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Turkish Press Review, 97-01-10Turkish Press Review Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs <http://www.mfa.gov.tr>CONTENTS
TURKISH PRESS REVIEWFRIDAY, JANUARY 10, 1997Summary of the political and economic news in the Turkish press this morning[01] FEARS OF CONFLICT IN CYPRUSAs the war of words in Cyprus takes on more serious overtones, so the fear that a hot conflict might totally disrupt relations between Turkey and Greece grow. Officials on both sides have intimated that there could be a clash between the two communities on the island.Prime Minister of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), Dervish Eroglu, said yesterday that the Greek Cypriot agreement with Russia to buy S-300 missile systems was primarily for attack purposes, and not for purely defensive purposes as claimed. Ankara has again approached Moscow with the suggestion that it would be wiser not to sell the S-300 system to the Greek Cypriots. Ankara government officials have stressed that the system can be used both for defence and assault purposes, and that Moscow would do better not to hand the equipment over. In the meantime diplomatic efforts to cool the explosive situation hasten along at full speed. US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright noted yesterday that the US government was prepared to expend more time and effort to find a solution to the problems besetting the island. Although fears have been expressed that there could be conflict on Cyprus again, spokesman for the Greek Cypriot community on Cyprus, Yannakis Kasulides declared yesterday that "we are not stupid enough to take on a country like Turkey with a population of 65 million. Our population is only somewhere between 600-700 thousand." Kasulides again stressed that the weapons being purchased by the Greek Cypriots were only for defensive purposes. He did add, however, that an attack from another direction would drastically change the situation. The UN too has begun initiatives to once again try and pull the leaders of the two sides together. UN special representative for Cyprus, Gustav Feissel said in an interview with the Turkish Cumhuriyet newspaper that the UN was looking for a Dayton-style formula that would restore peace and stability on Cyprus. Feissel stressed however, that nothing could be done before leaders agreed to meet around the negotiation table. /All papers/ [02] ERBAKAN MEETS WITH GROSSMANTurkish Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan met with US Ambassador in Ankara Marc Grossman yesterday. Conveying a message regarding the Cyprus problem from the US administration to Erbakan, Grossman said: "Turkey must stay cool. We are trying to solve this problem".Erbakan, for his part, thanked the US for its initiatives to solve the Cyprus problem and noted that Turkey would not let a fait accompli take place on the island. Erbakan said that the deployment of missiles in Cyprus by Greek Cypriots had an aggressive aim and could not be tolerated and pointed out that Turkey would use her right of legal defence. On the other hand, Grossman stressed that the new US administration had launched initiatives to solve the Cyprus problem using peaceful means under the auspices of Nicosia, Athens and the Greek Cypriot lobby in Washington. During yesterday's meeting between Erbakan and Grossman, Turco-US economic relations were also taken up. It is reported that issues taken up at the meeting will be discussed in detail during the US visits of Turkish State Ministers Fehim Adak and Abdullah Gul next week. At the meeting, the two sides confirmed that they would develop economic relations. In a brief statement before the meeting, Erbakan said: "A new period in relations has begun. Bilateral relations will further improve". While replying to the questions of journalists, Grossman noted that it had been a beneficial meeting for the evaluation of Turco-US relations and said: "Turkey is important for the US and vice versa". Grossman also noted that US Assistant Secretary of State Robert Pelletreau would arrive in Ankara on Monday. /Cumhuriyet/ [03] TURKEY TO BUY 72 US-MADE ARMY TACTICAL MISSILESTurkey will buy 72 surface-to-surface missiles called Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) under a $50 million agreement signed last year with leading US missile producer, the Loral-Wought Company. Military sources said that Turkey will pay around $700,000 per missile to the American company. The missiles are still in production in the United States and will be delivered in May or June 1998.[04] TURKS IN EUROPE TO VOTE BY MAIL, NOT AT BALLOT BOXThe Ministry of Justice is undertaking initiatives to prepare regulations' that will provide Turkish citizens abroad with chances to vote in elections in Turkey, the Anatolia news agency reported. A report by the High Election Council said the Turkish electorate living abroad would not face any obstacles in ballot-voting in any country except Germany. In Germany, where 58 percent of the Turkish electorate abroad is living, authorities object to ballot-voting, fearing it could disturb the public order.Estimates show there are about 2.5 million Turkish voters living abroad, most of whom - 1.4 million - are in Germany. The next highest populations of Turks abroad are in France and the Netherlands. [05] FLOODING IN IZMIR AND ANTALYAHeavy rain caused flooding in Izmir and Antalya. Many work places were effected by the rain in Izmir and two missing people in Antalya are feared dead, the Anatolian news agency reported on Thursday.[06] ATRUSH TO BE EVACUATED WITIH A MONTHNecati Bilican, a governor of the Emergency Rule Region (OHAL) has been quoted as saying that negotiations were continuing with Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) officials for the evacuation of Atrush, a refugee camp near the town of Duhok in northern Iraq, which was expected to be completed within one month's time. The Turkish government was in process of negotiating for the voluntary return to Turkey of the Kurds living in the camp. Reiterating the claim that Atrush had been transformed into a support center for the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), Bilican said that the United Nations understood the true purpose of the camp. Bilican reported that 121 families had escaped from Atrush to Hakkari in Turkey.[07] CHIRAC: "I'M TURKEY'S PERMANENT FRIEND"French President Jacques Chirac gave a traditional new year banquet in the Elysee Palace to press members. In his speech at the banquet, which 150 foreign press members attended, Chirac said that Europe would be a super-power and that NATO-EU cooperation would be essential in 1997.He also told Turkish journalists that he was a "permanent friend of Turkey" and added that Turkey was an important country with its culture and history. Chirac pointed out that although today Turkey had some problems, France would never interfere in Turkey's domestic problems. He said that Turkey was powerful enough to solve her problems./Sabah/Milliyet_ [08] ARAFAT: "MY LAST HOPE IS TURKEY"During meeting at the Gaza Strip, Palestinian leader Yasar Arafat asked Turkish Parliament Speaker Mustafa Kalemli whether Turkey would be an active mediator between Israel and Palestine. Arafat said that Turkey, which is the biggest country in the region, should use its power in the el-Halil issue.Noting that they did not want the mediation of the U.S. because of her one-sided support for Israel, Arafat said that they wanted Turkey to play an active role in restarting meetings between Israel and Palestine. Arafat added that they had recomended in meetings in Norway, which is responsible for the organization of peace initiatives, that a 30-member Turkish peace force should be formed for the security of the Ibrahim Mosque, el-Halil, which is holy both for the Muslems and Jews. Arafat stressed that it would be a historical mission for Turkey./Milliyet/ [09] BRITISH NOTE TO GREEK CYPRIOTSThe British government sent a note to the Greek Cypriot administration about buying S-300 missile systems from Russia. According to the news on Greek Cyprus radio station, British Deputy High Commissioner to Lefkosa (Nicosia), John Buck gave the note to the Greek Cypriot Foreign Minister Alekkos Mihailides. After giving the note, Buck claimed that buying missiles would sabotage efforts to find a peaceful solution to the Cyprus issue through negotiations./Cumhuriyet/[10] KOHL PRAISES TURKISH LEADERSAnswering a journalist's question about Turkey, German Prime Minister Helmut Kohl said: "The Turkish president, who abides by all the principles of Ataturk, is a very good friend of mine". Noting that Turkish Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan would visit Germany as an official guest, Kohl stated that the necessary preparations regarding the visit were already being made. /Sabah/Milliyet_[11] INTERNATIONAL AWARD FOR TURKISH FIRMA Turkish executive and businessman has been awarded the International Gold Star Quality and Image Ward by Business Initiative Directions (BID). Zeki Fincancioglu was presented with the award at a ceremony held in Madrid at which executives from 43 different countries were present. It was announced that Fincancioglu had won the award due to the commitment of his company, Financioglu Ltd. to giving great importance to the quality of products produced including distribution and packaging./All papers/[12] HUNGARY, TURKEY SIGN FREE TRADE AGREEMENTTurkey and Hungary have signed a free trade agreement which both believe will smooth their path towards full European Union (EU) membership. The agreement, the first Turkey has signed with a country of central and eastern Europe, took almost four years to negotiate and removes tariffs on 90 percent of all industrial goods immediately, to be extended to 100 percent by 2001.State Minister Ayfer Yilmaz held a press conference with Hungarian Industry and Trade Minister Szabolcs Fazakas after the signing ceremony and said that the agreement with Hungary was the first step to creating a Europe-wide free trade zone incorporating the European Union, the former communist countries of central and esatern Europe and Turkey./All papers/ [13] RUSSIAN GAZPROM MOVES ON BLACK SEA LINK TO TURKEYRussia's RAO Gazprom natural gas authority said on Thursday that its board of directors had approved a $2.5 billion project to build the world's deepest underwater gas pipeline linking Russia and Turkey via the Black Sea./All Papers/[14] TURKEY TO BOOST ANIMAL HUSBANDRYTurkey will give incentives worth a total $220 million to animal breeders in its poor eastern regions, Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan said on Wednesday. He also said Turkey would become an important meat exporter after the incentives became effective. "We will give incentives of up to 12 trillion lira for animal breeding and 12 trillion lira for species rehabilitation projects," he told reporters before a cabinet meeting held in the eastern town of Agri, a key centre for animal husbandry./All Papers/[15] RELATIONS WITH THE WEST ACCORDING TO TUSIADChairman of the Turkish Industrialists' and Businessmen's Association (TUSIAD), Halis Komili, said yesterday that Turkey should re-arrange her relations with the West from the standpoint of her aim to take her place among the developed countries and to integrate with Europe. In an article in the bi-monthly "Gorus" magazine published by TUSIAD, Komili pointed out that Turkey needed the courage to take more initiatives. /Cumhuriyet/[16] ITO DELEGATION VISITS TRNCA group from the Istanbul Chambers of Trade (ITO), including 162 businessmen, will visit the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) tomorrow as the guests of TRNC President Rauf Denktas. The delegation, headed by Head of the ITO Executive Board Mehmet Yildirim, will meet with Denktas, TRNC government officials and businessmen during their three-day visit. /Cumhuriyet/END Turkish Press Review Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |
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