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Turkish Press Review, 96-11-04Turkish Press Review Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs <http://www.mfa.gov.tr>CONTENTS
TURKISH PRESS REVIEWMONDAY NOVEMBER 4, 1996Summary of the political and economic news in the Turkish press this morning[01] COALITION WINS LOCAL ELECTIONSThe coalition government parties together swept through the opposition during the weekend local municipal elections.The Welfare Party led by Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan and its True Path Party partner grabbed most of the seats in the twelve regions, including Osmaniye near Adana, one of the plum seats. Participation was high, especially in Osmaniye and Bucak, key targets of all the parties. The Welfare Party (RP) won Osmaniye and Bucak outright, the True Path Party (DYP) won seven of the municipal seats, while the RP, and the opposition ANAP and CHP parties won a place each. /All papers/ [02] DEMIREL TO URGE FIRMER GERMAN MOVES AGAINST TERRORPresident Suleyman Demirel flies to Bonn today to demand firmer German action against the separatist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and to promote Turkey's bid for full membership in the European Union. Demirel will meet German President Roman Herzog and Prime Minister Helmuth Kohl during his four-day visit.Despite a Germany declaration describing the PKK as an illegal organization and the controversial MED-TV Channel as the mouthpiece of the separatist gang, Turkey is increasingly worried about that Bonn may ease the ban on the activities of the PKK in Germany. According to Turkish official sources, President Demirel will raise the PKK issue at his talks in Germany and urge German leaders to take further firmer action against the separatist organization and implement firmly the already declared policy against the organization. /Cumhuriyet/ [03] KDP CASTS DOUBT OVER N.IRAQ PEACE PROCESSTurkey is expected to seek clarification from the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) of northern Iraq over its announcement that at this stage it is only prepared to accept five of the 22 articles in a "Joint Statement" released after summit talks with its rival Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) in Ankara last week.Ankara reportedly wants a full explanation of the KDP position before the follow up talks between the two Kurdish factions slated for November 15 in Ankara. Turkish officials are said to have been taken totally by surprise by this change in position by the KDP, given that the Joint Statement in question was released with the consent of senior negotiators from this group. Unlike the KDP, the PUK declared on Saturday that it endorsed the Joint Statement in question and indicated it was committed to all of its provisions. The Joint Statement released on Friday after the Turkish, US and British sponsored talks between the two warring Kurdish factions had agreed on a broad based political, economic, humanitarian and military format for peace and security in northern Iraq. The Kurdish sides also agreed in the joint statement, which has come already to be referred to as the "Ankara statement" to address Turkish and US security concerns. /All papers/ [04] IRANIAN OIL MINISTER VISITS TURKEYIranian Oil Minister Gulam Riza Agazade is scheduled to pay an official visit to Ankara today in order to hold talks on cooperation between the two countries. The Energy Ministry said in a written statement that further cooperation and joint investments will be on the agenda during the talks.The two sides are expected to sign a protocol on Tuesday concerning joint energy investments and cooperation. The minister and his accompanying delegation will also be received by President Suleyman Demirel and Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan. The delegation will leave Turkey on November 6. /Cumhuriyet/ [05] PKK DEMONSTRATIONS IN BELGIUMThree thousand supporters of the PKK terrorist organization staged a rally in Brussels over the weekend, shouting anti-Turkey slogans and burning a Turkish flag.Demonstrators shouted "Terrorist Turkey" slogans and marched to protest Belgian security forces operations against the PKK during September. Although the police took massive security precautions, they did nothing to stop the demonstration. Most of those in the protest march were in the 19-25 age group, and claimed that they were "supporting Kurdish youth movements." /Hurriyet-Cumhuriyet/ [06] TURKEY GOES AHEAD WITH PUBLIC CASH POOL SYSTEMThe Turkish government published a regulation over the weekend to introduce a system to pool public revenues for better control of state funds. In the circular released on Saturday, Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan ordered all public institutions to put their money in the "public joint account" -known as the "pool account"- to be opened in the state-owned Ziraat Bankasi, Halkbank, Emlakbank and Vakifbank.Under the new regulation, state economic enterprises and state-owned banks will close their own accounts at maturity and transfer their cash to two separate pools- foreign currency and Turkish lira. They will not be allowed to draw cash from the pool accounts of their own or make purchase agreements on the bond market. The amount to be collected in the pool account will be used by the Treasury. /All papers/ [07] TWO SHIPS COLLIDE IN THE BOSPHORUSA cargo ship flying the flag of Malta, the Maria-1, and the Turkish coaster 'Celiktrans' carrying sand, collided near Yenikoy early Sunday morning during their passage through the Bosphorus. The accident took place because of dense fog at 6.30 a.m. while the Maria-1 was trying to make its way to Marmara from the Black Sea. Ten members of the 12-man crew of the Celiktrans were picked up safely by the Maria-1, but Osman Guney the second engineer of Celiktrans later died, and first engineer Necip Kilicarslan was injured. The Maria-1 has later anchored in the Bosphorus because dense fog prevented docking. /All papers/[08] JOINT MILITARY EXERCISES TO BEGIN NEAR CYPRUSThe Turkish Armed Forces, Navy and Air Force will participate in joint air and sea maneuvers with military units from the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) this week. The two military exercises, Determination-96 scheduled for November 4-9 and Toros-2_96 for November 5-7, are aimed at developing coordination and cooperation among the forces.According to the office of the chief of general staff, both of the military exercises will be carried out in and over international waters in the eastern Mediterranean and the air space of Northern Cyprus. /All papers/ END Turkish Press Review Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |