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Turkish Press Review, 97-09-15
From: Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs <http://www.mfa.gov.tr>
CONTENTS
[01] MILITARY CHOPPER CRASHES
[02] PRIME MINISTER PROMISES CLEAN SOCIETY
[03] MISSILE BUILD-UP IN ARMENIA
[04] FURTHER MISSILE THREATS
[05] ANKARA AND MOSCOW DISCUSS S-300 MISSILE TRANSFER
[06] US WANTS A TRIPARTITE SUMMIT
[07] FM CEM MEETS GERMAN COUNTERPART
[08] SWEDEN: "LET'S NOT GIVE PRIORITY TO EU MEMBERSHIP"
[09] TURKISH UNIONS LOBBYING IN EUROPE
[10] DEMIREL IN EGYPT
[11] CENTRAL ASIA HOSTS CENTRAZBAT-97
[12] TURKEY TO IMPROVE MILITARY TIES WITH ALBANIA
[13] IZMIT GULF BRIDGE
[14] EXPORTS TO TURKISH REPUBLICS AMOUNT TO $36 MILLION
[15] WHO REGIONAL MEETING BEGINS
[16] SCHOOL YEAR USHERS IN NEW EDUCATION SYSTEM
[17] TURKISH IS THE SEVENTH MOST SPOKEN LANGUAGE IN THE WORLD
[18] LAST MOON ECLIPSE OF THIS CENTURY
TURKISH PRESS REVIEW
DIRECTORATE GENERAL OF PRESS AND INFORMATION,OFFICE OF PRIME MINISTER
15.09.97
Summary of the political and economic news in the Turkish press
this morning.
[01] MILITARY CHOPPER CRASHES
A Turkish military helicopter crashed yesterday in the eastern
province of Van killing the eight soldiers and two officers on board.
The American Skorsky-made helicopter was transporting ammunition to
support a military operation against the PKK terrorist organization in
Bahcesaray. The helicopter, reportedly flying at low altitudes, hit
electricity lines and crashed onto the garden of a private home at
around one p.m. The ammunition on board began exploding immediately
after the crash, thus impeding approach to the helicopter. The house
in the garden of which the helicopter crashed was completely
demolished. Fortunately nobody was at home at the time of the crash.
/All papers/
[02] PRIME MINISTER PROMISES CLEAN SOCIETY
Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz said that he will use all his power
to shed light on investigations related to the connections of state
officials with mafia gangs that came to the agenda after a traffic
accident in Susurluk last year. The prime minister added that lifting
parliamentary immunities was an issue of great importance in dealing
with corruption charges and invited all political parties represented
in Parliament to cooperate in passing related legal regulations and
amendments in constitutional provisions. /All papers/
[03] MISSILE BUILD-UP IN ARMENIA
At a time when Turkey is preoccupied with the Greek Cypriot plan
to deploy S-300 missiles in southeastern Cyprus, it has been
discovered that missile sites have been built in Armenia along
Turkey's eastern borders. The missiles and ramps are part of a $1
billion arms shipment received from Russia secretly between 1993 and
1996. The shipment, found out accidentally in the course of an
investigation conducted in Russia, involves 8 missile ramps, 32 Scud B
missiles, 84 T-72s which are considered the most sophisticated tanks
in the world, 27 surface-to-air missile batteries, 349 Krug air
defense missiles and 40 OSA surface-to-air missiles. /Milliyet/
[04] FURTHER MISSILE THREATS
Papers report that along with missile threats directed aginst
Turkey from the Greek Cypriot administration and Armenia, Syria is
also deploying missile sites along the Turkish borders. Using photos
taken via satellites, specialists have been able to locate 36 Scud C
missile sites located 70 km away from the southern province of Antakya
in Turkey. /Milliyet/
[05] ANKARA AND MOSCOW DISCUSS S-300 MISSILE TRANSFER
Ali Tuygan, deputy undersecretary responsible for political
affairs at the Turkish Foreign Ministry, met with Russian Foreign
Ministry deputy undersecretaries Viktor Posuvalyuk and Boris Pastukov
for discussions held within the framework of regular bilateral
consulation talks. The sale of Russian-made S-300 missiles was high
on the agenda. Tuygan voiced once more Turkish anxiety over the
issue, noting that Turkey was disturbed by the sale of missiles to
such a sensitive region. The Turkish official added that the delivery
of the missiles will harm the process of resolving the Cyprus issue.
The Russians reiterated their well-known views that the missiles would
just serve the defense needs of Southern Cyprus and would not upset
the military balance in the region. No steps towards easing tensions
in the Mediterranean could be taken. /Milliyet/
[06] US WANTS A TRIPARTITE SUMMIT
It is reported that Washington, concerned over the tension
between Ankara and Athens because of S-300 missiles planned for
deployment in Southern Cyprus will launch initiatives for a tripartite
summit to be held between the US, Turkey and Greece at the end of
September to ease the tension. Washington aims to bring together the
Turkish, Greek and US foreign ministers via the UN General Council to
revitalize the 'spirit of the Madrid talks'. /Milliyet/
[07] FM CEM MEETS GERMAN COUNTERPART
In talks with German Foreign Minister Klaus Kinkel on Friday,
Turkish Foreign Minister Ismail Cem said that human rights were being
used as a pretext to keep Turkey out of the European Union. "We are
not the only country over which Amnesty International reports about
human rights violations. There are also Amnesty International reports
on Germany and other states," Cem pointed out. Kinkel in turn said
that while Turkey clearly belonged to Europe, membership in the EU
depended on progress in human rights, the Kurdish problem, the Cyprus
issue and Turkey's relations with Greece. Cem stressed that Turkey's
efforts to improve relations with Greece had not been supported by
Greek officials and added that Turkey was ready to talk about all
kinds of problems with Germany, but it was not relevant to discuss
Turkey's problem with the EU, especially now that "Turkey's
perspective with the EU is unchanging". /All papers/
[08] SWEDEN: "LET'S NOT GIVE PRIORITY TO EU MEMBERSHIP"
Swedish Prime Minister Goran Persson has stated that negotiations
for full membership in the European Union (EU) should start, not only
with the six countries which the EU Commission has accepted, but with
11 other countries, including Turkey, which have all applied for full
membership to date. Denmark, Italy and Greece also support this
official view of Sweden. The Greek Foreign Minister, who visited
Stockholm a while ago, said that Greece was not against Turkey's EU
membership, and added that on the contrary, this would strengthen
Turco-Greek relations. /Cumhuriyet/
[09] TURKISH UNIONS LOBBYING IN EUROPE
Representatives of Turkish professional organizations and trade
unions are lobbying in Europe in support of Turkey's drive for EU full
membership. Representatives of the Turkish Union of Chambers and
Commodity Exchanges (TOBB), the Confederation of Turkish Labour Unions
(Turk-Is), and the Turkish Businessmen's and Industrialist's
Association (TUSIAD) will participate in a European Parliament meeting
on Turkey held in Strasbourg. During the meeting Turkey's request for
membership in the EU will be taken in hand. /All papers/
[10] DEMIREL IN EGYPT
President Demirel will visit Egypt this week in an effort to cool
Arab anger at Turkey boosting military cooperation with Israel despite
the deadlock in the Middle East peace process. Demirel is expected to
tell his Egyptian counterpart Hosni Mubarek that plans for naval
maneuvres between Turkey, Israel and the US pose no threat to the Arab
world. The exercises set for November in the eastern Mediterranean
are ostensibly rehearsals for joint search and rescue operations, but
for many Arabs they carry overtly political messages. /Milliyet/
[11] CENTRAL ASIA HOSTS CENTRAZBAT-97
Centrazbat-97, a joint military exercise to be held with the
participation of Turkey, Russia, the US and Central Asian republics
will start today on the plains of Central Asia. Defense observers
note that the maneuvres have a special importance because these will
be the first exercises held with the participation of Russia and the
US, former enemies from the Cold War era. According to a statement by
the Turkish General Staff, Centrazbat-97 will focus on peacekeeping
and humanitarian aid maneuvres and will be conducted in the spirit of
NATO's Partnership for Peace concept. /Hurriyet/
[12] TURKEY TO IMPROVE MILITARY TIES WITH ALBANIA
Turkey and Albania have agreed to strengthen their military ties,
Albania's state television reported over the weekend. On his return
to Turkey , National Defense Minister Ismet Sezgin who visited Albania
and Macedonia on his Balkan tour, said that Turkey would increase its
support for the reorganization of the Albanian army. Sezgin stressed
that both countries are very important for preserving the stability in
the Balkans. /All papers/
[13] IZMIT GULF BRIDGE
Housing Minister yasar Topcu announced that the construction of
the Izmit Gulf bridge, the second largest project in Europe after the
English Channel tunnel, will be finished in 2001. The new bridge will
link Istanbul directly to the southern Marmara region. /Sabah/
[14] EXPORTS TO TURKISH REPUBLICS AMOUNT TO $36 MILLION
Exports from southeastern Anatolia to the Turkish republics for
the first eight months of the year amounted to $36 million, marking a
38.7 percent increase over the same period last year. Exports consist
mainly of live animals, dried fruit, cereals and textiles. Most of
the exports went to kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. /All
papers/
[15] WHO REGIONAL MEETING BEGINS
The 47th meeting of the European Regional Committee of the UN
World Health Organization (WHO) will be opened in Istanbul today.
Turkish Health Minister, Halil Ibrahim Ozsoy, held a joint press
conference with WHO European Regional Director, Hiroshi Nakajima at
Istanbul's Ataturk Airport yesterday. Ozsoy noted that during the
meeting which will be attended by health ministers from many
countries, they would have the chance to express Turkey's views and
projects. Meanwhile, Prof.Ihsan Dogramaci, the founder and mentor of
Hacettepe and Bilkent Universities, will be honoured today when he
receives the WHO "Health-for-all" gold medal at the Ciragan Palace in
Istanbul from WHO director-general, Hiroshi Nakajima.
/Cumhuriyet-Milliyet/
[16] SCHOOL YEAR USHERS IN NEW EDUCATION SYSTEM
Primary and secondary schools throughout Turkey open today,
ushering in the beginning of the newly-introduced mandatory eight-year
primary school system. This year, 13 million students and 500,000
teachers will inaugurate the 1997-98 schhol year. Approximately
1,300,000 children will begin school for the first time. /All papers/
[17] TURKISH IS THE SEVENTH MOST SPOKEN LANGUAGE IN THE WORLD
According to research carried out by UNESCO, among 10,000
languages spoken in the world, Turkish is the seventh most widely
spoken official language. It is reported that while 200 million
people are speaking Turkish, 120 million people speak Turkish in
countries where Turkish is the official language. Meanwhile, it has
been noted that English is the first official language most widely
spoken in the world, while Chinese ranks second and Indian ranks
third. /Hurriyet/
[18] LAST MOON ECLIPSE OF THIS CENTURY
The last eclipse of the moon of this century will happen
tomorrow. The last full moon eclipse will be seen clearly in Turkey.
Various activities, in which scientists will deliver speeches
regarding the moon eclipse and moon ecplises throughout history, will
be held in Ankara. /Sabah/
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