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Turkish Press Review, 97-04-02Turkish Press Review Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs <http://www.mfa.gov.tr>CONTENTS
TURKISH PRESS REVIEWAPRIL 2, 1997Summary of the political and economic news in the Turkish press this morning.[01] XENOPHOBIA SPREADING IN EUROPEToday's papers have provided extended front-page coverage and large headlines to the increase in attacks against Turks living in Europe. Pointing out that Turks in Holland and Germany were threatened with new attacks, the press is urging parliament and the government to press the West for measures to protect Turks living there.Commenting on the subject, Milliyet daily newspaper notes: "Three new terrifying attacks have followed the arson cases in the Hague, Holland and Krefeld, Germany where althogether nine Turks have died. The house of the Ulusoy family in Haiger-Seelbach, Germany, was set on fire. The father, trying to escape jumping from the window was seriously injured. A house in Memmingen, Germany, abandoned by the Aktepe family was fire bombed. A Turkish market in Frankfurt was also set to fire. In Haiger-Seelbach, a swastika was drawn on the wall of a house which was then set on fire. The fact that the house of a Dutch person who participated in protests against the arson attack in the Hague has also been set on fire is also alarming. All these developments indicate that xenophobia is spreading in Europe. Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan condemned the attacks and described them as "barbarity and cruelty". He called for an end to the brutal attacks. [02] FRENCH FOREIGN MINISTER IN TURKEYToday's papers give details about French Foreign Minister Herve de Charette's visit to Turkey. During his contacts in Ankara, de Charette will take in hand Turkey-EU relations and the Nagorno-Karabakh dispute. He will give Turkish officials details about his recent visits to Azerbaijan and Armenia. The Albanian turmoil will also be included in the topics of discussion.[03] TURKEY AND ISRAEL TO SIGN LAND TRANSPORTATION AGREEMENTTurkey and Israel plan to sign a land transportation agreement during Israeli Foreign Minister David Levy's visit to Ankara. The agreement, which is aimed at easing the transportation of people and trade goods between Israel and Turkey, will be implemented only after relations in the region are "normalized".According to observers, the agreement is designed as an expression of both countries' belief in the prospects for peace in the region. In this way, Turkey and Israel also aim to send a message to the Arab world in response to an Arab League call to its members to suspend normalization of their relations with Israel. [04] US WANTS TURKEY IN THE WESTEven as Turkey again debates its relations with the West, the US has sent out strong messages that it wants to see Turkey firmly entrenched in the West.Top national security advisor Samuel Berger said in a speech at the Center for Strategic and International Studies recently that the US wanted to see Turkey "anchored to the West" and that it was in the interests of the US to make sure that happened. [05] TURKEY AND GREECE JOIN IN MILITARY GAMESTurkey and Greece do not usually share in the same military games, especially when they are played close to home. This time however, both countries will share in military exercises planned by the US for June 15- July 4 in Louisiana. The games have been designed to coordinate military communications and Bulgarian and Moldovan units will also participate.[06] BOSNIA PEACE MEETING IN ISTANBULAs the international High Representative for Bosnia, Carl Bildt was in Istanbul yesterday for meetings on new peace measures for the full recovery of Bosnia. Bildt spoke with President Suleyman Demirel, who will chair a steering committee meeting today on the implementation of the Dayton Accord.[07] 300 TURKISH TROOPS TO TIRANAThe Turkish Foreign Ministry which has followed closely events in Tirana starting with economic troubles which turned into chaos, has declared that Turkey will send more than 300 troops to Albania.Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Onur Oymen stated that the latest incidents in Tirana were a great threat to peace and stability in the whole region and added that Turkey was to send troops to Albania. In answer to a question as to the number of troops, Oymen replied that it could be over 300. Meanwhile France has announced too that it will send a thousand troops within the framework of multinational peacekeeping force agreements./Sabah/ [08] CONTACTS OF IMF OFFICIALS VISITING TURKEYAn IMF consultative delegation visiting Turkey met yesterday with representatives of the Turkish Businessmen and Industrialists Association (TUSIAD) and the Istanbul Chamber of Industry (ISO). Today IMF officials will have talks with Banks Union representatives. Turkish markets and political leaders are looking to the IMF's two-week visit, which began on Tuesday, for some glimmer of support for the government's economic policies. /Cumhuriyet/[09] TURKISH ECONOMY GROWINGWestern observers following developments in Turkey, have described Turkey as a "phenomenon-country". In a report by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), it is pointed out that despite the huge foreign trade deficit, successful short-term policies have managed to preserve the dynamism in the Turkish economy. According to the OECD report, during the last two years the Turkish economy has grown by 7-7.5 percent. /Sabah/[10] GOVERNMENT TO INTRODUCE NEW REVENUE RAISING PACKAGEThe government has intensified preparations for a fourth revenue-raising package worth around $10 billion. The primary focus of the package will be expanding revenue from life insurance premiums, the Anatolia news agency reported.[11] NATURAL GAS PIPELINE CONSTRUCTION TO START IN APRILState Minister Abdullah Gul on an official visit to Turkmenistan said that construction of the natural gas pipeline to the east would start in April. During a meeting with Turkmenistan President Saparmurat Turkmenbasi, Gul said Turkey stood ready to consider requests for cooperation in the exploitation of rich Turkmen mineral resources. Turkmenbasi on his part noted that both Turkey and Turkmenistan would benefit from accelerating projects for transporting Turkmen natural gas to Europe via Turkey.[12] SEVERE BLOW AGAINST THE PKKReports from the Siirt and Tunceli regions in the southeast of Turkey confirm that 56 members of the PKK terrorist organization have been killed during current security operations.Forty thousand soldiers supported by helicopters and fighter planes are lined up against the PKK strongholds known to be in the mountains spread across the southeast of Turkey. /All papers/ [13] 16TH ISTANBUL FILM FESTIVAL STARTSThe 16th International Istanbul Film Festival, organized by the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts, is set once again to cover a wide panorama of world cinema following its opening on March 29. This year, the 25th anniversary of the Foundation, over 130 films from five continents will be screened during the two-week festival, which ends on April 13. The movies, comprised mostly of recently awarded productions, will also include classics from the masters which will be honoured in the "In Memoriam" and "Tributes" sections of the festival. /All papers/[14] CHEAP HOLIDAYS IN TURKEYMore foreign reports on tourism say that Turkey is one of the best countries for a cheap holiday. A report by the German Commerz Bank also notes that Turkey is cheap in comparison to many other holiday countries. The report however, uses the mark as the basis for comparison. /Hurriyet/[15] MILAS-BODRUM AIRPORTForeign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Tansu Ciller opened the new Milas-Bodrum airport during a ceremony on Tuesday. In a speech at the ceremony, Ciller noted that the airport would bring prosperity to the region, the Anatolian news agency reported.[16] PAKISTAN REAWARDS MOTORWAY CONTRACT TO BAYINDIR HOLDINGPakistan has reawarded Bayindir Holding a $644 million contract to build a motorway linking Peshawar to Islamabad and a bridge on the Indus river four years after its cancellation, the Turkish company chairman said on Tuesday. Bayindir Holding Chairman Kamuram Cortuk told a news conference that Pakistan's new Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had agreed to reaward the contract to the Turkish group to "restore confidence between Turkey and Pakistan and improve traditionally good ties between Islamabad and Ankara." /All papers/END Turkish Press Review Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |
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