence strategy against Turkey. According to the pro-government daily Ethnos, the new strategy will involve Greek forces going into a "responsive mode" in the event of confrontations between his country and Turkey, as opposed to the "defensive mode" employed to date. Ethnos said that the established principle of the threat to Greece coming from Turkey would be retained. Ethnos said there would be adjustments to the strategy of the Greek armed forces which will be organized in a way to address "every kind of provocation" that may come from Turkey.The paper added that the new defence minister's aim was to show the world that Greece has a deterrrent force capable of confronting Turkey. It also said that Athens' new approach involved opting for "smart weapons", rather than trying to go for quantitive parity in military hardware with Turkey. /Cumhuriyet/ [08] 'EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN-96' UNDERWAYWarships and sea patrol aircraft from Turkey, the US, Italy, France and Spain were in Izmir yesterday preparing for the "Eastern Mediterranean-96" naval exercise. According to the General Staff press office, the ships are to set sail today, under the command of Rear Adm.Aydin Gurul, and are due to call in at other Aegean harbours during the exercise which will end on 23 October. /Cumhuriyet/[09] BRISA, NETAS SHORT LISTED FOR EUROPEAN AWARDTwo Turkish companies, the tire manufacturer Brisa and the telecommunications firm Netas, have been included on a short list of seven companies vying for the prestigious 1996 European Quality award. The quality award and associated European quality prizes, together with the Quality Scotland Award for Business Excellence, will be presented as part of the European Business Excellence Forum to be held in Edinburgh on October 22-23. /All papers/[10] SECRET PIPELINE DIPLOMACYAnkara has embarked on a new round of "secret" diplomatic initiatives to secure the approval of Turkey's proposed Baku-Ceyhan route for early Azeri petrol.Top officials from the Ministry for Energy and Natural resources have been holding talks with representatives of the AIOC consortium set up to administer extraction and distribution of Azeri petrol. Reports say that a month ago consortium chief Terry Adams came to Ankara and met with Energy Undersecretary Ugur Dogan, who apparently views Turkey's proposals positively. /Hurriyet/ [11] CYPRUS MILITARY EXERCISESIn response to the provocatory moves of Greece and Greek-Cypriots, Turkey will carry out new military and naval exercises in and around the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) starting on November 5.In the "Toros" exercises live ammunition will be issued, and all branches of the military and naval forces will participate. The Toros exercises will be incorporated in the November 15 celebrations of the founding of the TRNC. /Hurriyet/ [12] TUGIAD DELEGATION TO CHINAA 15-member delegation from the Young Businessmen's Association (TUGIAD) will pay a visit to China between 18-24 October. The delegation will attend an Import Products Fair in Guangzhou and will meet representatives of Chinese firms. /Hurriyet/[13] ECU 130 MILLION IN CREDITThe Treasury Undersecretariat has announced that ECU 130 million has been guaranteed by the European Investment Bank for two projects within the framework of the Mediterranean Policy (MEDA).According to the announcement, two agreements one of which is for ECU 80 million in credit to BOTAS and the other one for ECU 50 million for Izmit corporation. Credits will be used for natural gas and the cleaning of Izmit Bay projects. /Milliyet/ END Turkish Press Review Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |
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