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Turkish Press Review, 97-02-21Turkish Press Review Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs <http://www.mfa.gov.tr>CONTENTS
TURKISH PRESS REVIEWFEBRUARY 21, 1997Summary of the political and economic news in the Turkish press this morning.[01] ARAFAT ASKS FOR TURKISH SUPPORT IN INTERNATIONAL ARENASPalestinian President Yasser Arafat asked for "quick" Turkish support for Palestine on international platforms, especially in regards to the status of Jerusalem.During his one-day visit to Ankara on Thursday, Arafat said during a welcoming ceremony at the Presidential Palace in Cankaya that Palestine needed Turkey's help on international platforms. Turkey has given aid worth $2 million to Palestine and has opened a line of credit worth about $48 million. Speaking after meeting with Arafat and his delegation, Demirel pointed out that Turkey would give any kind of support to Palestine. The main topic of the meeting between Arafat and Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan was Turkish support for the peace process, the status of Jerusalem and bilateral relations. /Milliyet/Cumhuriyet_ [02] PKK THREATENS AGGRESSION AT N.IRAQ BORDERThe head of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) has threatened to carry out aggressive action against the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) in Iraq unless the KDP gives the PKK its share of revenues collected from vehicles passing through one of the check-points at the border with Turkey, the Anatolia news agency reported. Anatolia said the rebel group has recently been dissatisfied with the amount it is receiving and requested that this be doubled. Revenue collection has been the greatest source of conflict between the rival Kurdish groups in northern Iraq, the KDP and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK). PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan reportedly sent written orders to the organization's regional heads saying "the traffic passing through the site known as the Halil Ibrahim border gate has tripled, as have revenues, and, thus, the share given to the PKK should be increased. If this does not occur, the PKK will take action along the strategic points of the border."/Cumhuriyet/[03] PARLIAMENT SPEAKER LEAVES FOR JAPANParliament Speaker Mustafa Kalemli left for Japan on Wednesday as the official guest of Japanese Supreme Parliament Speaker Juro Saito. Kalemli will also convey a letter from President Suleyman Demirel to Japanese Emperor Akihito. According to the visit program, Kalemli met with Japanese Supreme Parliament Speaker Joro Saito and Representatives Assembly Chairman Soichiroito on Thursday.Kalemli and his accompanying delegation will meet Japanese Premier Ryutaro Hismimoto on Friday. Later the Turkish delegation will be received by the Japanese Emperor and his wife after visiting temples and museums in Kyoto and Hiroshima between February 22 and 25. Parliament Speaker Kalemli and accompanying delegation members are expected to return to Turkey on February 25. /All papers/ [04] PKK MEETING IN MOSCOWThe terrorist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) organized a meeting in Moscow with the participation of deputies from eight countries including Greece and Southern Cyprus. Serbia also sent a representative to the meeting. One of the members of the so-called Kurdish parliament-in-exile, Rustem Broy, chaired the meeting. Broy works as a specialist in the Geopolitical Committee of the Russian Parliament. /Sabah/[05] 'LET AEGEAN SEA BE IN PEACE'The fourth meeting of the Aegean Coastal Municipalities' Union was held in Altinoluk, Mugla yesterday. Chairman of the Turkish Municipalities' Association Sami Gokdeniz and Chairman of the Turco-Greek Friendship Association Cengiz Bektas attended the meeting. Greek mayors announced to be participating in the meeting could not attend the meeting because of bad weather conditions.Delivering a speech at the meeting, Chairman of the Aegean Coastal Municipalities' Union and Mayor of the Kusadasi District, Engin Berberoglu, said: "The meetings which we have previously held in Bodrum and then in Sakiz should have a meaning. We want peace and trade in the Aegean Sea". During the meeting, it was decided that a Turco-Greek desk would be established and sporting competitions would be held between the Turkish and Greek coastal municipalities. /Cumhuriyet/ [06] CILLER AND THE EUROPEAN UNIONSpeaking yesterday at the February meeting of the Istanbul Chambers of Trade (ITO), Foreign Minister Ciller said that if Turkey was refused membership in the European Union (EU), then Turkey would back out of the Customs Union (CU).Ciller told her listeners that Turkey was still not on the list of EU eastern border countries lined-up for future membership in the Union. She then went on to say that excluding Turkey from the EU would lead to ending customs union agreements./Cumhuriyet/ [07] UN SUPPORT FOR TURKISH MILITARYSecretary General of the UN, Kofi Annan has praised the role of the Turkish military in protecting and preserving a democratic balance in Turkey.Talking with Deputy Chief of Staff, General Cevik Bir who is in the US, Annan noted that Turkey was a secular country, and added that he hoped it would stay that way. Annan was full of praise too for the share that Turkish military units had in UN peace-keeping operations. /Hurriyet/ [08] TURKEY-IRAN RELATIONS UNDER PRESSUREThe controversy stirred up by Iranian ambassador Muhhamed Riza Bagheri who recently shared in a fundamentalist religious meeting near Ankara, has led to a quiet departure from Istanbul back to Iran.Yesterday evening Bagheri and Iranian Consul in Istanbul Muhhamed Riza Rasit left by plane for Tehran, their stay in Turkey at an end. Over in the US, General Bir, speaking at a Washington meeting of the Turk-American Council, said that Turkey was concerned about relations with Iran. He claimed that terrorist activity in northern Iraq was supported by Iran. /Sabah/ [09] NUMBER OF WINTER TOURISTS INCREASESTourism Minister Bahattin Yucel noted that the number of tourists who generally come for shopping in winter has greatly increased and this showed that Turkey had become a shopping centre. Stating that the number of tourists who came in November and December 1996, and January 1997, had increased by 12.6 % when compared with the corresponding period of the previous year, and reached 1,145,000, Yucel said that winter tourists were mostly from Germany and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). Yucel added that the number of tourists who came from France, Britain and the Benelux countries to Turkey had also significantly increased. /Cumhuriyet/[10] GABON AND TURKEY OPEN DIPLOMATIC RELATIONSGabon, a central African state with a population of 1 million, has sent a diplomatic representative, Ambassador Mercel Ibinga Magwangu, to Turkey. Magwangu said that they were planning to invite Turkish investors to Gabon. He added that Turkey was buying Gabon's wood via European countries and his country was in need of goods made in Turkey, such as textiles. /All papers/[11] FIRST SAS-LUFTHANSA JOINT OFFICE IN ANKARAScandinavian Airlines System (SAS) and Lufthansa opened their first joint office in Ankara on Thursday. Speaking at the openning, Swedish Ambassador Dr.Michael Sahlin, pointed out that over the years, SAS had played a key role in establishing a Turkish presence in Scandinavia and a Scandinavian presence in Turkey. German Ambassador Dr.Hans-Joachim Vergau opened his speech by saying, "Our Turkish friends are often wondering these days, if Europe is really opening up to them, and is willing to include this country in the European family. This celebration today is an appropriate occasion to confirm that this remains the guiding goal of our policy towards Turkey."[12] TAIWAN SEEKS TO BOOST TEXTILE TRADE WITH TURKEYNineteen top textile manufacturers from Taiwan, seeking to increase trade with Turkey, will participate in a textiles fair in Istanbul March 3-5, the director of Taiwan Trade Center said yesterday. Director of Taiwan Trade Center in Istanbul, Peter W.J. Huang, said that the fair aimed to introduce Taiwan's quality textiles to the Turkish market.END Turkish Press Review Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |
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